Week of December 6-10, 2010

It's December and only two weeks until Christmas! We have a lot to do and it's not shopping!

Monday: We start with Read Out Loud and Caught 'Ya. Then we continue working on the persuasive essay by writing three practice intros. The choices of intro are an anecdote (small story), an interesting fact or statistic, and a snapshot descriptive paragraph. After the intros are written, choose one and start writing your rough draft.

Tuesday: Today we are planning to enjoy some Silent Sustained Reading time, keeping in mind that a Weekly Reading Report is due this week. Then, you will have time to complete your rough draft for the persuasive essay on whether it is necessary to give Christmas gifts or not.

Wednesday: First we have Read Out Loud and Caught 'Ya. Then we have an explanation of short stories and the seven important terms to learn about them. We use a movie to help us understand each short story part. Next we watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and then filled in the short story chart about it.

Thursday: We start the day with SSR. The Weekly Reading Report is collected today. Then we check to make sure that your persuasive essay rough draft is finished so that tomorrow we can all peer edit another student's paper. After that, we read "Priscilla and the Wimps." We will fill in another short story chart. Then we will start another chart about analyzing characters. We will do one column together about the Grinch and then you will get to fill in three other columns about the main characters in "Priscilla and the Wimps."

Friday: Today we will be having Read Out Loud and Caught 'Ya. Then we will review the final preparations for handing in your persuasive essay on Monday. The Works Cited page will be explained next as well as going over the grade rubric for the essay. Then students will have time to peer edit each other's papers. Then students can edit their own papers.

The Persuasive Essay Final Draft is due on Monday, December 13.