News and Nonfiction involves the ongoing reading of nonfiction articles about items that encourage curiosity about the world around us. Students struggle most when reading expository (factual) text.  This has been demonstrated in WKCE testing data and other assessments designed to recognize whether a student is an active, critical reader.  In order to ease the discomfort with factual reading, the 6th grade includes the News and Nonfiction component to reading class each Thursday.  We will begin as a class discussing ideas that make us curious, such as "How does a tsunami form?" or "What makes a firefly light?" We will create a semantic collection and we will explore topics weekly.

Each week students will be provided an article that they will paste into a notebook entitled News and Nonfiction.  We will apply various reading strategies and note taking skills to be active, engaged readers.  Students will learn how to highlight and make meaningful notes in the margin.  Students will be asked to write a summary of findings, and a commentary regarding the material each week.

Summary paragraphs include topic sentences, and sequenced information collected from the article.  Commentary paragraphs provide the student's personal viewpoint about the material, creating a vital connection with nonfiction (expository) text.

These 1/2 page Summary/Commentary assignments will be started in class, and completed for homework each week.  Depending on the length of the material, the assignments will be due each week on either Friday or the following Monday.  Please watch for this on your child's agenda and weekly grade report.

Thank you,

Ms. Krall*