• What did we do in class this week?
     
     
    Week of 9/7
     
    There are only two days in our first week together. On the first day of school, we will review classroom procedures and engage in several team-building activities.
     
    Week of 9/11
     
    This  week in class we will continue with team building, but we will also jump in  to discussing our summer reading.  This will lead us into the first small  writing assignment of the year.  Prior to writing, we will  review some basic paragraph writing skills. Students will also take their first benchmark this week. 
     
    Week of 9/18
     
    This week in class we will get ready to begin our first unit which focuses on tolerance, acceptance, and social justice.  We will also begin enhancing our vocabulary through our weekly, word of the week. Lastly, we will conduct MAP testing this week as well. 
     
    Week of 9/25
     
     
    We will start off the week with library orientations.  We will then be jumping into the reading of the book, Inside Out and Back Again. We will explore the idea of figurative language in the reading this week as well as some critical thinking quesitons which will be used for writing practice and discussions. 
     
    Week of 10/2

    This week in class, we are continuing our reading of Inside Out and Back Again. Throughout the reading we have examined figurative language, author's style, plot details, character development, etc. We will also expand our noun study to begin looking at correct use of possessive nouns.  Lastly, students will finalize their next writing assignment, which will be a response to literature, and it will be based on the reading of the book. 

     

    Week of 10/9

    This  week in class  we will wrap up our noun study with a cumulative quiz at the end of the week. We will also finish up the reading of Inside Out and Back Again.  Students will choose from 12 titles next week to continue this unit on social justice. 

     

    Week of 10/16

    This week in class, students will self-select their next book.  We will continue reading both in class and outside of class each night.  We will also begin work on our next writing piece, which will provide an introduction to plagiarism and research while having students simultaneously build background knowledge about the books they are currently reading.  Lastly, this  week, we will focus on studying pronouns as well as how and why we use them in writing. 

     

    Week of 10/24

    This week we will continue reading both in class and outside of class each night.  We will also continue working on our next writing piece, which will provide an introduction to plagiarism and research while having students simultaneously build background knowledge about the books they are currently reading.  Lastly, this  week, we will focus on studying verbs.    

     

    Week of 10/30

    This week in class, we will continue our verb study. We will finish up our books by the end of the week, and students will have their first notebook assessment.  Lastly, we will close-up the social justice unit with an in-class assessment on theme analysis.

     

    Week of 11/6

    This is a short week for students. On 11/6, "B" day students will be doing test preparation for the end of the unit assessment.  On 11/8, "A" day students will be taking their end of the unit assessment. Students will be permitted to use their outlines, transition reference sheets and the Powerpoint presentation during the assessment.  "B" day students will take their assessment on Monday, 11/13 after the long weekend. 

     

    Week of 11/14

    This week we began our second unit which will focus on personal narrative writing. We will spend the next two weeks in immersion learning about all the parts of an effective narrative before the kids begin the drafting process.  We will also continue building our vocabulary with our weekly word while practicing our revising and editing skills weekly. 

     

    Week of 11/20

    This week may be short, but  we are continuing our work in our second unit which focuses on writing a personal narrative. We are focusing on a different part of the personal narrative each block and engaging in activities to help us apply our understanding of what makes an effective personal narrative.  We will also begin a homophone study which will help us as we begin drafting our personal narratives. We will also continue to build on our vocabulary and editing skills. 

    Week of 11/27

    This week we will continue our homophone study while finishing up the immersion week for our personal narrative unit.  Students will officially begin drafting on 12/4 in class.

    Week of 12/4

    This week, we began drafting our personal narratives in class.  We also finished up the word wall words for trimester 1. A test will be given next week and will count in the second trimester.   Additionally, students should continue to read their independent books and be prepared to finish by 12/14 & 12/15.  Lastly, we will conclude our homophone study this week and students will be encouraged to use the homophones we reviewed in their personal narratives.

    _________________________End of Trimester 1_______________________ 

    Week of 12/11