One Hundred Thirtieth Day of School

 For Writing today, some writers needed time to finish some writing process steps while others made illustrations. We will take a break from writing tomorrow and let some authors share their work. On Friday, we will take our narrative assessment and turn them in to Mr. Brooks.

Math application problem:

A chipmunk hid 26 acorns under a tree. Later, he found and hid 6 more. How many acorns were now hidden beneath the tree?

We were given the opportunity to find our own facts about Mayan culture. Some of our researchers discovered that Mayans worshipped over 150 gods. Mayans also believed kings became gods when they died.

One Hundred Twenty-Eighth day of School

 In Writing today, we revised our narratives. Our process for revision is as follows:

1. Reread
2. Ask:
• Is it clear, interesting, complete?
3. If 'no', make additions/changes.

One Hundred Twenty-Seventh Day of School

 In Writing today, we learned about opening and closing of narrative fantasy. We discovered that the setting is basically the opening, and a "...happily ever after." will suffice as a closing.

In our content unit, we learned that the Mayans worshipped multiple gods in temples and celebrated during festivals.

One Hundred Twenty-Sixth Day of School

 In Writing today, we added transitions to our narrative. We reviewed that in addition to our list of time-order words, transitions can also take the form of quotations, or sounds, just to name a couple simple examples.

We began a new unit of content where will learn about early American civilizations. These will include the Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs. In our lesson today, we learned that families and community members relied on and helped one another when help was needed.

One Hundred Twenty-Fourth Day of School

 In Writing, we planned the plot of our narratives.

Curriculum Update

 Necessary adjustments in instruction have had to be made above and beyond typical adjustments for testing and parent conferences due to so many students being absent lately, but we are now finally into our next Writing unit. Our current genre is fictional narrative. We have combined art instruction in tandem with the unit. We began exploring and practicing with some of the elements of art, namely: line, shape, and texture, to create our main and supporting characters for our narrative.

To preface the unit in reading, speaking, and content lessons, we are currently engaged in a comparative literature unit analyzing folk tales from all around the world. Students are using 2 and 3 circle Venn diagrams to compare and contrast. We are also examining the structue of the fantasy/fiction narrative itself. We have reviewed the following key elements:

• Character: including main, supporting, antagonist, and protagonist
• Setting: the when and where of the story
• Plot: 
• The beginning (setting and character description)
• The middle (the body of plot leading to the climax) (First grade requires a minimum of 2 logically ordered events with appropriate transistions.)
• The end (resolution including closure)

Parents may recall our Writing Workshop procedures. Here's what we have completed so far following a lengthy immersive dive into the genre. We have designed/created our story's main and supporting characters. We have written "want, but, so, then" statements for our protagonist. An example of this might sound like: 'Cinderella wanted to go to the ball, but she had nothing to wear, so her faerie godmother intervened. Then, she was able to attend the ball.' Next, we touched and talked the setting of our story which will be drafted on the first page.

We recently took the district midyear math assessment. It was not an easy test and all of the students in room 11 persevered while trying their best. In the end, we collectively achieved a 75% success rate overall with 17 passing scores including 2 perfect scores of 22 students taking the test. This is compared to only 4 passing scores at the beginning of the year. The students were promised a treat if everyone tried their best and that is indeed what happened, so we will get treats this coming week.

One Hundred Fourth Day of School

 In Writing, we talked out our reasons for our opinion and then planned our reasons on paper (quick-sketch).

Math application problem:

    Lisa had 3 boxes of crayons, each with 10 crayons inside, plus 5 extra crayons. Sally had 19     crayons. Sally thought she had more crayons than Lisa. Lisa thought Sally was wrong. Who     was right?

Grades for this assignment have been posted to Schoology.