I hope everyone had a relaxing and satisfying Thanksgiving! Mine was great and so now I feel ready to work off the stuffing and pumpkin pie with some solid learning. Let's finish this year off right with some brain building reading and writing!
We will continue to read Out of the Dust aloud in each class.(5B will begin reading this week) If you can get a copy of the book, please do. We are currently sharing in class. If your student has a copy, it will make studying for tests and reviewing much easier for them. 5A and 6A will have a quiz Tuesday on the book to page 51.
5B will finish their work on the Paul Revere essay by Tuesday, as it its due to the DAR on Wednesday. I would love for them to be typed and would allow students to type and edit their essay at home in lieu of reading homework. Parents must review the essay.
Neuse Charter will participate in the Spelling Bee again this year. I will firm up the format this week.

Vocab for all classes this week:

Spelling/Vocabulary 5A
Week of Nov. 29 Words from “Tuck Everlasting” and “Out of the Dust”
retorted
meager
accommodations
rapid
ought
toppled
dismay
passage
skeptical
loomed
pitiless
strewn
aimlessly
mirage
festered
withered
tufts

Spelling/Vocabulary 6A
Week of Nov. 29 Words from “Tuck Everlasting” and “Out of the Dust”
perilous
retorted
meager
accommodations
dismay
passage
skeptical
peculiar
loomed
solemnly
aimlessly
festered
boughs
grumble
withered
tufts
ought

Spelling/Vocabulary 5B
Week of Nov. 29 Words from “Tuck Everlasting” and “Out of the Dust”
perilous
retorted
meager
apprehension
dismay
skeptical
vigorous
reservoir
loomed
solemnly
indomitable
aimlessly
festered
boughs
tallow
withered
tufts

Next week, all classes will begin working in a new format. We will kick off centers and small group literature circles. Classes will read two book. The first, in which I will lead a guided reading group, is titled “Out of the Dust” by Karen Hesse. It is about the Oklahoma dust storms in the 1930s. It is a novel written in blank verse and is an extension of our poetry unit. The other novel is “Tuck Everlasting” by Natalie Babbitt. Students will listen to Tuck on tape and read along in small student-led literature circles. I selected this novel because many students have read it already and will be able to read and discuss the novel with little supervision. Literature circles should be student led. Please send in headphone or earbuds with your student, if they have them. I will also institute a writing center and an art center, where students will create artistic representations of their work. In addition, we will enjoy a “game” center. Students will quiz each others vocabulary words, literary terms, and other language arts knowledge. I expect a few bugs and will adjust groups and timing as we proceed, but I think this will enhance most student's learning experience exponentially. Please e-mail any questions.

Bookmobile comes on Tuesday! If your student does not have his or her theme book yet, this is a great opportunity.

Social Studies: we are moving into the colonial era and will begin the Revolutionary War this week. Students will be writing an essay about Paul Revere for a Daughter's of the American Revolution contest. The essay is due Dec. 1, so we need to get cracking!

This weeks spelling/vocabulary words:
Spelling /Vocab Week of Nov. 15
From Tuck Everlasting and Out of the Dust
5A
prologue
connection
smeared
everlasting
tangent
tranquil
contemplation
dissolved
oppressive
accessible
isolation
melancholy
bounty
pestering
ratcheted
riled
spindly
pledged
dazzled
wisp

Spelling /Vocab Week of Nov. 15
From Tuck Everlasting and Out of the Dust
5B
arduous
everlasting
prologue
tangent
contemplation
tolerantly
fringe
forlorn
accessible
isolation
tarnished
intrusion
grimace
slant
riled
distraction
whittled
ratcheted
fidgeting
bounty
smeared

Spelling /Vocab Week of Nov. 15
From Tuck Everlasting and Out of the Dust
6A
prologue
connection
smeared
everlasting
tangent
tranquil
contemplation
dissolved
oppressive
accessible
isolation
melancholy
bounty
pestering
ratcheted
riled
spindly
pledged
dazzled
wisp

Reminder!!! Tomorrow is the poetry terms test. Students should also know the graphic organizer with the terms: Introduction, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action and Denouement. Students must understand what happens in each of those categories of a storyline for a fiction story.

Social Studies:
Know these terms:
navigation
expedition
what eradicated (wiped out) Native Americans: guns, germs and horses (plusses and minuses)
Christopher Columbus
missionaries
Verrazano
Cartier
Northwest Passage (what is is and why is was important)
Conquistadors: Ponce de Leon, Hernando deSoto, Cortes (where from, what they did?)
Henry Hudson

Terms for the Poetry Test on Nov. 10:
alliteration
antagonist
ballad
climax
conflict
couplet
denouement
elegy
epic
falling action
foreshadowing
free verse
hyperbole
limerick
metaphor
narrative poem
ode
onomatopoeia
point of view
protagonist
quatrain
resolution
rhyme
rising action
setting
simile
sonnet
stanza
style
theme
tone
Students in all grades will need to know the DEFINITION of these words. I will give the word and students will fill in definition. No spelling next week. These terms are important enough to revisit until they are mastered.

Hello,
We'll be writing sonnets and couplets this week in 5th grade and writing a sonnet and reading another selection from the Junior Great book in 6th. Spelling test on Friday means the homework on Thursday is to study!!!! This week's words:
Spelling/Vocab 5A Pattern: c/le, and vc/v
Week of 11/01/2010
capable
bundle
idle
idol
bridle
bridal
stifle
tremble
miracle
brittle
wrestle
example
particle
gurgle
trifle
tepid
valid
novel

Vocab/Spelling 5B patterns: c/le, vc/v and root: equ
Week of 11/01/2010
capable
icicle
idle
idol
bridle
bridal
stifle
brittle
particle
tepid
static
valid
root: equ means equal
equity
equanimity
equate
equator
equidistant

Vocab/Spelling 6A Pattern: vocab from “Raymond’s Run”, c/le, vc/c, root:equ
ridiculous
sloshing
fluttering
prodigy
reputation
weightless
blurry
obviously
root: equ meaning equal
equity
equator
equate
stifle
brittle
tremble
idol
idle
bridle
bridal

Hello! This is the last week before report cards, so we'll be doing things a little differently. This is the last week for your student to make up any work they are missing before it becomes a permanent part of their grade. Check agendas to make sure your child is caught up. We had a make-up catch-up day on Friday, and most students worked very diligently to get make-up work done. I was impressed with how conscientious many of my students were. However, some chose not to make-up any work. There will be no more class time devoted to make-up work.

We will have no spelling words this week. We'll have the test from last week's words on Monday.

Friday is a teacher workday. No class for students.

A special treat this week and next! Burning Coal Theatre will return and teach our students all about Shakespeare! They were so well received last year that I know we're all looking forward to a triumphant return. 5th grade is this week the 19th-21st. 6th grade will be the following week Oct. 26-28.

6th grade: Remember, being on a sports team is a privilege. If your grade falls below a "C" average, you will be suspended until it rises up to acceptable levels.

Happy Fall, all!

Week of Oct. 11

Hello all!
Our Fairytales unit, somewhat sadly, has come to an end. Although, I'm pretty sure they all lived happily ever after :) Students seemed to enjoy reading, writing and learning about them. Most students wrote a really solid fairytale, although many (especially 6th grade) failed to turn one in on time. Please check with your student (and read their agendas) to see that they turned one in. This was a 200 point assignment. I am enjoying reading the stories!

Reminders to all: Please remind your student of the importance of following the no-talking rule during testing. I am very strict regarding this and will throw out a students test if they talk during testing. It breaks my heart to do it, but students must learn self-discipline. EOG results can be canceled for the entire school if protocol is broken.
Oct 15: the first theme book review and project are due. This assignment includes a book review (typed 1-2 pages, 12 point TNR font), a project and a brief presentation in class (no more than 5 minutes, unless you work it out with me)

Social Studies: Students will complete their Native American unit this week and we will move onto colonial America. Students voted to participate in a writing contest about Paul Revere held by the Daughters of the American Revolution. The essay is due Dec. 1. We plan to have a Thanksgiving celebration in November, melding what we learned about Indians with what we learn about colonial Americans. Should be fun.

5th grade will begin a poetry unit this week, as is reflected in their spelling/vocab words. I will begin to grade spelling tests a little differently this week. Students will now receive 2 points for using the word correctly and 1 point for spelling it correctly, for a total of 3 points a sentence(instead of the current 2). This reflects my emphasis on the importance of meaning. Many of 6th grades words will be the same as last week, as they didn't seem to learn them as well as I'd like them to. Last weeks results will be tossed for the 6th grade spelling/vocab test, unless, of course, your student did well.

6th grade will read a story in the Junior Great Books series and do activities associated with the story, "Through the Tunnel" by Doris Lessing. We will also do some focused lessons on vocab, as that seems to be a weak spot.

This weeks words:
Spelling/Vocabulary
6A
Week of Oct.11
Patterns: ie/ei and prefix: dis: meaning apart, not. Vocabulary from reading this week
Repeat words from last week:
conceited
seize
retrieval
unwieldy
grievance
deceitful
dissuade
disengage
discord
indispensable
New this week:
contrition
rigorous
sputter
promontory
continuous

Spelling/ Vocabulary
5B
Week of Oct. 11
Pattern: poetry terms
rhyme
haiku
alliteration
quatrain
couplet
sonnet
antagonist
protagonist
denouement
elegy
kigo- means: a seasonal word, used in haiku
hyperbole
resolution
simile
metaphor
ballad
stanza
foreshadowing

Spelling/ Vocabulary
5A
Week of Oct. 11
Pattern: poetry terms
rhyme
haiku
alliteration
quatrain
couplet
sonnet
antagonist
protagonist
denouement
elegy
kigo- means: a seasonal word, used in haiku
hyperbole
resolution
simile
metaphor
ballad
stanza
foreshadowing