I would like to start off this post by saying that I cannot believe it is already December!  This school year is flying by!  My grades for second marking period are done and up to date.  I have submitted them for Report Cards that will be going out on Friday.  Today is the first day of the third marking period.  This marking we will be focusing on reading The Giver.  All students are expected to start bringing their books next Monday.  We will not finish reading the book before we leave for break.  We will continue when we return because the break is half way through the third marking period.

Today in Language Arts the students reviewed what it means to peer edit.  We focused specifically at looking at ideas and organization.  Final Drafts of our Great Lakes Essay will be due on Friday.  We will continue to edit tomorrow and Wednesday.  The students are also preparing to debate about video games.  They wrote essays and researched this position.  We will be preparing for debate that we will be having later this week and we will use the information to help us prepare.

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes

2. Edit Great Lakes Paper for Ideas and Organization

3. Library Day Wednesday

4. Vocab. Test Friday

5. Bring Giver Book Monday

Have a great evening!

Today in Language Arts the students reviewed the components of an argumentative essay.  We also wrote the introduction and conclusion paragraphs for our Great Lakes Five Paragraph Essay.  If this was not completed in class, it is due on Monday.

In honor of our break, I have added a funny Thanksgiving movie to today’s blog post.  I hope you enjoy it!

Homework:

1. Reading Log Due Monday

2. Video Games Rough Draft Ready for Monday

3. Great Lakes Rough Draft Due Monday

4. Eat LOTS of food!

Coming Up in LA:

1. Argumentative Vocabulary Test Friday, December 5th

Have a great break and be safe!

Today in Language Arts the students focused on writing argumentative essays.  We reviewed what an introduction and three body paragraphs should look like.  The teacher also modeled how to write a conclusion.  The students were then given time to add this to their own writing pieces.  I created an anchor chart to help organize the essay.  I have added a picture of it to this blog post.

The students were also given time to work with their new vocabulary words.  I have posted a picture of the words to this blog post.

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes

2. Have Word Work Completed before going on break

3. Complete argumentative essay

Have a great evening!

Today in Language Arts the students read the article with the claim that video games are educational for students.  They were also given time to make their own claim and research for evidence that support it in class.  They were given a graphic organizer to do so.  Tomorrow, the students need to come to school with their research completed.  I have added links to websites that the students can use to research.

The students also looked at how to write and introduction and what body paragraphs should include.  We will be reviewing this tomorrow and the students will be given time to write their essays.  By Monday, the students should have their introduction and three body paragraphs written.

The reason I am posting all of this today is because I will be absent tomorrow so there will be no blog post.

Have a great weekend!

Homework:

1. Reading Log Due Friday, November 21st

2. Success Starter (6) Due Friday, November 21st

3. Research Due Friday, November 21st

4. Introduction and Three Body Paragraphs Due Monday, November 24th

https://videogames.procon.org/?gclid=CNvhwYq0icICFU6CMgodXU4AGg

https://www.bbc.com/news/education-26049333

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/AmericanFamily/story?id=126625&

https://www.today.com/health/video-games-are-good-you-little-bit-1D80005579

https://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/skills/reading-skills-practice/video-games-are-good-you

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/11008989/Playing-video-games-for-up-to-an-hour-a-day-is-good-for-children.html

Today in Language Arts, the students continued to work on the articles about video games. We continued to hover for words we did not know and we created a new word wall.  We also read the articles, identified the claim, and the evidence used to support the claim.

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes.

Have a great evening!

Today in Language Arts the students focused on argumentative writing.  We began to discuss whether or not video games are appropriate for children.  Some believe this causes us to have better hand-eye coordination and comprehension skills while others believe video games are too violent.  We will be reading articles and identifying facts tomorrow.  Today the students hovered for words they did not know in the articles.  We will be working on building a word wall tomorrow too.

In addition to learning about argumentative writing, the students were taken to the library today.  From this point forward, the students are allowed to check out multiple books at a time.  However, they are responsible for making sure they all get returned on time.

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes

Today in Language Arts the students answered the big question, what can we do to help others see things from our point of view?  We shared our answers with our classmates and posted our responses to The Big Idea Board.  The students also defined argumentative writing through a powerpoint presentation. I have added the powerpoint to this blog post.

Homework:

1. All Late Work Due Tomorrow

2. Library Day Tomorrow

Have a great evening!

Argumentative Writing

Today in Language Arts the students took their comprehension test on All Summer in a Day and Ant and Grasshopper. Grades will be changing drastically based upon the assignments we had due today.  I most likely will not have them completely up to date until Sunday night.

For the three paragraph reflection due Monday, the first paragraph should focus on what you knew before this unit. The second paragraph should focus on what you have learned, and the third paragraph should focus on what you still struggle with or what you found most interesting.

Homework:

1. Three paragraph Elements of a Story Reflection Due Monday

2. All Late work due Tuesday

Have a great weekend!

-Ms. Traylor

In Language Arts today the students focused on reflecting on their knowledge from our Elements of a Story unit.  They are to write three paragraphs.  The first one focuses on their previous knowledge of the unit.  The second paragraph focuses on what they have learned from the unit.  The third paragraph focuses on what they are struggling with or what they found most interesting.  All three of these paragraphs require an explanation.

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes.

2. Study for All Summer in a Day and Ant and Grasshopper Comprehension Test

3. Vocabulary Unit Lesson One Due Tomorrow

4. Interactive Notebook Check Two Tomorrow

5. Reading Log Due Tomorrow

6. Elements of a Story Reflection Due Monday

7. All Late Work Due Tuesday

Have a great evening and please make sure you come to class tomorrow prepared!

-Ms. Traylor

Today in Language Arts the students were introduced to the idea of making a claim and supporting that claim with facts.  We became detectives that needed to solve a murder.  The students looked at cartoon and determined if the man in the picture was murdered by his wife or if he fell down the stairs.  The students had do support their claim using facts based upon what they saw in the picture.

Our second interactive notebook check will be this Friday.  Today the students spent some time in class getting this organized and updated.  Please make sure you have this ready to go for Friday.

Homework:

1. Read for 20 minutes.

2. Get interactive notebook organized.

3. Comprehension Test due Friday

4. Interactive Notebook Check Two due Friday

5. Vocabulary Lesson One due Friday

6. All Late Work due Tuesday

Enjoy your evening!

-Ms. Traylor