The Language Arts Lowdown!
Volume 5, Issue 20 January 10, 2014
Here's the Scoop
I hope you all enjoyed your winter break (along with the extra day off!) Don't forget; we'll make up that day on February 17th.
We are all back in the swing of school, and spent this week writing! We will be working on narrative writing this quarter, and began with writing about our favorite event over our break. I'm looking forward to reading all the stories!
4th Grade
Grammar:
This week, we discussed the use of quotation marks as we began to use dialogue in our narrative pieces. We will continue this study throughout the unit.
Word Study:
Next week, we will resume our spelling lists with week 14, which focuses on comparative and superlatives (-er and -est endings).
Writing:
This week, we began our narrative writing unit with our "pre" writing assessment. We will continue this study throughout the semester.
Reading:
Next week, we will begin two simultaneous units consisting of poetry and a novel study. We will be reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond. More information will come next week!
5th Grade
Grammar:
We did not address any specific grammar skills this week, as we were writing our "pre" narrative assessment. We reviewed any skills that were in question as we were writing.
Word Study:
Next week, we will resume with week 14, which reviews the "bossy r" sound when paired with "a" and "o".
Writing:
This week, we began our narrative writing unit with our "pre" writing assessment. We will build on our previous study of narrative writing throughout the semester.
Reading:
Next week, we will begin a unit on poetry, as well as pick up our next novel!
Greek and Latin Roots
Pyro--Greek--means fire--seen in words such as pyrotechnics, pyromaniac, and pyrite.
Ignis--Latin--means fire--seen in words such as igneous, ignition, and ignite.
Vulcanus--Latin--means Vulcan, god of fire--seen in words such as volcano, volcanic, and vulcanize.
5th Grade
Athlon-Greek--means prize, award--seen in words such as athlete, pentathalon, and athletic.
Agon--Greek--means contest, struggle--seen in words such as agony, protagonist, and antagonize.
Dromos--Greek--means running, race course--seen in words such as hippodrome, dromodary, and palindrome.
Reading Requirements-2nd 9 weeks
4th grade:
1-Myth/Fable/Folk/Fairy Tale
1-Fantasy
2- Non-fiction
1-Historical Fiction
2-Realistic Fiction
1-Choice
5th grade:
2-Non-fiction
1-Historical Fiction
2-Realistic Fiction
1-Biography
2-Poetry (poems of at least 10 lines)
1-Fantasy
1-Choice