BACK TO SCHOOL 2011 Mr. Ziegenfuss “Mr. Z” Language Arts (Reading and English) Rm.112 Explorer Team Reading Materials Grading Components 25 book goal English Homework

Reading Materials Used by Students Reading Textbook (This text stays in the classroom, but will by able to be accessed by students online) Novels (whole class, and literature groups) 25 Book Goal (Student choice) Read Aloud Material

GRADES (Reading and English will be graded separately) *Test scores < 70% will need to be signed by parent

BOOK GOAL! 25 Book goal for the year (6 books per quarter) Book equivalents are approximately 150 pages. Read-alouds, whole class novels, and the summer reading text are counted towards student goal. Each day, students should be prepared with their “free choice novel” for class. This will be an ongoing HOMEWORK assignment for the entire year, and can be logged in each night.

Reading Homework (and Reading Logs) Students are expected to read for 20 minutes each night! Parents – please sign you child’s reading log each night. Reading logs will be collected each MONDAY morning. This will be a homework grade for your child. New Reading Logs will be given to students at the start of each new month

Reading Log sample DateTitleAuthorPages read Parent Signature Ex.S.O.R. LosersAvi1-30D.K 1/4 1/5 1/6 1/7 1/8 1/9* 1/10* 1/11 1/12 1/13 1/14 1/15 1/16* 1/17* 1/18 1/19 1/20 1/21 1/22Logs due todayPossible Points / 70Extra / 20

…Other areas of focus Identifying critical story elements (Setting, plot, characters, author’s purpose) Increasing student reading fluency (132 wpm with 94% accuracy is considered “on grade level” for 6 th grade) Reading and demonstrating an understanding of non-fictional text. PSSA prep

English The Writing Process- prewriting, drafting, revising (self and peer editing) and publishing Grammar- parts of speech, sentence structure, paragraph formation, and punctuation Vocabulary- Students will be expected to understand challenging vocabulary specific to their reading materials

Spelling? Spelling Pre-tests given each Monday Spelling homework due each WEDNESDAY Spelling Tests each FRIDAY Spelling Lists (#1-16) can be found as an attachment on my website

“How do I know what my child has done in class? How can I find out the homework each evening without a fight?” Go to Click on drop down menu “Palisades Middle School” Select “Teams”, then “Explorers- 6 th grade” Click on “Calendar” on the left side of the page

Contact Information Phone: (team) extn.1108 Phone: (classroom) ext.1112