Friday, April 29, 2016

Welcome back!

I hope you all had a wonderful break from school! We begin a unit of poetry, both traditional and creative. We will begin working towards a day of performance as well as the creation of a literary magazine. Each day this week you will both hear a poem (performed by yours truly) and create a poem. You will have Membean as homework along with choosing a piece to learn and present which you will learn about on Monday. For those of you eager for a book to read, I will happily loan you When You Reach Me, but all other books must be returned to me first.

Monday: Spoken Word, poetry intro
Day 2: Spine Poetry
Day 3: Black-out Poetry
Day 4: Visual Poetry

Membean - 90 minutes due 5/14 - aim for 15 minutes every other day
Assessment on 5/16.

and now...a classic Jack Prelutsky poem:

I Made A Noise This Morning – (from WHAT A DAY IT WAS AT SCHOOL!)

I made a noise this morning
That I didn’t mean to make.
It truly was an accident,
An error, a mistake.
I don’t know how it happened,
But it suddenly was there,
Filled with great reverberations
That resounded in the air.


It made a strong impression
On the people in the room.
A lot of them reacted
Like they’d heard a sonic boom.
They looked at one another
As if asking, “was it you?”
They were laughing, they were pointing—
I behaved the same way too.


I couldn’t keep from joking
With the other girls and boys,
And never once admitted
It was I who made that noise.
Though I’m sorry that I made it,
From the bottom of my heart,
In a way, my brief eruption
Was a little work of art.

Saturday, April 23, 2016

WHOA!!! Poetry in motion!

My son showed me this video that is an absolutely beautiful tie-in to our current unit! Bonus point when we return from break if you give me a piece of paper explaining:
1) Who was Sisyphus?
2) What does the gear mechanism have to do with math? (Yes, you can ask siblings or parents for help with this part.)
3) Who were Gehry and Knoll?


Sunday, April 17, 2016

Exciting and fun week in store!

This week you will meet Artist-in-Residence Marilyn Price. She is a nationally recognized educator, storyteller, and puppeteer. She will be facilitating a program that will culminate with a visit from 6th graders who attend Queen of Angels Catholic School in Roswell. On Thursday, we will enjoy an all-day interfaith program that includes teaching our guests about the seder, commemorating those who perished in the Holocaust, and learning about prophets (which they will teach to us).

In class, we will be preparing for Thursday, however you have assignments and homework due this week. I will be returning the Grammar Test, which for many of you will offer an opportunity for recovery. If you would like tutorial on these topics once you see the recovery assessment, plan on attending Tuesday morning beginning at 7:25.

DUE THIS WEEK:

- Journal entry due Monday 4pm
- Greek Myths chart due Thursday. If you know you will be absent, you MUST turn this in Wednesday.
- No Membean this week.
PLEASE TURN IN THE GREEK MYTHOLOGY BOOKS THURSDAY MORNING.

Monday, April 11, 2016

"B" Schedule this week

Due to testing, we have a "B" schedule Monday - Thursday. Each day, testing begins in the morning in your assigned classroom. In grammar this week, we revisit adverbs and touch on pronouns/antecedent agreement. For homework, please continue using Membean. A Membean assessment will pop up on Thursday afternoon, to be completed by Friday afternoon. There is a journal entry that will be due NEXT Monday. The prompt choices (YAY! Choices!) are listed below. Continue reading the myths, filling out the information table I gave to you. The table and five stories should be completed NO LATER THAN April 21. You may always turn it in early. Journal Entry due 4/18 STUDENT CHOICE
Please choose one of the following prompts about which to write TWO well-written paragraphs.
1) Who or what has made the most positive impact on your life thus far?
2) You have been given a box of magical sidewalk chalk. Anything you draw comes to life. What do you draw and why?
3) What is your opinion of the experience at BizTown? What suggestions would you make to improve the experience?

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Spring!

This week is the visit to BizTown, as well as our first examination of figurative language, which will lead us to more short stories, Shakespeare, and creative writing. On Tuesday you will receive books of Greek mythology in which you will choose short stories to read. We will not be studying comparatives and superlatives in the adjective unit; the cumulative grammar test (they are always cumulative) focusing on adjectives will be Friday. We'll review on Day 2. You will see a Membean assessment pop up again on Monday. Please complete it Monday at home.

Day 1: Adjectives - good vs. well, figurative language in "A Sound of Thunder"
Day 2: Adjective unit review, distribution of Greek mythology books
Day 3: BizTown!
Day 4: Grammar Test


Homework this week:
Day 1: Complete the Membean assessment
Day 2: Review for the grammar test, begin reading Greek myths, Membean 45 minutes by Sunday
Day 3: Review for the grammar test, begin reading Greek myths, Membean 45 minutes by Sunday
Day 4: Read Greek myths, 45 minutes of Membean by Sunday

Friday, April 1, 2016

"A Sound of Thunder"

Several students are "under the weather" or will be missing class today. We are reading this short story aloud, then will be searching for examples of similes, metaphors, and personification. Please read the story at your convenience.


"A Sound of Thunder"