This week readers and writers will:

• begin viewing the silent comedy films “The General” with Buster Keaton and “The Gold Rush” with Charlie Chaplin
• Write and perform their own silent film comedy sketch

This week Readers will:

• receive and review a study guide for Thursday’s test over Acts II and III of “The Miracle Worker”
• read silently

Writers will:

• work on their personal essays by reading essays written by others, choosing a theme and an incident to illustrate it, sharing ideas with classmates and beginning a rough draft

Last week Readers read silently and checked out new books as I prepare to close my classroom library.  Writers continued to read and discuss “The Miracle Worker” and all classes are near completion of the play.

This week Readers will:

• complete “The Miracle Worker”
• view the original film with Ann Bancroft and Patty Duke
• read silently as time allows

Writers will:

• begin the final writing project, a personal essay, which will be due May 14th

Students will also take both Science and Social Studies TAKS this Thursday and Friday

Last week students read silently, answered prompts and began reading “The Miracle Worker” by taking parts and reading the play aloud in class.

This week Readers will:

• read silently and answer prompts
• continue reading “The Miracle Worker”
• take a test over Act I

Writers will:

• begin a final writing project
• continue LTF objectives

Last week students reviewed two recent practice TAKS passages, took both the math and reading TAKS tests, read silently, and began a fantasy story based on a picture they chose.

This week Readers will:

• begin reading The Miracle Worker, a play about the early life of Helen Keller
• read silently
• answer prompts

Writers will:

• complete their fantasy stories
• begin an essay

NOTE:  All students will complete math TAKS on Tuesday and reading TAKS on Wednesday of this week

Last week students took a practice TAKS passage, a CBA, read silently, reviewed TAKS strategies and worked on free writes.   This week:

Readers will:

• review recent practice TAKS passages
• read silently
• answer prompts

Writers will:

• work on free writes
• work on LTF elements

Before spring break, students reviewed reading TAKS objectives, read silently and completed a persuasive essay.

This week Readers will:

• continue to review reading TAKS objectives, which were covered in lessons earlier in the school year
• read silently
• review the last practice TAKS passage and
• complete a practice TAKS passage

Writers will:

• conference on their persuasive essays
• choose essays for debate
• debate chosen topics

Last week students reviewed and received an additional chart of common prefixes, roots and suffixes,  reviewed idioms, completed a practice TAKS passage, read silently and completed online research for persuasive essays  in the library and classroom

This week Readers will:

• review denotative and connotative word meanings
• review main idea and details, paraphrasing and summarizing
• read silently and conference

This week Writers will:

• complete the rough draft, revision, editing and final draft of a persuasive essay according to the rubric and submit for grading

This week readers will:

• begin a review of  TAKS Objective 1 material covered earlier this school year, including idioms, analogies, and common prefixes, roots and suffixes as well as main idea
• review last week’s TAKS passage and complete another
• read silently and continue with conferencing

Writers will:

• begin immersion reading for persuasive essay
• pick a topic and begin research
• practice 5-sentence paragraphs

Last week students learned about irony and common themes in literature.  They wrote 5-sentence paragraphs, reviewed Gary Soto’s poem “A Red Palm” and took a CBA diagnostic test.  They also read silently and answered prompts in their journals.

This week Readers will:

• read silently and look for figurative language in their books
• answer prompts in their journals
• take a reading TAKS practice passage

Writers will:

• read poetry by Tupac Shakur, Maya Angelou and Gary Soto and write paragraphs about imagery, tone and mood
• learn about ethical appeal and deductive/inductive reasoning as literary techniques