Happy Halloween!

I guess a lot of students thought the ghosts and goblins were coming out today because we 9 students absent from 502 and 4 absent from 501.  I cannot stress to you enough that the only way to get an education is to be at school.

School starts at 8:00AM!

School ends at 2:20PM!

Please make every effort to arrive before 8AM and to be here all day.  Appointments should be made after 2:20 if possible.  Remember, lunch is at 12:30.  If you must remove your child from school, that is a good time to do it.  Core classes are from 8:20-12:30.

• Literacy Block:
• Today was lesson 1A.18, the last lesson in Unit 1A.  The focus today was comparing the events and themes of the three texts we have read this unit (Night of the Spadefoot Toads, Shells, and Hatchet).  I modeled how to do the key events of each text, then groups worked on the last text and we shared out.  Then I modeled how to do a theme graphic organizer for Hatchet, and the students did their own for Shells.  We discussed our learning and talked about their Performance Based Assessment (PBA).
• First we went over the unit slides from day 1 and made sure we had covered everything we talked about before we started the unit.  Then we went and talked about the PBA and read the task together.   We broke down the task and talked about what was expected.  We finished by looking at the rubric for the PBA and talking about homework.
• Homework
• Use the planning template to come up with the frame for their story.  The character must be committed to helping the environment.  We discussed this in great detail today so their should be no problems with the planning.

Random Photos in Room 403

ELA:

• ReadyGen Lesson Unit 1A.14 
• RL 5.9 - I can compare and contrast stories in the same genre and their approach to similar themes and topics.
• W 5.3a - I can orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator or characters; I can use sequence of events to arrange a story that unfolds naturally.
• L 5.1 - I can demonstrate command of conventions.
• The students worked in groups to review the book "Night of the Spadefoot Toad" and the short story "Shells" and then we discussed how the characters BEN and MICHAEL were alike and different. 
• Next we reviewed how to compare and contrast by watching a Powerpoint and taking notes on the skill.
• Finally, students worked individually to do a venn diagram comparing Ms. Tibbits and Aunt Esther from the two stories.
• We did a quick "5 Minute Reading Comprehension" on Spider Crabs to work on speed and stamina and reading comprehension.
• In writing we reviewed Sensory Details and discussed how to incoperate sensory details and precise descriptors into their writing.
• The last part of class was used for independent reading.  Students are responsible for reading independently 45 minutes a day.  We did 15 minutes in class, which means they have 30 minutes to do at home and write in their RRJ.  

Homework:

1. Read independent reading book for 30-45 minutes and do response in RRJ
2. Reading - Compare and Contrast Practice Sheet pg 68-69
3. Writing - Add sensory and precise descriptors to the story you wrote last week.