February 15th, 2011
Class activities for Tuesday, February 15
Spelling: We reviewed homophones with an ie or ei spelling pattern: feint/faint, rein/rain, piece/peace. The McGrath Spelling Bee is on February 16. Here are some spelling bee resources to get ready or have your own bee at home!
- Spelling Bee practice lists and more
- Interactives Spelling Bee (spelling words in a story)
- Spelling Bee the Game (just like a real spelling bee!)
- BigIQKids.com Online Spelling Bee (play against other players)
- VisualThesaurus Spelling Bee (hard words!)
Cursive: Ten cursive sentences of seven or more words each are due on Fridays.
Reading: Today was a discussion day in Literature Circles.
Writing: We started a new Letter to the Editor persuasive writing project today. Students will be asked to select a public policy issue and make an argument for or against it. Students in fourth grade typically choose a local issue; fifth graders will be asked to select a national issue. Here are a few websites showing public policy issues:
- ProCon.org – Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues
- Public Agenda for Citizens: Understanding the Issues
- Student Voices-News and Discussion on Current Events and Politics
- PollingReport.com Issues
This week, we will be reviewing core democratic values of our country. Students can also start to consider which public policy issue they would like to write about.
Here’s an overview of this persuasive letter project, and here’s a checklist to help with writing the letter. This piece will be due March 4.
Math: None today due to extra time with writing.
Science: We collected class data about our previous experiment from last week. Homework is to finish Analysis p. 40.
Social Studies: We discussed common controversial public policy issues in the United States and discussed which might be suitable topics of the persuasive letter project in writing.
- Yellow magnets: 0
- Orange magnets: 0
- Red magnets: 0
- STAR Awards: 0
- Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 0
Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at SnapGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with SnapGrades?
Notes:
- Middle School Course Selection Forms are due Thursday, February 17 or earlier.
- Sign up for Spring Parent Teacher Conferences at mrhowd.com/conferences
- View or edit the spring “Paper and Coffee” juice volunteer list.
- View our class calendar.
- Check grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.
Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 6th grade.
