Today’s Tasks
Click on the appropriate date below to download each day’s task sheet.
(I have cleaned off the links from before the winter holiday, so if there is something you’d like to look at again from before January, please feel free to email me and I will forward you the information!)
March 17– Grammar Boot Camp– parts of speech presentations challenge– will continue tomorrow with laptops!
Grammar Boot Camp–parts of speech presentation challenge
March 16–Grammar Boot Camp– pre-test challlenge
March 15– GRAMMAR BOOT CAMP KICK-OFF!!! We randomly picked our teams, named them, and created posters representing our teams!
March 12– Grammar Boot Camp Pre-Test/You Choose Time
March 11– Problem/Solution Prewriting– today was the last day to plan your problem/solution main ideas and supporting details. If your group did not finish ALL of the graphic organizers, you will need to come to Friday Morning Writer’s Club tomorrow!!!
March 10– Problem/Solution Prewriting– students continued to work on their problem/solution pre-writing organizers. Refer to the powerpoint slides from March 4th to view more detailed information. You are NOT responsible for working on this outside of class yet!
March 9– CRCT Test Preparation– students complete test practice in the Literature textbooks. If you were absent, you need to come and see me to check-out a book!
1. Pages 166-171
- Do not do # 14-16 on page 169
- Students only need to write the letter of the correct answers
2. Pages 296-301
- Do not do # 12-13 on page 299
- Students only need to write the letter of the correct answers
March 8– You Choose– options were reading and journaling as well as media center time
March 5–“Reading and Journal Turn-In”— if you have not turned in your stuff, you need to do so ASAP!
“CRCT Test Practice and Grammar Skills!” —students completed all exercises on the following pages in their Reader’s Journey textbooks:
- Pages 124-125—verbs
- Pages 154-157—verbs
- Pages 202-205—adjectives
Anything not finished will need to be completed for homework.
March 4– Problem/Solution: Selecting a Topic– today was spent discussing what makes good topics for your upcoming problem/solution project as well as getting in groups and beginning the prewriting phases of this assignment. We brainstormed as a class, individually, and with two different partners, so everyone had a lot of great ideas to choose from. Once we were done brainstorming, you had a very important decision to make. You had to decide what topic to approach and whether or not you wanted to work individually or with a group of up to four students. Some of the things we talked about when making this decision was whether or not you could count on the people in your group to pull their weight. Most students made what seems like very good decisions about who to work with. If there are ever any concerns about your group, you need to let me ASAP! You cannot wait until the end and expect me to make exceptions when something doesn’t get done. As soon as you notice a problem, LET ME KNOW!!! 
You can click on the powerpoint below to access the information from the board for today. You are not responsible for working on your pre-writing tonight or over the weekend. Keep up with your work and we will come back to it on Monday of next week!
Problem Solution Problem Solution– 2003 version
Don’t forget that your reading and journal pages are due TOMORROW even though I will not be here. There will be information left for our sub, Mrs. Chambless, about how to go about turning in your stuff!
March 3–You Choose– reading and journaling were your only options. Remember, all pages for the 3rd nine weeks are due Friday, March 5th!
March 2–Crazy Day! Today was intended to be your You Choose day for this week, but once the announcement came that we were getting out early, we had a REALLY hard time focusing, so we switched it to an Author’s Chair day. Everyone is expected to do Author’s Chair once, so several of you went ahead and got this out of the way!
March 1–Read Across America Week Kick-Off— we spent today in the media center with Mrs. Harpin learning about the newest Destiny Search features, hearing about exciting new books, browsing the shelves to find new books and then reading. This WAS NOT a “You Choose” day– there was no time for journaling since we were kicking of the Read Across America Week. As this event spans the entire course of the week, please make sure to come to class EACH AND EVERY DAY with a silent reading book. You just never know when I might throw some extra reading time your way!!!
February 26–Grammar Review and CRCT Test Prep —students will complete all exercises on the following pages in their Reader’s Journey textbooks:
- Pages 36-39—nouns and spelling
- Pages 68-71—pronouns
- Pages 80-83—standardized test practice
February 25– guidance lesson– career planning with Mrs. Bendig, 6th grade counselor
February 24– Problem-Solution Expository Notes and Evaluating a Problem-Solution Text– we took two column notes about what should be included in a problem/solution expository essay and then evaluated an example on shanty towns. Click the links below to access your notes and shanty town paragraph/instructions.
problem- solution 2.24.10 problem- solution 2.24.10– 2003 version
February 23– School-Wide Heading & You Choose– we talked a lot today about the different styles of writing: MLA, APA, and Chicago style and how you will spend the majority of your school career using MLA. Therefore, we are moving to a school wide heading using the MLA format that two of our three high schools use. You can view the sampe heading used in class today by clicking on the link below. Everyone also made an example to go in the front of each binder, so if you can’t open the attachment, you also have your examples that you made.
As our reading and journal due date is quickly approaching, we spent the remaining time on our you choose items since most of us spent all of yesterday completing the literary analysis assignment.
February 22– Expository Writing: Evaluating Texts/Literary Analysis Day 2 & You Choose– today was spent completing the evaluation activity we began on Friday. Several of you finished in time for me to grade those assignments during class and for the most part it looked really, really good! The biggest concernI saw had nothing to do with the evaluations but still with following instructions, especially when marking the text! Make sure you are fully reading and THIINKING about what you are reading in order to ensure the most knowledge acquisition as possible! Pages 176-177 and 194-201 were due at the end of class today!
Don’t forget that 450 reading pages and 18 journal pages are due next Friday, March 5th!!!
February 19– Expository Writing: Evaluating Texts/Literary Analysis– we worked more today on looking at examples of expository writing and the different organizational patterns that can be used when approaching non-fiction writing (cause and effect; problem-solution, compare-contrast, etc.) using our Reader’s Journey texts. Most students needed additional time to complete this assignment, so we made a deal. I will provide 15 minutes to complete this work. If you felt like you would need more time, you decided to take your book home and get part of it done over the weekend; otherwise, you left your book at school with the understanding that at the end of the extra 15 minutes, all books would be collected and graded as completed. Click on the powerpoint below to access the pages and instructions for today’s class!
February 18–Unpacking the Expository Standard Group Challenge– using the translations of our expository standards that you wrote yesterday/last night, we came up with the absolute best translation/interpretation possible for each element. It never ceases to amaze me how hard each of you work and how much effort you put in when there is a contest going on! Keep it up even when you’re not “winning” something because you are always gaining an education!
February 17–Unpacking the Expository Standard– Today, we talked a lot about the language of the expository standard and how at first glance, it makes NO sense! In pairs, you worked on ‘unpacking’ your standard elements. All that means is that you used dictionaries, thesauruses, Write Source books, and each other to rewrite the standards in 6th grade language. You must complete your unpacking before returning to class tomorrow in order to move on to the next part of the expository unit. You may download the standards by clicking the links below. If you are unable to download the documents, you may also access the standards by visiting Picasso from the school website. Picasso gives you access to all of your standards for all of your classes. Simply click on language arts and then 6th grade and you will see our standards listed there. I also recommended in class that you copy the standards before you begin unpacking them. Please know that not being able to download my attachments will not excuse you from completing the assignment.
unpacking the standard unpacking the standard- 2003 version
February 16– You Choose– today was a read and journal day; we also turned in our vocabulary word maps. You got those back already, so go ahead and start studying your words now for next Friday’s test!!!
February 12– Expository Vocabulary Word Maps– we started class today by grading our expository writing vocabulary pretests and then you went on to create word maps for each of your 14 vocabulary words for this unit. Word maps are due when we return to class on Tuesday! 4th period– while you didn’t have a full class today, you were with me long enough to receive all of your instructions for this activity. You are responsible for completing your word maps over the long weekend in order to prevent us from falling behind!
Students may access the pre-test answer key, the words and definitions, and the word maps by clicking on the links below:
word map word map-2003 version
Expository Writing Vocabulary Expository Writing Vocabulary- 2003 Version
Expository Writing Vocabulary Pre-Test Answer Key Expository Writing Vocabulary Pre-Test Answer Key- 2003 version
February 11– CRCT Prep Day 1– complete all sections of the standardized test practices on pages 46-47, 166-169, 258-261, and 310-311 in your Reader’s Journey text. I know this sounds like A LOT of work, but it’s really not! Most students completed all of this activity in class with time to spare. If you did not finish, please make sure you have completed all sections of all pages before returning to class tomorrow. I did NOT collect any textbooks today regardless of whether or not you were done. Several of your parents prefer to see your completed work; therefore, I do not collect work early. All pages are due at the beginning of class on Friday.
February 10– I was out unexpectedly. Your instructions were to complete your expository pre-test and then you had You Choose time. Options included reading, journals, or making thank you and welcome cards/letters for our old/new math teachers!
February 9– Stars and Strikes Field Trip!!!
February 8– Reading for Information- Cause and Effect– Today we continued evaluating The Story of Ceres and Proserpina on pages 646-655 of the literature text books. Click on the powerpoint below to access specific instructions for today’s activity. If you were absent or did not finish, you will need to check out a book in order to complete this assignment. All books will need to be checked out at the end of 4th period since we will be using the texts in all classes. Click on the links below to access the PowerPoint Instructions for this activity.
reading for information- cause and effect
reading for information- cause and effect- 2003 Version
February 5– I was absent on Friday. You continued working on Thursday’s assignments in addition to the set of questions added for Friday. (See Monday, February 8th to access the instructions)
February 4– Reading for Information- Cause and Effect– Today we started looking at some good examples of writing that provide information. Using mythology, we evaluated The Story of Ceres and Proserpina on pages 646-653 of the literature text books. Click on the powerpoint below to access specific instructions for today’s activity. If you were absent, you will need to check out a book from the sub tomorrow in order to complete this assignment over the weekend. If you did not finish today, you will need to start with that tomorrow before completing tomorrow’s assignment. All books will need to be checked out AFTER 4th period since we will be using the texts in class.
reading for information- cause and effect
reading for information- cause and effect (Windows 2003 Version)
3rd Period– I want to say again how impressed I was with the changes I saw in your behavior today! Thank you so much for your effort and hard work! I know together we can recover from our mistakes the last couple of weeks.
February 3– KABOOM!!!– I hope you had as much fun as I did today as we navigated our way through the landmines! Tell your parents about it and make sure to talk about the importance of clear and precise instructions!!!
3rd PERIOD ONLY– Because of recent behavior, we were unable to do the landmine activity. We had a long talk about class behavior and what needs to change on all ends. I was really impressed with the things you were saying; however, I was very disappointed when we still had people not following the basic rules during lunch. Please make sure to complete pages 46-47 (ALL PARTS) in your Reader’s Journey text before coming to class tomorrow.
February 2– Evaluating Instructions– I hope today was as much fun for all of you as it was for me!!! We spent the day evaluating magic trick instructions and testing out different sets to see what makes instructions and directions precise and clear. It was especially interesting to see how different groups interpreted some of the different tricks when developing your ‘performance.’ You are all so very creative! Several of you asked about getting a copy of these instructions to practice at home, so I will attach them to the end of this posting!
3rd Period– We are continuing to have some behavior issues that have reached a point that we must address them as a class. Today was meant to be a fun day; however, several of the groups found themselves unable to stay on task which meant they didn’t have their performance ready on time, and then at the end when you were to evaluate and rewrite your instructions, several took the easy way out and wrote, “Our directions were good.” The question I posed to each of you at that point was, “If your directions were good, why didn’t your trick work when it was time to perform?” We have got to pull it together and make sure that we are doing what we are supposed to. Because this has been going on since we returned from the winter holiday, I have asked each of you to write a journal entry tonight discussing what is going wrong and what you as an individual can do to help get us back on track. I will be joining you in this assignment and reflecting upon what changes I can make as well. Please be prepared to discuss your journals tomorrow. I do want to point out that while there are definitely students who are guilt free in this situation, the majority have been involved in the downfall of our class in one way or another. We have been dealing with issues ranging from small things like talking while we’re supposed to be quiet all the way up to larger concerns such as leaving the classroom without permission. I hope you will each take some time to really think about this journal entry so that we can get our class back to being the wonderful class it’s always been!
February 1–You Choose— Today’s options were to read, journal, or to complete the practice writing test for the handful of students who had still not finished. Today was the LAST day to turn in any of the technical writing/poetry stations. Don’t forget that we are having our 3rd nine weeks’ check-in on Friday, February 12th!
January 29– Draw It– today was the conclusion of the Draw It activity. It was a lot of fun to compare your pictures and to see how close some of us got while others were way off!
January 28– Book Fair and Draw It!– We started class today by visiting the book fair. I have to say how incredibly impressed I was with each and everyone of you and your behavior while we were in the book fair. If you forgot to bring your money or didn’t have enough with you, the book fair is open tomorrow as well. They close at 1:00 though, so make sure you get down there as soon as possible!
When we returned from the book fair, each of you selected a partner and traded instructions from yesterday’s Draw It activity with them. Using the instructions you received, you started drawing a new picture. Do your best to draw your picture exactly as the instructions indicate. Remember, you are not being graded on artistic ability or on the quality of the instructions you were given. You are only being graded on your ability to follow those instructions!
January 27– Draw It!– As we are continuing to work on giving and receiving instructions as part of our technical writing unit, we started an activity in class called “Draw It!” Please, please, please make sure that you finish anything tonight that you did not finish in class. You will have to have both pieces of this activity in order to move forward with this part of the unit! For those of you who were absent, you need to draw a picture– any picture! Set a timer for 15 minutes and create anything you’d like. You do need to color and/or shade your drawing. At the end of 15 minutes, write a list of instructions on a separate sheet of paper that would allow another person to create the exact same thing that you created. Again, you must have both pieces compelted in order to move onto the next step of this lesson tomorrow. Failure to come to class prepared will result in a zero for this assignment as well as for tomorrow’s assignment since you won’t be able to complete it without today’s work!
January 26– Giving and Receiving Instructions– partner puzzles: this was a lot of fun! I was really impressed with how most of you handled this activity. Out of 110 students, we only had five people who couldn’t follow instructions, so good job 6A! Some of you asked about having copies of the puzzles so that you could play with them at home, so I am posting them here:
partner puzzle blocks ; partner puzzle puzzles- easy ; partner puzzle puzzles- medium ; partner puzzle puzzles- hard
After we finished the partner puzzles, most classes were given the opportunity to work on tonight’s home work assignment: Pages 444 and 445 in the Reader’s Journey text book. Even though some classes were able to start this assignment, NO ONE completed it in class, so everyone should be finishing this at home. Don’t forget that you are responsible for completing numbers 1-6. Number 6 tells you to record your answer in your reader’s journal– we don’t have reader’s journals! Just record your answer to number 6 on page 445 with the rest of your work!
January 25– You Choose– As we discussed last week, today was our reading and journal day for this week. Your options were to read and journal. Some of you did have to make up last week’s vocabulary test while others had to finish their practice writing test, so if you didn’t get time to read and/or journal in class today, please make sure you are keeping up with all of your pages outside of class. We are going to try and have our 3rd nine weeks check-in on Friday, February 12th if all goes according to plan. At that point, you should have around 14 journal pages and 315 reading pages. Remember, all 450 reading pages and all 18 journal pages are due on Friday, March 5th.
January 22– Technical Writing Vocabulary Test; Completion of Mock Writing Test; Poetry Station Q&A and re-do time; You Choose (read and journal)– We’ve had a lot of different things going on in class today. First and foremost was the technical writing vocabulary test. I will run those through the scantron before I leave today and will try to post them on Pinnacle this weekend. Some of you then had to finish your practice writing test. The majority of students spent their time after the test working on fixing what went wrong with their individual poetry packets. Make sure you have all stations to me by February 1st for partial credit. If there is a station that you want to raise you grade in because you just don’t like what you did the first time around, there is no penalty for resubmitting work. Work can be resubmitted as many times as you’d like up until February 1st!
January 20-21– Mock Writing Test– over the next two days, we will be participating in a practice writing test as our 8th graders take on their state writing test; as we discussed in class, the purpose of this test is to help you prepare for that 8th grade test; areas that we are focusing on are following all 5 steps of the writing process (prewriting, drafting, revising, finalizing, and editing) as well as using the full amount of time allowed to produce a piece of writing on an assigned topic.
January 19– You Choose– Options were reading, journaling, or making flash cards/studying for Friday’s vocabulary test; all students had the chance to go to the media center
January 12-15–Technical Writing Centers– All assignments for the technical writing centers/stations are due at the end of class on Friday, January 15th. Remember, you had a week to work on these assignments before the break and a week after the break, so most of you should have turned in all station assignments in class. If, however, you did not finish, you may click on the link to access the instructions and complete them over the weekend. All assignments must be turned in by 9:15 on Tuesday, January 19th to avoid late points being deducted.
Technical Writing Stations (Windows 2003 Version–Technical Writing Stations )
January 11–You Choose (and completion of class spelling bees)–
January 8–Snow Day–
January 7–Class Spelling Bees–
January 6–Review of reading and journal requirements–
January 5–Benchmark Testing–
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