THANK YOU for your focus and attention during ISTEP today! I am so fortunate to have students who are proud to show what they know. Let's rock the test again tomorrow! Get a good night's sleep and eat healthy, protein-packed meals!

H/W: All classes-

• ISTEP tomorrow in Lab D. Get a restful sleep and eat healthy meals!
• Permission slip and $ for Amish Acres due May 15. 

H/W P. 2, 5, 6: Culture novel questions due Friday. I will give you class time on Friday to finish them.

Hello!

Permission slips went home today for our Amish Acres field trip on May 23! You will see a blue permission slip and a yellow waiver slip. Both of these need to be returned with the money for the trip. Please read the permission slip carefully as there is important contact information about food ingredients. If a student prefers a vegetarian meal, this can be arranged by contacting Becky, the person listed on the permission slip. This is always a great trip, and we (the teachers) always return feeling very proud of our students.

All classes continued reviewing tone and mood in literature. We also reviewed figurative language in preparation for ISTEP. We did this by analyzing Dr. Seuss and James Reeves.
If you missed the "Sneetches" video, here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLPe7XjdKc

H/W: All classes-

• ISTEP tomorrow in Lab D. Get a restful sleep and eat healthy meals!
• Permission slip and $ for Amish Acres due May 15. 

H/W P. 2, 5, 6: Culture novel questions due Friday.

Enjoy your evening!

Happy Monday!

Today all classes covered the skills of "tone and mood" which is a tricky concept in 6th grade!

P.1: Students wrote notes and we had a class discussion of  tone and mood by learning definition, examples, and looking at short lists with specific tone and mood words. We used the "Sneetches" poem and then the video to demonstrate how subtle changes can create a big difference in tone and mood! Students also completed a Venn Diagram to demonstrate the differences of a common theme shown by two different genres.
H/W: Remember to bring your reading book every day. For those taking the Sentence Types redo, your parent signature slip and completed practice work is due BEFORE the redo. Redo will be on Friday, May 2, during lunch; please bring your lunch that day.

P. 2,5,6: Students wrote notes and we had a class discussion of  tone and mood by learning definition, examples, and looking at short lists with specific tone and mood words. They compared the tone and mood of the original Mary Poppins trailer to a "modern" ( and somewhat disturbing!) Mary Poppins trailer. A few creative embellishments completely changed tone and mood! Because of popular demand, here are the links to Mary Poppins:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuWf9fP-A-U (original)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2T5_0AGdFic&feature=related (scary)

H/W:          

•  Remember to bring your culture book and questions every day. These are due Friday, May 2
•  For those taking the Sentence Types redo, your parent signature slip and completed practice work is due BEFORE the redo. Redo will be on Friday, May 2, during lunch; please bring your lunch that day. 

Thank you for a fun day!

Happy Friday!

*ISTEP is next week! It starts on Monday! Please be rested and well-fed on Monday and every day after that.
*Be watching for a field trip permission slip for Amish Acres that will be coming home early next week. We will be enjoying a wonderful day of theater and lunch May 23rd.

P. 1,4, and 5: Today we went over common figurative language terms to prepare for ISTEP, We did this by analyzing a Dr. Suess poem "Sneetches" and then comparing it to the video. If you missed the video, here is the link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdLPe7XjdKc. We discussed the common theme (remember, it's a sentence) and the tone of the author as compared to Malala.
P. 1,4:No homework.
P. 5: Culture questions next Friday

P. 2,6: Final Wordmasters test today!! Wow! What fantastic results! It has been so gratifying for the students to see how much they have improved since taking that first test. Their confidence in vocabulary and word relationships has soared! I will submit the results and see what happens on the national level! Exciting!
Students also wrote me a description of their projects so I can begin getting them graded.
H/W: Culture questions next Friday

Enjoy your weekend!

Hello!

Please prepare for ISTEP next week! It starts on Monday with math. Lang arts is on Wed. and Thurs.


P. 1,4: Today we reviewed the Sentence Types Quiz and also reviewed the homework from "Sneetches." This poem and its figurative language was used as a review for ISTEP. We discussed the social implications of Dr. Seuss' writing and how he wrote for parents as well as children.
H/W: Please finish your "Sneetches" questions and notes if they were not done for today. I will be collecting your notes and responses.   Read pg. 620 in Elements of Literature, and take notes on rhyme, end rhyme, internal rhyme, and alliteration. Then read pg. 626 and take notes on rhyme scheme. After that, read "The Sneetches." Answer the questions on the paper from class. and remember the poem can be found online - just Google it!

P. 2,6: Today we reviewed the Sentence Types quiz and also did activities to help prepare for the Wordmasters quiz tomorrow. We carefully reviewed the culture questions for the novel study.
H/W: Wordmasters test tomorrow! Think about those word connections! See change in date below for novel study questions.

P. 5: Today we reviewed the Sentence Types quiz and reviewed the questions passed back today from the Ties that Bind novel. Remember what we discussed: answering every part of every question, especially as you respond to the culture analysis questions.
H/W: See change in date below for novel questions!

P. 2, 5, 6: The Culture Novel Responses due date has been changed to Friday, May 2. It was previously Monday, April 28. I know you have had a lot on your plate!

See you tomorrow!

Hello!

Today all students took the ECA (end of course assessment). Scores will be posted soon, but students are not allowed to keep the copy of their ECA. If you have questions about your score (we graded then in class) please ask.

H/W: P. 1,4: Read pg. 620 in Elements of Literature, and take notes on rhyme, end rhyme, internal rhyme, and alliteration. Then read pg. 626 and take notes on rhyme scheme. After that, read "The Sneetches." Answer the questions on the paper from class. Your notes will help you answer the questions.

H/W: P. 5: Culture questions due Monday. Please make sure you answer each part of the questions!

H/W: P. 2,6: Wordmasters test Friday.Culture questions due Monday: Please make sure you answer each part of the questions!

Hi!

Today all classes to a Sentence Types assessment. I am going to wait until absent students make up the quiz before we grade them as a class, so your results may be delayed a few days.

**If you were absent on Monday, you need to go to noredink.com and do the "Commonly Confused Words" assignment, and then take the quiz. You will need to take notes to help you on the quiz. The quiz is for a grade.

P. 1,4: After the quiz, we had a few minutes to discuss the Malala article and the difference between the facts and opinions in the article. We will look at the facts to determine if they are valid, and we will also analyze important concepts and write reflections about them tomorrow.
H/W: ECA tomorrow

P.5: After the quiz, we revisited to Malala article and wrote written responses to help analyze important concepts.
H/W: ECA tomorrow. Culture novel responses due next Monday, April 28

P. 2,6: After the quiz, we practiced Wordmaster words with an analogy sheet made by Mrs. Bortone the grandfather of one of Mrs. Bortone's students! Thank you! It helped us with some great word relationships!
H/W:  ECA tomorrow. Wordmaster test this Friday. Culture novel responses due next Monday, April 28

Have a great evening!

Welcome back!! What a beautiful weekend :)

Today all classes went to the computer lab to work on Commonly Confused Words on noredink.com in preparation for ISTEP. The quiz portion of the assignment will be taken for a grade. Periods 2,6 practiced Wordmaster words after they finished their assignment.

HW for All classes:

• If you did not finish your noredink quiz on Commonly Confused Words, please finish that at home tonight. If you don't have a computer, plan on finishing it tomorrow during lunch or come into school early and go to a computer lab.
• All classes will have a Sentence Types test tomorrow which includes identifying simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex sentences. Review your study guide and pay attention to how commas are used in these sentences.
• The LA ECA (end of course assessment) will be on Wed. this week for all classes. This is not a test in which you can study in preparation, but it evaluates what you have learned over the year. Be a close reader!

And if that isn't enough...

• P. 2,5,6: Culture novel responses due next Monday, April 28.
• P. 2,6: Wordmaster test Friday

I encourage everyone to check HAC! Make sure you know where you stand after Elearning...

Thank you!

It's a Friday for us...ready for the long weekend?

Today in all classes we completed the Study Guide for Sentence types. Students have become masters of simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex sentences. Now that they can identify them, the tricky part is actually using them in writing. all classes also finished the "Bravest Girl In the World" nonfiction article about Malala. Each class will be doing differentiated responses to the article and its fictional novel counterpart. There is so much to be learned from this outstanding activist for women's education!

Don't forget next week is Silver Mile Fundraiser week! Bring a dollar each day in exchange for wearing items not allowed in school! It's fun to be a rebel sometimes!
Mon. - hat day
Tues. - flip flops
Wed. - lounge wear (sweats), but no logos in distracting places
Thurs. - crazy hair
Fri. - sunglasses

H/W - P. 1,4: Sentence Types test on Tues. Review and study the study guide! Notice different sentence types as you read.

H/W P. 5:  1)Sentence Types test on Tues. Review and study the study guide! Notice different sentence types as you read. 2) Culture novel responses due April 28

H/W P.2, 6: 1)Sentence Types test on Tues. Review and study the study guide! Notice different sentence types as you read. 2) Culture novel responses due April 28 3) Wordmasters Analogy test nest Friday. See the analogy practice site under "Links"

Have a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the nice weather!

Hello!

Elaearning grades have been posted on HAC. There are three grades for this assignment. If you see a zero entered for a grade, it means that you did not complete this portion of the assignment. No late assignments or redos will be taken; the assignment was posted March 25 and due April 15, so there was ample time to complete it. Thank you for working so hard at home on this assignment!

All classes:
1)After watching the Malala excerpt from her interview with Jon Stewart yesterday, we read an excerpt from her autobiography today. We will be analyzing the article to determine the Elements of Reasoning...did she meet these elements in her writing? Students will also be comparing this nonfiction account of courage and culture to the novels they read on culture and courage. She is a tremendous inspiration! If you would like to view the video again, please find it under "Links" on my blog.

2) I also handed out a copy of the study guide for an assessment on Sentence Types for Tues., April 22. This will include identifying simple, compound, complex, compound/complex sentences. The completed study guide is the ticket for your test.

H/W: P. 1,4: Complete the Sentence Types study guide at the start of class tomorrow. Test is on Tues., April 22.

H/W: P. 2,6: Complete the Sentence Types study guide for Monday.  Test is on Tues., April 22. Bring your Wordmaster flash cards tomorrow. Culture questions due April 28.

H/W: Complete the Sentence Types study guide for Monday.  Test is on Tues., April 22. Culture questions due April 28.

Thank you for a great day!

Welcome Back!

It was great to see big smiles and kids looking relaxed! A week off is a good thing for all of us! I hope everyone enjoyed their week.

ELEARNING for LA is due tomorrow...no exceptions. You should pass in your notes, and also make sure you have completed the assignments and quizzes listed on the letter sent home (which you can also access on the PHM wesite). Your notes, two practice assignments, and two quizzes will all be counted for a grade.

Today: All classes went to the computer lab to do the noredink.com assignment and quiz labeled "Pronouns." There were some tricky rules in there! This is to help prepare for ISTEP which will be given during the final week in April. After students were finished, they went to "Progress" and worked on "Easily Confused Words." They chose the ones that stump them.

H/W: P. 1,4: Your Courageous Character Novel packet was due the Friday before break. Some of left for break early but still haven't passed it in. Please pass your work in tomorrow.

H/W: P. 2,5,6: You have started your 2nd culture novel and you should have the culture questions that I passed out last week. I will review and explain the questions tomorrow. The questions will be due Monday, April 28.

Thank you!

Spring Break is here!! Yay!

A BIG REMINDER that elearning is due APRIL 15! Don't wait until Monday, April 14...you won't be able to finish it. It is due 9am on April 15. The first assignment is Commas, fragments, Runs-ons, and then take the quiz for that skill. The second assignment is Capitalization, and then take the quiz for that assignment. Work on Current Assignments, not Archived Assignments. If you are a parent and not sure of what I am talking about because you weren't shown the parent details that were sent home with your child, you may view the instructions on the PHM website.

P. 2,6: You rocked my world with your Culture Models! Thank you for creating something that our whole school can enjoy.

Look at the following letter I received today...what a way to begin Spring Break!

5FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 2014

A team representing Discovery Middle School achieved Highest Honors in the recent WordMasters Challenge™—a national vocabulary competition involving nearly 150,000 students annually. The sixth grade team scored an impressive 193 points out of a possible 200 in the second of three meets this year, placing first in the nation.

Competing in the difficult Blue Division of the WordMasters Challenge™, sixth graders Lexi Clark, Hassaan Khan and Lyvia Lu each earned a perfect score of 20 on the challenge. Nationally, only 32 sixth graders achieved this result. Other students from Discovery Middle School who achieved individual outstanding results in the meet include sixth graders Tara Devaraj, Lauren Harvey, Eliza Klinedinst, Geoffrey Ladue, Keegan Shoemaker, Tammy Shu and Dustin Smith. The students were coached in preparation for the WordMasters Challenge™ by Mrs. Nash and Mrs. Bortone.

The WordMasters Challenge™ is an exercise in critical thinking that first encourages students to become familiar with a set of interesting new words (considerably harder than grade level), and then challenges them to use those words to complete analogies expressing various kinds of logical relationships.  Working to solve the analogies helps students learn to think both analytically and metaphorically.  Although most vocabulary enrichment and analogy-solving programs are designed for use by high school students, WordMasters Challenge™ materials have been specifically created for younger students in grades three through eight.  They are particularly well suited for children who are motivated by the challenge of learning new words and enjoy the logical puzzles posed by analogies.

The WordMasters Challenge™ program is administered by a company based in Indianapolis, Indiana, which is dedicated to inspiring high achievement in American schools.  Further information is available at the company’s website:  http://www.wordmasterschallenge.com.

Hello!

Please see yesterday's blog for information about what we did today; the schedule and activities are the same, and homework is also the same. The focus for this week has been on sentence types and the independent novel study.

Elearning due April 15th! I am nervous because many of you haven't started it yet! Don't wait until April 14th...you won't have enough time!

P. 1,4: Please keep in mind that your novel responses and Alphablocks are to be thorough and "meaty." You response paper should look professional with an MLA heading and complete sentences with question stems.
You know what I expect by this time in the year, right?

P. 2,6: Please bring in any supplies you will need to make your culture model.

See you tomorrow!

Hello!

Today was a review of sentence types, and then novel study work. Some of you have fallen behind in you reading, so please make sure you make an effort to get caught up this week. P. 4, if you brought a novel home, please make sure you return it to me before P. 1. Thanks.

A BIG reminder that all students should be working on their language arts elearning this week to avoid having to do it over Spring Break. It is due April 15, which is the Tues. after the break. No late assignments will be accepted. Please reread the letter sent home so you are doing the correct assignments. Do practice assignment first, and then take the corresponding quiz.


H/W: P.1,4: Make sure you are reading to keep up with the timeline I gave you. Respond to the questions and fill out your Alphablocks. Make sure you are reading the questions very carefully and answering all parts. Ask me if you don't understand a question! Elearning due April 15.

H/W P 5:  Keep reading Ties the Bind. Keep up with the timeline I gave you! Continue to record in culture model and T-chart. Don't forget the essential question! Elearning due April 15.

H/W P. 2,6: Keep up with your culture novel timeline. Fill out the culture model and the T chart for your novel. Be thinking about how you're going to create your culture comparison model. Tomorrow you will be expected to explain your culture model idea.  Elearning due April 15.

See you tomorrow!