Classroom Needs

I thought I'd send out a quick call for help! If you are able and would like to donate any of the following to my ELA classroom, we would all appreciate it!


* Socks for board erasers (these can be used and laundered--they're just so we have mini board erasers)
*Laminating sheets (I make task cards for group work, and these last much longer if laminated)
* Large electric pencil sharpener (DONATED--thank you!)
* Boxes of crayons for craft buckets (six needed) (DONATED--thank you!)
* Bottles of liquid glue (roughly six needed) (DONATED--thank you!)


I'll update as we go, but please get in touch if you'd like to donate or have any questions!

Finally, an Update!

I apologize for going quiet on here--it has been a busy few weeks.

We are working our way through Hidden Figures and should be done in the next two weeks. Meanwhile, we have started learning Point of View this week. Students are focusing on first person and third person (limited, omniscient, and objective). Today we will work on identifying examples of each of these, and students will be writing narratives from each perspective.

Next week we will work with conflict--internal and external.

Our next scrimmage will be next Friday (October 5th). It will cover point of view and conflict.

As always, if you have any questions, get in touch!

Wednesday 9/19

We've been working in our interactive notebooks again! We've taken notes on argumentative paragraphs, and today students wrote their own and color coded the parts. One extended response on their scrimmage will require them to write an argumentative paragraph, so this is good practice.

Tomorrow and Friday we will work with compare/contrast essays. I have moved the scrimmage to Monday to make sure we get enough practice in everything before testing on it.

Homework: Hidden Figures chapter 10-12 worksheet

Monday 9/17

Today students received their Mock Tests back. We walked through the essay questions so students knew what to do differently next time they take this type of test. These will be stored in their ELA dream folders for reference through the year.

We also worked on a character map (just on paper) of a new character we met in our reading of chapter 10: Mary Winston Jackson.

We will have a scrimmage on Friday or Monday covering the following standards:

• RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or drama, drawing on specific details in the text (e.g., how characters interact).
  
  W.5.1 Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.
  
  
  
  • W.5.1a Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion, and create an organizational structure in which ideas are logically grouped to support the writer’s purpose.
  • W.5.1b Provide logically ordered reasons that are supported by facts and details.
  • W.5.1c Link opinion and reasons using words, phrases, and clauses (e.g., consequently, specifically).
  • W.5.1d Provide a concluding statement or section related to the opinion presented.

Homework: Read and annotate chapter 11

Back into Hidden Figures

After our Mock yesterday, we spent today getting back into the swing of things with our novel. Students worked in pairs to complete a comprehension worksheet for chapters 7-9. Tomorrow we will have a large group discussion over chapter 9 and some thoughts/feelings about the themes that have continued to show up as we read.

Homework: Read and annotate chapter 9; finish worksheet (students were given much of class to do this, so many may have completed it)

Week of 9/10

This week we are wrapping up our Hidden Figures character maps and presenting them in class (today). Tomorrow we will have our first Mock, where students practice testing to get ready for the length of time and amount of focus needed to successfully complete their state tests.

Homework:
Scrimmages signed and corrected

End of the Week

Good afternoon! Today we started a group project creating character maps on one of two characters in Hidden Figures. Students are working with their islands to research and present on that character. We started this in class today and will continue on Monday. This does not need to be completed at home.

Homework: 
Read and annotate chapter 8
Returned signed interims

Scrimmage #2 Complete

Yesterday students spent class time rotating through task card centers to review the ideas being tested on the scrimmage they took today. Generally students did well and should perform on the scrimmage today. For homework students are completing a comprehension worksheet over the past few chapters in preparation for a group discussion tomorrow. We'll pick back up with reading over the weekend.

Homework: 

Complete worksheet on Hidden Figures chapters 4-6

Welcome to a New Week!

Good afternoon, parents! It'll be a short week this week, and we have our second scrimmage on Thursday. Please see my post about scrimmages for more information on this.

Tomorrow we will be doing some task card review in class to reinforce inferences, summarization, and theme. We will do this in stations, and students will move around the room after a set amount of time. To help your student be as ready for the scrimmage as possible, quiz them on inferences, summarization, and theme--use their interactive notebooks to help out.

We are also working our way through Hidden Figures. Today we discussed chapters 5 and 6 as a whole class, and we watched a short YouTube documentary on the Tuskegee Airmen. Here's a link to it if you're interested in checking it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv4HtBaKKXs

Homework: 
Read and Annotate chapter 7; written summary

Recommendation: Have your student read you their summary. It should give you enough information that you can understand what the chapter was mostly about without you having to read the whole chapter. This is how we have learned to write summaries.