Close Reading: Studies Suggest Multilingual Exposure Boosts Children’s Communication Skills

We are going to listen to and read a text closely. The text comes from NPR (National Public Radio) and is titled “Studies Suggest Multilingual Exposure Boosts Children’s Communication Skills.” We’ll listen here, and you will follow along with a printed copy of the text.

As we go through the text, we will do some of the things that readers do as they closely interact with a text:

• get the gist – we’ll stop at certain points to check that we understand what the text is saying
• annotate the text – some of us will make note of questions we have, surprising or interesting pieces of information, or thoughts that we’re having as we read
• focus on key vocabulary – we’ll pick out some of the most important words being used and talk more about what they mean and how they are being used in the text
• discuss to clarify thinking and deepen understanding – we’ll talk together about our thoughts and questions about the text

We’ll show our deep understanding of the text when we wrap up by responding to the questions WHAT? SO WHAT? NOW WHAT?

Crew, April 6, 2016

First, we need to complete a survey about HOWLs. The whole school is answering these questions. Please click the following link to complete the survey:

HOWLs survey

Next, we’re going to talk about kindness. Let’s start with a discussion on Today’sMeet. We can use Today’sMeet to talk with each other. I’ll ask a question, and you can type a response that everyone can see. Be sure to communicate politely and kindly.

To join the discussion click here.

What’s a Leap Year?

Let’s read this informational text from Wonderopolis about leap years, and then answer these questions:

• What is the scientific reason for a leap year?
• What are people born on a leap day called?
• How would you feel if you were born in a leap year?

Word Collector Project

Today we will continue our Word Collector Project. As we self assess our word knowledge, we can start to answer these two questions:

1. Which of these words do I feel confident in knowing?
2. Which of these words am I curious to learn more about?

Volcano Vocabulary

Practice using the volcano vocabulary we’ve been talking about on Quizlet.

Community Study Workshop

Today’s Do Now is a Community Study Workshop. For the first 15 minutes of class, be responsible and choose from the following activities. You should be working the entire time

• Finish the assessment from last class. This assessment is independent work.
• Finish your “If I had a garden, I would grow _____ because _____.” poster.
• Add our Community Study vocabulary to your Personal Dictionary in your notebook. Add each word and a definition that goes with the word. You can help each other.
• Practice our Community Study vocabulary on Quizlet.

Flint and Community

We’ve talked about how a community garden can bring people together in a positive way. The garden can provide an oasis that increases green space and the quality of life in a community and encourages cohesiveness in a community.

Today, we are going to start talking about how a more negative situation galvanizes a community. This video of a news broadcast gives us an idea of big problem that the community of Flint is experiencing. You might remember Flint as the city where Bud lives at the beginning of Bud, Not Buddy.

Let’s watch and listen for some key vocabulary that is used to talk about this problem.

Which of these words are you curious to know more about?

Now, let’s read a nonfiction text to find out more about the details of this problem. Follow these steps as you read:

• highlight unfamiliar vocabulary
• take notes on the text
  • questions you have
  • the gist of what the author is saying
  • observations you make
• reread the text a second time

If you finish before others, you can watch a second video about the Flint water crisis, and add to the notes you took on your text, or practice our Community Study vocabulary on Quizlet.

Seedfolks and Community

What brings a community together?

Many communities decide to build a green space like the neighbors in Seedfolks do.

In this short video, Orville Edwards, an urban naturalist, describes how community gardens can help improve quality of life. Let’s watch it two times.

First, listen for some key vocabulary words and phrases that are used in the video:

Next, let’s watch and think about some of the similarities and differences between this story and the story in Seedfolks.

Finally, let’s go back to our original question about what brings community together:

• What brings the people in the community in this video together?
• What does the garden offer people? Why do people in this community enjoy the garden?
• Why do the characters in Seedfolks decide to grow certain things?
• What would you grow in your garden if you had one? Why?

ACCESS Testing

We will be taking the ACCESS test later this month starting on TUESDAY, JANUARY 19.

Over the next two weeks, we will do work in class and outside of class to help us find out more about the test and prepare to take it. Here are some important dates to remember:

• FRIDAY, JANUARY 8
  • Sixth Grade ACCESS Orientation
  • 1:00 – 2:20
  • Library
• TUESDAY, JANUARY 12
  • ACCESS Kickoff
  • 1:45 – 2:25 (during TLT)
  • Library
• TUESDAY, JANUARY 19 THROUGH FRIDAY, JANUARY 22
  • ACCESS testing
  • You will find out more about the time and place you are testing.

All of your teachers know about these dates and times and know that you will be leaving some of your classes to do this work.

This week in CALS, you are going to independently work on some practice ACCESS test questions. These practice test questions are a lot like the types of questions you would be asked to work on during the ACCESS test. We know that the ACCESS has four different parts: Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening. These questions come from the Reading and Writing parts. Let’s look at them here: ACCESS practice

Informal Language and Academic Language

What are some of the differences between Informal Language and Academic Language?