It's a Mystery!

Today, we gathered for McD's Reader's Cafe to discuss part two of our story The Westing Game. We began with a review of characters, and everyone shared the thoughts they had about various characters and how they're behaving in the story. Many are suspicious of Berthe Crow and Sydelle. Crow seems very mysterious, and Sydelle is such an actor. Most trust the angelic Angela. She seems much too nice to do anything wrong. Quite a few are identifying the most with the small, outgoing Turtle Wexler. She entertains us with her spunk and ability to say what's on her mind. Towards the end of our cafe, Mrs. Mac distributed small bags with Mr. Hoo's Fortune cookies inside. Each student received a fortune with a character's name. By next Thursday, each of us will draw a picture of our character, based on descriptions from the book, and create a special mug-shaped Wordle with descriptive words for our character. The special site is under links on our blog! We're to find as many words as we can associate with our character.

We want to give special thanks to Mikey and Kaitlyn, as well as their parents, for providing the delicious drinks today.

Homework:
Reading - Read through p. 111 in The Westing Game and complete your new role for next Thursday. Also, complete your mug-shaped Wordle and picture of your assigned character for next Thursday.
Math - Order of Operations sheet
Wellness - 10 Positive Traits
PLEASE SHARE YOUR PROGRESS REPORT WITH YOUR PARENTS, AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION SIGNED.

Thinking Hard!

It was the perfect day for thinking! The rain was pouring down this gloomy afternoon, our bellies were full from eating lunch, and we had all studied for our test. We got down to business right away. Looking forward to great results!

This morning, we read our story, April's Mud! We played Read 'n Roll to read and discuss the story. With our partners, we read until Mrs. Mac gave the signal to stop. Then, a roll of the die determined our question for discussion. A 1-2 asked us to explain a cause and effect relationship from the story. A 3 asked us what character we most identified with and why. A 4 asked us about the conflict and how it was getting worse/better. A 5 asked us for a prediction. A 6 asked us to form a one sentence summary. Mrs. Mac stopped us several times, and we concluded with a great discussion. April's parents were free-spirited! April referred to them by their first names! We enjoyed comparing their parenting styles to those of our parents. Our discussions will continue on Friday.

Homework:
Reading - Be prepared for McD's Reader's Cafe tomorrow. Being prepared means that you've read through p. 84 in The Westing Game, your role is completed and cut.
Math - Order of Operations sheet
Science - Study. Test on Friday.
Wellness - 10 Positive Traits are due Friday
PROGRESS REPORTS WILL BE SENT HOME TOMORROW!

New Wordles, or Rather Words

New vocabulary was introduced for our new story, April's Mud. Many students have had a great deal of fun creating Wordles and Word Clouds in Library, so I thought I'd post one using our new words. We'll be using these new words tomorrow as we begin the story about April Ellis and her family. April is often embarrassed about her family (the effect), and we're anxious to find out why (the cause).

Many of our group are finished with the second assigned reading and roles for The Westing Game. The plot is thickening, and many characters are looking guilty in some way. Discussion will continue during Thursday morning's cafe!

Tomorrow, we will prove what we know about Africa's geography! Our stations for review were entertaining! We played with fun facts, Mrs. Mac's group, and a crossword that was quite a challenge for some. Our map work has made us feel pretty confident! (Message to students: No matter how confident you feel...look over your study guides tonight!)

Homework:
Reading - Practice book p. 22 (vocabulary review) Read through page 84 and complete your role for The Westing Game
Math - Practice sheet (numbers 1-15)
Spelling - Spelling practice book p. 10
Social Studies - Study all notes and Ch.1, Les. 1 Quiz tomorrow

Thinking About Cause and Effect

Causes and effects come into play daily. One thing leads to another! Sometimes text is organized by causes and effects. Sometimes clue words help us to identify causes and effects, such as therefore, because, as a result, etc. If you ask yourself why, the answer will be the cause. If you ask yourself what happened, the answer will be the effect. One cause can have multiple effects, and one effect can have multiple causes. Determining causes and effects will be practiced throughout the week in relation to our new story, April's Mud. Look at the 'Family Times' paper that was sent home today for more information on what to expect this week.

In Social Studies, we reviewed study guides and information regarding Africa's geography. Tomorrow, we'll play review games in stations! The test has been moved to Wednesday of this week. Please continue to review and explore the links on this blog.

During PSSA review, students worked on reviewing graphing in Math and determining Theme and Main Idea in Reading. Everyone seemed to do a great job with Theme and Main Idea. Our answers to our practice exercises were correct!

You are what you eat! Nutrition was the topic in Wellness today. We focused on what nutrition labels show us about the foods we eat. Our diets need to be well rounded, and in the coming days, we'll be paying close attention to those labels.

Homework:
Reading - Share 'Family Times'. Read through p. 84 in The Westing Game and complete your role for Thursday.
Spelling - Trace +2 for new list of long u words.
Social Studies - Geography test on Wednesday. Please study.
Wellness - Nutrition label activity is due tomorrow.