We saw a great movie today: African Cats! So awesome!
Then we had a fabulous assembly put on by the Student Council! It was soooooo fun!!!!
Have a great vacation!
Friday, April 22, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Thursday
We went to Harold Martin School today to work with our buddies. The second graders LOVE their sixth grade buddies. All of the sixth graders have been so great with them. I love seeing my students in such a nurturing role. It truly warms the heart!
We had time to switch for math today. I took 6S for reading and we did some work with vocabulary. I took some of the Word Power sheets from Reader's Digest and we worked with those words. We will be doing more vocabulary building exercises when we come back to school after the break.
This afternoon 6F had computers and then we did some writing, spelling and reading. I did a CBM for writing with them. We also read for the remainder of our time for the reading logs. We finished with Scrabble.
We had time to switch for math today. I took 6S for reading and we did some work with vocabulary. I took some of the Word Power sheets from Reader's Digest and we worked with those words. We will be doing more vocabulary building exercises when we come back to school after the break.
This afternoon 6F had computers and then we did some writing, spelling and reading. I did a CBM for writing with them. We also read for the remainder of our time for the reading logs. We finished with Scrabble.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Wednesday
It was a quiet start to the day today with students in band and in chorus. Those not in either of these activities stayed and worked on various assignments.
In reading, we had another "read all class" class. I was able to finish reading with every student in 6S and I will finish the conferences with my class sometime this week. The students did exceptionally well staying on task during this time.
In writing, we finished up a short exercise using precise nouns. Students wrote a short piece and then went in search of all of the nouns. We finished class with a "Word Power" exercise from Reader's Digest. We are trying to expand our vocabularies so that our writing will have better word choice.
In science, we went over the heredity scavenger hunt to begin our discussion of genetics. I also read a book called Grandfather's Nose. We took notes on key vocabulary words in our notebooks.
Reading tests went home today. Let me know if you have any questions.
In reading, we had another "read all class" class. I was able to finish reading with every student in 6S and I will finish the conferences with my class sometime this week. The students did exceptionally well staying on task during this time.
In writing, we finished up a short exercise using precise nouns. Students wrote a short piece and then went in search of all of the nouns. We finished class with a "Word Power" exercise from Reader's Digest. We are trying to expand our vocabularies so that our writing will have better word choice.
In science, we went over the heredity scavenger hunt to begin our discussion of genetics. I also read a book called Grandfather's Nose. We took notes on key vocabulary words in our notebooks.
Reading tests went home today. Let me know if you have any questions.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday
Students did so well reading for 60 minutes today! I was so proud of them! I was able to confer with half of the students today and will do the other half tomorrow. I am having the students record the time that they are reading in class on the log. There is no vocabulary for this log.
In writing today, we finished up with helping verbs and have moved on to nouns. We looked at some fun vocabulary words and discussed them as well.
In science, 6S did the same thing as 6F did yesterday. Please check that blog.
All science stations are due by Friday. Please don't forget the permission slips! Thank you!
In writing today, we finished up with helping verbs and have moved on to nouns. We looked at some fun vocabulary words and discussed them as well.
In science, 6S did the same thing as 6F did yesterday. Please check that blog.
All science stations are due by Friday. Please don't forget the permission slips! Thank you!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday
I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm sure people are counting the days until vacation. We continue to stay busy in 6F.
I went to a conference on Friday with Dr. Richard Allington. He is a leader in the area of struggling readers and writers. Currently, he is a professor in Tennessee. After a lot of research, his message was clear: the one thing that will help struggling readers become better readers is TIME to read. That being said, I collected reading logs this morning and cut a deal with my sixth graders. They will need to do another reading log for this week, however, I am going to give them the time in class to do this. I am excusing of the vocabulary section but will give them 60 minutes of uninterrupted reading time tomorrow morning. They may log this time. I will do the same for them on Wednesday. This will allow them 45 more minutes to read. That's my end of the bargain. Their ends of the bargain consists of this: they must come with reading material, having gone to the bathroom and gotten drinks prior to the time I start my class. The 60 minutes tomorrow will be just that....60 minutes of pure reading time. I will be pulling students to confer with them. My goal is to sit and check in with each child between Tuesday and Wednesday. If there is misbehavior (off task behavior) during this reading time, students will owe me time at recess. I'm really looking forward to how this will turn out. If it is successful, then I may consider it in the future. I know that students are busy in the spring with activities and would like to allot them time for reading in class.
The time spent in reading will not be a "read-a-thon". They will be required to read appropriate material for independent reading. The students have all been prepped knowing that they must choose their books ahead of class time and come with enough reading material to last one hour. Choosing "just right" books is a very important skill that we've worked on all year long. I'm hoping this work will pay off for them.
In writing today, we worked on a Helping Verb sheet, some vocabulary development as well as a practice picture prompt. Students revised based on what a peer gave them for feedback. All of this work supports our work with word choice.
In science, we read a book called Why You Look Like You Whereas I Tend to Look Like Me. This sparked much discussion about the topic of genetics. I fielded questions as best I could and then we went over the Heredity Scavenger Hunt. We did not finish with this activity. Genetics is a complicated subject and we will only scratch the surface over the next few weeks. It is my favorite science unit to teach!
Please remember to send in the permission slips for HMS and the movie. Both require no money!
I went to a conference on Friday with Dr. Richard Allington. He is a leader in the area of struggling readers and writers. Currently, he is a professor in Tennessee. After a lot of research, his message was clear: the one thing that will help struggling readers become better readers is TIME to read. That being said, I collected reading logs this morning and cut a deal with my sixth graders. They will need to do another reading log for this week, however, I am going to give them the time in class to do this. I am excusing of the vocabulary section but will give them 60 minutes of uninterrupted reading time tomorrow morning. They may log this time. I will do the same for them on Wednesday. This will allow them 45 more minutes to read. That's my end of the bargain. Their ends of the bargain consists of this: they must come with reading material, having gone to the bathroom and gotten drinks prior to the time I start my class. The 60 minutes tomorrow will be just that....60 minutes of pure reading time. I will be pulling students to confer with them. My goal is to sit and check in with each child between Tuesday and Wednesday. If there is misbehavior (off task behavior) during this reading time, students will owe me time at recess. I'm really looking forward to how this will turn out. If it is successful, then I may consider it in the future. I know that students are busy in the spring with activities and would like to allot them time for reading in class.
The time spent in reading will not be a "read-a-thon". They will be required to read appropriate material for independent reading. The students have all been prepped knowing that they must choose their books ahead of class time and come with enough reading material to last one hour. Choosing "just right" books is a very important skill that we've worked on all year long. I'm hoping this work will pay off for them.
In writing today, we worked on a Helping Verb sheet, some vocabulary development as well as a practice picture prompt. Students revised based on what a peer gave them for feedback. All of this work supports our work with word choice.
In science, we read a book called Why You Look Like You Whereas I Tend to Look Like Me. This sparked much discussion about the topic of genetics. I fielded questions as best I could and then we went over the Heredity Scavenger Hunt. We did not finish with this activity. Genetics is a complicated subject and we will only scratch the surface over the next few weeks. It is my favorite science unit to teach!
Please remember to send in the permission slips for HMS and the movie. Both require no money!
Friday, April 15, 2011
Friday
I'm out at a conference today. The schedule goes as follows:
1. WIN groups based on language arts skills
2. Reading Test on the Story Elements
3. Science Quiz on Cell Parts and Heredity Scavenger Hunt
4. Assembly at the end of the day
Have a great weekend!
1. WIN groups based on language arts skills
2. Reading Test on the Story Elements
3. Science Quiz on Cell Parts and Heredity Scavenger Hunt
4. Assembly at the end of the day
Have a great weekend!
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Thursday
In writing, we had some quality time with our writers' notebooks this morning. Students have 5 pages due on Monday. We went over our work with action and linking verbs. Students then had a chance to practice writing a description of a picture prompt.
I read aloud the short story "Eleven" which is the story that we took a pretest on to begin our unit on Story Elements. I went over all of the story elements of this story. Students will be taking a test tomorrow to end this unit. We then continued with Day 5 activities. Respond to Reading about theme is due tomorrow.
In science, we took a quiz on the cell parts and then did a scavenger hunt with our textbooks to begin the Heredity part of this unit.
We had our Student Council rep. share the news about next week's spirit week. Monday is "Movie Day"; Tuesday is "Crazy Hair/Hat" day; Wednesday is "Red Carpet" Day; Thursday is "Sports" Day; and Friday is "Twin/Multiplicity" Day. Please remember the dress code when dressing for these days.
Permission slips for the movie African Cats went home yesterday. Please send them back as soon as possible. There is no cost for this trip. I'm also sending home a permission slip for us to go to HMS for our second grade buddies on Thursday of next week. There is no cost for this trip either. Thank you!
I read aloud the short story "Eleven" which is the story that we took a pretest on to begin our unit on Story Elements. I went over all of the story elements of this story. Students will be taking a test tomorrow to end this unit. We then continued with Day 5 activities. Respond to Reading about theme is due tomorrow.
In science, we took a quiz on the cell parts and then did a scavenger hunt with our textbooks to begin the Heredity part of this unit.
We had our Student Council rep. share the news about next week's spirit week. Monday is "Movie Day"; Tuesday is "Crazy Hair/Hat" day; Wednesday is "Red Carpet" Day; Thursday is "Sports" Day; and Friday is "Twin/Multiplicity" Day. Please remember the dress code when dressing for these days.
Permission slips for the movie African Cats went home yesterday. Please send them back as soon as possible. There is no cost for this trip. I'm also sending home a permission slip for us to go to HMS for our second grade buddies on Thursday of next week. There is no cost for this trip either. Thank you!
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