One big thing I have learned when working with a technology assignment... always have a soft due date, because many things can happen to change the dates.  Mrs. Bornaman was working with the 5th grade to make this happen smoothly, and she has not been able to be a work all of last week, and was not there today either.  Her substitute teachers have done a wonderful job keeping students on track, but there have not been times to work outside of class.  Normally, we would have computer club and more availability before and after school.  For this reason, we are going to try for Friday to have this project completed.  Students are working in computer class this week, so they should be finished by Friday. 

We have moved on this week and are doing a section on "Space," so trees are not a big part of the space stories we are reading about. On Monday, we will start printing the brochures to be graded.

Parents - I truly appreciate all of the work you have done for your child on this project.  They have done a great job and I am really impressed with the effort they have put into it.  We wanted to use Publisher so students would get used to one of the aspects of Word.

This week, as we do the section on Space, we will not be taking two weeks to complete it.  Instead, we will only be doing a 6 day week.  Our quiz will be next Tuesday, Oct. 2.

On Wednesday, during our class, we will be going to the book fair in the library.  If students would like to buy anything they can do it at this time.

September 17-21
Mrs. Williamson is working on a 3 fold brochure this week. Your child researched on Monday, and we will start creating it on Wed. and Thursday.  If they can research at home, that would be great.  Most students used their time wisely on Monday and found a lot of information for their brochure.   We also had the encyclopedias and a few magazines in the classroom.  Each student did not get the entire class time on the computer, but they did have 20 minutes at least. During the rest of the time, they should have looked through the encyclopedias or magazines.

At this point, we should be finished with the brochures by Thursday.  Since they have to work on the brochure at school it should basically be completed on Thursday in class.  If it is not finished, they can come in early on Friday or stay after to work on it.  Just let me know.  Monday should be the last day to turn it in. Students may also come into Mrs. Williamson's class at the end of the day, during SOS, and work on their project if it is necessary.

We will have our section quiz on Friday and packets will be turned in on that day. 

Please see the previous post to find the scoring guide if your child has misplaced theirs. On the previous post, you will find other information about the brochure that might answer some of your questions.

Highlights of Week 9/10-14

Monday (9/10) - New PKT, Vocab Strategy
Tuesday (9/11) - Spelling assigned
Wednesday (9/12) - Start Grammar
Thursday (9/13) - Finish Grammar, Scoring Guide for Brochure handed out
Friday (9/14) - 1/2 day, Check Vocab. and Spelling, Centers

Students will be creating a brochure about trees.  We discussed this brochure on Monday and they were asked to think of a tree they would like to do research on and create a 3 fold brochure.  The brochure will be discussed in Computer class and we will work on the computers next week during CA. Please help your child find a tree they would like to study.  It can be any tree that grows anywhere, and of any size.  This will be fun, and I can't wait to learn new information about trees. Students teach me new facts each year.  Please look for their scoring guide on Thursday.  I will also post it on the blog in case they lose it.

The (soft) due date, at this point, is Sept. 24.  The reason for this date is because we have to make sure all plans go as planned.  Monday - Library researching, Wed. - Computer lab creating the brochure, and Thursday - finishing brochure in computer lab.  Students can research from home by searching in their search engine for their tree.  They have been told to not use Wikipedia or ask.com, but to use .org, .edu. or .gov sites only.  Scan the site for information, because it is nonfiction and should be easy to look through heading to find the information they need.   They should fill in the information on the back of the scoring guide.  Instruction has been given to them to use bullet points and to not write in complete sentences on the rough draft form. I will be looking for their rough draft information on Monday and Tuesday as they do their work.

Scoring Guide was given out on Thursday, September 13.

Name_____________________________________________________ HR_________________

Rough Draft Scoring Guide for Tree Brochure

Students will create a brochure about a tree that was chosen in class.  They are to research the internet and/or an encyclopedia. Brochure rough drafts will be scored on content.  Final score is based on the writing process, pictures, vocabulary and spelling words from this unit.  

Expectation	3 points Plenty of information	2 points Lacking information	1 point Needs a lot of work
How do you identify the tree?
What kind of leaf does it have? ___shape,__ size, __color, etc. __use descriptive words
Where does it grow? __part of the world?    __type of forest?
How tall does tree get? Compared to what (man, building, monument)?
What does the bark look like? color, texture, etc.
What is tree used for or purpose (furniture, building, etc)?
Used: __encyclopedia,  __internet, __books, __mag.
Total	/21

Final Brochure Scoring Guide

Category	4 points	3 points	2 points	1 point
6 Trait - Idea & Content Writing clearly states what student means to say.	Focused and to the point Clear Wording	Fairly well focused Few words don’t make sense	Topic is not clearly presented	Does not have a clear focus
6 Trait - Organization __Beginning(front): introduction to tree __Middle (inside): interesting & relevant info. __Conclusion (back flaps): wrap up of info. or overall importance of tree (like a summary)	Clear beginning, middle, and strong conclusion Organized with headings	Includes beginning, middle and conclusion Headings are not clear	Brochure wanders and does not have a clear sense of structure.	Does not have a structure
6 Trait - Voice – Encourage reader to respond to the topic and demonstrate energy in writing	Voice is natural with a good mix of facts & interesting words	Sounds more like research, or uses too many facts	Voice is unnatural, or mostly facts, no energy or enthusiasm for topic	Sounds like an encyclopedia entry - boring
Vocabulary __includes 2 vocab. words from this unit __vocab words are underlined with 1 line __synonyms, or context clues for vocab. are circled	All expectations met	3 expectations met	2 expectations met	__1 expectation met __0 did not include
Spelling Words __2 spelling words are included __words are underlined with 2 lines	All expectations met	2 words and not underlined	1 word included and underlined	__1 word not underlined __0 Did not include
3 Pictures __3 pictures __pictures should be appropriate for the tree you chose __pictures vary (not all pict. of full tree)	3 pictures nice effort & go with topic	__2 pictures, or __3 w/ little effort __2 pictures are not on topic  or __ 2 full tree pict.	__2 pictures with little effort, or __Pictures do not match topic __pict. all same	__1 picture __0 Did not include
Total	/24

Vocab. Words:      :1.____________________________                    Spelling Words:    1.___________________________

                                2. ____________________________                                                    2. ___________________________

Use this side when gathering information on the tree you chose to make a brochure.
The tree you chose is the ___________________________________________________
Decide which section of the brochure you would like to create a drawing for your final copy.

How do you identify the tree?




What kind of leaf does it have? (shape, size, color, lobed, serrated, etc.)





In what part of the world, or climate, does the tree grow?    

What type of forest? (Deciduous, Coniferous, Rain Forest) and why does it grow there?





How tall does it get? Compared to what? (make a comparison to an adult male, buildings, other trees, etc. This would be a great place for a picture)




What does the bark look like? (color, texture, thickness, etc.)





What is tree used for, or purpose? Example: building material, furniture, decorations, supplies fruit, etc.

Did you use:  ____ Internet, ____Encyclopedia, ____Magazine, ____ Books

 

Highlights of Due Dates
Tuesday -  Vocab. due
Wednesday - Spelling due
Friday - Packet due & Quiz

• Fun Link used on Tuesday: Subject & Predicate

• Check out Class Activities Page for more information on daily activities 

 I have 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.

This week, we will be finishing the week of activities we started last week.  We have had 2 days of Gates testing and we will be DE testing on Thursday.  After we get on track, each week will be more like 7 class days before the next quiz.  This week, we will complete the grammar in the packet during class.  Students should have the packet completely finished by Friday, when they will turn it in before the quiz.

During the first few weeks, when we take the quiz, we will be learning test taking strategies.  When we complete the unit and take that quiz, students will be testing on their own.  Hopefully, they will be using those strategies when testing. 

The two main stories we have read so far are AR books.  They are .5 each, and therefore, if your child took a test on these books they could have 1 AR point already.  Please check with your child to see if they have tested on Miss Alaineus and Davy Crockett Saves the World. When we read short stories like this, students cannot test on the same day.  For this reason, we ask students to read the story again and then test on it. They can get a text book and read it at the end of Rooster Time and test on it after reading it a second time.Also, please check and see how many points your child has already.  They need 10 pts. per quarter.  That averages to about 1 pt. per week.  At this point, students should have 3-4 points to be on track. Check out the RenLearn link to check AR points.  The user name is your child's user name they use when they log in to take a quiz, and the password is their password.  They should know this.