Mr. O'Grady's Visit

We were thrilled today to receive a visit from Cambria's dad, Mr.O'Grady, who has served our country for 20 years as a navigator and bombardier on B52s in the U.S. Air Force. Mr.O'Grady shared a Powerpoint presentation of pictures and film clips of the history of flight and his travels. He was once on a flight that went completely around the world! He says that his job in the Air Force has been very satisfying!

Thank you for sharing with us, Mr.O'Grady! Thank you for your service to our country!

Homework:
Reading - Read September in The Wednesday Wars and complete your role for Thursday.
Social Studies - Complete question #6 on pg. 72. Use a Venn Diagram to generate and organize your ideas. Answer the question in paragraph form. Dinner and Dialogue is due on Jan. 24th.

A Blast From the Past

Personalize your own free picture slideshow

Remembering the '60s was a big part of Language Arts today, as we enjoyed a kick-off to our new cafe novel called The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. Ms. Rader and Mrs. Mac combined our groups for this introduction. In the beginning, Ms. Rader and Mrs. Mac sat at a table in front and reminisced about attending elementary school in the '60s. Stories were told of how school was run, games that were popular, family schedules, television, music, Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement, and the Vietnam War that was seen and reported on the news. In addition, the slideshow above was shown, along with clips of the first Bewitched and I Love Lucy. We're excited to begin the book, which is divided into months for chapters. Next week, we'll have cafe and discuss the first month (September), as told by the main character Holling who is in seventh grade. We are looking forward to reading!

Today's class meeting was about courage and responding to bullying with courage. Since we are observing Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday and will not be in school, Mrs. Mac shared a story about this courageous man who led people who were being bullied. Dr. King believed in peaceful demonstrations during the Civil Rights Movement, as opposed to responding with aggression. He had a dream that everyone would be treated equally that was not fully realized before his death. In the face of bullying, we hope to show courage with options that were discussed in class today. Showing courage is difficult. Sometimes people feel that it's easier to do nothing than to do what they think is right. We hope to do what is right.

Group 308 visited Mrs. Shuman in the Library today for a lesson. Today is her birthday, and we all wish her a happy one.

Homework:
Reading - Please read September of The Wednesday Wars for next Thursday, Jan. 19th. Complete your assigned role.
Math - Finish benchmark practice packet
Social Studies - Study lesson on the Caribbean (section2). Complete Dinner and Dialogue for Jan. 24th.
Wellness - Toothpaste Drawing is due tomorrow.
Related Arts - Music Ace assignment is due tomorrow.

Thinking About the Caribbean

Not because it's rainy and gloomy and cold, but today we were thinking about the Caribbean Islands. What would it be like to live there? We read about how diverse the culture is and why. There are many different languages spoken. On some islands, more than one language can be heard. The culture is known for its liveliness! We talked about games that are enjoyed, music that is played, and delicious foods. If only we could take a field trip to the Caribbean!

Groups were able to spend a bit of time to plan and work on the Dinner and Dialogue project.

Homework:
Reading - Tomorrow we meet with Ms.Rader's group for our kick-off to the new novel.
Math - practice sheet
Social Studies - Dinner and Dialogue due on Jan. 24th. Also, page 72, questions 1,3,4 for Friday
Science - Test tomorrow
Wellness - Toothpaste picture due on Friday
Related Arts - Music Ace work due on Friday

Creating Art!

Art has been a Related Arts class for group 308 this first semester. We have enjoyed Mrs. Kelly's class every Tuesday and Wednesday morning. She taught us how to draw with 2-point perspective, use watercolor to create beautiful paintings, create still life sketches, and work with clay to create bird houses. We've enjoyed our time in Mrs. Kelly's classroom. At the end of January, we will be switching Related Arts classes. Group 308 will move to Technology and Foreign Language. Group 310 will take Art and Music. Enjoy the slideshow of today's Art class!

During Language Arts, we reviewed some basic rules for creating plural nouns. We then practiced when to add -s, when to add -es, and when to change a y to i before adding -es. Additionally, many of us needed to finish our second benchmark test. So, we spent the time necessary to conclude our work.

Our 'Dinner and Dialogue' projects received attention today. We spent time in our groups dividing responsibilities and researching for the dinner dialogue. Some have shared some creative ideas for the skit.

Homework:
Reading - Quiz tomorrow on 'Storm-a-Dust.'
Math - 'Have a Slice' worksheet
Spelling - Study words for tomorrow's quiz.
Social Studies - Dinner and Dialogue due on Jan. 24th.
Science - Test on Thursday.
Wellness - Toothpaste drawing due Friday.
Related Arts - Music Ace (lessons 5-8) due Friday.
TRY-OUTS FOR THE SCHOOL MUSICAL WILL BE HELD TOMORROW NIGHT! DON'T FORGET THAT PARENT PERMISSION IS REQUIRED.

Dinner Date!

Our new Social Studies project was presented today! We will be having "Dinner and Dialogue in Latin America!" In groups, we are creating a dinner skit with conversation centered around what we've been learning about Latin America. Our conversations will include information about geography, people, and culture. Students will use information from our text, as well as other sources. On our dinner date, we'll sit at a mock dinner table and converse from the written dialogue we've prepared. There is so much to talk about! We had fun beginning to divide jobs within our groups and come up with topics today.

It's that time again! Our second benchmark test in Reading was given today. We worked hard applying our skills from the second nine week period. The results will help us to identify those skills that need attention to make us better readers.

Homework:
Reading - Please review 'Storm-a-Dust.' Your quiz is on Wednesday.
Spelling - Quiz on assigned list this Wednesday.
Math - Complete assigned sheets.
Science - Test on Thursday
Wellness - Toothpaste activity due this Friday
Music (308) - Music activity due on Friday
DON'T FORGET TO CONSIDER THE ALL-SCHOOL MUSICAL! TRY-OUTS WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY AFTER SCHOOL. TO STAY, YOU NEED A SIGNED PERMISSION FORM.