Assignments for Week 5/11/20-5/15/20

Reading and Writing Assignments for the Week of 5/11/20-5/15/20

Monday 5/11/20

  1. Well, your 6th grade year is coming to a close. You guys have learned so much and grown so much this year. I am so proud of you! The assignment this week is going to give you a chance to reflect on the person you are becoming, and the things you are learning along the way. This week, and next, you will be writing an essay titled “This I Believe.” This assignment is divided into sections, but you can work ahead if you would like.

    1. “This I Believe” Part 1:

      1. Have you ever noticed how many songs have the word “believe” in them? Well, there are a ton! It is one of those universal themes we talked about in class that can be found in all forms of artistic and literary expression, from paintings, to stories, to movies, to poetry (and songs). Today, you are going to choose 3 songs to analyze that have the word “believe” in them. This is a way to get your brain thinking about this universal theme and what you think and feel about it.

      2. Directions:

        1. Go to the following link (https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-songs-with-believe-in-the-title/ranker-music) and choose 3 songs that have the word “believe” in them that you would like to analyze. This website has 108 of them listed, so there are plenty to choose from! If you know of another one, you can use that one for this assignment, too, even if it is not listed on this website. Fill out the song/poetry analysis worksheet I posted in Google Classroom for each song and turn the assignment in when you are finished. Note: For some of the songs, you can watch the music video by clicking on the link provided on this site. However, some of the music videos will not play. You can try searching for them on Youtube. If this doesn’t work, you can try looking up the song lyrics online so you can at least read the songs for the analysis questions. Actually, it might be helpful to look up all of your chosen songs’ lyrics online so you can better answer the questions.

  2. Login to vocabulary.com and practice the unit 26 words for your quiz on Friday. This is our last vocabulary list of the year, so study hard and end on a good note. You can do it!

  3. Work on your individually assigned grammar practice activities on quill.org. This is our last grammar unit too, so do your best!

  4. Keep reading for your reading goal. 25 points on AR is due by May 15th! 5 days and counting...

Tuesday 5/12/20

  1. “This I Believe” Part 2:

    1. Now that we got our brains thinking about the universal theme of belief through music yesterday, today you will read a few examples of “This I Believe” essays that other adults and students have written as part of a larger public dialogue on the web.

    2. Directions:

      1. Go to the following link (https://thisibelieve.org/themes/) and take a look around the webpage. There are literally thousands of “This I Believe” essays organized by theme. This may take some time, but choose 3 essays that you think are interesting. If you click on the title of the essay, you will be able to read the text. Most of them also have the option to listen to the essay while you follow along. You can do this by clicking on the play button. So, read and/or listen to the 3 essays you have chosen and then fill out the essay analysis worksheet I posted in Google Classroom for each essay and turn the assignment in when you are finished.

  2. Practice unit 26 on vocabulary.com.

  3. Work on your individually assigned grammar practice activities on quill.org.

Wednesday 5/13/20

  1. “This I Believe” Part 3:

    1. Okay, so you’ve read a few example “This I Believe” essays. Now it is your turn to start thinking about what you believe and what you would like to write about for this assignment. You can write about anything you would like, but keep in mind that I will be reading these, and if you talk about something that is against the law, I will have to report you because I am required by law as a teacher. If this concerns you, it’s probably better to choose something less personal. Hint: Think school appropriate! Also, for this essay, you can use some of those words we normally leave out of our academic writing. This is a personal essay, so you can use the words I, me, and my because it is supposed to be about you and what you believe.

    2. Directions:

      1. Not all essays have to be 5 paragraphs, but for this assignment, we are going to stick with this format so it is easier to plan out what we are going to write about. Today, fill out the essay outline planning worksheet I posted in Google Classroom and turn the assignment in when you are finished. Make sure to read the “Helpful Hints” on the outlining assignment. They really are helpful!

  2. Practice unit 26 on vocabulary.com.

  3. Work on your individually assigned grammar practice activities on quill.org.

Thursday 5/14/20

  1. “This I Believe” Part 4:

    1. Today you will write the introduction to your “This I Believe” essay. Use the outline you wrote yesterday as a guideline.

  2. Practice unit 26 on vocabulary.com.

  3. Work on your individually assigned grammar practice activities on quill.org.

Friday 5/15/20

  1. READING GOAL IS DUE TODAY! 25 POINTS ON AR!

  2. “This I Believe” Part 5:

    1. Today you will write the first body paragraph of your “This I Believe” essay. Use the outline you wrote Wednesday as a guideline.

  3. Complete the vocab quiz for unit 26 that I sent to you this morning through your email.

  4. Make sure you have completed your individualized grammar practice activities for this week on quill.org.

  5. Listen to the next episode of The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel (Audio link: https://www.marspatel.com/?page_id=2 ) We are on Season 1 Episode 8 and it is about 15 minutes long. (Note: This is the last episode we will listen to as a class, but feel free to finish the series online! You can listen to them using this link, but for more recent episodes, it asks you to pay for them. However, you can find all of the remaining episodes for free on youtube. Just search for Mars Patel.)

    1. After listening to the podcast, answer the following questions with complete sentences on a Google doc and submit your answer on Google classroom.

      1. What does our crew see at Mars’ apartment? Who comes to their rescue and how? Answer this with at least 2 complete sentences.

      2. Who causes the distraction on the boat so the others can get away and how? (LOL!!!!) Answer this with at least 1 complete sentence.

      3. What did they find on the island and how do they plan on getting in? Answer this with at least 1 complete sentence.