How to Integrate Quotes and Conversation Cheat Sheet!

THIS CHART is a fantastic tool to use to ensure that you are integrating quotations smoothly into your writing!

THIS CHART is a fantastic tool to use to ensure that you are integrating conversation/dialogue smoothly into your writing!

Recognizing Stereotypes and Speaking Back through Memoir

After reading some memoir-like short stories, the students have had a great week starting to brainstorm memories and lessons for their own memoirs! Today we watched this video (see below) from the WNYC series Being 12. In this particular video, the 12 year olds tell brief memoirs about stereotypes they have faced in their lives. The students did an amazing job discussing the unfairness of the situation, making connections to our human rights work. This video is also serving as a launch point for many of their own memoirs where they will tell a story about themselves that breaks a stereotype that has negatively affected them. I can't wait for more drafting and digging into their life stories!

Voting Rights and Issues

Essential Questions: 

1. What did the Voting Rights Act of 1965 say?

2. Why was the Voting Rights Act necessary? What effects has it had?

3. Why have some people challenged the Voting Rights Act in recent years?

4. How are voting rights threatened today? How can we protect those rights?

Sources to Explore:

• Signing the Voting Rights Act (1 1/2 minutes) and transcript of the video
• The Right to Vote (14 minutes) and transcript of the video
• Number of Black Legislators in the South (1868-1900 and 1960-1992) (PDF)
• Percentage of Registered Voters in Black Voting-Age Population (PDF)
• The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (PDF)
• Supreme Court Re-Examines 1965 Voting Rights Act and transcript of the video
• Supreme Court Narrowly Allows 1965 Voting Rights Act to Stand and transcript of the video
• States With Voting Restrictions (PDF)
• Percentages of People Who Lack a Government-Issued Photo ID (PDF)
• Voting Issues Today (PDF)

Please explore these sources and posts your response to the essential questions in a blog post!

Zooming In and Out

This quarter, we will be exploring the question...

How do stories shape our understanding of ourselves, others, and the world? 

As a way to start thinking about this, the students participated in a team challenge, putting together the pages of the picture book Zoom. Here are some pictures of the teams in action.

After they applauded their hard work, they debriefed and came up with some important reflections about what happened as they did the activity. Can't wait to start zooming in and out of texts with them!

First Week of Sixth Grade, 2016

Welcome to Sixth Grade Language Arts! I'm excited for our year ahead of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and growing.

This week, we have been thinking about the question, "Who are you?" We started by creating "Stick Figure Me" portraits which families will see displayed at Open House. We also personalized our Reader's/Writer's Notebooks and started creating our Heart Maps. As we launch our reading and writing for the year, I want to share a Langston Hughes poem for some inspiration.

Over the weekend, students will be gathering their materials for the Brown Bag Bio projects. The students have a paper packet with all of the information and rubric, but in case you want to check it out, you can click here for the Google Doc version. Students will be practicing their presentations and receiving some feedback at home in order to help prepare for their presentation at school. We will use these as a benchmark for our presentation skills and work on what's needed as the year continues. Can't wait to see all of the unique contents of everyone's bag!

Final Preparations for our Research Conference

Here are all of the resources you will need as you finish your I-Search papers and create your Pecha Kucha presentations for our Research Conference!

I-Search Paper Rubric

Pecha Kucha Guidelines and Rubric

Remember - everything is due on Monday June 13! You will not have time to work on any of the projects on Monday. Be sure to practice your presentation at home with an adult and get feedback on your sheet. Then be sure to return your sheet to school on Monday so that you can be graded during your presentation.

Can't wait to see your final products and to share your work with our audience of family and friends!

I-Search Research Conference!

Join us for the 6th Grade I-Search Research Conference!

  

Monday June 13, 2016

The Lawn School - Sixth Grade Wing

10:00-10:50, 11:20-12:10, 12:10-1:00

Come hear about the students’ research journeys and learn from their new understandings of the world! We will have a series of 3 sessions. You can attend one of the three panels offered during each session. Within each panel, each student will have 5 minutes to share their story of their learning with 2 minutes for Q &A.

Session 1 - 10:00-10:50
Panel A Ms. Richer’s Room	Panel B Mrs. Barrett’s Room	Panel C Mrs. Tuttle’s Room
Taylor	Jaydin	Julia C.
Colette	Izzy	Brian
Jared	Pierce	Nayan
Michael M.	Ben	Diego
Lindsey	Rachel	Aleksa
Olivia	Ani	Meghan

 

Session 2 - 11:20-12:10
Panel A Ms. Richer’s Room	Panel B Mrs. Barrett’s Room	Panel C Mrs. Tuttle’s Room
Abby	Ryan	Ryder
Bridgette	Sofie	Hayden
Tom	Elizabeth	Allie
Hannah	Mikie L.	Will
Rileigh	Liam	Madaline W.
Natalie	Chris	Gabbie

 

Session 3 - 12:10-1:00
Panel A Ms. Richer’s Room	Panel B Mrs. Barrett’s Room	Panel C Mrs. Tuttle’s Room
Julia M.	Madison T.	Molly
Thor	Courtney	Antonio
Jesse	Nina	Adam
Cariana	Alicia	Eddy
Holly	Kelsey	Evan
Loralei	Jude	Emily
Audrey	Aidan	Hunter