Students will have the opportunity to get their creative writing juices flowing. We will spend a few periods working on a creative writing activity. For the next few periods, we will not be worrying about a minimum number of words/paragraphs. Simply sit back, relax, and have some fun while writing. This activity will lead us into our next unit which will focus on refining our paragraph writing skills.

Requirements:

• Should be at least three paragraphs long
  • Use the P.E.E. Method
    • Each paragraph needs a topic sentence (point)
    • Supporting details/evidence
    • Explanation of that evidence
• Edit your response (ensuring that proper nouns are capitalized)
  • Read your response aloud and listen for errors/confusing sentences
  • Utilize COPS Editing Checklist

Choose one of the following creative writing prompts to respond to:

 

 

Our next unit revolves around enhancing presentation skills and incorporating persuasive techniques. Our classes have focused on analyzing the essential components for a successful presentation.

How should I prepare for a presentation?

• • • Organize your presentation logically
    • Practice every day the week before (if possible)
      • Don’t procrastinate
    • Know your audience
      • Adjust your presentation to meet the needs of your audience
    • Be positive 
    • Record yourself while you are practicing
      • Re-watch the presentation
      • Focus on your eye contact, tone, pace, gestures
    • Ask for peer/parental feedback

90-Second Book Pitch

Task:  Choose your favourite book and persuade others to purchase your book by creating a 90-second sales pitch. You must incorporate at least three persuasive techniques. 

• You CAN also create a visual aid to accompany your pitch (optional)

Time: Please note you will only have 90 seconds to speak. Keep that in mind when you’re planning your book pitch!

Due Dates Planner: 

Tuesday 3/8 –Brainstorm ideas

Friday 3/11-Rough draft of the pitch

Tuesday 3/15-Presentations begin

Click the links below to access the assignment instructions, rubrics, and notes:

90-Second Book Pitch Assignment Instructions

Book Pitch Outline

Presentation Skills/Persuasive Techniques Google Slideshow

Persuasive Technique Cheat Sheet

Book Pitch Student Example

Today the Grade 6 students were able to play the games that they created for their Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project. Students had a great time explaining their games and going head to head against their peers. If you want to learn more about their projects, check out their individual posts on their blogfolios.

***Red, white and pink shirts are all acceptable!

Ever since I first read The Giver as a student myself, it has always been one of my favourite books. Each time I read it, I always discover something new, some new connection to my life, or some parallel to what is going on in the world. And I don’t think that happens by accident.

The ending to The Giver, as Lois Lowry points out herself, is meant to be ambiguous, so that it can be interpreted by each reader in their own way. So that is exactly what we will be doing as Part 1 of our final task for The Giver.

Students will be writing the next chapter of the book as they believe it continues. The prompt can be seen as, what happens when the sled stops? Following with the same format as the rest of the book, students will write a 1-3 page “chapter 24” of the book. They will use imagery, point of view, and their own imagination to determine what exactly happens to Jonas and Gabriel.

This IN CLASS task will be worked on all throughout the week. Students will spend the next 3 days writing, and will then have an opportunity to provide peer feedback and editing on Friday. All chapters MUST be finished by Monday, February 7, as we will be sharing in class.

Here is the full project description, and rubric.

As we continue to prepare for our Elements of a Novel Quiz, students can reference this post in order to review various concepts and activities.  Last week we learned about various literary devices. Students are encouraged to make flashcards and review these concepts every night this week. The notes slideshow below contains all of the relevant content that will be assessed on the quiz.

Grade 6 Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project Notes

Elements of a Novel Review Sheet

Practice activities: 

Simile and Metaphor Practice

Personification Practice

Figurative Language Kahoot

Elements of a Short Story Kahoot

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:

• What life lesson/idea is the author trying to teach the reader?
• How can this lesson/idea from the “small world of the story” be applied to the “real world”?
  • • • • Think about the big picture
• The theme is not going to be stated directly
  • • • • You will need to make an inference (read between the lines)

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	Your book must be read by Friday, February 4th, 2022 You are expected to be working on your artifact as you read your book Taking notes in the planner document will be essential while reading
January 12th (Wednesday)	Share title of the novel with Mr. Washerstein	Get your book approved by Mr. Wash Simply send him a chat on Google Hangouts
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:

• Create personal and real-world connections
• Analyze the following literary components:
  • Theme
  • Plot development
  • Conflict
  • Literary devices
    • Simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole

Click here to access all of the important information: 

Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project Google Slideshow

Exhilarating Reading Adventure Project Instructions and Rubric

Exhilarating Reading Adventure Planner

Blog Post Requirements

Student Blog Post Example

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:

Presentation Skills

(Please note that this is a live document that will be updated regularly)

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

Grade 6 Blogfolio Links

Mrs. Thompson created a wonderful infographic about creating quality blog comments: