Grammar from The Insanity Zone

Baby, Fix Your Sentences

Take Control of the Rest of the Year

Grammar Police

Want to Understand Your Teacher?

The Grammar Song

Fragments From the Doctor

Fused/Run-on Sentences

Here are a few tips from the doctor.

Do You Have What it Takes to Succeed?

Paulsen on Books

Know Your Homophones

Homophones--Words that sound the same but have different meanings and spellings.

Not Homophones—where/were
Homophones—where/wear

A

ant, aunt

H

here/hear

P

peer, pier

T

there, they're, their

threw, through

to, two, too

W

where,wear

The rules for today's Reading Workshop Homophone Telephone:

1. You can only whisper to the person beside you

2. You can only use www.dictionary.com as a resource

3. You can share with the person on each side

4. If you hear (here) words from anyone other than the person beside you, you (ewe) cannot use those words

5. If homophones start with different letters, you can list them under whichever word you list first.
6. You can't (cant) use proper nouns.

A Poster Child for Success

Her first month of school was tough. She was in trouble for not doing her school work. She spent every recess in study table. Her grades were not good. She got a lecture, or had to listen to teachers talk about not getting her work done daily. I had several conversations with her myself, and none seemed to help.

Fast forward to December and she is a success. She is getting every assignment complete and never has to go to study table. She is working hard to do her best. Her teachers are proud of her.

Annie's story started with the decision that she didn't want study table any more. She was tired of the pressure to do her work. She made the decision to start doing her work. Then she talked to all of her teachers about her missing assignments and how to get caught up on her work. She spent a few days working real hard to get everything done. Then she made sure she did all of her homework every night.

So what's the message here? Success is possible. It can and did happen. It seems simple when you read about it. Annie made it look easy. And when it happened it was amazing. Everyone felt good. The teachers were so proud of her. All it took was a little hard work and a lot of determination. Great job Annie!

KP Says, "Be Thankful!"

I am so thankful for this year's sixth grade class. It is a smiley class with a ton of students with great attitudes. As we take a break for Thanksgiving, thanks to all the students in the hallway at Salt Creek that are making this a great year!

Be Who You Are

In Conclusion

Here is an example of a great conclusion from a recent writing assignment, As a Writer . . . Luke's conclusion wraps up his essay and leaves the reader understanding him as a writer.

My goal as a writer is to wow the reader. I’m trying very hard every time I write to do my best and get the best response from the reader. I don’t just write for a grade. I write because it is what I like to do.  I love that feeling of someone telling me that the writing I do is great and and creative, and just fun to read. I know I have a few mistakes, but either way I’m going to be the best writer I can.

Here is another example from Kaleigh. Although it is shorter, it sums up her essay in a great way.

In eleven weeks of school, I have learned so much about writing. I understand what I am doing well and what I need to work on. If I keep practicing I hope my spelling problems and lack of ideas will be improved!

Here is another example of a good conclusion written by Ella.

Over the past nine weeks I have continued to improve as a writer.  I also need to work on different things that will help me get a better grade on my essays.  However, there are also things I have succeeded in writing as well.  In conclusion, I will continue to improve when I write in Language Arts class!

Ellie wraps up her essay well by restating her main point.
 
I am going to get better at writing this year because I am going to try my best. I have been making mistakes but that’s fine to me because it is teaching me that I need to do better. I’m ready to start getting better at writing and keeping up the work I already do well.

Kid President and I Agree

Make Success Happen

The Setting

The setting is where a story takes place, when it takes place, and the duration. The setting can include specific information about time and place or can simply be descriptive. A novel has an overall setting but scenes usually occur in several different settings.

The time in setting doesn't usually mean what time it is on the clock. The time of the setting is broader, like a period of years or in time.

Duration means the time period from the beginning to the end of the story. For some stories this is just a few hours or days; other stories span decades or centuries.

The example used in class is from the book 3:15, Things That Go Bump in the Night by Patrick Carman.  The audio password is cody. The video password is hook.

Reading Workshop students, for this project, the goal is to define setting, analyze the impact the setting has on the book you are reading, and then share it in a piece of writing using details from the book to support your points. This should be at least a five paragraph essay beginning with an introduction, a body that includes specific scenes/events from the book and ending in a conclusion that wraps up the topic.

Things to Do Today

Are you busy? Could you spare a minute?

Are You Ready?

Sometime life comes at you from all directions. Are you ready when it does?