Hello! Sorry I've been MIA for a while--things have been busy in 5th grade.
We wrap up part 2 of our state test tomorrow, and then we will be heading into our next novel unit: Schooled. Please have your student prepared with the book in hand on Monday. I will bulk order from Amazon on Thursday, April 18, if you would like to purchase the book that way. The cost per student is $5.59, and you can send cash or checks made out to Rebecca Barker (though you could find it cheaper used or elsewhere if you want to purchase on your own).
Schooled by Gordon Korman
ISBN-13: 978-0-545-09811-3
Monday, April 15, 2019
Thursday, February 14, 2019
Week of February 11
We're still making our way through February! We wrapped up Tuck Everlasting and have been re-visiting the perfect tense in order to master it.
We are also celebrating Black History Month! Every day your student gets to wear a name tag with a picture of an influential Black American. On the back of the tag is a short biography of that person. There's a mix of people from history and modern day people, but regardless of which one your student gets, they are certainly learning a lot about Black history. Throughout the day, other CPA students and teachers ask your student about the person on their name tag, and at the end of the day, they do a short writing about that person. We will continue this through the whole month. Additionally, we start or end each ELA class with a video, poem, piece of art work, or information about a Black American. The kids especially like the Flocabulary videos, and everybody has been very engaged and respectful as we dedicate some time each day to respectfully learn more about Black history.
Today, as many of your students are sugared up for Valentine's Day, we are watching "Our Friend Martin," which is about a kid who goes back in time to save Martin King Jr's life. As we watch, we'll be wondering if their decision to save his life is for the good of our nation or not.
Next week we will do some practice with extended response writing as well as review grammar and punctuation/capitalization.
Thank you for all the sweet Valentine notes and gifts. Your students sure know how to make me feel loved!
We are also celebrating Black History Month! Every day your student gets to wear a name tag with a picture of an influential Black American. On the back of the tag is a short biography of that person. There's a mix of people from history and modern day people, but regardless of which one your student gets, they are certainly learning a lot about Black history. Throughout the day, other CPA students and teachers ask your student about the person on their name tag, and at the end of the day, they do a short writing about that person. We will continue this through the whole month. Additionally, we start or end each ELA class with a video, poem, piece of art work, or information about a Black American. The kids especially like the Flocabulary videos, and everybody has been very engaged and respectful as we dedicate some time each day to respectfully learn more about Black history.
Today, as many of your students are sugared up for Valentine's Day, we are watching "Our Friend Martin," which is about a kid who goes back in time to save Martin King Jr's life. As we watch, we'll be wondering if their decision to save his life is for the good of our nation or not.
Next week we will do some practice with extended response writing as well as review grammar and punctuation/capitalization.
Thank you for all the sweet Valentine notes and gifts. Your students sure know how to make me feel loved!
Tuesday, February 5, 2019
Week of February 4
Students finally took their Greek and Latin Roots and affixes scrimmage on Monday. Today we are spending class as a work day on their compare and contrast Tuck Everlasting essays which are due Thursday.
Thursday and Friday will start a grammar review unit focusing on capitalization, commas, underlining and italicizing, prepositions, conjunctions, and general parts of speech. We previously completed this unit, but the scrimmage results were low, even on the retake, so we are revisiting grammar!
Some parents have asked for an updated classroom needs list, so I will include it here:
1. Laminating sheets
2. Pencils
3. Six boxes of colored pencils
4. Scissors
Thursday and Friday will start a grammar review unit focusing on capitalization, commas, underlining and italicizing, prepositions, conjunctions, and general parts of speech. We previously completed this unit, but the scrimmage results were low, even on the retake, so we are revisiting grammar!
Some parents have asked for an updated classroom needs list, so I will include it here:
1. Laminating sheets
2. Pencils
3. Six boxes of colored pencils
4. Scissors
Monday, January 28, 2019
Finishing Tuck Everlasting
This Week:
We are wrapping up our unit on Tuck Everlasting this week. We finished reading the novel last week, and most students really enjoyed reading it. Today and tomorrow we will be watching the movie in class, taking notes on similarities and differences between the movie/book. We will write a compare/contrast essay to round out the unit.
On Thursday we will have our scrimmage on Greek and Latin roots and affixes. Students have all the notes they need to be successful in their Interactive Notebooks, which I've encouraged them to take home to start reviewing.
Next Up:
Interims go home Thursday. We will next work on a grammar review, as many students did not do as well on that scrimmage as I would like.
Book It reading lists are due this Thursday.
We are wrapping up our unit on Tuck Everlasting this week. We finished reading the novel last week, and most students really enjoyed reading it. Today and tomorrow we will be watching the movie in class, taking notes on similarities and differences between the movie/book. We will write a compare/contrast essay to round out the unit.
On Thursday we will have our scrimmage on Greek and Latin roots and affixes. Students have all the notes they need to be successful in their Interactive Notebooks, which I've encouraged them to take home to start reviewing.
Next Up:
Interims go home Thursday. We will next work on a grammar review, as many students did not do as well on that scrimmage as I would like.
Book It reading lists are due this Thursday.
Friday, January 11, 2019
First Week Back
Well, we made it through the first week back! Students for the most part are really getting into Tuck Everlasting! We've had some interesting discussions where many students have made personal connections and thought of some really impressive discussion topics.
Over the weekend, students should read chapters 12-15. They may read through chapter 18 if they'd like to get ahead, as I will be assigning 16-18 for Tuesday. There will probably be a reading check Monday over 12-15.
We have been doing some work in our interactive notebooks with mood, comparing and contrasting, and figurative language. Next week we will work with setting and making predictions. We also have a Mock on Wednesday over everything we have learned so far in the past two quarters.
I hope everybody has a great weekend!
Over the weekend, students should read chapters 12-15. They may read through chapter 18 if they'd like to get ahead, as I will be assigning 16-18 for Tuesday. There will probably be a reading check Monday over 12-15.
We have been doing some work in our interactive notebooks with mood, comparing and contrasting, and figurative language. Next week we will work with setting and making predictions. We also have a Mock on Wednesday over everything we have learned so far in the past two quarters.
I hope everybody has a great weekend!
Friday, December 21, 2018
Happy Break!
Well, we've just about made it! We are wrapping up a long week today!
Over break, students should read chapters 1-7 in Tuck Everlasting. The chapters are fairly short, and the book is difficult to STOP reading, so I don't see it being tedious work for students. I am also sending home a packet for them to work on as they read. If they do a page or so a day, it will not be difficult or stressful.
If your student missed school today (Friday) please send me an email, and I will email the packet to you. Please email rbarker@columbuspreparatory.org.
Enjoy your winter break, and thank you for all the sweet, generous gifts.
~Ms. Bex
Over break, students should read chapters 1-7 in Tuck Everlasting. The chapters are fairly short, and the book is difficult to STOP reading, so I don't see it being tedious work for students. I am also sending home a packet for them to work on as they read. If they do a page or so a day, it will not be difficult or stressful.
If your student missed school today (Friday) please send me an email, and I will email the packet to you. Please email rbarker@columbuspreparatory.org.
Enjoy your winter break, and thank you for all the sweet, generous gifts.
~Ms. Bex
Monday, December 17, 2018
ELA/Science Essay Notes and Formatting Instructions
Good afternoon. Today in class we talked about some major essay revisions needed, including transitions, following a logical outline, and formatting the paper. Here are some notes from the board and an example of how the paper should be formatted.
Board Notes:
Formatting:
Board Notes:
Formatting:
Your Name
Ms. Bex
ELA/Science
December 19, 2018
Title
Start your essay here.
Times New Roman, 12 point font, double spaced. No extra spacing between paragraphs.
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