Quilt Making!

Well, not really.  This weekend, after correcting all of the Top Secret Rules my 4th and 5th graders wrote (see last post), I wanted to come up with a great way to display some of them in our hallway.  I was so impressed with the creativity and detail students put into these papers!  I searched Pintrest and found this adorable quilt idea which is constructed from gallon zip lock bags and duct tape.  It is a great way to display students work and super easy to rotate new work in. 

Needless to say I was very excited about this and my "crafting" abilities and I thought it needed to go public.  Look for this new "quilt" on Monday!

Shh! Top Secret!

Today in Language Arts class I read sections of The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups written and illustrated by David Wisniewski.  This imaginative book tells the secret "truths"to why parents tell kids to do things.  For example:

GROWN-UP RULE # 31:

   Eat your vegetables. 

OFFICIAL REASON:

   They're good for you.

THE TRUTH:

     You don't eat vegetables because they are good for you....  

you eat them to keep them under control!!

The students all enjoyed the exaggerated details and in depth (crazy!) explanations.  Both the 4th and 5th Grades have been given Top Secret forms to fill out about a grown up rule they would like to expose.  We did some brainstorming as a class and came up with a bunch of rules to choose from.  We also discussed the tone and voice that we are going to use in this writing piece.  From what the students have shown me so far, this is going to be a great collection of "truths".  

Spelling List

Here are both 4th and 5th grade spelling list for the week.  Test on Friday!

http://www.spellingcity.com/MsMcGurn/

Subject vs Predicats

School House Rock is classic and my students appreciate the classics!  I think I am asked at least three times a week to replay this video.  As promised, here is the Mr. Morton video for all to enjoy in their own home.

Enjoy and learn!   

The Mysterious Benedict Society - Read Aloud

This week I started a read aloud book to read to my 5th graders during transitions and a little during Reading each day.  It has been a big hit in our room!  We may only be on the third chapter but my students can not get enough of The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart !

It is music to a teacher's ears to have students begging them to read more! 

There will be activities and lessons to follow as we read on.

 

Spelling Words

Here is the link to Spelling City where students can play games and take practice tests to get ready for the spelling test on Friday : http://www.spellingcity.com/MsMcGurn/  Make sure you select the correct grade level and list date.

Below are our list of spelling words for this week.  First is 4th grades and below that is the 5th grade list.  Study hard!

The Song I Can't Stop Singing !!

By request here is where you will find the Noun Song that we watched in class.  WARNING: it is very catchy and you may be singing it for the rest of the day.  Watch with caution.

Pairs of Pears

In reading last week we were studying homophones.  Each student had to come up with a pair of homophones and attach the pair on our pear tree!

Spelling Lists

We are starting our weekly spelling tests this week.  I have given my 4th and 5th graders their pretests this morning and one workbook page for homework.  Spelling Workbook page 2 is due tomorrow.  Attached are the list of words for both 4th and 5th grade

Use Spelling City to help you study! :  http://www.spellingcity.com/MsMcGurn/

Musical Books

For students to get to know our library better and to be introduced to books that they might not ordinarily be drawn too - we staged a musical book session.  Every student started with a book.  They had 2 mins to read and study the book and give it a rating from 1 to 5 ( 5 = Very Interested In  1 = Not Interested In ).  After the two minutes were up I called "Switch" and they all passed the book to their neighbor and the next 2 mins started.  We did this until the original book came back to them.  Afterwards we went around and shared what we thought of this exercise, what books rated highest, what books rated lowest, and what books most surprised us.  Now all of my students have a reference sheet with 16 book titles from our classroom library that they can look to when trying to decide on their next book to read.

Here are some of the books that were passed:

Love That Dog

As a class we read Sharon Creech's Love That Dog novel.  It is written from the point of view of Jack, a reluctant poetry student in Miss Strechberry's class who thinks poetry writing is just for girls.  The entire book is Jack's notes and poetry submissions to his teacher.  Very harsh and short and first but before he knows it Jack is creating his own poetry and a wonderful story emerges as he becomes interested in this thing that 'girls do'!  The transformation of Jack throughout the story is something that our class picked up and analyzed during our book talk.  Each student created a poem that was one assigned to Jack in the book and also gave a 15 word book review that is on display outside of our room.  Overall the class enjoyed the story even though it was sad (Ms. McGurn got a little choked up at one point!), but would have preferred more of a story and not just submissions from Jack.  I thought it was good to start the year with a unique type of novel and get our whole class together and talking.

Welcome Back My Sweet 16!

Not only am in classroom number 16 at St. Mary School but I am lucky enough to have 16 wonderful students!  My Sweet 16!  It has been great getting to know each and every one of them.  I have created this blog for students and parents to stay informed of all the goings on in our classroom this year.  I am thrilled to be a part of the St. Mary School and community.  I am excited for what we have planned and I am determined to make this year my student's best yet!