Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Students who turned in the Cinderella Project are watching the Disney multi-cultural  version of Cinderella.  Those students who are still working on the project are not watching the movie and are working on their projects out in the hallway.

There is no homework this week.

 

Monday and Tuesday, December 17/18, 2012

No homework this week unless a student needs to complete the Cinderella Project.  It is due at the end of the hour tomorrow.  Students have a checklist of everything that needs to be turned in for points.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Students continue their work on the Cinderella project.  Most students are making terrific progress!!  Because of the delayed start on Monday, they will not have Monday's class to work on it.  The project is due Tuesday at the end of each class period.

There is no other homework.

 

Week of December 10-14, 2012

Spelling: homework is due Thursday at the beginning of the hour.

      shoveling        beginning      modeling       bothered       pardoned       permitting
      piloting           forgetting      wondering     answering     listening        limited

Reading/writing:
    Students will be working on the Cinderella Project the entire week.  After students have read their four chosen cultural versions of Cinderella , they will organize their notes into paragraphs and write a compare/contrast essay.  The completed project is due on December 18th.

Cinderella Project Scoring Guide

o    Character analysis worksheet (10 pts.)     _____

o    Story element chart (20 pts.)     _____

o    Venn Diagrams (16 pts.)     _____

o    Essay organization chart (24 pts.)    _____

o    Name (5 pts.)  _____

                                                                          Total possible: 75 pts.     _____

Essay:

o    Title  (5 pts.)     _____

o     Introduction paragraph with creative hook and purpose sentence (10 pts.)    _____

o    Paragraph to compare first two stories read (10 pts.)   _____

o    Paragraph to contrast first two stories read (10 pts.)    _____

o    Paragraph to compare third and fourth stories (10 pts.)    _____

o    Paragraph to contrast third and fourth stories (10 pts.)     _____

o    Paragraph to identify which story you liked best and why (10 pts.)  _____

o    Rough draft showing the editing and proofreading corrections (10 pts.)  _____

o    Final draft has been edited and proofread (10 pts.)   _____

o    Typed or in blue/black ink (10 pts.)   _____

o    Turned in on time (5 pts.)  _____

Total possible: 100 pts.    _____

                                                                                           Grand total: _____

 

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday, December 5- 7, 2012

Students began work on their "Cinderella Project".  Students will be reading and analyzing four differect cultural versions of Cinderella.  Most of the work for this project will be done in class and we will devote the next two weeks to its completion. Except for spelling, there will be no homework for the next two weeks.  Students who use class time wisely will have no problem meeting the due date of December 19th.


                   

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Reading: Students began a study of the traditional tales genre.  Today's in-class assignment was to read "Mowgli's Brothers" starting on page 208.  Once they were finished reading, they worked on Selection Test #56.  Those who did not finish needed to take it home for homework.

English: We continued our review of irregular verbs.  Student have a test over irregular verbs on December 13th.
     Homework: Irregular verbs packet which is due tomorrow.


 

Monday, December 3, 2012

Spelling homework (verbs) is due on Thursday.

                cough        gallop       cheer       hopping      hoping       ignite       confuse
                              received         descend        invite        lose          tense

Writing: Students wrote an in-class four-paragraph essay entitled "Making a Difference". 

Friday, November 30, 2012

Students completed the test on dialogue, plot summary, and comprehension.

There are currently no projects that need to be completed.

No homework this weekend.


 

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Reading/Writing/English: Test over concepts from the past 10 weeks.  Students began the test today and they will complete it tomorrow.

English: Irregular verbs worksheet for homework

Reading: Comprehension worksheet for homework

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

English:  Students continued to review verbs.  For the next two weeks we will focus on irregular/regular verbs.

 


Spelling homework is due tomorrow.

Reading/writing:  Students watched the movie The Red Balloon.  It is a movie without dialogue.  Students will use details from the movie for their dialogue quiz tomorrow.  There will also be reviews of plot summary, writing with details, and comprehension.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

English:  Students worked in partners to review dialogue writing.  This was a quiz.  There will be a test on dialogue format on Thursday.

    HW: English worksheet #36 which is a review of verb tenses 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Spelling: this week's lesson is about action verbs.  Homework is due on Thursday.

               accept         argue       believe       bought       brought       decide
               breathe        breath     caught        choose      chose           divide

Students started reviewing fantasy  fiction.  We watched "Mr. Ed" and discussed the elements of fantasy in the show.

Thanksgiving Week

2nd hour students worked on a four-paragraph essay in class today.  It was due at the end of the hour and is not homework.

Tuesday and Wednesday, students will be continuing to watch the movie The Miracle Worker.  There is no homework/assignment associated with this movie.

On Wednesday, November 21st, students will need to turn in their personal narrative writing project.  These projects will be collected at the beginning of each hour.

Wishing all of you a marvelous Thanksgiving!!


 

Friday, November 16, 2012

Students began watching "The Miracle Worker" today.  It goes along with one of the narratives that we read in our reading text.  Be sure to ask about Helen Kellar's special learning problems.


Personal narratives are due on Wednesday, November 21st.  They must be one full page typed (size 12 font) or three pages hand written in blue or black ink.

 

English: Revisited correct format for dialogue. Practiced writing dialogue.

     Homework: verbs review worksheet


Students will be dismissed at 11:00 tomorrow.  Teachers have an in-service in Cadillac in the afternoon.
 

Monday, November 12, 2012

Spelling- working on words with the suffix "ous".  Spelling homework is due Friday.  Spelling quiz is Friday.

        continuous         nervous       glorious      curious       cautious       tremendous      various

                                                 industrious        precious       courageous

Writing:  Personal narratives are due November 21st.
     Students will be writing a personal narrative.  They were given a rubric.  A personal narrative is a true story about the student.  The narrator of the story is the main character.  Students should choose one event in their life that taught them a life lesson.  They should write using dialogue and lots of details.  There should be a problem/solution, internal conflict, external conflict, and one person's viewpoint.




Wednesday is a half day of school.  Students will be dismissed at 11:00.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Reading: Students completed a quiz about the story elements for realistic fiction.
No homework tonight.

Third hour book reports are due tomorrow. 


HOPE TO SEE YOU AT PARENT CONFERENCES TONIGHT!

Wednesday,November 7, 2012

  Students continued to work on their poetry assignment.  This will be the last class time to work on this writting.  The final draft, in ink or typed, is due tomorrow afternoon.

3rd hour book reports are due Friday.

Parent/teacher conferences Thursday from 4:00-7:00 !

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

 Students began work on a poetry assignment.  The theme is "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow".
We will be working on the rough draft today and tomorrow in class.  The final draft is due on Thursday.

Parent Conferences on Thursday from 4:00- 7:00.  Hope to have a chance to talk with you!

Monday, November 5, 2012

Students spent the hour catching  up last week's work. Students worked on these assignments during class.  The following assignments are due tomorrow-
        Cause/effect essay
        Story elements review (done with a partner)
        Questions # 2,3,4,5 all parts on pg. 122


BOOK REPORTS ARE DUE TOMORROW IN 1ST AND 2ND HOURS.  THEY ARE DUE ON THURSDAY IN 3RD HOUR.  STUDENTS HAVE HAD SUMMER OF THE SWANS AND THE BOOK REPORT MATERIALS FOR SIX WEEKS.


Parent-teacher conferences are Thursday from 4:00-7:00.  Hope to see you then!

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Reading: Students began reading "Aaron's Gift".  They are reading with a partner and identifying the important story elements.

English: Continued to work on identifying verb phrases.

There is no homework tonight for students who have all of their work caught up.  Students with missing work should complete it so that it can be turned in before Friday, which is the end of the marking period.

Book report due on November 6th for most students.  It is due on November 9th for 3rd hour students.

I will be gone from school the rest of the week so there will be no further postings until Monday.

Monday, October 29, 2012

Spelling: "Double consonant" words.  Because there is no school on Thursday, spelling homework is due on Friday and the quiz will also be on Friday.

English: Students began a review of verbs.

Reading: students reviewed "main idea" and analyzing multiple choice questions.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Spelling homework due tomorrow.

Reading: Students reviewed story elements found in the The Pigman and Me.
                No homework.

English: Students started their study of dialogue.  We will be discussing correct punctuation rules, use of capitals, and paragraphing rules.

Tuesday, November 23, 2012

Reading:  Students completed their text connections projects.
              HW: Read  The Pigman and Me starting on pg. 182
                       Complete the selection test


Book reports due on November 6th for first and second hours and November 9th for third hour.

Monday, October 22, 2012

Spelling: Homework due on Thursday at the beginning of the hour.  Plural noun review words.

Reading: Continued to work on the "Text Connections" group projects. 

Friday, October 19, 2012

Students are working on a group project highlighting text connections.

      Text-to-Text: How is this literature similar to other literature I have read?
      Text-to-World: How is this text similar to things that happen in the real world?
      Text-to-Self: How is this literature similar to my life?

Students will continue to work on this project on Monday.

Thursday, October 18, 2012

Reading: Students worked in small groups to analyze characters' points of view (perspective).
        Homework: Selection Test #59  (skip #s 17, 20, 21,22)

Book Reports due November 6th!!


 

October 16 & 17, 2012

MEAP testing in the morning!!
No homework in language arts on these days.

BOOK REPORT ALERT: The Summer of the Swans book report is due November 6th for 1st and 2nd hours.  It is due on November 9th for 3rd hour. 

Monday, October 15, 2012

Because of the delayed start- there is no spelling homework this week.

MEAP testing: Tuesday and Wednesday we will be MEAPing. Students will test math on Tuesday and social studies on Wednesday.  Please encourage your child to get a good night's sleep and to eat a "power" breakfast.

Friday, October 12, 2012

English:  Students completed a review of plural and possessive nouns.

Reading:  Students read with partners.  After reading, each partnership discussed the internal and external conflicts in each piece of literature.

 

Thursday, October 11, 2012

 In class today, students continued working on their review packet.
They also finished their "Bad Day" essays.

 Students who finished the week's work do not have homework. Those who have not completed these assignments were to take them home and finish them.

Tuesday and Wednesday, October 9th and 10th

Monday, October 8, 2012

  Spelling- This week's spelling focuses on plural nouns.  The homework is due Thursday at the beginning of the hour.

    This week's words:
 
       bushes          wishes          boxes          churches          foxes          taxes
       dishes           matches        branches    cities               babies         crutches
                 brushes                                 cherries                         pennies


Skills packet- This is not homework!!  These activities are to be done when students have completed the MEAP sections each day.  Students will report to their first hour class for MEAP testing.  Each subtest is a different length of time, so students may be in their first hour class all morning or they may attend part of each hour.  Because of these variations, I will not see each class for the same length of time.  This packet is designed to keep everybody moving forward. Students will have time to work on them during the quiet times following each subtest. Students will also have time during class on Thursday.

MEAP testing- Please make sure your child gets a good night's sleep and eats a good breakfast each morning.  This will increase their concentration and brain power.  Encourage them to do their best on each test.

Friday, October 5, 2012

Students practiced writing a story summary using the book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.  

Writing: Students began work on a 4-paragraph essay about their horrible day.  This is not homework.  We will continue to work on it next week.

Thursday, October 4, 2012

Reading: students finshed the analysis questions on page 22 in their reading text.
                  HW: Selection test for "Stray".

English: students continued to work with possessive nouns.
                  HW: Plural noun worksheet

Field trip tomorrow to the tennis courts.  This will be for students who are not on the NET list at 8:00 am tomorrow.

Progress reports will be mailed soon.

  MEAP testing start next Tuesday.

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Reading: Students started working on the analysis questions for the story, "Stray".  They need to answer ?s #2,3, 4, all parts.  Answers should be in complete sentences.  This is not homework.  They will be finishing the questions tomorrow in class. 

Writing: We finished our shoe stories in class.  They were turned in at the end of the hour.  Students who did not have their story completed, needed to take the story home to finish.

Spelling homework (prefixes) is due tomorrow.


MEAP testing starts next week!!!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Reading: Students finished reading "Stray" and turned in their list of story elements.
                  HW: Cause/effect worksheet

English: Practiced with plural nouns.
                  HW: Plural nouns worksheet

 

Monday, October1, 2012

Reading: Students are working in pairs to read the story, "Stray", and review the story elements that we have been studying.

Spelling: Spelling homework is due Thursday, at the beginning of the hour.  This week's spelling deals with prefixes.
                                                              Word List:

                         increase           displease          disgrace          incorrect          disorder
                         enforce            precede             prepare           enrich               prevent
                                                              disagree              enlist


Fund raiser order forms and money are due back this week.  Please have your child return them to the office as soon as possible.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Writing:  Students began writing a "Shoe" story.  They had to pick a pair of shoes and write a story from the shoe's perspective.
       Example paragraph:
                    Boy, what a life.  Always getting pulled on and off.  Getting covered with mud and dirt, going through snow and rain, tied so tight I could turn blue.  The same thing, day after day.  My back is aching and my twin's is too.

This isn't a homework assignment.  Students will have time on Monday to work on it.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Book report update!  Extra copies of Summer of the Swans  are here and have been given out to 3rd hour. Book reports for the third hour class are due on November 9th.

Reading: Students have two assignments in reading today.
               1.  Finish the questions, 2,3,4,5, that were started yesterday.
               2.  Selection test packet- do not do any of the essay questions on pg. 3

English: We have been discussing sentence fragments and run-on sentences.  Homework for tonight is a review worksheet.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Spelling homework is due tomorrow at the beginning of the hour.

Reading: Students read "The Sound of Summer Running" in class today.  As they read they needed to identify the story elements that we have been discussing.  After finishing the story, students need to answer questions 2,3,4,5 (all parts) found on page 12.  Questions need to be answered in complete sentences providing complete information.  These questions were not assigned as homework and they will have time to work on them in class tomorrow.
 

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

  Reading: Students discussed character's motives and character traits (qualities) today in class.  These words were added to their vocabulary journals.
                   HW: Vocabulary worksheet

English: Students began discussing sentence fragments and run-on sentences.
                  HW: Simple subject/simple predicate worksheet


Change in book report date- Summer of the Swans book report is now due November 6th.

Monday, September 24, 2012

English- reviewed simple subject/simple predicate.

 
Reading: Listened to the short story "Tenner Shoe Blight".  Reviewed the story elements discussed last week.

Spelling: Spelling homework was assigned and it is due at the beginning of the hour on Thursday.
    This week's spelling words are:

agricultural          rural          litter          gallon          loyal          error                     novel        struggle     stumble       horror
quarrel                 frighten     sample      moral           linen

 

Friday, September

I was gone from school on Wednesday and Thursday, so I was not able to update the blog. So, I apologize for any problems this might have caused. 

I also apologize for the amount of homework many students brought home last night.  I give a fair amount of homework, but I don't expect students to spend an entire evening completing language arts homework.  The plans were not clear to the substitute teacher and as a result, things were assigned that should not have been.  I have talked to each class and I think we are now all on the same page.  Students who completed assignments that were not actually to be given, will be given extra credit.

Reading & Writing:  Students were assigned a book report today for Summer of the Swans by Betsy Byars.  The materials are due November 1st for first and second hours and November 5th for third hour.  There will be no class time given for this assignment.  It is a long term assignment and students should complete the requirements at home.  If students want this assignment typed so that they do not have to write it out in ink, I did tell them that a parent or other adult could type their final draft, once they had their rough draft completed.

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Writing: "Most Embarrassing Moment" essay was due today.  Reading: Discussed more story element
vocabulary words and added them to the
vocabulary journal.
  characters, setting, mood (atmosphere), theme, plot

Homework: "Story Elements" worksheet


English: Students continued
investigating subject and
predicate.  Today's discussion was about simple subjects and simple predicates.