The final English Literature assignment for the sixth graders is a five paragraph compare/contrast essay. The students should choose any two characters of their choice from any of the three novels that we read as a class; Maroo of the Winter Caves, The House of The Scorpion, and When You Reach Me. 

Homework:

Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.

Due Wednesday, June 5th;  First draft of three body paragraphs for Compare/Contrast Essay.

Homework:

Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.

Due Thursday, May 30th;  In our class discussions on Maroo of the Winter Caves, The House of The Scorpion, and When You Reach Me, we have noted that one of the qualities of a good novel is that the main characters grow or change in some way. Please write a two-paragraph essay explaining two ways Miranda has grown or changed, over the course of the novel. For each way that you note she has grown or changed, please give at least two examples from the novel to support your answer. Please be as specific as possible, giving quotes and/or page numbers where appropriate.

Dear Wildcat Parents,

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, one of our final Humanities projects will be to put on a short one-act adaptation of Nancy Farmer’s The House of The Scorpion.

The sixth graders will begin working on the play on Monday, May 27^th, the week after we finish our unit on When You Reach Me. The tentative performance date is Tuesday, June 11^th. We will let you know the exact time and place. Rehearsals will take place during our Monday and Thursday classes. We may need a couple of after school rehearsals, and will let parents know if that is the case.

The play will be an ensemble production with all the students performing a role. As is often the case in drama productions, some actors will have more of a speaking role than others. The students will have an opportunity to manage their expectations around getting or not getting the role of their choice. The performers will be working on basic theater skills such as memorizing lines, communicating clearly with the audience and their fellow performers, and staying alert and alive on stage.

•               Mitch will continue to teach grammar on Tuesday afternoons.

•               During the Humanities class on Wednesday mornings the students exploration of Ancient China will focus on theXia, Shang, Zhou, Ch’in, Han, and T’ang dynasties.

•               Next week the students will begin working on an end of year writing project. The students will work on this project at home with mini-lessons and scaffolding taking place during the Tuesday & Friday writing classes.

•               If you have any questions please feel free to get in touch with me.


Homework:

Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.

Due Thursday, May 23rd; Come to class with your Literature Circle job completed and ready to discuss pages 134 - 197 with your Lit Circle members, and ready to complete a reading assessment.

We continued our exploration of Ancient China today by asking the question: What is a natural barrier? We then went on compare the story of the legendary Chinese heroine Mulan, with the Disney version. During this compare and contrast exercise we established the importance of certain ideas and values to the Ancient Chinese, such as honor, ancestor worship, dragons as representative of power, strength, and luck. We finished the class by dividing into groups responsible for researching the significant mountains, deserts, rivers, and seas that severed as natural barriers in Ancient China.

Homework:
Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
Due Thursday, May 9th; Come to class with your Literature Circle job completed and ready to discuss pages 1 - 63 with your Lit Circle members.
Due Wednesday, May 15th; Complete your work on the "natural barrier" you chose to research. Please come ready to share what you learnt with your classmates.

In Humanities this afternoon the students were put into groups that will serve as Literature Circles while we read and discuss When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead. In order to encourage different perspectives during their Lit Circle discussion the students were given jobs that they will change each week. The jobs were Discussion Director, Vocabulary Enricher, Illustrator, and Connector.

Homework:
Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
Due Thursday, May 9th; Come to class with your Literature Circle job completed and ready to discuss pages 1 - 63 with your Lit Circle members.

Today the sixth graders reviewed what makes for a good lead, those opening couple of sentences that serve as a gateway into a piece of writing. To show how important beginnings are we looked at the opening moments of two movies, "Dr. No," and "The Hunger Games." The students then created their own opening moments of movie idea of their own. Finally they were assigned to look at a selection of books and magazines, and find a lead they liked, and a lead they didn't. We shared the leads and discussed what made them successful, or not. 

Homework:
Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
Due Friday, April 26th; On a sheet of paper with your name and date on the top right corner, use the leads handout to create 5 separate leads. These can be typed or handwritten. Make sure to C.O.P.S. your work. Neatness if very important.

Today the sixth graders reviewed what goes into finding and focusing a topic. We then had a lesson on developing a topic. The students discussed various topics such as, "words can hurt, and "people learn from their mistakes." Though these discussions we realized what goes into to exploring and developing at topic. The students were given an assignment at the end of the class.

Next week is the Read-A-Thon. On Monday, as a part of the celebration of reading, Lilian Howan, TBS parent and writer, will be visiting Wildcat Creek to give a talk.

Homework:
Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
Due Monday, April 8th; Read the handout, "Glaces des Iles," in preparation for Lillian Howan's presentation.
Due Tues, April 9th; Complete Developing the Topic prompt below.

Developing the Topic

Use this beginning, middle, and end prompt, and fill in details that logically lead up to the last sentence.

Beginning: It was a dark and stormy night.

Middle: Where was she? We realized that we had to go outside and find Drizzle, our black Lab.

End: When we finally got home, we locked the door, turned on all the lights, and sat up the rest of night, afraid to sleep.

Homework:

• Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
• Due Wednesday, March 27th: be prepared to write about and discuss chapters 26-38 of The House Of The Scorpion.

Today the sixth graders worked on filling out their portfolio rubrics in preparation of their upcoming conferences. While some students have completed their conference cover letters, some are still working on editing their work.

Homework:

• Due every day: Read for thirty minutes.
• Due Wednesday, March 13th: be prepared to write about and discuss chapters 6-14 of The House Of The Scorpion.

Homework:

• Due every day: Reading for 30 minutes
• Due Wednesday, February 27th: Read chapters 1 - 3 of The House The Scorpion. (this can count as your daily reading.)

Homework:

• Due every day: Reading for 30 minutes
• Due Wednesday, February 13th: If you did not hand in your short essay today bring it in tomorrow.
• Optional, tasks for Empire Simulation.
• Due Thursday, February 14th: Study for quiz on first 10 Fertile Crescent Facts.

Homework:

• Due every day: Reading for 30 minutes
• Due Tuesday, February 12th: Bring in short essay. Use "Ideas" handout to assess writing.
• Optional, tasks for Empire Simulation.

Homework:

• Due every day: Reading for 30 minutes
• Due Friday, February 7th: Bring in first draft of writing prompt response. (At least two paragraphs.)
• Optional, tasks for Empire Simulation.

Homework:

• Due every day: Reading for 30 minutes
• Due Wednesday, January 16th: Complete Character Biography Handout.

Homework:

• Due every day: Reading for 30 minutes
• Due Tuesday, January 8th: Bring in outline or notes for 2012 Reflection paragraph.