As we move into a new month (now almost the middle, amazingly), we will be looking at a new genre of writing… expository essays. This type of essay is designed to explain. Beginning with a thesis or belief statement, students will seek to identify reasons for this belief and will work to support these reasons with elaboration in the form of anecdotes (mini-story), examples, and / or descriptions.
We watched the following video in class to get a sense of the structure of an essay and the importance of the planning process.
Today, we started out by reading a prompt and determining what it was asking. We will be writing about an important or influential person in our lives and why they are important. Once we had someone in mind, we crafted a thesis statement and recorded two reasons with supporting examples on our graphic organizer. We will use this information tomorrow to draft our hook and body paragraphs.
The creators of Flocabulary use rap to review the elements of an essay and the purpose of each.
Read for at least 30 minutes each night. Complete the online reading log OR one on paper. (Copies are available in class).
Explore some lessons on IXL.com and / or Khan Academy in the following areas:
*Metric Measurement*
*Multidigit Multiplication* (several strategies)
Logical Reasoning
**A Scholar has a goal: This week, we answered 2,282 questions and spent just over 18 hours on IXL.
Log on and “Launch” into some learning with Everyday Math. (Note: Log on information is in your planner.) **Alert: Any lessons in Unit 3 and 4 can be reviewed.**
As our spelling words for this week were revealed, we realized that many reached across subject areas and caused our brain to cross and connect between the visual and verbal. Work we’ve been doing about research, using multiples resources, analyzing, and synthesizing all came together in this week’s list. The challenge will be, how will we put not only the words but also the skills and strategies they represent into practice? That’s what scholars do!
We are so grateful for Ms. Kraft and the time and effort she spends each week searching for resources that connect to our unit. She really encourages us to consider different points of view and to explore different facets of our countries of focus. Today, she shared two videos with us that allowed us to see some unique aspects of Cambodia. First, she introduced us to Mosha, an elephant injured by one of the millions of landmines that still remain in Cambodia. We had read about the danger of landmines in our read aloud Half Spoon of Rice, but were intrigued to see how they not only affect people but also animals.
How do these videos expand our ideas about struggle and survival?
Particularly, considering perspective, how has the struggle for survival in Cambodia lead to opportunity?
As promised, we put our measurement multiple source to work today as we converted various units of measurement in input-output tables. To show our evidence, we made sure to record the process (ex. 3 kg x 1,000 = 3,000 g). We also identified a rule for each table (ex. Rule k x 1,000 = g). After completing some conversions, we applied our knowledge to some multi-step word problems. Remembering to activate our visual and verbal parts of our brains, we used number lines and bar models to visualize the problems and equations to capture our mathematical process.
A magnificent moment marked the end of our day as we celebrated Mathew! Mathew’s mom and dad arrived at the end of the day with a delightfully delicious cake with a lovely lime flavor and sweet and sour candy. Mmm… marvelously mouthwatering! Happy birthday, Mathew! We hope YOUR day is as special as YOU!
Read for at least 30 minutes each night. Complete the online reading log OR one on paper. (Copies are available in class).
Explore some lessons on IXL.com and / or Khan Academy in the following areas:
*Metric Measurement*
*Multidigit Multiplication*
Logical Reasoning
**A Scholar has a goal: This week, we answered 2,282 questions and spent just over 18 hours on IXL.
Log on and “Launch” into some learning with Everyday Math. (Note: Log on information is in your planner.) **Alert: Any lessons in Unit 3 and 4 can be reviewed.**
Note: Homework is due on Fridays.**Check back later in the week for additional homework related to in-class discussions and activities.
Announcements
Library is scheduled weekly on Mondays from 9:30 – 10:10 a.m.
Be sure to bring your book bag!
P.E. is scheduled weekly on Mondays and Fridays. Come dressed to exercise – sneakers, hat, sunscreen. (Welcome back Mr. Wilson! Thank you, Ms. Toni, for helping us learn badminton, while Mr. Wilson was away!)
If you are participating in this years Talent Show, please return your permission slip as soon as possible. It is due on Thursday, Feb. 7.
We will be meeting with our buddies on Wednesday, Feb. 6.
Quote of the Day: “Mrs. Rupp, look at how many multiple sources we are using!”
Today, we continued our read aloud of Goodbye Vietnam, learning more about Mai, her family, and her village. We made it to “Part 2: The Journey,” which described the secret departure from her home… a home that had been in her family for generations. In this section of the book, the author revealed a number of struggles caused by the move and allowed us to consider connections, changes, and perspectives related to those struggles. Grandmother’s stubbornness was a focus of some discussion. As the family entered the town of Go Cong, they (and we) encountered a suspenseful moment. For the first time, Grandmother’s stubbornness was helpful.
Reflect: How does one’s character or character traits relate to struggle and survival? (Scholars… consider different points of view!)
The following video is from a market in Go Cong taken during Tet (Vietnamese Lunar New Year).
(Note: the description of the video provides a bit more information about Tet).
After reading, we put our hands to writing. Since it was the 100th day of school, we enthusiastically embraced today’s writing challenge… writing a collaborative 100-sentence story. Students, working in groups of 4 or 5, took turns (sentence by sentence) drafting a 100-sentence story. Writers had the option to draft on paper or on a Google doc. And, groups could decide to focus on one story or craft 4 or 5 collaborative stories simultaneously. The energy and engagement for this activity was high. In addition, students naturally initiated thoughtful writing conversations about the effectiveness of hooks, word choice, figurative language, character development, plot development, and conventions (spelling and punctuation).
This afternoon, we spent some time reading independently in order to build up our reading stamina and apply some of the strategies we have been learning about. Scholarly readers:
preview and predict
monitor comprehension and clarify understanding (pause and ponder, tackle tricky words, reread)
generate questions (about the text and about the author’s purpose and intent)
make inferences (prior knowledge + text evidence = inference)
envision / visualize (brain crossing)
make connections (to self, to other texts, to the world)
consider text structure (use graphic organizers)
synthesize / summarize (SWBST)
think about thinking (metacognition)
evaluate (determine importance)
Phew… reading is a complex activity that requires a W I D E variety of skills and strategies.
Which skill or strategy allows your to soar as a reader?
Which skill or strategy do you struggle with… and how can that struggle make you a stronger reader?
We finished our week by completing a multiple source for measurement. This tool will be very useful in the week ahead as we apply our knowledge to a variety of problems.
Our 100th day of school ended with a flourish this Friday as we celebrated Jessica’s birthday. Jessica herself baked a beautiful batch of chocolate cupcakes to share with icing and sprinkles to add some sparkle. We are grateful that her mom was able to join us in celebrating the joy that is Jessica!
Your child will be bringing home a permission slip for the Annual Elementary Talent Show. We hope that students will participate to show their wonderful talents. The acts are can only be up to 3 minutes long and can be any one of the following: singing, dancing, magic, a reading, a poem, a special trick, controlled soccer skills, a short skit, etc. Please be aware that if we have more acts than anticipated the timings may need to be cut down to 2-2:30 minutes.
Auditions will be the week of February 25 through March 1st.
Permission slips are due by Thursday, February 7th. If you are a family who is still out of the country, you may send your permission via email to Ms. Sherman. Be sure to read the linked permission slip and make sure you include in your email all the information requested on the form, such as:
Child’s name (first and last), and Grade
The acts your child will be in (they are only allowed to be in 2 acts ‘see form’)
The other students who are in the act with your child (first and last name and grade)
We look forward to seeing your child’s talent on Friday, March 15th in the CAC at 6:00.
If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Sherman.
