Today's Class: May 8th

Our efforts today were focused on the book conference (who is bringing what, and what do we need to do before Thursday), and the Maya and Aztec civilizations (how are they similar/different).

Book Conference
All book conference materials were due today. Students that did not have packets, name tags and added chapters will have lunch study hall on Wednesday to complete their materials. Edline was updated this afternoon to reflect which students had their work turned in today.

Chapter 11 & 12
Last week, students read chapter 11 (the geography of Latin America) in their Social Studies book and completed three chapter 11 handouts. This week we will be finishing chapter 12 (Aztecs, Incas, Mayas) and completing the corresponding handouts. Students will receive points for each handout that they complete and turn in with the chapter 11 & 12 test study guide. The study guide will be given out on Monday May 14th, the test will be on Wednesday May 16th.

There will be a Latin America map quiz on WEDNESDAY! Study, study, study!!

FYI

The AM book conference has been moved to Thursday.

Book Conference Reminders

Here are some things to keep in mind while you finish your book conference materials.

You must bring your book and your object on the day of the conference.

All objects and costumes need to be school appropriate. If your character uses a weapon to solve their challenge in the book, you cannot bring a weapon to school. There will be serious consequences for not following these rules.

Name tags need to be completed by Tuesday. Your name tags must have your characters name and 3 adjectives that describe your character.

Today's Class: May 3rd

AM Core:
Today we listened to a story about a rogue squirrel and a rookie cop and then wrote our own story about a time when everything went wrong. During 3rd period, students went up to Mr. Kaltwasser's room for a lesson in diagramming sentences.

PM Core:
Today we learned how to craft a theme summary for the book conference. Theme summary rough drafts are due on Friday, final drafts, along with all other conference materials are due on Tuesday!

Tips for Summary Writing
1. Don't use dialogue
2. Don't ask the reader questions
3. Don't use personal pronouns (for example: "my book" or "the story I read")
4. Don't use extra words (for example: "It all started out with" or "The book I am reading takes place")
5. Don't repeat (for examples: "As I said before")
6. When first mentioned, briefly describe/explain characters and locations
7. Theme summary should be complete--give the ending
8. Write at least 5 sentences, but no more than 7

Key Points to Writing a Theme Summary
1. In sentence one, include the title (underlined), author and a theme for your book.
2. Select different events to show the development of the theme (events need to relate to the theme that you included in sentence one)
3. Summary needs to be: BRIEF, CLEAR, CONCISE

Theme Summary example:
The story, "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes, shows that using humans in an untested experiment can have detrimental effects. Charlie, a thirty-seven-year-old mentally impaired man who wants to be smart and liked, undergoes surgery to briefly make him the most intelligent man in the world. When his intelligence has regressed to its original level, he finds himself more alone than ever before.

Book Conference Roles

Last year, I had the pleasure of guiding students through a book conference simulation in which students played a character from a book they had read and discussed the challenges that their character overcame. I am happy to bring this conference to my 6th graders this year and the following people have been selected as book conference facilitators, speakers, and event managers.

AM Core:
Events Planner: Brittany
Featured Speaker: Ashley N
Facilitators: Gage, Kyle, Alissa, Brett, Ashley B, and Brooke.

PM Core:
Events Planner: Cassie
Featured Speaker: Julia
Chairperson: Courtney
Facilitators: Taylor, Nikko, Bryce, John, Anna, and Slater