Week of November 21, 2009

I can not believe that we are almost half way through the second marking period. In just a few weeks we'll be sending out progress reports. I know that sounds harsh after just having conferences, but you will be getting those before the Christmas break. I have not seen the December calender yet so I do not know the exact date of their arrival.

Speaking of December..... fifth grade has the school Mass and the family Mass this month. The family Mass is December 13 at St. Bernard Church. I need sixteen children to participate and carry in the Advent wreath. I'll be sending a notice home this Monday, please return it to me ASAP.

On a side note.....all the field trip notices have not been returned. This would be for Mr. Furey's trip to New Haven to the Knights of Columbus. I need to know who is and who is not going. Students will be wearing their school uniforms that day, skirts for the girls and long pants for the boys. They are one of twenty schools in the state asked to participate in this event.

Reading - This week we are finishing up with The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I remember reading it way back in grammar school. Actually they made us memorize a large chunk of it. Skills for this story include, setting, theme, sequence, and word endings.

Reading Vocab - located in the flashcards under unit two

Spelling - We had our Spelling test yesterday and will not have one this week due to Thanksgiving.

English/Grammar - We have been working on subject-verb agreement. We still need a little more work on that skills, so we will continue to work on subject-verb agreement.

Research and Study Skills - illustrations and captions

Morning Work - Weekly Geography packet is given to them on Monday and they have until Friday to complete it. This consists of a map and ten questions plus a challenge question. This is not an optional assignment, nor is the challenge section optional. Some of the maps are easier than others. On new map concepts we review the whole assignment together on Monday before they start the mapping skills. If they have any questions on the map they can see me for help on it. Along with the weekly Geography they have two other worksheets on their desk when they come in. These vary from day to day but are to reinforce language arts skills. It's like getting your homework first thing in the morning.

Word Study - We have started unit three which takes us on a trip through root words, base words, and prefixes. I think it may be a longer trip than originally planned. Things get hectic during the next window of time. That would be the stretch between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the one where you blink and its over.

Weekly Writing - Interview p. 249. Last week we started our weekly writing assignment which wanted them to write an interview with a famous American. I changed it just a bit to cross over to where we are in Social Studies. They are writing an interview, but it is with a famous explorer. Everyone was assigned an explorer who they needed to locate information on. It was a great chance to practice research skills and I actually have most of the information they needed in books in the classroom library. I let media/library know they were doing this assignment to also tie in with the study skills program they are working on. The school library also has information, so they did not have to go any farther than an encyclopedia. It was like a mini scavenger hunt. Due Tuesday November 24.

Next week we will be starting Unit three in our reading series.

Religion -  Discuss the upcoming season of Advent, November 29th is the first Sunday in Advent. In Advent we prepare for the coming of Jesus. It is during this season that we reflect on the great mystery of his coming, and we reform our lives and renew our hope. Advent wreath - circular shape reminds us that God has no beginning and no end; evergreens tell us that God never changes, he has and always will love us; green of wreath tells us Advent is a time of hope; candles remind us of the long time the Jewish people waited for the Savior to come, violet candles remind us that we are getting ready to celebrate a feast, rose candle tells us to be happy because the celebration is coming soon

December 8th is the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This is a Holy Day of Obligation.

Introductory Rites - Entrance Procession and Song, Sign of the Cross and Greeting, Penitential Rite, Glory to God, Opening Prayer

Liturgy of the Word - First Reading, Responsorial Psalm, Second Reading, Alleluia, Gospel, Homily, Profession of Faith, General Intercessions

Liturgy of the Eucharist - Preparation of the Gifts, Eucharistic Prayer, Preface and Holy,Holy,Holy, Institution Narrative and Consecration, memorial acclamation, Offering, Great Amen

Science -  Vocabulary for chapter 4: elliptical, model, asteroid, meteoroid, meteor, comet, meteorite, light year, constellation, galaxy, spectroscope, refraction, reflection.  I do not want to carry this chapter over and test after Thanksgiving, so I was going to test on Tuesday. After some more thought on the matter, I believe it will be less stressful for everyone to give it as a TAKE-HOME EXAM on MONDAY. So that is what I am going to do. The test will go home Monday and must be returned by Wednesday. That will give everyone including those who have been in and out with illness plenty of time to complete the assessment. If you are not going to be in school on Wednesday, I know some people use that as a travel day, please return the test Tuesday.

Grade 6 Science - It is a very short week for us, so we will be working on some health topics. This should be less stressful than starting the new unit. Since stress is a health topic, this would be a good week to reduce it.

Social Studies - Welcome to Chapter 4 Contact and Exploration, we are in explorer madness. Topics include, Europeans come to the Americas, explorers and conquerors, and the Spanish build an empire. Sorry, we will not get to the Pilgrims until chapter 5. We will be learning about Columbus and the Taino, Moctezuma II, Cortes, conquistadors, Pizarro, Coronado, and De las Casas. Chapter vocabulary: log, colony, Columbian Exchange, tribute, conquistador, historical map, map key, encomienda, missionary. People to know: Christopher Columbus, King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella, Amerigo Vespucci, Moctezuma II, Hernando Cortés, Doña Marina, cuauhtemoc, Francisco Pizarro, Atahualpa,  Estevanico, Fray Marcos de Niza, Francisco Coronado, Bartolomé de las Casas, Yanga, Alvar Nuñez Cabeza De Vaca, Hernando De Soto, Juan Ponce De León, Vasco Núñez De Balboa