English 6th Grade (Period 3) Assignments

Happy Spring Break! Over Spring Break, the students will complete their nine-paragraph book report. If they misplaced the format sheet, please see the link on this site.

Also, during the last periodic assessment, I collected data to determine which English standards each students could use more practice in. If the child missed more than 50% of the questions related to a specific standard, they were issued a packet that focused specifically on that standard.

Have a great and restful holiday!

Ms. Mazzotta

Along with our CST prep (we work on for 15 minutes each day), we will re-read Mowgli's Brother p. 209 from the Text and use an Interactive Journal to analyze the story. Then, we will complete a "literature chatroom," type activity. The students will walk around from station to station and answer higher level thinking prompts.

This week, we are focusing on atmosphere, suspense, fact and opinion.
We will read Exploring the Titanic and write a first-person point of view letter as if we were on the vessel writing a letter to our family telling of our experience before, during or after the vessel sank.

We will watch a short documentary about the Titanic, then we will complete a brief internet search to collect facts about the Titanic.

We will start the writing process in class on Thursday and Friday. If the work is not complete in class, it will be due on Monday.

We are starting a lesson that will help us analyze the effects of a character's qualities on the plot of a story. We will also discuss what motivates each character.

We will read King Grisly Beard and The Tortoise and the Hare. We will analyze each character's qualities and motivations. A writing assignment will be the final project.

We are discussing the definition of credibility in literature. We will read several short stories (I'm not Mad Anymore, Thank You Ma'am, and excerpt Esperanza Rising).

In class, we will examine two stories (together) to decide if the plot is real or contrived and if the characters are credible in nature. We will support our assertion with details or examples from the story.

Their independent assignment will be to read Thank You Ma'am by Langston Hughes and produce a graphic organizer and a 4-paragraph essay that reveals if the plot is real/contrived and if the characters are credible or not.

We're starting our third unit (Response To Literature). The first assignment is to evaluate different qualities of character. We will read a book called Book of Qualities. Using a packet with a "quality questionnaire," the student will personify the character qualities of 4 people that they know (one is their own quality) and write a short paragraph that describes specific details of that character quality (for instance: Curiosity wears a size 4 diaper. He pokes and prods at anything that moves). Finally, we will produce a flip book that turns into a personal Book of Qualities.

Students will be preparing for their final research project (for the first semester). They are to select a topic, start researching facts/statistics that will answer relate to a problem/solution and a cause and effect.

We will work on completing the research project over the next two weeks. Data will be collected both at home and at school. The project will be worked on both at home and at school.

We will have a gallery walk to display the work (a tri-fold) on February 2nd. This will be the final project of the semester.

Attached are the handouts I will issue in class!

Starting this week, we will prepare for the second SPA. The test will be given over the course of two days, so please be present and prepared for the exam. It will be the final TEST score for this semester.

Starting this week, we will prepare for the second SPA. The test will be given over the course of two days, so please be present and prepared for the exam. It will be the final TEST score for this semester.

Winter Packets will be due as soon as we return from the winter holiday. If you misplace your packets, you can download them off of the Audubon website.

Book Report #2 rough draft and the reading log will be due on Thursday or Friday depending on the even/odd schedule.

This week, we are starting a lesson on Outlining.

First we will read "Populations and Communities" on p. 592 of their textbooks. I will model outlining for them in their Reader's Writers Notebook.

Then we will read "Sharks" on p. 597 and they will work in partners to make a poster outline that demonstrates their understanding of outlining.

Finally, we will read "Shakespeare's London" p. 734 and students will complete a jigsaw puzzle of an outline and glue it into proper outline order.


Homework to introduce the idea will be the Measuring Up packet.

We will read "Which Instrument is Better p. 752-753 from the Prentice Hall Text and I will model how to break down a compare/contrast essay.

Then, we will read "Two Salt Lakes" p. 749 and they will break it down by themselves. They will complete an essay using the differences/similarities they have discovered in the article.

For extra credit: They can create a brochure that sells one or the other Salt Lakes!

We will be working on the various Latin/Greek based root words, prefixes, and suffixes. We will complete an activity called Word Surgery after we discuss and review all of the affixes. This packet will be completed in class with the exception of the final page, which will be homework.

Book Report Rough Draft #1 is due. We will edit this 9-paragraph assignment and it will be the homework over the holiday to produce a final draft! The format for the book report is on my homepage!

We are beginning a week of context clue activities,which will continue throughout the school year because it is always a critical tool for vocabulary and comprehension.

This week we will read Jeremiah's Song on page 36 of the Prentice Hall Text and complete pages 17-20 of the skills packet (pronouns, spelling, context clues).

Later in the week we will read Old Ben on page 154 of the Prentice Hall Text and complete pages 53-54 of the skills packet (context clues).

For homework, they will complete a context clues remediation packet and also context clues take-home quiz, where they will demonstrate understanding of context clues by producing sentences with the surrounding clues.

The due dates for Jeremiah's Song is Weds/Thurs. (odd/even) and the remaining activities will likely be homework over the weekend, depending on the pacing of class time.

This week, we are shifting out of the Narrative unit and bridging over to the second unit of the school year. We will start Expository work. The first assignment is a writing essay that demonstrates the knowledge of the definition of expository text and several examples and cue words. Please see the powerpoint and the writing criteria links below.

Also, I will give the students a packet of a variety of expository skills pages: pro/con, cause/effect, outlining....etc. The packet is to be completed for homework over the weekend.

The first district periodic assessment (for the Narrative unit) will be today. We will be practicing for the assessment during the week. Please go to bed at a decent hour, eat a good breakfast, and review your Reader's Writer's Notebook (which will prepare you for the material you can expect on the assessment)!! Good Luck!

We will be starting a unit on Figurative language.
We will read a poem called The Highwayman, by Alfred Noyes.
There will be a packet that includes: vocabulary and the poem.
We will read and highlight the poem: pulling out all forms of figurative language
The final project will be to create a figurative language booklet that includes four quotes from the poem that demonstrate four different forms of figurative language (hyperbole, personification, simile, metaphor, alliteration, etc.). The booklet will have an illustration for each quote.
Finally, there will be a "Highwayman" Quiz

1. We will read Dragon Dragon from the Prentice Hall textbook and cover the components of a plot.
2. We will complete the skills workbook pages 130-131 (practice plot and comparing/contrasting the characters)
3. We will complete a story board (similar to a comic strip) that illustrates the events of the plot and labels the exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution.

We will be reading "Eleven" by Sandra Cisneros. We will complete an anticipation guide and a story analysis of the events of the story.

Then we will complete a paragraph book that helps to determine the qualities of the characters and how they effect the plot.

Students will complete a skills practice packet that focuses on the following:
Build Vocabulary: homophones with r and wr
Build Grammar : subordinate clauses
Reading Strategy: Recognize word origins
Literary Analysis: Characterization

This week, we will be working on Sentence Types, Sentence Structure and Sentence Variety. Depending on whether the student attends class on even or odd days, the assignment will be due on or around September 30. We will engage in in-class demonstration and practice of sentence types/structures. The homework will come from a photocopied instruction packet and a sentence variety activity (see the attachment below).

Students will be working on a 3-paragraph writing assignment. This will serve as a writing sample for the teacher to gauge the level of writing for each student. Please see the following attachments.