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.
Monday, November 12, 2012
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
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.
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!
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
A Murder for her Majesty
Please click on the link below to view the movie on the Choir Boys:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL4Zsmqqh68
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL4Zsmqqh68
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.
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!
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!
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