Thank you for a wonderful, exciting year! Please remember to read, read, read, and yes...write also, during the summer.

If you are wondering how to find a book within your lexile range, this website may help:

http://ya.huntleylibrary.org/lexiles

Go to the site, and click on your range. If you forget your lexile, just email me! I have access to it.

Have a safe, healthy, happy summer :)

Our final Friday for the year!

Today all classes did their post-on demand writing for the year. On Monday, they will compare it to a similar prompt they did in Oct., and they will reflect upon their progress. I want to commend all students for having such a positive attitude about this assignment so close to the end of the year. I think students have acquired an "I got this" feeling about writing, and it shows! Excellent!

Enjoy your weekend!

We're gettin' there!

Please come in tomorrow with your three pieces of evidence, and the sources from which you found them, to write your post-on demand writing. This will be completed in one class period, and it is meant to reflect your very best writing. This writing should pull in as many strategies as possible from you learning this year.

On Monday, you will use this writing to compare to a similar piece you wrote in Oct. You will be amazed!

Thank you for working hard on your sentence type assessment today! :)

See you tomorrow!

Things to remember:

• Locker clean out is tomorrow! Bring some extra plastic bags to take your extra items home.
• Did you forget your books for text book check in today? Bring them tomorrow!

H/W:

• Sentence types quiz tomorrow! Study your practice sheets and do the practice quizzes (links on my previous blog post). You can also google additional online quizzes by searching "Simple, Compound, Complex Sentence Practice."
• Periods 1, 5: Know how to identify and explain simple, compound and compound sentences
• Periods 2, 3, 6: Know how to identify and explain simple, compound, complex and compound/complex sentences

See you tomorrow!

Here are links to online assessments for simple, compound, complex, and compound/complex sentences. These will give you more practice!

http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/sentence_types_quiz.htm

http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0073511994/student_view0/brush_up/part_i-grammar2/grammar_exercise_04.html

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/quizshow.php?title=sentence-structure-simple-compound-complex-compoundcomplex-sentences&q=1

I hope everyone enjoyed the warm, wonderful long weekend!

A few notes:

• Text book check- in is tomorrow! Bring all your textbooks you have at home back to school. This includes the blue Elements of Literature book! 
• Locker clean-out is Thursday after lunch. You may want to bring a plastic bag (or two) to carry your extra things home.

Today we reviewed compound, complex (and compound/complex in some classes) sentences. If you need the practice sheet handed out today for homework, please go to Canvas, then modules, then "Compound and Complex Sentence Practice" under Sentence Types practice. All the practice sheets we have been working with are your study guides for the quiz Thursday. I will also post links to some online quizzes for practice later this evening. We also continued with suspense stories. These are incredible! Your stamina as writers has grown so much!

H/W:

• Bring textbooks for textbook check-in tomorrow.
• Sentence types practice sheet due tomorrow. 
• Sentence types quiz on Thursday. The sentence types you need to know are: simple, compound, complex, compound/complex.

See you tomorrow!

Happy Friday!

We had a fabulous trip to Amish Acres yesterday! The play was wonderful, and I doubt if many students were able to eat dinner last night; after that delicious carb load, all I could think about was a nap! Students, thank you for your excellent, polite behavior.

Today, we practiced more with complex sentences. There will be a quiz next Thurs. Students continued to share their suspenseful stories. It is so much fun to hear their fluency and elaboration...wow!

Enjoy your weekend! We will try to finish stories on Tuesday.

   Mystery Story Share Day!


What a fun day sharing creative mystery stories written by students! It sure is fun to go to "the dark side" occasionally. The suspense dramas are well organized and full of mystery elements. If you didn't get a chance to share today, your turn will be on Friday.

Remember that Amish Acres is tomorrow! It is such a fun day. No electronics allowed. You may only bring a book for the bus ride. No money is necessary; the gift shop will be closed. Please check the bus list in the 6th grade hallway so you know your bus # and teacher. Think about the expectations we discussed today...

If you are in choir, you will have rehearsal with choir from 9:05-10:00. You will get directly on the bus, so know your bus # before you go to choir.

See you tomorrow!

Happy Tuesday!

Today I was at a language arts meeting, so there was a guest teacher. My plan was for Ms. Snyder (IMC) to read a few short suspense stories to classes and have discussions on the elements of suspense. She will also include discussion of plot line and students will apply them to the stories. This will hopefully lead students into their suspense writing and get them ready for tomorrow.

H/W:
Suspense stories are due tomorrow. You don't necessarily need to have a final draft; your story just has to be ready to read aloud to a small group.

Tomorrow, I will also review guidelines and expectations for our Amish Acres trip on Thursday.

See you tomorrow!

Hello!

If you were absent last Friday, please watch The Monsters are Due on Maple Street video. Find it under links. Be careful...it is easy to be on the wrong video.

Today I introduced complex sentence structure for students to use in their writing. There will be a quiz on this next week. We reviewed the elements of suspense we saw in the videos on Friday, and then students annotated their stories to make sure they had some of these in their mystery writing.

Remember - you will be sharing your story with a group of students on Wed. I am not necessarily collecting a final draft, but make sure your story is legible so your narration flows smoothly.

Have a good evening!

Happy Friday!

Period1: Thank you for all your donations to the Center for the Homeless! Wow! 

To add ideas to our suspense writing, we watched The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, from the Twighlight Zone series, by Rod Serling,  It was a blast! If you were absent, you can find it on Hulu.

As a whole group we discussed "mob mentality" and examples of it that we see in recent news. I also gave background information about the social statement Serling we relaying about the civil rights movement in 1960 as well as the paranoia about the spread of communism.

H/W: I would like to have suspense stories finished for class on Tuesday, so please work on it this weekend if necessary.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Tomorrow is the last day for clothing, shoes, and books donations for Center for the Homeless! Please be generous and clean out your closets and book shelves.

Today students went to the Book Fair! Buy one get one free! If you didn't have money today, the book fair will be open until May 22. You can stop between classes or before/after school.

After that, we reviewed writing tips and guidelines for suspense. Please make sure you get one of these papers if your were absent. Students had time to work on their stories today.

Tomorrow we will read more suspense, The Monsters are Due on Maple Street by Rod Serling. This is another great example of a well -written mystery. If you are going to be absent, please find a link to the story under Links and read it.

H/W: Write for 20 minutes

See you tomorrow!

Hello!

Period 1: Remember donations for Center for the Homeless! Clothes, books, coats, shoes....let's all do our part.

Today all classes took the SRI/Lexile test for the third time this year. I am a proud teacher! Students were able to realize how much their hard work has helped them grow this year. Thank you for your focus and attention!

H/W:

We will go to the Book Fair tomorrow. It is buy one, get one free!! Bring money if you are planning on buying anything. The Book Fair goes until May 22, so there is plenty of time for purchases.

Set your timer and work on your suspense story for 20 minutes this evening.

See you tomorrow!

Hello!

I will send emails to parents of students who have not yet submitted permission slips/money for the Amish Acres field trip. This was due Monday.

Today, Ms. Snyder, our wonderful librarian, gave a presentation to all 6th grade classes about new books in the IMC, summer hours for the IMC, and showed book trailers for new literature. With any time left, students continued to work on their fiction suspense stories. Please keep in mind that suspense does not mean your story has to be about violence and murder; it can have a light-hearted tone or can be a story about an intriguing mystery. Even with horror elements, a story does not have to be violent.
Make sure you are consulting your chart!

H/W:
Set your timer for 20 minutes, and continue writing your suspense story. Keep adding to your chart!
Period 1: Please bring in your donations for Center for the Homeless for NJHS! This includes clothes and shoes. Let's make a difference! I will sign those Archer cards for donations!

Monday!

Now that ISTEP is over, I am back on track with my blog. Students, thanks so much for your focus and attention during two challenging weeks of testing. The days were long; I could see that on your faces. But, you dug your heels into the floor (research proves it stimulates the brain!) and did your best - because you are the best.

Today was the last day for Amish Acres filed trip collection. If you still owe me a permission slip, waiver, and money, please bring those three items in tomorrow.

In class we discussed a plan for our "scary story" writing. The chart we used to decipher between the elements of suspense writing is on Canvas: go to Modules, find "Suspense Writing," and then click on Elements of Suspense Chart.

We noticed the Great Poe successfully mixed these elements to create edge- of -your- seat stories. We also reviewed the elements of suspense shown in the Tell Tale Heart video and the Prezi on suspense writing. Both of these can be watched under "Links."

H/W:

• Please remember to donate to the Center for the Homeless drive. Bring clothes, coats, shoes, or books tomorrow to give to NJHS. Such a worthy cause!
• You know who you are if you need to bring Amish Acres permission slip...
• Looking at today's chart, decide the category for your story. It is ok if you have already started it! Make a chart of four categories for your chosen suspense genre, and fill in the chart so you have a plan for your story. So, if you choose "Mystery," you will write what the crises is that already occurred, then write who was responsible for it,...etc. Bring this tomorrow! It will be graded.

Have a great evening!

For Monday and Tuesday:

ISTEP Day!

Thank you for your hard work:  periods 1, 2, and 3 on Monday and periods 4, 5, and 6 on Tuesday.

****Please remember your Amish Acres permission slips and money. It is due May 11. ****

Periods 1, 2, and 3: Get to bed early tonight and eat a well-balanced breakfast tomorrow!

See you in Lab B :)

Finally Friday!

It was a challenging week for students with the change to block scheduling and ISTEP. They did a fantastic job of staying focused and keeping noise down in classrooms and hallways. But...it's not over...

Istep for language arts is next week. We will return to a block schedule next week with periods 1, 2, 3 on Monday, and periods 2, 3, and 4 on Tuesday. The same schedule will be for Wed. and Thurs.

Today students submitted their research book to Canvas. Writing stamina has grown!! If Canvas could not completely upload your paper, I will be grading it on Google docs. Make sure it is in your LA turn-in folder.

H/W:

Get a good night's sleep and eat a healthy breakfast every day next week! You want to feel enegized as you show everything you know on your LA ISTEP!

Amish Acres permission slips due May 11. Remember, there are two slips to pass in with your money. Thank you!

Enjoy the nice weather this weekend!

Wednesday and Thursday:

Reminder: On field trip permission slips, both the permission slip AND the waiver need to be filled out and returned. The medical slip is only if the student takes medicine during the day or would need medicine on stand-by. So, each student returns two green slips and money. Thank you!

After silent reading, all classes learned about writing an introduction for their research book and its chapters. This is a fine art, but students are getting so used to this type of writing, it was easy! The put all their chapters together with their partners so the book is ready for turn-in on Friday. They highlighted the following from their most factual, outstanding, well-written chapter:

Research tag and Evidence: light yellow
Thought Prompt and Explanation: light green
Data (within the text): light purple

H/W:

Field trip money due May 11
Be ready to submit research book on Friday

Enjoy your evening!

***Did you like today's video? Look under links to watch it again!

Monday and Tuesday:

If you need to find your SRI/Lexile scores for the social studies and science honors application , please go HAC, click on grades, then test scores. We have taken the SRI test twice this year.

Today we had block schedule...just like the old days! It felt good! We began with silent reading and students looked for strong examples of writing using a dash, parentheses, and a colon. Students have been learning to use these in their research writing.

After that, students did a gallery walk to read classmates' research papers and document the informational features they used well and/or need to add to their writing. They were little research detectives and offered some useful suggestions and positive comments. Then, they took their feedback and spent time revising their papers.

For the last chunk of class, I reviewed the data I pulled together from their last acuity test, and we looked at problem questions specific to their class. It is so imperative that students use CLOSE READING when answering the ISTEP questions. Don't assume you know the question! That was the biggest lesson I learned  in middle school!

H/W:
-Research papers will be due Thurs./ Friday
-Field trip money and permission slips due May 11
- Rest up for ISTEP this week and next week!
- If you received an orange packet from me, remember that you bring a lunch tomorrow and meet me in my room for a make-up quiz.

Thank you!

Happy Friday!

Today all students received a permission slip and information about the Amish Acres field trip on May 21. Please read the information carefully. The permission slip, waiver form, medical form (on other side of waiver) are due May 21. This trip is always a fun day for students and staff! We have enough staff to cover the trip, and I will ask for volunteers if we need parent coverage. Thank you!

Our ISTEP block scheduling begins next week. Next week is in math, and students will be testing with their math class. Monday students will have periods 1, 2, and 3 only. Tuesday will be periods 4, 5, and 6. Each class will be about two hours long. Lunch times will vary between 12:00 and 12:30.
Students, remember your reading books!

Today we covered the purpose of using parentheses, dashes, colon and commas in writing. Students learned the difference that these simple punctuation marks can make for a reader. Some bring strength to the meaning of words, others don't. If you were absent you can get notes from a classmate when you return. Most classes had time to get onto their research papers and revise with creative punctuation!

H/W:

• I am looking for the research books to be finalized by the next Thursday or Friday. I am so excited to see the fantastic books you have been writing!
• Amish Acres permission slip, waiver, and money ($18.50) due Monday, May 11.
• If you received an orange packet from me, return the paper with a parent signature and bring your lunch on Tues.

Have a great weekend! Rest up for ISTEP on Monday!