Today in Language Arts the students did a book swap activity in class. Various books were collected from our school and classroom libraries for the students to explore and discuss with their classmates while moving around the classroom. If a student found a book he/she would like to read this year, they added it to their 6th Grade Wish List in their interactive notebooks. We also practiced reading to themselves for the first time today.
Our class began building our Daily Five board during class. We will begin conferring and selecting strategies to help with our reading after the break.
A reading log was sent home with every child today for homework. Each Monday they will be given a reading log and on Fridays I will collect these logs. The students are responsible for reading 100 minutes each week. How they choose to divide this up is completely up to them. I recommend 20 minutes 5 times each week. If students read over the weekend, they may count these minutes on the logs I give out on Monday. Parent signatures must be on the logs for students to receive credit. Each Friday in class, the Success Starter on the board will ask the students to respond to a question about what the students have been reading. These logs are worth 8 formative points each week. It may seem like a small amount but in reality, this is roughly 48 formative points each marking period. It is vital that students are reading at home and getting these logs turned in each Friday. In the event that a student is absent or we do not have school on Friday, like this week, the log will be due on the day we return to school. This means that students will be expected to read at home while we are on breaks. If a reading log is ever lost, I keep additional copies in class the students may take. I have also attached two copies to this blog post so that the students may print at home if need be.
Have a wonderful evening!