MrHowd.com

Spelling: None today due to Human Growth and Development class with Mr. Keilitz and Mrs. Alexander.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences of seven or more words each are due on Fridays.

Reading: None today due to the half day schedule.

Writing: Students worked on their novel project today. Each student has a daily word goal of 150-300 words. The novel is due Monday, March 28. Students have also been finishing up their Letter to the Editor persuasive writing piece that was started previously. Homework is to finish this letter for tomorrow.

Math: None today due to the half day schedule.

Science: Today was the second day of Human Growth and Development class.

Social Studies: We discussed the dilemma that faced West Africans of choosing to resist Slave Traders, revolting, or just trying to survive.

Lightning Larry Play:  The next practice is Tuesday, March 29, from 4-5 pm. The rest of the practices are dress rehearsals! Students, wear your costume! Performances ares March 31 at 9:30, 10:15 and 6:30 pm.

Behavior Update:

• 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:

• The Spring Book Fair is next week. Our time to browse and shop is Wednesday, March 23 at 9:50 am. You can also order online here!
• Our class is performing a play: The Legend of Lightning Larry! Practices are 4-5 pm on March 8, 9, 14, 17, 21, 29 and 30. Performances ares March 31 at 9:30, 10:15 and 6:30 pm.
• 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.

If you had your Parent Teacher Conference cancelled due to today’s snow day and would rather not reschedule, here’s how to still have your conference today:

1. At your previously scheduled conference time, call (810) 341-2112. We can conduct your conference over the phone. Or,
2. Skype with me. Just search chrishowd on Skype and add me to your contact list. Then, at your scheduled conference time, start an audio or video chat. Or,
3. Start a Google voice or video chat. Go here to set up this free service: https://www.google.com/chat/video. Then, have your student login to their Gmail account at mail.mrhowd.com. At your scheduled conference time, just click my name in the chat window to start your conference.
4. There are also a few openings left for tomorrow’s conferences. Go to mrhowd.com/conferences to see the schedule or sign up.

Spelling: None today due to Human Growth and Development class with Mr. Keilitz and Mrs. Alexander.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences of seven or more words each are due on Fridays.

Reading: We practiced reading our play scripts with speed, tone and volume.

Writing: Students worked on their novel project today. Each student has a daily word goal of 150-300 words. The novel is due Monday, March 28. See below for more details. Students should be drafting at this point.

Novel Writing Project
The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-4,500 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

• We will start this project in class on March 7 and it will be due on March 28; however, students can begin early.
• This is our final fiction project; the novel can be any type of fiction story (mystery, science fiction, fantasy, realistic, historical, etc.)
• We will be working in the computer lab most days, using docs.mrhowd.com to type the novel. Students can also work on this from any internet-connected computer outside of school.
• Students might want to start thinking now about how they will use a computer afterschool if they need to, and if they will go to the library, use a home computer, or use a friend or family member’s computer.
• If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
• A big portion of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: Students completed a MiniQuiz today about equivalent fractions.

Science: Today was the first day of Human Growth and Development class.

Social Studies: Students learned about another dilemma that faced West Africans: resist Slave Traders on the boat voyage to the New World, try to rebel, or just try to survive. Homework is to finish Notebook p. 47.

Lightning Larry Play:  We practiced reading and acting out our scripts today! We also performed in front of Mrs. Moul’s class to practice being loud enough for an audience. The next practice is Tuesday, March 29, from 4-5 pm. The rest of the practices are dress rehearsals! Students, wear your costume! The performance is March 31 at 6:30 pm.

Behavior Update:

• 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:

• The Spring Book Fair is next week. Our time to browse and shop is Wednesday, March 23 at 9:50 am. You can also order online here!
• Our class is performing a play: The Legend of Lightning Larry! Practices are 4-5 pm on March 8, 9, 14, 17, 21, 29 and 30. The performance is scheduled for March 31 at 6:30 pm.
• Sign up for Spring Parent Teacher Conferences or check your time 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.

Spelling: We reviewed there/their/they’re homophones today. Homophones will be the skill tested on the next spelling test.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences of seven or more words each are due on Fridays.

Reading: Today was a reading day in Literature Circles.

Writing: Students worked on their novel project today. Each student has a daily word goal of 150-300 words. The novel is due Monday, March 28. See below for more details. Students should be drafting at this point.

Novel Writing Project
The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-4,500 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

• We will start this project in class on March 7 and it will be due on March 28; however, students can begin early.
• This is our final fiction project; the novel can be any type of fiction story (mystery, science fiction, fantasy, realistic, historical, etc.)
• We will be working in the computer lab most days, using docs.mrhowd.com to type the novel. Students can also work on this from any internet-connected computer outside of school.
• Students might want to start thinking now about how they will use a computer afterschool if they need to, and if they will go to the library, use a home computer, or use a friend or family member’s computer.
• If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
• A big portion of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: We practiced converting between fractions, decimals and percents. Homework is to finish Journal pp. 149-150.

Science: Students worked on an experiment to think about car safety today. Homework is to finish analysis questions 1 and 2 on p. 6.

Social Studies: Students learned about a dilemma that faced West Africans: trade people for guns to use for defense, or do not trade people as slaves and have weak defenses. Homework is to finish Notebook p. 46.

Lightning Larry Play:  We practiced reading and acting out our scripts today. Several students and parents also helped to work on the set! The next practice is Tuesday, March 29, from 4-5 pm. The rest of the practices are dress rehearsals! Students, wear your costume! The performance is March 31 at 6:30 pm.

Behavior Update:

• 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:

• The Spring Book Fair is next week. Our time to browse and shop is Wednesday, March 23 at 9:50 am. You can also order online here!
• Our class is performing a play: The Legend of Lightning Larry! Practices are 4-5 pm on March 8, 9, 14, 17, 21, 29 and 30. The performance is scheduled for March 31 at 6:30 pm.
• Sign up for Spring Parent Teacher Conferences or check your time 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.

Spelling: We continued to review commonly confused words today.

Cursive: Ten cursive sentences of seven or more words each are due on Fridays.

Reading: We practiced reading our reader’s theatre play script with fluent speed, tone and volume.

Writing: Students worked on their novel project today. Each student has a daily word goal of 150-300 words. The novel is due Monday, March 28. See below for more details. Students should be drafting at this point.

Novel Writing Project
The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-4,500 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

• We will start this project in class on March 7 and it will be due on March 28; however, students can begin early.
• This is our final fiction project; the novel can be any type of fiction story (mystery, science fiction, fantasy, realistic, historical, etc.)
• We will be working in the computer lab most days, using docs.mrhowd.com to type the novel. Students can also work on this from any internet-connected computer outside of school.
• Students might want to start thinking now about how they will use a computer afterschool if they need to, and if they will go to the library, use a home computer, or use a friend or family member’s computer.
• If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
• A big portion of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: None today due to STAR Friday.

Science: We started a new unit on force and motion today. We talked about what features might make a car safe to drive. Next week, students will think about how various features of a vehicle affect its safety.

Social Studies: We started to learn about the dilemmas that faced West Africans during the Slave Trade.

Lightning Larry Play:  We practiced reading and acting out our scripts today. The next practice is Monday, March 21, from 4-5 pm. There will also be set construction from 5-6 pm on Monday. Monday’s practice is a dress rehearsal! Students, wear your costume! Homework is to continue looking for a costume to wear in the play. The performance is March 31 at 6:30 pm.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 0
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 1

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at SnapGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with SnapGrades?

Notes:

• The Spring Book Fair is next week. Our time to browse and shop is Wednesday, March 23 at 9:50 am. You can also order online here!
• Our class is performing a play: The Legend of Lightning Larry! Practices are 4-5 pm on March 8, 9, 14, 17, 21, 29 and 30. The performance is scheduled for March 31 at 10:00 am and 6:30 pm. Family members are invited to help!
• Sign up for Spring Parent Teacher Conferences or check your time 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.