Monday, March 10, 2014
New student blogs to view from Russia!
Here is a link to our house blog. On this blog you will see a post discussing the new school that we will be blogging with. This new school is in Russia! Check out their student blogs that are linked on our house blog!
Monday, February 24, 2014
Feb 24, 2014: Blog post assignment
Today in class you will be learning about quadblogging. Your assignment after discussing this will be to comment on at least 3 of the students blogs! You have to comment on the one you are assigned to and then any other two you would like. Feel free to comment on more if you would like as well! You will also have to comment on the main class page, on any of their posts.
Things to remember. You are representing your school with your comments! You need to use correct punctuation, grammar, capitalization, etc. You should do sentence of the week to your comment before you post it! You should also be specific with your comment. So, a weak comment would be..."I like your blog." A strong comment would include details, specific things about a post that you are commenting on, and maybe a question.
To summarize....your assignment is:
Things to remember. You are representing your school with your comments! You need to use correct punctuation, grammar, capitalization, etc. You should do sentence of the week to your comment before you post it! You should also be specific with your comment. So, a weak comment would be..."I like your blog." A strong comment would include details, specific things about a post that you are commenting on, and maybe a question.
To summarize....your assignment is:
- Comment on three student blogs, one has to be the blog you are assigned to.
- Comment on the main classroom blog
- Make sure to edit your comments before you post them!
Blog assignments:
- Adelei Leighann
- Anthony Colin
- Anusheel Brylie
- Ashley-Jade David
- Brandon Ian
- Chanel Thomas
- Chloe Chad
- Elliott Dylan G
- Hannah Danielle
- Hayley Destiny
- Jade Dylan K
- Jhaevhan Alexis
- Kaspar Jacob
- Lucy Maddox
- Lyric Blanca
- Manaia Dylan R
- Masyn Brandon
- Naroa Autumn
- Niall Dantre
- Nicholas Kyle
- Poppy Lance
- Tegan Elizabeth
- Thomas Mikayla
- Tyra-Leigh Corbin
- Zoe Samantha
Thursday, February 20, 2014
Feb 20, 2014: Research and Touching Spirit Bear
We continued our research today and the projects are looking awesome!! We have a couple of kids doing skits, a few prezis, and some other awesome ideas! Keep up the good work!
After spending time doing research, we discussed chapter 10 that we read yesterday since it was such a big chapter! We also talked about fluency and what to do when you come to a comma or a period (pause and stop). We will discuss this more throughout the book as well since it's a very important skill.
There is no homework, but I will be checking your lit circle packets tomorrow so make sure they are up to date and completed well!
After spending time doing research, we discussed chapter 10 that we read yesterday since it was such a big chapter! We also talked about fluency and what to do when you come to a comma or a period (pause and stop). We will discuss this more throughout the book as well since it's a very important skill.
There is no homework, but I will be checking your lit circle packets tomorrow so make sure they are up to date and completed well!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
Feb 19, 2014: Lit Circles and Research
Today in comm arts we continued our research on some of the themes of Touching Spirit Bear. Students worked with their partners on finding good sources of information for their presentations. Everyone worked really hard, which is awesome, and I think most of you are ready to move on to analyzing the information you found!
Following the research, students got together in their lit circle groups and read the next chapter of Touching Spirit Bear together. Chapter 10 is one of the most important chapters in the book because it is where we first see a change in Cole, and it's a big one! Cole makes the decision that he wants to live and that he is where he is because of the things that he has done! Finally!! Here we are reading.....
.JPG)
.JPG)
Finally, students filled out their lit circle packets for day 5. Tomorrow will look very similar to today, as we will be researching and reading! No homework!
Following the research, students got together in their lit circle groups and read the next chapter of Touching Spirit Bear together. Chapter 10 is one of the most important chapters in the book because it is where we first see a change in Cole, and it's a big one! Cole makes the decision that he wants to live and that he is where he is because of the things that he has done! Finally!! Here we are reading.....
Finally, students filled out their lit circle packets for day 5. Tomorrow will look very similar to today, as we will be researching and reading! No homework!
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Feb 11, 2014: Literary Devices & Touching Spirit Bear
Today in class we started by reading our read aloud book Girl Stolen. It was DEAD quiet while I was reading this! It was a very intense chapter, so you could have heard a pin drop! Cheyenne finally made her escape, and most surprisingly with Duke! The mean vicious dog! We'll see how far she gets tomorrow!
Following read aloud we practiced our sight words and then reviewed figures of speech. After reviewing what each figure of speech was, I passed out strips of paper with all of the figures of speech that I could find from chapter 7. In their lit circle groups, students then had to decide which figure of speech each statement represented. It was awesome practice! Here are the statements we practiced with.
After this, we read chapter 8 out loud together and students wrote down any figures of speech they found! We will finish chapter 8 tomorrow!
Following read aloud we practiced our sight words and then reviewed figures of speech. After reviewing what each figure of speech was, I passed out strips of paper with all of the figures of speech that I could find from chapter 7. In their lit circle groups, students then had to decide which figure of speech each statement represented. It was awesome practice! Here are the statements we practiced with.
After this, we read chapter 8 out loud together and students wrote down any figures of speech they found! We will finish chapter 8 tomorrow!
Friday, January 31, 2014
Friday, January 17, 2014
Jan 17, 2014: MAPS Testing and Green Screens!
Today was a bit of an odd day, we essentially had comm arts class all day long! Whooooo! During the morning we had comm arts for all three core class hours. Mr. D showed us how to use software for a project that we are starting. Using the scarology stories students wrote, everyone will be creating a digital story using our green screen room. They will be reading their story while pictures and video of what is happening in the story is happening on the screen behind them. It's the same concept/technology that a weatherman uses to give the forecast!
Students learned the concept behind the project today, and began working on their storyboards. The storyboards break up their original story into chunks based on what image or video is happening in the background. The next step will be to go get the pictures and video that are necessary and then we will head into the green screen room! It should be an awesome final product!
We spent the afternoon MAPS testing.
Monday's schedule will look the same as today's!
Students learned the concept behind the project today, and began working on their storyboards. The storyboards break up their original story into chunks based on what image or video is happening in the background. The next step will be to go get the pictures and video that are necessary and then we will head into the green screen room! It should be an awesome final product!
We spent the afternoon MAPS testing.
Monday's schedule will look the same as today's!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Jan 13, 2014: Touching Spirit Bear
Homework: Sentence of the week, Lit circle packets Day 1 questions
We started class today with DEAR time and then read from our read aloud book Girl Stolen, for a little bit since it had been so long since we were able to read it! After reading we reviewed our sight word cards and learned a new Sentence of the Week skill. We learned our final rules for writing with dialogue this week. Remember to review where the commas and periods go, as well as where things need to be capitalized!
Our second half of class was spent working on Touching Spirit Bear. Students broke up into their lit circles and began reading chapter 3. I handed out their lit circle packets today. Really really really really try not to lose these!!! We will use these packets daily, along with our reading so the loss of them will be devastating!
Your homework tonight will be to write your three new sentences for sentence of the week, and to finish your day one questions in your lit circle packets. Have a great night!
We started class today with DEAR time and then read from our read aloud book Girl Stolen, for a little bit since it had been so long since we were able to read it! After reading we reviewed our sight word cards and learned a new Sentence of the Week skill. We learned our final rules for writing with dialogue this week. Remember to review where the commas and periods go, as well as where things need to be capitalized!
Our second half of class was spent working on Touching Spirit Bear. Students broke up into their lit circles and began reading chapter 3. I handed out their lit circle packets today. Really really really really try not to lose these!!! We will use these packets daily, along with our reading so the loss of them will be devastating!
Your homework tonight will be to write your three new sentences for sentence of the week, and to finish your day one questions in your lit circle packets. Have a great night!
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Jan 9, 2013: Touching Spirit Bear
Welcome back! Three days off has left us rejuvenated and ready to learn! Right? Right???
We started class out with DEAR time and then reviewed sight words. After that we moved right back into reading from Touching Spirit Bear. We finished chapter one and completed the question sheet. Before beginning chapter two we went over some book long projects that we will be working on. We discussed theme and reviewed the themes of some common books and movies. Touching Spirit Bear has many themes and some are unfamiliar topics. Student pairs chose a theme and they will research the topic and present to the class. This will provide them with a deeper understanding of the meaning of the book.
We will continue reading the book in lit circles tomorrow and will begin discussing figures of speech.
We started class out with DEAR time and then reviewed sight words. After that we moved right back into reading from Touching Spirit Bear. We finished chapter one and completed the question sheet. Before beginning chapter two we went over some book long projects that we will be working on. We discussed theme and reviewed the themes of some common books and movies. Touching Spirit Bear has many themes and some are unfamiliar topics. Student pairs chose a theme and they will research the topic and present to the class. This will provide them with a deeper understanding of the meaning of the book.
We will continue reading the book in lit circles tomorrow and will begin discussing figures of speech.
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Dec 10, 2013: Scarology
More editing of our scarology papers today! Students worked on beefing up their paragraphs. We also studied our sight words and worked on sentence of the week skills.
Tomorrow we will look at adding dialogue to our paragraphs which will go along with our sentence of the week work.
Tomorrow we will look at adding dialogue to our paragraphs which will go along with our sentence of the week work.
Monday, December 9, 2013
Dec 9, 2013: Scarology
Homework: Sentence of the Week
We started class out with some DEAR time and then practiced our sight words. We learned a new skill during sentence of the week. We learned how to use front-end dialogue, or how to write sentences with the spoken part written first. We will continue to practice this throughout the week.
We spent the second half of class reviewing what goes into every good paragraph, and what the difference is between narrative and expository writing. We then jumped on the computers to do some editing to our scarology stories. Everyone had to go through their paragraphs to make sure they had all of the elements of a good paragraph. They are....
- Topic sentence: Tells your reader what they will be reading about
- Supporting Details: 3-5 per paragraph that support the topic
- Concluding or transition sentence: Wraps up your idea/moves your reader onto what is happening next
- Transition words: Next, later, after, then....etc.
We will continue working on this tomorrow and will work on adding dialogue to our stories!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Scarology Cont: Nov 13, 2013
We began a new read aloud today in class! The book we started is called Girl Stolen, by April Henry. So far it has us hooked! We left off on a cliffhanger so we might have to pick it right back up tomorrow! While reading today we jotted down notes about the characters we met, the setting, and some other important details. To sum it up, Cheyenne is a 16 year old blind girl that is accidentally kidnapped when Griffin, a confessed career criminal, steals her parents Escalade from a parking lot. At this point Griffin is freaking out about having Cheyenne and is very worried about what "Roy" (a character we don't know anything about yet) is going to do to him for messing up.....
After read aloud everyone practiced their sight words and then we worked on Sentence of the Week. What I found when looking at everyone's homework was that we need to remember that when using conjunctions you need to have a complete sentence on either side of the comma! We'll continue working on that tomorrow!
We finished up class by continuing to discuss scarology. We used this doc (not sure if you'll be able to open it or not). We talked about how a personal narrative is a TRUE story about the author! Some of you were wondering if you could embellish your scar stories but they need to be TRUE! We also talked about creating a good introduction that would suck your reader in. We'll keep working on this tomorrow as well and talk more about personal narratives.
No homework! Have a good night!
After read aloud everyone practiced their sight words and then we worked on Sentence of the Week. What I found when looking at everyone's homework was that we need to remember that when using conjunctions you need to have a complete sentence on either side of the comma! We'll continue working on that tomorrow!
We finished up class by continuing to discuss scarology. We used this doc (not sure if you'll be able to open it or not). We talked about how a personal narrative is a TRUE story about the author! Some of you were wondering if you could embellish your scar stories but they need to be TRUE! We also talked about creating a good introduction that would suck your reader in. We'll keep working on this tomorrow as well and talk more about personal narratives.
No homework! Have a good night!
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Scarology: Nov 12, 2013
We started class with DEAR today....
After DEAR we worked on our sight words and then got into sentence of the week! Our rule for this week was about conjunctions! What they are, when to use them, what punctuation to use with them, etc. Remember FANBOYS. (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So)
We also watched the School House Rock "Conjunction Junction" song, because it's awesome!
We finished up class by introducing our next big project, scarology! Scarology will be a personal narrative that students will write based on a scar that they have. We went through what a personal narrative is (a story about yourself) and the project rubric. Tomorrow when you get to class have listed what scar you would like to write about!
After DEAR we worked on our sight words and then got into sentence of the week! Our rule for this week was about conjunctions! What they are, when to use them, what punctuation to use with them, etc. Remember FANBOYS. (For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet, So)
We also watched the School House Rock "Conjunction Junction" song, because it's awesome!
We finished up class by introducing our next big project, scarology! Scarology will be a personal narrative that students will write based on a scar that they have. We went through what a personal narrative is (a story about yourself) and the project rubric. Tomorrow when you get to class have listed what scar you would like to write about!
Monday, November 4, 2013
Sentence of the Week: Nov 4, 2013
Homework: Sentence of the Week, Reading Strategies Bookmark
After sight words we had our new sentence of the week skill. This week we are learning that for a sentence to be considered complete, it MUST have a subject (who or what the sentence is about) and a verb (what the subject is doing). Your homework for tomorrow is to create three new complete sentences and to label the subject and the verb.
We scored our last Boggle round from Friday, you guys are crazy good at this game! You found words that I hadn't come up with yet!
Finally, we finished up class by reviewing our reading strategies bookmark. Since a number of you had lost yours, if you do not have one your homework is also to complete one of these. You need to create a bookmark with the 6 reading strategies (3 on each side), with the name of the strategy and a picture to represent it.
WKCE testing tomorrow!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Sight Word Quiz! Nov 1, 2013
Welcome to November! We started class today with DEAR time. When we were done everyone begged for 5 more minutes of reading which was AWESOME! So we read for 5 more minutes.....
After DEAR we took our sight word quiz again. So next week we will compare the first sight word quiz we took with the new one to see all of the progress everyone has made!
We reviewed all of the requirements for the dream house project which is due Monday, so make sure you have all of the required materials! Use your checklist!
Since we have had such a long and funky week.....we finished up class today with a little brain break! (But really we were still doing Comm Arts....Shhh!) We played Boggle! I drew a Boggle board up on the whiteboard and everyone had to try to find as many words as they could out of the scrambled letters. You guys did AWESOME! We'll figure out the score on Monday!
After DEAR we took our sight word quiz again. So next week we will compare the first sight word quiz we took with the new one to see all of the progress everyone has made!
We reviewed all of the requirements for the dream house project which is due Monday, so make sure you have all of the required materials! Use your checklist!
Since we have had such a long and funky week.....we finished up class today with a little brain break! (But really we were still doing Comm Arts....Shhh!) We played Boggle! I drew a Boggle board up on the whiteboard and everyone had to try to find as many words as they could out of the scrambled letters. You guys did AWESOME! We'll figure out the score on Monday!
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Oct 31, 2013: Back to Comm Arts!
We finally had a somewhat normal comm arts class today! At the beginning of the week we had WKCE testing, and then we continued working on our dream houses. Today during 8th hour we had a normal comm arts class! We did some journaling, we had DEAR time, reviewed our sight words....it was fabulous!
Tomorrow we will have our sight words test to see how much better we have gotten since the beginning of the year! We will also practice our sentence of the week skills to review everything!
No homework! Happy Halloween!
Tomorrow we will have our sight words test to see how much better we have gotten since the beginning of the year! We will also practice our sentence of the week skills to review everything!
No homework! Happy Halloween!
Monday, October 28, 2013
Dream House Spec Sheet: Oct 28, 2013
Today in comm arts class we worked on our dream house spec sheets. We went over examples of actual real estate sheets and ones we created. We also reviewed step up to writing and how this could help us write our paragraphs.
As we discussed in class, the paragraphs on your spec sheets should persuade your buyer to want to buy your dream house so you need to use really good powerful words! Your paragraph is non-fiction though so you want to make sure that you are only including facts!
We will continue working on these tomorrow!
As we discussed in class, the paragraphs on your spec sheets should persuade your buyer to want to buy your dream house so you need to use really good powerful words! Your paragraph is non-fiction though so you want to make sure that you are only including facts!
We will continue working on these tomorrow!
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Oct 22, 2013 Dream Homes Continued
We continued working on our dream homes today! Yesterday during 8th hour everyone went outside and drew one room from their house to scale using chalk! This was especially helpful to some students who had a hard time picturing how big a meter was. Some needed to make their rooms smaller (a dog house shouldn't be the same size as a garage!) and some needed to make them much larger! (You do want to be able to fit a bed in your bedroom!) Here we are below...
Monday, October 21, 2013
Oct 21, 2013: Build your dream house!
Today we started a cross curricular project that promises to be awesome! The project we are working on is called "Dream House". This project focuses on combining aspects of math, science, and comm arts to create a real world experience.
Students will be building their "dream house" using a list of required items and land space that we have given them on a checklist (see dream home folder on homework doc). Obviously we are encouraging students to go above and beyond the required checklist...hint hint! But don't bite off more than you chew! Make sure to get all of the required items in your house before adding more!
Today we introduced the project with everyone in the auditorium.....
After going through the rules, expectations, ideas, and rubric behind the project, students went into the cafeteria to get started!!
We also did a walk through of what was happening, check out the kids hard at work!
Students will be building their "dream house" using a list of required items and land space that we have given them on a checklist (see dream home folder on homework doc). Obviously we are encouraging students to go above and beyond the required checklist...hint hint! But don't bite off more than you chew! Make sure to get all of the required items in your house before adding more!
Today we introduced the project with everyone in the auditorium.....
After going through the rules, expectations, ideas, and rubric behind the project, students went into the cafeteria to get started!!
We also did a walk through of what was happening, check out the kids hard at work!
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Visualization Practice: Oct 9, 2013
We started class with sight word practice and journaling. After these two activities we practiced our sentence of the week skill by correcting sentences. You guys are starting to get this down! We will have a quiz on this skill on Friday.
After this we went through a visualization activity. I gave students a very non-descriptive sentence and had them draw a picture. Basically every persons picture was completely different because there was no description to the sentence. I continued to reread the same sentence but each time I would add more descriptive words. Gradually everyone's pictures started to look more and more similar, until everyone had nearly identical pictures. The purpose of this activity was to show the value in descriptive writing. It tied in perfectly with what is going on in social studies as well. We will continue to practice this tomorrow.
Look for descriptive words in your reading and practice using it in your own writing!
After this we went through a visualization activity. I gave students a very non-descriptive sentence and had them draw a picture. Basically every persons picture was completely different because there was no description to the sentence. I continued to reread the same sentence but each time I would add more descriptive words. Gradually everyone's pictures started to look more and more similar, until everyone had nearly identical pictures. The purpose of this activity was to show the value in descriptive writing. It tied in perfectly with what is going on in social studies as well. We will continue to practice this tomorrow.
Look for descriptive words in your reading and practice using it in your own writing!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)