Week 29

This week in reading we will be reviewing different reading strategies. Students will also begin taking part in Literature Circles. Students will begin reading chapter books with their reading groups and learning different "jobs" to complete with their reading. We will also be going back to spelling homework. This week's spelling list is Sort 45 . Students will again be expected to complete 20 points worth of spelling activities each week for their spelling homework.

This week in writing we will continue working on our Animal Research Project. Students have been using books to research their animal in class already, this week, they will use the internet as well to finish their research. Then they will start writing the draft for their report. Also, starting this week for the next 4 weeks, on Tuesdays we will be doing an in class essay to prepare students for their writing test in April. We will be preparing students for the test by spending one day working on an essay so that students will be ready to sit and write their entire essay the day of the test. Students are to complete the essay at school and will not be allowed to work on it at home.

This week in math we are starting our unit on decimals and relating them to fractions. We will be talking about finding equivalent fractions and their decimals.

This week in Social Studies we are talking about World War I and World War II and what it was like in Utah at those times.

This Week's Homework:

Monday:            Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                           Spelling Sort 45

                           Lesson 8.1 P157

Tuesday:          Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                           Spelling Sort 45

                           Lesson 8.2 P159

Wednesday:     Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                            Spelling Sort 45

                           Lesson 8.3 P161

Thursday:          Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                            Spelling Sort 45

                           Lesson 8.5 P165

Friday:              Read 20 Mins

                          *Reading Log & Road to Success

Week 28 Vocabulary

Sauropod – largest known dinosaur

Fossil – any print or impression of a living thing

Exposed – without shelter or protection

Menacingly – threatens to cause evil, harm, injury

Extinction – when all die out

Week 28

This week in reading we practicing using 2 texts that are on the same topic to write about that topic. We are also on our last week of essays for homework. The Sports Essay is due this Friday and students will have Friday to type them during class. We will also be taking our Language Arts Test 9 this Friday.

This week for writing we are starting our Research Unit. We will be focusing on how to take notes and using notes to write our paper. Students will be researching an animal of their choice. They will need to use books as well as internet sources to do their research. This will be done in class.

In math we are finishing up our unit on multiplying fractions. On Friday students will be taking a test on how to multiply fractions by a whole number as well as multiplying mixed numbers/improper fractions by a whole number.

In Social Studies we will be talking about American Indians and the Pioneers as well as growing Utah after the Pioneers.

I will be at a Literacy Conference on Thursday and Friday. If you need anything, please email me!

This Week's Homework:

Tuesday:          Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                           Sports Essay

                           Lesson 11.4 P213

Wednesday:     Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                            Sports Essay

                           Lesson 11.5 P215

Thursday:          Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                            Sports Essay

                           Big Book pg. 437-438

Friday:              Read 20 Mins

                           Sports Essay

                          *Reading Log & Road to Success

Sports Essay Article

Here is a link to our latest essay's article.

http://www.timeforkids.com/news/debate/72606

Week 27 Vocabulary

Permanent – not changing

Regulate – to say how much each group can have

Necessities – the most important things that you need

Origin – the place where something begins

Relocation- where someone or something has moved

Author Report

Poster
The poster needs to have the author's name and picture, at least 1 picture of a place that has something to do with the author, and their flip book. They need to have at least 5 pictures total. Pictures need labels unless they are a picture of the author or one of their books. There should not be a lot of empty space on the poster, make it look nice! If you have too much space, find more pictures to add to it. Also, students are not to write directly on the poster. Students either need to write nicely or type on other paper, and then they can glue that paper onto their poster.

The flip book should have 8 tabs with labels like mine. The first tab is the author's name, and the last tab is the questions the student wants to ask their author (unlike this example). Students should use the information they found in their written report and list this information on each tab in their flip book. 

Written Report

Here is an example of a written report. Students can either print this or hand write it in their nicest handwriting. They still need to type it on the blog though. 

Andrew Clements

By: Miss Teaford’s Class

Our author is Andrew Clements. He was born on May 29, 1949 in Camden, New Jersey. When he was in the 6^th grade he moved to Illinois. He is most famous for his best selling book Frindle. We picked him because we liked Frindle.

Andrew Clements went to Northwestern University. He got a masters at National Lewis University. He also taught creative writing. As you can see, he is very well educated. We think everyone should read his books.

Andrew Clements has won a lot of awards. Here are some of them. He has won the Utah Children’s’ Choice Award. He also won the Sasquatch Children’s Book Award. Another award that he won was the Judy Lopez Award. Andrew Clements has won many unique awards.

Andrew Clements loves to read. A book once changed his life. He also likes to play the guitar. He loves being creative. He also likes to build things. These are some of his many hobbies.

Andrew Clements spent most of his summers in Maine without TV or Internet, only with books. He has been a songwriter, teacher, and has worked for many publishing companies. Andrew Clements likes to build houses. He now lives in Massachusetts.

Andrew Clements has written many books. In 1996 he wrote a book called Frindle. While we were in the year 1999, he published The Landry News. During 2005, he published Lunch Money. Andrew wrote a book called No Talking in 2007.
We would ask Andrew Clements the following questions if we could. What is your favorite book that you have read? What is your favorite book you have written? What is your favorite sport? Did you like 4th grade? Who was your 4th grade teacher?

We picked Andrew Clements because he is a well-known author. He won many different awards. He loves to read and create things. He is a very interesting person. He is an amazing author who will go down in history!

Oral Presentation
Students must have their report completed and must give an oral presentation in class by Friday, March 7th. If they are done early, they can give their presentation early. This is part of their grade. It must be at least 1 minute in length. Students are expected to read their written report to the class, read their flip book, and tell the class about everything on their poster.

Week 27

This week in reading we will be focusing on explaining how an author uses reasons and evidence to support their points in a text. This will really help us as we are trying to use reasons and evidence in our own essays to support our texts. We are also starting our final homework Persuasive Essay. This time we are answering the question, should women compete against men in sports? This will be due next Friday, March 14th. This time the students are to created their own pre write on their yellow sheet. This will prepare them for the test next month, when they will have to create their own pre write using blank paper.

This week in writing we are finishing our Author Report. We will be working on our posters in class. I have some supplies for students to use, but if students want to bring their own to work on their poster, they are more than welcome to. Students should have a pink paper with all the instructions on what they need to do for the written report, poster, and oral presentation. I also have an example up on my blog.

In math this week we are finishing up our angles unit and we will be taking a test on Wednesday. Then we will be learning how to multiply fractions by a whole number.

This week in social studies we are talking about what it was like for the pioneers when they got to Utah and examining their lives compared to our lives.

This Week's Homework:

Monday:            Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                           Sports Essay

                           Lesson 11.2 P209

Tuesday:          Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                           Sports Essay

                           Big Book pg. 423

Wednesday:     Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                            Sports Essay

                           Gold Angles Worksheet

Thursday:          Read 20 Mins

                           *Reading Log & Road to Success

                            Sports Essay

                           Green Angles Worksheet

Friday:              Read 20 Mins

                           Sports Essay

                          *Reading Log & Road to Success