Notes from Cheryl…
Week of March 9, 2020
My apologies for not having this done on Monday.
Class 1: This week we are completing our President’s project. Students are writing an essay about their President, and will be doing a presentation for other students depicting their President. They will dress up like their President, and read their paper to other students. Please do not buy expensive costumes, or do extravagant make-up etc. The students actually asked if they could dress up for this project, so I said yes. We will do this on Tuesday next week. They can bring props if they want and their costume on that day. They will present after lunch if you would like to watch. We also began reading Call of the Wild as our new novel. Students will have comprehension activities to complete after each chapter.
Class 2: In this class, we are quickly moving into more roots and prefixes and suffixes. Our new roots are form and tra, trac, tract. Students will continue to read Pax and also the study of pronouns and adverbs.
Class 3: I think that we finally have a grouping that works best for all nine students Allie and I have at this time period. We have tried several different groups and formats and have now settled on one. I feel that this will serve our students well. Allie and I are teaching the same concepts and lesson plans to both groups, with pacing differentiated for each. The main concepts we will be focusing on through the end of this year are syllable types, syllable division, vowel teams, spelling rules, and reading fluency in controlled reading passages. Look for homework in any of these areas and a passage to read orally with you each night.
Class 4: Completion of an expository paper on an event in the 1960s or the 1970s has been the goal for this week. Students worked through note-taking, outlining, peer editing, and 3 drafts of the paper before turning in the final draft. Wednesday students chose a novel from a choice of 8 novels and will be completing a multi-faceted project on the novel due April 2. Students will be given some class time to complete the project, but should also work on some of it at home. The rubric with the requirements of this project was sent home for your signature. I will also post this rubric on this page.
Class 5: History students are now studying the 1980s and the significant events during this decade in American History.
Week of March 2, 2020
Class 1: This week we will conclude our novel study on The Watsons go to Birmingham with a character and plot study. Students will also complete a open book test on the novel. Also this week, students will begin a research project on a President of their choice. Look for the information packet in their binders. This project will be done mostly in class, with a presentation at the end. A new novel will be assigned next week.
Class 2: Continuation of the novel Pax and questions. Students will complete study of root port and have a test on Wednesday.
Class 3: This week we will be trying a new structure in this class. Miss Allie and I are team teaching the nine students that are at this level, dividing them into 3 groups of 3 for more effective 1-3 teacher ratio. I will be able to teach each of these students each day, as well as Miss Allie. I think this will be a good way to ensure appropriate teacher attention. We are continuing to move forward in the Basic Level, especially with Syllable Division. Students will bring home a passage each night to read with parents.
Class 4: Completed novel on Vietnam War with a Plot Diagram test on Tuesday. First Rough Draft of paper due Tuesday, March 3, and corrected Second Draft due by end of class on Wednesday, March 4. I will make corrections over the weekend, so students should check Google Docs for my corrections. See assignment sheet and rubric below.
Week of February 26, 2020
Class 1: This week we will conclude the root spec, spect with a test today. Students are reading The Watson’s Go to Birmingham with questions for each chapter each night. Please check your child’s homework sheet for each night’s homework. Grammar study is adjectives this week with assignments in Grammar workbook pgs 48-51.
Class 2: This week we are continuing the reading of Pax and doing questions for chapters. Students read one chapter per night. Chapters 3-6 are to be read this week with questions for Chapters 1-3 (we are behind:)) We are also studying the root port, and the suffixes and prefixes that go along with it. Grammar study is adjectives this week with assignments in Grammar workbook pgs 48-51.
Class 3: This week we have completed the short vowel flags, with the last one -dge. Students are sent a passage each night to read with concepts in that passage they can read independently. Please read the passage with them each night. Additional homework this week has been review sheets for -dge and oo.
Class 4: This week we started a new 5 paragraph informative essay on a topic of the student’s choice from the 1950’s or the 1960’s. A rubric and assignment sheet was sent home with them on Tuesday with due dates for each component of the essay, point value for each part, and the concentration for this essay. They were to discuss their topic and the essay due dates with you on Tuesday night, and return the rubric/assignment sheet signed by you. Grammar concept this week was review sentence structure of simple, compound, and complex sentences. New grammar concept was compound-complex sentences. Review and practice sheets were given for review. See assignment sheet and rubric below.
Informative Paper: Event in American History during the 1950s and the 1960s
Due Date: Thursday, March 5, 2020
Requirements: 5 paragraphs, 1 introductory paragraph and 1 concluding paragraph
1. Choose a topic on one event from this time period.
2. Find 3 internet sources about your topic and but in MLA format on Sources Page. 10 points.
3. Research and collect information on your topic using two-sided notes in Google Docs and share with me. All notes are due by February 27. 25 points
4. Do an outline for your paper, including main ideas and details. Due at end of class on March 2.
5. First rough draft, peer edited, shared with me on Google Docs. Due March 3 by end of class. 15 pts.
6. Second draft shared with me, after peer corrections are made, March 4 by end of class. 15 points
7. Final Draft due March 9, printed and handed to me by end of class. 25 points
Concentration: Sentence Structure- You will be graded on your usage of different sentence types. You should use simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences in your final draft. Intentionally vary sentence types to include each of the above sentence types in your three main body paragraphs.
I understand the requirements of this assignment as explained by my teacher.
Student Signature: _________________________________________________________________
Parent Signature:____________________________________________________________________
Class 5: History We are concluding our study of important events of the 1960’s.