November 14th ~ Social Studies

Today students started sailing to America.  Along the way they had to overcome problems that dealt with supplies, navigation,  illness, and crew morale.  We will continue our explorer adventures next week.  

November 14th ~ ALL Reading Blocks

Today was a center day.  Students completed the rest of the centers today.  Work done at the Fluency and Reading Skill centers should be done in class.  Students need to use their time wisely to get all the work done and receive full credit.  They will not be taking this work home as homework.  

Center 1: Lit Circle

     Students should have read their novel and completed their job.  If these are not done, students receive a 0.  They need to stay up to date so we can have a good discussion on the book.  Each block/class/group is reading a different story.  

Center 2: Silent/AR Read

     Students have about 20 minutes to silent read.  They may read their novel or an AR book of their choice.  Also during this time they may take an AR test.  

Center 3: Fluency

     This week in fluency students are seeing how many syllables they can read in a minute.  They record their scores in the notebook.    

Center 4: Reading Skill ~ Steps in a Process

     This week we are working on steps in a process.

Homework: Lit Circle ~ don't forget to read your book and do your job.  AR ~ you should be reading at least 20-30 minutes every night so that you can meet your goal.    

Reminder ~ TUESDAY lit groups (groups 1 & 2) need to be ready to meet on Monday next week!!!

November 13th ~ Social Studies

Reminder ~ We have library every Wednesday!

Today students began working on their Colorado postcard to send out to different states.  Later this week we will be writing on those postcards and sharing Colorado information with them.  

November 13th ~ ALL Reading Blocks

Today we started working on summaries.  We have written some summaries in the past, but we are working on making them better.  Students took notes on what I am looking for in their summaries.  Then we started making a summary together as a class.  

Here is what should be included in our summaries.

Homework:

ALL BLOCKS ~ Lit Circle ~ don't forget to read your book and do your job.  AR ~ you should be reading at least 20-30 minutes every night so that you can meet your goal.

November 12 ~ ALL READING BLOCKS

Today was a center day.  Students completed 2 out of the 4 centers today.  Work done at the Fluency and Reading Skill centers should be done in class.  Students need to use their time wisely to get all the work done and receive full credit.  They will not be taking this work home as homework.  

Center 1: Lit Circle

     Students should have read their novel and completed their job.  If these are not done, students receive a 0.  They need to stay up to date so we can have a good discussion on the book.  Each block/class/group is reading a different story.  

Center 2: Silent/AR Read

     Students have about 20 minutes to silent read.  They may read their novel or an AR book of their choice.  Also during this time they may take an AR test.  

Center 3: Fluency

     This week in fluency students are seeing how many syllables they can read in a minute.  They record their scores in the notebook.    

Center 4: Reading Skill ~ Steps in a Process

     This week we are working on steps in a process.

Homework: Lit Circle ~ don't forget to read your book and do your job.  AR ~ you should be reading at least 20-30 minutes every night so that you can meet your goal.    

November 11th ~ Social Studies

Today we received our first post card in the mail from the state of Washington.  This week we will be working on our Colorado postcards to send out to the states.  

Our first post card from the post card state exchange.

We also began our explorer simulation.  Each student in class is part of a team.  The team is a ship.  Today students named their ship and picked out their jobs.  

Homework ~ find two facts about Colorado

November 11 ~ Reading ALL BLOCKS

Today we began our new weekly story Grandma Essie's Covered Wagon.  We made a vocabulary chart that included the word, what we thought the definition was using context clues, and the actual definition of the word using our glossary.  

Word	Context Clues (guess)	Definition
Bashful (page 317)
Canvas (page 312)
Granite (page 314)
Orphanage (page 326)
Tornado (page 318)
Cemetery (page 328)

After filling in the chart students started to make their predictions for the story.  All predictions are based on pictures.

Remember if you didn't finish your predictions that is also considered homework tonight.

Homework

Block 1 ~ Vocabulary sentences 7-up style: Write each vocabulary word in a sentence.  Don't forget to do your nightly reading to reach your AR goal.  Lit Circles ~ groups 1 and 2 meet tomorrow.  

Block 2 ~ Vocabulary pictures ~ Draw a picture for each vocabulary word.  Don't forget to label the word and color the pictures.  Don't forget do do your nightly reading to reach your AR goal.  Lit Circles ~ groups 1 and 2 meet tomorrow.  

Block 3 ~ Vocabulary pictures ~ Draw a picture for each vocabulary word.  Don't forget to label the word and color the pictures.  Don't forget do do your nightly reading to reach your AR goal.  Lit Circles ~ groups 1 and 2 meet tomorrow. 

Block 4 ~ Vocabulary pictures ~ Draw a picture for each vocabulary word.  Don't forget to label the word and color the pictures.  Don't forget do do your nightly reading to reach your AR goal.  Lit Circles ~ groups 1 and 2 meet tomorrow. 

November 5 ~ Social Studies

Today students worked on grading each other social studies notebook.  This helped us review resources and states.  

Homework: Study the states ~ quiz tomorrow!!

November 5 ~ ALL Blocks

Grade reports went home with each student today.  Please note that each grade doesn't include their AR grade.  I will be putting these on later in the week.  Students do have until the end of the quarter to reach their goal.  It will be in parent portal so that everyone knows where they stand. 

Today was a center day.  Students did 2 or the 4 students and will finish up on Thursday.  

Center 1: Lit Circle

     Students should have read their novel and completed their job.  If these are not done, students receive a 0.  They need to stay up to date so we can have a good discussion on the book.  Each block/class/group is reading a different story.  

Center 2: Silent/AR Read

     Students have about 20 minutes to silent read.  They may read their novel or an AR book of their choice.  Also during this time they may take an AR test.  

Center 3: Fluency

     This week in fluency students are practicing partner reading.  They are rating each other on how well their fluency is and providing feedback.  

Center 4: Reading Skill ~ Multiple Meaning Words

     This week we are working on multiple meaning words.

Homework: Get your grade sheet signed.  Lit Circle ~ don't forget to read your book and do your job.  AR ~ you should be reading at least 20-30 minutes every night so that you can meet your goal.    

November 4 ~ Social Studies

Today is social studies we continued learning about explorers   Students read Chapter 3, Lesson 3.  While reading they created a timeline of Christopher Columbus' life and Ferdinand Magellan's life.  Each explorer was in a different color.  

Homework: Timeline of the explorers if you didn't finish in class.  Don't forget to study the states!!!

November 4 ~ BLOCK 2-4 Reading

Today is reading we began a new story.  Our story this week is The Paper Dragon.  Students were given their vocabulary words and had to create an action for the word.  Once they had their action they presented in front of the class.  

Vocabulary
1. uprooted
2. heroic
3. billowed
4. quench
5. devour
6. scorched

Homework: Students need to use each vocabulary word in a sentence that makes sense.  They must be a 7-up sentence along with a capital and a period.  Don't forget to do your Lit Circle Reading and job.  Keep reading to reach your AR goal!!!

November 4 ~ BLOCK 1 Reading

Today we started our new weekly story.  We will be reading The Paper Dragon.  Students were given their vocabulary words for the story.  They made vocabulary webs with a group. 

Vocabulary:
1. uprooted
2. heroic
3. billowed
4. quench
5. devour
6. scorched
7. woe
8. confront
9. spurted
10. devastation

Homework: Write the definitions for 7-10.  Write a paragraph using each word at least once.  Don't forget to do your lit circle reading and job.  Keep working on those AR Points!!!  

Congratulations to Block 1 ~ They read the most books during quarter 1!