EXTRA CREDIT

If you would like to respond to THE REMIX newsletter, you may write a comment, question, or response for extra credit.

Weekend Homework

Reading: 

1. Read chapters 5-11
2. Write a short summary of each chapter
3. Select your three (3) favorite chapters and illustrate

Grammar, Usage, Mechanics
 TEST TUESDAY!!! study lessons 21-30

Number the Stars

Currently, we are reading Number the Stars, an incredible book about a ten year old Annemarie Johansen and her best friend Ellen Rosen. These girls often think about life before the war. But it's now 1943 and their life in Copenhagen is filled with school, food shortages, and the Nazi soldiers marching in their town.

The Nazis won't stop. The Jew of Denmark are being "relocated", so Ellen moves in with the Johansens and pretends to be part of the family.

Then Annemarie is asked to go on a dangerous mission. Somehow she must find the strength and courage to save her best friend's life. There's no turning back now.

Candlelight Vigil

November 9, 2010

Dear Parents and Guardians of 6th and 8th grade students,
As part of our VOICES literacy program, we are studying perspective taking. We are working with the students to look at issues from more than one perspective and see how situations, values, and events impact each other.

One of our partners at THEARC is Covenant House. On Tuesday, November 16, 201o, Covenant House is holding a Candlelight Vigil for Homeless Youth. This is a unique opportunity to raise public awareness about the issues and conditions facing youth who are homeless and/or abused. This event will take place at Freedom Plaza (Pennsylvania Avenue between 13th and 14th Street) from 5:30pm-6:30pm.

Students who attend this event will receive extra credit in Reading and Language Arts. We ask that parents or guardians take their student to this event; however, we do have a limited number of seats available on the Covenant House shuttle bus. This will be used on a first-come, first-served basis.The bus will dismiss promptly at 4:30pm and return by 7:15pm. This early dismissal will not be counted against your student.

We hope that you will take this opportunity to discuss current events with your student and encourage perspective taking!

Homework

Grammar, Usage, Mechanics (G.U.M.) and Vocabulary - Quiz tomorrow! TEST FRIDAY!!

Read for Real (R4R)  - Outline the rest of unit 1, part 3 "...Our Mother, the Earth"

Strategies for Writers (S4W) - Read and Complete pages 44-48 for your own email. I must see that you have completed the appropriate steps of the writing process (for example, drafting, editiing, proofreading etc...)

EXTRA CREDIT

 DIRECTIONS:

• Use a thesaurus to come up with 10 adjectives that describe this scene.
• LIST THEM
• Pretend you took this picture. Write a paragraph that explains scene.

Look at the following pictures. Read the captions and follow the directions for each picture. 

Meet my Beagle, Dexter. Write a story that describes a day in the life of Dexter.
 Use as many verbs, that describe dog behavior, as you can!

Homework

Word Wisdom- quiz tomorrow
Unit 2- Part 2

R4R - Read to page 32 - write interesting questions/comments that you have about the reading.

use LOQUACIOUS and GREGARIOUS in a sentence - write about that experience.

Homework/ Update

Welcome Back Students!!!

UNIT ONE COMPLETE: We are finished with our first GUM and Word Wisdom units.

• Just to review we covered: 
• G.U.M.
• Sentence Structure and Parts of Speech
• Word Wisdom
• Life Cycle Vocabulary
• Strategies for Writers
• Personal Narratives
• Reading
• House on Mango Street

Congratulations to each of you for working so diligently. Continue to work hard and support each other in your learning.
*************************

Continue to check the blog to find out what's next.

HOMEWORK

Read
 House on Mango
Sire-No Speak English

Write a paragraph outlining what you read!

TEST TOMORROW

Personal Narratives  Due Friday

H.W.

Personal Narratives
Due Tomorrow... No Excuses!

Six Vignettes
Due Wednesday!!! Typed and on a separate sheet of paper.

House on Mango Street
Read to page 80.
Create quiz questions for each chapter page 42-80

Vignettes

6 Vignettes DUE WEDNESDAY!!!

They must be printed and error free!

Dream it, Believe it, Achieve it!

I received this from my mother and thought I would share with you and your family. I felt as though this was appropriate since we are focusing on "Identity Awareness: What are our dreams and goals?" Hope you enjoyed your weekend! See you Monday.

 

SCRIPTURE

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses”

(1 Timothy 6:12, NIV)

If you believe it, you CAN achieve it.

One of the keys to seeing your dreams come to pass is to see them come to pass in your mind’s eye first. One of the greatest baseball players of our time told me that all through the day he sees himself hitting the ball. Before he gets up to the plate, he visualizes getting on base. He has this picture of himself succeeding. It’s gotten deep down on the inside and now he’s moving toward it.

Of course, it takes more than just visualization to see our dreams come to pass. It takes obedience; it takes prayer, and it has to be a part of God’s plan for our lives. But what I’m saying is that if you’ll keep the right pictures in your imagination, seeing yourself rising higher, seeing yourself healthy and whole, that’s going to get deep down on the inside and set the course for your life. When your mind is in agreement with God’s Word, it will help guide you toward your destiny. You will have a supernatural strength and power to see those dreams and desires come to pass in your life!

A PRAYER

Heavenly Father, today I submit my dreams, desires and thoughts to You. Use my imagination for Your purposes. Help me to see the dreams You’ve placed within me coming to pass. Help me to see myself rising higher in every area and bring You glory in everything I do. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Homework

Word Wisdom Unit 1 - part 3

Strategies for Writers - Write Introduction and topic sentence 

House on Mango - read pages 31-42

September 27th

Word Wisdom

Today we entered into an engaging discussion on the topic of environmental awareness and the importance of minimizing our carbon footprint. We learned a variety of vocabulary that enhances our knowledge and appreciation of the life cycle. 

Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics

A preposition links nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition.
A preposition usually indicates the temporal, spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence as in the following examples:

The book is on the table.

The book is beneath the table.

The book is leaning against the table.

The book is beside the table.

She held the book over the table.

She read the book during class.

In each of the preceding sentences, a preposition locates the noun "book" in space or in time.


Strategies for Writing
Students are in the 2nd Draft Revision phase in constructing their Personal Narratives. Personal Narratives are nonfiction accounts about an event, personal experience, or a series of events. Currently, we are focusing on incorporating colorful and descriptive words into our writing. 


In general, the students seem to be working together and absorbing the material. Please take time to ask your student what she is learning and review her homework. 

Extra Credit

Read the article, First Person Singular: Alanda Beard of the Washington Mystics.
Answer the following questions:

• - What does Beard aspire to win?
• -Does she have perseverence? Explain your answer (use examples from the text)
• -What do you like about her story?
• -If you could ask Alanda any question, what would it be?

Homework, Due Friday

Homework

• Word Wisdom 
• GUM - Lesson 6
• Type Vignettes (total 5) 
• HOM  31-34

homework

gum review & complete part 2 of lesson
s4w essay due friday
ww page 12 & 13

Notebook

House On Mango Street
page 1 Tittle pg
page 2&3 Characters
page 4&5 Esperanza
page 6 Vocabulary

Due to the field trip on Friday, all homework and extra credit will be collected on Monday, September 20th. In addition, students will be provided the opportunity to take her vocabulary test prior the start of class.

Enjoy your weekend. :D

September 16th

Today we studied...

• Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics (GUM)
• Reviewed Subjects, Predicates and Direct Objects
• Learned about Indirect Objects
• Word Wisdom
• Discussed vocabulary
• Practiced using the words in sentences
• Strategies for Writing
• Discussed the Importance of Organizing our ideas
• Reviewed the 5 W's (Who, What, Why, When, and Where)
• Learned about Main Ideas, Topic Sentences, and Supporting Details
• House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisceneros
• Read the first chapter that discussed Esperanza's living situtuation
• Wrote our own vignettes about our living enviroments

September 16th Homework

GUM lesson 5 part 1 & 3
Word Wisdom study for vocabulary test tomorrow
Strategies for Writers write Introduction Paragraph (draft and at least 5 sentences)
House on Mango - Read Hairs and Boys & Girls then...

• Write two short vignettes
1. about a physical feature- it does not have to be hair-
2. about you and your friends-

homework

word wisdom page ll
note: write it
gum lesson 4
sfw page 19 5 w's chart

Extra Credit

In an effort to include the parents in the WMSG community, this is an extra credit assignment that requests parent/ guardian support.

DUE: FRIDAY, September 17th

Share with your student a short story from your early years. The story should have a very clear beginning and ending. For example,

•  When I was five years old I was very mischievous. During the holiday season I used to sneak into my parents' room and look for my presents. One year, I found a ton of gifts under my parents' bed. While I was rummaging through the collection of toys my mom walked into the room and caught me. As a punishment for peaking, she made me return all of the toys to the store. On Christmas morning, I did not expect to receive gifts, but to my surprise my mother had repurchased and wrapped all of the gifts. Even though I received presents, I learned my lesson and never peaked again.

Then ask your student to write a summary of the events.
This summary should be handwritten, two pages, and double spaced.
It should include proper WMSG heading

Homework - September 14th

Due Wednesday, September 15th

Word Wisdom
Complete pages 7-11 in the workbook
Vocab Quiz Friday!
G.U.M.
Subjects and Predicates
Complete Lesson 3, Part 1
Signature Assignments (Need to be signed by parent or guardian)
 Progress Report
Unit 1: The Life Cycle Home Connection

September 14th

Today we learned about personal narratives. Personal narratives allow you to share your life with others and vicariously experience the things that happen around you. As developing writers you will learn how to place the reader in the midst of the action.

Homework - Sept. 13

Due Tuesday

G.U.M.
Simple Subjects and Predicates
Lesson Two, Parts 1 -3

Word Wisdom:

•  In your notebooks, practice the Read, Look, Think, Predict strategy
• In your workbooks, finish pages 7 and 8

HOMEWORK & WEEKEND BONUS

HOMEWORK

• Finish GUM Lesson 1, part 3

BONUS

• Select an article in a newspaper
• Write a one page handwritten OR two paragraph typed response to the newspaper article

 Make sure to include:  

1.  Proper WMSG heading  
2. Title and Author of the article  
3. Name of the newspaper  
4. What the article was about/ topic  
5. Likes or dislikes about the topic/do you agree or disagree  
6. Definitions of difficult words

This is extra credit HW assignment.

In order to receive credit it must be neatly done.

You may receive parental support.

If there are words you do not know, PLEASE look them up!

September 10

Today's Objective:


-To celebrate our newfound knowledge
-Review WMSG's Writing Standards
-Review Subjects and Predicates



Agenda:

Warm Up
Today we read vignettes about two different types of girls and the students were asked to recall what they remembered from the read alouds. They were also asked to make connections by comparing and contrasting their life to the lives of the girls.
Review Writing Standards
Take a Quiz! :)
Finish Decorating Classroom
G.U.M.

Homework - September 9th

GRAMMAR
Complete GUM Lesson 1- parts 1 and 2 ( Subject and Predicates)

VOCAB
Quiz tomorrow
Aspire, Resourcefulness, Collaborating, Perseverence, Hope
You should be able to SPELL the words and WRITE a sentence for each

For those of you who did not complete the HW from last night here are the questions:
What are your dreams and goals?
How do you fit into the WMSG culture?

September 9th - Objective: To explore Identity Awareness

What did we do today?


-read aloud(every girl tells a story)
-write a response to the read aloud
-vocab activity
-check H.W.



THEME ONE Vocabulary
-Aspire- strongly desire a goal
-Collaborating-working together toward a goal
-Hope- a belief that one's wishes or desires will be fulfilled
-Perserverence-steady dedication to a task, belief, or purpose
-Resourcefulness - the ability to deal skillfully with difficulty situations



NOTEBOOK
Page 1: name and class
Page 2(back of page one):blank
Page 3: Theme 1 idenity awarness
              central question What are your dreams and goals?
Page 4: Theme 1 vocabulary
Page 5 and 6 : date and warm-up

Leila
-German and Iranian
- Muslim family

paragraph 1: reflect on leila's goals and dreams
paragraph 2: How are your goals and dreams connected to leila's ?

Homework - September 8th 2010

I will enjoy rereading everyone's mini biography.

Tonights Homework
Due Thursday, September 9th 2010

1. Visit Blogspot
2. Leave a comment
3. Take Poll
4. Get Syllabus Signed

Course Objectives

Syllabus

Introduction:
Throughout the year we will explore six character themes:

Identity Awareness
Perspective Taking
Conflict Resolution
Social Awareness
Love and Friendship
Freedom and Democracy

OBJECTIVES:

Using a thematic approach to literature students will:
Develop and Reinforce Skills in
Phonemic Awareness/Phonics
Vocabulary
Comprehension
Fluency
Writing
Spelling
Character Development
School to home connections

Students will:
Explore various genres of literature by reading short stories, poetry, and novels
Participate in class discussions, response journals, literature circles, and project assignments
Demonstrate knowledge of the various elements of literature by analyzing class assigned readings, producing book reports, and passing tests
Read independently and demonstrate reading comprehension

Welcome Back

Welcome back class of 2012! I can not wait to begin this school year. Please use this website to remain up to date and if you have questions, feel free to ask.