A Break is Almost Here!

Last week we began an in class project that will continue through the rest of the quarter. Students are researching either an alternative energy source, electric or hybrid car, or different types of waste and recycling.

We began the research process and students will be finishing up their research when we return from Thanksgiving Break. From this research they will be writing an informative paragraph in Language Arts class followed by a persuasive paragraph in Writer's Workshop. They will be publishing their work and creating a short Public Service Announcement.

This week we will be completing the Unit 4 Vocabulary and Spelling Quiz. Also, the students had their first assignment from their Newbery Award Project due; a bookmark displaying the title, author, and important object from the book. I have been laminating the bookmarks that have already been turned in and am impressed!

As we conclude school before Thanksgiving break, I have been making my rounds with students to discuss their topic, gauging their knowledge of their topic without their notes vs. with their research notes. I have also been discussing with them the benefits and drawbacks of their topic and have played devil's advocate in our conversations to see if they are able to defend what they are saying. While meeting with them one-on-one I've also been going through their notebook and discussing the comments I have made to them through the grading cycles. I've also mentioned any missing assignments I have from them as there are many and lots of no names piling up.

After Thanksgiving the students will continue working on their Recycling and Energy project. There should be little homework from this project unless the students do not use their class time wisely. In that case, they may have a few things to finish up in order to be at a certain starting point the following class period. We will begin Unit 5 in our Vocabulary Workshop and the students should continue to work on their Newbery Award book outside of class.

The Week of 11/11-11/15

This week we began the last chapter in our first Vocabulary Unit. We also utilized an IPad App to write creative stories. The students were able to click on different areas of the IPad that gave them a character, object, situation, and setting. The students then had to write their own story based on the items. 

In reading, we discussed Making Predictions. As a class we read a story about an ancient Egyptian mystery, entitled The Curse of the Mummy's Daddy. We stopped along the way to make predictions and then discussed why good readers make predictions. At the end we assessed whether or not our predictions were right, and what clues in the story could have helped us make a correct prediction. Then, students read another story on their own and make predictions about the story. We read the ending of the story the next day in class to see if our predictions were correct. 

We ended our unit on Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives by reviewing this week and taking the test.

Next week, we will begin a unit on Alternative Energy and Recycling. Students will be assigned a topic and we will complete research in class on our topics. We will be working towards creating a Public Service Announcement informing others about our topic and either persuading them that it is a better option, or persuading them that it is important to be educated on the topic in order to help sustain our future generations. This will be a mostly in class project and if the students use their class time wisely then they should not have any additional work to do at home. It will run the remainder of the quarter with their Newbery Project being their main homework priority. 

I am constantly reminded how wonderful my students are both inside and outside of class. They are driven and dedicated. They have kind hearts, curious minds, and positive attitudes. After attending the Strings Concert last night I was reminded even more that my students have so many other things going on in their lives and as young as they are, are doing a great job at managing it all. 

Grammar Test this Week

To study, look over the notes on Nouns, Verbs, and Adjectives. Make sure you know the difference between the different types of nouns, verbs, and adjectives so that you can identify the meaning and type on the test. There are many resources on Moodle with practice and answer keys. There will be 10 matching, two response questions, one short answer, and several sentences where you will be asked to identify nouns, verbs, or adjectives and the type. 

The last week of October 10/28-11/1

This week we focused on verbs. After discussing the different types of verbs, we discussed the importance of using "vivid verbs" in our writing (vivid is also a vocabulary word from this week!). Students were asked to write about their trip to the Henry Ford Museum using vivid verbs.

In addition, we also practiced identifying verbs in a fun way using a few different interactive activities on the SmartBoard. On Halloween, we took a break from focusing on just verbs and instead practiced all different parts of speech by completing Halloween Mad Lib stories with partners. At the end of class we shared our favorite Mad Libs with the class. They were very funny!

Finally, we took a visit to the library to choose our Newbery Award books for our Quarter 2 Book Talk. We did a "speed dating" of sorts with the different book options before choosing a book. The students have one week to change their book if they find they are not interested in the book they initially chose.

Next week we will move into Adjectives, complete Vocab Unit 3 Quiz, and practice some creative writing!