Spelling is Back!

Spelling is back this week! Remember-- Mondays students just need to write words in their planners.  Tuesday-Thursday, they need to complete one assignment on the menu, per day. Check the "Weekly Spelling" tab for the menu/ for more information.

 O'NEILL & ROST  The past few weeks we've been learning strategies to help us grow complex and nuanced ideas about themes. Next, we'll start to develop these ideas and collect evidence to support our theories. 

On a separate note, all book clubs have finished their books as of today.  Students are now working on projects with the purpose of convincing others to read their book.  They'll focus on plot, themes, character development, critical scenes, etc. to draw in possible readers.  I present this to students by comparing their projects to movie trailers or previews.  We want to create interest and suspense, but in a way that we don't give away too much.  Hopefully these projects will be complete by Friday.  As individual groups finish, I'll post projects on here-- be sure to check back (they tend to be pretty cool)!

In Rost's room, students learned the word malicious.  Ask them what it means (we say mean or hurtful on purpose).  Have them give you an example from TV, books or real life when someone has been malicious. 

Target Learning Goals:  To grow ideas about theme, readers can...

• ... explore elements and characteristics of common themes in literature.
• ... name and reflect on problems in the story. 
• To do this we use a process chart. Process charts include steps that readers can go through with any novel to help them break down a text and develop a critical, accurate, and thoughtful theme. See chart below.  Have your child teach you the "theme process chart" with gestures!
• ... notice and name Again & Agains to help us think about symbolism.  See chart below to explain Again & Agains.

TLGs in Action: 

Theme Process Chart

Students use the iPad to create book club project

Students exploring and sorting familiar elements in common themes. 

Students using gestures to teach the theme process chart steps.

MEZAN  Since returning from break, we have continued our work in getting to know characters.  This week we'll begin to put multiple ideas we have about a character together to help us build theories-- thinking about how characters are complex, more than one way (like people).  We also continue to use Kidblog to practice making claims about character traits and defending those claims with appropriate evidence from the text.  Click here (and have your child log in) to see the work your student has been doing on their blog.

In Word Study, students learned two new words to describe characters: malicious and stubborn.  Ask your child to define them and give examples!

Target Learning Goals (TLG):  To grow ideas about characters, readers can...

• ... identify when characters act differently or in ways that surprise us and ask ourselves...
• ... is the character changing/ did the character change?
• ... did the character realize something?
• ... compile ideas about characters to build a complex character theory.

TLGs in Action:  

Students use the iMovie app on the iPad to create a book trailer for their book club project.

Students practice writing claims and using evidence on their blogs. 

Homework: 

• 30 minutes reading
• Book club reading and assignments (if not completed in class).
• Spelling homework
• Math homework

Reminders:

• Get Caught Reading:  Remember to email in pictures when you "catch" your child reading!  Hadley.ONeill@hcps.org  

Upcoming Dates:

Thank you,

Mrs. O'Neill