4th graders are learning about the elements of a story using a story map. They just had a quiz this week to see how well they can dissect a story and to show them how a rubric works. We will continue practicing story maps.
5th Grade
5th graders are working on their essays about a family member. So far, everyone is working very hard and they will be ready to present next week. This week, they will be interviewing my mother, Mrs. Harris, as part of our family theme.
6th Grade
Students are working on story maps and cause and effect. While parents were watching, they were able to make a great story using "so" and "because."
Journals
Journals are due every Tuesday. Topic pages will be made available next week. They are also required to do a journal on a journal topic assigned by a teacher. We usually discuss a weekly theme, such as "respect" or "role models" and the students write their thoughts about that topic. So far, 98% of the students from all grades have been on task.
Homework, Extra Study and GRAMMAR
This year, I have been making an effort to place a lot of emphasis on grammar. Understanding grammar and having the students think about grammar for themselves helps them to become better writers. This week and next week, we will be looking at adverbs and adjectives and they will be learning how to make and explain sentence diagrams.
Here is an example of a sentence diagram:
She swims very well.
swims= simple present, verb
very= adverb, tells how well she swims
well= adverb, tells how she swims
Students appear to be learning this very fast. We will continue to practice this, making more difficult diagrams as the term progresses.
Try this at home! Don't forget to write the explanation!
Sentence diagrams
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/diagramming-sentences/diagram-sentences-adj-adv_BOTHA.pdf
Adverb practice
http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/grammar/adverbs_WBQBQ.pdf