Advocacy Ann Ortenzi Team 6B Welcome Parents! Advocacy Ann Ortenzi Team 6B

GVMS Vision of Advocacy/base Empower students toward self-advocacy Enable students to build strong relationships with each other and their advocate Guide students to become mentors of each other Provide an adult who becomes an expert on the students and celebrates how they are special Provide an intermediary for students with other adults Provide an adult to support academic and personal development

Goal of Advocacy/BASE: To promote students’ academic, social, and behavioral success by: Promoting a positive school climate Providing an atmosphere of security Recognizing and embracing differences

GVMS Patriot Pride Meet 1 or 2 times per month 36 minute periods Beginning in September

Language Arts Ann Ortenzi 6B Welcome Parents! Language Arts Ann Ortenzi 6B

Language Arts Curriculum Language Arts Curriculum Revision Common Core Aligned Focused on the student and the process each student uses to achieve success in language arts Increased focus on informational text skills to be utilized across content areas Flexibility to incorporate differentiated instruction

Pennsylvania Standards: 1.2 Reading Informational Text Students read, understand, and respond to informational text—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with focus on textual evidence 1.3 Reading Literature Students read and respond to works of literature—with an emphasis on comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, and making connections among ideas and between texts with a focus on textual evidence. 1.4 Writing Students write for different purposes and audiences. Students write clear and focused text to convey a well-defined perspective and appropriate content. 1.5 Speaking and Listening Students present appropriately in formal speaking situations, listen critically, and respond intelligently as individuals or in group discussions.

Sixth Grade English Language Arts Curriculum Please visit my website for the Pacing Guide.

Reading

Reading Units Being an Independent and Metacognitive Reader Reading Informational Text Analyzing Literary Elements in Short Stories, Informational Text, and Poetry Understanding Elements of Fiction (Novels)

Concepts Taught Include: Figurative Language Character Development Active Reading Strategies Plot Development Conflict Literary Elements Literary Analysis Making Connections In and Among Texts Citing Textual Evidence Informational Reading Strategies Vocabulary and Word Study

Why we recommend at least 30 minutes of reading at least 5 nights a week: % Rank on READING TESTS MINUTES spent reading per day NUMBER of words read per year 98 90.7 4,733,000 90 40.4 2,357,000 70 21.7 1,168,000 50 12.9 601,000 20 3.1 134,000 10 1.6 51,000 (Source: Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding 1988)

Reading Workshop Creating “skilled, passionate, habitual, critical readers” Two days per cycle (1 day in library) We will read BOOKS for at least 30 minutes “Reading Log” and “Someday List” kept in class Mini lessons and book talks given as part of the workshop Teacher/student conferences about reading PCR books available through the classroom and school libraries Donations to the classroom library are greatly appreciated!

Writing

Focus Correction Areas (FCAs) Specific skills that we use to evaluate student writing

Units of Writing Understanding the Craft and Structure of Writing Expository/Informational Argumentation/Persuasive Response to Literature Personal Narrative

Grammar Grammar lessons will be embedded into the writing units. Formative assessments will be scored according to FCA’s to provide specific feedback on grammar concepts.

Concepts Taught Include: Topic and Concluding Sentences Expanded Paragraph Structure Organization and Construction of a Multi-paragraph Essay Domains of Writing (focus, content, organization, style, and conventions/mechanics of Writing) Embedded Grammar (related to specific modes of writing) Responding to Literature with Literary Analysis Using Text Evidence to Support Claims and Ideas Self-editing Strategies Effective Strategies for Pre-writing and How to Construct a Graphic Organizer Improving Style (through the use of enriched vocabulary, word choice, varied sentence structure, sensory details, and figurative language)

Grades All Language Arts grades are based on a weighted scale: 40% Reading 40% Writing 15% Word Study / Grammar 5% Homework / Classwork Please be sure to review the ELA Department Grading Policy on my Website!

My Website Go to the GVMS homepage Click on Teacher Pages Scroll down to find “Ann Ortenzi” Contact information: The best way to contact me is through e-mail aortenzi@gvsd.org I am also available at 610-644-6440 x71202