Hello from room 217,
I found much improvement with home reading assignments this week. Remember that I want my students to read the passages aloud to you each week. Hopefully, the reading can be followed with a discussion as your child is reading the questions. Another assignment went home today.
I want to share a quote from my own reading of 40 Reading Intervention Strategies for K-6 Students, by Elaine K. McEwan. "Pervasive reading, in every subject, in every physical space, reading just about everything, just about all the time--is the key to reading success." Peter Temes. I hope you catch your child reading at home at least 30 minutes per night, five nights a week.
We began writing a piece of choice this week. Ask your child about his/her heart map.
Thanks,
Tim Lucy
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Weekly Update from Mr. Lucy, Friday, October 20th.
The magazine drive assembly today launched the fund raising drive for Whatcom. Your child may approach you with a packet of materials.
The Weekly Reading Homework is due tomorrow. The expectation is that your child read the short story aloud to an adult. I want you to sign the sheet and have your child return it tomorrow. And a new letter will be coming home tomorrow night. It will be due next Friday. Students are completing Reading Letter #3 this week. The newest target focuses on questioning as they read.
Most students have begun to illustrate their civilization on a map.
I asked students to turn in their first drafts of the New Secret Shortcut so I could provide feedback.
The Weekly Reading Homework is due tomorrow. The expectation is that your child read the short story aloud to an adult. I want you to sign the sheet and have your child return it tomorrow. And a new letter will be coming home tomorrow night. It will be due next Friday. Students are completing Reading Letter #3 this week. The newest target focuses on questioning as they read.
Most students have begun to illustrate their civilization on a map.
I asked students to turn in their first drafts of the New Secret Shortcut so I could provide feedback.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Weekly Update from Mr. Lucy, Friday, October 14th.
Dear Families,
MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) The MAP reading tests were completed on Monday and Tuesday. Some students asked, "did I pass?" I responded that the standard for the fall sixth grade reading MAP test is 212. What that means to me is that a sixth grade scoring at that level or higher will probably be successful or at standard on the Spring MSP test. Wow! I explained to the students that I want them to grow each year. If they scored below 212, I will work with them to build fluency and comprehension through the year. Most students below standard are already in my Extended Learning Group during seventh period. I posted the student scores on Zangle (for information only). The scores do not influence semester grades. If you have further questions, call or write me an email.
Home Reading Our second Home Reading Assignment was due today and a third went home today. I have a few observations. Firstly, this is an opportunity for students to practice getting work done thoroughly and on time. Students that failed to complete the assignment fully were asked to stay in during lunch. Next, the questions associated with the reading activity are not difficult. I expect the questions to be answered in complete sentences, neatly. Also, I want the students to read the passages to a family member, preferably an adult. It gives you a chance to hear your child read aloud. You will become aware of their sight vocabulary, fluency, and their word attack skills. In addtion, I want the passages to be read to be understood. Note if your child is attentive to puntuation. Do they pause or come to a full stop? Do they recognize and appropriately attend to question marks, exclamation marks, and so on? Finally, I prefer that the books that students choose to read contain more text than pictures. And I encourage them to read books that will build vocabulary.
Social Studies Most students have located a place on earth to establish a created civilization. We have discussed the importance of water in their decision. We have discussed natural barriers such as mountains, deserts and bodies of water in the formation of a civilization. Some students want to establish a civilization on an island. The Greeks had hundreds of city states forming their civilization. But they also needed more than the mountainous islands to support their people so they established settlements across the Meditarranean and Black Seas.
Writing The first revised draft of "Wendall and Floyd's New Adventure" is due Tuesday. They are reviewing their first draft in terms of organization and sentence fluency. A good story needs a hook, a detailed series of events and a satisfying close. Organizaton. And sentence fluency is important. We have discussed those features that make a piece of writing sound good when read aloud. Varying sentence length and sentence beginnings can help. I introduced a useful program on our Windows 7 machines called Audacity. I want students to record themselves reading their story aloud. When they play it back, they become aware the sentence fluency (smoothness) of the written piece. We are using Audacity in Extended Reading to help build reading fluency as well.
Reading Workshop Our second reading response (letter) was due today. The focus again was on summarizing. The students are expected to retell story elements accurately. An extended response includes interactions between story elements (how the problem affects the characters or how setting changes the problem for example.)
MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) The MAP reading tests were completed on Monday and Tuesday. Some students asked, "did I pass?" I responded that the standard for the fall sixth grade reading MAP test is 212. What that means to me is that a sixth grade scoring at that level or higher will probably be successful or at standard on the Spring MSP test. Wow! I explained to the students that I want them to grow each year. If they scored below 212, I will work with them to build fluency and comprehension through the year. Most students below standard are already in my Extended Learning Group during seventh period. I posted the student scores on Zangle (for information only). The scores do not influence semester grades. If you have further questions, call or write me an email.
Home Reading Our second Home Reading Assignment was due today and a third went home today. I have a few observations. Firstly, this is an opportunity for students to practice getting work done thoroughly and on time. Students that failed to complete the assignment fully were asked to stay in during lunch. Next, the questions associated with the reading activity are not difficult. I expect the questions to be answered in complete sentences, neatly. Also, I want the students to read the passages to a family member, preferably an adult. It gives you a chance to hear your child read aloud. You will become aware of their sight vocabulary, fluency, and their word attack skills. In addtion, I want the passages to be read to be understood. Note if your child is attentive to puntuation. Do they pause or come to a full stop? Do they recognize and appropriately attend to question marks, exclamation marks, and so on? Finally, I prefer that the books that students choose to read contain more text than pictures. And I encourage them to read books that will build vocabulary.
Social Studies Most students have located a place on earth to establish a created civilization. We have discussed the importance of water in their decision. We have discussed natural barriers such as mountains, deserts and bodies of water in the formation of a civilization. Some students want to establish a civilization on an island. The Greeks had hundreds of city states forming their civilization. But they also needed more than the mountainous islands to support their people so they established settlements across the Meditarranean and Black Seas.
Writing The first revised draft of "Wendall and Floyd's New Adventure" is due Tuesday. They are reviewing their first draft in terms of organization and sentence fluency. A good story needs a hook, a detailed series of events and a satisfying close. Organizaton. And sentence fluency is important. We have discussed those features that make a piece of writing sound good when read aloud. Varying sentence length and sentence beginnings can help. I introduced a useful program on our Windows 7 machines called Audacity. I want students to record themselves reading their story aloud. When they play it back, they become aware the sentence fluency (smoothness) of the written piece. We are using Audacity in Extended Reading to help build reading fluency as well.
Reading Workshop Our second reading response (letter) was due today. The focus again was on summarizing. The students are expected to retell story elements accurately. An extended response includes interactions between story elements (how the problem affects the characters or how setting changes the problem for example.)
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Weekly Update, Friday, October 7th
October bluster,
Reading - Our first Home Reading assignment is due tomorrow. I hope you know what I'm talking about. If a child fails to complete the assignment at home, I will request that he/she do so in class at lunch. I hope you enjoyed listening to your child read. Fun, huh? Just a reminder that reading MAP testing is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. I intend to pass along your child's performance results.
Writing - All students turned in drafts of the Nothing Ever Happens at Whatcom. I am just about finished reading them. This is a formative assessment (practice score) in the traits of ideas and word choice. I will post the scores in Zangle as practice. I have launched a new writing opportunity with a focus on organization. Wendall and Floyd's New Adventure is an opportunity to practice writing a plan and focussing attention on a strong beginning, a detail rich middle and strong close.
Spelling - I conducted a spelling inventory today with one group. I intend to administer the test for the second group tomorrow. I asked the students to spell thirty one words. I will analyze their spelling accuracy and determine where I can be provide support using word sorts from the curriculum Words Their Way.
Social Studies - Our vocubulary this week included latitude, longitude, hemisphere, and equator. Using these terms and more the students are locating their invented civilization on a continent. During the weeks ahead we will explore agriculture, government, family, culture, agriculture, domestication and more. Students are choosing a location on the earth near fresh water to locate a civilization.
Thanks,
Tim Lucy
Reading - Our first Home Reading assignment is due tomorrow. I hope you know what I'm talking about. If a child fails to complete the assignment at home, I will request that he/she do so in class at lunch. I hope you enjoyed listening to your child read. Fun, huh? Just a reminder that reading MAP testing is scheduled for Monday or Tuesday. I intend to pass along your child's performance results.
Writing - All students turned in drafts of the Nothing Ever Happens at Whatcom. I am just about finished reading them. This is a formative assessment (practice score) in the traits of ideas and word choice. I will post the scores in Zangle as practice. I have launched a new writing opportunity with a focus on organization. Wendall and Floyd's New Adventure is an opportunity to practice writing a plan and focussing attention on a strong beginning, a detail rich middle and strong close.
Spelling - I conducted a spelling inventory today with one group. I intend to administer the test for the second group tomorrow. I asked the students to spell thirty one words. I will analyze their spelling accuracy and determine where I can be provide support using word sorts from the curriculum Words Their Way.
Social Studies - Our vocubulary this week included latitude, longitude, hemisphere, and equator. Using these terms and more the students are locating their invented civilization on a continent. During the weeks ahead we will explore agriculture, government, family, culture, agriculture, domestication and more. Students are choosing a location on the earth near fresh water to locate a civilization.
Thanks,
Tim Lucy
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