Monsanto - ELA

For daily events, please refer to the Google Slides document below.:
You can view each day's activities (which is also displayed to students) by clicking anywhere on the slide.







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August 15, 2018


Dear Ozark Middle School Families,
      Welcome to 6th grade!!  I am excited to begin this adventure with you! 
Just a little bit about myself:  I received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees from Drury University, my Master’s Degree is in Reading.  This is my sixth year teaching, and I am very excited for another year!  My first three years were spent in Springfield teaching 3rd & 4th grade, but I have since moved to Ozark, teaching fifth and now 6th grade!  I was born and raised in Missouri and graduated from Nixa High School.  My husband and I live in Ozark with our 2 year-old  little boy, Keaton.  We have one dog, Ruby who is a black lab, and one cat, Annabelle.  I love being a mom, and I love being a teacher.  I am truly blessed to spend my life doing the things that make me happy.  I am looking forward to this school year and helping your child to succeed. 

            I would like to express my excitement for this upcoming school year and let you know that I am so delighted to have your child in my classroom.  We will be moving very quickly, but I presume your child will excel to the challenges set for them.  I am expecting great achievements from my students, and I know you are as well.  So with that being said, here are my expectations on a weekly basis.  Please note, that projects will come up which include research but dates are yet to be determined.  

Weekly:  Students will be required to read and journal about their thoughts.  I give a rough estimate of one journal entry per 50 pages.  I do expect the students to read about 100 pages a week, so I collect journals and check for two journal entries each Friday.  

There will be book club assignments weekly (beginning in October), which are also due on Friday.  This includes the reading assignment, the two journal entries as mentioned above, and a google classroom discussion question to be answered.  

Book Clubs:

I group students according to reading levels, there are approx. 4-6 students in a group.


Each group selects a book to read based on their interests & it must be a group decision.  If you have any questions about the books, please let me know.  I have read a good portion of them and slowly continuing to read more.  :) 



Once they choose a book, they choose an assignment for the week.  I push them to read 100 pages a week, but they choose how many chapters (and ultimately pages) they truly read that week. They will decide this on Friday, and it is due the following Friday.  The assignment is subject to change if the group as a whole is struggling to complete the work.  They must come to be the day before to ask for an extension.  I am more than willing to work with the group, if it is a difficulty within the group - not just one student.  



While reading, they must journal about their thoughts (which could be whats going on, predictions, questions, etc.) roughly every 50 pages.  I am not a stickler here, I just want to see some overall thinking from the students.



They must write an end of book summary, using the taught method of somebody, wanted, but, so, then.  *Only once the book is completed.



They are given a group discussion question on google classroom, specific to their group and book.  This is posted by the end of the day on Friday and should be completed by the end of the day Thursday.  It should be finished before they come to class Friday.  




Purposes:  I look at journals each meeting to see what the kids are thinking, how deep they are going, where their confusions lie, etc.  We discuss these if anything grabs my attention that I feel needs to be addressed.  The discussion question is to get the kids thinking together about the same thing and responding to each other - maybe even seeing a different perspective.  



On Friday, we will meet as a group to discuss that week's reading.  We start by talking about likes/dislikes, surprises/expectations, etc.  We then move into sharing our discussion questions/responses.  Everyone does something different and it's usually fun things to strike up a conversation.  For most of the kids, this is the fun part.  During group, I act as a facilitator, but the kids discuss the book.  While they are discussing, I am evaluating.  The entire process determines whether I think your child should be moved up a reading level or down.  It shows me how well they comprehend what they read, etc.



It really is a crucial part of ELA and probably my favorite!



If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.  I would be happy to clarify to make your child more successful in my classroom.



Thank you,

Kyndal Monsanto

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