5th & 6th Grade Language Arts
4th Quarter May, 2011
Dear Parents,
This is the time of the school year when we try to tie up all the loose ends. 5th grade is completing The Wish Giver. The book is all about friendship and being careful about what you wish for. I’m sure this is a subject all that 5th grade students can relate to. 6th grade is completing Tuck Everlasting. The novel is a challenge for the students. However, since we are at the end of the school year, it seems a perfect time to offer them this challenge.
The 5th grade class will be finishing up their reading books, vocabulary books, and diagramming sentences. Also, the students are finishing up the children’s books they created. We are planning to share our stories with the younger students.
The 6th grade class will be working on a writing project. The project involves selecting and writing about one of the four freedoms made famous by President Roosevelt and artistically portrayed by Norman Rockwell. To prepare for this assignment, the class has read articles from Readers’ Digest on the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom from fear, and freedom from want. I have also displayed the prints of the 4 paintings by Rockwell in the classroom. My hope is the students will come away with a greater appreciate for these gifts we take for granted.
Ending the School Year
Ending the school year is a time for anticipation, excitement, and relief. We are all excited about the freedom that summer offers. Anticipation helps us dream about all we want to accomplish this summer. And, relief comes when we realize that we have successfully completed another school year. I want to thank all the students in 5th & 6th grades for their efforts during the 2010-2011 school year. Also, I would like to thank all the parents for their support. Have a safe and wonderful summer.
Mrs. Miritello 5th & 6th Grade Language Arts
The Beginning of the 4th Quarter
We are all anxiously awaiting Easter break. But in the meantime, we are keeping busy with some new, interesting projects.
April is National Poetry Month. Students will be working on several projects throughout the month. Here is a schedule of activities:
Students will be working with their prayer partners to create an “I Spy” poem. The older students will create a collage of pictures. The younger students will select items from the collage. Following a standard format, the students will then create an “I Spy” poem.
- All students in 5th and 6th grades will participate in 2 poetry contests. The first contest is sponsored by the Library of Poetry website. Students are able to enter their poems through the website. This is a nation-wide competition. The second contest is sponsored by Crestwood Public Library. This is an annual competition that many of our students have won in the past.
- The 6th grade class is making posters of literary terms. These posters will be hung in the hallway during the month of April.
The 5th grade class will be writing a children’s picture book at the beginning of the 4th quarter. They will also be reading the novel The Wish Giver by Bill Brittain. The novel is about a man who promises the people of the town that he can give them whatever they ask for. Three young children make wishes that come true in the most unexpected way.
The 6th grade class will be starting the novel, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt. The novel is about the Tuck family who never grow any older. The secret of their everlasting life is discovered by a young girl and a stranger. The Tucks struggle to keep their secret from spreading further.
Heading for the End of the 3rd Quarter, 5th & 6th Grade Language Arts
March is an important month of the school year. We still have time before spring break to tackle challenging material. In fact, this year our Easter break doesn’t occur until the end of April. After spring break, students have their sights set on summer vacation, so it is much more difficult for students to concentrate on their school work.
The 6th grade class is finishing the novel, View From Saturday. Their final project is to create a scrapbook based on one of the four main characters. The scrapbook needs to include letters, diary entry, pictures, mementos, and an Inspiration diagram based upon the theme of friendship.
The 5th grade class is finishing the novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town. Their final project is to complete a book report. The report consists of a series of questions that challenge the students to analyze characters, identify conflicts in the novel, and to reflect upon how point of view influences the reader.
Early in March, both the 5th & 6th grade classes will begin learning diagramming. Diagramming is a picture of the structure of a sentence. This skill not only reinforces the students’ knowledge of parts of speech, but it also teaches students effective sentence structure. Initially, students will learn how to place the words of a sentence on a diagram that has been drawn for them. Then, they will be required to create diagrams for sentences that are given to them. Ultimately, the true test of mastering this skill is being able to draw the diagram and correctly place the words of the sentence on the diagram. Most students will enjoy the challenge of diagramming.
3rd Quarter Progress February, 2011
The 3rd quarter finds both the 5th & 6th grades working diligently on poetry. Students are not only reading poetry, but they are also writing some of their own poetry. They are including in their poems some of the literary devices (rhyme, similes, metaphors, repetition, and personification) we have studied in class.
At the beginning of February, both the 5th & 6th grade students will concentrate on writing. The students will be writing persuasive, narrative, expository, and compare/contrast essays. Students will be responsible for following the writing process (prewrite, draft, revise, edit, and publish) for each of their pieces of writing. Essays will be graded using a rubric so students will know what is expected of them before they begin to write.
At the end of February, 5th grade students will begin reading the novel When Zachary Beaver Comes to Town. This novel by Kimberly Willis, is about a young boy who is having the toughest summer of his life. It’s the summer his mother leaves town, his best friend’s brother is serving in Vietnam, and the summer Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world, arrives in town. The novel teaches understanding, acceptance, and compassion. I know the 5th grade class will enjoy the novel.
The 6th grade students will read the novel A View From Saturday. This novel, by Newbery Medal award winning author E.L. Konigsburg, is about 4 students who participate in an academic bowl. It is an invaluable novel for young people as it gives the readers practice in recognizing point-of-view, an education in the conservation of sea turtles, an introduction to calligraphy, and an appreciation for differences in people. Although it will be a challenge for the students, it is well-worth the effort.
5th & 6th Grade Language Arts Newsletter
January, 2011
End of the 2nd Quarter
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday. January can be a challenging time of the year. There is a natural let-down after the holidays. The good news is we have a whole new year to look forward to. The second quarter is quickly coming to an end. The quarter ends on January 14th and report cards will go home on January 21st. Once you receive the report, please contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns.
In January, we will be going back to reading selections from our literature books in both 5th & 6th grade. The students enjoyed reading novels, however the short selections in the literature books give us an opportunity to present, practice and review reading skills. We will also be going back to our vocabulary books. We still haven’t finished our lessons on prefixes, suffixes, and roots, so we plan to return to these lessons in February.
I know what a financial hardship providing your children with a Catholic education can be in these tough times. I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend a Catholic school for 13 years. I consider this as one of my greatest gifts in life. I’m sure your children will treasure their experiences in Catholic schools and will be forever grateful.
Be sure to stop by the computer lab during open house on January 23rd. All the state research papers will be on displayed. Students are free to take theirs home on that day.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas holiday. January can be a challenging time of the year. There is a natural let-down after the holidays. The good news is we have a whole new year to look forward to. The second quarter is quickly coming to an end. The quarter ends on January 14th and report cards will go home on January 21st. Once you receive the report, please contact me directly if you have any questions or concerns.
In January, we will be going back to reading selections from our literature books in both 5th & 6th grade. The students enjoyed reading novels, however the short selections in the literature books give us an opportunity to present, practice and review reading skills. We will also be going back to our vocabulary books. We still haven’t finished our lessons on prefixes, suffixes, and roots, so we plan to return to these lessons in February.
I know what a financial hardship providing your children with a Catholic education can be in these tough times. I have been blessed with the opportunity to attend a Catholic school for 13 years. I consider this as one of my greatest gifts in life. I’m sure your children will treasure their experiences in Catholic schools and will be forever grateful.
Be sure to stop by the computer lab during open house on January 23rd. All the state research papers will be on displayed. Students are free to take theirs home on that day.
5th & 6th Grade Language Arts December, 2010
Research Papers
The research projects on states in the United States will be completed by Thanksgiving break. The students not only learned about the state they researched, but they also learned the steps in completing a research paper. This is not a small task for 5th & 6th grade students. The graded projects will be returned to the students by the end of November. The grade will reflect the quality of the student’s writing and the accurate completion of all steps in the process. Be sure to take a look at your child’s project. I’m confident you will be pleasantly surprised.
What We Learn in Language Arts
The 5th grade students are just about finished with the novel, The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.. The novel was a bit of a challenge, however, I know the students are enjoying the story. Quizzes on the novel have required written responses to questions. Students have been able to use their books because referring back to the text for answers is an important skill for students to learn.
The 6th grade students have completed the novel, Skeleton Man. All of the students were totally engrossed in the story. The assessment on the novel involved the completion graphic organizers using our new software program Inspiration. Students were required to write summaries of each chapter, complete a character web on a main character, compare 2 main characters, identify vocabulary words from the text, and complete an analysis of the plot. This was a demanding but worthwhile experience for the students.
5th & 6th Grade Language Arts Newsletter November, 2010
Looking Ahead to the 2nd Quarter
Research projects on states in the United States will be getting under way at the beginning of November. Each student randomly selected the state they will be researching. The students are being introduced to the basics of writing a research paper. The majority of the work will be completed in the classroom. Each student will be supplied with an outline, list of appropriate websites, and a rubric to use for their research. All of these documents have been put into our Google Docs account and are available to the students in the classroom and at home on their computers that have Internet access. 6th grade will be expected to include in-text citing, 5th grade students will not. In addition, the required length of the paper will be shorter for 5th grade. This project is a good start to understanding the research process and will prepare students for their Science project.
What We Learn in Language Arts
Language arts is an unique subject to teach to students. As a language arts teacher, I am responsible for teaching reading, English, and vocabulary to my students. The English part of language arts includes grammar, writing, and speaking. In order to cover all the material language arts includes, I meet with students twice a day; once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Although vocabulary, reading and English are separate grades, these subjects overlap. I believe it is important for the students and parents to understand the unique structure of our language arts classes.
5th & 6th Grade Language Arts
2010-2011 5th & 6th Grade Newsletters
October, 2010 Volume 1, Issue 1
Websites for School Year 2010-2011
All 5th & 6th grade students have been introduced to several websites that they are expected to use throughout the school year. All students have the addresses for these websites inside the front cover of their assignment notebook. Here is a summary of each site.
Wikispaces.com is a site that is being used for students to communicate with me and their classmates. We are using this Internet tool for educational discussions only. Students can correspond with their classmates about projects and school work only. In addition, students will use the space to respond to prompts that I put on the WIKI. The site is completely secure and the only people that can contribute are students in the class and the teacher.
Google Docs is a free on-line word processing program that allows students to create documents on-line. Students can work on their documents at school and at home without having a flash drive. If printing is a problem at home, students can create their documents at home and then print them at school.
Spellingcity.com – this site offers a way for students to practice their spelling. Enter a few words, click on the button and “voila” you can listen to the words and associated sentences and try to correctly spell them. The site offers classic games such as Hang Mouse, Word Unscramble and Crossword. The cool thing is that all of these games use the list of words that have been entered. The “Teach Me” function is excellent, it allows students to hear their words spelled out letter by letter followed by listening to the sentence. I will be entering the list of our vocabulary words from our vocabulary workbook. Although students are not responsible for spelling the vocabulary, they will be able to review the definitions, listen to the pronunciation, and see the words used in a sentence.
Glencoe.com (6th grade students only) - is a companion website for the 6th grade literature book. In addition to an on-line edition of the textbook, the site has a variety of study aids for the students.
6th Grade Syllabus
6th Grade Language Arts Syllabus
Mrs. Miritello
READING SKILLS TAUGHT WHILE READING TEXT - Book: Glencoe – Literature, Course 1 & Misc. Novels
- Identify Cause & Effect
- Determine Main Idea
- Analyze Narrator & Point of View
- Analyze Text Elements
- Activate Prior Knowledge
- Identify Setting
- Analyze Text Structure
- Make Predictions
- Analyze Dialogue
- Identify Author’s Purpose
- Analyze a Myth, Fables and Folklore
- Analyze Poetry
- Recognize the Elements of Poetry
- Recognize
- Analyze Information Text
- Distinguish Between Fact and Opinion
- Similes & Metaphors
- Analyze Internal and External Conflict
- Make Inferences
- Compare/Contrast Characters
- Interpret Graphic Stories
- Analyze Plot, Tone, Theme Character
- Draw Conclusions
- Important/Unimportant Facts
- Judgments & Decisions
- Analyze Foreshadowing
- Analyze Historical Context
- Analyze Drama
ENGLISH – Glencoe Grammar and Language Workbook
- Kinds of Sentences
- Subjects and Predicates: Simple and Compound
- Simple and Compound Sentences
- Sentence Fragments
- Run-On Sentences
- Nouns: Proper, Common, Singular, Plural, Collective, Possessive
- Verbs: Action, Linking, Main, Helping
- Transitive & Intransitive Verbs
- Perfect Tenses
- Irregular Verbs
- Pronouns: Personal, Possessive, Indefinite
- Pronouns and Antecedents
- Adjectives: Proper, Articles, Demonstratives
- Adverbs
- Prepositions
- Conjunctions
- Interjections
- Subject/Verb Agreement
- Diagramming
- Mechanics: Capitalization & Punctuation
- Abbreviations
- Word Usage
WRITING – Glencoe Grammar and Language Workbook & Writing Websites & Student Models
- Writing Good Sentences
- Writing Good Paragraphs
- Prewriting
- Drafting
- Revision
- Editing
- Publishing
- Use of the 6 Trait Writing Model
- Journal Writing
- Letter Writing
- Editorials
- Personal Narrative
- Persuasive Writing
- Expository Writing
- Compare/Contrast
- Writing a Response to a Story
- Writing a Sequel
- Research Paper (Completed in class)
Vocabulary – Book – Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop; Also vocabulary words from reading selections
- Synonyms and Antonyms
- Homonyms
- Homographs
- Literal Usage
- Figurative Usage
- Context Clues
- Analogies
- Word Families
- Word Meaning
- Prefixes
- Suffixes
- Root Word
- Word Wall
