Pass the Positive, Please!

This past week, each student was given a sheet of paper with a list of every student in the sixth grade.  Beside each person's name, they wrote one (or more) positive things about that person.  What follows is the result.  On Monday, each student will be given a laminated page of all those great thing that their classmates think of them.  There's also one in there for Mrs. Camden and me.  <3   As one student stated, "This will be so cool! If we're ever having a bad day, we can pull this out to make ourselves remember how awesome we are."   

Enjoy!  

SWINDLE, by Gordon Korman

Swindle, by Gordon Korman.
Review by Leo M., 6th Grader

Swindle, by Gordon Korman, is a realistic fiction book.  It is filled with action and a little bit of mystery.  When Griffin and his friend Ben find a unique baseball card, they think it will be the answer to a huge problem they have.  See, Ben might have to move from his hometown and his friends, but maybe the money from the sale of this unique card might help his family out enough so they won't have to move.

They decide to take the card to a shop to sell it, which they do, for $120.00. Then they see the guy who bought it from him on TV, being interviewed.  He's talking about how the card is worth a lot of money and will be auctioned off to the highest bidder. This makes the boys realize that they need to pull off the ultimate heist.

Will they get back what's truly theirs, or does S. Wendell get away with swindling an eleven year old kid out of an incredibly valuable card?

Read the book to find out!

What? How is it already October?!

Holy Cow!  It seems like yesterday we were bemoaning the fact that summer was ending, and here we are, already wrapping up our first six weeks! I guess time flies even faster when you're being productive along with having fun...

This week we've had quite a few people finishing up long books, and we're discussing how to write good book recommendations. I love this phase of our "class vibe" development, because as more of us finish books, more books are shared and swapped, and our personal "Books I Want to Read" lists grow longer and longer. An interesting dynamic occurs in a classroom that reads.  We become like a little family and start having these great bonds that are formed over books. When you bond with someone over a shared "book experience," it's a really special thing--and it's so much fun to witness and of which to be a part.  Hopefully before too much longer, we'll be sharing some reviews/blog posts about some of those books here on our classroom blog.

During English, we are continuing to make connections between the books we've read together and the narrative writing process.  We've been discussing the importance of using elaborate details for describing story critical characters, settings and objects, while being careful to not use irrelevant details, simply for the sake of adding more words to our writing. Hopefully next week we'll begin devoting more time to word study--it's just so hard to get it all in during our 100 minutes together!  I swear, sometimes I think the clock goes faster within these four walls...

Today, when the bell rang to go to lunch, and the kids ran out, leaving everything where it landed, I decided to stop, relax, and spend my lunch period doing what I love best...READING!  Those are my blue toes peeking out of the fluffy house slipper flip flops I wear in the classroom--and yep, I'm taking advantage of that wonderful couch!

Have a fantastic rest of the week!

~Mrs. Schauer

Reading: Listening Writing: Talking!

This is the first time I've ever been responsible for teaching writing to kids that are older than eight, and WOW is it fun!

We're working on narrative writing right now, and something I find myself repeatedly saying to my students is, "When you're writing, just act like you're talking!"  I also say, quite often, "When you're reading, try to imagine the author is talking directly to you."  Once they began to wrap their heads around the concept that reading is listening and writing is talking, it's like a bunch of little light bulbs started going of in our classroom.

I think that many times, people get freaked out over writing, because they make it so much more difficult than it really has to be.  If someone in my class says, "I don't know how to write," my reply will typically be along the lines of, "DUDE!  I know darn well you can TALK--you've actually proven that you are quite good at it! Just write it down instead of saying it!"

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend.  I know I'm ready for some Lady Eagle volleyball, and then heading home for some rest and relaxation.  Have a great one!

~Mrs. Schauer

Settling Into Our Routines

Having our Reading and English periods back to back is great because it gives us time to finish stuff before we have to rush out the door, which always seemed to be the case last year.  Most importantly though, we have more time to read books we love.  Each day it seems a couple of additional students get "sucked in" by a book that completely captivates them.  (Some kids are tougher to crack than others, but I'm pretty tenacious when it comes to matching kids and books--and I've been "matching" longer than they've been "resisting.")  :)   In addition to reading though, we have time to write--about the books we're reading. Some of the students are starting to have some pretty amazing conversations with me about the books they're reading, through the letters that we write to one another.

In English, we are wrapping up learning characteristics of different genres of writing.  We've covered personal letters, journal entries, character-problem-solution narratives, personal experience narratives, and expository writing.  Tomorrow we will begin learning abut various summarizing frameworks.  We will also begin what will be an ongoing study of homophones.

Today, during class, I took a panoramic video of each of my classes as they worked.  The first group's video was taken during the last ten minutes of the period, so by that time everyone was settled pretty deep into their books.  The second group's video was taken as they started our independent reading/writing time, so some are reading and some are writing.  In both videos, one thing is the same:  It's SILENT!  :)  Gosh, I love it when the routine kicks in!

6-1 (3rd/4th Period)

                          6-2 (5th/6th Period)

Audio Books? Absolutely!

Currently in room B-3, quite a few students are using audio books during our individual reading time. Audio books are not a good fit for everyone, but for some kids, they can be powerful tools that help increase reading stamina, comprehension and speed. Some people may think that using an audio book might be considered "cheating," but I completely disagree!  Here are some reasons why I think audio books are fantastic additions to a middle school Reading classroom, and why I encourage my students to give them a try:

1.  Audio books of today are a lot different than many people might think they are.  I know that we all have memories of listening to some mono-toned guy droning on while we tried to follow along in our textbooks.  Professionally recorded audio books are nothing like that! If you have never listened to one, I encourage you to give it a try.  I think you'll be surprised at the quality.  Many times professional actors, or even full casts of actors lend their voices to the audio recording. Sometimes the actual author of the book does the reading, and that's awesome because it's read in the exact voice that the author had in his/her own head when they wrote the book.

2.  Sometimes, for kids that are easily distracted, it's difficult to "fall into" their book because of what's going on around them in the classroom.  In our room, I'm typically always talking to someone about either their writing or their book, and for some kids, that distraction keeps them from remaining completely focused on their own book.  The headphones and the sound of someone reading in their ear, combined with  following along in their actual book, make the distractions all but disappear for that particular reader.

3.  For slow, careful readers, listening to an audio book while following along in their own book, helps them with fluency and speed.

There are lots of reasons to give audio books a try, but the main one--for some people is, they just work!

Before, After...and AFTER!

I was told during the last few weeks of school last year that I'd be switching classrooms with another teacher.  At first, I wasn't very happy, because it meant moving all my books.  If you've ever been in my classroom, you know that I have a LOT of books!  The more I thought about it though, the more excited I became, because it meant that I would get to be next to two of my good friends, who also happen to be teachers in Pettus. (Mrs. Camden and Mrs. Staples)  Also, most of the time, change is good! Sometimes, change can mean an opportunity to start over fresh, and that's the outlook I took on switching rooms. At first, I was just going to arrange the furniture and paint a bookcase or two...let's just say...I got a little carried away.

My daughter Hailee came up and helped me get started with the painting.  I don't think either of us expected a couple of coats of paint to make such a huge difference to the overall vibe of the room, but it really did! We were pretty darned pleased with how cute everything turned out.  We took pictures before, and then again after, to show the transformation.

Before:

After:

As I collapsed into my chair today, during about the last ten minutes of my last class,  I just sat there for a minute, looking at all the stuff going on at the same time, and I realized something.  The "after" photos from the summer makeover can't hold a candle to  what that same classroom looks like when it's occupied and in full use by it's students.  

HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND!!!

Letters, Letters, Letters

We are finishing up our first week of letter writing, and I have to say that this year is off to a fantastic start!  I've always had my kids write, but this is the first year, I've let them use the computers instead of doing everything with pen and paper, and I'm super excited about the results!  Each week, each student is responsible for writing a letter to me, about the book they're currently reading.  Then I read their letters and write back. Some of the kids in room B-3 are definitely on their way to being terrific writers!  I just love getting to know each and every one of the little beings that come across that threshold five days a week, and can't wait to see everything that this year brings.

Tomorrow is... Hump Dayyyyyyyyyy!

Anyone who works in a school, knows that, thanks to the popular (and overplayed!) Geico commercial, someone will walk into the classroom every Wednesday yelling, "What day is it," followed by several kids hollering, "Hump Dayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!"   Someone today said, "Guess what day tomorrow is?"   I knew what was coming next and commented that I was so sick of that camel.  Then another kid asked, "How do they know it's on Wednesday?"  Yet another one answered, "Because it says 'happier than a camel on Wednesday.'" (Kind of in a way that had the tone of, "well DUH?")

As I listened to their conversations, I realized that there was a pretty big chance that few, if any of them, had ever even heard the term "hump day" used before seeing (and repeating) that commercial.  If they had ever heard it, it was probably highly unlikely that many of them knew the original meaning behind the words.  So I asked them.  I was right.  No one knew!  They just said, "I don't know...the camel says it."  LOL!  So I made this little graphic to share with my second group of the day.  We had a great discussion about how climbing a hill is a great metaphor for the school week.   The first two days and part of Wednesday seem to take forever and once you're over the "hump" of Wednesday, Thursday and Friday just seem to fly by.   I wonder how many other things we say all the time, actually have little to no meaning to kids?  Things that make you go hmmmmmmm.

Wow! Crazy Busy Day!

What a busy Monday!  It's finally starting to feel like we're being productive.  We're getting into our routines with the laptops, and the fact that we're all doing different things each day.  Some of us are reading, some are writing, and some are conferencing with the teacher.  It's still a little bit chaotic, but it gets better every day.  :)

I just had to share this today, because it made me laugh.  The bell rang for lunch, and we were spread out all over the place with books.  These photos show what my room looks like right now--I yelled, "Just leave everything where it is and go to lunch!"

They did exactly that!

Agustin

Hi, my name is AGUSTIN and I’m from Victoria, Texas. My favorite classes are science and reading. I’ve always had a hard time telling the difference between fiction and nonfiction, but I know Mrs. Schauer can fix that. I love reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid books. I like to play football and basketball. My favorite game is Call of Duty Black Ops 2.  I like to eat at Chucky Cheese with my cousin Mason. I have three sisters named Ana, Cece, and Ashlynn. I have a brother name Zaydian.

Off to a Great Start in Room B-3!

It's hard for me to believe that we're already finished with the third week of the school year! We have been having a great time so far in room 3-B, and I can't wait to see what the future brings with this great group of kiddos.

I know that some people were surprised to hear that we would not be using the AR program this year in grades 6-12, because it's such a vital part of the elementary curriculum in Pettus. The decision to do away with the program on our campus came about because I noticed that the kids that were coming to us were already mature readers that really don't need a program like AR any longer. That being said, I'm so VERY grateful for the way our teachers use AR in our elementary. I know, without a doubt, that our elementary teachers' proper use of the program is the reason my students are such great readers when they get to me in the sixth grade. So, THANK YOU, PETTUS ELEMENTARY TEACHERS!! :)

So far this year, we've worked on writing interesting beginnings to narrative stories, we've talked and talked and TALKED about all the different types of literary genres that are out there, and we've spent a lot of quality time just getting lost in our own, individual books. The goal we've set for ourselves is that each student in Room B-3 will do their best to read and reflect on at least forty different books this year, spreading those forty books over nine different genres. I can already tell that many of these kids are going to FLY past that goal, way before the end of the year, and that's awesome! (I think they're realizing that not doing AR definitely doesn't mean they won't be reading!)

This blog hasn't been incredibly active over the past two years, but since I'm now responsible for teaching Reading AND Writing to all of the sixth graders, I am hoping that we will be posting a great deal more this year. So check back often to see what's going on in Room B-3 at Pettus Junior High!

Lee

Hey, my name is Lee. My favorite sports are baseball, basketball, and football. I love country and rap music. My favorite trucks and cars are the 2014 Chevy Silverado, Ford F350, the Camaro, and the Challenger. My favorite NFL team is the Houston Texans and my favorite MLB team is the Corpus Christi Hooks. My college team is the Texas Longhorns.

Skyler

Hi my name is Skyler. I like to hunt and fish. I like to play football, but sometimes I like to stay inside too. I have a cube and I play it a lot. I mostly play baseball and hockey on it. My favorite sports are football and baseball.

Ryan

Hey, I’m Ryan and I’m twelve years old. I LOVE football, baseball and basketball. My favorite foods are pizza and cheeseburgers. I also like to hunt, fish, wake surf/wake board, and play video games. I am considered the “nerd” of the class, but I don’t think “nerds” are supposed to like sports or any other types of outdoor things. I really like sixth grade so far, but I think some of the punishments are a little harsh. Mrs. Schauer and Mrs. Camden are my favorite teachers. In fifth grade, I sort of lost my interest in reading. Mrs. Schauer has brought it back.

Mariana

WOOOHOOOOO, here I am! My name is Mariana and I’m eleven years old. Here are some facts about me. Ummm, I love to be happy and laugh all the time. I enjoy reading and writing letters. I love to eat pickles and Takis together. The DORK DIARIES series is my favorite out of all the books in the world. Rachel Renee Russell is the author of those books and she is the best. My favorite song is called “Love,” by Kiesha Cole. The subjects in school that I love are Reading, Math and Writing. My favorite animals are monkeys, horses and dogs. I want to be a pediatrician when I grow up. I love to play outside and play with my puppies. My favorite movie is Bring it On: Fight to the Finish. I hope sixth grade is the best year. Well, see ya!!!

Kayle

Hello! My name is Kayle and I’m eleven years old. I enjoy doing a lot of crazy, fun and awesome things! I’m originally from a small town/community called Choate, Texas. I love to be outdoors working with my dad. I’m not too much of a girly-girl but that not what my friends think! :) In my spare time I like to read interesting and thick books! I love to eat pizza, BIG burgers, and fudge pops! My hobbies include wrestling with my bros and admiring good looking trucks on the highway or by my house. I have another little dirty habit that not everybody knows…I like to go MUDDING on my bike or in my go-cart on the dirt road where I live! Well, those are all the fun and especially interesting things you probably would like to know. XOXOX See ya! :)

Joseph

Hi, my name is Joseph. I love Skrillex. He is my favorite artist. His music is dub step, also known as rave music. I totally love Mexican food. I love cats, dogs, animals, cars and video games. Reading is one of my favorite things to do. Most of the time at my house I’m listening to audio books or reading books off the internet. I love technology and I made my own bike at my dad’s house. I like hanging out with friends and playing sports. I like helping my mom, and especially like helping my grandpa. I like the barn we have at our ranch and I love driving the tractors. I’m a friendly person and I have several dogs and. I’m new in Pettus this year, and my favorite part about the school so far is the teachers. I play trumpet in the band, and my favorite teachers are Mrs. Schauer, Mr. Flores, and Mrs. Camden. Thanks for reading. Goodbye!!! XD

Jasmine

My name is Jasmine and I’m thirteen years old. My favorite color is blue and I love to read. My favorite book is TWILIGHT. I never liked to read when I was little, but Mrs. Schauer changed reading a lot, so now I read at school and at home. I live here in Pettus not far from the school, just two roads away. I love scary movies and my favorite one is called ONE MISSED CALL. It’s about a little girl who kills people who have missed a call from her. I love my whole family, but my favorite relative is my grandma. Well, got to go. TTYL, JJ.

Ebony

Hi my name is Ebony, I’m eleven years old and I go to Pettus Junior High. I love my family, friends, and sports! If I had to choose one sport as my favorite, it would be softball. I like to shop A LOT! My favorite stores are Forever 21, Wet Seal, and Rue 21. Hmmmm…there’s something else? Oh yeah! I love to read! Right now I’m reading a book called TEARS OF A TIGER, by Sharon M. Draper. Well, that’s really all about me for now.

Dexter

Hey guys my name is Dexter. Yes, I know you’re probably thinking Dexter’s Laboratory. That’s because I was named after the show. My brother Ross had a problem talking, but he was always able to pronounce Dexter, so that’s how I got my name. Now I’m eleven years old. I love football and baseball and my favorite food is Mexican food. I love Chevy cars and trucks and I want to go to A & M and become a mechanical engineer for them. I love country music and my favorite things to do are playing football and working on old broken down trucks. My favorite books are the DIARY OF A WIMPY KID books.

Darian

Hi my name is Darian. I am twelve years old and I like to play video games, eat pizza and do other fun stuff. In my spare time I go outside and build stuff. I like to draw and do origami. I like graphic novels and books by Jeff Kinney. I think sixth grade is going to go great this year.

Binjimin

What’s up, bro? I talk a lot. I mean it. Even teachers say I’m annoying. I’m Binjimin. Everybody knows me and I know everybody. My pal Dixon, he is no regular pencil, he is a number two pencil. I am from San Antonio, Texas. I like football, WWE and cars. My favorite person is me. I like country music.

Alyssa

Hey my name is Alyssa and I’m going to tell you a little bit about myself. I am eleven years old, I love music and of course, my phone. My favorite sport is volleyball, and my favorite book is DORK DIARIES. I love reading, but to be honest it does get boring sometimes. My favorite color is lime green and my favorite movie is the Twilight series—I can watch them all day! My favorite place to shop is American Eagle. So yeah, I think I told you enough. Bye. :)

Julien

My name is Julien! I am twelve years old and I have two sisters that are rockin’ awesome! My mom and dad’s names are Rhonda and Scott. (They are rockin’ awesome too!) My favorite food is mac and cheese and I love music. I play the piano and drums, and I want to learn to play the guitar. My favorite books are the WIMPY KID series by Jeff Kinney. I love sports! I play football, basketball, and baseball. Anything else outdoors is awesome too, but when I’m not outside, I play video games. That’s right, I’m a gamer! LOL!!! OK, well now you know a lot about me. See ya later! WooHOOOOOOO! :)