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Welcome to Mr. Schoch's Home Page!
School Supply List for 2010-2011
If you're entering the sixth grade,
you're in Mr. Schoch's Reading and Language Arts class!
Please obtain the following supplies:
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a box of at least 18 sharpened pencils (no mechanical pencils; save those to use at home)
- two 100-page composition notebooks (with sewn-in pages, either college or wide ruled); NOT spiral bound
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a two-inch thick three-ring binder (stiff backed, not the inexpensive floppy type)
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100 pages of lined notebook paper (either college or wide ruled)
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5 tabbed dividers for the binder
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two two-pocket portfolio folders (without fasteners)
Preview Spelling City, where you can find our weekly GAL (Greek and Latin) lists. While there you can also practice spellings and play vocabulary games to prepare for each week's final test.
Preview Tween Tribune, the current events site we'll be using this year. Students will read and respond to kid-friendly new items, and have the chance to read their classmates' responses as well.
Print a Morning Pass here.
An easy to use and understand dictionary is right here on Mr. Schoch's site. Scroll to the bottom of this page.
Looking for anything else? Use the Site Index.
Why should students read at home? See the article below.
Motivation and Success in Reading
From Linksman, Ricki, Your Child Can Be a Great Reader, Carol Publishing Group, Secaucus, NJ, 1998
Success in reading requires continued practice. The connection between the words on a page and understanding in the mind can be made only through repeatedly seeing those words over and over again. The speed at which we recognize words increases as the same nerve passageways are used over and over again. Think how slowly we read unfamiliar words or even words in another language. But as we read the same materials over and over again, we recognize them instantaneously and automatically. It is like any skill involving our muscles. At first when we exercise, our muscles ache. But as we do the same exercise daily, over and over, the muscles get used to the movements and no longer take as long to work and no longer ache.
Studies have indicated that the habits of good readers develop by reading fifteen minutes a day. That amount of practice increases one's ability to read fluently. Without that amount of practice, it can be harder for a student to read fluently. If a student continues to fail in reading, the student will want to avoid the task, just as we wanted to avoid any activity at which we kept failing. In order to spend enough time to gain proficiency in reading, a student must desire to keep reading. That can happen only when a child has successful experiences in reading. If the child experiences success, the child will feel good about himself or herself. He or she will feel capable. The child will gain the approval and appreciation of others for the success. The result will be that the child enjoys the feeling of success and wants to repeat the activity and the pleasurable results it brings. Thus, the child will read more and more. But if the child does not experience success and instead feels like a failure, with the attendant embarrassment and frustration, the child will avoid reading. Thus, the child will not spend enough time in practicing so as to become proficient.
It is important for parents to understand this cycle of success and motivation. People are motivated by the pleasure they receive from having the approval of others and the pride and enjoyment of being successful. How can we make our child feel successful? We must provide learning activities at which the child will ultimately succeed. This does not mean giving easy work. It means giving work which will lead to success. We need to keep in mind that the end result should be that the child accomplishes the task successfully. This means that the task must not be impossible. It may be a bit hard, but it must be such that the child has the tools and the method by which to accomplish it. That is what we must teach the child. If the child lacks the tools and method to succeed, we must teach them to the child or guide the child along with models and examples so that the child will learn the method. Our aim must be the child’s success at the task.
For a toddler learning to walk, the goal may be for the child to take several steps forward with the parent's support. When the child does that, everyone applauds, smiles, and shows approval with hugs and loving gestures. The child will want to repeat that activity. The child will continue those early steps until he or she can take a step forward on his or her own. We would never expect the child to walk upright fully across the room on the first day and withhold approval if he or she could not do it. The goal must be realistic.
Similarly, if the child is learning to read, we set the goal of reading simple books with assistance. Whatever new step the child takes, we show our approval and appreciation. This will make the child feel good and wish to continue the reading task. Our next step will go to a slightly more challenging book, but not one that is so far advanced, the child will fail. When we go to the slightly more challenging reading material, we provide support by helping the child with new words or new skills so the child will read the new book successfully.
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What do good readers do that average readers don't?
I am proud to be part of the Bedminster School teaching staff. I invite you to learn more about me in the section titled "Meet the Teacher."
Our classroom is located in room 279 on the main level.
Feel free to email me or leave a message at (908) 234-0768 ext. 279.
Past articles from this Overview page can be found in the Articles section. Past articles include Help with Homework, Nagging Kids, What Good Readers Do, Wisdom Books, Highlights from Research on Reading, and Encouraging a Child to Read.
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