On the Banks of Plum Creek

We did have a very busy day today.  We learned the "Robust Vocabulary" words in preparation for our reading story, On the Banks of Plum Creek.  We completed vocabulary Practice workbook page 31, and we read the story on pages 159-169.  Tonight's homework is to reread the story and have the green story sheet signed at home.   Here's the link to the online version of the story:

eBook

We also worked hard to prepare for the Social Studies Chapter 1 test on THURSDAY.  An ORANGE study guide was sent home.  Students should know the answers to the material on the study guide, and there were four "quizzes" attached.  The quizzes can also be used to help prepare at home.  The quiz grades are shown on web grader as part of your child's Social Studies average.

We will have a Spelling Unit 6 test on Friday.  Here's a link to the words:
Spelling Words

Book-it forms will be sent home tomorrow.  Book-it is OPTIONAL but encouraged.  The goal is for students to read 300 minutes each month.  Even if students are not participating in Book-it, there is tremendous value in reading at home.

Social Studies Test THURSDAY

Since we will have a reading story as homework on Tuesday evening, I think it would be better to move our Chapter 1 Social Studies test to THURSDAY.  We will be prepared in class with a study guide and practice pages.  Today we spent a large amount of our class time working on Social Studies review material.

Today we completed Spelling workbook pages 23 and 24.  All of our words end with the letters -le.  Our spelling test is always on Friday.  The class has been doing a GREAT job on spelling tests!

Spelling Test -- Time for Kids

Today we completed our Unit 5 Review Spelling Test.  We also read about a farm in New York from our Time for Kids magazine.  Students will receive a Time for Kids magazine on a periodic basis.

We completed reading the final section of our of the first Social Studies chapter.  We will plan to have a test on Wednesday.  A study packet will be sent home on Monday.

Fluency

This week we are working on fluency by practicing a variety of Readers' Theatre stories.  Becoming a confident reader is a goal this year.

Tomorrow is our Review Unit 5 Spelling Test.  Studying for this test is tonight's homework assignment.

In Grammar we are reviewing the four sentence types as well as subjects and predicates.

At this point, I am planning to have a Chapter 1 Social Studies test on Wednesday, October 1.  We will work hard to be prepared for the test, and a study guide and review packet will be sent home in advance.  We will adjust this test date if more time is needed for preparation.

Block 2 (Mrs. Danforth's homeroom) has LRC (Library) tomorrow.
Block 1 has "Type to Learn" tomorrow.  Headphones make this program more enjoyable to use.

Pedro Puts on a Play

Today we practiced our reading story, Pedro Puts on a Play, prior to taking our story selection test.   These types of stories (Readers' Theatre) are especially useful for fluency practice.  This selection contained many large vocabulary words.  We practiced using the words, and we always enjoy playing a vocabulary game called "I Have, Who Has?"  Pedro Puts on a Play helped a young boy learn about a special part of his family's heritage.  At Christmastime, students in our class will be working on their own short reports about a tradition or culture.

We aslo completed our Spelling practice workbook page 21 to prepare for Friday's review test.

In social studies we are reading Lesson 3 of Chapter 1, pages 18-24.  I am hopeful that we will be ready for a social studies test on Wednesday, October 1.

Today we had an evacuation drill as a practice.  Students walked from Ridge to Prairie.  The class did a great job of following expectations for this safety drill.

Pedro Puts on a Play

Our homework story tonight it to reread Pedro Puts on a Play, pages 137-143.  A play is written in script form.  Students should practice their assigned part for fluency (not memorization) and expression.  There will be a comprehension and vocabulary test over the story tomorrow.  The green story sheet that is sent home should be returned tomorrow with a parent's signature for homework.

The eBook can be found here:
eBook

There is a spelling test over the Review Unit 5 on Friday.  The spelling lists can be found here:
Spelling Lists

Today we completed Grammar workbook page 13 to review simple and complete subjects and predicates.    Here's a fun game called "Grammar Gorillas" that you can have your child play at home:
Grammar Gorillas/

We will have a social studies test over Chapter 1 on October 1.  This date is tentative and may need to change if extra classroom preparation is needed.  A study guide will be sent home in advance.

Tomorrow is midterms.  Please check web grader and let me know if you have any questions.

Review Week

This week's spelling words are all review words from previous units.  Every five weeks there is a review unit in both our spelling and grammar material.  The spelling test on Friday will test over these review words.  Today we completed Spelling workbook pages 19-20.  In grammar, we are reviewing punctuation and sentence skills.  We are completing Grammar workbook pages 17-18 to review these skills.

Our story on Tuesday will be a "Readers' Theatre" production.  This style of text is similar to a play/script.  Students will be assigned a role to practice for fluency (not for memorization) for Tuesday evening's homework.

In social studies we are continuing to read Chapter 1, Lessons 2 & 3.  After each lesson we take a practice quiz (students are allowed to use their books for this quiz).  The quizzes will be sent home at the end of the chapter to be utilized as part of their study guide.  At this point, I anticipate a Chapter 1 social studies test on Wednesday, October 1, but that is subject to change based upon how much practice is necessary prior to being prepared for the test.

Because the fifth graders are at "Camp," we will be having a morning educational wildlife movie in place of music and p.e. on both Monday and Tuesday.

Half Day

Today was a busy day with early dismissal.  Our Block 1 students took their spelling unit 4 test and worked on social studies skills.  Block 2 students took their spelling test, had library class, and worked on "Character Counts" activities.

Next week's spelling unit is a review unit.  Students should be familiar with all words on their list.  A newsletter is sent home every Friday with the words on the back.   A spelling link can also be found here:

Spelling Lists

Type to Learn

Today we worked on our computer typing program, Type to Learn.  Students are working hard to learn how to position their hands on home row.

We also completed some Compare/Contrast skill activities, and we completed a grammar "Types of Sentences" review page.

Tomorrow is a half day of school for students.  Students will still be going to both blocks, Block 1 & Block 2.  My homeroom students will have LRC (Library) tomorrow.

Book orders from Scholastic should be sent in or ordered online by tomorrow, if you are interested in ordering.

Friday newsletters will be sent home tomorrow.  Our Unit 4 spelling test will also be given tomorrow.

Story Selection Test

Today we reviewed and reread Kai's Journey to Gold Mountain, and we also took our story test.  Students are allowed to use their books and vocabulary sheets to help them.  We also work together to generate ideas for the extended response question at the end of the test.  As the year progresses, students will take on more independence with this extended response question.

In social studies we completed our first chapter of Unit 1.  We took a quiz over the chapter.  Each chapter will have a five question quiz at the end.  Students should do very well on the quiz, as it is covering topics that were discussed extensively in class.  There is no test date yet scheduled for Unit 1, but I will let you know in advance and a study guide will be provided.

Yesterday we did a practice safety drill, and the students were incredibly well behaved!

Kai's Journey to Gold Mountain

Today's story is about the experience of a young boy, Kai, who is traveling alone from China to the United States.  In this story, many Asian immigrants were coming to America in the 1930's.  In the story Kai must prove to interrogators that he is who he claims to be.  The difficult questions were used to try to catch people who might not be telling the truth about who they were.  Kai is hopeful that he will be reunited with his father who has already arrived and is waiting for him in America.  We read and discussed this story in detail today.  Students should reread it for homework.  It is found in the Storytown book on pages 113-130.  Story sheets are due back tomorrow for the story comprehension and vocabulary test.

Ebook can be found here:
eBook

Immigration

This week we will be learning about immigration and the difficulties faced by many families when they came to America.  Today we read Coming to America, The Story of Immigration by Betsy Maestro.  Tomorrow we will read Kai's Journey to Gold Mountain.

We are also working to learn and practice our Unit 4 spelling words.  These words are divided into
-ed and -ing endings.  The main goal is to identify the base word and then use spelling rules to decide how to add the proper ending.  For example, words that end with an "e" will have the "e" dropped before adding the ending.  Words that end with a vowel & consonant will need to have the consonant doubled before adding the ending.  We completed workbook pages 15-16 in spelling.

Finding subjects/predicates in sentences is our English skill today, and we also worked on a writing assessment that allowed students to use their creative ideas to finish a story.

In social studies, we are continuing to learn about the landforms, borders, and regions of the United States of America.

Spelling Tests were Great!

Very pleased with the Unit 3 spelling tests!  Hooray!  Keep up the good studying at home.  Unit 4 spelling words are on the back of the newsletter that is being sent home today.  

Friday is Library (LRC) day for Block 2 students (Mrs. Danforth's Homeroom).   

Today we accomplished reviewing some Reading skills, and we also worked on  the Type To Learn program with Block 1 Language Arts. 

Have a great weekend -- find something fun to read!

Subjects, Predicates, and Landforms

We are learning about subjects and predicates in Grammar.  We did complete workbook pages 9 & 10 in Grammar to practice this skill.
Here's a fun web site with many games.  A great grammar game on this site is called Grammar Gorillas:
http://www.funbrain.com

We also reviewed for tomorrow's spelling test by completing Spelling workbook pages 13 & 14.  The spelling test tomorrow will be over worlds with au, aw, oi, oo, ew, and oy sounds.  
Here's the link to all of our spelling units:
Spelling Lists

In Social Studies we are reading and completing workbook pages 1-9 about landforms in the various regions of the United States.


Other Notes:

School party money ($5.00) is due on Friday, please.

Student Council is collecting "Box Tops" from General Mills products.  You can send them in to school at any time.

Book orders are due Friday, September 19.  Next Friday is also a half day.

Story Selection Test

Today students took the story selection test over "Danitra Brown Leaves Town," and we also practiced reading poetry for fluency.  The story of Danitra was a narrative poem.

We are working to identify subjects and and predicates in sentences.  Subjects tell "who?" or "what?" the sentence is about.  We completed workbook page 9 & 10 in Grammar.

We are reading social studies pages 1-10 in our red social studies workbook.

Unit 3 spelling test is Friday.

Danitra Brown Leaves Town

Today we read and discussed the narrative poetry story "Danitra Brown Leaves Town."  Danitra's friend, Zuri, looks forward to a summer together, but then she finds that her friend is leaving town for the summer.  This poetry story compares the summers that the girls have while they are apart.  Danitra spends the summer at a family reunion in the country, while Zuri is busy in the city.  Students should reread this story for homework.  It is found on pages 85-100 in the Storytown book.

eBook

We also completed practice workbook page 12 to discuss the vocabulary words, and we worked on the parts of a narrative poem in our "Writers' Companion" workbook.

In social studies we are learning to identify landforms.  Landforms are made in nature.  They are things like valleys, hills, mountains, and canyons.

Spelling Unit 3

This is a tricky spelling unit.  We practiced dividing our words in to vowel groupings, and we made silly sentences to help us remember the groupings.  Please practice these words at home for Friday's test.  Words are on the back of each Friday's newsletter, and there are also practice pages in your child's folder tonight.

http://highmail.highlands.k12.fl.us/~tarters/spelling

In social studies, students are bringing home their introductory workbook pages that preview the kinds of maps that we have been discussing in class.  The students may take these pages out of their folder, as we have finished them in class and are now beginning Chapter 1.

Newsletter Sent Home

Students received their Friday newsletter from Language Arts/Social Studies class today.  The spelling words for the upcoming week are on the back of this newsletter.  There is also a raffle ticket for students to have a parent sign and verify that the newsletter made its way home.  The raffle will always be held on the first day back to school after the weekend.

Today we read the fiction story "Homer," which was about a baseball playing dog.  We made our own fun baseball cards.

Block 1 students worked on "Type to Learn" which is a typing program that will take place weekly  during the first trimester.  Block 2 students (Danforth's homeroom) had LRC (library) today.

We continue to work on map skills in social studies and sentence types in grammar.

AIMS testing (one minute reads) continue this week.  Your child will be reading with me to track fluency.

Interjections!

Today we learned about interjections.  Interjections are not sentences, but they are the words or phrases that we often use -- especially in speaking -- to get the listener's attention.  They are expressions like "Wow" or "Hey!"  We decorated our classroom with fun interjections today.

We also reviewed imperative and exclamatory sentences and completed Grammar workbook page 8.

We prepared for our spelling test by completing Spelling workbook page 9 & 10 today.  This page is being sent home so that students can practice misspelled words prior to tomorrow's Unit 2 spelling test.

We are also continuing AIMS testing.  This means that students have have three one minute reads that they are completing with me during class time.

Interjections!

Today we took our story selection test over "Jackie Mitchell Strike-Out Queen."  Students are allowed to use their books and vocabulary sheets to reference answers.

We are learning about exclamatory and imperative sentences.  Interjections such as "Oh!" or "Hi!" are often used to start an exclamatory sentence.  We completed Grammar workbook page 5 for practice today.

Our spelling test will be given on Friday.  Challenge words fount as extra points and do not ever take away from the child's score.  On occasion I do make errors in grading the tests, so don't be afraid to have your child ask if they believe that I make a mistake.

We are learning about latitude and longitude in social studies and have completed workbook pages SSH1 to SSH20 in class together.

Mighty Jackie the Strikeout Queen

Today we read the story "Mighty Jackie the Strikeout Queen," a true story about Jackie Mitchell.  Jackie was a woman ballplayer who was able to strike out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in 1931.  Here's a song that we enjoyed listening to in class that summarizes the story.

Jackie Mitchell Song

Students should reread the story for homework.  Their story sheet should be returned tomorrow.

Here's a link to the audio version of the story:

eBook



We also completed Practice Workbook page 10 to introduce the Unit 2 spelling words.

Here's a link to the spelling units:

Spelling Lists



In social studies we are continuing our introduction to various types of maps.