Google accounts

Yesterday our students were given BK Google Apps accounts. We will use these accounts, for the writing process. Students learned yesterday how to open a new document, and share with each other and me. Assignments will be given using Google Docs. All students will have access to their accounts at school, so don't worry if you do not have the internet at home. Although the account names are email addresses, students do not use an actual email account. If you have any questions about how we will be using these accounts, please give me a call anytime!

11-23-15

Homework:
Read 20 minutes: Your next quiz is due on Monday
Tomorrow is the lip sync contest!

11-20-15

Well, here's our first snowstorm of the year, and it's a big one!  Things to do over the weekend....
*Study your vocabulary words for Monday's test
*Bram's homeroom didn't get their spelling test done due to the dismissal, so study
*All three classes can restudy for their History test. Ms. Bram is planning on letting them look the tests over on Monday, since our focus was on SNOW today more than anything else.
*Work on late work.  There were a lot of kids with late work today.  Check for spelling rewrites, spelling word sort, and vocabulary sentences.  They were due over the last three days, and several students are missing one of them.
*Read: nothing better than curling up on a snow day and reading a good book

11-19-15

Study your spelling for tomorrow's test: Paul Revere words

And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? Spelling Words
theater actor mirror powder
humor anger banner pillar
major thunder flavor finger
mayor polar clover burglar
tractor matter lunar quarter

Students who have a spelling test tomorrow, also have their word sorting worksheet to complete.

Challenge words: oyster, clamor, tremor, scholar, chamber

Start studying for Monday's vocabulary test
1. cargo - the freight carried by a ship or other vehicle.
2. colonies - territories ruled by or belonging to another country.
3. express - fast, direct, and often nonstop.
4. liberty - freedom from the control of others.
5. oppose - to be against something or someone.
6. Patriot - a colonist who was against British rule in the time of the Revolutionary War.
7. revolutionary - connected with complete change.
8. sentries - guards who are posted at a spot to keep watch.
9. taxes - monies that people must pay in order to support a government.
10. ewers - large, wide-mouthed pitchers or jugs.
11. volley - many shots fired at the same time.
12. foundry - a place in which metals are cast and molded.

READ

Thursday computer lab

https://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-7/use-dictionary-definitions

https://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-5/use-thesaurus-entries

https://www.ixl.com/ela/grade-7/determine-the-meaning-of-words-using-synonyms-in-context

http://www.tv411.org/reading/understanding-what-you-read/strategies-better-reading/activity/1/1

http://www.professorgarfield.org/ReadingRing/Strips/strips.html

http://www.tv411.org/reading/understanding-what-you-read/truth-advertising/activity/2/1

http://www.quia.com/ba/41785.html

http://www.philtulga.com/Riddles.html

http://mrnussbaum.com/deluxe-paralaughs/

http://mrnussbaum.com/teacher-play/

http://mrnussbaum.com/xsurgeons-play

11-18-15

Homework:
Spelling rewrites
Vocabulary sentences
Read!!!

11-17

Tomorrow is an early out. Watch the weather, it is supposed to start getting cold this week. Remember to send appropriate outdoor clothing for recess.

Homework tonight:
Read 20 minutes
Begin studying your spelling and vocabulary for the Paul Revere story.
Spelling test on Friday, vocabulary test next Monday.

11-16-15

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
Make sure your late work is caught up!

Main idea games

http://www.roomrecess.com/pages/MainIdea.html

http://www.pspb.org/blueribbon/games/burger/burger.html

http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/h/mainideap2.cfm

https://www.superteachertools.us/jeopardyx/jeopardy-review-game-from-com.php?gamefile=#.VkokynarTow

11-15-15

We are now beginning our third theme.  We are going to be using our reading skills to learn about the revolutionary war.  We will be reading fiction and nonfiction stories during this theme.

In spelling this week:
Monday: New words (Paul Revere)
Tuesday: Pretest (Pass the pretest, you only have challenge words for Friday)
Wednesday: Rewrites and spelling analogies
Thursday: Word sort
Friday: Test

In vocabulary this week:
Monday: Complete the vocab part of the BIG end of theme 2 test
Tuesday: New words
Wednesday: Using your words in a sentence
Thursday: Synonyms
Friday: Spelling and vocabulary baseball

In reading this week:
We'll be reading And Then What Paul Revere?  We'll be continuing with our main idea unit. Author's viewpoint, Fact and Opinion, and timelines will also be practiced. Our quiz over this story will be on Friday.

In language this week: Conjunctions, diagramming sentences, and using commas to connect sentences.

RC quiz #5 due Monday
There was no homework this weekend.

11-12-15

What a great day...we accomplished so much today. The kids worked hard today reviewing and practicing several skills during our time together.  I separated the kids into groups of 4, and had the room set up in learning centers.  The students spent 15 minutes on each center.  See the pictures below for an explanation of each center.

In this center, students used our new Power Pens to work on their comprehension skills. They read a story on the card, and then flipped the cards over. Using the power pens, they answered questions.  If they answered correctly, the pen light becomes green.

 In this center, the students practiced their weekly vocabulary cards.  One student read the definition, while the rest of the group wrote their answer on their individual whiteboards.

 In this center, students used an IPAD, Surface, and laptop to play homophone games in preparation for tomorrow's quiz.

 This is a fluency center.  The students read a passage and used a timer to read for one minute.  They then reread to see if they could increase their words per minute.  This center is leveled, so all students can practice at their level.

Our final center was to practice main ideas.  It is called Main Idea Shopping.  The kids loved practicing in this fun filled way.

Homework tonight:
read 20 minutes
study for homophone quiz and vocabulary review quiz (TOMORROW)
any late work

11-11-15

Proud, proud, proud...that is the only word I can use to describe my students today.  We had the Veteran's Day assembly today, and our kids showed so much Bronco Pride, I'm glowing.  They were quiet and respectful and sang amazingly!

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
Vocab review test Friday
Homophone spelling test Friday

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
Homophone word puzzle
Bram and Haugen's group: illustrations

Ask your child to do a retelling of the Edmund Fitzgerald.  Today is the 40th anniversary of the sinking of this ship.


Study for your homophones test on Friday.
http://www.spellingcity.com/WordORama-spelling-game.html?listId=7294806
http://www.lauriekane.com/games/homophones.html 

Words for the review vocabulary test on Friday

dismayed
excitement
immobile
terrified
futile
engulfed
debut
rehearsal
launches

specialist
cinders
crust
lava
artistic
audience
judges
required
elite
professional
cautious

discomfort
debris
fault
impact
jolt
isolated
ominous
collide
jagged
rotate
severe
sizzling

occupation

11-9-15

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
Story chart over all of the last theme
Study all of your vocabulary words up to this point.  There will be a review quiz on Friday over all of them!

Verb test results: Our verb tests will be coming home tomorrow.  I was very impressed with our overall scores.  Keep up the good work.

Spelling: This week will be a continuation of last week's homophones, homographs, and homonyms.  Our test will be on Friday...keep working on the two, too, to and the there's...etc...

This week will be the end of the 2nd theme.  Our end of the theme test is nothing the kids can study for, it's just a check to see if they maintained the knowledge we've gained during the latest theme.

11-5-15

Homework:
to, too, two worksheet
verb worksheet
Verb test tomorrow!
Read 20 minutes


I will be gone tomorrow, so all assignments need to be ready to be turned in on Monday, not tomorrow!

Thursday's lab work

Homograph game

Homonym game

Homophone games

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary-games/homophones-games/homophones.html

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary-games/homophones-games/pick-the-homophones.html

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary-games/homophones-games/homophones-word-o-rama.html

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary-games/homophones-games/homophone-definitions.html

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/vocabulary-games/homophones-games/homophones-game.html

http://www.lauriekane.com/games/homophones.html

Verb games:
http://www.abcya.com/nouns_and_verbs.htm
http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/grammar/verbs.htm
http://www.softschools.com/language_arts/grammar/verb/balloon_game/

11-4-15

Only homework for today...
Study for tomorrow's vocabulary and RC test (Mae Jemison story)
Read 20 minutes

11-3-15

Homework:
Read 20 minutes
3 little pigs: there, they're, their worksheet
     Use this video if you need a reminder about them

Upcoming quizzes:
Verb test Friday
Mae Jemison RC test Thursday
Vocabulary test Thursday

Weight on other planets

http://www.exploratorium.edu/ronh/weight/

11-2-15

Homework tonight:
Read 20 minutes
Verb worksheet (front and back)
Verb extra credit crossword, due Friday

Week of November 1

We'll be using our fluency skills, that we practiced last week, to read books to the lower elementary kids this week.  We've learned several ways to increase our fluency: pace, emotion, punctuation, phrasing, and rereading.

This week we'll be using our spelling time to work on homophones, homonyms, and homographs.

The specific words that we'll be studying are:
accept, except, to, two, too, they're, their, there, were, we're, no, know, allowed, aloud, aisle, isle, I'll,
patients, patience, who's, whose, your, you're, clothes, close, weather, and whether

We'll continue studying the Mae Jemison vocabulary words, with a test on Thursday.

In reading, we'll be reading Mae Jemison, Space Scientist, with the RC quiz over it on Thursday.  The skill this week and next is Main idea and details.

In grammar, we'll continue our search through verbs.  Our quiz will be Friday over verb tenses, action vs. being verbs, and main and helping verbs.

RC quiz #4 is due tomorrow!