Wednesday Guest Blogger

Thanks to Harper for her great introduction to the book The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney.  I can't wait to hear about what happens at the end of this book!  

The Red Pencil 

by Andrea Davis Pinkney

The red pencil is about a girl who is turning twelve, and she wants to learn how to read and write, but her mother says no. Her community gets swept away by the janjaweed, fierce criminals. They have to travel somewhere far far away on foot. They finally get there and she starts running away. Right now I'm very curious about what will happen. Will someone come get her?  Will she escape?  Will she be attacked by the janjaweed again?

Tuesday Guest Blogger

Thanks to our Guest Blogger, Flannery, for her review of The Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

The Greenglass House

By Kate Milford

The Greenglass house is about an inn in Nagspeake where smugglers stay at while their shipping illegal goods. The owners of the Greenglass house, Nora and Ben Pine,have an adopted son named Milo. It is Christmas time and Milo is just finishing up his homework,when very unusual guests start piling in. The Pine's friend, Mrs Carroway, comes to help and brings her 2 daughters, Lizzie and Meddy. When Milo meets Meddy, it is an adventure waiting to begin. As Milo and his new, found friend go sneaking around the inn, they don't know that they might just be saving the shattered history of the Greenglass house.

The main characters are Meddy and Milo. Meddy is a fearless, quick, and bossy young lady. Milo, on the other hand, is a quiet, independent young lad. The setting is in an old house called the Greenglass house in Nagspeake. The Greenglass house used to belong to the old famous smuggler, Doc Holystone. The plot of the story is that unusual things are going missing, a notebook, a ditty bag, a watch, and a bag with papers about a famous glass maker. The problem is, that when Milo and Meddy go sneaking around looking for the lost items, they realize that they all seem to be connected to the shattered history of the Greenglass house.

I would totally recommend this novel to anyone who loves a good mystery. In fact, I would recommend this book to anybody! The reason why I would recommend this book is that it is so detailed, that you can feel the coldness and warmth of the inn, and you can smell the cake and hot chocolate, I mean, it feels like you're actually there! If you love a mystery or not, you will get so hooked to this book,that once you finish, you will totally want more. So those are the reasons why you should read the best book ever called The Greenglass House by Kate Milford.

Monday Guest Blogger

Welcome to another week! Here is our first student blogger review of The Giver. Each day this week we will have another great student review! Thanks to Evan for this 5 star review!

The Giver

By Lois Lowry

Book 1 in Giver quartet

By Evan

The Giver is an excellent dystopian future novel while still staying realistic. The politics, being my favorite part, is very likely for the future of many countries. Personally, I think it takes how we think the world should be and it shows results that could come out of it.

I think as well as the politics it is a great coming-of-age story. The main character, Jonas, I like how he becomes more complex and you can really relate to him as a person. Jonas changes from lawful with no sense of good or evil, to lawful with a sense of good, to being more chaotic with a concept of good. The plot is a twin peak with two climates instead of one. This complexity will hook readers on page 1. This coming of age and warning book is a top-the-line book.

-Evan's reviews ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

One (Thursday)

The students had a great day today collaborating and inquiring into character evolution.  Students began constructing an emotional timeline for the main character of The Giver.

I was also extremely impressed at the big changes that occurred at recess today.  Most of the class worked together to develop and organize a game of capture the flag.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on My Head

We had a great day today inquiring into characterization in fiction.  We spent time analyzing the main characters from The Giver.  Students were asked to do a drawing of the physical characteristics of each character and make a list of emotional characteristics of each character.  

We also began working on our personal narratives.  Students are excited to be writing about these events.  

Be on the lookout for a guest blogger on Monday.  Students have been working on a guest blog this week about The Giver.  

We also reviewed the study guides for social studies and science.  Remember that we will take the science assessment tomorrow and the social studies on Friday!  Some students will begin taking the math mid-module tomorrow and others will begin testing on Friday and Monday.  

See you in the morning.  

Stronger

Today some students began working on rounding in math.  Everyone was faced with a challenge because we are using a method to round that many students have not seen before.  Some students did an excellent job working through their challenges, asking for help from peers and teachers, and ultimately having some huge light bulb moments.  Other students became frustrated and decided to give up.  One important part of developing math abilities and knowledge is to make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

We will be focusing on the Standards for Mathematical Practice (SMP) all year.  Today was a great opportunity for students to practice number 1.  Please ask your student how they responded to the challenge today.  

Assessment Reminders

Students will have several assessments this week.  All students received study guides for science, social studies, and math today.  It is expected that some of the math questions will be unfamiliar to students at this point.  We will review the study guide the day before the assessment.

Here is the schedule:
Thursday (8/25) - Science Test - Classification; Math Mid-Module for students who finished Lesson 6 today
Friday (8/26) - Social Studies Test - Bill of Rights; Math Mid-Module for students who finished Lesson 5 today.
Monday (8/29) - Math Mid-Module for students who finished Lesson 4 today

Don't forget we have curriculum night on Thursday!  Have a wonderful evening.