A character is (a trait) b/c (reason A), (reason B), and (reason C).

A character is (this way) (with person A) and (with person B).

A character is (this way) (in this situation) and (in that situation).

A character is (this way) and (that way) as a (role).

A character is (this way) at the start, the middle, and the end of the story. 


Language Arts: Worked on rewriting our thesis statement in a couple of ways to reflect different thinking and view on our short story. Homework- HOME short story- write a total of 3 thesis statements (using the format above) and choose your favorite. 

Reading: Worked on a number of things- fluency, Latin Stems. non-fiction reading and taking notes. Homework- Fluency read- 12/4, Latin Quiz 12/7 and non-fiction book project 12/16.

Social Studies: Practiced for the Geography Bee.

Language Arts: We met in groups and talked about our protagonist from our short stories. All students crafted a thesis statement about their protagonist- these WILL change and evolve to reflect our ever-changing thinking about our protagonist. Homework- due 11/30/15- Write a thesis statement about your protagonist from your HOME short story. Example: Squeaky, the protagonist from Raymond's Run, is fiercely protective of both herself and her brother. See above for another example of a well-crafted statement. 

Reading- Duffield- hour 2- introduced a non-fiction reading project that is due 12/16/15. Students went to the LMC to check out a non-fiction text to use and they have the directions and rubric for the project in their possession.

Social Studies: Took a quiz

Tomorrow is Pajama Day school-wide. 

Language Arts:  Our focus today was on Squeaky, the protagonist from Raymond's Run. Students were asked to reread parts of the story and figure our her motivations and wants. Some of our conversation was focused on the wants as seen above. Homework- Reread your HOME short story & write at least 1 1/2 pages about your protagonist while focusing on their motivations and wants. You are not writing a thesis statement yet. 

Reading- Duffield hour 2- took a Latin Stem Quiz. Homework: Latin Stem Quiz- 12/7 & Fluency Read- 12/4

Social Studies- Quiz on chapter 7- TOMORROW. 

Latin Stems

ATTN:  Duffield & Kruger's Homerooms

Below is a link to a study program that Jeanne Steele (the Computer Arts teacher) put together for our class when her son was in my homeroom.  The program allows kids to change the way they study the terms for better understanding and keeps things interesting.  All 105 stems are included so it's helpful throughout the year:   https://sites.google.com/a/madison.k12.wi.us/study-words/home

   Language Arts: Finished reading the short stories for our literary essays. Starting next week, please note there will be an increase in homework in this class. 

   Reading: Duffield- hour 2- Finished our literature groups. Homework- Latin stem quiz on 11/23 & fluency read on 12/4. 

  Social Studies: Completed our study of physical & environmental features of Egypt, Kush and Canaan, chapter 7 in TCI book. Students were given the chance to take the multiple choice part of the quiz home to look over this weekend. There are three sections:  multiple choice, short answer and Venn Diagram. The short answer & Venn Diagram information is below. Quiz is on 11/24. 

  Write a paragraph about the physical features of Egypt and Kush.

    Write a paragraph about the physical features of Canaan.

     Make a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting the environmental features of Egypt & Kush versus environmental features of Canaan.  

Science & Math

Science:

This week we wrapped up our motion unit with a quiz on position graphs and how to read them.  Monday will begin the last few weeks of Physics and we'll discuss Force.  May the Force be with you and your shovel this weekend :)

Math:

This week we were working on using efficient ways to represent portions as fractions, decimals and percents.  We covered lessons 3.1.1 - 3.1.5.  Please remember to check Infinite Campus for any missing homework because the Review & Preview is a major part of the learning of our mathematics and if kids aren't completing it, they are missing practice of what we learned (the "Review") and of exposure of what's coming up (the "Preview).  Check to see if they can convert a fraction to decimal and to percent and remember the Homework Help site on the web.  http://homework.cpm.org/cpm-homework

Language Arts: Our current unit of study is Literary Essays. Naming the protagonists' character traits in our short stories, will help develop our thesis statements for our essays. Homework during this unit will be to write at home and try out the same strategy that we worked on during the day. During our day, we will use a shared text to try out our writing strategies and for homework students will work with a different short story of their choosing. This homework will not be checked on a daily basis BUT students will be required to produce an in-school literary essay as well as an at-home literary essay. Our goal is finish both prior to Winter Break. There will be daily posts here to display what writing strategies were taught that day. See the list above of the short story choices. We have access to all of the short stories in class, though most can be found online in PDF form.

Reading- Duffield- hour 2- Set the purpose for reading- finding a character trait of the protagonist & thinking about what motivates them. Homework- Assignment 5- due 11/20 & Fluency read due 11/20.

Social Studies- Discussed the geography and early settlements of Egypt, Kush and Canaan. QUIZ on Tuesday, November 24th. 

If you had your parent/teacher conference THIS week, please go to Nearpod.com and join the session using the pin code above. 

* Bonus question- What street do you live on? Please come and tell me before 7:35 tomorrow morning.

Language Arts- We skimmed Raymond's Run and co-created thesis statements about the protagonist, Squeaky.

Reading- Duffield hour 2- Homework- Fluency read & assignment 5 due 11/20. Latin Stem quiz- 11/23

Social Studies- Started a new note-taking method, Cornell notes, as seen above. These keep our thinking organized while also setting the purpose for reading of answering the essential question. Summarizing a section of the text, is part of this style of note-taking as well as asking questions along the way.

Language Arts: Finished reading Seedfolks narratives.

Reading: Duffield 2nd hour- Met in Literature Groups & Fluency Groups. Homework: Assignment 5 & Fluency read due 11/20 & Latin Stem Quiz on 11/23.

The Seedfolks narrative writing celebration took our Language Arts and Social Studies time today. We had the chance to read them aloud for the class to hear. What lovely writing!

Reading- Duffield Hour 2- Assignment 4 is due tomorrow. Latin Quiz- 11/23

Conferences: If you had your parent/teacher conference already, please log onto NEARPOD and join the session as seen above. I am looking for some feedback from that conversation. 

Language Arts: Completed a Spelling Bee to determine the class representative for Dec 4th school event.

Reading: Duffield Section- Caught up on Literature Group work & stems. Worked on Latin Stems by either making flashcards or practicing the words. Latin Stem Quiz is Monday, Nov 23rd! 

S.S. Completed our clay tablets. They should be dry enough to sent home on Monday.

Language Arts: We completed our student-led conference sheets. Seedfolks Final Projects are due tomorrow! 

Reading: Duffield Section- Worked on our literature group work and fluency reading. Assignment 3 is due tomorrow!

S.S: Cuneiform tablets- We will have tomorrow as well to complete these.

Language Arts- Started our literary essay by creating a flash draft using a common essay structure. Seedfolks Final Projects are due on Thursday. 

Reading- Duffield's section-  Met in Literature groups & assignment 3 is due on Thursday. 

Social Studies- Continued to work on our cuneiform and we will start our clay tablets tomorrow.

Conferences- Parent teacher conferences start tomorrow. I would love students to attend the conference as well, but also understand if that does not work out.

Language Arts: Started to talk about Literary Essays and read the short story Raymond's Run. Homework: Make sure tonight to think about the The Three Little Pigs as we are going to use this story to review essay writing in class on Tuesday. Seedfolks Final Project due 11/12.

Reading- Duffield Section- Took a Latin Quiz- next quiz is in 2 weeks. No fluency read this week due to no school on Friday.

S.S.- Studied cuneiform and will make our own tablets in the next couple of days. 

REPORT CARDS: Once you log into IC, select the white REPORTS tab (it is about 5 tabs under Grades) on the left hand side. Once you select REPORTS, click on Report Card Quarter 1. This will allow you to view the report card with teacher comments. There will also be a copy of the report card given to you and your parent at your conference. 

Please bring newspaper to school tomorrow if you are able to as we are working with clay for the next 2 days. 

We will be outside tomorrow morning for Advisory on Tuesday morning.

Language Arts: It was the last day to work on Seedfolks work IN class. These final projects are due on Thursday, November 12th. Literary Essays are next on our agenda.

Reading: Duffield hour 2- assignment 2 for our Literature Groups are due on Monday.

S.S.: Continued to summarize our podcast- see above for an example.

Language Arts: Tomorrow is the last day to work on Seedfolks work in class. See above for an example of the outside of your envelope work. - Homework: Final Project is due 11/12/15.

Reading: Duffield hour 2- fluency read due 11/6, Latin Stem Quiz due 11/9, Assignment 2 for Literature group due 11/9/15.

https://quizlet.com/7217988/caesars-english-wordslatin-stems-flash-cards/

This is a place you can access flashcards to study the Latin stems/words.

Social Studies: Finished listening to podcast and taking notes on main ideas.

Language Arts: Worked on Seedfolks Final Project. Above is an example of the start of the Venn Diagram, which is part of the project. You are comparing/contrasting yourself to the character of your choosing. It has to be the same character that you are also using for the outside of your envelope. Due: 11/12

Reading: We read a non-fiction article and focused on summarizing different sections.

S.S: Listened to the podcast; How Homo Sapiens Became Masters of the Planet.

Language Arts: Worked on Seedfolks Final Project which is due 11/12 (See post from yesterday for full details). I am around on Tuesdays & Thursdays after school to help with this work!

Reading: Duffield hour 2 section- Assigned new literature groups. Homework: due 11/5- See assignment handout that was given today in class (read first 3 chapters, start a character web & a list of interesting or new words). 

Social Studies: Finished quiz

Language Arts: Worked on our Seedfolks Final Project- See the bottom of this post for the sheet the students were given. The students will have all week IN class to work on this project and they will be given the large envelopes. Final Project is due Thursday, 11/12. 

Reading: Took a Latin Stem Quiz. Homework- Fluency read is this Friday and next Latin Stem Quiz is 11/9. 

Social Studies- Took chapter 6 quiz. 

Seedfolks Final Project

For this final project you will be creating a Seedfolks packet of information.  Details are listed below.  For this assignment, you will be given a large envelope.  Below is a list of what you will put in the envelope.

Inside the envelope you will put:

_____ This assignment sheet

_____ All Seedfolks comprehension sheets from reading

_____ The Venn Diagram

_____ Writing Option

The Outside of the Packet:

Due ______________________

Focusing on a character that you chose for your Venn diagram comparison, the outside of the packet must include all of the following information listed below.  Use this sheet as a checklist and check things off the list as you finish them.  The design of the packet is up to you.

The outside of the packet must include:

• Your name

• Name and image of your character

• A quote from your character’s chapter that represents a major theme in that chapter, along with an explanation of why you chose that quote and it’s connection to that theme (3-4 sentences).

• Write a paragraph (with a topic sentence) that explains where your character is originally from and include a minimum of 3 interesting facts about that city, state or country.

• Investigate the character’s historical cultural background and write a paragraph (with a topic sentence).  Things to include may be (but are not limited to) traditions, holidays, food or ways of life.

• A map/image of the country, city or state of the character’s origin.

• A prediction for that character.  What do you think will happen to the character after the book?

Writing Options

All students need to complete the Venn diagram, envelope, and one of the writing options below. Write Chapter 14 by creating your own Seedfolks character. The character should tell his/her story and follow the same format as the book:

• give background information from his/her life
• tell what the character will plant and why
• include an explanation of the character’s involvement and interaction with other characters in the garden and how they have had an effect on each other

Make sure to apply elements of fiction such as symbolism, plot, theme, conflict and resolution.

Graphic novel- Use graphic novel elements (sequential art intended to tell a story). If you chose this option, you must provide enough written text to compliment your graphics and show your understanding of elements of fiction.

Fiction- Written as a narrative. This will appear in length and form as if it was a chapter straight out of the book.

Theatrical- Through acting/singing you will perform a scene you have written that could appear in chapter 14. In many ways, this would be like a presentation of the fiction option.