Grade 6 Class Updates

Week of November 13

This week the class is working on a lesson centered around the the narrative nonfiction book The Boy Who Invented the TV. This book is the captivating tale of Philo Farnsworth who played a pivotal role in the invention of the TV. Watch this video for some background information on the man. While reading we will practice the reading skills of identifying and analyzing text structure and author's purpose. Also this week will be a lesson on types of nouns. Monday we practiced our new vocabulary. You can find review materials below.

Week of November 6

My apologies parents for neglecting to update the page last month. thins got pretty busy during Halloween, I needed to put this task lower on the to-do list. Last week the class continued to explore the literary tools authors use to craft stories. Last week we read an interesting essay on how authors use weather and seasons as symbolic devices in their stories. This week, students are practicing some of these skills by writing their own imaginary stories. Below you can find some of the vocabulary resources from last week. Feel free to use the resoruces below to review and practice with your child.

Week of October 2

This week we are getting back to a lesson from Into Reading after spedning a work working on personal narratives. Yes the kids spent last week writing, and almost got done. We will wrap up the writing this week, but don't be surprised if the kids take some of that writing home this week.

This week we are reading "Identity Theft" from the text book. This is a cute story about someone with the same name as you joining your class. It can feel like someone is replacing you, and that's exactly what our main character thinks. On Monday we practiced vocabulary for the lesson. You can review the words below. Tuesday we will do a grammar lesson on compound and complex sentneces. See the resoruces below as well. We'll wrap up the week reading and practicing the reading skills of point of view and theme.

Week of September 18

Sorry for getting this update on here late. Below are the vocabulary and grammar practice material for this week.  This week our lesson is centered around a nonfiction selection about influential young people throughout history. We will be looking at text structure and author's purpose as we read. On Monday and Tuesday we practiced our focus vocabulary this week and did some grammar practice, continuing with subjects and predicates and sentence structure. Thursday will be a focus on our reading material and reading skills. Friday and Saturday will be time to work on our writing, continuing to write personal narratives about learning from a mistake from our past.

Week of September 11

This week we begin our second lesson in our first Into Reading unit.  Our reading focus will be two short pieces, one a video about a chess champion from Uganda and the other a nonfiction story about two men who made one of the most challenging free climbs in the world. Our skill focus will be on main idea and details and identifying and analyzing text and graphics features. Vocabulary and grammar will also be a focus this week. See your weekly handout for these words. You can also review the vocabulary slideshow if you have time. We will continue working on our personal narratives.

As a reminder, students are responsible for completing a Weekly Independent Reading Summary Form each week. These are due on Tuesdays. These can be downloaded from this website here.

Week of September 4

This week we kick off our first week using Into Reading. We will be reading Sometimes a Dream Needs a Push by Walter Dean Meyers.  We'll practice such reading skills as identifying theme and author's craft. Vocabulary and grammar will also be a focus this week. See your weekly handout for these words. You can also review the vocabulary slideshow if you have time. We will also be starting our first writing task, a personal narrative.

Below is the grammar practice for this week. We reviewed subjects, predicates, complete sentences, and other forms of incorrect and correct sentence construction. Students practiced with the packet below in class.

Week of August 28

Welcome to a new school year! This page is where you can find updates on what is going on in class each week. I will try to keep this space updated so you can get a glimpse into what we are doing in class. If I fall behind of forget, don't be shy to email me and ask for updates directly.

This week, we are getting the year started with a few activities. Mostly I want to get to know the kids and get them used to me and how I run my class. I've posted the presentation I shared with the kids below for your reference.