Highlights of the Week 5.1.15

Hello families,

Here's a quick snapshot of our week:

• In writing students finished organizing their notefacts, wrote introductions with a hook to get readers interested in their topic, wrote conclusions to leave the reader with the big idea, found words readers may not know and defined them in the glossary, and created an index for readers to look up details from the report. Many students worked on editing all their writing to get ready to be typed next week. It was a busy and fruitful week!
• Book buddy groups have been going nicely during literacy. Many students are developing their verbal and written response to literature during these groups.
• In social studies we are learning about the cardinal directions. We came up with a few mnemonics of our own:
• ·       Never ever say what
  ·       Never eat sour wheat
  ·       Never eat sour watermelon
  ·       Never ever sever watermelon
  ·       Never eat soggy watermelon
  ·       Never electrocute stupid wigs
  ·       Never ever say watermelly
  ·       Never electrocute snowy wheat
  ·       Never eat snowy watermelon
  ·       Nocko eats simple wheat
  ·       Never eat soggy wheat
  ·       Never eat stinky walnuts
  ·       Never eat smelly wheat
   
  

•  We read a few more books about human body systems, this week focusing on the nervous and circulatory systems.

We've had a busy, fun week together. It's amazing how focused these students can be and how much they accomplish each day. Writing this week has been a special highlight since we're all so excited to be nearing the end of the writing process for this project. Next week we'll type but there's still a little more to do. Once I get a better idea of when we'll be done I'll send out news so we can celebrate our authors and share these wonderful reports!

Have a great weekend!