Declarative, Imperative, Interrogative, Exclamatory

There are four sentence types that you should know.

Declarative - states a fact; ends with a period.

Imperative - makes a command; end with a period

Interrogative - asks a question; ends with a question mark

Exclamatory - sentence said with excitement, emotion; ends with an exclamation point

Finish the worksheet handed out in class for Friday.

Bring in your essay!

You've been working on them this week. Please make sure to bring them in for Thursday.

Also, you were handed back your Watsons Go to Birmingham test and many people did not do so well. Correct your test and both scores will be averages together. Your correction needs to include correct capitalization and end punctuation.

TPCASTT

Tonight, please read the poem "Birmingham Sunday" by Langston Hughes.

We analyzed it in class, but you need to fill out your TPCASTT organizer.

Remember what each letter stands for:
T- title
P - paraphrase
C - connotation
A - attitude
S - shift
T - title
T - theme

Please bring in the completed organizer tomorrow.

Essays are due Thursday!!

Essay - Watsons Go to Birmingham

This weekend, please fill out the two organizers that were handed out in class that will help you with the essay assignment.

Remember, you need to pick a theme that you believe you can find evidence for in the text.

The themes we talked about in class are Racism, Support of Family and Grief.

Bring your organizers to class so we can start writing on Monday.

Know which one you are going to pick? Tell us here.

Speech Competition or Grammar Sheets?

It's your choice.

We need entries for next week's speech competition? So if you want to try out, write a 2-minute speech on a topic of your choice. Flexing your writing muscle will also earn you some bonus points towards your Humanities grade, as well.

Not feeling brave? Then please complete the two grammar sheets handed out in class today.

Night Off

Enjoy.

Continuing with Capitals

We're continuing our work on capital letters.
In class today, we talked more about when capital letters are used in sentences.

• A person's title before their name, such as Governor Lincoln Almond
• Abbreviations of titles, like Dr. or Mr.
• Days
• Months
• Parts of an address
• Titles of the military

Complete the worksheet on handed out in class tonight.

Ancient Egypt - The Test

Tomorrow is it! The test for Ancient Egypt.

Make sure to look over all your notes and handouts. Everything is fair game:

Gifts of the Nile
Pharaohs
Old Kingdom vs. New Kingdom
Mummification
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian Art
Daily Life

Good luck!

Capital Letters

Capital letters are an important part of creating correct sentences. We use them:

1. At the beginning of sentences
2. At the beginning of each line of poetry
3. At the beginning of dialogue
4. For proper nouns

Need more practice? Take a look at this interactive game.

For Thursday, please finish the worksheet handed out in class.

They're Done!

Or at least they should be ... tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your hard work on this independent project.

Scrapbooks and hieroglyphics

Make sure that you are working hard this week to finish up your scrapbooks.



All directions can be found on our class website.



In Social Studies, we studied Egyptian writing and were able to start writing our name out on a poster. Please your hieroglyphics

Pull Together Your Scrapbooks

This weekend would be a fantastic time to really do some hard work on your scrapbooks.

Not sure of what you need?

You can find all the instructions online at our class website.

Get ready for your essay

One of the major assignments of the scrapbook is the five-paragraph essay that sums up the life of the Freedom Fighter you have been studying.

Please fill out the writing organizer that was handed out in class today so that I can approve your plan.

In addition, you should have read through Chapter 8 of The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by tomorrow.

Scrapbook work begins ....

... tomorrow.
Please be prepared. You may want to take your biography into class during the next few days.

Read, Read, Read

Biographies should be finished by this Tuesday.

Make sure to also fill fill out The Great Pyramid maps.

Explore Khufu's tomb here:

Irrelevant Details & The Great Pyramid

English -- Due Friday

Tonight for English, please look at the two paragraphs and determine which sentence is irrelevant.

Social Studies - Due Monday

We've started to learn about pyramids. These huge structures have fascinated people for thousands of years: How were they built? What's inside? Is there really a curse?

Take a look at the biggest pyramid ever built, The Great Pyramid. For Monday,  label the interior and exterior map of this complex. Paste them into your notebook. You should also take notes. Don't forget to include it into your Social Studies notebook.

Keep reading those biographies!

The Nile and Its Gifts

The Nile was what sustained the ancient Egyptians. Like their neighbors in Mesopotamia, The Nile gave several gifts to the Egyptians. Among them were:
1. Floods
2. Mud
3. Food
4. Papyrus

Tonight, please label the map with the following:

1.Lower Egypt
2.Upper Egypt
3.Red Sea
4.Mediterranean Sea
5.Dead Sea
6.Nile Delta
7.Direction of Current
8.Fertile Area
9.Sinai Peninsula
10.Compass Directions


Need a good resource? Try here:

Treasures of Ancient Egypt

Sandcastles

Please analyze the essay handed out in class, similar to how we looked at Chinese New Year. Follow the directions on the back.

And don't foget: Continue to read your biography!

Pick List & Choose

When writing an essay, you should follow these steps to help identify broad but distinct main ideas for your supporting paragraphs.

1. Pick a topic.

2. List out all the ideas connected with that topic that you can think of.

3. Choose broad but distinct ideas from the list that you generated.

For homework tonight, you will be looking at the essay plans handed out in class. Decide whether the paragraph ideas are distinct and broad enough. If not, think of better topic ideas. Then write sentences that could introduce each paragraph.

Don't forget to read your biography each night!

Freedom Fighter Project

Here's a reprint from the directions you received about the initial stages of our Freedom Fighters Scrapbook Project.

Don't forget to pick out your books and get your parent consent forms signed.



As you read The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963, you will be putting together a scrapbook about a Freedom Fighter, someone who has stood up for the rights of others. Choose someone who has fought for the rights of blacks, women, or another minority group.

1. First, you will need to select your Freedom Fighter. There are some great choices out there. See last post.

2. Freedom Fighter consent form needs to be signed by parent/guardian and returned to teacher on November 7th.

3. Read your biography each day independently. Your biography should be read by November 17th.

4. Conduct independent research about your author’s life.

5. Bibliography should include all book and online sources you use in your project. A minimum of two sources is required.

6. Completed scrapbook is due November 28th. See handout for details on contents of scrapbook.

Biography and Vocab Quiz

As we read Watsons Go to Birmingham/ Bud, Not Buddy, you are required to read the biography of a Freedom Fighter - someone who has stood up for the rights of others. Choose someone who has fought for the rights of blacks, women, or another minority group.

Please be ready to tell me who you are reading about on Thursday. Below is a list of people who might interest you for this project:

Sojourner Truth
Abraham Lincoln
John F. Kennedy
Rosa Parks
Martin Luther King Jr.
Corretta Scott King
Frederick Douglas
Nelson Mandela
Desmond Tutu
Dali Lama
Susan B. Anthony
Harriet Tubman
Mahatma Ghandi
Thurgood Marshall
Bob Dylan
Bono
Joan Baez
Harry Belafonte
Jesse Jackson
Jackie Robinson


In addition, don't forget to study for your vocabulary quiz on Thursday.

Easter Shopping at Levy's

Once a year, sometime before Easter, Grandma would take Westley downtown to Levy's Department Store on Broughton Street to buy one nice outfit. They use Levy's charge card and then paid a little bit each month.

On the shopping trip, the saleswoman would not serve them until after all the white customers had been helped. Westley had heard the saleswoman politely call the white women customers "Miss and "Mrs." But she treated his grandma as if she were a child, a nobody.

Westley's grandma pretended not to notice. She was polite. But she was also proud. "Come on,"she said, "it's time to go home." They left the store without buying a thing.

From "Delivering Justice: WW Law and the Fight for Civil Rights" by Jim Haskins

Mesopotamia Work Stations

Hi class,

This is one of our first full weeks back to school. We're going to get back and review all the hard work we've done on Mesopotamia before we begin our new unit on Egypt.

Please make sure that all work is submitted and that your notes are in order. I will be collecting everything on Wednesday. Then we'll review the various stations and get ready for a quiz early next week.

Stay tuned!

Hammurabi's Code

You are an advisor to Hammurabi and you need to suggest whether you believe the laws and rules of the land should be less severe for nobles, than they are with commoners.

In your Social Studies book, write a letter to Hammurabi stating your opinion on the matter. Remember to give specific reasons for your opinion.

Please have this letter in your notebook to be checked on Monday.

Watsons Go to Birmingham

We are about to start a new novel, The Watsons go to Birmingham. It's a historical fiction piece about the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s in America.

To start, I've asked you to write either a sentence or a fact about the 15 vocabulary words that you were given in class.

These are due on Monday.

Quiz: Walk Two Moons

We prepared for a quiz on Walk Two Moons by reviewing some questions in class today.

Look over the book and your response questions and be ready for a short quiz tomorrow.

Workstations & Crossword Puzzles

Please make sure your first activity is done and ready on Monday.

In English, we began to go over the narrative elements for Walk Two Moons. We'll go over it again tomorrow.

Please finish the crossword puzzle that was handed out to you in class today.

Activity Stations Launch

We launched our activity stations in Social Studies. Students were placed in groups, team leaders were elected and work has begun.

The first activity is due by Friday. So make sure you are in contact with your group members and know what you need to do to meet your deadlines.

Finish it up!

Read to the end of Walk Two Moons over the weekend. Then fill out the Narrative Elements chart we create in class today.

Crazy for Rushmore

Please finish the research you started in class -- either on the Crazy Horse or Mount Rushmore monument.

Also, answer the questions that were handed out in class that pertain to chapters 23-33.

All work is due on Friday, and should be done in your English notebooks.

Proof of Civilization

Tomorrow, I'll be checking your charts. You needed to choose one country and prove whether it is civil or not.

We'll also be discussing Walk Two Moons at our morning session. You should be up to Chapter 33.

Don't Let Down the Team

Today, Mrs. Forester had to take many students down to the computer lab to finish their homework. You let your team members down when you don't take responsibility for the work you are supposed to do in your group.

Please be considerate of your team members. You will also be grading your team members at the end of our web quest on their participation level.

Tomorrow, we'll start off the day with Social Studies. In our afternoon session, we'll have more time to plan our monument proposals.

Be ready for a notebook check on Friday for English. I'll be looking for the following:

• Journal entry: Shoe question pasted into book.
• State Facts: Five each for Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, South Dakota
• Notes: Sentence Types, simple compound and complex
• Vocab: Sets I and II
• Character Analysis: This was handed out in class. Please finish for the homework check by Friday.

Additional worksheets will be made available in class.

Vocab II Quiz

Make sure to study. Words are in the previous post.

In addition, I'll be expecting groups to share their notes and complete their graphic organizers on the information for Native American Leaders.

I Do Declare ...

Declarative - sentence that states a fact
Sal was traveling across the country with her grandparents.

Imperative - sentence that gives a command
Please write in your diary over the summer.

Interrogative - sentence that asks a question
What could have bitten her leg?

Exclamatory - sentence that expresses strong or sudden feeling
That blackberry pie was amazing!

Tonight, finish the worksheet Mrs. Forester handed out in class.

Also, for Wednesday, you need to complete the graphic organizer for the Native American Leaders.

Remember: There's a Social Studies Quiz tomorrow on Chapter 2. Review your study guides.

Web Quest Coming Soon ...

On Monday, we'll start our web quest. You can check it out again here.

Be ready by reading up through Chapter 22.

Reminders: Social Studies test is on Tuesday. Vocab quiz is on Wednesday.

Sentence Types

We covered a lot today:

1. Simple, Compound and Complex sentences. For Friday finish the worksheet.

You might also want to try some games linked to our website.

2. Vocabulary Part II. Sentences are due on Friday. Here's the list:

pious - devoted
berserk - crazy
skittish - jumpy in a scared way
glum - sad
chaotic - in total disorder
farfetched - unbelievable
amnesia - disease where one forgets
besiege - to surround with troops
plagues - sickens
sarcastic - using remarks that are ironic or full of contempt
malinger - to pretend to be sick to get out of work
ghastly - horrifying
pitiful - deserving pity
careen - to lurch (launch) while moving rapidly
ulcer - a festering sore

3. For Monday, read through Chapter 22.

Agriculture and Domesticating Animals

Today, we began taking notes on how farming and domesticating animals put an end to having to be hunters and gatherers.

We'll continue with the section on Thursday. There is no homework connected with today's lesson. But make sure you read Walk Two Moons up to Chpt 16 and have answered the questions that were handed out in class.

First Quiz

Today we had our fist vocab quiz ... more words will follow this Thursday.

For English, you will be answering the questions on the Responding worksheet that was given out in class. You can use your book to answer the questions. We'll be using them to help with a class discussion on Thursday.

Also, we're moving forward in the book. For Thursday, please read up through chapter 11.

I've heard many positive responses about the book thus far. What do you think? Feel free to leave your thoughts in our comments area.

Migrating Tribes

Read the prompt below and then answer in essay form. Please be prepared to hand this essay in.

Flooding has occurred in your tribe, and as the tribal leader you must move up to higher and colder ground.

Is this forced or voluntary migration?

How will you adapt? What do you imagine will be your food source?

What do you think you will be able to use for shelter? Warmth?

What tools will be important in a mountain landscape? Why?


Possible Resources:
Social Studies for Kids

Due on Wednesday!

Weekend Outlook

Over the weekend, you'll continue reading Walk Two Moons. I'd like you to read up through Chapter 11.

In the book, Sal moved from Kentucky to Ohio with her father. Now she is on a road trip with her grandparetns. They went from Ohio into Indiana and are now on their way to South Dakota.

Please find out FIVE facts about each state: Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana and South Dakota. You can put them into your English/Humanities notebook.

In addition, make sure you are studying the Vocabulary words. You are going to be quized on them Tuesday.

See you on Monday when we will be meeting for Social Studies.

Have a great weekend.

Ms. Larson

Vocab Words

So we're delving into the book today ... and I'd like you to study some vocab words.

Here they are again:
elaborate - fancy; done with lots of attention to detail
cautious - careful
cadaver - a dead body
flinch - to wince in pain or draw away from
diabolic - exceedingly wicked
predicted - made an educated guess
sheath - a protective covering, often for a sword
ambush - to attack with no warning
gullible - niave; easilly foole
divulge - to tell, usually a secret
trek - a long journey
vivid - bright; easy to see or imagine
ornery - stubborn and ill-tempered
detect - to find out or discover
colossal - extremely large

Sentences are due tomorrow ... Friday!!!

Time Capsule

As I mentioned in class, I'm reprinting the directions for the Social Studies assignment here:

Choose THREE items to put into a time capsule to teach future generations about today's society.

Write a short description (3 sentences) about what your item says about modern society.

The answers should be written down in your Social Studies notebook.

(Don't foget your homework for English, too .... see yesterday's post)

Taking a Journey

I'm excited that we started to take our first steps into the book.

Talking about steps, we spent some time today discussing the quote from the book, "Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins." It's an important quote and theme in the novel.

If you didn't have time in class, make sure you fill in and return the journal response that looks like a shoe. When you complete it, think of a role model or someone you admire.

In addition, I asked you to visit the blog to answer another journal prompt. As I mentioned in class, the book is about a girl who goes on a road trip. I'd like you to:

1. Press comment to this post
2) Tell me about the most exciting journey you've been on in five sentences. Tell me where you went, for how long with who and what made it so exciting. Again, try to make this into a five sentence response.
3) Make sure to put just your first name and last initial in your reply.

I look forward to reading your comments.

- Ms. Larson

Surveys and Reading

Hi class,

For those who answered the class survey, you are in the clear tonight ... except for your reading. Don't forget that you should be reading for 20 minutes each night.

If you haven't taken the survey yet, please see the last post and follow the link to the survey.

Tomorrow we start Walk Two Moons in English.

Welcome Back

Hello Grade 6.

I'm looking forward to seeing you back in school on Thursday.

We will be getting right down to business on Thursday. First up in English, we will be doing a novel study on Walk Two Moons. I've read this book several times and still love it!

In Social Studies we are going back ... way back. We'll be kicking off the year by looking at early man.

You can start handing in your summer work tomorrow.

Click here to take survey.