The Language Arts Lowdown!
Volume 5, Issue 19 December 20, 2013
A Very Victorian Celebration!
Thank you to all the parents who sent in items to help out!!
An opportunity to help out in our room!
Several teachers I know around the country have shared a really neat website with me where teachers can request funding for projects that fall outside the traditional realm of "school stuff." I have decided to try posting a project :)
As many of you know about your own children, sometimes it's really hard to sit in a chair for an extended period of time. In an effort to provide an alternative for those kids who prefer not to "sit" I have created a project at DonorsChoose to get balance ball chairs for our room! Below is a letter created by DonorsChoose sharing that for the next FOUR days, Disney will match any donation made toward the project! If you feel like helping out, I know the students would appreciate it! Feel free to share this project and its link with friends :)
Hi Parents,
I want to make sure your children, (my students) have the materials they need to succeed. So I've created a classroom project request at DonorsChoose.org, an award-winning charity.
I'm asking for donations of any size to help my kids. For the next four days, any donation you make to my project will be doubled by Disney (up to $100). If you know anyone who is passionate about education, please pass this along. Your donation will brighten my students' school year, and you'll get photos and thank yous from our class.
Here's my classroom request:
http://www.donorschoose.org/project/comfy-seats-for-busy-minds/1152646/?rf=email_system_2013_12_teacherid_393731&challengeid=352936/
To have your donation matched dollar for dollar, enter the promo code DISNEY on the payment screen. This awesome match offer lasts through December 22.
My students and I greatly appreciate your support.
Nicole Landon
A VERY SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY
Good deeds are still coming in! Right now, 5th grade holds the lead with an average of 2.7 good deeds per person. 4th grade is close behind with 2.0 per person!
They may keep track of their good deeds on a sheet of paper, or they may enter the good deed on our website and I will check off each one as we make the link on the chain.
4th Grade and 5th Grade
Grammar:
This week, we reviewed compound sentences. In order to be compound, a sentence must have two INDEPENDENT clauses, joined by a conjuction.
Word Study:
In 4th grade, we reviewed compound words, while in 5th grade, we reviewed the rules for putting words into the past tense (particularly using the -ed suffix)
Writing:
This week's writing focused on responding to our reading in A Christmas Carol.
Reading:
We are continuing to read A Christmas Carol this week, and breaking apart the word choices of Mr. Dickens. We have talked about how his descriptive words and phrases can really bring the picture "alive" for the reader.
Greek and Latin Roots
We had 5 roots this week so that our quiz will cover all body parts and numbers.
Octo--Latin--means eight--seen in words such as octogon, octopus, and octet
Novem--Latin--means nine--seen in words such as November, novena, and novemdigitate
Decem--Latin--means ten--seen in words such as decade, December, and decimal
Centum--Latin--means hundred--seen in words such as century, centimeter, and centennial
Mille--Latin--means thousand--seen in words such as millimeter, mile, and millenium
5th Grade
Cutis--Latin--means skin, hide--seen in words such as cuticle, cutify, and cutaneous
Cor/Cordis--Latin--means heart--seen in words such as core, encourage, and accord
Dorsum--Latin--means back--seen in words such as dorsal, endorse, and dorsicumbent
Reading Requirements-2nd 9 weeks
4th grade:
1-Realistic Fiction
1-Historical Fiction
2-Non-fiction (Informational)
2-Biography
1-Choice
1-Poetry (in class)
5th grade:
all of 4th PLUS
1-myth/fable/fairy tale
1-Drama (in class)