I am reading... The Name of this book is secret

You have to read this book!  Lexile level 810, pretty good so far.  A student gave it to me.. and so far super mysterious and interesting.  Here is the website- it is super cool looking.  There is a series...

http://thenameofthiswebsiteissecret.com/

Vocabulary January 3rd

Epitome:  (n) a perfect example

Heinous: (adj) shockingly wicked, repugnant

Nocturnal: (adj) relating to or occurring during the night

Kudos:  (N)  praise for an achievement

Dissuade: (v) to persuade someone not to do something

Indolent:  (adj) lazy

Guess Who 1: Guess the Author

*He was born in Maryland in the 1970’s and spent most of his life in Washington DC*The Author works full-time as a writer and designer of online games.

*This author’s work has been made into a movie.

*The author originally wanted to be a cartoonist, but discovered that it was very difficult to break into the cartooning world. 

*The author wanted to write about the funny parts of growing up.

*The author just had a new book come out this fall.

*It took the author 9 years from start to finish to get his or her first book published.

Guess Who: _____Jeff Kinney______________________

Answer will be revealed on my website after 3:30, (as well as Monday)

Assignments week of December 19-20

Monday:  December 19th
Turn in three review sheets
Test

Tuesday:
Watch the Best Christmas Pageant Ever

****** Make sure you read over break! 

Test over Best Christmas Pageant

Test Date:  Monday the 19th of December
Three review sheets due on the 19th
Test will consist of multiple choice and ture and false questions about:
1.  Best Christmas Pageant
2.  Literary Terms
3.  Comparing another book to Best Christmas Pageant Ever

I am reading.... Diary of a Whimpy Kid by Rodrick Rules

I love the book so far!  I stated with the second one... not sure why exactly, but it looked good!  I love the Father so far, as he is engaged in making his Civil War creation in the basement.  The first person point of view really allows for a funny book!  One of my other favorite parts so far was where the father stuffed pillows in his bed so that he could pretend he was there and would not have to watch the movie that The narrator's mother wanted to watch with him. 

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews

This is an amazing website for parents and students.  What I love about it-is that it does not tell if the book is good or bad... but tells about what the book covers!  It even has several interviews on it. 

Week of December 12 Assignments

(BCP= Best Christmas Pageant Ever)

Monday:  Begin bell work and vocabulary sheets
                          *Where are you at?  Progress survey (Turn in Today)
                          Text to text, text to world and text to self sheet (side 1)
                         (Turn in Tuesday)
Tuesday: Bell work, work on vocabulary
                        1. Text to text, text to world, text to self sheet (side 2)  Turn in today
                        2. Independent novel research Turn in today
                        Bring your Library Books- Library on Wed.
Wed:   No bell work
                  Media Center
                  Finish the Rest of the Best Christmas Pageant Ever- finish for homework if needed
Thursday: Discuss BCP
                           Compare How many Days to America with BCP
Friday:  1.  Turn in bell work
               2.  Turn in vocabulary sheet
               3.  Guess Who - Guess the author/book  Due Today
               4.  Review for the test on Monday (STUDY for BCP Test)
               5.  Turn in Review Sheets on Monday
           

12/12-12/16 Vocabulary

1.       Reproach:  (v) to scold, disapprove

2.       Sanguine:  (adj) optimistic, cheery

3.       Hiatus:  (n) a break or gap in duration or continuity

4.       Disheartened:  (adj) feeling a loss of spirit or morale

5.       Lenient:  (adj) demonstrating tolerance or gentleness

6.      Pervasive:  (adj)  having the tendency to spread throughout

Vocabulary For Week of 12/5

Acrimony - Bitterness, discord
Timorous- Timid, fearful
Terrestrial- relating to the land
Tedious- dull, boring
Tenable- able to be defended or maintained

Dictionary of Literary Terms

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/terms/Literary.Terms.html

A Reading Memory

When I think about my life in relation to literature, many memories come to mind. I was in Barnes and Noble with a friend (now my husband), and he began telling me of some of his favorite authors.  He loved John Grisham who has so many best sellers out and is a great adventure writer.  As we both scanned through the aisles of books, it dawned on me; I could only recall some of the books I had read in high school (and those were only the ones we had to read because the teacher told us to).  Even though I was in college, and reading all kinds of things, I had not read a book on my own, for my own enjoyment in a really long time.  I was quite embarrassed to be honest. It was at that point that I realized how much I was missing out on as I heard about so many great books. I made the decision to work towards becoming a "real" and "authentic" reader.

Link for Thurday's assignment (Wordle)

http://www.wordle.net/

Peter as a Dynamic Character in Hunger Games

When I think about Hunger Games, the best example of a Dynamic or round character is Peter.  I honestly think he changed the most.  Katniss changes and certainly shows us several parts of her personality so maybe she is good example of a round character, but I think the ending eludes to the idea that maybe she has not changed as much as I thought she was going to. 
Dynamic Charters:  Characters that change throughout the course of the story

Assignments Week of December 5

1.  Read every second you get!
Monday
2.  Pre Test (Monday) Make sure you have correct answers for the Test on the 19th.
3.  First 8 Pages of Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Picture, plot points, Point of View and Tone)

Tuesday
4.  Graphic Organizer Tuesday (Begin filling out in class... will be due on the 19th)
5.  What are literary elements (Tuesday)   Homework due Wed.
6.  Signed Link

Wed
7.  Chapter 2 read in BCP
8.  Silent Reading for Time
9.  Apply terms to your novel and BCP (Best Christmas Pageant)

Thursday
1. Best Christmas Pageant Chapter 3 (started)  Drawing (turn in after Friday's drawing)
2. Wordle    http://www.wordle.net/   Due Friday
3.  Vocabulary Sheet started
4.  Read

Friday
1.  Turn in Bell work
2.  Turn in Vocabulary sheet
3.  BCP assignment  (Drawing Thursday/Friday)
4.  Venn Diagram (compare your novel to BCP)
5.  Turn in Wordle
6.  Read

http://www.kidsreads.com/

one of the best websites


http://www.kidsreads.com/

It is packed with great information!

My 6th Grade Students are the coolest!

I am so proud of my students!  Each and every one of them are reading so many books! I love getting recommendations from them of great books and authors.  I tell everyone about how successful they are!  They are so smart!  I am wondering if I was as good of reader when I was in the 6th grade? 


Recently two of my favorite reads are Hugo Cabret and The Hunger Games!  I am currently reading Tangerine.  I love it!  It is on my extra credit book list.. you guys have to read it!  There a bunch of dates in the book and it was written before Sept. 11, 2001... and you have to see what happened on that day in the book!  The book is about two brothers!