Welcome to Ms. Johnson's

Literacy Connections 8

What's happening in Literacy Connections 8

April 27 -May 1

Literacy:

This week we will continue discussing social justice with an emphasis on articles about the Vietnam War.  The students will use their skills with comparing and contrasting to analyze various texts.

Grammar: 

We will continue to review literary devices this week in preparation for the Language Arts EOG.  Our focus this week will be on Irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational.

 

 

April 20-24

Literacy

This week students will be practicing their writing skills by creating their own restaurants.  During the course of the week each student will design their menus, create an advertisement and format an imaginary website for their restaurant. 

 

Grammar

We will continue to review literary devices this week in preparation for the Language Arts EOG.  Our focus this week will be on synonyms. 

Literacy:

Welcome back to Track 1!

During the next three weeks we will begin our unit on Social Justice.  Some of the poems, articles and stories that we will focus on will be Martin Luther King Jr.'s  "Beyond Vietnam" and Lincoln's "Emancipation Proclamation".  Our essential questions for this unit:

What is the difference between equality and freedom?

What is Social Justice?

What is the difference between equality and fairness?

Grammar:

From now until the end of the year we will be reviewing all the literary devices and tools that we have learned during this school year in preparation for the End of Grade test in Language Arts.  These include the following:

personification

hyperbole

antonym

synonym

simile

metaphor

March 16-27

Track 3 and 4 presented their Wax Museum projects on Thursday, March 12.  We had some wonderful research and presentations into people who have demonstrated risk in their lives.  Some of the presentations included Rosa Parks, Mohammed Ali and Mary Lou Retton.

For the next two weeks we will be focusing on Maya Angelou and who contributions to Civil Rights.  The students will watch the movie "Why the Caged Bird Sings" and analyze this selection looking at the questions;

What is freedom?

How do we obtain freedom?

Grammar:

For the next two weeks are grammar focus will be on the literary term - Hyperbole.  From now until EOG testing we will be reviewing key literary terms learned earlier in the year.

 March 9 - 13

Literacy:

The students on tracks 3 and 4 will complete their Wax Museum projects this week and will be presenting in the Media Center on Thursday.  Students on track 1 will complete and present their projects when they return from track out.

Grammar:

We will be concluding our unit on the four types of sentences.  Students will receive a study guide on Wednesday, March 11 to assist them studying for the test on Friday, March 13.

The following two weeks our grammar focus will be on the literacy device - HYPERBOLE.

February 10 - March 5

Literacy:

What makes someone a hero?

Grammar:

For the next three weeks we will be focusing on the four types of sentences: Imperative, Interrogative, Exclamatory and Declarative.  For practice at home you might have your student visit the following cite:

The four types of sentences

January 5-February 9

During the month of January I will be out following hip surgery.  Ms. Townley will be the sub in the class for these three weeks.  

Literacy:

For the next three weeks the students will be reading and  discussing the novel "Number the Stars" by Lowis Lowry.

Grammar:

The grammar focus for the next three weeks will be a review of metaphors and similes.  There are  sites under the resource tab which your child may use to practice metaphors and similes at home.

December 1-19

Literacy:

We are concluding our unit on "Flowers for Algernon".  During this unit the students have explored themes such as The Mistreatment of the Mentally Handicapped and Emotion vs. Intellect.  We have also focused on identifying ways in which the author used symbolism to enhance the story.

Grammar:

From now until Winter Break we will be focusing on the simple subject and verb and the complete subject and complete predicate in sentences.  On December 15 the students will get a study guide for the grammar test on December 17.

November 10-26

Welcome back to Track 3 !

Literacy:

This week will begin our unit on "Flowers for Algernon" which will continue through December 5.  The focus of this unit will be to:

recognize the following literary devices and point out examples of each in the story:
• allusion
• foreshadowing
• flashback
• euphemism

list the qualities that Charlie believes make a human life valuable:
• in the beginning of the story before the operation.
• at the height of his intelligence.
• when he accepts his ultimate fate

point out examples of metaphors found in this novel

understand the plot, theme and characterization found within the story

 Grammar:

We will continue learning about verb tenses (past, present, and future) and learning to use irregular verbs. Your student can use the link below to practice this skill at home.

Games to Practice Past, Present and Future Verb Tenses

 November 3-7

Literacy:

This week we will focus on children's literature; reading "Owl Moon" and "Thank You Mr. Faulker".  Students will analyze how similes and metaphors add interest and help to paint a more colorful picture for the reader.  We will explore how our choices mold and impact our lives.

Grammar:

We will continue learning about verb tenses (past, present, and future) and learning to use irregular verbs. Your student can use the link below to practice this skill at home.

Games to Practice Past, Present and Future Verb Tenses

October 27-31

Literacy:

This week we will begin reading "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut.  The focus will be on looking at the choices that we make.  Our classroom discussions will revolve around what the students feel and believe about differences and how our differences can shape who we are and the world that we live in.  On Wednesday we will watch "The Girl Who Asked To Turn Blue" and compare and contrast the concepts in this play with those in "Harrison Bergernon".

On Friday it is our media circulation day.  Students need to remember to return library books that day.

Grammar:

This week we will focus on present, past, and future tense verbs.

October 13 - 17

Literacy:

Due to benchmark testing and the pep rally we did not complete our unit on Folklore last week.  This week we will wrap up this unit looking at Davy Crockett, John Henry and folklore from around the world.

Grammar:

Our grammar focus for the next two weeks will be on verbs. The cite below is a fun way to help your students review this grammar concept.

Verb Jeopardy

October 6 - 10

Literacy:

This week we will conclude our study of folktales.  The students will be comparing and contrasting folklore from this country and globally.  Students will also be discussing the various stories and using evidence from the text to support their answers.  Some of the stories we will be reading and discussing are "Davy Crockett's Dream". "Coyote Steals the Sun and the Moon" and "Why the Waves Have Whitecaps".

Grammar:

Our grammar focus for this week will be on possessive nouns and pronouns. The cite below is a fun way to help your student review this grammar concept.

Possessive Pronoun Game

September 29 - October 3

Literacy:

First quarter was devoted to reading, discussing and writing about different genres in literature.  We read stories and poems by such varied authors as O. Henry,  Shakespeare, and Anne Frank.  Our study of genres included Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Myth, Realistic Fiction, Biography, Autobiography and Fantasy.  We will conclude our genre unit this week with a look at Folk Tales, both in this country and globally.

Our writing this quarter has focused on argumentative writing.  After reading the short story, A Retrieved Reformation,  the students wrote a letter  arguing the point of view of a character in the story.  Students also used their Interactive Notebooks to develop five days of journal entries for a character of their choice from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Grammar:

So far this year we have completed grammar units on Prefixes, Antonyms, Synonyms, Similes, Metaphors and Analogies. Each of these units will be revisited during second semester to reinforce and expand learning.

Last week we began our unit on nouns (common and proper) and this week we will begin to discuss pronouns.

Following each grammar unit the students are given a summative test to access their learning.  The unit test for common and proper nouns will be October 3.