Today we began picking our topics to write about for our argumentative essays. Students will research their topics and prepare their argument this week, and begin their essays starting Monday! We also went to the library today due to the fact that the library will be closed most of the day Wednesday. Students that were not prepared will be given passes to make up their library time on Thursday or Friday.

Homework:

• Read for 20 minutes and respond on reading log!

Reminders:

• No School (students only) tomorrow!

Today, we had a debate on whether we think video games have a positive or negative impact on today’s youth. I was extremely impressed with the points the students were making and the high respect they had for each other’s thoughts and ideas! Plus, it was fun! During our second round of Daily 5, students wrote out the Article of the Week’s claim, evidence, and reasoning response. Some students did not finish and had to take home. The sentence stems I provided them were:

The author believes _____________________________. (claim)  In the text they state _____________________________. (evidence #1, use quotations if you directly quote the article) They also say _____________________________.  (evidence #2, use quotations if you directly quote the article)   Simon believes that this is important because _____________________________. (reasoning, how does this evidence tie to their claim, what’s the relationship?)

They may use these or their own complete sentences to finish their response. I will collect on Monday for a formative grade.

Homework

• Read for 20 minutes and respond on reading log!
• Have a great weekend!

Reminder:   NO SCHOOL TUESDAY (Students ONLY) – Election Day

Today we prepared our ideas for a Video Game debate we will be having tomorrow! This will be a summative assessment as they have prepared all week for this project. To earn full points they will have to come prepared to the debate with one original idea to share, listen to each other & respond respectfully, take turns talking (no interruptions!), act respectfully, and stay on topic.

Last day to make up the vocabulary quiz is tomorrow!!

• Before school at 7:30am, in class at the end, or after school at 3:00pm
  • Students will need to get their planner signed by a parent in order to retake the quiz – no parent signature no quiz retake
    • A parent signature indicates:
      • The parent saw their quiz score on Parent Connect (vocabulary quiz from 10/28) – https://zangleweb.resa.net/Dearborn/ParentConnect/
      • The parent witnessed their student study on Quizlet or with flashcards for at least 30 minutes (outside of school)
        • Quizlet can still be accessed! https://mail.google.com/a/dearbornschools.org    THEN go to classroom.google.com after you sign into Google!
          • I urge the students to do the practice quiz!! The games are fun but the quiz will give them testing practice!
        • If your student wants to review what they missed on iLearn they can go here:  https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/course/view.php?id=2054

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log (Due Tomorrow!)

We looked at the negative sides of video games today and analyzed the text for main idea and supporting details. We also identified the author’s claim in the article of the week. Tomorrow, we are going to prepare for a debate. They will answer questions that compare and contrasts the two texts and the do a strategy called Philosophical Chairs, which is a more structured type of debate. After the debate, they will make a final claim as to whether video games have a positive or negative impact on young people and provide evidence for their opinion.

Quiz make-ups will be Thursday and Friday

• Thursday – before school at 7:30am, after school at 3:00pm
• Friday – before school at 7:30am, in class at the end, or after school at 3:00pm
  • Students will need to get their planner signed by a parent in order to retake the quiz – no parent signature no quiz retake
    • A parent signature indicates:
      • The parent saw their quiz score on Parent Connect (vocabulary quiz from 10/28) – https://zangleweb.resa.net/Dearborn/ParentConnect/
      • The parent witnessed their student study on Quizlet or with flashcards for at least 30 minutes (outside of school)
        • Quizlet can still be accessed! https://mail.google.com/a/dearbornschools.org    then go to classroom.google.com after you sign in
          • I urge the students to do the practice quiz!!
        • If your student wants to review what they missed on iLearn they can go here:  https://moodle.dearbornschools.org/course/view.php?id=2054

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log

We are beinning to look at two sides of an argument and analyze them for the most important details (main claim and strongest supporting evidence). We read “What Video Games Can Teach Us” and wrote down our analysis notes on a graphic organizer. We will look at the “con” side of this debate today and have a Socratic Seminar about the topic on Friday.

Quiz Retakes: Quiz retakes will be before school (7:30 am) and after school (3:00 pm) Thursday and Friday. My week has been filled with meetings so I apologize for not beginning them today. Students need to go on Quizlet and study for at least 30 minutes (outside of school!) prior to showing up to retake the quiz.

Homework

Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading log (2-3 sentences!!)

Today we took our Vocabulary Quiz. Many students did extremely well on it! Those that did not may retake it next week. I will send home their scores on Monday after I print them out (they were taken on iLearn) to get signed and retakes will start Tuesday before and after school.

All students received a Read Theory log in today. Read Theory is an online reading tool that students will use to track their progress with their Lexile levels. As they finish practice quizzes, the program determines if they are ready to move up in their Lexile range or if they will maintain where they are at until they are ready. It’s great practice for their NWEA test and the data allows for me to see how I can support them in class. They may access this at home and in school. I will be requiring an hour of Read Theory a week, at home or in class. Their passwords are taped on the inside cover page of their planners! For more information:  https://www.readtheory.org/static/pdf/parent_flyer.pdf

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log
• Enjoy the weekend!

All 6th graders had a substitute in their core classes today so their teachers could participate in a professional development to improve our practice. All students were afforded the opportunity to study on Quizlet once they were done with their reading and writing assignment. Please make sure your student studies for their vocabulary quiz tonight as they are being quizzed tomorrow! All definitions are in their Reading and Writing ISN’s or on Quizlet. They can access Quizlet on my Google Classroom!

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log – DUE TOMORROW!!
• PG movie permission slip DUE TOMORROW – please see post from October 19th for more information
• Study for vocabulary test – TOMORROW!!!

Thank you for coming to conferences this week! It was so nice getting to talk to each and every one of you!

Today we went to the library and checked out the book fair! The students really enjoyed browsing all of the new books! Book fair ends tomorrow if your student found something they were interested in tomorrow is their last chance until I get new book order forms in!

In class, we got to explore my Google classroom. Students can access my Google classroom by logging into their Dearborn gmail accounts here: https://drive.google.com/a/dearbornschools.org     and then going to classroom.google.com

On Google Classroom I will post assignments, polls, quizzes, and other in-class assignments. Students can access their Quizlet accounts from there to help them study for their vocabulary quiz on Friday. I will post a new announcement on my Google Classroom for them to access their Quizlet quicker.  I cannot post here due to this being a public forum!

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log
• PG movie permission slip (due Oct. 28) – please see post from October 19th for more information
• Study for vocabulary test (Friday, Oct. 28)

Today we took a closer look at the types of evidence and practiced analyzing an informational text for the author’s claim and evidence. We also finished our parts of speech notes. Tomorrow we will be introduced to Quizlet, an online vocabulary studying tool. They will have access to this tool at home as well and are welcome to use it to study for their vocabulary quiz on Friday.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log
• PG movie permission slip (due Oct. 28) – please see post from October 19th for more information
• Study for vocabulary test (Friday, Oct. 28)

Upcoming Dates

• Parent Teacher conferences Wednesday @ 3:30-6:30 pm. Please arrive with your student so they can show you their progress!

Today we took a closer look at the types of evidence we can use to support our arguments. Conferences went better than expected! Thank you all for coming in to talk to me and I apologize if I missed anyone! Wednesday is the last day of conferences, 3:30-6:30 pm

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log
• PG movie permission slip (due Oct. 28) – please see post from October 19th for more information
• Study for vocabulary test (Friday, Oct. 28)

Upcoming Dates

• Parent Teacher conferences Wednesday @ 3:30-6:30 pm. Please arrive with your student so they can show you their progress!

This Friday’s vocabulary quiz will cover:

Vocabulary Quiz Study Guide

• First Person
• Second Person
• Third Person
• Persuade
• Inform
• Entertain
• Argumentative Writing
• Claim
• Evidence
• Reasoning
• Nouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs
• Pronouns
• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Interjections

Upcoming:

Parent teacher conferences:   Monday 4 pm-7 pm; Wednesday 3:30 pm-6:30 pm

Enjoy the rest of your weekend and see you tomorrow!

Today we practiced explaining our grades and behavior sheet for Parent-Teacher conferences. Since our conferences are student-led, we practiced how to go through the sheet and chose artifacts we wanted to share with our families. The students took turns being a parent and being a student and it was really enjoyable to observe! We also did some Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning practice with our article of the week and then took Parts of Speech notes. We watched a Flocabulary video that the students really enjoyed. You can watch it here:

This will also help them study for their vocabulary quiz next Friday! I will post the Vocabulary word list by Sunday night and hand out hard copies Monday. All vocab words can be found in their Reading and Writing ISNs.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log
• PG movie permission slip (due Oct. 28) – please see post from October 19th for more information

Upcoming Dates

• Parent Teacher conferences are Monday and Wednesday of next week! Please arrive with your student so they can show you their progress!

Today we filled out our Student-Led Conference sheets that they will go over with you at conferences next week. We will practice what to say tomorrow! We also took some more “Parts of Speech” notes. Reading logs are due tomorrow don’t forget!

Pink shirt day is tomorrow! Please remind your student to wear pink to raise awareness for bullying.

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log (DUE TOMORROW!!)
• PG movie permission slip (due Oct. 28) – please see post from October 19th for more information

Upcoming Dates

• Parent Teacher conferences are Monday and Wednesday of next week! Please arrive with your student so they can show you their progress!

Today students continued their fact and opinion in writing by searching for an author’s opinions and facts they give to support them in an article. They also took notes on “Parts of Speech” during Writer’s Workshop. They were given a permission slip requesting permission to watch a PG movie during the 2016-2107 school year. If you do not give them permission they will go somewhere else during the movie and be provided with other activities during that time. Please sign and return by October 28th!

Homework

• Read 20 minutes and respond on Reading Log
• PG movie permission slip (due Oct. 28)

Upcoming Dates

• Parent Teacher conferences are Monday and Wednesday of next week! Please arrive with your student so they can show you their progress!