I have just included a page and link above for ordering from Scholastic Book Club.  This is by homeroom, so go to your child's homeroom teacher's page and find the link there.  Students from my homeroom or Rooster Time(Mrs. Williamson), will order from the blog page above. I will still take orders sent to the school, but it is very easy to order from the link above and you do not have to send it with your child.You will have two weeks from the time the pages are sent home to order.

On Tuesday, the writing we started last week will be due.  Students have been working on this throughout time in class last week.  It does not need to be typed, but it is an option for those who would like to do this.  If they do assignments on google docs, they can print it out at school. This makes it easier for them in case your printer is not working or out of ink.

Title of Writing:	4 POINTS	3 POINTS	2 POINTS	1 OR 0 POINTS
Main idea is focused and identifies the heart of the story. Identify with orange	__focused __to the point __clear wording __painted a picture in mind	__could use work on focus __could be clearer and to the point	__no enough information to paint the picture in mind __not clear and focused	__need to revisit the main idea __more like a title __0 points-did not have
Supporting Details are present Identify with red	__focused __to the point __plenty of information in details	__could use work on focus __could be clearer and to the point	__no enough information to paint the picture in mind __not clear and focused	__need to revisit the supporting details __didn't seem to try __0 points-did not have
Vocabulary Words & Context Clues (Synonyms) used properly Identify with green	__2 words - underlined __2 context clues or synonyms-circled	__one of the 4 expectations missing	__two of the 4 expectations missing or __did not use words correctly	__three of the 4 expectations missing
Spelling Words Identify with blue	__2 words used correctly and underlined	__1 word used correctly and underlined	__included words, but did not use correctly	__one word included and should put more effort into it __0 pts. - did not include

We will be Gates testing on Tuesday and Wednesday in class.

Our assignment this week is on Tall Tales.  Please discuss Tall Tales with your child throughout this week.  Also we are going to concentrate on compound words, sequencing and plot and setting.

Please remember that the only pages that should be done from home are the vocabulary and the spelling pages in the packet.  The others will be done in class and we do them differently than directions.  I do not want students to have those completed because they tune out any modeling and instructions that are given.  They might miss important information that will help them later on. I have labeled the pages this time in the top right (or left) corner.  Please look there before telling your child to complete work.  Remember, only spelling and vocabulary should be done as any homework.

Students are saying that parents are throwing away papers and cleaning out their binders.  Please have your child by your side if you are cleaning out any work.  They are missing work and have to redo these without any extra time to complete them.

Have a wonderful week and a very enjoyable holiday weekend coming up.

August 20-24

 I have just included a page and link above for ordering from Scholastic Book Club.  This is by homeroom, so go to your child's homeroom teacher's page and find the link there.  Students from my homeroom or Rooster Time(Mrs. Williamson), will order from the blog page above. I will still take orders sent to the school, but it is very easy to order from the link above and you do not have to send it with your child.You will have two weeks from the time the pages are sent home to order.

The first week of class was a lot of routine practice and learning how we do things in 5th grade.

In Communication Arts, we learned how to do the vocabulary each week.  Our series has 8 vocabulary that go with each story.  We will be concentrating on only 4.  They still need to know the other 4, but we will mainly focus on 4 of them.  This week it was categories, gigantic, luminous, and soggy.  It would be great if you could use those words with them throughout their week.  Those words will be used in a writing they do each week.

There has been some confusion about the packet.  Vocabulary will be assigned on the first day of the week when we start a new story.  It will be done as bell work on that day.  It will need to be completed in 2 days (most of the time).  I will have them write homework in their planner and I will circle it when it is due the next day.  They may have completed it during class that day, after planners have been signed, but you will know it is due the next day and can check it.  When I look over it, I will make notes on the top corner for them to make corrections.  This time, I was concentrating on the word, definitions, and using it in a sentence.  They were to make the sentence by circling the context clue, or synonym, and pointing an arrow from the context clue to the vocabulary word.

Spelling will be assigned the day after vocabulary, or the following day as bell work.  I usually give more time for that.  Those pages can be done when they complete other work in class, therefore, spelling is not homework.  On the top of the pages I will write when we are doing the pages and the due dates (DD) if I know it at the time.  The main spelling page will be for a grade most of the time.  The other spelling page will be for a grade from time to time.  Students should do each to the best of their ability at all times.  They may work on vocab. and spelling from home.

The "Practice" and "Grammar" pages are NOT TO BE DONE AT HOME.  We do those together as a class.  You may discuss the skills on those pages, but do not do them.  Those pages will not be graded, so they are to work on the skill together.  That skill will be assessed in the quiz in the end or another way.  Grammar will just be practiced in class. We may work that into our writing from time to time, too.

The packets are used so that the students have the vocabulary and spelling words with them, since they do not have a book.  The practice and grammar pages are there so they know what skills we are concentrating on, and so that the pages are not lost.  The students are to keep these pages until time to turn them in at the end, or on test day. 

Instead of a 5 day week with each story, we are doing more like a 7 day week.  So testing will not just be on Friday of each week.They will write in the planner the day before the test and I will circle it in their planner.

Welcome to your 5th grade Communication Arts Blog.  On this blog I have attached pages at the top that may help answer some questions you may have about our class.  Each Monday, I will update the blog so that you know what will be done in class throughout the week.  This way, if you are absent you will know what you missed and can work from home. 

The AR page will answer questions about AR expectations.  We do not have the text online, but you can find the spelling and vocabulary words on the text page.  The fun sites page has some games and fun things to do that are educational. 

On the right side of this post, you will find sites to help you find books to read and also class expectations and organizational ideas.