News & Notes from Mrs. Mitchell Grade 5

Language Arts 

• We are working on the story: The Ch'i-lin Purse. 

• The comprehension skill is compare and contrast. 

• The grammar skill is action and linking verbs. 

• I encourage the students to take home their little red grammar book (LRGB pp. 92-95) to use as a resource in completing their homework.

• There will usually be a spelling test every Friday.  Students who master the words on the Tuesday pretest (100%) do not have to take the Friday test. 

• The November book report for Room 17 is a biography.   Room 16 will report on a historical fiction book. 

• Students have received the book report sheet.  They are also doing a story mountain for this report.  The due date for both is Thursday, December 3rd.

• Students are required to read an accelerated reading (AR) book each month and take the comprehension quiz for it on the computer.  This may be a separate book or the one for their book report.  Some students have already taken their test - good job!

• We will continue to use the Simple 6 Writing Program where students focus on these key elements: Stick to the Topic, Logical Order, Interesting Words, Different Sentence Patterns, Descriptive Sentences, and Audience.

•  Students are working in class on the final copy of their personal narrative dealing with a challenge or difficult problem and tell how they met the challenge. 

Social Studies

  A foldable is a 3-D, interactive graphic organizer.  Its purpose is to help students organize, learn, review, and remember information. 

We will use them as a resource all year because they encourage student creativity, provide a means for hands-on learning, and reinforce important thinking and communication skills.

We are currently studying early European explorations of North America including major land and water routes, reasons for exploration and the impact the exploration had.