Hi Jacquie, My classes last one hour and five minutes. I am the only language arts the students have so we do it all--writing, speaking, reading, etc.
I would love to share ideas with you for sixth grade as the year progresses. I'm always eager to learn what others are doing. This coming week we are going to review a story map (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution). My ESL co-teacher came up with an idea for a kinesthetic "body story map" similar to the one we did last year in social studies. With that one, we had the students pretend they were a globe, stand up, put their hands on their heads for the Arctic, then on their shoulders for the Tropic of Cancer, waist for Equator, knees for Tropic of Capricorn, and finally their toes for the Antarctica. They loved doing this! For the story map she stood with her arms by her side but away slightly. hands pointing outwards. Her right hand moved to indicate exposition, right arm was rising action, head (roll) was climax, left arm falling action, and movement of left hand was resolution. This approximated our "map" on paper. When she got going fast, it looked like a dance move! Very cool.Can't wait to try it. Kim On Sun, Aug 30, 2009 at 5:41 PM, Jacquie Leighton <[email protected]>wrote: > Love these ideas you've shared! Think I will create a tree for writing > nuts! Your post is positively psyched about the reading year ahead! It's > infectious and I thank you for that! I notice you teach sixth grade and I > have 2 L.A. classes of sixth graders. How long are you L.A. classes? Do > you also teach writing in the same block? > > Have an awesome year! > > Jacquie > > On Aug 30, 2009, at 4:35 PM, Kim Wagner wrote: > > Hi Everyone! >> >> Well, I devoured *The Book Whisperer* as did my colleagues in 7th and 8th >> grade language arts. We are attempting to implement some of her ideas this >> year. We will be: >> >> -encouraging our students to read 30 books this year >> -inviting outside readers to read aloud to students >> -attempting to create a culture of being "nuts" about books--I have a huge >> tree (with squirrels) that students will place leaves on as they complete >> each of their books >> -allowing students 10 minutes of uninterrupted reading time at the >> beginning >> of each language arts class >> -reading ourselves for those 10 minutes >> -consuming vast numbers of middle school novels so we can put the "right >> book" into the right hands at the right time (my goal is 50) >> >> By the way, I just read the most *wonderful* book in search of terrific >> titles for my students. It is called *Leo and the Lesser Lion* by Sandra >> Forrester. It takes place in Depression-era Alabama. The main character is >> a >> spunky girl named Mary Bayliss Pettigrew. Near the beginning of the novel >> her beloved older brother, Leo, drowns. Bayliss breaks her back in the >> accident. While she recovers she decides she must have been saved for a >> special purpose and decides to become a nun (much to everyone's dismay, >> including her teachers at Sacred Heart). She and her family try to deal >> with >> their grief while taking on two little girls from a local (overcrowded) >> orphanage. >> >> My description makes it sound depressing, but really, most of the book is >> not. Forrester's writing pulls you right in and brings Bayliss' world to >> life. >> >> Best, >> >> Kim >> 6th grade language arts >> >> On Fri, Aug 28, 2009 at 7:30 PM, Bill Ivey <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi! >>> >>> With some of us started back in classes, and others (including me) >>> getting >>> ready to start, I can't help wanting to hold on to parts of summer break. >>> So >>> - I'm wondering what all you did this summer that was meaningful to you. >>> >>> For me, it's two main things. I spent a great deal of time down in >>> Chatham, >>> Virginia, my "second home" where my wife has housing at her school and >>> which >>> I have grown to love, and my friends have said I'm becoming southern. I >>> think in this case, they mean slowing down a bit, taking my time, >>> focusing >>> more on being in the moment and making connections with people and my >>> environment rather than rushing through something in order to get to the >>> next. I would love to keep that perspective going through the year. >>> >>> The other thing I want to mention was a more traditionally professional >>> development kind of activity, reading a book entitled "The Female Brain." >>> Teaching at an all-girls school, I knew a fair amount of what the book >>> had >>> to say about female-brain wiring and its effect on relationships and >>> learning, but I only knew bits about the post-natal effect of hormones on >>> wiring and on behaviors. It was illuminating, and helps me not only in my >>> teaching but also in my social justice work. >>> >>> How about the rest of you? >>> >>> Take care, >>> Bill Ivey >>> Stoneleigh-Burnham School >>> _______________________________________________ >>> The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org >>> >>> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >>> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. >>> >>> Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >> The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org >> >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org > > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the LIT archives at http://snipurl.com/LITArchive > _______________________________________________ The Literacy Workshop ListServ http://www.literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/lit_literacyworkshop.org. 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