Grammar - Theme Three

Here are the grammar topics and Practice Book pages that will be covered in Theme Three, which we started today:

• Possessives and Contractions (144)
• Subject-Verb Agreement (149)
• Regular and Irregular Verbs (150, 151)
• Verb Phrases with have (169)
• Teach, Learn; Let, Leave; Sit, Set; Can, May (170, 171)
• Prefixes: sub- and sur- (179)
• Adjectives (184)
• Proper Adjectives (185)

Homework - 9/30/2006

• Spelling - study for test
• Grammar - PB 144 & 149
• Math - 480: 13-24 & 483: 6-13

(Note: I had to leave the room for about 20 minutes this morning to attend a Student Success Team meeting. Mrs. Hicks, our elementary advisor, watched the class in my absence. Some of the students may have finished today's grammar homework at that time.)

Homework - 11/29/2006

• Science - B121: 1-3, 5 & WB 121

(Note: Today we had two tests, one for grammar and one for math. I also gave as much time to the students as I could to make sure they completed their book report on time, since it was due today. So, the only homework today is for science.)

Curriculum Update: Health

Today we had another health lesson titled Building Bridges. I sent home another Home Workout newsletter that comes with our health curriculum. It looks like an introductory letter because it's the first lesson in the curriculum, but I have already taught two lessons from this series: Bully Busters and Bullies, Targets and Witnesses. The students are to complete the decoding puzzle on the back for homework. I will check this assignment quickly so that you can have the information included on the Home Workout page for your reference.

For your convenience, here is the website link for the Mendez Foundation.

Unfortunately, the link provided in the Home Workout for Adventures in Parenting: How Responding, Preventing, Monitoring, Mentoring, and Modeling Can Help You Be a Successful Parent no longer works. You can go here for Adventures in Parenting online. If you have Adobe Acrobat and would like a version for printing, go here for Adventures in Parenting.

Homework - 9/28/2006

• Grammar - study for test - Theme Two
• Math - study for test - Chapter 25
• Health - Home Workout

Curriculum Update

• Grammar - We are finishing the topics for Theme Two, and I have scheduled the test for this Wednesday. See the list of topics below.
• Reading/Writing - The book report is due this Wednesday.
• Mathematics - We are finishing up Chapter 25, and I have scheduled the test for this Wednesday. The lessons on circles and problem solving are not required, and will be for extra credit only.
• Science - We have begun our last chapter in Unit B, The Solar System.
• Spelling Bee - Today I passed out a sheet titled "Junior Words." These are the words I will use to determine who will represent our class in the school spelling bee this year. I am working on another set of more difficult words because I anticipate the many good spellers in my class this year will go through all the "Junior" words. I have scheduled our in-class spelling bee for Wednesday, December 15, 2006.

Grammar - Theme Two

Here are the topics and Practice Book page numbers of the content that will be tested on the grammar test for theme two:

• Compound Words (68)
• Common and Proper Nouns (73)
• Singular and Plural Possessive Nouns (74, 75)
• Word Roots: spec/t and opt (88)
• Action Verbs (93)
• Direct Objects (94)
• Suffixes: -ward and -ous (103)
• Main Verbs and Helping Verbs (108)
• Linking Verbs (109, 110)
• Suffixes: -ive and -ic (118)
• Verb Tenses (123, 124, 125)

Homework - 11/27/2006

• Spelling - PB 145/146
• Grammar - PB 124
• Math - 474: 4-18

API Info at GreatSchools

Here is more information from GreatSchools about Lafayette Elementary. This page has information about our API (Academic Performance Index) score.

Homework - 11/21/2006

• Grammar - PB 125

Ongoing projects:

• Book report - due Wednesday, November 29, 2006

(Have a great Thanksgiving recess!)

Picture from Audubon Canyon Ranch

Here is a picture from our field trip to Audubon Canyon Ranch. I think this is a good example of camouflage. Can you see the spider?

Homework - 11/20/2006

• Grammar - Direct Objects/Action Verbs
• Math - 462: 6-13; 18-25

Note: Many students did not do well on the original grammar homework assignment on direct objects. We reviewed that assignment today, went over some more student-generated examples today, and then I assigned this reteach worksheet on direct objects. The action verbs page is just a refresher, but is important to the idea of direct objects.

How You Can Help at Home with Writing

Wendy Miller, North Carolina's 2006 Teacher of the Year, provides tips to support your budding writer at home.

Provide a place for your child to write.
The area should be an area that is quiet and well lit. Stock the "writing center" with supplies such as paper, pencils and crayons. You can also gather family photos and magazines in the center that can be used as story starters.

Read, read, read!
The best activity to improve writing is reading. If your child reads good books, he will be a better writer. Reading exposes students to general vocabulary, word study and content-specific vocabulary. Through reading, students see a variety of authors' techniques that they can use in their own writing.

Encourage your child to keep a reflective journal.
This is excellent writing practice, as well as a good outlet for venting feelings. Encourage your child to write about things that happen at home and school. This reflective journal can be used to develop the "senses" of writing. Have your child write about what he saw, heard or felt on a trip or adventure. Provide experiences in your community that will interest your child and spark her writing. Especially encourage your child to write about personal feelings — pleasures as well as disappointments. When reading your child's journal (only if your child invites you to, of course), share your own feelings and ideas paired with positive feedback about your child's writing.

Provide authentic writing opportunities for your child.
Have your child write his own thank-you notes, party invitations and letters to family. Let your child make the grocery list. Finding a pen pal for your child would make writing "real." Helping children make the connection between writing and the "real" world will increase an interest in writing.

Be a writing role model.
Make sure your child sees you as a writer. Point out times that you use writing to communicate with others. Discuss authentic writing in the community such as articles and letters in the newspaper, on billboards or in written advertisements. Discuss the purpose of the writing and the target audience. When your child writes, you should write. You can schedule a day of the week that you will turn off the television and share your writing.

Start a vocabulary notebook.
Teach your child new words each week and encourage her to use them. Make it into a game and give points for using the new words. Your child can keep a vocabulary notebook and get rewarded for the number of new words learned. The words will begin to appear like magic in her oral language and writing.

Ask questions.
Always ask your child questions when he writes. Ask specific questions about your child's writing such as: "How did that happen?" "How did that make you feel?" "Can you tell me more about that...?" "What are some other words you could use to describe...?"

Help your child publish her writing.
Share her writing with others, place it on the refrigerator or encourage her to write for kids' magazines. When your child's writing is published, she will be on her way to becoming a lifelong writer and author. Check out these options for publishing children's work:
Stone Soup
Potluck Magazine

(This article comes from GreatSchools.net.)

GreatSchools.net

GreatSchools.net is a great resource for information about schools and education. I have signed up for their internet newsletters, so from time to time I will share some information from them with you here.

Here you will find parent reviews of Lafayette Elementary. Feel free to add your own if you like.

Junior Achievement

Today was our Junior Acheivement day. We had three volunteers from PriceWaterhouseCoopers teaching in our class today: Alex, Jessica, and Dallas. They taught the students about different types of businesses: sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation. They also learned about different types of resources that business use: natural, human, and capital. They also compared and contrasted three different methods of productivity: unit production, mass production, and batch production.

For more information, you can go to Junior Achievement and/or Junior Achievement of the Bay Area.

Homework - 11/17/2006

• Spelling - study for test (rescheduled due to Junior Achievement)
• Science - study for test - Unit B, Chapter 4

Ongoing Projects:

• Book Report - students should now be done reading their book - the book report itself is due Wednesday, November 29, 2006
• Problem Solving 6 - due Monday, November 20, 2006

Homework - 11/16/2006

• Spelling - study for test
• Grammar - PB 110, 118, & 123

Note: Junior Achievement is scheduled for tomorrow, so there may not be any assigned homework.

However, there are some assignments the students should be working on. The book report is due Wednesday, November 29. Problem Solving 6 is due Monday, November 20.

Homework - 11/15/2006

• Grammar - PB 108 & 109
• Science - WB 115/116; B110-B111: 1-24; extra credit: WB 107

(Note: our school's internet access went down sometime Monday, so I have not been able to post until today. I apoligize for any inconvenience.)

Homework - 11/14/2006

• Cursive 4
• Art: The (insert student name here) Times

Homework - 11/13/2006

• Spelling - PB 119/120

We also finished Problem Solving 5, so students are to finish Problem Solving 6 and turn it in on or before next Monday, November 20,2006

Homework - 11/9/2006

• Science - WB 111
• Math - 456: 10-28

Homework - 11/8/2006

• Study for spelling test
• Grammar - PB 94

Of course, students are working daily on their book report, which is due Wednesday, November 29, 2006.

Today, I also passed out a sheet titled "Beginner Words (Ages 6-8)" which is for our mandatory classroom spelling bee, which will be held next Wednesday. I want all the students to have the experience of participating in a spelling bee. After that is complete, then we will have the real classroom spelling bee, just for the students who want to represent our classroom in our school-wide spelling bee. I will provide another worksheet of more challenging words for that spelling bee. I may also give the students supplemental words to study in case that second list is not enough.

Homework - 11/7/2006

• Math - Practice worksheet 7.5/8.6

We had P.E. today, changed seats, and spent a considerable amount of time on problem solving in math today, so: Yes, that's the only homework.

We also began work on a poem for the PTA's Reflections program on this year's theme, My Favorite Place. Many students finished, but some may be working on it for homework.

Searching for this blog

I am posting information here in the hopes that it will make it easier to search for this blog should you forget the name of the website.

This is a blog for the students and parents of Mr. Walker's fifth grade class at Lafayette Elementary School in San Francisco, California. We are a California Distinguished School.

Teacher: Mr. Richard Walker
School: Lafayette Elementary School
Location: San Francisco, California
Grade: Fifth
Room #: Room 27

Should you forget/lose the website address for this blog, trying going to Blogger at http://www.blogger.com, and doing a search there for this website. Try keywords like: Walker, Lafayette Elementary, and San Francisco.

Reminders

• Kathryn Beich (PTA fundraiser) orders will be available for pickup on Tuesday, November 7, 2006 (tomorrow) after school in room 5.
• Book Report - Reading deadline: Friday, November 17, 2006. Report Due: Wednesday, November 29, 2006.

Homework - 11/6/2006

• Spelling - PB 105/106
• Grammar - PB 74 & 93
• Math - Practice worksheet 8.3

A picture from our sand-castle building day! 

Book Report

Today I officially assigned the book report. Students already have the assignment sheet, which includes the outline format that I suggest they use to help them take notes and write their report. Today I also gave them the grading rubric, which shows exactly what criteria I am looking at to grade their book report.

They have two weeks to finish reading their book, until Friday, November 17. They then have about a week and a half to finish writing their book report, which is due on Wednesday, November 29.

I set out a number of excellent fifth grade books, many of which have won awards. Among them are The Phantom Tollbooth, The Westing Game, Dear Mr. Henshaw, The Giver, Out of the Dust, Holes, Maniac Magee, and My Side of the Mountain. All of those books were pre-approved by me for the book report. Students could also select another book, show it to me for my approval, and then if I okayed it, read that book for the book report; about ten students took advantage of that choice, and I okayed their books today.

Beginning to read their book report book was the only homework I assigned today.

Curriculum Update - 11/2/2006

• Reading: Students are to return their copy of From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler tomorrow. We read this book as a way to introduce the book report (see below).
• Writing: They will be also be informing me tomorrow of what book they will be reading (with my approval) for the book report, the major writing assignment for the second quarter. I will give them the grading rubric for the writing assignment tomorrow as well. They will have two weeks to read their book, and then another week to complete their 500 to 700 word book report.
• Science: Today students took the test for Unit B, Chapter 3. We have now concluded our unit of study on the water cycle and weather. We will still be in Unit B for two more chapters, but now studying the solar system.
• Math: Students took the Chapter 6 test last Friday, October 27. We are now reviewing some concepts in chapters 7 and 8, such as mean, median, and mode. The important concept in Chapter 8 is ordered pairs. There will be no test for chapters 7 and 8. After we have concluded Chapter 8, we are going to jump to Chapter 25 and spend a little time in geometry.
• Grading: Due to parent-teacher conferences, I am behind on grading. I will move quickly beginning next week to get math, science, and spelling tests graded and back to the students.

Homework - 11/2/2006

• Science - Read Lesson 1 (Unit B, Chapter 4)
• Spelling - study for test

Homework - 11/1/2006

• Science - Study for Chapter 3 test (Unit B)
• Math - Practice worksheet 7.2/7.3

Homework - 10/31/2006

• Science - WB 105; extra credit: WB 97

Happy Halloween!