We are currentlyworking on our 2nd Common Core unit: Animals: A reminder of the theme and format:
Unit 2: Animals as
Characters. There is a voluminous amount of writing for young readers
focusing on animals as characters. We will examine how animals are portrayed in
writing. Why are wolves big and bad? Why are dogs always in sad stories? What
does our portrayal of animals say about us? We will focus on personification,
character development, elements of a narrative, and comparing and contrasting.
We will work in Literature Circles reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction
books. The guiding question for this unit is: “How do we portray animals in
writing?”
Students are working in Lit groups and discussing different books in class with their classmates. Be sure to ask your student what novel they are reading and what they think of it! After our intellectual discussions, we work in centers, completing a variety of Language Arts based activities. Students are enjoying a new level of independence with these activities, as I act mostly as facilitator and observer, offering suggestions and watching as students engage in group discussion and problem solving. Students are discovering that working in a group has it's own set of issues and obstacles. It's fun to watch!
A note on the assessment I sent home last week: I gave students another standardized assessment from the book last week, as I am required to do at least quarterly. Many students did not score as high on this as they normally do on classwork. Please do not be alarmed. I will count this assessment only as a classwork grade and it will, ultimately, not really hurt most students' grade. We went over this assessment in class and I gave students tips on handling tricky questions. I expect the next assessment to be a major improvement.
Progress reports go home soon! Some students are missing work and it is affecting their grades negatively. I will give any student who is missing work an opportunity to make it up this week and will send home a list of anything missing in their agendas on Monday. Please be sure your student has their agenda!!! This is becoming a chronic problem with some children. I am reluctant to have students make a list of missing work on looseleaf because, many times, it goes into the black hole in their backpacks never to be seen again! Also, remember that grades on the progress report are designed to give you a picture of how your student is progressing, it is not a final or permanent grade, for good or bad. Grades will fluctuate depending on what we are working on in class. Everyone does better on some things than others.
And the moment you've all been waiting for...drumroll, please...This week's vocabulary words! I included definitions this week!
Vocabulary for 4C Week of 11/26/2013 You will responsible
to spell all of 20 words correctly and write sentences with 17(Total of 20 words)
Word Words taken From Shiloh
, Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn Dixie, Ralph S. Mouse and Stuart Little
unsuitable not
suitable; inappropriate
notions small
items
exasperated frustrated
shrill loud, piercing sound
civilized to have polite and sophisticated behavior
ultimatum a
demand or threat that is final
rigid fixed and unmoving
burdened weighted
down by work, duty, or sorrow
skulking moving
in a sneaky way
retraction withdrawal
of a statement
immediately now
or at once
distracted when
someone or something weakens your concentration
devilment reckless
mischief
groveling lying
or creeping with the body flat or face down
cringe to shrink in fear
feeble showing weakness, not strong
despicable not-liked deserving to be despised
aspirations noun
a strong desire to achieve something, dreams
defiant showing a willingness to resist.
empathy ability
to understand and identify with another's feelings and emotions.
Vocabulary for 4B Week of 11/26/2013 You will responsible
to spell 19 words correctly and write sentences with 15 (Total of 20 words)
Words taken From Shiloh,
Tale of Despereaux, Because of Winn Dixie, Ralph S. Mouse and Stuart Little
unsuitable not
suitable; inappropriate
notions small items
exasperated frustrated
shrill loud,
piercing sound
civilized to have polite and sophisticated behavior
ultimatum a
demand or threat that is final
rigid fixed and unmoving
burdened weighted
down by work, duty, or sorrow
skulking moving
in a sneaky way
retraction withdrawal
of a statement
immediately now
or at once
distracted when
someone or something weakens your concentration
devilment reckless
mischief
groveling lying
or creeping with the body flat or face down
cringe to shrink in fear
feeble showing weakness, not strong
despicable not-liked deserving to be despised
aspirations noun
a strong desire to achieve something, dreams
defiant showing a willingness to resist.
empathy ability
to understand and identify with another's feelings and emotions.
Vocabulary for 4A Week of 11/26/2013 You will responsible
to spell 16 words correctly and write sentences with 15 words (18 total)
Words taken From Tale
of Despereaux, Because of Winn Dixie, Ralph
S. Mouse and Stuart Little
unsuitable not
suitable; inappropriate
notions small items
exasperated frustrated
shrill loud, piercing sound
civilized to have polite and sophisticated behavior
rummaged searched
thoroughly
ultimatum a
demand or threat that is final
rigid fixed and unmoving
burdened weighted
down by work, duty, or sorrow
skulking moving
in a sneaky way
retraction withdrawal
of a statement
immediately now
or at once
distracted when
someone or something weakens your concentration
specifically in
a particular way, or definite way
despicable not-liked
deserving to be despised or hated
aspirations noun
a strong desire to achieve something, dreams
defiant showing a willingness to resist.
empathy ability
to understand and identify with another's feelings and emotions.
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