Archive for March, 2013

Class activities for Friday, March 15

Friday, March 15th, 2013

***Wearin’ o’ the Green pictures here***

Spelling: None today.

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

Reading: None today.

Writing: Students worked on drafting for their fiction novel project today. The novel is due Tuesday, March 26. Each student has their own word count goal to reach during this project. See this previous post for more details. See the chart to the right to see how the class is progressing toward 100% completion of each word count goal.

Math: None today due to the half day schedule.

Science: Today was the final human growth and develop session. We also started and experiment about testing human variation with catching one handed and two handed.

Social Studies: None today due to the half day schedule.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 0
  • Orange magnets0
  • Red magnets0
  • STAR Awards1
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 8): 2

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Notes:

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 6th grade.

Class activities for Thursday, March 14

Thursday, March 14th, 2013

Spelling: None today.

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

Reading: We practiced for our class play today.

Writing: Students worked on drafting for their fiction novel project today. The novel is due Tuesday, March 26. See this previous post for more details.

Math: None today due to the half day schedule.

Science: Today was the second human growth and develop session.

Social Studies: None today due to the half day schedule.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 0
  • Orange magnets0
  • Red magnets0
  • STAR Awards2
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 8): 2

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Notes:

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 6th grade.

Class activities for Wednesday, March 13

Wednesday, March 13th, 2013

Spelling: None today.

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

Reading: None today due to the half day schedule.

Writing: None today due to the half day schedule.

Novel Writing Project 2013

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 1,500-3,500 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:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • We will start this project in class on February 27 and it will be due on March 26; 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 after school 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.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: None today due to the half day schedule.

Science: Students completed a MiniQuiz about qualitative and quantitative data. Today was also the first human growth and develop session.

Social Studies: We learned about the dilemma slaves faced while in the Americas: run away, work slowly, or work as hard as they could. Homework is to finish notebook p. 48.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 1
  • Orange magnets0
  • Red magnets0
  • STAR Awards4
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 8): 2

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Notes:

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 6th grade.

Class activities for Tuesday, March 12

Tuesday, March 12th, 2013

Spelling: We practiced spelling words containing the /ou/ spelling patterns of ou and ow. This will be the skill test on this week’s spelling test.

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

Reading: We rehearsed our class play today.

Writing: Students worked on drafting for their fiction novel project today. During this project, each student has a daily word goal of 150-300 words. The novel is due Tuesday, March 26. See below for more details. Students should be drafting at this point. See below for more details.

Novel Writing Project 2013

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 1,500-3,500 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:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • We will start this project in class on February 27 and it will be due on March 26; 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 after school 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.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: We practiced drawing pictures and writing equations to help solve number stories. Homework is Journal P9-10.

Science: None today due to our math skills practice time.

Social Studies: None today due to our technology time.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 1
  • Orange magnets0
  • Red magnets0
  • STAR Awards3
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 8): 1

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Notes:

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 6th grade.

Class activities for Monday, March 11

Monday, March 11th, 2013

Spelling: We practiced easily confused words, such as the following:

  • People came from all around to play a round of golf.
  • I ran into the den to tune in to channel six on TV.

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

Reading: We rehearsed our class play today.

Writing: Students worked on drafting for their fiction novel project today. During this project, each student has a daily word goal of 150-300 words. The novel is due Tuesday, March 26. See below for more details. Students should be drafting at this point. See below for more details.

Novel Writing Project 2013

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 1,500-3,500 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:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • We will start this project in class on February 27 and it will be due on March 26; 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 after school 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.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: We practiced adding and subtracting fractions today. Homework is Journal P9-9.

Science: None today due to our math skills practice time.

Social Studies: None today due to our technology time.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 0
  • Orange magnets0
  • Red magnets0
  • STAR Awards6
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 8): 0

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Notes:

Our Mission:

All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 6th grade.