Language Arts: Spent time writing our introductory paragraphs- SEE above as we co-created one for Raymond's Run. Homework- Suggested- complete your introductory paragraph for your home literary essay. Our school and home literary essays are due 12/16.

Reading- Duffield- hour 2- worked on Nonfiction projects which are due on 12/16.

Social Studies: Read through the Egyptian Creation Myth.

Language Arts: Finished up conferences looking for thesis statement and 3 clear topic sentences that tie into thesis statement. We will discuss what makes a strong introductory paragraph on Tuesday and a concluding paragraph on Wednesday. Homework- As we are finishing up our Literary Essay Unit, students are on their own completing their HOME literary essay. School and home literary essays are both due on Wednesday, December 16th. Feel free to send them electronically (if your name is on it!) or turn in them in hand written. 

Reading: Duffield- hour 2- Completed a Latin Stem Quiz and received new words. Latin Quiz on 12/14/15.

Social Studies: Finished presenting Egypt Flyers. 

Order of a literary essay:

·         Background information about the text

·         Transition sentence leading into your claim

·         Thesis

·         Topic sentence 1

·         Evidence paragraph (body paragraph 1)_______________

·         Transition sentence- topic sentence 2

·         Evidence paragraph (body paragraph 2)_______________

·         Transition sentence- topic sentence 3

·         Evidence paragraph (body paragraph 3)_______________

·         Analysis of evidence

·         Conclusion

(Story-telling, summarizing, referring to key details)

Language Arts: Wrote a flash draft of our literary essay on loose leaf paper that included a thesis statement and 3 body paragraphs (order is seen above). Mini-conferences also occurred! Homework- write 3rd body paragraph for home short story. 

Reading: Duffield hour 2- Focused on nonfiction article & project. Latin quiz on Monday.

Social Studies: Presented our Ancient Egypt Specialized Worker Flyer. See some examples above. 

Language Arts- Continued to work on our body paragraphs for our literary essays. We really wanted to make sure that our topic sentence for each body paragraph ties DIRECTLY back to our thesis statement. We looked at an example of a literary essay where the topic sentence was not always the first sentence in the paragraph but possibly the second or even the last. Adding different thought prompts to your essay, as seen above, is another goal for your body paragraphs.  Homework- Continue to work on body paragraphs 1 & 2 for your HOME short story. 

Reading: Duffield hour 2- Worked on our nonfiction reading project that are due 12/16. 

Social Studies: Last time in class to work on our Egypt Specialized Worker Flyer as they are being presented in class tomorrow. 

Language Arts: We worked HARD on co-constructing the 1st body paragraph in our class literary essay. Note the topic sentence and that it ties directly to the thesis statement and that it is underlined. We used summarizing to show our evidence of her being fiercely protective of her brother (TOP poster) and used key details (bottom poster)- (you may look back on an older blog post to see examples of story-telling).  Homework- Write your first body paragraph (underlining the topic sentence) using your HOME short story.You should use the same word choice you have in your thesis- it all ties back to our thesis statement.  

Reading: Duffield hour 2- Read a nonfiction text and identified main ideas and facts/opinions as well as summarized article. 

Social Studies: Worked on our Ancient Egypt specialized worker flyer. 

MATH:  This week we're working with fractions, decimals, percents and ratios as we find efficient ways to look at portions.   
Tonight's Homework (21/1) is Review & Preview p.143-144.  Question 3-109 refers to a "portions web." There are some notes in the student's Toolkit (the thin book they record ideas on in their binders) that has an explanation but you can also access the ebook with the "hints" tab or even google "cpm and portions web" since CPM is mostly open source.  FYI We are nearing the end of Chapter 3 and should have a test on Chapter 3 early next week (Tuesday 12/8).

SCIENCE: This week we are exploring Newton's Laws of Motion.  We are starting by focusing on his 1st Law and students have been exploring it hands on with the magician's trick, catching quarters and the tablecloth and the dishes demonstrations.

READING:  This week we are starting our nonfiction unit where we will focus on specific reading strategies for reading nonfiction.  The latest reading research says 6th graders should read around 50% nonfiction.  We have/will discuss the picturing it reading strategy, will look at genres and sub-genres of nonfiction and will choose nonfiction books to use for the unit.  Latin Stems quiz 12/7

Evidence to support your thesis:

1. Story-telling using evidence from the text
One day when, when Squeaky and Raymond are walking.......

2. Summarizing
We learn right away that Raymond is "not quite right in the head." During their strolls....

3. Refer to key details of text

For example, when she describes how she practices running.........


Language Arts- We reread our SCHOOL short story using our thesis statement to drive our purpose. For example, if my thesis statement is "Squeaky is fiercely protective of brother in the beginning, middle, and end," students need to reread the short story looking for evidence that she is fiercely protective at those places in the story. Above are some ways that students can start creating their body paragraphs to support their thesis. Homework- Reread HOME short story and Close Read it (highlight, mark it up, make comments based on home thesis statement). 

Reading- Duffield hour 2- Worked on our non-fiction book project. Students will have 4 more IN SCHOOL times to work. They are due 12/16- Fluency read is 12/4 and Latin Quiz is 12/7. 

Social Studies-  Studied different roles people had in Early Egypt- merchants, priests, home builders..... Students are creating a flyer for their specialized job during the school day- this is not homework.