Reading
This is the focal point of my class. My passion is to develop life long readers who pick up books for enjoyment and to satisfy curiousity. Each class will begin with silent independent reading where I will check in with students on how their reading is going. I will share numerous high interest books to engage students. By reading each day, students become better writers! Reading increases vocabulary and overall knowledge which carries over into all aspects of life. As a class, we will study a variety of genres, engage in book clubs and visit the library regularly.
Writing
Students will engage a variety of writing tasks. We will focus on literary analysis, argument writing, narrative writing and informative writing.
Each day in class, we will also respond to a piece of text through a "quickwrite." This will help students engage in risk-free writing where they can experiment with language and find their "voice."
Stems/ Vocabulary
Every other week, students will receive a new list of Stems and Vocabulary. The list will be introduced on a Monday and we will engage in an activity using the list. Students are responsible for studying a little each evening for homework. Quizzes will take place every other Friday.
Grammar
Each grade level will continue to expand on parts of speech, sentence construction, proper punctuation and effective word choice. We will study mentor sentences, discovering the complexity of the language and then imitate the sentences with our own creative thoughts.
We will also practice various grammar skills with a program called No Red Ink as well as with IXL.
