Class Highlights for Week ending 9/23

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Monday

A. Our class had the Orange Ruler for the day as they raced into first place and won a piggy entry for the pig derby, which is all swell, really!  Proud of their efforts.  

We read our 6th Dimitri Martin story: "F.A.Q. Genie."  It serves as the fourth model for our upcoming fiction writing activity. 

Tuesday

As of Tuesday, our class kept their amazing lead in the Orange Ruler Fundraiser Games. Looks like there's a yummy purple beverage we can stick 27 straws in soon...................kidding. Tuesday update:  they've won individual Jamba Juices  for their high rate of invitations. 

Wednesday:  

Students took their District Math Pre-Assessment to gauge their Math preparedness.  Students had up to 90 minutes to complete the assessment, which will be used to guide instructional decisions. 

Thursday:  

Students shared their fiction writing in small groups. A subset of student selected stories were shared with the class.  We had some good first drafts, and Isaiah did an excellent job on his multiple perspectives story and had the whole class in knots for his engaging reading presentation! 

Dancing Classrooms: Students began learning their third dance -La Rumba de Cuba

Friday: 

Lucas's family brought in birthday snacks in the afternoon community time for Lucas's birthday. Happy Birthday tomorrow Lucas!

Students followed an imaginary trip based on coordinate points through three continents and had to find places based upon geographical clues.  Then they invented a travel itinerary as a group, identified coordinates, and charted travel plans. 

Students won a snow cone treat in the Orange Ruler Competition for their high participation and they remained school fundraising leaders all week.  Additionally they won a pizza party with the principal for a date TBA.   We look forward to these days, but especially an entry into the pig races!  Thank you to all the students and families who contributed to our school. 

Fiction Writing Assignment Based Upon Demitri Martin Story Models

Mr. Arthur, my fifth grade colleague, introduced me to writer Demitri Martin who wrote This is a Book. We have done several read aloud sessions as examples of fictional humor and for story writing examples.  

Our current fiction writing assignment, draft 1 due Thursday (some students completed in class), asks students to make up stories following one of  four story models as presented in four of Martin's stories. 

The four choices, based on stories the teacher is modeling in class, include the following:

1.  Tell a simple story from 5 points of view, as in “The Bee Sting”;

2.  Tell a series of small stories that all end with the same sentence, as in “Freak Accidents With Acapella Groups”;

3.  Tell a series of small stories that involve the same three very different characters, as is “Optimist, Pessimist, Contortionist”;4. Create a “F.A.Q.” guide about some topic, as in “Genie.”

This writing will be further developed in a workshop format, so we all need our stories to take advantage sharing, editing, and improvement steps. They need their short story (it could be a light page or two) by Thursday. Thank you

HIVE5 Connection - Week of September 19

I Calendar - 

Monday - Week 4 homework packets handed out; due Friday.   

District Attendance policy form handed out to students; they are due with parent signatures on Friday.

Letter writing homework for Ms. Chantell, the dance teacher,  explained in the Appendix at the foot of this post. The letter is due Tuesday to me and I give it Thursday to Ms. Chantell. 

Wednesday - There wasn't new math instruction today and there is no math homework, unless the previously assigned pages of 38-39 and 42-43 were not completed on Monday and Tuesday. 

Homework change:  If students did not complete in class their fictional writing piece following one of the four style options given to them and modeled after Demitri Martin example stories, then they should complete their story today in their black and white composition journals. 

Thursday-  Students should have finished their fiction writing piece yesterday.  If there story was unfinished, they should finish it tonight in their composition books. 

As a reminder, students should complete the Reader's Response for the week this evening. There is link in the link menu at the top right side of the blog. 

Thursday evening is also the last day for Orange Ruler Run invitations. 

Friday - Did your student answer the Reader's Response questions for Week 4 yet?  The link is under the "Helpful Links" at the top right of the Blog. If not, these should be completed by Saturday. 

II.  Content & Connections

In Reading we are working on Annotating text, particularly focusing on connections and speculations, as well as confusions and connections.  Students continue to read non-fiction science texts on animal species and conservation.  Ask  your child about their present animal.

We also began selected Reading Comprehension (Fountas & Pinnell) Testing and Conferring in the reading workshop.

In particular this week we have been focusing on annotating text with questions and wondering.

In Social Studies we are still putting together the basis of coordinate points of the GPS by developing our knowledge of how latitude and longitude are read and work together. You could talk about far away places you have been to in relationship to the equator and talk about patterns between location and weather that you may see, or ask those questions about a place you've always wanted to visit together. 

In Mathematics there is a new rounding technique.  It's not much loved yet, but it does make place value central to the practice. We are also continuing to develop our knowledge of the metric system and adding decimals in word problems.  There is also this business of adding tenths and hundredths and stuff, with idea of becoming familiar with bundling and decomposing values, and thinking and talking about  decimal fractions fluently.

In writing students have heard four model stories by Demitri Martin equivalent to four writing formats for fictional writing.  Students will be writing a fictional piece based upon one of these models and began brainstorming Tuesday.   Ask your child what format they are using and what story model it follows.

Appendix

A.  Informal Letter Writing Assignment

Letter to Ms. Chantell due to Mr. Hagstrom Tuesday.  The letters themselves are to be given to Ms. Chantell Thursday.  They may be hand-written or typed.  

The letter should include:

Student Name & Date  ( You may leave out your address, which is normally included).

A salutation (greeting): "Dear Ms. Chantell,"

Three paragraphs with the following content (feel free to use these sentence starters):  When I first heard about the program...  2.  After two classes in the program...  3.  My goal for the end of dance class is...

A closing:  "Sincerely,"  "All the best,"   "Thank you!"  etc.  

And a signature:

If you need help with formatting, try: Writing a Friendly or Personal Letter