Bake Sale for 6th Grade Books

I am looking for 6^th grade students to do some community service for me by baking or buying goods and helping me run a bake sale on Friday, October 4^th during advisor.  The proceeds from the sale will go toward buying classroom novels for 6^th grade.  Specifically we need an entirely new classroom set of The Giver by Lois Lowry because our set has been so well used every one of them is falling apart.  To help motivate the students, a generous donor has offered to match our sales up to $100.  If your son or daughter would be interested in helping, please either e-mail me or have them talk to me so that I can get an idea of how much food we might have. Since the bake sale will be in the morning, breakfast items would be preferred, and to accommodate students with allergies, please mark items that have nuts.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Amanda Haas
ahaas@universityschools.com

Article of the Week 9/26/13

Christina Stephens' "Lego Leg" Video Inspired Amputees
We read this article and completed the assignment together in class.  It was not homework.

Accelerated Reader Expecations

Students need to earn 15 Accelerated Reader points by the end of the trimester, November 21^st.  They can complete this by taking AR quizzes on the computer at school over books they have independently read.  Books we read as a class will not count toward their AR points. The books they choose need to be worth at least 3 points. 

Students get 20-30 minutes in each reading class to independently read, but they may need to do some reading outside of class to meet this goal, and of course I would encourage them to read outside of class.

I have two computers in my classroom that students can use to take their quizzes, and I will be scheduling time in the computer lab toward the end of the trimester.  If a student would like to know if their book has an AR quiz, they can go to ARBookFinder.  If the book they are reading does not have an AR quiz, they should see me to make other arrangements for earning points.

Student Example: Article of the Week (AOW)

Here's a good student example, which shows how to complete the AOW assignment.

Article of the Week 9/16/13

Big Changes Coming to School Vending Machines
We read this article and completed the assignment together in class.  It was not homework.

What have we been doing in reading class so far this year?

The school year has started out wonderfully.  After a little bit of hectic move into our new building, it was so nice to have students show up and remind me why I love to teach...because of them.  As a parent, I know the standard response I get from my kids when I ask them "what did you do in school today?" is "Nothing," and I know this is not true. :) 

As you might have figured out by now, I see my students on day 2 (Tuesdays and Thursdays and rotating Mondays).  Everyday I see them, they get 20-30 minutes for silent free reading time.  I feel very strongly about letting them have choice in what they read during this time, and I hope I can help them find books that really engage them and cultivate a love for reading. 

When I meet with my classes on Monday, I like to pick books that are available for checkout at our UMS library and show the book trailers (movie trailers for books) for these books.  My hope is that at least one of the book trailers will interest each of the students and help them find the next book they want to read.  After watching a few book trailers, we go to the UMS library and students get a chance to either check these books out or find their own books for checkout.  If you haven't gone to the University Schools Library web page, I encourage you to check it out.  Mrs. Budzynski has a lot of great resources for our students.

I have started the school year with a focus on non-fiction articles.  We began by discussing why reading with a purpose is so important.  To demonstrate this, I had students read a passage about a house, and I asked them to highlight everything they thought was important.  I was not surprised to find that most of the students didn't highlight anything and many kept looking around to see if they could tell what other students might be highlighting.  The purpose I gave them for reading the passage was too vague, so I asked them to reread it and highlight everything that would be important if they were to burglarize the house.  This time students were able to highlight with a specific purpose and most of them highlighted parts such as "the side door is always unlocked."  Next, I had students reread the passage again and highlight everything that would be important if they were thinking about buying the house.  This exercise showed the students that having a purpose when you read is extremely helpful.  We made a list of purposes for reading such as for entertainment, to form an opinion, to learn new information, and for application. 

After our reading with a purpose lesson, we moved on to CLOSE reading which is reading closely for deeper comprehension or understanding.  We practiced CLOSE reading by reading our first article of the week which was an informational article about 9/11.  We read this together and as we read, we each wrote our impressions (thoughts and reactions) and wonderings about the article.  After we were finished, we found the main or central idea of the article.  This was introduced to them with a video from Brain Pop.  We also wrote down what the author's purpose was for writing the article and we supported our answer with evidence from the text.

After closely reading a few of the article of the weeks together in class, I will start assigning them as homework.  I will be posting each of the articles on this blog, so if it is necessary students can print them at home.

If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me at ahaas@universityschools.com