Week of January 30-February 3

After a wonderful and exciting week last week, we are back to normal this week.
Lots will happen this week as we end a couple of units and get ready to move on.

5th Grade Language Arts:  Spelling - We will take the pretest Monday.  Pages and final test on Thursday this week.  **Again last week we had numerous students not complete their spelling pages.  Check Educate for the missing work.  If the students do not complete the pages and show them to me for a late grade, those grades remain a 0.

Grammar:  We are doing much better in grammar this semester than the first of the year.  Students have come a long way.  We work through 5 pages each week.  If your student is absent, they will need to complete all the pages, not just the last 2.  Make sure they check with me.
Proofreading will be assigned this week on Thursday and due on Friday.  The weekly quiz will be Friday. Proofreading is page 118, the quiz is page 119.

Literature:  We have been doing an author study on Chris Van Allsburg.  We are reading 7 of his picture books in class.  For each book there are 4 reflection questions.  We will read the last 2 books Monday and Tuesday this week.  The questions will be due on Wednesday.  All the work has been done in class, however if students do not finish the questions, they were assigned to complete them at home.  Students will need to make sure all questions are done for Wednesday.

**If your child has been absent, they will need to come in this week to read the books they missed and answer the questions!

5th Grade social studies:   We will be finishing chapter 9 this week.  This is a great chapter that gives us a good feel for life in the colonies.  This topic will carry us through the next several chapters in American history.  Last week we spent each class time visiting stations set up to resemble a part of colonial life. We have completed the stations.  All station work and the workbook questions were due on Friday.  I will be collecting workbooks this week and grading all the station work.
**Again, if your child was absent, it is up to them to complete anything they missed.
Due on Tuesday is the followup to the stations.  At the end of last week I gave them the format for writing a letter about their experience visiting Colonial Williamsburg.  We spent Wednesday completing the graphic organizer for the letter(on Google classroom).  Thursday they had time to work on the letter in class.  The letter includes a sketch of one location.  They were given the paper to complete this as well.
The final copy of the letter and the sketch are due on Tuesday.  All students should have someone at home look over their letter for mistakes, and make sure it follows the directions.  Please check with your child on this assignment.

Monday and Tuesday we are working on a computer program where each student will create a Colonial profile and post things about their life.  It is a good summary of all the pieces they read about.
**The chapter test will be on Friday.  We will begin preparing for it on Tuesday or Wednesday.  Look for the study guide to come home as homework.

6th Grade Literature:  We continue to work through our textbook on short stories that are biographies or historical fiction.  Last week we spent time in "Expert Groups".  Students read one story and taught it to another in order to answer the questions.  That assignment will be graded this week.  We also read "The Red Guards" and are completing a timeline for that story.  
This week's short story is one of my favorites.  It is "The Dog of Pompeii" and is historical fiction about the eruption of Mr. Vesuvius.  We will do a number of activities with this story.

I am checking in with this week with each student about their book they are reading.  Whenever they have completed the book they chose for the book report, they can begin the report.  They will need to make sure they have another book to read as well.  We are following the Readers Workshop format in class, and so students receive about 20 minutes to read independently each class, in addition to our class reading.

We will begin reading our class novel Number the Stars    next week!  We will read most of it as a read aloud in class, but there will be some home assignments.

5th and 6th Grade:  Do not forget the Book Report is due February 27/28(6th).  Directions for all of the report choices are posted on this blog under Literature and on Google Classroom.  Follow the directions exactly for the report style you choose!

Have a blessed week in the Lord,
Mrs. Brown

National Lutheran Schools Week

Welcome to National Lutheran Schools Week!  This will be a very fun and exciting week at CCLS.  However, we will maintain a normal class schedule and routine.

Please check out the assignments below.

5th Grade Language Arts:  Spelling:  Pretest on Monday, pages due and final test on Thursday.  We are working on pages 110-113.
Grammar:  We continue to work on pronouns.  We will take last week's quiz page 107 tomorrow.  Then on Tuesday we will work through pages 109-110, page 111 on Wednesday.  On Thursday Proofreading page 112 will be assigned on google classroom and due Friday.  Friday, we will take the quiz on page 113.

Literature:  We have begun a great unit on picture books by Chris Van Allsburg.  Students will be reading one book each day in class and responding to the questions posted on google classroom.  We will be working through the elements of fantasy and especially theme.
If students do not complete the questions during class time, they will need to complete them for homework each day.  Each reading has 4 questions.

**If your student is absent, they will need to find time to read the books they have missed and answer the questions.  I will list each of the books below we are using, but because they are picture books, I am not aware if they are on line or not.

Polar Express,  The Stranger,  The Wretched Stone, The Sweetest Fig, Just a Dream, Jumanji:  All written by Chris Van Allsburg.

5th Grade Social Studies:  Likewise for social studies, we are working through the Colonial America stations during class.  Each station represents one aspect of Colonial life.  Students read from the text, and answer questions at each station from the workbook.  Then each station has an activity to complete.  All but the games station has work to turn in for points.
**Absent students can complete the reading from the text and workbook pages at home, but will need to make up the station work in class.  I will leave the stations up all week for absent work to be completed.

After working through the stations we will be completing a formal writing about the experience.  As with all formal writing, 5th graders need someone to read over what they have written before it is turned in.  We will also be working with a great activity called "Fakebook" where they will create Colonial personality and fill out a profile for that person.  This program is in no way connected to "Facebook"

There will be a chapter 9 test but it will not be this week.

6th Grade LIterature:  We are working through some short biographies/autobiographies in class.  We have been reading from our Yellow text book.  This week we will finish biographies with the reading of "The Red Guards" about the Cultural Revolution in China.  We have completed story notes and questions for the first 2 sets of biographies.  Check for those grades on Educate this week.  "The Red Guards" story will have a short google classroom  assignment and a Timeline assignment for a grade.

We will then move into Historical Fiction.
 **Make sure students are reading their book report book.  They receive 15-20 minutes each class time to read.  We will begin our next novel at the beginning of February, so they should shoot to have their report book read by then.

Have a blessed week in the Lord!
Be diligent - Work hard!
Mrs. Brown

Week of January 17-20

Happy Snow Day!  I hope this finds each of you inside, safe and warm.
Here are some updates to end this week, and prepare for next week.

5th Grade Language Arts:
Spelling:  We Will have spelling the week of Jan. 17th.  We will begin the unit on Tuesday with the pretest and page assignment and take the final test on Friday.  We will be working on page 104-107.  Several students did not have spelling complete on Thursday, and have a 0 on Educate.  They will need to complete the pages and turn them in for a late grade.

Grammar: We will take Friday's quiz on Tuesday.  We will then begin the new skill pages on Wednesday with pages 103-104. Proofreading page 106 will still be assigned on Thursday, due Friday and the quiz on Friday.  We will continue to work on Pronouns.

Literature:  Weslandia Project is due on Tuesday!  Make sure to have it ready and at school.  The directions are on Google Classroom if you forget.
We will read Zathura from our Treasures book on Tuesday.  We will then begin a 5 day activity where we will be reading 5 Chris Van Allsburg picture books and focusing on the author.  We will be discussing aspects of Fantasy/Science fiction and theme. All the work for this unit will be done at school.  If students are absent they will need to make up reading the books they missed and filling out the response questions.

**All students should have their book report book chosen.  I am encouraging students to get those read during the next several weeks.  I will give them time in class every day to read.  As soon as they have finished reading the book, the book report can be started.  The directions for all 5 book report choices are posted on this blog under literature and on Google classroom.

5th Grade social studies:  We will take the Chapter 8 quiz on Tuesday.  Students cannot use their notes or books on the quiz, so make sure to go over the review information over the weekend.
Chapter 9 has us divide the classroom into Colonial stations.  We will travel between stations next week and experience what life was like in Colonial America.  Students will play Colonial games, write with ink and feather pens, see what church and school was like and make government decisions.
Again, all work will be done during class time.  Absent students will need to make up the stations missed.

6th Grade LIterature: We are currently working through Biographies in literature.  We are reading a story
about Matthew Henson from our textbook, and working through a story chart and questions.  This week we will use Expert Groups to read biographies on Harry Houdini and Helen Keller and teach the stories to each other.  All work will be on Google classroom.

**All but a few students have chosen their book report book.  I have enjoyed discussing with them what they are reading.  During these next few weeks as we work from our textbook, is a great time to get their book read.  They may start on the book report whenever they have finished their book.  The directions for all 5 choices of book report on posted on this blog and on Google classroom.

Several students did not turn in the final Hatchet test and have a 0 on Educate.  They are aware of this and were given a chance to ask for a new copy.

Blessings on the week ahead!
Mrs. Brown

Week of January 9-13

Welcome Back!!

Even though it is cold outside,we are excited to begin brand new units of study for third quarter.

Highlights for second quarter include finishing our group novels and moving into class novels.  Both Sign of the Beaver (5th) and Hatchet (6th) were great books, and we enjoyed the great discussions that came from them.  6th grade had a survival competition and winning presentations received a candy reward.
U.S. History took us into the beginning of the colonies and an in depth study of Jamestown and other early settlements.

Third quarter is my favorite quarter of study!!  6th grade will focus on Historical fiction and become immersed in a Project based learning unit.  5th grade will get into Fantasy, and science fiction with a wonderful class novel.  And U.S. History takes us into the Colonial period and leads us through the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Last week we spent some time taking a learning style inventory to determine each students' learning style.  We then discussed good ways to approach homework and studying based on that learning style.  I will be sending this information home at some point this quarter.  We set individual goals for third quarter as well.

This week...
**Look for information and the due date for Third quarter book report to come home.  This is the only book report we will do all year, and will be the large project for both Lit classes.  Students can read almost any book that is on their reading level.  I will be checking books by the end of the week.  We have spent some class time looking at book sites and even taking reading interest inventories to focus on books that will be enjoyable.

Students will have a choice between several different book reports.  We will go over all the choices and look at examples early this week.  I will then post the directions on this blog under Literature.  The choices are varied and hopefully students can find a report type that matches their learning style and interests.
** A great goal is to read the book within the next month while we are working on short stories in class, and then be able to work on the report as we move back into class novels.

5th grade Language Arts:  Spelling:  Third quarter spelling will not change. Third quarter words are posted on this blog. We will take the pretest on Monday and the pages are due Thursday along with the final test.  We are working on pages 98-101 this week.
Grammar:  Grammar as well will not change format.  We will continue to do 2 days of skills together in class.  Proofreading is assigned on Thursday, due on Friday, and the weekly assessment is Friday.  We will begin Pronouns this week on p.97.
         **Remember both the Spelling book and Grammar book are accessible on my blog.  You can print pages if your child forgets the book at school.

Literature:  To introduce Science Fiction and Fantasy as a genre, we will be reading 2 excellent stories form the Treasures book. There will be questions with those and an individual creative project all posted on Google classroom. We will then be moving into a unit on author Chris Van Allsburg and his picture books.  All of this will eventually lead us into reading The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  **Again I recommend students read their book report book now, before we begin the novel.  They will be given class time to read.

Social Studies:  We are working through Chapter 8 on Slavery.  We will be working through some class simulations this week on this subject.  There will be a short chapter quiz possibly at the end of the week.  I will let you know.

6th Grade LIterature: We have finished Hatchet and are finishing the movie as well.  Students were given the final test to take home before break, and the tests were due on Friday for Hieber and Monday for Caciano.   This will be the first 3rd quarter grade.  Unfortunately, several students already have a late grade for not turning it in on Friday.  Check Educate by the end of the week to make sure this test was turned in. It was take home and they were able to use the book.

      We will begin Historical Fiction.  We will read several stories from our yellow Lit textbook.  There will be assignments on Google Classroom for these stories.  Eventually this will lead us into the reading of Number the Stars and a large group project.  **Again I recommend students read their book report book now, before we begin the novel.  They will be getting time in class to read.

I am excited to begin third quarter, and spend more time on each student's individual interest and improvement in reading.
Have a blessed week!
Mrs. Brown