This week we will be learning about and practicing various literary devices. Yesterday we focused on similes and metaphors. Over the course of the next week, we will be analyzing personification, hyperboles, onomatopoeias, and oxymorons. As we learn about each concept, I will be posting corresponding activities and practice exercises in this post.
Grade 6 Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project Notes
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As we continue to work on our Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project, our class is focusing on diving deeper into various literary elements that appear in novels. Last week we discussed characterization (direct & indirect), mood, and theme.
Today we are going to continue to explore theme identification. We will complete the first example together as a class. Then students will have time to complete the last two examples independently.
Click here to access the assignment: Identifying the Theme Practice
When trying to identify the theme of a story or novel, think about the following:
Objective: Learning from a distance is great, but reading is exhilarating! The goal of this project is to foster and nurture a passion for reading. You will read a book you’ve never read before, and then create an artifact that connects to that book to show what you’ve learned and understood from the book you read.
Students will be required to spend at least 30 minutes a day reading.
Important Dates:
| Date | Task | Notes |
| January 6th (Thursday) | Project is assigned |
|
| January 12th (Wednesday) | Share title of the novel with Mr. Washerstein |
|
| January 24th
(Monday) |
Check-in #1 | You will meet with Mr. Washerstein to share your reading progress and artifact planning. |
| February 4th
(Friday) |
Check-in #2 | You should be finished reading your book for this check-in.
You will meet with Mr. Washerstein to discuss your artifact and receive feedback and suggestions. |
| February 18th
(Friday) |
Final Project Due | Your artifact and reflection will be posted to your student blog |
As you read your book, you will:
Click here to access all of the important information:
Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project Google Slideshow
Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project Instructions and Rubric
Our next unit will revolve around analyzing persuasive techniques and improving our presentation skills. Last week we introduced the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos.
We will spend time this week analyzing advertising techniques such as avant garde, weasel words, magic ingredients, patriotism, transfer, plain folks, snob appeal, bribery, and bandwagon.
Click the link below to access our presentation:
(Please note that this is a live document that will be updated regularly)
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Today we discussed the importance of making quality blog comments. The students spent time commenting on the memoirs of their peers. The Grade 6 students did a fantastic job composing their memoirs. It is great to see the students commenting words of encouragement and offering suggestions.
Click the link below to access the links to their blogfolios:
Middle School Student Blogfolios
Mrs. Thompson created a wonderful infographic about creating quality blog comments:
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We have finished reading the novel, Egghead. Students will have the opportunity to use the next few class periods to channel their creativity and complete a final task. Students may work individually or with a partner for this task. Upon my return on Monday, we will set a due date for this task together.
Option 1: Create an Egghead Mixtape
Option 2: Continue the story
Click the link below to learn more about your final task options:
Next week launches the fun of (C)Han(n)uk(k)a(h)….no matter how you spell it!
We have a full week of celebrations, and can’t wait to participate in some with our whole community! Please take a look at the posters below to see how you can add to our festivities.
Are you searching for a new book for Hanukkah? You are in luck! The Scholastic Book Fair at OJCS begins on Monday, November 22nd, 2021. Each class will have the opportunity to visit the book fair two times next week.
Grade 6A will visit the book fair on Monday (11/22) and Friday (11/26).
Grade 6B will visit the book fair on Tuesday (11/23) and Friday (11/26).
Grade 7 will visit the book fair on Wednesday (11/24) and Friday (11/26).
Grade 8 will visit the book fair on Monday (11/22) and Thursday (11/25).
Additionally, parents will have the opportunity to purchase books online via our digital book fair link.
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As we continue our novel study of Egghead by Caroline Pignat, this week we are focusing on writing from a character’s perspective. Students are being tasked with choosing an event from the novel and creating a postcard. Each postcard will contain an illustration (either digital or hand-drawn) and a writing sample from a character’s perspective. This assignment asks students to “walk in the shoes of another” as they attempt to create a higher-level connection with the thoughts and feelings of the characters.
Click the link below to access the assignment:
Click the link below to access the postcard template:
Egghead Postcard Digital Template
Click the link below to access a student example:
Today we will continue to review and practice how to properly format MLA in-text citations. As we have previously discussed, citations are essential in order to avoid plagiarism and provide authors with credit for their ideas and information.
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