Read 180

eReads and Projects

Students in all three grade levels turned in their project today.  Eighth graders created a flow chart for a process (e.g. a peanut butter and jelly sandwich).  Seventh graders made a timeline of their own lives.  Sixth graders examined a typical day in their lives and made a pie chart.  If any seventh graders need to finish, ReadWriteThink has an interactive timeline tool (however, you can't save it and have to print immediately).

Also, students can now access the online eReads.  These are additional passages and practices that go with their Read180 lessons.  I will post information later on how they can use the eReads for extra credit. 

Warmups and Closings: Week of September 19

6^th Grade Warmups:

• Monday: What would a 90 percent score on a test mean to you?
• Tuesday: Use last week’s target word “motivate” to describe your rBook readings thus far.
• Wednesday:  “I think immigration is (good/bad) for America because _____.”
• Thursday: What is a pie chart?
• Friday: Read the passage and list one detail that supports the main idea.

 6^th Grade Closings:

• Monday: How does the author seem to feel about immigration?
• Tuesday: What are three different ways you can study for tomorrow’s quiz?
• Wednesday: Why would a textbook writer separate a chapter into shorter sections?
• Thursday: If you were asked to analyze a pie chart, what would you do first?
• Friday: What is one thing you’ve learned this week in Read180?

 7^th Grade Warmups:

• Monday: Do you think education should be free for all children worldwide?  Why?
• Tuesday: “Child labor is an international problem because _____.”
• Wednesday:  How are all these children’s lives similar?
• Thursday: What is a timeline?
• Friday: Choose the best summarty of “Child Labor around the World”.

 7^th Grade Closings:

• Monday: What is something you’d find difficult to be deprived of?  Why?
• Tuesday: What are three different ways you can study for tomorrow’s quiz?
• Wednesday: What message do you think the author of this unit was trying to convey?
• Thursday: How would you use a timeline in Social Studies class?
• Friday: What is one thing you’ve learned this week in Read180?

 8^th Grade Warmups:

• Monday: If a teacher asked you to solve a problem, what is the first thing you would do?
• Tuesday: List three unfamliar words that you highlighted yesterday.
• Wednesday:  In your own words, define “capable”.
• Thursday: What is a flow chart?
• Friday: How does kudzu affect Georgia’s environment?

 8^th Grade Closings:

• Monday: Why do you think thi sarticle was titled “America’s Least Wanted”?
• Tuesday: What are three different ways you can study for tomorrow’s quiz?
• Wednesday: “If someone planted a kudzu bush next to my home, I would ______.”
• Thursday: In which types of texts might you find a flow chart?
• Friday: What is one thing you learned this week in Read180?

Goodreads Review: "Skeleton Man"

Skeleton Man by Joseph Bruchac
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a classic ghost story, reminiscent of tales told around a campfire. Molly is a good heroine who seems both classic and realistic. Check this out from the school media center... or the Skeleton Man might come get'cha!

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New Shel Silverstein poems

How many of you remember reading your first book of Shel Silverstein poetry?  He died several years ago, but we can now read some posthumous* works.  Here's a peek at four of the new poems!

 * <i>"Posthumous" means after death.</i>

Slimy, slithery alien invaders

Eighth graders are studying alien invaders, which are plants and animals that move into an unfamliar environment and disrupt the system.  Yesterday I read them an article that I heard on NPR:  Miami invaded by giant house-eating snails.  Yuck!

Vocabulary Quiz #2: Target Words

Students will have a second vocabulary quiz on Wednesday.  Here are the words for all three grade levels. 

8th Grade

• Poisonous: Containing poison that is dangerous
• Interfere: Get into or do things in a situation where you're not wanted
• Release: Give off or let go of something
• Capable: Able to do something
• Responsible: Being the cause of or reason for something

7th Grade

• Require: to need something
• Border: the line that divides two countries
• Resources: supplies that you need to do something
• Deprive: to not give someone something they need
• Reform: to make something better by changing it

6th Grade

• Currently: at the present time
• Income: money from a job
• Motivate: to make someone want to do something
• Minimum: the least or smallest amount
• Percent: a part of the whole

Goodreads Review: "Chasing Vermeer"

Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such fun! This book is for those who love a good mystery full of twisty clues and codes; in some ways, it reminds me of (a much, much better version of) The Da Vinci Code. I think all of my students would find something to like in Chasing Vermeer, and the Lexile score is appropriate for nearly everyone. If you want to check it out from our media center, please see Ms. Gochman and Ms. Jiles directly!

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Stretch Texts

In all three of today's classes, we read passages that relate to our Workshops.  Here are the .pdfs for those students who need to complete make-up work.

6th Grade: "An Interview with Junot Diaz"

• Download Main Idea - Junot Diaz - Passage
• Download Main Idea - Junot Diaz - Graphic Organizer

7th Grade: "We Are Free"

• Download Summarization - We Are Free - Passage
• Download Summarization - We Are Free - Graphic Organizer

8th Grade:  "Jellyfish Gone Wild!"

• Download Cause and Effect - Jellyfish - Passage
• Download Cause and Effect - Jellyfish - Graphic Organizer

 Note: Students may complete the activities for another grade level (e.g. a 6th grader doing "Jellyfish Gone Wild") for extra credit.  These must be turned in by Wednesday, September 21.

 

Weekly Warmups

6^th Grade Warmups

• Monday:  In your own words, write a definition of “currently”.
• Tuesday: Write three words that describe Irene from yesterday’s passage.
• Wednesday:  What is one benefit of reading aloud?
• Thursday: If you compare two things, what are you doing?
• Friday:  List one detail that supports the main idea.

 6^th Grade Closings

• Monday:  Why would it be hard to fit into a new environment?
• Tuesday: How do you feel about your progress on the Read180 software?  Explain.
• Wednesday:  Use the word “immigrant” in a sentence describing Irene.
• Thursday: How is a summary similar to your TV’s channel guide?
• Friday: What is one thing you learned this week in Read180?

 7^th Grade Warmups

• Monday: Now that you’ve read one of the articles, speculate why this unit is titled “Stolen Childhoods”.
• Tuesday: What is one thing you’ve learned so far about child labor?
• Wednesday: What is one way that working would affect a teen’s life?
• Thursday: How are these child laborers’ lives similar to yours?
• Friday: Choose the best summary of “Working in the Fields”.

 7^th Grade Closings

• Monday: “To cross the border into another country, you need _____.”
• Tuesday: How are these teens’ lives different from yours?
• Wednesday:  “Because migrant workers earn low wages, _____.”
• Thursday:  Think about your summary.  What is one detail that supports it?
• Friday: Would you wear sneakers that a child laborer made?  Why or why not?

8^th Grade Warmups

• Monday: Write one fact you remember about the snakehead fish.
• Tuesday: In your own words, define “interfere”.
• Wednesday: In your own words, define “release”.
• Thursday: How is a summary different from cause and effect?
• Friday: Read the two sentences.  Which is the effect?

 8^th Grade Closings

• Monday:  “Invader species can affect the environment by _____.”
• Tuesday: Which animal is more harmful: the brown tree snake or the snakehead fish?  Why?
• Wednesday: In one or two sentences, explain how snakes first arrived on Guam.
• Thursday: Which one (cause or effect) explains why something happened?
• Friday:  What is one thing you’ve learned this week in Read180?

Goodreads Review: "Looking for Red", by Angela Johnson

Looking for Red by Angela Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The writing is very spare and direct, which makes an impact. I felt so sad for Mike and her loss. The lexile is 740 (Level 4), but I think all readers would find this novel fascinating, especially those mourning the loss of a family member.

(NOTE: This is a Read180 book and is available in our classroom library!)

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