Students created a Magazine Cover featuring the toy they have been researching.  Students used the website www.bighugelabs.com to create the project.  Students were given an ID and password in class today.  We taped the information inside the back cover of the students' assignment planners.  Some students were able to finish, but others need to make a few adjustments.

 

I've attached the rubric that will be used in grading the Magazine Cover.  Hopefully this will help you see how students will be earning the points.  Below is an example of one I shared in class.

Students will have until Friday, October 26th to complete the Magazine Cover.  Students will need to use their study hall time or use the library from 7:45-8:15.  Students can work on the cover at home if they wish.

Research of Toys

We have researched the history of the following toys-

Silly Putty
Mr. Potato Head
Slinky
Super Ball
Legos
Bicycles
Hula Hoops
Play-doh
Toy Trains

The students do not need to do further research unless they would like to.  The information we used from the internet came from http://www.ideafinder.com/history/category/toys.htm

 Students (and parents) might be interested to see the commericals for the toys.

TOYS!!!

Finally!  We have found a topic kids love to research. 

Students will research and write a report about a toy.  Students will give the history of the toy including who invented it, when it was invented and how the invention came to be.  Students will also write a description of the toy focusing on the physical characteristics.  Students will also get a chance to PLAY with the toy.  This step in the research process is VERY important.  Students will also include in their paper how to play with the toy. 

Students will also create a Magazine Cover to go with their report.  The Magazine Cover will be created in the library using the computer.  Our class will go to the library on Tuesday, October 23.  If a student is absent, it will be his/her responsibility to go to the library during study hall or before school to complete the Magazine Cover.  The library is open from 7:45-8:15 every day.

Students will present their reports on Friday, November 2nd.  However, the Report and Magazine Cover will be due Monday, October 29.  Students will not read the report for the presentation.  For the presentation, students will need to summarize their report on note cards.  Students will also share the Magazine Cover as part of their presentation.

The following rubrics will be used to grade the project:

 

 

This week in class, we have looked at prefixes, base words, and suffixes.  We've located words with prefixes and/or suffixes in the book Leonardo: Beautiful Dreamer.  We have also created our own words with our knowledge of word parts.  One of my personal favorites was INVENTOLOGY, which we decided was the study of inventions.  Today we practiced INVENTOLOGY, as we took notes on important inventions and how they have changed society.  We will continue taking notes next week.  Eventually, students will choose which invention they believe is the most important and will write a paragraph explaining their choice. 

Next week we will continue our study of Leonardo da Vinci.  We will take notes on Text Features and determine how text features make nonfiction easier to understand.  I have attached the PowerPoint we will use.  Students will hunt for examples of text features using the book Amazing Leonardo da Vinci, Inventions You Can Build Yourself.  Students will get a chance to create polyhedra (three dimensional polygons) using marshmallows and toothpicks.  Students will use their knowledge of text features to create an octahedron, an icosahedron, and a rhombicuboctahedron. 

If you ordered from the book order, your items should arrive early next week.  I will send home October's book order on Friday. 

 

 

 

Have a Great Weekend!!!

Unit 2: Inventive Thinking

We will start Unit 2 this week.  Our Essential Question for this unit is:

 

How does creativity change the world?

Brief Summary of Unit: Through the pairing of fiction and nonfiction books on related topics, this unit builds on students’ understanding of the Renaissance as a period of new learning and discovery. This unit is particularly effective for teaching the research process, since the people involved or the historical context of particular inventions are most likely new to students. Students publish and present their research papers to the class. Students then find commonalities among inventors and innovators, share these insights in group discussions, and use this information as a springboard for their own innovative and creative writing. This unit sets in motion the reading, writing, researching, and word analysis processes that will be a hallmark of their fifth-grade year.

I have attached some information about the books we will read in this unit. 









Here is a link to an interactive look at DaVinci's notebooks:


http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/leonardo/leonardo_broadband.htm?middle

Independent Reading Presentation

Students received information on a presentation due Friday, September 28th.  Students need to have finished reading a chapter book in order to give the presentation.  Students can present on any book they have finished since August 20th. 

I have copied the directions for the presentation below and included some examples I shared in class:

 

Example of a movie poster

 

Example of PowerPoint slides 

Research Performance Task

 

 

 

 

Students will research a woman who has changed the world in the book, Amelia to Zora.  Students will create a word document about their person in the library on Thursday.  Students had classtime Tuesday and Wednesday to create a rough draft for the document.  Students will share in small groups.

 





Unit One "Playing with Words" videos

Poetry Quiz Friday

Students completed a practice quiz today which will serve as a study guide for the Poetry Quiz on Friday.  I've attached a copy of the Practice Quiz in case it didn't make it home.

Name:                                                                          Date:                                       Period:           

Unit One Playing with Words - Poetry Test

1.)    Which of the following is a simile?

a.      His brain was soup

b.      My skin crawled

c.      Her hair was as black as a ravens

2.)    Which of the following is a metaphor?

a.      Her face is a beautiful rose

b.      Break a leg

c.      She is as shy as a mouse

3.)    Which of the following is an idiom?

a.      That’s a horse of a different color

b.      His voice stood out among the crowd

c.      He is a monkey gone wild

4.)    Which of the following is an adage?

a.      Sally sold sea shells

b.      All’s well that ends well

c.      Gigantic, purple monster eyes

5.)    Which of the following is a proverb?

a.      Blood is thicker than water

b.      He is right as rain

c.      Peter Piper picked peppers

6.)    Explain the meaning of the underlined idiom.

I will go to the movies with you when pigs fly.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7.)    Interpret the meaning of the following simile:

Mandy is mean as a snake especially when she is angry at you.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8.)    Interpret the meaning of the following metaphor:

He tripped over the television and ran into a table. Mom says he is a bull in a china closet.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9.)    Explain the meaning of the proverb.

“A bird in the hand, is worth two in the bush”

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10.) Explain the following Adage.

“Never look a gift horse in the mouth.”

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

11.) What is the theme of a poem?

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12.)  What does summarize mean?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13.) What is the meaning of the underlined phrase?

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

14.) What is the meaning of the underlined phrase?

The skylark and thrush,
The birds of the bush,
Sing louder around
To the bell's cheerful sound,

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

15.) What is the meaning of the underlined phrase?

The sun does arise,
And make happy the skies;

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Book Orders

Book Orders will come home Friday, September 14th.  Orders will be taken until Friday, September 28th.  You can order online and pay with a debit or credit card, or you can send cash or a check to school with your order form. 

If you choose to order online, you can order from a wider variety of choices than the paper book order offers.  Feel free to order for siblings as well. 

Here is the link to our ordering page:
https://orders.scholastic.com/GLWM2

Ordering online is fast and easy:

•  REGISTER at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
•  ENTER the Class Activation Code at the top of this letter
•  CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks
•  SUBMIT the order to your child's teacher
•  EARN FREE Books for you and the classroom too!

Copy of Note Coming Home Today

5^th Grade Literacy

 Carl Stuart Middle School

Welcome to a new school year at CSMS!

     The 5^th grade literacy teachers are excited about the great reading and writing your child will do this year.      This year, we will continue integrating the new Common Core State Standards with the Arkansas Frameworks in literacy. You will be hearing more about Common Core State Standards as the year progresses.

Curriculum Overview

UNIT	DESCRIPTION AND SKILLS
1	PLAYING WITH WORDS This four week unit encourages students to play with language and to explore their personal writing style. Topics include rhymed and patterned poetry, figurative language, authors, nouns, pronouns, sentence purposes, and homonyms. The students will read Crash as a class.
2	INVENTIVE THINKING This six-week unit introduces the research process, as well as the creative and critical thinking used by writers, inventors, and famous people from the Renaissance and beyond.  Topics include fiction vs. non-fiction, text features, main ideas and details, verbs, simple and compound sentences, and root words. Reading Module Test:  Wednesday, October 31      Writing Module Test:  Thursday, November 1
3	CLUES TO A CULTURE This six-week unit focuses on clues to Native American nations/cultures as revealed through pairings of literature and informational text. Topics include trickster tales, skimming and scanning, determining perspective, adjectives, adverbs, and persuasive writing. The students will read Sign of the Beaver as a class. Reading Module Test: Tuesday, December 18
4	AMERICA IN CONFLICT This six-week unit focuses on the causes and consequences of the American Civil War, as revealed through literature and informational text. Topics include point of view, fictional vs. non-fictional accounts, prepositions, commas, and narratives writing. Students will read Assassin and Chasing Lincoln’s Killer as a class. Writing Module Test: Thursday, January 31
5	EXPLORATION – REAL AND IMAGINED This five-week unit builds upon the study of character development begun in unit 4 by having students articulate how we learn from real and fictional characters’ experiences. Topics include comparing different versions of the same story, figurative language, and complex sentences. Students will read excerpts from Alice in Wonderland and The Little Prince as a class. Reading Module Test: Tuesday, March 12 Writing Module Test: Wednesday, March 13
	March 25 – April 5: Benchmark Preparation BENCHMARK TESTING:  WEEK OF APRIL 8
6	COMING OF AGE This final unit focuses on the genre of the novel, and uses “coming of age” as a unifying theme. Topics include character development, overcoming obstacles, and career options. The students will read Bud, Not Buddy and The Trial as a class.

Grades

For both reading and language arts, grades may be taken on any of the following:

·        for homework  completion

·        on participation in activities in class, including discussion, presentation, and listening

·        various assignments with grades based on a rubric or checklist

·        on quizzes and tests from notes and activities in class

·        on module tests

·        on evidence of independent reading – Students will be expected to complete This evidence will be based on assignment such as a book talk,  book jacket, or brief report.  Your child will be expected to present the evidence of having read a book approximately every three weeks. Dates and details about the assignments will be presented well in advance.  Your child is expected to read at least 25 minutes daily outside of class, and time will be given in literacy class to read independently. Your child will have a wide range of books to choose from, both from the school library and the classroom libraries. Please be aware of your child’s choices. Have conversations with your child about the book he or she is reading, the characters’ problems, and how the problems are solved. If your child has chosen an appropriate book for his/her level, is reading habitually at home, and is using time well in class, these book assignments should not prove difficult to complete.

·        on work done throughout the writing process and on completed stories and essays - These grades may be based on rubrics specific for a particular assignment or on the State of Arkansas Writing Rubric, grades 5-8.  The great majority of writing will be done in class.

Open and frequent communication between the parent and the teacher

 is vital to a child’s success in school.

Please contact us anytime you have questions or concerns.

Cheryl Morris morrisc@conwayschools.net

Kathy Powers powersk@conwayschools.net

Megan Swann swannm@conwayschools.net

Cher Masters mastersc@conwayschools.net

CSMS phone- 501-329-2782

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _  _ _ _  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

We have read and understand the requirements for 5^th Grade Literacy.

Student Signature ____________________________________   Teacher/period ______________

                                                                                                                                                   ______________

Parent Signature _________________________________Date____________

Parent’s email _______________________________________________

Edline Update

Parents:

I have posted grades to Edline.  Your student was given an Edline sheet with instructions for creating an Edline account.  You can keep track of your child's grades.  I will update Edline every other Friday at the very least. 

Students are bringing home a blue information sheet which explains what will be covered in Literacy class and how grades are earned.  Please sign the bottom portion and return to class.


Students:

Don't forget to read 20-30 minutes each night over the long weekend.  Remember to return your blue information sheet with your parents' signature.  Once we have 100% returned, you will earn a reward.

Welcome to Literacy Class

Welcome to the wonderful world of 5th grade literacy!  I will try to keep you updated on the material we are reading in class.  My hope is that your child leaves the fifth grade with more enthusiasm for reading than he or she has ever had before.  For kids that hate reading, my job will be easy.  I just have to get him or her to like reading a little bit.  For those kids that love reading, my job is also easy.  I love matching just the right book to just the right student. 

Some important information about our class:

• Students should always have a chapter book with him or her in class
• Students should read 20-30 minutes FOUR OR MORE nights per week
• Students can only have one book checked out at a time from my classroom library
• Students can read books from the school library, other classroom libraries, public libraries, home libraries, books that fall from the sky, etc.
• Students will not frequently have homework in my class........Reading is our homework 
• Any work coming home will be work that was not completed in class