Tone and Judgments in Reading

Today in Language Arts, we further studied the story A Trouble-Making Crow by Jean Craighead George.  We looked more closely at the tone the author conveyed when sharing her autobiography about living in rural New York with her young family and unusual pets.  She specifically shared fond memories of the crows her family had as pets.  Our judgments about crows changed a bit as we learned about them through the author's experiences and research.  Some may have found the antics of her crows to be annoying, but the author's words and tone made us see that she had admiration and appreciation for the birds' intelligence.  Her humor in the stories she told helped us to see this.  After a study of words and actions of the author, her family, and the crows, we could see that the crows were thought of as family members and trusted to watch over the children in some instances.We began to look at a prompt which asked if the author of the story would agree with the statement: Crows are good at spotting danger.  We discussed the prompt, organized and gathered information/specific examples from the text, and began writing.  These prompts will be gathered tomorrow.  I'm looking forward to reading what the students think!

In Social Studies, Miss Albitz presented four African Art stations for students to visit as a culmination to her teaching.  The students visited two of the stations today, and they'll visit two stations tomorrow.  In one station, the students designed their own Madiba shirt using bits of colorful fabric.  In station two, they created drums.  Station 3 gave them a chance to make cowry shell jewelry, while in station 4, they were able to write in modern standard Arabic using an alphabet.  The students enjoyed each station they visited and are looking forward to more tomorrow. 

Homework:
Math - R&P 2-3
Reading - Read chapters 13-18 and complete your role for this Thursday.  Mr. Westing will be paying us a visit!  Complete your final draft of your prompt for A Trouble-Making Crow.  Be ready for your quiz.
Spelling - Study.  Test tomorrow.
Writing - See prompt above
Wellness - Ch. 4, lesson 2 vocab. and question 1 for Friday.  Also, bring your completed Fitness Report Card to class.
Long-term Assignment - PSSA Math, study your rules for next Monday.
Mrs. Friday's Assignments:
Spelling - Stairs + 2 wk.bk. pages
Math - Finish 2nd 1/2 of simplifying fractions w.s. - group 1
           Lesson #34 Group 2