Students received their first spelling and vocabulary list this week for Roald Dahl’s fantasy novel The Witches.  We will compare how this fantasy approaches the subject of witches to how a non-fiction, historical fiction, and a drama approach the same topic.

By Thursday, ELA students should write their spelling/vocabulary words in alphabetical order in their composition notebook.  Then they should list all of the smaller words that they notice are contained within the spelling word.  Please note that they are not rearranging letters.  They are looking for letter patterns that they are already familiar with that make up the new word that they are learning.

Example:

personification                    per, person, so, son, on, I, if, cat, a, at, ion, on

The assignment is due Thursday and will be used in class.  Students will be tested on these words on Friday October 16.

This week in class, we are reviewing different types of figurative language- when words take on meaning that is deeper that their literal definitions.  This type of language that requires us to “figure it” out, includes hyperbole, metaphor, simile, personification, and idioms.  This weeks activities include:

Revisiting the childhood story Amelia Bedelia for a look at how she takes words literally (and out of context) and by doing do is always getting things mixed up…

Practicing using hyperbole as students face off using their best exaggerations: It was so hot, that _________!  I was so tired, that __________!  My room is so messy, that ________!

Identifying metaphors and similes as students listen to the lyrics of their favorite songs looking for comparisons.  Those that use like or as are similes- ex. Hungry like the Wolf.  Those that say one thing IS another thing are metaphors- ex. Love is a Battlefield.

Creating idiom illustrations that show how silly the literal meanings of our “figures of speech” really are…ex. if some of us really had green thumbs…

As a reminder, students should be reading a bit of their books each night in order to be prepared to meet the due date of their first book reviews which is next Wednesday.    That is just one day before I am required to submit progress report grades, so if reviews are handed in after the deadline, students will have a lowered ELA grade.  However, they will still be able to bounce back before the end of the quarter by submitting their reviews ASAP.

 

At this point, we have reviewed all roots for our Roots Scavenger Hunt and all booklets should have been completed by students and handed in.  We now are in the process of reviewing genre- students presented skits showing the various types of literature and took notes based on the presentations.  Now students are applying their knowledge to identify the genres of various books in our classroom library.  They will use this skill in completing every book review this year.

Students have practiced using the book review form with partners at school.  This form both ensures students read independently to practice strategies learned in school AND promotes proper paragraph format and use of specific details to support claims.  They are required to read and complete these for two books per quarter- one by progress report time and the other by report card time.  This means that students’ first book reviews are due September 30.  Please have them continue reading their books at home each night since the 15 minutes of SSR they get at school each day may not be enough time to complete their books and get their book reviews done.  A form is attached below if your child would like to print/complete their work at home.  Otherwise, forms are always available in the classroom and can be submitted at any time- they do not have to wait until the September 30th due date!

BOOK REVIEW FORM

Scholastic book clubs are a great and inexpensive way to keep students supplied with high interest books for their book reviews. Watch your 6th grader’s backpack for book order forms or visit scholastic.com/readingclubs to shop online.  Search for your child’s homeroom teacher, or if you need an activation code, you can enter F3W6V.

We spent the first week of school getting to know a bit about each other and establishing routines.

Academically, we began reviewing word roots.  Knowing the meaning of these roots is a vocabulary strategy which packs a lot of punch.  For instance, by learning the root bio (life) we learn about the words biology, biography, antibiotics, biome, etc., which all contain the root and all have to do with life/living things.

By this Thursday, students will have all 5 pages needed to make their Roots Review Booklet.  Their job is to complete all the drawings and examples for the roots contained therein by Friday.  This book will remain in their ELA folders all year as a reference to help them with their Roots Scavenger Hunt, a challenge where they get paid hillbills for noticing words with roots in their SSR books.  The roots scavenger hunt encourages students to apply the word route strategy during their independent reading.