Welcome to Mrs. Gordon's MUR page!

This page is all things MUR! Look here to find links to activities and keep up to date on what we are doing in class!


As promised here is a list of books for gifted students. Enjoy!

http://mcgt.net/books-for-young-readers




Friday, December 21, 2012

December 17-21

MUR:
  How time flies!  I cannot believe it is time for winter break.  The kids have worked so hard this year and really deserve some time to play and be kids! This week we finished reading Charles Dickens Christmas Carol.  The students were able to make so many connections to movie versions they have seen and were surprised to learn the symbolism and depth that lies within the story.

  The new year will bring many exciting adventures in reading!  I am looking forward to all the wonderful units we have planned!

Enjoy the break!
  Mrs.Gordon
 

Monday, December 17, 2012

December 10-14

     This week both classes began a study of Charles Dickens. We spent a few days reading about his life and the events that inspired his writing.  We went to the computer to research life in Victorian England. Students were amazed at how proper life was back then. I heard comments like, "Mrs.Gordon, did you know that people were not aloud to leave their bedrooms in pajamas?" or "Kids only saw their parents for one hour a day."  After completing our research the kids tried their hands at Survive Charles Dickens England, a great video game that allows students to learn more about the life and times of Dickens.
   For the next week we will be reading A Christmas Carol and applying what we know about Victorian England, Charles Dickens and literary techniques to this unit.

Friday, December 7, 2012

December 3-7

What an exciting week!

5th/6th Grade MUR:
     This week we continued to read The Porcupine Year.  It is great to see the children connecting to Native American culture and the appreciation that has developed through reading this novel.  Jacob and Nick presented their author studies of Louise Edrich. We learned so many interesting things about her life and writing. We will be finishing up our unit next week and moving on to A Christmas Carol.
    In vocabulary/spelling, we changed our prefix study to focus on words relating to "travel". We discussed the Latin phrase Sic transit gloria mundi.

3rd/4th Grade MUR:
    This week we concluded our study of A Murder for Her Majesty. The kids LOVED the book and were literally jumping out of their seats as we reached the climax of the story.  Our focus for this unit was written responses.  All of the kids have made fantastic progress in written responses to literature.  We finished out our week with Charles Dickens. Each student read a short biography on Dickens' life and took notes on important facts. On Friday, we spent time in the computer lab learning about Victorian life.  The students were surprised to learn how proper people of the time were. Please feel free to click the links to the right and see what the kids were up to in the computer lab!
   In spelling/vocabulary, we continue to work in Wordly Wise.

Monday, December 3, 2012

November 26-30

5th and 6th Grade MUR:
   This week we began the Porcupine Year.  It is wonderful to see the students enjoying the book so much.  Numerous students commented on the maturity of the characters and their ability to understand the world in such a unique and detailed way.
  In Spelling/Vocabulary we continue our study of Classical Roots.  Our theme this week was creativity.

3rd and 4th Grade MUR:
   We continue to work our way through A Murder for Her Majesty.  As we near the climax of the book students are making connections and predictions as to the outcome of our main character's fate. In our packets students are working on clear topic sentences to their higher level thinking questions.  We have completed our character sort and Alice's Daily Schedule.
    In Spelling/Vocabulary we completed Wordly Wise Lesson 10.  Students need to continue working with their spelling word meanings.

Monday, November 12, 2012

November 5-9

5th and 6th Grade MUR: This week we began a short unit on narrative essays.  Students learned the fundamentals of an essay and how to distinguish a narrative essay from a short story. On Tuesday, we read James Thurber's The night the bed fell and finished the week with George Orwell's Shooting an elephant.
  In spelling and vocabulary we continued our theme of "before and after" working with forms of -pri and -post.
  In grammar we spent some extra time working with adverbs.  Students had the opportunity to play adverb round up, taking a break from our normal grammar routine.

3rd and 4th Grade MUR:  We continue our study of A Murder for her Majesty. This week our focus was foreshadowing.  Students are working to use these clues to determine the plot and climax of the book.
   In spelling and vocabulary we completed Wordly Wise lesson 8.  Students are improving rapidly in wordly wise!
  In grammar we completed our study of abstract nouns and will move on to adjectives next week.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Ojibwe History

Please read the following article on the Ojibwe people and answer the questions in your packet.

http://www.turtle-island.com/native/the-ojibway-story.html

Thursday, November 1, 2012

MUR October 29 - November 2

5th and 6th Grade MUR:
  This week we finished up our unit on "Cats".  Students had a great time watching Andrew Lloyd Webber bring these poems to life.  We talked a lot about how human-like the "cats" are and the unique way in which Eliot was able convey this in his poetry. Our focus this unit was essay writing as we begin to prepare for our first interim assessment.  We continue to focus on topic sentences for the rest of the year and then move to the body and conclusion in January.
  In spelling our focus was "Before and After."  Students learned the Latin phrase Praemonitus, praemunitus. "Forewarned is forearmed." Our theme emphasized the prefixes - pre and ante.


3rd and 4th Grade MUR:
  What an exciting week we have had in MUR.  We are finishing up chapter 6 in A Murder for her Majesty.  The students are gathering facts and in hot pursuit of the murder.  We have lots of "oh's" and "oh no!" during our reading.  It's a joy to see the kids so involved in a book and learning so much at the same time.  We have made such progress in our thinking and questioning skills from the beginning of the year.  It is amazing to see how fast the students are able to learn. They are easily able to identify flashbacks and foreshadowing!
  In grammar we are taking some time to study abstract nouns.  This concept stumped many of the kids on our last grammar quiz.  We will take the next week or so to work through abstract nouns and then possessive pronouns before we cycle back to our Analytical Grammar.

Friday, October 26, 2012

MUR October 22-26th

5th and 6th Grade MUR:
  This week our focus was on poetry.  We started a unit on T.S. Eliot's "cats". I am always interested in student's reaction when we begin a new unit.  Many were hesitant about this unit saying things like, "I don't like cats" or "Why aren't we doing a unit on dogs?" But, as the week has gone on the comments have changed to "why are we only reading one poem today?" and "I could do this unit all year!"  As a teacher, these are the words we dream of hearing.  Eliot's characterization of these cats is amazing and has drawn all of us in.  We have looked at the way he has taken human traits and conflicts and applied them to cats in such a unique way.  Along with this we have focused our attention on structure, rhyme scheme and pattern.  Next week we will compare the poems to Andrew Loyd Webber's "Cats".

3rd and 4th Grade MUR:
  This was an exciting week for us as we began our first novel. A Murder for her Majesty is an exciting way to begin our mystery unit.  Students began the unit by defining the various genres of fiction.  As we embark on the book, students have labeled the book historical, action adventure, mystery fiction.  We discussed at length how books can crossover into numerous genres. We will continue this novel for the next few weeks focusing on foreshadowing, flashback and point of view.

***Reminder: Reading Rodeos are DUE: Wednesday, October 31, 2012!

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

October 15-16

Just a reminder to parents there is no school Wednesday,  Thursday and Friday due to MEA.  It was wonderful to see so many of you at conferences last week and share all the exciting things that are going on in our class.  If I did not see you last week, I looking forward to meeting with you on Wednesday.

What a quick week.  We packed a lot in to a short period of time. Highlights from this week are:

5th and 6th grade MUR:
  Students presented their Dragonwings projects to the class.  There were some exciting new modes of transportation!

3rd and 4th grade MUR:
  After a long study of folktales, students wrote their own fairy tales. Make sure your child shares their story with you!

Finally, there is no homework this week!  Have a great break. We will be starting new units when we return on the 22nd.

Friday, October 12, 2012

MUR October 8-12

MUR 5th and 6th Grade:
  This week we almost finished our unit on Dragonwings.  We spent the first part of the week talking about point view.  We discovered the book was written in first person limited and talked about why the author might have chosen to write the book in such a manner.  At weeks end we discussed the different types of conflict found in novels.  We were surprised to find that Dragonwings has all four types of conflict.  Students broke into groups and listed events of conflict on chart paper.  We will finish the story next week and view student presentations.

MUR 3rd and 4th Grade:
  We are nearing the end of our first unit, folktales.  Students have spent the past few weeks evaluating myths, legends and fables from around the world.  This week I asked students to bring in their favorite fairy tales.  Numerous students have brought in and shared their favorites.  After each one we composed a list of elements belonging to that tale.  Next week students will begin writing their own fairy tales!

Friday, October 5, 2012

MUR October 1st - 5th

5th and 6th Grade MUR:
  This week we continued our study of Dragonwings.  We spent a lot of time discussing the steps one takes when making new friends.  We used these ideas to compare how Moon Shadow and his father became friends with the Whitlaw's and through this friendship both parties where able to break down the walls of prejudice, overcome cultural misconceptions and find common ground in being human.
  This concept paired nicely with our Spelling/Vocabulary lesson for the week.  We began with the Latin phrase "Humani nihil a me alienum puto." "I think nothing human is alien to me." As we continued our study of All or Nothing, students were able to relate this weeks spelling words to our novel study.

3rd and 4th Grade MUR:
  This week we read the Russian folktale "The Little Humpbacked Horse." As this was a very long story it took us most of the week to read.  We will move into our question and discussion session next week.
  We began a new lesson this week, writing quality topic sentences.  We spent much of Thursday's class looking at what makes up a quality topic sentence.  Students made a "do" list to help them create quality sentences.  We discussed how to use a thesaurus and what type of words one should interchange to help build our vocabulary.  This was a new adventure for our 3rd and 4th grade students.  We will continue to work on this skill through out the year.
  In Spelling/Vocabulary we worked on Wordly Wise lesson 4. The student's are showing tremendous progress in this area and even identifying their words in literature and around the classroom.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Russian Folktale

Today, we are going to visit the city of St.Petersburg, Russia. Click on the link below to open the movie.  While you are watching please note the following things:
    Architecture - What type of buildings to you notice? How are they  the same/different from the United States?
    Landscape - What do you notice about the landscape?

When you are finished find Russia on the map!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocPj8qjhIXM

The Week in MUR

As a teacher the greatest gift is to watch a student learn and grow.  This week students in both classes were required to create their own questions for our discussion groups.  After our readings I passed around a clipboard with lined paper and asked that each student anonymously write a question about the reading.  The only rule was you could not write a question that was already on the paper.  Being that this was our first time doing this activity, my expectations were quite low, knowing that this would be a skill we would build throughout the school year.I sat down on Wednesday night to read through the questions and my jaw dropped as I read great question after great question.What GREAT thinkers we have!

3rd and 4th Grade MUR:
  In reading we read a fable from Africa about a Lion, Camel, Jackal, Crow and  Leopard.  We discussed in detail how the Lion and Camel were tricked by the other animals and talked about the character traits of these animals.
  In spelling we finished up lesson 3 in Wordly Wise as well as learned how to solve an analogy. Students even had the opportunity to write their own analogies on Thursday!

5th and 6th Grade MUR:
  In reading we continued our study on Dragonwings and had a mini lesson on theme.As we head into chapter 6 of our books students will begin to track the various themes of the book.  We will also be looking at how conflict adds to the intensity of a novel and tracking themes of conflict.
  In spelling/vocabulary, students worked on Classical Roots and learned the Latin phrase "Omni corpus mutablie est." Every object is subject to change.  We related this to our own lives as well as the characters in our novel.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Running at Full Speed

I am constantly amazed at the progress of the students.  This week our 3rd and 4th grade MUR class made leaps and bounds in their thinking while the 5th and 6th graders showed their expert finesse. I hope your child is sharing all the fun things we do in MUR and always if you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

3rd and 4th grade MUR:
  This week we began our study of folktales.  We broke them down into four categories that we will study; fairy tales  legends, fables and myths. Hans Christian Andersen was our focus this week as we read the Nightingale. Students made amazing discoveries about this bird and it's importance to the story.  We also discussed "do not judge a book by it's cover" and "beauty is on the inside".  At the end of the week the we participated in a student lead seminar.  The focus was forgiveness vs. an eye for an eye.  This was a very lively discussion with students on both sides giving great literary evidence for their opinions.
  In grammar we continued to focus on nouns and their importance in a sentence. Students are using the analytical grammar system to label and later diagram sentences.
   Our Wordlywise focus was chapter 2.  Students are becoming more familiar with this curriculum.  With each day they become better at working with new words and discovering their meanings.

5th and 6th grade MUR:
   We continued our study of Dragonwings this week.  In the classroom we have developed character charts and categorizing a character by their traits, actions and physical descriptions.  We are also working on developing student lead questions for classroom discussions to create independence.  I am amazed at the level of questioning the students are able to come up with!
   In grammar we continue to work on prepositional phrases.  Student's were struggling with the prepositions, so we slowed down and took some extra time to work on this concept.
   In spelling and vocabulary we continue our study of Greek and Latin roots as well as Latin phrases.  We are all enjoying this curriculum!




Thursday, September 13, 2012

We're off and running!

What a great week we have had!  I am always amazed at how quickly the students are able to jump back into the swing of things.

MUR 5 and 6:
   This week we began reading the novel Dragonwings. A wonderful story about a young boy who leaves China to meet his father for the first time in American during the gold rush in San Francisco. The novel focuses on Moon Shadow and his growing love and respect for his father as well as a strange new country despite its difficulties and hardships. On Wednesday, we used the tablets to research Li Keng Wong's real life experience coming to American and going through Angel Island.  We also viewed numerous pictures of San Francisco in 1903. The student's were amazed to learn other's reactions and misconceptions about our country during this time period.
  In grammar we quickly reviewed nouns, adjectives, articles and pronouns and by Thursday we were diagramming prepositional phrases.
   Our new spelling/vocabulary program is amazing.  We were able to do numerous fun lessons using the Latin roots for numbers as well as learn a few Latin phrases.
   Next week, we will move into independent reading and discussion groups!

MUR 3 and 4:
   This week students were introduced to the Direct Inquiry method.  We began by reading the story Two Brothers as a class.  Next, the class compiled a list of questions about the story and worked on rating our questions. (Can we answer our questions using the text or do we have to make up an answer?) We learned that many questions cannot be supported by text, so we threw them out. The next day we began gathering evidence for our impending seminar. We reread the text silently and marked places where we liked things the brothers did or didn't do.  Then finally on Thursday we had our first seminar.  Students sat in a circle and discussed the text.  We had a very interesting discussion about which brother made the better choice.  Next week, we will begin our Folktales unit.
  In grammar, students were introduced to the analytical grammar process.  We began by looking at nouns, their function in a sentence and how to label them.
  In spelling/vocabulary, students began working in Wordlywise.  This is a very challenging curriculum for the students, but they have come through with shining colors.  Each day we worked through a new exercise trying to acquaint ourselves with this new format.

Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Dragonwings Activity

Today, students will be working on a wonderful unit on Asian Pacific American heritage created by Scholastic.com.

Students please click on the link below and then click on the link to Angel Island.Read this selection and complete the activity I have designed for you in your packet!

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/asian-american/

Monday, September 10, 2012

Creation!

What an exciting week we had!  I am always amazed at how much the student's grow over the summer months.  We started the week by jumping into the deep end and taking our MUR interim assessment pre-test.  This test will give us a better understanding of where each student is at and help me fill in any gaps or holes in their learning.

This year our theme is CREATION.  Students will working all year to see what they can "create."  We will tie this in to each novel study we do by talking about how the characters create different things.  This can be the creation of a situation, things characters build or invent, the creation of community, etc.  Creation is all around us!

To get our creation theme started off right, each day we will begin with a DO NOW.  Students are given two unrelated objects that exist in the world and are asked to describe their similarities.  Then we talk about combining the elements.  By doing this we are "creating" new objects for our world. (Or even improving on products that already exist.) I was amazed at the great ideas the kids came up with last week.  They were able to use their creativity as well as expand on the ideas of others.  It was great to see them working together to create new things.

5th/6th Grade MUR
  This week we will begin reading Dragonwings.  Students will also receive their first homework packet!

3rd and 4th Grade MUR
  Students will begin the direct inquiry process by using Junior Great Books and then we will move into our first unit, Folktales.  Students will also receive their first homework packet.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Up, Up and Away!

Parents and Students,

   Welcome to the 2012-13 school year.  This year will be filled with many exciting  academic adventures. I am looking forward to taking this journey with each student and diving into all the new activities that are planned.  This year we will have two academically talented MUR groups; a third/fourth class and a fifth/sixth class.  This format will enable me to reach more students in a more focused environment.

  It is important that each student have their own gmail account.  This year we will use google docs for all of our writing and power point projects.  Please make sure your student has an account as well as a password they can remember. Students will also need to fill out a release form for the Galaxy Tablets.  We are fortunate to have this technology available to us and use it frequently.

  I look forward to seeing each of you at preconferences and as always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns at jgordon@cologneacademy.org.

  Sincerely,

    Jennifer Gordon

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Enjoy your summer vacation!

  I can't believe the school year is already over.  This has been such a great year! As I write this I have been reflecting on all the wonderful things we did this year.  As a teacher it is such a privilege to watch the students change and grow.  Sometimes this happens slowly over a long period of time and sometimes it happens in quick powerful bursts.  But, of all the accomplishments the student's have made this year, I am so proud of their writing projects.  If you have not already done so, PLEASE read your student's essay.  I was blown away by the maturity of writing as well as the ideas and concepts the students addressed.  The children spent hours  researching, writing and editing.  These truly are a masterpiece!
  Currently, I am at a conference for Gifted and Talented picking up lots of new ideas to use with the students in our program next year.  Like the kids, each year we get better and better.

  Have a wonderful summer!

  Best wishes to our graduating 8th Graders!  We will miss you all and wish you the best as you begin the next phase of your life.

Mrs.Gordon

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Race to the finish!

As we near the end of the school year there is still lots of learning left in MUR!

G & T MUR:
  This week we began our final unit biographies and autobiographies.  Students are working with the concepts of change and theme within life. On Monday, we read the Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown and wrote poems about our "most important" characteristics (these could be physical, emotional or a trait.) Throughout the rest of the week we read a few key chapters from I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.  We are discussing why this book has had a lasting impact on readers, how it is significant to our own lives and what themes are represented.  We will use these two works as a guideline to create our own photobiographies which will be due the last week of school.  Students will be choosing a theme in their life and then representing this theme through pictures and captions.  We will share our biographies June 5th and 6th.

Advanced MUR:
  We continue to read the Scarlet Pimpernel and discuss traits of each character.  Students are working to develop their own questions about the reading as well as reading responses.
   In writing we are working on the rough draft of our persuasive essay.  Students have all chosen a topic and have had one to two writing conferences with me.  We will continue to use the tablets for research purposes this week.  Each student must have three experts in their field of study to back up their point of view.  These quotes will be inserted into the paper and we will learn how to create footnotes and a bibliography for our work.

Word Study:
  Both MUR groups are working with Wordly Wise to develop their spelling and vocabulary skills.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Scarlet Pimpernel Part 2

When you have completed the reading through chapter 12 please feel free to view this section of the movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qXuFhc9i84

Please note as you watch the differences between the book and the movie.

Midweek update

This week our G & T class is taking the math MCA test.  We will resume normal class schedule beginning Thursday, May 17, 2012.  Please make sure your child is working on their spelling packet at home.  We will have our normally scheduled spelling test this Friday.

Advanced MUR - Students are beginning their final writing project this week.  We will be working on a persuasive writing piece that will last until the end of the month.  We will use this opportunity to hone our editing and expository skills through peer and teacher lead conferencing.

***Reminder: Please make sure you are signing your child's reading log each month.  Many students have not turned in their reading log for April and this missing assignment will reflect in your child's overall grade.

Infinite Campus is up and running. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions regarding your child's progress.

Friday, May 4, 2012

The week in Review

G and T MUR:
  Reading: This week in reading we began our independent book study.  Students were able to chose between A Murder for her Majesty and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle.  Students read chapters one through eight independently and are working on filling out their independent reading packets which will aid in their comprehension of the story.  Next week we will be meeting in small literacy groups to have book discussions.  It is amazing to see students gain this independence and work by themselves, manage their classroom time as well as their work!

   Writing: Currently, we are in the throws of our expository essay writing.  This week students met one on one with me to conference on their writing. Our focus is writing quality topic and closing sentences.  Congruently, we worked on organizing our thoughts in rough draft form.  Students should have completed their introduction, and first two body paragraphs.
   Formally the research phase has concluded, though we will have the tablets on hand to
   

  Spelling: In spelling we continue our study of Greek and Latin roots.  This week our focus was Red Hot Root Words lesson 34.

Advanced MUR:
    Reading: The week we began reading The Scarlet Pimpernel. We read chapters one through four.  To help aid in student's understanding of this difficult text we will be using the tablets to watch the movie version of this novel.  Our focus this week is character development.  As we move through the introduction phase of the novel we will be keeping track of the numerous characters and their traits.

   Spelling: We continue of study of words using the Wordly Wise curriculum.  This week we completed Lesson 8 and focused our attention on the analogies.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Scarlet Pimpernel Part 1

Advanced MUR:
  After you have completed your required reading for the day please click on the link below and watch Part 1 of the Scarlet Pimpernel.  Then, answer your independent reading questions for this section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU2RLwEsxT4

Scarlet Pimpernel Part 1

Advanced MUR students:
  Please click on the link below to watch the first part of the Scarlet Pimpernel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TU2RLwEsxT4


Please be prepared to discuss the differences between the movie and the novel.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Week in Review

G and T MUR:
  This week our MUR class took their MCA reading test, so we did not have MUR Monday - Wednesday.

  Reading -Closing out the week we finished our unit on Animal Farm. Students presented their cover ideas to the class.  We have some budding artists and some very unique cover designs.  I was so impressed with the quality of thought and creative ideas the students came up with. We also worked on developing a moral for the story.  We had an in-depth discussion on why Animal Farm is a "Fairy Story", and students shared their self created morals through an expository essay.

  In writing, we have completed the research portion of our essay, and student's are conferencing with me one on one to begin the editing process.  This week I am helping students create quality topic sentences for their essays before they begin their rough draft.  Next week, we will be writing our rough drafts and again, students will conference with me to get one on one help with the editing process.


***A reminder to return your permission slips for the tablets by Monday, April 30, 2012

Advanced MUR:


  In reading, we began our unit on The Scarlet Pimpernel.  We started off the week with a biography scavenger hunt and group pair share on the author.  By midweek, we took an in-depth look at irony and the difference between situation, verbal and dramatic irony.  Students will continue to identify irony through out our study of the Scarlet Pimpernel. We will also be using the tablets to watch portions of the movie, allowing the students to gain a better understanding of the clothes, styles and rhetoric of the time.

  In writing, students completed their fictional short stories.  I am amazed at the creative story plots and use of suspense many of the students have developed. It is wonderful to have the opportunity to allow students to display this talent in a school assignment.  I am hoping to enter some of the stories into writing contests and will keep you updated on our progress in this area.

  In elements of style, we closed out our unit on the use of commas.  This topic is one we will continue to revisit for the remainder of the school year to allow students to become proficient in this area.
 

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

The Scarlet Pimpernel

Advanced MUR:
  As we begin our study of the Scarlet Pimpernel it is important to refresh your memory on the French Revolution.  Please click on the link below and watch this student made video of the Revolution.  Please complete the sheet in your packet that corresponds to the French Revolution and color in the map!

Friday, April 20, 2012

All Animals are equal...but some are more equal than others!

What an exciting month this has been.  For the last two weeks students have been presenting their Propaganda Power Point Projects.  WOW!  I am continually blown away by what the students are able to create and their creative ideas.  We have some budding sales people in our classroom as well.  My favorite projects were one's where students made their own video commercials. What a creative use of technology incorporated into the power points.

This week we finished up our reading on Animal Farm and learned that some political ideals start off with good intentions, but end in exploitation and disaster.  Many times our conversations diverged to our own society and events occurring today.  It was wonderful to see student's making connections and their horizons broadened!

We also spent this week taking our fourth and final interim assessment.  For more information regarding your child's progress or if you have any questions about the final interim assessment, please feel free to contact me at jgordon@cologneacademy.org.

Good Luck to all next week on your reading MCA test!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Down on the Farm

Reading: This week we began reading Animal Farm by George Orwell. Student's took an in-depth look at The Beasts of England, the animal's new anthem.  Many students were able to make connections with our own National Anthem and the pride in which a song can instill.  We continued our study by looking at the "ten commandments" Major brought to the animals and how this might propagate a rebellion among the farm animals.

G and T Writing: The research period has drawn to a close and students are working in their packets to organize their information. I will be meeting with students over the next two weeks to conference on topic sentences, paragraph organization and incorporating research into their essays.

Advanced MUR Writing: We are have finished our stories and students are currently typing.  We will be meeting over the next two weeks to begin the editing process and then typing our final drafts.

Spelling: G & T MUR is working on less 32 in Red Hot Root Words  and Advanced MUR is continuing their study in Wordly Wise.


Elements of Style: We continue to explore the 8 rules of commas with rules 3-6 this week.  We will be completing this unit next week.  Students will be expected to demonstrate an understanding of the 8 rules in their essays and story projects.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Short Stories!

G & T MUR
This week we finished reading Dragonwings the play and continued on with  the Junior Great Books series. We had excellent discussion groups and were able to talk in depth about how characters change over time.I am continually amazed at how the students are able to have such high level discussions with their peers.  It is wonderful to witness this academic independence.

In spelling, we are working in Red Hot Root Words. Students are working in stations to develop new words with their roots, create stories with our spelling words and test our peers.

On Friday, I introduced our independent writing project for the trimester.  We worked in the computer lab doing research on our chosen topics and will slowly work through the essay writing process. 


Advanced MUR
This week we read two short stories about  the adolecencent  problems bullying and sibling arguments.  Students were able to give numerous personal examples on the topics, and we worked to get to the root of these overwhelming problems.  On Wednesday, we had a seminar and students were able to share ideas with each other.

In spelling we continue our study in Wordly Wise. Students are working with high level vocabulary in a meaningful way.

We began typing our fictional stories as we delve deeper into our independent writing project.  We finished up our study of our main characters and will move next week onto our supporting characters.  Students completed the introduction and problem of their stories.  We now begin the long journey toward the climax.  I also spent time conferencing with each student this week, helping them edit and add to their work.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Enjoy your Spring Break!

G & T MUR: This week we began the story Dragon Wings we are reading the story in play form. We began by sharing our knowledge of Chinese culture and have moved into lessons on American History and how people from other lands view us as Americans. 
    For this unit we will be focusing on character traits.  Students are developing charts in the classroom on each character and keeping track of how a character changes over time.  We are learning that characters as well as people are multifaceted.
   In writing we continue to work on Elements of Styles.  Our focus is a review on possessives!

Advanced MUR: This week we are learning about Elizabeth and Robert Browning in a unit entitled "Literature's True Love Story."  We began by reading Sonnet 43. Students were able to share their thoughts and ideas as well as pose questions about the text.  This stirred some great thoughts in our middle schoolers.  We briefly touched on the differences between English and Italian sonnets as well as the background of both authors.  We finished out the week by reading A Woman's Last Word by Robert Browning and discussing his perspective of women.

Interim Assessment: This week we took our third interim assessment of the year. Students are making tremendous progress.  I have noticed a particular improvement in the area of writing.  We are becoming more proficient at communicating our ideas in written form. 
***If you would like more information regarding your child's progress please feel free to email @ jgordon @cologneacademy.org

Friday, March 2, 2012

Wrap Up!

  Josephine and Aunt Edith "Caught" in Crime!
This week we finished our mystery unit.  It was exciting to see the student's reactions as they uncovered the final scenes in the book.  Many students yelled out "NO WAY!" as they came to the ending.  It was difficult to keep everyone quiet until all had a chance to finish the book. Unfortunately, our snow day interrupted our final discussion. I am anxious to read the student's final exam essays and read their thoughts and ideas on the story. 
  Thursday and Friday we took our final exam and are ready to move on to our next unit!

Advanced MUR Writing Project:
  This week we spent time getting to know our main characters.  Each student gave a short presentation on their main character, describing the character's personality traits, and sharing a hidden talent of their character.  It is exciting to see middle school students so excited about a project.  We are all looking forward to next week when we will be sharing our stories with a partner.

***Reminder: Next week is our 3rd Interim Assessment.
  Next week we will be working with short stories so we have ample time to review and prepare for our Interim Assessment.  This trimester we will be giving differentiated assessments to better suit the needs of students in the class. 

Monday, February 27, 2012

Classroom Slueths Solve the Case!

The Crooked House:
     This was an exciting week for our junior detectives. We began the week with a lesson on formal letter writing and then transferred this skill to our classroom project.  Using their detective skills, students wrote letters to Inspector Taverner revealing the killer and giving him evidence.  It was wonderful to see the student's creative minds at work. Many of the letters are on display in our classroom!
    We will be finishing our mystery unit on February 28th and moving into our final exam.  Our exam will be long answer and contain critical thinking and interpretive questions.  Students will be given the questions prior to the exam to give them time to prepare their answers.  Please look for the rubric and questions on Wednesday.

Discussion Groups:
    After four weeks of discussion groups the kids are pros!  It is amazing to listen to their talks and watch different students take on leadership roles within the group.  I have heard some incredible ideas come from these groups as students dissect the novel bouncing ideas off of one another.  We have really come together as a group!

Station Work:
   We continue to delve into our station work as student learn more about spelling and vocabulary.

Advanced MUR writing project:
  All of the students have completed their pre-writing packet and have begun the introduction of their story.  It is exciting to see their stories come to life. Next week we will be focusing on the main character of a story.  We will be conducting writing activities with our main characters, getting to know them better and adding this knowledge into our stories.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Classroom Sleuths Track a Killer

Our mystery unit continues as our classroom sleuths carefully track clues left by the killer in their detective notebooks. Agatha Christie's Crooked House has proven to be an exciting unit for our students. With red-herrings everywhere, we are scrutinizing each character and their motive. In the near future, we will begin writing letters to Chief Inspector Tavener revealing our predictions regarding the killer!

Discussion Groups:
  The mystery unit has allowed me to institute an exciting new initiative through discussion groups. This discussion format allows students to create independence in their learning, develop interpersonal skills and maximize individual learning time. Each day students are given a reading assignment as well as two open ended interpretive or speculative questions to answer. Students work at their own pace to complete the assignment. Later in class students meet in small groups of 3 to 5 children and initiate a meaningful conversation. Through observational assessment I am able to guide groups as well as individual students through the discussion process.  I am amazed at the high level of thought and analysis the students have been able to achieve as independent learners!

Station Work:
  Our Gifted and Talented students are also embarking on station work.  During this time we are learning to write analogies, create posters for our spelling words, use context clues to determine the meaning of complex vocabulary words and practice writing great opening ended high level questions.

Independent Writing Project:
   The Advanced Middle School group is immersed in an independent writing project. Students are able to chose between a fictional story or nonfiction essay. Through a series of graphic organizers and student/teacher conferencing, the middle schoolers are off to a great start. Please ask your child to share their writing with you. Our goal for this 8 to 10 week writing project is to select two student stories to submit to  various writing contests!

  As always, please feel free to contact me at any time at jgordon@cologneacademy.org

   Sincerely,

         Mrs. Gordon

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Agatha Christie - Crooked House

The mystery is underway and our classroom slueths are hot on the trail of the killer.

 The mystery unit is always my favorite!  This year we are reading Agatha Christie's Crooked House.  We began the unit with an author study of Christie.  Students worked in small groups to research Christie in the computer lab and then turned their findings into an oral presentation.  We all learned so much about this unique author.
  Currently, we are reading the story.  Students are using their detective notebooks to track the suspects and clues in the book.  We will be moving into an independent reading and peer discussion format next week. 

  It is so exciting to see so many of the students gaining academic independence.  I can't wait to share my observations and ancedotes with you at conferences.  If you have not already done so, please sign up at mysignup.com/conferences .