Week of Feb. 29-March 4: Final week of Third Quarter

Reminder:  This is the final week of the third quarter!!

There are numerous assignments due this week as well as tests.  Make sure to check what is due.

5th Grade Language Arts:  We have a normal week.  Spelling pretest on Monday.  Pages 148-151 are due Thursday as well as the final test.  Ask your student how they did on the pretest.  I hand it back so they can use it as a study tool.  The last several weeks have had difficult lists of words.  You may need to go over the words at home.
Grammar:  Continuing with adjectives.  We will complete a chromebook assignment both Wednesday and Thursday this week, due on Friday.

Literature:  We have finished reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe!  Students were to read the last chapter over the weekend.  We will do a final writing assignment tomorrow in class.  I will have them make sure their Chapter journal document is complete on Google classroom and they will submit that.
We will complete vocabulary words. Vocab folders will be turned in on Friday for points.
We will review and the final test will be on Friday.

Our class project for this book is to create a digital newspaper/magazine.  We will begin learning about writing news articles this week, and then will compile the articles into a magazine next week.  We hope to be able to share the link with you so that you can read our magazine.

5th grade social studies:  I will collect student workbooks tomorrow.  Students were working on an assignment that was given on Thursday.
We have begun preparing for our Loyalist/Patriot debate.  We will hold the debate next week.  I will send out the date and time this week.  Students are divided into groups representing 6 Colonists.  3 are Loyalists, 3 are Patriots.  We will take this week to research the characters and prepare our questions and arguments, and then each class will hold a debate.  Some students will be dressing in costume, and so we hope to have that all settled this week.
**Remember any test corrections must be signed by parents, list where the information was located and turned in by this Friday, March 4th.

6th Grade Literature:   We are almost done viewing the book reports.  We will finish this week.  I am grading the essays, and once both are complete, students will receive a grade card with the breakdown of the grade and final.
We will finish Number the Stars this week.  Students had 3 chapters to read over the weekend and questions to answer.  We will finish vocabulary in class this week.  Folders will be turned in for points.  
We will review for the test.  6Caciano will take the final test on Friday, March 4.  6Hieber will take the final test Monday, March 7.
We will continue to work on research and begin the final steps on our presentations.  By the end of the week I will have a good idea of when presentations will be complete and will let you know when we are presenting.

We have lots going on this week.  It should be a wonderful week, full of great learning!
Have a blessed week,
Mrs. Brown

Week of February 22-26

Welcome to a full week of school!
As we go through these next 2 weeks, make sure you and your student are checking Cornerstone for late and missing work.  Third quarter ends March 4 and some late work will be accepted up until the following Tuesday or Wednesday.

Secondly, work that is turned in late is not graded immediately.  I try very hard to keep up with current assignments and get them graded and posted on Cornerstone.  I often wait and do all late work in one sitting.  You may check to see if I have received the work, but late grades will not always be posted promptly.

6th Grade Book Reports:  These have been awesome.  We have enjoyed watching both live and recorded news reports.  We will finish watching them this week.  Grades will be posted once all essays are graded.

5th Grade Book Reports - are due Monday, February 22.
Do not forget to have your report at school!

5th grade Language Arts: Spelling pretest Monday, pages 142-145 are due Thursday.  Final test is Thursday.  The last couple of week's list words have been difficult.  Make sure to go over them at home.  Spelling grades have dropped for many students!
Grammar pages 141-145 this week.  Proofreading assignment Wednesday and Thursday that will be due on Friday.

Literature:  We are on chapter 13 in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  We have been sketching characters in our notebook, and now many students have turned their sketches into a bulletin board in the hallway.  We are working on vocabulary together in class, and this week will do some character word puzzles.
We plan to finish the book this week, and take the final test and vocabulary test next week.

We will make a class digital magazine based on Narnia.  We hope to share that with you before Spring break.

5th grade social studies:  We are beginning chapter 11 which begins our fight for independence.  This week students will read about 3 Patriots and 3 Loyalists.  They will be assigned workbook pages to go along with their reading.  These will be graded and so should be done carefully.  You will probably see the book at home some point this week.
We will then begin preparing for our class debate.  Each class will prepare for and hold a debate between the Loyalists and Patriots.  We dress in costume, and are assigned parts.  We will prepare for about a week and the each class will have a performance date.  I will send an email this week with those dates.

6th Grade Literature :  We will finish reading Number the Stars by the beginning of next week.  We are also working on a project-based learning activity.  Each group is in the midst of researching their topic. We  will  begin looking at presentation options and groups will be developing their presentations.  We hope to present in front of other classes as well as parents, so I will email those dates as we get closer to finishing.

**Again, late and missing or incomplete work is becoming an issue in 6th grade.  Students with missing assignments will need to miss group work time in order to complete class work that is past due.  Check Cornerstone for missing or incomplete work.

Have a blessed week in the Lord,
Mrs. Brown

Week of February 16-19

Welcome to mid-February!
Alot is happening in these next two weeks!  Keep updated.

5th Grade Language Arts:  Spelling - Pretest will be Tuesday.  We will begin working on pages 136-139.  They have 2 study halls to work on these pages on Tuesday.  We will grade pages and take the final test on Thursday of this week.
Grammar - We will wait and start the skill pages on Wednesday this week.  The proofreading homework page will be assigned on Thursday and due on Friday.  We will take the weekly quiz Friday allowing us to stay on track.

Literature:  We are enjoying reading the Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. We are sketching characters and things as we read.  We hope to turn those sketches into a bulletin board this week in the hallway. Students were to read chapter 10 over the weekend and complete the summary/reaction for it on Google Classroom.  We will continue with vocabulary this week, which is all done in class.  However, if your child is absent, they must check and make up the words that they missed.

**Don't forget book report coming up next week.  The students should be done reading their books and beginning the project.  All the directions are posted on this blog under Literature.  I have put out examples of the newspaper/magazine report. 


5th grade social studies:  We are really getting the feel for how the colonists felt and reacted toward Great Britain in the 1770's.  Tuesday and Wednesday we will be reviewing for the chapter test.  We will not do our usual study guide, we will be making foldables in class for the vocabulary words and to remember the 6 events we discussed in the chapter.  These should come home Tuesday and Wednesday night to help them study.
Chapter 10 test is Thursday, Feb. 18.

6th Grade Literature:  We are well into Number the Stars.  Students will continue to be assigned chapters to read each class.  They must keep up with the reading.  We will be completing quizzes, journals, and vocabulary in class.
We have begun a Project-based research project on topics relating to the Holocaust.  Your student is in a small group. I am guiding them through the research steps in class.  They have posted a thesis statement and are beginning to find information to post with their statement.  I will keep you up to date on their progress.  We do not have a due date yet, because we are in the initial stages, and I do not want them jumping ahead.

**Book Reports:  6Caciano is due Wednesday, 2/17 and Heiber is due Thursday 2/18.  NO EXCEPTIONS.  If your student is having trouble with any part of the report they must see me tomorrow!  They cannot wait until the day it is due.  
Remember there are 2 parts to this report.  Directions for both are on this blog under 6Lit.
The essay may be typed and turned in on Google Classroom if they wish.


It is a blessing to me to have your children.  Have a blessed week in the Lord,
Mrs. Brown

Week of February 8-12

Last week was a very full week.  We wrapped up several different units and moved on the next.

All literature classes have started reading a class novel.  5th grade is reading The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis.
6th grade is reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.
Both are excellent award winning books and these units will be full of great activities.
Students should be reading the chapters outside of class.  They must keep up with all assigned work in order to participate in class activities.


5th Grade Language Arts:  Spelling pretest Monday, pages 130-135 due Thursday and final test on Thursday.
Grammar - We will begin skill pages on Wednesday and squeeze them into 3 days.  Proofreading assignment on Thursday, due Friday and quiz on Friday.

Literature:  I am assigning on average 1 chapter a night to read in Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.  With each chapter, students are completing a 3-4 sentence summary and a 3-4 sentence reaction.  They are working on a document on Google Classroom.  Check this document for assignments.
**We took a quiz on Friday that is due Monday.  They were assigned to read only chapter 6.  We will do the summary together on Monday.

*Again, students must keep up with the chapters and summaries.  Falling behind will cause them to miss class activities, and trouble on quizzes and other assignments.

5th grade social studies:  We are in a very exciting part of American history.  We have begun chapter 10, all about the beginnings of the colonies rebelling against Great Britain.  We are working on workbook pages together in class, will act out some of the events, and watch a series of videos on those events.  Chapter 10 test will most likely be next week.
Coming up probably the week after President's day will be our Patriot vs. Loyalist debate.  More on that shortly.
You can check out our latest project by asking your student to show you their link to the Fakebook page we did.

6th grade literature:  We took the unit test last week on historical fiction.  Grades are posted on Cornerstone.  We have discussed as a class, the recent decline of well thought out and well written answers on Lit papers.  As 6th graders they know what is expected and a bit of laziness has set in.  Hopefully that will change with the upcoming novel assignments.
*We are reading Number the Stars.  Chapters will be read outside of class, most work completed in class.
Check Cornerstone for late or missing work!
On part to this unit will be a large group research project.  We will use project-based research techniques.  I will be outlining the project in class this week.
We will also enter a nation-wide Holocaust writing and art competition.
And we hope to make contact once again this year with a local Jewish school.

**6th grade  Book reports are due next week February 17 or 18.  Students should be working on them now!!  The written essay can be done on Google classroom.  They must be ready to give or have sent the recorded news cast to me by those dates.
Do not wait until a couple days before the due date to begin!! 

Once again - all directions are on this blog under the 6Literature tab.