African Travels

Today, we began to present our Travel Journal assignments in class. The work was impressive, and each of us learned more about the various countries chosen. There were colorful flags, delicious recipe ideas, and fictional, but interesting tales of what we saw and did in the country. In the slideshow above, we are sharing our favorite pages from our project. Enjoy!

Our Olweus bullying discussion centered on rule #4 today. Rule 4 is- If we know that somebody is being bullied, we will tell an adult at school and an adult at home. Many students participated in the discussion with their great ideas about why students are reluctant to report, and what we could do at school to make it more likely that students will report. Telling an adult is not "tattling," but keeping someone safe. We all want our school to be bully-free.

Homework:
Reading - Tomorrow we will be reading our new story. Review your vocabulary tonight.
Math - finish packet pages and study for benchmark
Social Studies - presentations will continue

There's a Whole Lotta Testing Goin' On

On the heels of the Terra Nova Tests have come the Benchmark Tests. Our classes began with the Language Arts Benchmarks today. It made everyone feel good to see that all the skills tested were familiar from the first nine weeks. Hopefully, we applied everything we've learned to the passages in the test. If not, we'll know what we need to work on.

Today marks the end of the nine week period. Report cards are just around the corner. Our slates have been wiped clean, as far as gold notes and detentions. It's time to start anew.

Once more, Canonsburg General Hospital and Project Healthy Children are sponsoring an essay contest to honor the Thanksgiving season. Students are challenged to write a 300 word essay telling about something they are thankful for and why. The essay is due back to Mrs. Mac on November 8th. There are great prizes, and some of the winning entries may be published in the Observer Reporter. We all should be very thankful for what we have. Let's give this writing a shot!

Homework:
Language Arts - Rewrite given paragraph more fluently by using compound and complex sentences.
Math - Practice sheets (2)
Social Studies - Travel Journal assignment is due tomorrow.
PLEASE LOOK AT THE FORM FOR THE "GIVING THANKS" ESSAY!

Happy Halloween!

Wishing all students a fun and safe time as they dress up and go trick-or-treating tonight. Make sure others can see you, and take your candy home to inspect before gobbling!

We had a productive day and are quite amazed that tomorrow is the beginning of November! It is also the end of our first nine weeks! Report cards are right around the corner. Today, we participated in a couple of graded activities, including a quiz in Social Studies about the cultures of North Africa and a quiz on our solar system in Science. We were able to visit the computer lab for work on our Travel Journal assignment. In addition, we learned tips for building our word power in PSSA prep. The day flew by because we were so busy.

Homework:
Math - Finish polygon packet and complete worksheet given in class.
Social Studies - Travel Journal is due 11/2 (this Wednesday).

Trick or Treat!

This free digital slideshow customized with Smilebox

Today, everyone seemed to enjoy dressing up in costumes for the day! Some of us wore them all day long! We hope you enjoy our slideshow!

Throughout the day, we visited learning stations for various skill activities. For Reading, Mrs. Mac read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and we identified simple, compound, and complex sentences found in the story. We visited our blog for practice with idioms and drew the literal meaning while writing the true meaning. As a Social Studies activity, we read more about the cultures of Africa and answered some questions about what we learned. For Science, we created a chart of the Phases of the Moon. At the Math station, we created a monster of geometric shapes. Our natural high was the topic of our Health station, to wrap up our Red Ribbon Week.

Homework:
SHARE CONTENTS OF FRIDAY FOLDER, GET TEST PACKET AND ENVELOPE SIGNED.

T-E-A-M!

Today we showed our team spirit for Red Ribbon Week by wearing our favorite team jerseys. Win or lose, we're choosing to live without drugs. The team spirit was also evident during our Language Arts classes. We worked together to peer edit our four paragraph comparison essays, as we looked for fluent sentences, correct punctuation and capitalization, correct spelling, and structured paragraphs. We hope you enjoy the slideshow of our team work.

This afternoon, we had our Olweus meeting for the week. We discussed trying to include students who are left out. Many of us see it and recognize that something should be done. So, many shared their good ideas with others during the discussion.

Some of us also visited our library today. We are exploring Culture Grams, a program we are presently using in Social Studies for our Travel Journal assignment.

Homework:
Language Arts - Finish your good copy of your comparison essay for tomorrow.
Math - 3 polygon pages
Social Studies - Open book quiz tomorrow
Science - Study! Test on Monday.
WEAR YOUR COSTUME TO SCHOOL TOMORROW! REMEMBER: DON'T BE TRICKED - DRUGS ARE NO TREAT!

Get a Clue!

We have a clue! Today, we saw the exciting ending to Get a Clue; a film based on the Newbery Medal winning book The Westing Game. It was fun seeing spunky 12-year-old "Turtle" Wexler in the film trying to win the game set up by the mysterious Mr. Westing. Although the movie was very different from the book, we enjoyed watching and taking notes on differences and similarities. Many had their papers filled and needed a second sheet! We began our four paragraph comparison essay and will work on editing and typing tomorrow.

Today's message for Red Ribbon Week involved us bringing in canned goods for our local food bank. What an outpouring of generosity! So many students and teachers contributed! It was so nice to see! Tomorrow, we are to wear our favorite team jerseys! We are teaming up against drugs! Once again....LET'S WORK TOGETHER!

We concluded work today on our Terra Nova tests. It appeared that everyone was working hard and doing their best. Great job!

Homework:
ATTENTION! I AM TYPING THIS FROM HOME BECAUSE THE INTERNET WAS DOWN AT THE END OF THE DAY. THEREFORE, I MAY BE LEAVING THINGS OUT! HOPEFULLY, EVERYONE COPIED THE ASSIGNMENTS FROM THE BOARD INTO AGENDAS.

Writing - Finish your 4 paragraph draft of your comparison essay tonight.
Social Studies - Quiz this Friday. Also, your Travel Journal is due 11/2.

You Won't See Me Doing Drugs!

Again, we all worked together to show our support for Red Ribbon Week! Everywhere we looked today, students were wearing their camo and black to send the message that we won't be seen doing drugs. It was a lot of fun! Tomorrow's theme is "I CAN say no to drugs!" We are bringing in canned food items for our local food bank. Let's work together again!

Two days down with Terra Nova Testing! One more to go! Today we took parts one and two of Math. Tomorrow, we'll take part two of Reading, and we're done! Yay!

After singing our hearts out in chorus, we all watched Get A Clue, the movie based on The Westing Game. As we watched, we took notes on similarities and differences between the movie and book. Tomorrow, we'll begin to draft our comparison essay. Most students agreed that the book is our favorite, even though we enjoyed the movie.

Homework:
GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP AND EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST!
Math - Study for tomorrow's quiz
Social Studies - Travel Journal due 11/2
Science - Study --test on Monday
BRING IN A CANNED FOOD ITEM FOR OUR LOCAL FOOD BANK! THANKS!