What makes an effective Book Review?

Students' ideas on what goes into a good book review.

This year the students have had an ongoing homework assignment of reading for thirty minutes every evening of the week. In addition they have also had two SSR (silent sustained reading) sessions during their school week. While reading is an individual activity, there are many ways to share the pleasure of reading, such as giving recommendations, discussions and book reviews. In the week before Thanksgiving break the sixth graders discussed What makes for an effective book review? Their next task will be to draft their own review of a book of their choice.

This morning we shared something we enjoyed or did not enjoy about our Thanksgiving break. The students were then asked to brainstorm a paragraph in which they described the anecdote they chose, using a free write, or mind-mapping. We discussed how to choose what goes into a paragraph and what does not. The students were then asked to write the first draft of their paragraph for home work.

Homework:
Language Arts: reading for thirty minutes every evening is an ongoing assignment throughout the sixth grade year.

Language Arts, due Wednesday, December 1st. Write five sentences using the words for your Weekly Word Study quiz in a way that makes the meaning of the words clear. Please remember to write in complete sentences, making your best attempt at correct spelling and grammar. Work that is neat and clean is required. 

Cultural Studies, due Tuesday, November 30th: Finish your identity chart of Berkeley.

Gather new information about Berkeley by talking to your parents, neighbors, or other community members, or by doing research on the Internet.

Ask the following questions, which are related to the concepts

of membership, community, and belonging that you will be exploring in the next lesson:

1. What are important or defining moments in the history of Berkeley?
2. What is an example of a moment when you feel that the residents of Berkeley came together as a community around shared goals?
3. What is an example of a time when you feel that the Berkeley community was divided?
4. How would you describe Berkeley to others?

In addition to these questions, you can contribute your own interview questions.

Language Arts, due Thursday, December 2nd: Please bring the first draft of your paragraph about your anecdote from your Thanksgiving break.

What is a Berkeley?

This week we began our Weekly Word Study spelling program. The students brought in the five words that they chose from their personal spelling list, and working in pairs, they self administered the quiz. Any words that were spelt incorrectly will go back on  the list for their next quiz.


In Writing Workshop students are working on, or finishing up the first draft of their personal memoirs. After the first draft the students get a peer edit from another student in the class, and then they show their work to the teacher, who offers edits, suggestions, and assignments for them to use in a second draft. 


Since we have finished the novel Maniac Magee, the class has been choosing the novels they want to read for their next unit of Literature. In this unit the Literature groups of no less than three and no more than five students, will choose their own books. A couple of the novels we are looking at are Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring, Ellen Raskin's The Westing Game, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid, by Jeffery Kinney.


In Cultural Studies the sixth graders have turned their attention to the city of Berkeley. They looked at images and brought in artifacts of the city, and using the answers to the earlier questions about what is a community, the students have tried to define the identity of Berkeley.

Homework: 
Language Arts, due Tuesday, November 23rd. Write five sentences using the words for your Weekly Word Study quiz in a way that makes the meaning of the words clear. Please remember to write in complete sentences, making your best attempt at correct spelling and grammar. Work that is neat and clean is required. 

Cultural Studies, due Tuesday, November 30th: Finish your identity chart of Berkeley.

Gather new information about Berkeley by talking to your parents, neighbors, or other community members, or by doing research on the Internet.

Ask the following questions, which are related to the concepts

of membership, community, and belonging that you will be exploring in the next lesson:

1. What are important or defining moments in the history of Berkeley?
2. What is an example of a moment when you feel that the residents of Berkeley came together as a community around shared goals?
3. What is an example of a time when you feel that the Berkeley community was divided?
4. How would you describe Berkeley to others?

In addition to these questions, you can contribute your own interview questions.

What is Writing?

Today in Language Arts, we took a step back and asked the question, What is Writing? We brainstormed a list of responses, which led to a lively discussion on some of the many different facets that go into writing.

Click on the photo to see what the students came up with.

One of the most important ideas that we came up with was Make it Interesting! We realized that as writers we have to keep our readers in mind, and that we have to be able to keep our readers' attentions.

In Cultural Studies we continued our exploration of what goes into creating and maintaining communities.

Homework: 
Language Arts, due Monday, November 15th. Bring in and show your five words for your Weekly Word Study quiz on Wednesday, November 17th.
Cultural Studies, due Tuesday, November 16^th   Respond to the following prompt on a blank sheet of paper:

Write your own definition of community. Based on your definition, write a list of the communities to which you belong. Pick two of these communities and, writing in complete sentences,  answer the following questions for each:

• What do you have in common with other members of the community?
• What responsibilities or obligations does membership involve?
• Who is not part of the community? 
• Why?

Cultural Studies, due Tuesday, November 16^th Please bring in an artifact (e.g., a newspaper article, postcard, photograph, or souvenir) that represents the city of Berkeley.

Just What Is A Community Anyway?

Homework:Language Arts, due Monday, November 15th. Bring in and show your five words for your Weekly Word Study quiz on Wednesday, November 17th.
Cultural Studies, due Tuesday, November 16^th   Respond to the following prompt on a blank sheet of paper:

Write your own definition of community. Based on your definition, write a list of the communities to which you belong. Pick two of these communities and, writing in complete sentences,  answer the following questions for each:

• What do you have in common with other members of the community?
• What responsibilities or obligations does membership involve?
• Who is not part of the community? 
• Why?

Cultural Studies, due Tuesday, November 16^th Please bring in an artifact (e.g., a newspaper article, postcard, photograph, or souvenir) that represents the city of Berkeley.

SPELLING

Today in Language Arts we began by asking-- Why is English spelling so difficult? We did a brief survey of the history of the English people, and looked at the many influences on the English language. Today's lesson also introduced the students to the format for spelling or Weekly Word Study, that the students will be using this year. 

Homework: Literature; due Friday, November 12th. Read Part lll of Maniac Magee. Do your Lit Circle Job, and come prepared to discuss the novel.