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Spelling: None today.

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

Reading: Literature Circles groups worked on projects to share their books with the class.

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

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 reviewed adding fractions and making equivalent fractions using fraction stick diagrams. Homework is to finish Journal pp. 136-138.

Science: Groups considered proposals for clinical trials and evaluated if the studies were worth being funded.

Social Studies: Students read about American Colonies and worked on Reading Notes 7.

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:

• 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 (tentative right now). 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 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: None today.

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

Reading: The class received their latest STAR Reading Level. Our class average reading level improved this month after a few months of no progress. The class also auditioned for parts in our class play. See below for more details.

Writing: Students were given their word count goals for their final piece of writing, a fiction novel. Each student has a daily word goal of 150-300 words. The novel is due Monday, March 28.

Here is more about this project:

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: None today due to art.

Social Studies: Students performed their American Colony sales presentations today.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 2
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 6

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

Notes:

• 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 (tentative right now). 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 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 spelled words with the /ul/ spelling pattern: le, el, al, ul.

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

Reading: Literature Circles groups worked on creating a project to share their book with the class.

Writing: We discussed the final fiction writing project that will start next week. Today, students spent some time prewriting about the characters, plot and settings of their fiction piece.

Math: We reviewed ordering fractions today and worked on using fraction sticks to compare, add and subtract fractions. Homework is to finish Journal pp. 133-135.

Science: We reviewed the student-designed experiments completed earlier this week.

Social Studies: None today due to extra time with writing.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 1
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 4

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

Notes:

• 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.

Spelling: We continued to practice the /er/ word ending by solving some analogies. For example, pastor:preacher::writer:author.

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

Reading: Literature Circles groups started planning a project to share their book with the class.

Writing: Students worked on continuing to build their arguments of their persuasive letter. They also completed a prewriting conference to make sure that their letters had a strong argument.

The Letter to the Editor persuasive writing project will be due March 7. Students were asked to select a public policy issue and make an argument for or against it. Here’s an overview of this persuasive letter project, and here’s a checklist to help with writing the letter.

Math: We reviewed ordering fractions today. Homework is to finish Journal pp. 131-132.

Science: None today due to library.

Social Studies: Students worked in their groups to design a billboard and write a sales presentation about their selected American Colony.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 0
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 3

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

Notes:

• 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.

Spelling: We reviewed suffixes meaning “one who.” The words painter, sailor and beggar show three spelling patterns for this suffix.

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

Reading: Today was the final discussion day in Literature Circles.

Writing: Students worked on continuing to build their arguments of their persuasive letter.

The Letter to the Editor persuasive writing project will be due March 7. Students were asked to select a public policy issue and make an argument for or against it. Here’s an overview of this persuasive letter project, and here’s a checklist to help with writing the letter.

Math: Students completed a Math MiniQuiz today.

Science: Today students conducted experiments designed by others in the class. Students then collected all the data from their experiment and organized it into a table. Homework is to finish completing the partner data table and the analysis on p. 41.

Social Studies: We discussed core democratic values and constitutional rights, especially how to decide when people disagree on their rights.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 2
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 3

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

Notes:

• 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.