Essay Unit

Today we read essays like writers, searching to see what the author did when he wrote his essay. Here's the list the students came up with:

• The author used repetition to keep the big idea in our minds.
• The author wrote about two topics–back-and-forth–and then connected them.
• The author gave us background knowledge.
• The author used mini-stories.
• The author has a clear, focused message.
• The author used rhyming and alliteration.
• The author made his message like a puzzle–you had to fit the pieces together to understand it.
• The author included herself in the essay.
• The author used a listing technique to organize the essay.
• The author wrote the essay and directly asked the person questions in the writing.
• The author varies the size of his paragraphs.
• The author used a surprising lead.
• The author used strong word choice.
• The author used figures of speech.
• The author’s voice showed generosity.

As you can see, the students discovered how rich and unstructured the world of the essayist is!

Rainy Day Policy

Dear Elementary School Parents

To improve further the safety of your child in our school during the rainy season, the elementary faculty and myself have created 'wet day' guidelines for teachers, parents and students. The guidelines are as follows:

Wet Day Procedures

During the rainy season (January –April) all elementary students should bring to school a change of clothing and rain gear with them every day. This should remain in their backpack.

During light rain all students must wear rain gear during recess times and students must stay under the covered areas.

In the case of heavy rain during recess classroom teachers will be notified via the school intercom system and/or

e- mail, and all students are to remain in their classroom for recess times with their homeroom teacher.

On the rare occasions when heavy rains persist during lunch time a ‘wet lunch’ will be declared by the administration office, and students and teachers will remain in class during the lunch period except for eating; in this instance classroom teachers will remain in the cafeteria during designated eating times and then return students back to class for the remainder of lunch.

Thankyou for your understanding.

Regards

Steve Morris
N-12 Principal

The Old Man and the Sea

We just started reading The Young Man and the Sea, which has many connections to the book, The Old Man and the Sea, by Ernest Hemingway. Here is a little movie by a high school student that gives you an idea what the book is about.

Conversational prompts to push your thinking

When you write for 10 minutes, set an alarm and write as fast and furiously as you can! (Remember the idea is to take you thinking deeper and deeper.) On your mark, get set, GO!

For example...
Another example is...
In addition...
This makes me realize...
This is important because...
This is giving me the idea that...
The reason for this is...
This connects with...
On the other hand...
I partly disagree...because...
This is similar to...
I used to think...but now I realize...
What I think this says about me is...

International Day

International Day is this Saturday. All of the students will be performing, so please come a little early. Thanks.

Report Cards and Conferences

Report Cards go out this Friday. The sign-up sheet is up outside my classroom for conferences next Tuesday evening, the 30th, and Wednesday morning, the 31st. Please sign up.

Spelling Test: Apostrophes

There's two uses for apostrophes:

1. Apostrophes are used in contractions (when we make a word shorter). For example can't = can + not. Different types of contractions are used in dialect. For example walkin' = walking. The apostrophe ALWAYS goes where the missing letters are.

2. Apostrophes are used to show possession (that something belongs to something or someone). There are two types of possessive nouns--singular and plural possessive. For example: The cat's dish is empty. (The 1 dish that belongs to the 1 cat is empty.) The cats' dishes are empty. (The multiple dishes that belong to the multiple cats are empty.)

We started reading Old Yeller today.

Math Test Thursday, March 18th

Students will:

• Be able to write equivalent fractions.
• Be able to find equivalent fractions and mixed numbers.
• Be able to write the mixed number and faction from diagrams.
• Be able to use fraction sticks to add fractions.
• Be able to compare fractions using greater than, less than, or equal to.
• Be able to estimate and calculate percentages of circle graphs.
• Be able to create a circle graph given data to work with.
• Understand how percentages relate to different size groups.
• Calculate fraction parts of a whole.
  

Sun and Heat on the Equator

As you know the weather has been getting very hot over recent days and with this comes a higher risk of sun burn and dehydration. During recess, lunch times and after school we encourage students who play outside to wear sunblock and a hat. It is also very important that students drink water throughout the day and during after school activities and sports.

Out PE teachers ensure that students are as well protected from the sun as much as possible during classes and they provide drink breaks accordingly. Our PE teachers will also be expecting students to wear sun block during class. Please note that it is the responsibility of the students to bring sun block to school.

Spelling Test Monday

Spelling test Monday so...
Study words on p. 106 of spelling book.
Review usage of there, their, they're, there's, theirs, its, and it's.
Skill test this week is on the following prefixes:

• un- which means not/opposite of
• dis- which means not/opposite of
• non- which means not/opposite of
• sub- which means below/lesser
• ex- which means out/down
• re- which means again

Please remember that:
Prefixes change the meaning of a word, but do NOT change the spelling of a word.

North American Culture Project

Parents, please sign the assessment for the North American Culture Projects. that I am sending home today.
There's a grade for their Voice Thread Assessment--which you can see at this site:
http://ed.voicethread.com/share/909796/
There's also a grade for the inquiry process and project. The focus was in learning the inquiry process and learning how to think about an essential question. For example, Nick's focus was on this essential question: How did the mass-production of automobiles affect the United States? It was not on a topic: Henry Ford and the Model T. Each group had an essential question to answer. We want students to learn to think deeply, not just churn out reports that are tired retreads of something they've read on the Internet.

Spelling Test Monday

Some students seem to think there is no way to study for the spelling test. You're wrong. :-)
1. Study words on your personal spelling list on p. 106 of your book where you should be writing words that you misspell on your tests.
2. This week the skill tested is adding the -er suffix to words and knowing what it means. So you need to study the rules for adding suffixes.

Here's an example:
Base Word / Add -er suffix / Meaning of word with suffix
easy / easier / more (easy)
write / writer / one who (writes)
charge / charger / something that (charges)
3. Also, review there, their, they're, there's, and theirs. You often make mistakes with those. Also, review its and it's. That's another one you stumble over.

This Week

Math: Fractions unit
Writing: Typing realistic fiction story and grammar
Reading: Individual reading conferences and teaching (reading strategies and narrative fiction)
Spelling: Consonant diagraphs and consonant blends
Science; Levers and Pulleys

I apologize

I hate to be absent from school--especially when coming back from vacation as it's always a time of beginnings.
My flight got changed from Saturday to Sunday and then was delayed for 2 hours so that we landed around 2am and got home at 4am. My vertigo does not allow me to function under those conditions.
However, the students were able to get back into routine and watched a movie that I had wanted to show them as it is a movie that is often cited in other movies and literature.