Monday– We started reading a short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson. We paid special attention to setting and mood in the first part of the story. Students partner read and filled out a sheet with their predictions and observations on the mood and setting. They also completed an exit ticket before they left class.
Homework: Worksheet and exit ticket are due tomorrow, there will be a quiz on Wednesday over the vocab from Monday and Tuesday
Tuesday– We talked about foreshadowing and finished the short story “The Lottery” today. The story builds up slowly by establishing the setting and mood, but it ends in an intriguing, provoking way. We will discuss the meaning of the piece and our thoughts on it tomorrow.
Homework: Worksheet and exit ticket are due tomorrow. There will be a quiz tomorrow over the vocabulary words defiantly, paraphernalia, and perfunctory.
Wednesday– We took a vocab quiz over the three focus words we’ve been discussing in the short story “The Lottery.” The students met in partner groups to review the text looking for symbolism, situational irony, and ultimately the theme of the piece. Our work this week is setting us up to start a novel unit on The Westing Game, which I think the students will really enjoy!
Homework: Science fair procedure is due on Monday.
Monday– We talked about the Biblical application for science fair this morning. Students need to remember that the Biblical application has to relate to their project, the verse needs to be kept in context, and they will need to reflect on the scripture they choose. Genesis 1 is a great chapter to base the Biblical application from, but if students have something else on their heart, they can choose a different passage.
We are on day 5 of language arts reading and activities. We have been continuing to talk about figurative language and took a bit of notes on hyperbole. We took our free time for having a good last week and spent extra time playing outside on the skating rink. We also read in our textbook science and Heritage.
Homework: Science worksheets will be due tomorrow, continue to stay caught up on language arts, and some students still need to turn in a revised copy of science fair research and bibliography.
Tuesday– We are starting work in 2 Corinthians. We talked about the material things we value compared to what we will gain in heaven. We completed a personal reflection worksheet (My House/His House) and answered questions 1-2 on God’s Treasure worksheet.
We continued to read in language arts and complete our activities. We took notes on assonance and looked for examples in our reading. The students had a special treat in exploratory time dissecting owl pellets. We came back from that and made worm observations as we are studying annelids right now in science. We wrapped up today by writing a journal entry as if we had lived through the Great Depression. The students had to include real facts and a sentence using metaphor (6th graders also needed to use hyperbole).
*NOTE: Remember to bring ice skates tomorrow for Skate-a-thon. Make sure that you have a pledge in so that you can participate!
Homework: Language arts reading and activity if not finished in class, Great Depression journal entry
Wednesday– We had a wonderful chapel from a former Heartland student! She talked about her heart for missions and gave us insight as to what it’s like to be a missionary to Africa. She encouraged the students to dream big for God.
Other than that, we only had math and language arts. In language arts, we took another reading assessment and set goals for the rest of the year that will be shown at conferences. After that, we left for Skate-a-Thon and had a wonderful time on the ice! Remember to keep turning in pledges as they come in!
Homework: Students have some homework over the long weekend. They will complete another reading and activity in their novel. The science fair procedure is also due on Monday.
Tuesday– We had a shortened language arts today because we had speech class in the morning. The students turned in their rough drafts for science fair and their parts of speech project. We took some notes on the prefix per- and chose spelling words for the week. Since it is a short week, students only have to choose 8 words and a bonus word. They can pick from the list of per- words we created today or choose from their spelling books. They will have a choice whether they want to do spelling homework or the test this week. We also met in groups to complete a grammar activity in an area that we need to work on.
Wednesday– We worked on revising our Father of the Year essay today. Students used a checklist to edit the content of their work before writing the final copy. Some students finished early and worked on spelling homework or science fair.
Homework: If you’re going to do spelling homework this week, it needs to be turned in by tomorrow. Remember that the science fair research revision is due Monday, Feb. 25.
Thursday– We talked about how to write a bibliography and a procedure today. A bibliography needs to be included in the final draft of the research paper (due on Monday). Click here for a link on official science fair rules and how to write the bibliography. Students sent time in the computer lab working on their science fair project.
Homework: Spelling test tomorrow for those who did not hand in spelling homework. Science fair research revision is due Monday, Feb. 25
Tuesday– We are working our way through the letters and started talking about 1 Corinthians today. We took a look at the things the Corinthians were doing wrong that Paul corrected. We started a worksheet that we will finish tomorrow. We also had speech class this morning, and it is fun to watch everyone improve! In language arts, we are starting a new book unit. Students will have two weeks to read a book on the Great Depression. Some book choices are Out of the Dust, Al Capone Does My Shirts, Blue Willow, Christmas After All, Rose’s Journal/Meet Kit, and Bud, Not Buddy. Each student has the opportunity to choose which book they would like to read. Every day they will read a set amount of pages and complete one activity. Click Great Depression Novel Unit for a copy of the assignment.
In science, we worked a little bit on science fair and read pages 100-103. We practiced a comprehension strategy on our science reading by partner reading and summarizing.
Homework: Finish language arts reading and activity, science extra credit is due tomorrow
Wednesday– We heard a wonderful testimony in chapel today. In language arts, we continued to talk about the spelling rule for the week, we had a discussion on figurative language, and we did more reading and an activity. This afternoon, we started a new book for story and handwriting. It’s called Hitler Stole the Pink Rabbit and is a preview into the next Heritage unit on WWII. We watched a video on the stock market crash and read pages 154-156 in Heritage. We read an article on colossal squid and completed science workbook page 66. We also were able to look at and handle actual mollusk shells and sponges.
Homework: Spelling homework is due tomorrow, Science workbook page 66 is due tomorrow, and students need to stay on top of language arts reading and activities
Thursday– We added alliteration to our notes on figurative language and continued to talk about the spelling rule, “i before e, except after c or when sounded like “a” as in neighbor or weigh.” The students will be asked to recite the saying tomorrow on their spelling test. We are on day 3 of reading and activities. Make sure you are all caught up on that. In Heritage, we did a worksheet on the pages we read yesterday and started the publishing process on our Great Depression poems. In science, we read page 105 and each student read about a different echinoderm. Everyone presented 4 facts on their echinoderm to the class. I can tell the students are learning a lot from speech class because everyone presented wonderfully!
Homework: Spelling test tomorrow, memorize spelling rule, and finish reading and activity
Tuesday– We started our day off with speech class. We will be having speech next Tuesday as well. Some of the students need to redo their speech (the ones who didn’t have it memorized for today), and they have to decide on what they want to do for an expository speech to come. In language arts, we are looking at primary documents from the great depression era. From those documents, we will be writing original poems. We will do this over a couple days.
Here is the link to the library of congress where they have a collection of typed interviews from actual people living in that time period. I’ve already spent a couple hours reading through the manuscripts; it is absolutely fascinating! As a warning, students may need parental guidance while browsing through the accounts. There are a couple that use inappropriate language.
In the afternoon, we had our annual spelling bee! Great job to all the participants and students who have taken time to study and prepare! After the spelling bee, we worked on science. We studied for the exam tomorrow on cells and classification. Below are a couple of the links that may help you study tonight.
Homework: Science exam tomorrow, keep working on science fair, and make sure you’re caught up with all missing and make-up work!
Wednesday– This is the first regular day we’ve had in a while. We continued writing poems from primary documents today in language arts. Tomorrow we will work on editing and rewriting our poems and “Father of the Year” essays. We took an exam in science and read about the stock market crash in Heritage.
Homework: Some students still have missing work and be working on science fair!
Thursday– In Bible, we created Valentine’s for people we care about. In language arts, we did a Valentine’s scramble and worked on editing our “Father of the Year” essay and our poems. For Heritage, we made a special Valentine’s Day snack from two recipes they used in the Great Depression era. Students should have made it home with a copy of the recipes if they want to try them at home. We also worked on a history frame covering the stock market crash (from pages 150-152).
*Science Extra Credit: Some students weren’t happy with their science exam score. They have an opportunity for extra credit if they fill out their flip chart with the classification of any animal (can’t be one they’ve already done). They will get 7 extra credit points for each class they correctly write down on their flip chart.
Homework: Finish history frame for tomorrow. Science extra credit is due next Wednesday
Friday– We worked on a crossword today in Bible. We’ve been going through Thessalonians, and what we read today was a perfect tie in to our last unit on Revelation. In language arts, we had reading buddies, took a pop quiz on parts of speech, and we worked on revising our essays and poems. In the afternoon, we continued working on rewriting. We also started the new science unit on animal classification. We assembled notes on invertebrates that we can use for studying later.
Homework: The rough draft of the research paper is due Tuesday, Feb. 19th. Bible crossword will also be due on Tuesday. Some students need to prepare for speech class on Tuesday as well.
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