Mock Newbery 2014 Club Summer #1 Meeting

Mock Newbery 2014 Club Summer #1 Meeting

Monday, September 2, 2013

Welcome to a New Year!

The 2013-2014 school year is underway!  I'm still getting to know my sixth grade students and several fifth grade students who are new to the program.  I love continuing with last year's fourth grade group.  It's fun to see how much they remember from last year and all the connections they're making with the books I shared with them last year and the new books I'm sharing this year. Most students have already added at least one book to the 50 Book Challenge chart.  Information on the 50 Book Challenge is in your student's ELA binder.

 I started with both groups by reading Journey by Aaron Becker, a gorgeous wordless book that was published recently. 

Journey
 
 
 
"Journey(s)" is the theme topic for fifth grade in September.  We made a concept map about it, brainstorming everything we could about journeys.  Both groups wrote a Quick Write about what they want their journey this year to be like.
 
 
 
"Crusader" is the theme topic for sixth grade.  We also made a concept map for that word.  We will be reading about crusaders throughout the month, and plans are starting to be made to BECOME crusaders in an important world cause, inspired by our upcoming read aloud.
 
 
 
Short nonfiction articles will be read to enhance each theme topic.  We will be adding to these concept maps throughout the month.  Fifth grade is starting to read an article on the Underground Railroad, a journey to freedom.
 
Sixth grade read an article on Malala Yousafzai, a strong and brave crusader for the right to go to school in Pakistan.
 
 
Fifth grade will start a unit on traditional literature.  A literacy contract will be coming home this this week, outlining upcoming requirements.  I'm waiting for all the small group books to come in to the Cincinnati Library.  Their read aloud is Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff.
 

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin
 
 
The sixth grade's read aloud is  A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park.  A literacy contract will also be coming home soon for sixth grade.  They will be reading mythology this month.  We will read about crusaders in both fiction and nonfiction.
 

 
I also assigned and went over requirements/rubric for weekly summary response letters.  Look for these handouts in your student's ELA binder.  The first weekly summary response letter is due by September 6th.  We are practicing a summary response letter over the nonfiction articles we read. I will go over requirements/rubrics for book talks and book reviews this week or next.  One book talk and one book review are due each quarter.
 
Word study will begin shortly.  We will be studying prefixes, suffixes, and root words.
 
Parents, don't hesitate to call or e-mail me with questions and concerns.  My goal is to update this blog with classroom information once a week. 
 
Feel free to comment below.  Just click on "comments," and if you have a Google account, you can choose that option.  If you don't, it's easiest to comment using the "Name/URL" option.  Then just put in your first name.  I moderate all comments before they are published.  You may comment by asking questions, reacting to the blog post, letting us know what you're reading, etc.  The comment section can sometimes start great conversations!
 
I hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend!
 


8 comments:

  1. It's been really fun! We've been reading Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstilskin. It's been really fun so far.

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    1. I totally agree!

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    2. Abby and Lauren - I'm so glad you're enjoying Rump and that you're having fun! :-) I love having you both in my class!

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  2. I've been listening to The Red Pyramid. I wish it were my book group book. ;)

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  3. I started working on my book talk and I am having a lot of fun on Google Documents! I am so excited to be in your class this year, I've been enjoying it a lot.

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    1. Ellie - I can't wait to see/hear your book talk and am glad you like working on Google Docs! :-) I'm excited that you're in my class, too! :-)

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  4. Caleb Chunn I miss you so much.November 24, 2013 at 5:03 PM

    There isn't a day that goes by that I don think of you and how much I miss you.My life has so much different since I switched.I miss you so much even though I see you at school.I always wish I hadn't doped out of your class and now I think I'm going to cry.I miss you and I want updates every day please.

    Caleb Chunn

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    1. Awww, Caleb. I miss you, too! Come visit anytime, and you know you can always come to me for book recs and to check a book out from my library. You can also visit to just chat!

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