Day 142 - Explain Everything Poetry Project - Mr. Conley - MSMS Grade 6

This post first appeared on Mr. Conley's Blog

6B students are creating an Explain Everything project that includes three of their written poems, a video of themselves reading their two-voice poem with a partner, several ‘poetry response’ worksheets, a favorite poem from a published poet or a classmate, and an optional author bio. 

Day 63 - 6th Grade Book Tasting - Mr. Conley - Marshall Simonds Middle School ELA

This post first appeared on Mr. Conley's Blog

Students in my Reading class were treated to a Book Tasting. Students were given a chance to ‘sample’ up to five books that we are considering for our next novel. They completed a ‘menu’ where they shared their thoughts and feedback on their book samples. 

Thanks to Mrs. Gover for organizing and hosting!

Day 20 - Mr. Conley Challenges 6B Students to Read 20 Books by the End of the Year - MSMS Blog

This post first appeared on the Marshall Simonds Middle School Blog

This year, 6B ELA teacher and MSMS resident author, Mr. Conley decided to try something new. He chose to pilot a new reading project this year over the usual book reports and projects in hope of strengthening student interest in reading for fun.

For this project, Mr. Conley has challenged each of his students to read 20 books by the end of the school year. Students are “being encouraged to read books that they’re interested in without the constraints of worksheet packets or book reports – reading for the joy of it!”. For each book they finish, students are expected to write a review for the book and talk about what they’re reading in class.

Mr. Conley had this to say about the goals of the challenge, how students have received it, and what he hopes piloting this new program will do for his students this year:

“20 Books is a project 6B is piloting this year with the goal of creating life-long, joyful readers. Kids are being encouraged to read books that they’re interested in without the constraints of worksheet packets or book reports – reading for the joy of it! They simply share their book thoughts while reading and write a book review when finished. The response from students has been terrific – they’re reading great books, talking about books, and sharing their book suggestions with classmates. So great to see they’re appreciation for books and reading when given the time in class!”

As part of the challenge, students are asked to present “book commercials” for the class. When students present these commercials, they tell their classmates what they’re reading, what it’s about and what they think about it so far. To view some of these book commercials, check out the videos below.