Mr. Ford's Page

All About Reading - Read All About It!

Welcome to Mr. Ford's Grade 6 Reading page. This page is intended to be a resource for students and parents.

Last updated: November 20, 2009 @ 1:20PM.
(Next update anticipated: November 24, 2009)



Class Notes
Grading Policy
Unit Information
Homework Information
E-Mail

TEACHER EASE NEWS
Grades were updated on TeacherEase on Thursday, November 12. The final average posted in this update will also be the end-of-quarter grade that will appear your child's report card. (Report cards will be sent home on Tuesday, Nov. 17.)

Other updates were posted on 10/26, 10/7 and 9/25. The next TeacherEase update is tentatively scheduled for Monday, November 30. Graded work will be sent home with students each time an update is posted.

The second marking period has begun, and new grades will be posted within the next two weeks.

HOMEWORK UPDATE
Because of our two short days during Conference Week, there will be no homework due for Mr. Ford's classes. The next reading calendar will be due on Friday, December 4. As we begin the second quarter, please make an effort to complete your homework each week.
LATE HOMEWORK
Please remember that homework may be turned in one day late for half credit. After one day, no credit will be given. (Exceptions can be made if you were absent on the day an assignment was due.)
DINNER TABLE TOPICS
Students tend to stay more involved with school when they know their parents are also staying involved. As you ask your child what he or she did in school, here are some specifics to help guide the conversation:

We have been discussing inference recently in all classes. Ask your child to explain what it means to make an inference. We have also been talking about imagery in text. As the outside scenery changes as we move closer to winter, this might be a nice time to ask your child if they can verbally illustrate these changes for you with specific descriptive words.



Class Notes

This page is intended to serve as a resource for you during the 2009-2010 school year. Please refer to it often, especially when you have questions about grades, homework, units of instruction, and long term projects.



Grading Policy

Grading policies were be reviewed in class on September 1, 2009. Information was sent home with students on that date. Homework is worth 10% of the total grade; class work is worth 50%; assessments and projects are both worth 20% of the final grade. On occasion, mid-term reports might not include assessments and/or projects. When this happens, grades will be adjusted accordingly with the value of any missing category being added to the class work average. For example, if a grade report does not include a project grade, that 20% of the grade will be added to the class work grade.
Students may revise CLASSWORK assignments that have a score of 75% or lower. Such assigments will be sent home to be signed by parents. Please note that any classwork assignment with a grade of 75% or lower may be revised after a parent has signed it. A place for a parent signature might not be indicated on each assignment, but the option to revise the work still remains. Students will need to return the original assignment with a parent signature in order for the revised work to be accepted. All revisions need to be completed within one week of being sent home for the parent signature. The grade of the revised assignment will be averaged with the grade of the original assignment. Any assignment not revised within one week will be given the original grade. An exception to the revision policy: assignments that have received a grade of 75% or lower because of lateness will not be considered for revision if the original grade would have been higher than 75%.
WHAT'S IN MY GRADEBOOK? This section of the page will include an ongoing list of what should have been turned in for a grade. If an assignment in on the list below and you still have it in your binder (without a grade), you need to turn it in immmediately.


2nd quarter assignments will be posted by November 24.

1st Quarter Grades 2009-2010

CategoryAssignmentDueReturned
HOMEWORK (10%)
 Signed policy letterSept. 2N/A
 Reading Calendar (2 nights)Sept. 11 
 Reading CalendarSept. 18Sept. 18
 Reading CalendarSept. 25 
 Reading CalendarOct. 2Oct. 2
 Reading CalendarOct. 9 
 Reading CalendarOct. 15 
 Reading CalendarOct. 23 
 Reading CalendarOct. 30 
    
CLASS WORK (50%) - ALL STUDENTS
 Personalized Reading PortfolioSept. 10N/A
 "What Is Your Passion?" writing sampleSept. 10 
    
CLASS WORK - PERIODS 1 & 2 ONLY
 Signed policy letter for GT ResearchSept. 17Sept. 17
 Cold War/Vietnam War Non-FictionSept. 21 
 Classic Roots Vocabulary Lesson 1Oct. 2 
 Classic Roots Vocabulary Lesson 2Oct. 6 
 Dec. Stillness Chapter 1& 2 Summary ParagraphsOct. 15 
 Dec. Stillness Chapter 1& 2 Vocabulary/QuestionsOct. 30 
    
CLASS WORK - PERIODS 3, 4 & 6 ONLY
    
 Mid-East Resources Non-FictionSept. 18 
 Vocabulary Lesson 1Oct. 2 
 Vocabulary Lesson 2Oct. 6 
 Matthew Henson Non-FictionOct. 23 
 Running Out of Time Ch. 1-5Oct. 28 
ASSESSMENTS (20%)
 Vocabulary Quiz Lessons 1 & 2Oct. 23 
PROJECTS (20%)
 There is no 2nd quarter project at this time. Our project will be introduced in the second half of the quarter.N/AN/A
DOCUMENT ARCHIVE: This section will be updated periodically and will include links to PDF versions of some of the documents used in class. If you need an extra copy of something, simply click on the document name. A PDF document will appear on your screen for you to print.

Reading Calendar - due most weeks; check Homework section

Period 1 and 2 students: click here for your vocabulary quiz study sheet.

Students in periods 3, 4 and 6: click here for your vocabulary quiz study sheet.

Reading Class Policy Letter - given Sept. 1; due Sept. 2



Unit Information

Unit information for the second quarter will be posted no later than Tuesday, November 24.



Homework Information

You can expect Reading Calendar homework nearly every week. Vocabulary homework may also be included at times, but not every week - at least in the early part of the year. Homework will be checked at the end of each week, and you may decide when you can best complete the work according to your schedule. Remember, though, that homework such as your Reading Calendar is meant to be an ongoing reinforcement of your reading skills throughout the week rather that something you do at the last minute. Reading often (at least four days per week) is an excellent way to increase or maintain good vocabulary and reading fluency.
Reading calendars are DUE THIS WEEK. The next due date for the reading calendar: Friday, December 4/B>.

When a Reading Calendar is due, remember to read AT LEAST 4 NIGHTS and get a PARENT SIGNATURE, as the directions on the Reading Calendar indicate. To avoid running 150 copies of the calendar here each week, I'm asking students to print a reading calendar from this site. To get a copy of the calendar online, please click here. You'll see a PDF version that you can print at home. If you can't (or choose not to) print your calendar, you should write one by hand. The most important thing is to make sure you turn one in!

Vocabulary homework this week: VOCABULARY STUDY HAS BEGUN FOR THE YEAR.

Our lesson study is being done in class, but students will need to spend some time at home reviewing words and definitions in preparation for quizzes.

Lesson #1 was due October 2 (Pd. 1 & 2) and September 24 (Pd. 3, 4 & 6).

FOR PERIODS 1 & 2: The theme for Lesson #1 was NUMBERS. The roots for the week's words were MONOS (Greek, meaning "one"), UNUS (Latin, meaning "one"),DUO and DUPLEX (Latin, meaning "two" and "twofold"), and BI (Latin, meaning "two"). The words were: monologue (n.), monarch (n.), monogram (n. AND v.), monopoly (n.), monolith (n.), unanimous (adj.), unilateral (adj.), duplex (n.), duplicate (tr. v.), bilateral (adj.), bipartisan (adj.).

FOR PERIODS 3, 4 and 6: The theme for Lesson #1 wasVOCABULARY. The words were: antonym (n.), concept (n.), context (n.), derivative (n.), effective (adj.), glossary (n.), retain (v.), specialized (adj.), synonym (n.), terminology (n.).

Lesson #2was due October 6.

FOR PERIODS 1 & 2: The theme for Lesson #2 was NUMBERS (again). The roots for the week's words were TRI (Greek, meaning "three"), TRES (Latin, meaning "three"),QUARTUS and QUATUOR (Latin, meaning "fourth" and "four"), DECEM (Latin, meaning "ten") and CENTUM (Latin, meaning "hundred"). The words were: trilogy (n.), trisect (v.), triumvirate (n.), quadrant (n.), quartet (n.), quatrain (n.), decimate (v.), decathlon (n.), bicentennial (n. AND adj.), centenary (adj.), centigrade (adj.).

FOR PERIODS 3, 4 and 6: The theme for Lesson #2 wasWORDS FROM ANIMALS. The words were: beastly (adj.), hog (v. AND n.), horseplay (n.), hound (v.), lionize (v.), mammoth (adj.), parrot (v.), pigheaded (adj.), scapegoat (n. AND v.), sheepish (adj.).

Please note that homework will typically be checked at the end of each week. Students will be expected to show/turn in completed reading calendars (and vocabulary journals if any vocabulary homework was assigned) at that time. All homework may be turned in one day late for half credit, but after that time homework is considered to be incomplete and the student will earn a grade of zero for that assignment. No extra credit points are applied to late homework.