I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend! Well, we made it half way through the year already! It's hard to believe that as each day passes the students are closer to being 5th graders.
This week we will be starting our review for our first of several PARCC tests on February 25th. We will be reviewing all standards taught so far this year. In addition to this, we will also be learning key strategies to help us show what we know on the state test using the computer, since this is the first year the tests are all digital.
This week, we will be looking at historical fiction! We will be investigating what are the differences that a text reveals to the reader if it is written as a firsthand account versus a secondhand account. We will also be practicing summarizing and looking at domain specific vocabulary words.
Another big skill we will begin to really focus on this week is the written response in an essay form. We will be practicing at least one a week using google docs to write our responses.
In grammar we will be practicing progressive verb tense over the next two weeks.
Finally- there will not be a spelling test over the vocabulary words this week. The vocabulary words for flocabulary are all testing vocabulary words. We will be studying 2-3 of these each day to help us understand what they mean if they are present in a question so that we understand what we are being asked to do. This test will be on Friday January 30th.
There will be a reading log due on January 23rd. Please remind students that this type of thinking while we are reading is vital to helping them grow as readers!
Book Tweets- CLICK HERE FOR THE PARENT LETTER regarding 3rd Quarter Book Tweets! For third quarter, the students will be responsible for completing 4 book tweets (due to the heavy test load). However, the students will need to put forth their best effort in order to earn full credit. We will be talking about word choice and how with using "Twitter" in the real world, you are confined to the number of characters to really get your point across. We will look at example book tweets and write a few in class to practice. Each student will be given a "Book Tweet Tracking Sheet". On this sheet, the students will keep track of the book they have chosen to read, they will write their "first draft" of their tweet that they have tested using the online character counter. This tracking sheet will need to be approved BEFORE the student completes their final draft of their book tweet using the tweet papers. This type of consolidated writing will help the students be aware of their word choice and voice in their writing to help get their point across, both of which are vital pieces to continue to practice as we develop as writers. The book tweet paper for this quarter (as it has changed from the previous two quarters) and the book tweet tracking sheet can be found under the language arts links page and are also linked here: tracking sheet book tweet template. All students will have this in their binders as well.
Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Dooley
This week we will be starting our review for our first of several PARCC tests on February 25th. We will be reviewing all standards taught so far this year. In addition to this, we will also be learning key strategies to help us show what we know on the state test using the computer, since this is the first year the tests are all digital.
This week, we will be looking at historical fiction! We will be investigating what are the differences that a text reveals to the reader if it is written as a firsthand account versus a secondhand account. We will also be practicing summarizing and looking at domain specific vocabulary words.
Another big skill we will begin to really focus on this week is the written response in an essay form. We will be practicing at least one a week using google docs to write our responses.
In grammar we will be practicing progressive verb tense over the next two weeks.
Finally- there will not be a spelling test over the vocabulary words this week. The vocabulary words for flocabulary are all testing vocabulary words. We will be studying 2-3 of these each day to help us understand what they mean if they are present in a question so that we understand what we are being asked to do. This test will be on Friday January 30th.
There will be a reading log due on January 23rd. Please remind students that this type of thinking while we are reading is vital to helping them grow as readers!
Book Tweets- CLICK HERE FOR THE PARENT LETTER regarding 3rd Quarter Book Tweets! For third quarter, the students will be responsible for completing 4 book tweets (due to the heavy test load). However, the students will need to put forth their best effort in order to earn full credit. We will be talking about word choice and how with using "Twitter" in the real world, you are confined to the number of characters to really get your point across. We will look at example book tweets and write a few in class to practice. Each student will be given a "Book Tweet Tracking Sheet". On this sheet, the students will keep track of the book they have chosen to read, they will write their "first draft" of their tweet that they have tested using the online character counter. This tracking sheet will need to be approved BEFORE the student completes their final draft of their book tweet using the tweet papers. This type of consolidated writing will help the students be aware of their word choice and voice in their writing to help get their point across, both of which are vital pieces to continue to practice as we develop as writers. The book tweet paper for this quarter (as it has changed from the previous two quarters) and the book tweet tracking sheet can be found under the language arts links page and are also linked here: tracking sheet book tweet template. All students will have this in their binders as well.
Have a wonderful week!
Mrs. Dooley