English 6
Thursday, March 7
Today may have been the last ZERO degree morning we have. Maybe??
English classes have been working on JABiztown preparation. Team Two will be going down to the Metro area Monday May 20 for our business simulation. Students have prepared job applications, resumes and will prepare for an interview in future lessons. They are excited about the prospect of being "adults" for the day. Students are assessed on their application, and resume. There will be a test after the interview preparation has been completed.
More information about this project can be found in your student's Google Classroom.
Monday, Feb. 4, 2019
After all the cold days last week we are now presenting book reports on Tuesday. Students practiced in class last Friday, had a lesson in the library on Monday and will present tomorrow. Back on schedule!
January 25
English book club presentations and essays
Essay is due Tuesday, Jan 29. Students have class time Monday to work.
Presentation:
Groups will present information from their essays to the whole class.
Monday-some work time
Wednesday -Presentations
Options:
Students can come in during lunch or after school Monday and after school on Tuesday
Students can sign up for WIN Tues-Thursday to practice and /or present.
Summarizing Practice. Students will have an assessment of summarizing skills on Friday.
January 8. In English students have been reading a Literature Circle(Book Club) book. They selected a book and were placed with others who selected the same book. Students have been reading twenty minutes in class almost every day. We are currently working on summarizing.
January 14, 2019
Students will finish their fiction book this week. We have begun writing summaries of the book and analyzing paragraphs. Theme is a major topic of discussion. All work, outside of reading, should be able to be completed in class.
Assignment due dates:
- Book should be done Thursday Jan 17
- group plot chart Jan. 17
- Typed essay Jan. 25
- Group presentation Jan 25,28
Below you will find an example essay on our class read aloud, The Wednesday Wars."
Summary Paragraph
Interesting Thought #1
Mine is about the main character. Yours can be about main character, point of view or some other author technique
Interesting Thought #2
Anything you find interesting in your story
Interesting Thought #3
Anything you find interesting in your story
Theme Paragraph
Theme
The Wednesday Wars, by Gary Schmidt is a story set in the late 60’s during the Vietnam War and is about a 7th grade boy in a Long Island, NY middle school. The character, Holling Hoodhood, experiences many things at his school and in his family life that inform the reader about life during this time in US history.
I think that the main character Holling Hoodhood, is hilarious! He has strong feelings about almost everything; his dad the architect, who wants everything perfect, his rebellious “flower child” sister, and his teacher. “Mrs. Baker hates my guts!” he tells his mom, dad, and finally, his sister. He also has a great vocabulary and he describes things very poetically, such as, “..the light of autumn changed to mellow and full yellow and the air turned so sweet and cool..” He maybe gets his vocabulary from all the books he reads. He often makes connections between his life and the stories he is reading. Holling would be an interesting person to have in class. I think he might keep things exciting!
I really enjoy the way the author describes things because so many of them remind me of when I was little. For example, Mrs. Baker makes Holling pound erasers against the brick wall of the school to get the dust out. He writes, “the white chalk dust spread up and around me, settling in my hair and in my eyes and up my nose and down my throat…” I remember pounding erasers at my elementary school for Miss Bakeberg, my fourth grade teacher. So I really like the example Mr. Schmidt writes.
I love Shakespeare so I really enjoy how the author describes Shakespeare’s plays through Holling. He gets all excited at all of the curses in The Tempest and he loves the famous “Quality of Mercy” speech in The Merchant of Venice. It’s great to hear him describe the heartbreaking, tragic, romance of Romeo and Juliet. Shakespeare is awesome!
Gary Schmidt uses Shakespeare to help the reader to understand a theme of this story. A lot of the characters in Shakespeare’s plays deal with not being able to be who they want to be. We see that in Wednesday Wars, too. Both Holling and his sister have expectations placed on them by their father. Mrs. Baker has to be a certain way and everyone expects Mai Thi so be something she isn't. Gary Schmidt shows how it is possible to make your own decisions; to be your own person. Even Doug Swieteck is able to do that when he gets rid of the box of 166! I think that Wednesday Wars is about ….
Tuesday, January 22
In English students are writing an essay about their Book Club Book. They are summarizing and analyzing the story. Teaching kids to think and talk about literature is one of the things I love best about being an English teacher. Your child's work is in Google Classroom if you want to see what s/he/they has/have been writing. I have attached a rubric for this essay. It is due Friday. Students have three class periods and two WINs(if they chose) to complete the work.
Jan. 21
Report cards are coming soon. Conduct Grades are a part of our reporting. This mark lets you know, a bit, daily behavior and conduct of your student at school. Students at OEMS are exemplary resulting in many "S" marks. I have let students know that I am raising the bar on conduct grades and expecting students to work on these soft skills for the second semester. I have attached a rubric that I will be using to assess conduct.
Jan. 24
Other than reading 30 minutes a daily I rarely assign homework. If student are working, diligently , in class and not finishing I extend the assignment. Students are working hard on the book essay and I have extended the due date to Monday. We will proceed with presentations of the book on Friday.