LANGUAGE ARTS, MRS. LEONARD November 2014
COMMUNICATION
Be sure to check out the announcements, upcoming events, homework assignments and other postings on the Trailblazer Team web page. Mayfield Middle School also has a Facebookpage that is continually updated with announcements and photos.
To monitor your child’s progress throughout the school year, you may access your child’s performance and grades in Pinnacle, our online grading system.Students should be using their agendas to record homework assignments. It’s helpful if your child shares his or her agenda with you on a regular basis.
MMS has a Homework Club after school. Homework Club is offered every Tuesday and Thursday from 3:05 – 4:00 with Mr. Latine (Room C3).
Please feel free to email or call me with concerns/questions at or 440 995 7869.
WHAT’S UP IN LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS
READING & WRITING: We have recently finished reading the novel Al Capone Does My Shirts. We also read nonfiction articles on topics related to the story and have responded in writing by comparing the nonfiction texts to the book. Next, we will be reading novels by the author Sharon Creech and writing personal narratives.
HOMEWORK: Typically, students are assigned a Word Cell lesson each Wednesday which is due
Thursday. All 6thgrade students are expected to read a minimum of 100 minutes per week (20 minutes 5 times per week). Sometimes students are asked to respond to their book in writing. If your child says they have no Language Arts homework, please encourage some at-home reading!! Once a student completes a book….start another!!! Students should ALWAYS have a book that s/he is reading. All assignments and upcoming assessments are posted on my web page.
SCHOLASTIC BOOK ORDERS:If you are interested in ordering books from Scholastic, return the order form(s) with a check made out to Scholastic or order online by Wednesday, November 19. They have some pretty good deals and I earn points from Scholastic which I use towards purchasing books for our classroom library.
The Importance of Reading
These quotesfrom Alice Ozma’s memoir reflect our philosophy of reading and theimportance of reading at home…
In 1985, the Commission onReading…declared, “The single most important activity for building theknowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud tochildren.” Both reading in schooland at home were encouraged.
The greatest gift you canbestow upon your children is your time and undivided attention. If a child sees something in a parentthat that child aspires to, he or she will copy that parent and be content.
--foreword by Jim Brozina (Alice’s dad) from The Reading Promise by Alice Ozma