January+2011+Archive

=January 2011 Archive=

Week of January 24, 2011
Today we started class by reading about early farmers in our social studies textbooks. After, students were asked to answer the three "review" questions in the chapter. Mrs. Blattner modeled how to compose answers that state the question within the answer. Then, we returned to the computer lab to finish up our Jewish book reviews and to begin composing our character analysis essays.
 * Friday, 1/28/11**

We started class by reviewing the purpose of a thesis statement. Then students received an essay graphic organizer that visually shows the structure of a multiple paragraph essay. Students worked with the graphic organizer, determining body paragraph topics and supporting details. Mrs. Blattner conferenced with each student, helping them to tighten and focus their thesis statements. We are keeping all essay materials in our writing folders.
 * Thursday, 1/27/11**

We did not have humanities today. We took a field trip with Dr. Goldman to the Oregon Jewish Museum to hear about the life and music of E. Bloch.
 * Wednesday, 1/26/11**

We started class by hearing the last culture research presentation about the Inuit people. After, we returned to our study of essay writing. We reviewed the purpose of the thesis statement (central or controlling idea of the essay), as well as how an essay is organized in support of the thesis. Mrs. Blattner reviewed the purpose of an introductory paragraph in an essay, as well as the 3 main parts: grabber (grabs audience attention), thesis, and organization (introduced prongs or essay or body paragraph topics). Students were challenged to review their character study packets to help them form their own essay thesis statement focusing on character. See activity sheet to help you get started:
 * Tuesday, 1/25/11**

The last part of class was spent in the computer lab, putting finishing touches on our Jewish book reviews.

We started class by updating our planners. Then, we heard from the Ashanti culture research group. After, we focused on our new essay topic, a character analysis of a protagonist in our realistic fiction books. Students identified the FATP (form, audience, topic and purpose) in the writing prompt. Next, students read a sample character analysis essay. While reading, students were asked to color-code the thesis statement, statement of essay organization, and topic sentences. Students now understand that a thesis statement is a central idea that is the focus of the essay. Each topic sentence within body paragraphs should support the thesis statement. We will begin to write our own thesis statements tomorrow in class.
 * Monday, 1/24/11**

Students also spent part of the class time in the lab today, adding their final revisions to Jewish book reviews. Most students are now formatting their reviews in the class MS Publisher newspaper template.

Week of January 17, 2011
Mrs. Blattner collected the character study packets, along with the character quote journals. Mrs. Blattner will look them over, and we will begin our essay writing next week!
 * Friday, 1/21/11:**

Today students continued to work on revising and formatting their Jewish Book Reviews in the computer lab.

After, we heard from 3 more culture research groups, The Shakers, The Aborigines, and the Masai. We are learning a great deal about cultures around the world and enjoying the careful research of our classmates.

We started class by reviewing the features of the MS Publisher template for formatting our Jewish Book Reviews. Students acquainted themselves with the features of a publisher document, how to use the tools, as well as format text with the overflow link boxes. Students worked in the lab today, making final revisions on their book reviews and starting to format within the MS Publisher newspaper template.
 * Thursday, 1/20/11:**

After, we returned to the classroom to hear some of the Culture Research Project presentations. The Zulu group dazzled us with sound clips of language, a dance video, and samples of traditional beading. We look forward to hearing from more groups tomorrow!

We started class with our monthly visit to the library. Today students reviewed new books in the library and had the opportunity to check out a book of their choice.
 * Wednesday, 1/19/11:**

After, we discussed what the word "revision" truly means. Students said that "re" means "again" and "vision" is to see. The process of revising writing is all about seeing something anew. Mrs. Blattner gave students feedback on their Jewish book reviews. Students were asked to focus on repairing "floating text quotes" in their writing, as well as avoiding the word "I" to express their opinion. In addition, students were asked to think about using transitions and closing sentences in paragraphs to help writing flow (fluency). Mrs. Blattner conferenced with students about their writing as they worked on revisions in the lab.

For the first part of class, students went to an MLK Day assembly. The students were inspired by the story of Freedom Summer and all the people who stood up for Civil Rights during this time.
 * Tuesday, 1/18/11:**

For the second part of class, students began their deep study of character for their realistic fiction novels. Mrs. Blattner spot-checked homework, character quote journal #2. Mrs. Blattner then walked the students through a "prewrite character study" packet, which covered key concepts, like conflict, types of conflict (person vs. person, person vs. self, person vs. society), epiphany, dynamic, flat, static, round, protagonist, and antagonist. Students will use their character journals to help them examine the essence of their selected character.

MLK Day--No School
 * Monday, 1/17/11:**

Week of January 10, 2011
This week is a short week! We do not have school on Friday, 1/15, as this is a teacher professional day.

Students started class by hearing from two research teams. Students started to present their Culture Research PowerPoint projects today. We heard from the "Huns," as well as "Yemenite Jews" research groups. We look forward to hearing about the other cultures researched next week!
 * Thursday, 1/13:**

After, students worked on polishing and revising their Jewish book reviews so that we can begin to format them into our class Book Review newspaper next week.

Students started class by reading their selected article about Sudan. Then, students with the same article met in small groups to determine the unique perspective on the events in Sudan. After, students returned to their original groups. Students reported back to their groups the unique perspective expressed in their article on Sudan. Students were active listeners in each group, jotting down key ideas presented by each group member. Students created a 4-column chart on the back of their Sudan article packet, one column for each article presented. Students benefitted from hearing multiple perspectives on the same current event. After sharing, Mrs. Blattner collected article packets and notes for a classwork grade.
 * Wednesday, 1/12:**

Next, students returned to the lab for one last round of editing their Culture Research Powerpoint projects. Mrs. Blattner checked and edited all students' Works Cited slides and asked groups to print out a final copy of their notes/slides. Groups will begin presenting tomorrow!

Students started class by studying their maps of Africa. Then, students took a quiz covering North and East Africa. After the quiz, students read a current event article about the Sudan. Then, we viewed a few news reels and listened to a story from NPR's "All Things Considered" to get a better understanding of the voting that is taking place in Sudan. Students worked in groups to gather ideas and questions about the article. Each group reported back to the class some of the ideas and questions raised in their small group discussions. We ended class by offering each group 4 unique news articles about the Sudan. Each group member will read the article and report back to their group members tomorrow. Stay tuned!
 * Tuesday, 1/11:**

We started class by studying our maps of Africa. Students played a game to practice their knowledge of countries, capitals, and bodies of water for North and East Africa. After, we completed our outline of notes on the 2nd lesson on The Stone Age in our textbooks. Students practiced their outlining skills, as well as gained an understanding of how early hominids migrated across the globe.
 * Monday, 1/10:**

Next, we returned to the computer lab to continue formatting our Works Cited and PowerPoint slides for our Culture Research projects. This project will be wrapped up soon!

Week of January 3, 2011
We started class with a warm-up question. Students responded in writing: How would you describe the main character in your realistic fiction book? What makes you thinks this? Students wrote 1/2-page to a 1 full page, using their character quote journals to help them formulate their ideas. Mrs. Blattner collected the answer to this question, along with student character quote journals.
 * Friday, 1/7**

After, we used our notes from yesterday to add //homo sapien// to our hominid timeline. Students are keeping timelines and notes in their social studies sections (binders).

Then, we returned to the computer lab to complete our Culture Research Powerpoint projects, formatting Works Cited slides and filling in the last few details in our notes. We will begin presentations the end of next week.

We started class by collecting our North and East Africa map homework, identifying countries, capitals, and bodies of water. Next, we returned to the computer lab to continue wrapping up our Culture Research Powerpoint projects. Students were asked to make their slides appealing (using key words, rather than lots of text), fill in any holes in their notes, and then create a Works Cited slide based on MLA Format. We will return to the lab tomorrow to continue this work.
 * Thursday, 1/6**

After, we returned to the classroom and focused on the skill of outlining. We talked about the purpose of an outline: organizes information, allows us to take notes briefly. We outlined the key topics and titles in the 2nd Lesson of Chapter 1, "Hunters and Gatherers." Then, we read aloud sections of the chapter and decided collectively what the most important information was for recording in our outline notes. We talked about outlines as a good tool for also structuring essays, which the students will be writing very soon! (character essays)

We started class by looking at a sample of a character quote journal. Mrs. Blattner modeled a character quote journal, showing students how to write out the traits, the quote, the page number, and then what a journal response might look like. We discussed how to use ellipses (singular, ellipsis) to cut out unnecessary details from a text quote. We learned how to used ellipses appropriately. We reminded students that single quotes inside of a double quote indicates "quoted dialogue." Students were given time to get started on their character quote journal assignment, which gave them an opportunity to ask questions as they worked. The quote journal sample (including rules for ellipses) Mrs. Blattner used in class from //Maniac Magee// can be accessed here:
 * Wednesday, 1/5**

For the second part of class, we returned to our work on our Culture research Powerpoint projects. Students received feedback on their research notes. Some groups have some holes in their research and need to go back and add additional details. Mrs. Blattner gave students an MLA format style sheet and we discussed the purpose of a Works Cited document. Students know that in the academic world, it is appropriate to cite sources used in research, rather than taking the information as their own (which is plagiarizing). We talked about the format of MLA entries for electronic documents, citing the name of the web site, author (if there is one), date site accessed, date information updated, and the web address. Students used their lab time today to complete research, finish Powerpoint slides, and create a Works Cited slide. We will have more time in the lab tomorrow.

A wonderful resource on MLA format can be found at Purdue University's OWL web site.

Students were visiting with Dr. Rick Hodes the first part of class, learning about his exciting work in Ethiopia. It was very cool that the whole 6th grade knew exactly where Ethiopia is on the map (go geography!).
 * Tuesday, 1/4**

After, students worked in the computer lab. We posted our fantasy scenes in our "student gallery" pages and commented on our Jewish book partner's writing, as well as one additional student of our choosing. We used the discussion boards on each fantasy scene page to accomplish this task.

Then, we returned to the classroom to look at our fantasy scene writing feedback and compose some reflections on our writing. Students will take home their writing folders to share with parents this week (due back Friday!).

Welcome back!
 * Monday, 1/3**

Today, students started class by reading an article from //The Oregonian// called "Picture-show preservation." This article was about how the Library of Congress preserves films through the decades and which films they have chosen to keep. In wrapping up the year 2010, the archive added a listing of new films, including //Star Wars// and //Saturday Night Fever//. We discussed that films are selected for artistic merit, historical significance, or cultural significance. In small groups, students chose a film they would add to the Library of Congress film archive, representing their generation. Students chose //Harry Potter//, //Twilight//, //Avatar//, and //Growing Up//. We discussed how each of these films has significance for where we are as a US culture and what is happening in the world around us. We also talked about the term "Pop Culture," which refers to parts of our culture that are popular with a wide audience, like the movie //Star Wars//. Students understood the films as "material artifacts" of our popular culture.

Next, we examined the countries and capitals of North Africa. Students added these new listings to their own blank maps and also identified surrounding bodies of water. Students will be studying the countries of North and East Africa for next week's map quiz.

After, we added another group to our hominid timeline, the Neanderthals. Groundbreaking DNA discoveries occurred just recently, showing a direct genetic link to Neanderthals and us, homo sapiens sapiens. We listened to a news clip from NPR about this fascinating scientific discovery and we read an article that appeared in //The Oregonian// over winter break about cousins of the Neanderthals, the Denisovans from Asia. Students also added the Denisovans on the hominid timeline as cousins of the Neanderthals. We also listed specific traits of the Neanderthals: stocky and barrel-chested, large brained, used spears and stone tools, walked upright, powerful jaws and teeth, some use of fire. Neanderthals lived some 200,000 to 30,000 years ago.