We tackled the Gettysburg Address once again. We rewrote what we thought the last paragraph said, and then we did it again! We compared, dissected, and chose what we thought made the most sense. We will continue to do this with all the difficult text we read during this pilot program.

Homework:

* Gettysburg Solo #3 Work

* Read 20 min / Q2 project

We jumped into tackling the Gettysburg Address today! We rewrote what we thought the first two paragraphs said, and then we did it again! We compared, dissected, and chose what we thought made the most sense.

Homework:

* Bring two different highlighters to class tomorrow

* Gettysburg Solo #2 Work

* Read 20 min / Q2 project

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! It was great to see you at conferences! Now, we are back to work... Full time!

Today, we wrote about one fun or exciting moment about our break, and shared them aloud. We also reviewed our book project for the quarter and shared some songs we'll be using for these projects. Students were then given time to start their homework - Gettysburg Solo #1 HW.

Homework:

* Gettysburg Solo #1 Work

* Read 20 min / Q2 book project

Ahhh... After the week of hard work tackling nonfiction text, we stopped to enjoy our second quarter books. First we discussed theme, so students could more easily find a song to correlate to it, and then we discussed how to start looking for songs for their books. We then were able to read silently for a bit... Ahhh... Have an excellent week off, and be thankful for all we have!

Homework:

- Read 20 min. each day of break, or 200 minutes total!

- Look for song ideas (for Q2 independent reading project)!

Block 3/4 - Conquering the difficult Willingham text again today, we completed a lengthly phrazecloze activity to see how much we have learned of the text. We then compared our answers and evaluated which were the closest to what Willingham meant.
Blocks 5/6 & 8/9 - The spelling bee was conducted today, and then we caught up on our feedback for the iPad pilot, and discussed our book project for Q2.

Homework:

- Read for 20 min.

Block 3/4... Today we worked on finding the main idea in portions of the excerpt from David Willingham's Why Don't Students Like School? It was difficult work, but we got through it by using what we discovered by re-reading.
Blocks 5/6 & 8/9... Conquering the difficult Willingham text again today, we completed a lengthly phrazecloze activity to see how much we have learned of the text. We then compared our answers and evaluated which were the closest to what Willingham meant.

Homework:

All classes:
- Read 20 min.
- Bring your independent book tomorrow
Per 3/4:
- Solo #3

Today we worked on finding the main idea in portions of the excerpt from David Willingham's Why Don't Students Like School? It was difficult work, but we got through it by using what we discovered by re-reading.

Homework:

- Block 3/4 = Solo work #2
- Blocks 5/6 & 8/9 = Solo work #3

- Novel Approval Form due TOMORROW
- Bring your independent book tomorrow

We started our WEX pilot program today, using the iPads loaned to us for the month! We got set up, and then started deciphering an excerpt from David Willingham's Why Don't Students Like School?

Homework:

- Finish reading pgs. 7-14; complete next three cards

- Novel Aproval Form due Wednesday

Student groups finished teaching our next story in the Literature book - "A Retrieved Reformation."

Homework:
* PERMISSION SLIP due BY MONDAY!
* Novel Approval Form due Wed.
* Read 60 minutes of your Q2 book!

Student groups began teaching our next story in the Literature book - "A Retrieved Reformation." Homework will be posted at the end of each day this week.

Homework:
* PERMISSION SLIP due ASAP!
* Novel Approval Form due Wed.
* Per 3/4 - ?
* Per 5/6 - ?
* Per 8/9 - ?

We had BOOK TALKS today! Mr. Goldstein took our class and Mrs. Pearl's class into the LMC today to give us more book talks for second quarter. We then had time to look around the LMC, choose a book, and then begin reading it! The second quarter independent reading project was explained once again, now that students have had a week to look it over. Of course, you can find the project, explanation, novel approval form, character grid, and rubric on Edline...!

Homework:
* PERMISSION SLIP due ASAP!
* Novel Approval Form due next Wednesday

Happy Monday! Student groups finished teaching our next two stories in the Literature book - "Three-Century Woman" & "Charles." Again, homework will be posted at the end of each day this week.

Homework:
* PERMISSION SLIP due ASAP!
* Novel Approval Form due Nov. 16th

Today, student groups began teaching our next two stories in the Literature book - "Three-Century Woman" & "Charles." Again, homework will be posted at the end of each day this week and next.

Homework:
* Novel Approval Form due Nov. 16th
* Per 3/4 - Pg. 136 A & B (Vocabulary Practice)
* Per 5/6 - Complete Comprehension side of wkst.
* Per 8/9 - Pg. 136 (Vocabulary Practice)

Today, student groups finished teaching our first story in the Literature book - "Zebra." We then took a look at two nonfiction selections about the Vietnam War, to supplant the fictional story about it ("Zebra").

Homework:
* Novel Approval Form due Nov. 16th
* Per 3/4 - None
* Per 5/6 - None
* Per 8/9 - None

Today, student groups continued teaching our first story in the Literature book - "Zebra." Homework will be posted at the end of each day this week and next, since Mrs. Kirr is not sure what student groups will assign for homework each day!

Homework:
* Novel Approval Form due Nov. 16th
* Per 3/4 - Finish the story and the worksheets
* Per 5/6 - Finish close-read questions B, D, F, G, H, I, K, L, M, N, P, Q, & S
* Per 8/9 - Finish close-read questions A, C, D, G, I

Hopefully everyone slept well after last night! Today, we finished our Halloween stories and then jumped right into second quarter by explaining the Q2 Independent Book Project. (You can find everything you need on Edline.) It is mock CD cover this time! Then, the second period of each class, student groups taught our first story in our Literature book - "Zebra." Homework will be posted at the end of each day this week and next, since Mrs. Kirr is not sure what student groups will assign for homework each day!

Homework:
* Novel Approval Form due Nov. 16th
* Per 3/4 - no other homework
* Per 5/6 - no other homework
* Per 8/9 - no other homework