MrHowd.com

Spelling: We practiced spelling words that contain the ie or ei pattern. There is usually no rule or trick that works with all these words; the best way to spell them is to use your spelling conscience to see if they look correct, and write the word another way if it doesn’t.

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

Reading: Today was a reading skills practice day using MobyMax. We also reviewed the results of our latest STAR Reading test:

As you can see, our overall trend for the last two years is positive. This year, we’ve increased our average reading level from 4.7 to 5.3. Yet, our large drop on the last STAR test can be seen above. We still have time to reach our goal, and students stated today that they want to continue working to reach it. Reading 20 minutes a night at home and reading thoughtfully in school will help us.

Writing: Students completed revising conferences today.

Our next writing project is a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. Students will write a fiction adventure story with choices that the reader can make. Each choice can change how the story turns out. Students will publish their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. See below for more details.

This project is due Friday, January 16. Students should be finished with their draft and revising at this point.

Choose Your Own Adventure Resources

• Find a complete list of resources here.

Math: We practiced dividing multiples of tens by using mental math tricks. For example, to divide 250 / 50, the problem can be written as 25 tens / 5 tens. Written this way, it’s easier to see that this problem is like 25 / 5, so 250 / 50 = 5. Here are some division skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Division with remainders
• Division by 2 digits

Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes or more using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: Students completed a MiniQuiz today about activities 2-4.

Social Studies: We learned about the lost colony of Roanoke and started to learn about Jamestown. Homework is to finish notebook p. 34.

Notes:

• The second marking period ends Friday, January 16. Log in to StudentView to look at recent grades and check for missing assignments.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, report cards, behavior, assignments, and attendance online.

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

Spelling: We practiced spelling homophone pairs today. Some examples:

• peace/piece
• heel/heal
• feet/feat

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

Reading: Students completed a STAR Reading test today.

Writing: Students continued to revise their adventure story today.

Our next writing project is a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. Students will write a fiction adventure story with choices that the reader can make. Each choice can change how the story turns out. Students will publish their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. See below for more details.

This project is due Friday, January 16. Students should be finishing their draft this weekend and ready to revise next week.

Choose Your Own Adventure Resources

• Find a complete list of resources here.

Math: We reviewed the division partner math tests today. Here are some division skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Division with remainders
• Division by 2 digits

Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes or more using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: Students completed an activity to test our variation with sensitivity to touch. Homework is to finish analysis questions 1-4 on p. 24. There will also be a MiniQuiz tomorrow about activities 2-4.

Social Studies: We started to learn about the first English settlements in America and the hardships they faced.

Notes:

• The second marking period ends Friday, January 16. Log in to StudentView to look at recent grades and check for missing assignments.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, report cards, behavior, assignments, and attendance online.

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

Spelling: None today.

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

Reading: None today due to a middle school course scheduling assembly. Your student should be bringing home a course request sheet with details. The sheet is due back by February 13.

Writing: Students continued to draft and revise their adventure story today.

Our next writing project is a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. Students will write a fiction adventure story with choices that the reader can make. Each choice can change how the story turns out. Students will publish their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. See below for more details.

This project is due Friday, January 16. Students should be finishing their draft this weekend and ready to revise next week.

Choose Your Own Adventure Resources

• See examples of Choose Your Own Adventure fiction websites here and here.
• Here are some good student examples:
  • William’s Roanoke Adventure
  • Abel’s Aztec Terror
  • Katie’s Lost Statue hunt
  • Nancy’s Under Water Adventure!
• Look at an Underground Railroad Choose Your Own Adventure website.
• Look through the Underground Railroad Interactive History Adventure book (hint: search for “the end” to see some of the endings of the book).
• Look at some examples of different kinds of endings in a Choose Your Own Adventure Story.
• View the titles of all the Choose Your Own Adventure books to get adventure topic ideas.
• Play Zork, a text-based computer game. Here is a list of commands and directions. Here is a map of the dungeon if you get stuck or lost.
• Find a complete list of resources here.

Math: Students worked on partner math tests today about division. Here are some division skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Division with remainders
• Division by 2 digits

Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes or more using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: None today due to our reading skills practice time. We used that time for extra writing today.

Social Studies: We finished learning about how the Columbian Exchange brought new goods and animals between the New World and the Old World.

Notes:

• The second marking period ends next Friday, January 16. Log in to StudentView to look at recent grades and check for missing assignments.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, report cards, behavior, assignments, and attendance online.

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

Spelling: Today was our class spelling bee. Congratulations to Mwuena, Kyle, and Peyton for advancing to the school spelling bee!

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

Reading: Four groups of students performed Literature Circles plays to practice reading fluency.

Writing: None today due to extra time with Literature Circles. We’ll work extra on writing tomorrow.

Our next writing project is a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. Students will write a fiction adventure story with choices that the reader can make. Each choice can change how the story turns out. Students will publish their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. See below for more details.

This project is due Friday, January 16. Students should be working on their draft now.

Choose Your Own Adventure Resources

• See examples of Choose Your Own Adventure fiction websites here and here.
• Here are some good student examples:
  • William’s Roanoke Adventure
  • Abel’s Aztec Terror
  • Katie’s Lost Statue hunt
  • Nancy’s Under Water Adventure!
• Look at an Underground Railroad Choose Your Own Adventure website.
• Look through the Underground Railroad Interactive History Adventure book (hint: search for “the end” to see some of the endings of the book).
• Look at some examples of different kinds of endings in a Choose Your Own Adventure Story.
• View the titles of all the Choose Your Own Adventure books to get adventure topic ideas.
• Play Zork, a text-based computer game. Here is a list of commands and directions. Here is a map of the dungeon if you get stuck or lost.
• Find a complete list of resources here.

Math: Students started working on partner math tests today about division. Here are some division skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Division with remainders
• Division by 2 digits

Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes or more using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: We reviewed the analysis questions from activity 4 about how scientists plan and test medicines scientifically, using a placebo and control group to see if the medicine is safe and effective.

Social Studies: None today due to our class spelling bee.

Notes:

• The second marking period ends next Friday, January 16. Log in to StudentView to look at recent grades and check for missing assignments.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, report cards, behavior, assignments, and attendance online.

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

Spelling: None today.

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

Reading: Two groups of students performed Literature Circles plays to practice reading fluency.

Writing: Students continued to draft their adventure story today. We also looked at some sample endings and noticed that the endings make the reader infer what is happening (“the last thing you see is the sharks jaws moving closer to you”).

Our next writing project is a Choose Your Own Adventure fiction gamebook. Students will write a fiction adventure story with choices that the reader can make. Each choice can change how the story turns out. Students will publish their adventure as a website at sites.mrhowd.com. See below for more details.

This project is due Friday, January 16. Students should be working on their draft now.

Choose Your Own Adventure Resources

• See examples of Choose Your Own Adventure fiction websites here and here.
• Here are some good student examples:
  • William’s Roanoke Adventure
  • Abel’s Aztec Terror
  • Katie’s Lost Statue hunt
  • Nancy’s Under Water Adventure!
• Look at an Underground Railroad Choose Your Own Adventure website.
• Look through the Underground Railroad Interactive History Adventure book (hint: search for “the end” to see some of the endings of the book).
• Look at some examples of different kinds of endings in a Choose Your Own Adventure Story.
• View the titles of all the Choose Your Own Adventure books to get adventure topic ideas.
• Play Zork, a text-based computer game. Here is a list of commands and directions. Here is a map of the dungeon if you get stuck or lost.
• Find a complete list of resources here.

Math: We practiced dividing today when a zero would be in the quotient. Here are some division skills we’ve been working on lately:

• Division with remainders
• Division by 2 digits

Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes or more using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: We finished reading about how scientists plan and test medicines scientifically, using a placebo and control group to see if the medicine is safe and effective. Homework is to finish analysis questions 1-6 on pp. 19-21 in the text.

Social Studies: None today due to our reading skills and AR practice time. Next Friday is the deadline for each student to reach their AR goal; 14 students have reached their goal so far. You can check on your students progress by looking in StudentView.

Notes:

• The second marking period ends next Friday, January 16. Log in to StudentView to look at recent grades and check for missing assignments.
• Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, report cards, behavior, assignments, and attendance online.

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