Dear 6th and 7th Grade Families,

 

I hope that everyone has enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving break!  It was glorious to have the extra gift of the Tuesday holiday added to our break.  We enjoyed a new outdoor activity, suggested by Sra. Bonilla, to walk on the Wilson Bridge over to National Harbor and back.  What a great close-by activity to enjoy, if you have not done so yet!

 

I know you get multiple reminders from various emails, but to echo that information here as well:

 

Photo retakes: When we return this week, there are individual photo retakes on Tuesday.  If you are having your student retake his/her photo, please have your student wear the top part of the regular winter uniform to school along with the PE sweatpants and sneakers.  *Remember to send back in the photo package that was sent home previously.*  

 

December birthdays: Birthday dress-down (out of uniform) for December birthdays is Wednesday!  

 

First Trimester: Report cards will go home on Friday, Dec. 4th.  Please return the signed copy of the report card by Dec. 11th.

 

In Reading/LA classes: In 7th grade, we will be starting our Elements of a Short Story unit, which will take us up through the Christmas break.  We will apply the literary vocabulary terms and expand on their use via reading 5-7 examples of well-known examples of the short story genre.  Our class read-alouds are Resistance by Jennifer Neilsen (7-3) and Touching Spirit Bear  by Ben Mickelsen. (7-6). M/T will be short story work, W is mentor text writing day, and Th/F are class novel days.  Your students may choose to download or purchase copies of the book but otherwise these are read-alouds in the classroom and there is no need to purchase any books.

 

In 6th grade Reading, we're beginning a whole-class study of the novel The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin on Mondays.  Unless you have a copy of this title (published in 1978) at your house, it isn't necessary to purchase a copy.  We will be annotating as we go and I will provide your students with copies of the book, both online and in paper form.  On Tuesdays we will have directed lessons in reading non-fiction, using The Comprehension Toolkit for Middle School (https://www.heinemann.com/products/e06184.aspx). We will continue with Vocabulary in Action on W/F and Storyworks core skill reading on Thursdays.  In LA we have completed the "how to" article and diagram and will begin Verbs.  This is a challenging unit and I expect that this year we should be able to conclude this unit before the holiday!

 

The next three weeks will be challenging, fast, and busy! 

 

Sincerely,

Mrs. Morgan