5th and 6th Grade ELA

Ms. Hall’s 5th and 6th Grade ELA Plan

What We’re Reading

5th Grade

Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt

Look Both Ways by Jason Reynolds

Biography of Choice

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

9th Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes

Front Desk by Kelly Yang

Time for Kids Magazine

6th Grade

Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt 

Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina

El Deafo by Cece Bell

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Salt by Helen Frost

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt

Passion Project

Time for Kids Magazine

Classwork and Homework: 

Nightly Reading - Students will be assigned a set number of pages to read each day from the novel we are reading. Completing this nightly reading is critical to students being prepared for discussions and completion of daily classwork. 

Quick Writing – This activity will be done in class and graded for completion. This writing strategy is used to build confidence and the ability to generate ideas on various topics. We will build on this strategy using 5-7-10 exercises where we will expand our quick writing into longer pieces of writing.

Writer’s Notebooks – Notebooks will be randomly checked every two weeks and be graded for completion. Students will use these mini-notebooks to write down examples of beautiful writing from books they are reading. Students will share these quotes every two weeks in class. This tool helps students to read as writers, noticing examples of exceptional writing by authors and recognizing how sentence structure and word choice affect meaning and build interest for the reader. With continued practice, students will begin to utilize words and structures they’ve noticed while reading in their own writing. 

Lexia - 40 minutes of Lexia Power Up is required by each student in 5th grade and 6th grade unless the student has completed the program.  The grade is calculated by the number of minutes a student works on Lexia each week. If a student works on Lexia for 30 minutes a week, the student will earn a 30/40 or 75%.   Students are encouraged to work on Lexia for 10 minutes a day in ELO (Extended Learning Opportunity) 

Shurley English – This program will be used to reinforce grammar and conventions of English and will be taught and graded by Ms. Coppola.

Grading

Categories:

Summative (includes assessments and projects) 60%- Scores for a test, assignment or project used to evaluate student learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement at the conclusion of a defined instructional period.

Formative (includes classwork, homework, quizzes) 40%- class worksheets, notebook checks, discussions etc. used to conduct in-process evaluations of student comprehension, learning needs, and academic progress during a lesson or unit.

Writing grades will be based upon the following criteria:

Students will be given a rubric explaining the assignment in detail for more involved writing projects, including what the goal of the assignment is and what must be included for the assignment to be complete and to earn all available points. 

Complete   100%

Almost           80%   (Assignment completed, but it was turned in late or was missing one key element.)

Partial   75%   (Submitted work is missing key elements as outlined in the assignment.)

Review           64%   (Student did not understand the assignment, they may choose to resubmit work.)

Not Done   25%   (Student did not turn in a finished assignment.) 

Standards and Goals:

• Successfully work in a group, teaching collaborative norms, language and sharing of ideas and work to complete a project

• Be able to recognize and understand the author’s purpose in writing, determine character development - style and language used, literary devices, terms and discuss different genres.

• Discussion norms for the classroom - how to state opinions, challenge others and share feelings in safe, respectful, and supportive environment

• Deliver oral presentations for varied genres and audiences

• Teach differences in language usage depending on the audience, the purpose of writing, not discounting any forms, but explaining how different ways of communicating are used in different contexts

• Teaching importance of domain-specific language and language usage in everyday life - ads, billboards, notices, menus, directions, recipes, letters - both formal and informal, programs

• Teach the importance of revision and editing, particularly peer editing and giving meaningful feedback to your peers - how to do this, language to use, give prompts and sentence starters to model how to effectively give feedback - respecting a person's work and thoughts. 

• Grammar and conventions including citations, conventions used to write dialogue, grade level vocabulary use, use of dictionary and thesaurus (Grammarly), teaching grammar in context

• Using mentor texts to teach literary devices, use modeling and I do, we do, you do...as needed, use exit tickets if needed to check for understanding

• Using Google docs, slides, PowerPoint, text to speech (if needed), designing poster, graphics 

• To honor the student’s voice and provide choice whenever possible, along with scaffolding as needed. 

• To give meaningful feedback for graded assignments along with clear rubrics beforehand so students are clear on what the expectations are for the work. Feedback will be focused on things done well and possible areas for improvement or reflection. 

• Utilize The Write Tools program for the organization of writing and to build upon past knowledge

• To build upon students’ knowledge base and make connections to what they already know, this is critical to further understanding and let them feel empowered by knowing they already possess skills and knowledge that we can build upon. 

• Teach literary terms, and genres, and how to determine and understand an author’s purpose. To determine and notice plot development (foreshadowing, tone), character development, and writing style and language used to convey that to the reader.

• Understand vocabulary and sentence structure and how that sets the tone and feel of a book. 

Writing Goals:

• Students will understand the characteristics of different genres of writing and be able to produce written examples of these genres.

• Students will be able to produce a multi-paragraph essay by year-end.

• Students will have an understanding of research, including using citations and text evidence.

• Students will be able to utilize Google docs and Grammarly when typing assignments.

• Students will use peer editing to give meaningful feedback to each other and how to use that feedback to improve their writing.

• Students will work effectively in groups to produce projects and some writing assignments.

• Students will gain confidence and see themselves as readers and writers of different genres of writing.