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.

Steeler Friday!

We wrapped up our first week of the new year with a Steeler Friday! Everyone wore their black and gold finest to support our team in the first play-off game.

Our story for the week, Storm-a-Dust, was discussed in our readers' cafe. Each of us prepared one of each role, and the discussions went well. We could see throughout the story, how the setting had an influence on the characters and general mood. Our next cafe will be devoted to the kick-off for our new novel, The Wednesday Wars. Setting will play an important role in this book as well. We will join with Ms. Rader's classes to learn more about the '60s! It was a groovy time! Our spelling list was reviewed with a round of soup today! Enjoy the slideshow!

SHARE YOUR TEST PACKETS AND HANDOUTS WITH YOUR PARENTS! CONSIDER PARTICIPATING IN THE SCHOOL-WIDE MUSICAL! TRY-OUTS WILL TAKE PLACE ON WEDNESDAY, BUT YOU NEED PARENT PERMISSION!

Homework:
Reading - Quiz on Wednesday
Spelling - Quiz on Wednesday
Social Studies - Quiz on Monday
Music - Complete your Music Ace work!

Being Assertive

Assertive or aggressive? What's the difference? Today, during our class meeting time, we discussed this very topic. We identified differences between assertive and aggressive behavior in bullying situations. We determined that aggressiveness is usually considered a negative response to anger, while assertiveness is a positive, healthy response. During class we practiced assertive ways to deal with bullying. We want to respond to a bully in a confident, assertive way in an effort to end the bullying rather than cause it to escalate. The slideshow above shows bullying scenarios being acted out in class. Everyone had fun, but we realize the courage it takes to stand up for ourselves and others in real situations.

TOMORROW IS STEELER DAY! PROUDLY WEAR YOUR BLACK AND GOLD!

Homework:

Reading - Prepare your role for tomorrow's discussion in cafe.
Math - 2nd part of Firecracker sheet and simplifying fraction activity
Spelling - Study your words

Ready for the Bees!

Congratulations to Dom, Sarah, Lauren, and Clarine! Dom and Sarah will represent our team in the school-wide Geography Bee sponsored by National Geographic on January 17th, and Lauren and Clarine will represent our team in the Spelling Bee Finals in February. We are proud of them!

Our discussion in Language Arts today centered around natural disasters. Our story, Storm-a-Dust, takes place on a farm where a family is battling a drought. To prepare, we charted various disasters that occur and the effects of those disasters. We also learned about new vocabulary that will be seen in this story. Some words are interesting, and we're curious about how they'll be used, such as spindly and peculiar. Tomorrow we will read Storm-a-Dust and discuss ways that the setting influenced the characters' moods and actions. Although, we will not begin our new novel, The Wednesday Wars, until next week, we'll be having McD's Cafe this Friday. Brief roles for Storm-a-Dust will be prepared tomorrow. In Social Studies, we continued to explore and learn about the cultures in Mexico. Main ideas of the lesson were supported with details on our study guides. When Social Studies resumes on Friday, we'll receive our project for the nine weeks.Homework:Reading - Cafe on Friday. Be prepared with short role.Math - Firecracker worksheetSpelling - page 30VISIT 'IF IT WERE MY HOME' UNDER THE LINKS ON THIS BLOG! COMPARE THE U.S. TO A LATIN AMERICAN COUNTRY!

Brrrr...ing On Winter!

Wow! What a beautiful snowy day we had! Many of us were excited to be back, but it was hard to take our eyes off the beautiful scene outside our windows. Part of our homework assignment tonight is to make a few snow angels and see how many flakes we can catch on our tongues.It was great to see everyone at school today in this new year. We enjoyed sharing stories about the holidays, and most of us were happy to have visited with family and friends that we seldom get to see. Some were excited to share about gifts they received or things they were able to do, such as Katie getting to skate in Pittsburgh around the big tree.

McD's Cafe groups will be changing this week, as we prepare for our new novel assignment. We looked more closely at setting today, as an important literary element. We looked at the way an author gives us details to reveal the setting and how it can influence what happens to a character, how a character behaves, and the general mood of the story. We applied the skill to a short story called The Glittering Cloud. Our new story this week is Storm-a-Dust! We will continue to think about the importance of setting as we read this week.Today in Social Studies, we began to explore the cultures of Mexico and Central America. Soon, we'll begin a special assignment incorporating things we've learned about the geography and culture called Dinner and Dialogue. It should be interesting and fun. FOR SOME REASON MY POST IS NOT POSTING IN PARAGRAPH FORM TODAY! I WILL CONTINUE TO LOOK INTO THIS. SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION.Homework:Reading - Share your 'Family Times' for the new story and skills.Math - Complete your assigned sheets for practice Spelling - Trace +2 new listPLAY IN THE SNOW!!