Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a terrific holiday break and you are all rested and ready for the next year!
We have some exciting units coming up and, of course, the pre-EOG practice test. Doing reading homework from here on out is extremely important. Practice makes perfect and I have seen much improvement in comprehension and fluency in students that have been diligent with their homework. Please make sure your child is reading for 30 minutes (AT LEAST!!!) a day. After the break, we will finish up Out of the Dust, which was interrupted by the snow break. 6th grade will begin reading Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli in small groups and 5th grade will read and listen to a variety of novels on tape and work in small group literature circles. After the novel study both groups will learn about bias, propaganda, stereotypes and write a persuasive essay to a person or institution of choice. In February, we will have an in-depth study of Black History to include slave quilts and stories, the Harlem Renaissance, blues music and African-American poetry.


Theme Project and Essay #2: Due Jan. 3
Students should come armed with both their 2nd essay and project on Monday. We will have presentations for about 30 minutes daily until everyone has given theirs, students should be prepared to go on Monday, even though they may not present until later in the week. Points will be docked from students who are not prepared. Also, I will have students assessing their peers and part of their input will be used in grading. One of the curricular goals for 5th and 6th grade is to develop critical thinking skills and to understand when something is well-done and to develop the stance of a critic. Students will be given a rubric to score their peers which explains what they (and I) should look for in a good project.


The 2nd essay will be a little different because you really can't give much of an opinion about a non-fiction book! I think the easiest approach would be write about the three-five most interesting facts that he learned and why they think they are interesting and then finish with a few sentences of book review, was it appropriate for his/her age level? did it hold his/her interest? would he/she recommend it to others? etc... 1-2 typed pages, 12 point Times New Roman font, black ink. If you can't print it at home, bring it in on a flash drive and I'll print it at school.

Students still must make up the spelling test from the week before break, so we will just use the same words this week. Vocab test on Friday for all students.

See you all soon!