LITERATURE and HISTORY, Week of January 9-13

This week, we will be studying the Incas and the Spanish Conquistador, Pizarro, in History class.

You will also be getting a study guide for a major test on the Maya, Aztec, and Inca and the Spanish conquistadors which will be given on Tuesday, January 17.

In Literature, we will be thinking and reading about the theme of Journeys and Quests (or Conquests) as we read a few “stories” from the Odyssey, by the Greek poet, Homer. Our question for the week is: What makes a person decide to leave the known for the unknown?

Your spelling words will be based on nouns that end in ‘y’ but add an ‘s’ when made plural. They are on the back of this handout. Your test will be Tuesday, January 17.

We will be concentrating on editing and correcting our writing assignment from last week—and, yes, writing it in cursive. Do you remember me telling you about the state educational objectives for 5^th grade and what they include about writing? I have stated them below:

Writing/Writing Process. Students use elements of the writing process (planning, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing) to compose text. Students are expected to:

(A) plan a first draft by selecting a genre appropriate for conveying the intended meaning to an audience, determining appropriate topics through a range of strategies (e.g., discussion, background reading, personal interests, interviews), and developing a thesis or controlling idea;

(B) develop drafts by choosing an appropriate organizational strategy (e.g., sequence of events, cause- effect, compare-contrast) and building on ideas to create a focused, organized, and coherent piece of writing;

(C) revise drafts to clarify meaning, enhance style, include simple and compound sentences, and improve transitions by adding, deleting, combining, and rearranging sentences or larger units of text after rethinking how well questions of purpose, audience, and genre have been addressed;

(D) edit drafts for grammar, mechanics, and spelling; and

(E) revise final draft in response to feedback from peers and teacher and publish written work for appropriate audiences.

Oral and Written Conventions/Handwriting, Capitalization, and Punctuation. Students write legibly and use appropriate capitalization and punctuation conventions in their compositions. Students are expected to:

(A) write legibly by selecting cursive script when appropriate

HOMEWORK for this week:

For Tuesday evening: Read pages 294 to the top of 301 in Collections for Young Scholars, Vol. 5, Book 2 and answer the reading questions from the packet I will give you in class. These are due on Wednesday morning. Be ready to discuss them and the reading.

For Wednesday evening: Read pages 301-303 and answer the reading questions. Due Thursday morning. Be ready to discuss them and the reading.

For Thursday evening: Read the last two stories about Odysseus, pages 303-309, and answer the reading questions. Due Friday morning. Be ready to discuss them and the reading.

Your corrected final draft of “The Angry Elf” story is due on Thursday morning, January 12.

There will be a SPELLING TEST on Tuesday, January 17.

There will be a HISTORY TEST on Tuesday, January 17.

SPELLING WORDS for Test on Tuesday, January 17.

(If the singular noun has a vowel before the 'y,' just add an 's' to make it plural)

(If the singular noun has a consonant before the 'y,' drop the 'y' and add 'ies' to make it plural)

1. attorneys

2. essays

3. turkeys

4. valleys

5. fairies (fairy)

6. universities (university)

7. histories (history)

8. secretaries (secretary)

9. symphonies (symphony)

10. varieties (variety)

11. victories (victory)

13. trophies (trophy)

14. injuries (injury)

15. colonies (colony)

LITERATURE: Week of January 3-6, 2012

Happy New Year, Students!

I hope that you had a restful and fun Christmas vacation, and are ready for the downhill ride toward 6th grade! We have a great deal to learn before the end of May, so put on your goggles and helmets for the ride!

These next three weeks, we will be finishing up the Native Americans of Central and South America and their encounters with the Spanish explorers, Cortez and Pizarro. Then, we'll be ready to briefly discuss French colonization in the New World, and finally. . . the British and the 13 Colonies. Since our next novel, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, takes place during the era of British colonization, we will wait for several weeks to begin reading it.

In the meantime, we will be reading several primary source documents and some legends, short stories and poems. You will have several writing assignments each week that you may not be able to finish in class that will be homework. There will be no assigned reading, but you will still need to be reading 30 minutes each night from a book of your choice.

We will also be concentrating on some of the more confusing grammatical issues in the English language. This week, we will discuss the differences between punctuating plurals and possessives. Our spelling list, which is below, will be taken from that grammar lesson. There are 30. . . yes, 30 words. But before you faint, look them over--they're really easy and should be review words in most cases. Your test will be Monday, January 9.

We will also spend this semester practicing our cursive writing. My goal is to bring my only C in elementary school up to an A--and learn to write in cursive! One is never too old to learn, right?

See you tomorrow!

SPELLING LIST for Test on Monday, January 7, 2012

echo, echoes

hero, heroes

auto, autos

memo, memos

potato, potatoes

pimento, pimentos

veto, vetoes

tomato, tomatoes

man, men

woman, women

fungus, fungi

thief, thieves

species, species

medium, media

person, people

January 3-6: Latin II/Science/Bible

Latin II

· Tuesday: review ch. 6-9

· Thursday: review ch. 6-9

Science

· Friday: begin physical science unit

Bible

· Wednesday: Eucharist Chapel; begin reviewing cards #97-111

· Friday: con’t reviewing cards #97-111

LITERATURE for Week of December 12-16

Well, me mateys. . .

We've just about reached the end of the rope in Jim's story. Just a few more chapters to go.

You won't have a spelling test this week. Your reading assignments are below for our last 3 chapters. Remember, you are to read Chapters 29-31 over the weekend (December 10-11) and be ready to discuss those chapters in class on Monday. You also have your last spelling test of the semester on Monday, December 12.

Monday--we'll read Chapter 32 in class. HOMEWORK: Read Chapters 33 and 34 for our last discussion over Treasure Island on Tuesday.

During the rest of the week, we will be watching the film of Treasure Island, and getting on a National Geographic Kids website where you can be a virtual pirate!

Be working on your Book Report over this novel. These are due on FRIDAY, December 16--no exceptions!

Have a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

December Outreach Update

Thank you for your generous gifts for Rebecca, our adopted foster child. Between 4th and 5th grad, so far, she will be receiving arts sets, board games, an MP3 player, book, and a Barbie doll. Below is her updated wish list of items that have not been donated. All (unwrapped) gifts need to be at school by Wednesday.

Christmas Wish List for Rebecca (female, age 9)
Favorite Color: Pink

Clothing sizes (childrens):
8 Pants
10-12 Shirt/Blouse
10-12 Jacket
3 Shoes

Other ideas: Pillow Pet, American Doll and American Doll Cat Costume, Books

December 5-9: Bible/Science/Latin II

Bible: Jesus Turns the Water Into Wine (John 2:1-12)

• Memory verse--John 2:11-12
• Test on Friday

Science: Life in the Desert

• Monday--desert plants and ecosystems; research plants that survive by dormancy
• Friday--share research about plant dormancy; "Desert" episode from Planet Earth

Latin II: 2nd declension neuter nouns

• Tuesday--chapter 7 worksheet due + ch. 7 quiz

LITERATURE: December 5-9

It's been an exciting week with our mates on the Hispaniola! The story is only going to get more exciting from now on, too. If you want to read the prayer of a REAL pirate, Sir Francis Drake (who sailed for Queen Elizabeth I), just click on the link below.

http://acts17verse28.blogspot.com/2010/09/pirates-prayer.html

You will have your spelling test over last week's words this Monday, December 5. YOU NEED TO BE WORKING ON YOUR BOOK REPORT AT HOME! Don't put this off--be working on it little by little so that your last week before the Christmas Holidays begin is calm and fun. Your report is DUE on Friday, December 16.

Below are your reading assignments for this week, and your new spelling list for a spelling test on Monday, December 12.

Monday, December 5	Quiz over Chapters 13-16 Read Chapter 17	Read Chapters 18 & 19 (pp. 150-164) Work on Book Report
Tuesday, December 6	Quiz over Chapters 17-19 Read Chapter 20	Read Chapters 21 & 22 (pp. 173-192) Work on Book Report
Wednesday, December 7	Quiz over Chapters 20-22 Read Chapter 23	Read Chapters 24 & 25 (pp. 200-214) Work on Book Report
Thursday, December 8	Quiz over Chapters 23-25 Read Chapter 26	Finish Chapter 26 Read Chapters 27 (pp. 215-235)
Friday, December 9	Quiz over Chapters 26-27 Read Chapter 28	Read Chapters 29-31 (pp. 250-277) Work on Book Report

SPELLING WORDS for MONDAY, DECEMBER 12

Those words with * must be written with their definitions.

1. dislodge

2. apparition*

3. circuit

4. marooned*

5. ammunition

6. assailant

7. demolish

8. particular

9. cavalier*

10. enclosure

11. consciousness

12. bulwark*