Merry Christmas from Santa Simon!

I hope everyone is enjoying their break so far.  Have a very merry Christmas and I will see you all in 2013! 

Santa Simon

Do not feel to bad for Santa Simon - he was in this outfit for a total of 2mins and he was given a treat right after.  Yes, that is anger in his eyes but I assure you he has forgiven me now.  

Merry Christmas!!

Star Wars + Origami = Reading!

We just finished up the third book in the Origami Yoda series written by Tom Angleberger.  I chose this series as a read aloud for the class because I had heard wonderful things about the books and how they really got students (boys and girls alike!) into reading.  This was a definite hit in our class!  Students even made the origami characters from the books so we had a nice visual as we read.

I think we can all agree Ms. McGurn's Yoda voice needs some work and my Wookiee speak was even worse, but it was still a lot of fun and a great series.

Origami Yoda, Darth Paper and Hans Foldo

Last Spelling List of the Year!

Hard to believe it, but it's true!  This is our last spelling test of 2012.  Study hard so you can end the year with a perfect score!

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

Fridays Rock!

Adjectives also rock!  Our word of the day yesterday was the adjective callous so I took that as an opportunity to review.  I think we will set aside a few minutes to rock out with grammar today after our spelling test. 

Party on! 

Something is Cooking in Language Arts

Our next writing project is creating a classroom cookbook!  Each student is writing down a recipe that reminds them of the Christmas season.  It could be a traditional dish that they have every year or just one of their favorites to have around the holidays.  We will also be adding a personal element to each recipe written by the students.  Recipe worksheets were given out yesterday and are due on Friday.  Next week we are off to the computer lab to type up our delicious dishes.  This is sure to be a yummy holiday season once we are all finished.  You never know, perhaps we will discover the next Martha Stewart or Bobby Flay!

December Spelling

Even though it might not seem like it outside, it is in fact December.  

Here is our first spelling list of the month. 

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

Action and Linking Verbs

When learning the differences between action and linking verbs it always helps to have 

a cartoon to show.  Lights, camera, action verb!!

Back to School - Back to Spelling

Hope everyone had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving!  We are back to school and back to spelling this week.   http://www.spellingcity.com/MsMcGurn/

Turkey? What Turkey?

4th graders were asked to write a persuasive writing piece in the point of view of a turkey.  The purpose of the paper was to convince the farmer to spare their lives.  They did a great job and came up with some really creative reasons.

Along with their paper, they were also asked to disguise a picture of a turkey so that the farmer would have a harder time recognizing him/her.  They came up with some extremely creative ideas!  As usual, I have been very impressed.  Keep up the great work!

Lit Circles

In Reading we have started something that is new for the class, literature circles.  The entire class was given a copy of Sharon Creech's Newbery Award winning novel, Walk Two Moons and were divided into groups.

Before we broke up into groups we went over expectations and what successful literature circles look like.  We also discussed what the benefits of literature circles are as a class.  Our literature circles meet twice a week and each person has a job within the groups.

Each group is accountable for deciding who is what job each time they meet and also for deciding what page they will read to by their next meeting.  The groups each have their own binders where I place worksheets or items that I want them to work on after their discussions.  Sometimes it is vocabulary work, short answers or an activity.  I love to see them working independently to set goals for themselves and show accountability.  I'm looking forward to our end of book activities that I have planned which will take place after Thanksgiving.  

Spelling List

Here is this week's spelling list.  Last test before Thanksgiving break! :)

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

Persuasive Writing for the 2016 Election

Last night the new 2012 elections came to an end.  Today in class I asked the 4th and 5th graders:

If it was up to you to pick a candidate for the 2016 elections who would you pick? 

The Assignment:  Write a persuasive paper on why your pick would make a great President of the United States.  This can be a real person or it can be a fictional character.  Remember to support your claim with at least three supportive elements. You may use Logical, Emotional and/or Moral arguments to support your claim.  Just from walking around the room I can tell we are going to get some interesting options! :)

This video was a great way to reintroduce persuasive writing and get students thinking about how it is all around us...plus Ms. McGurn really enjoys the music selections.

Spelling Lists

Here are the spelling lists for this week, test is on Friday, November 9th.  

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

Halloween Word Cemetery

In the spirit of Halloween, and in the name of good word choice, the 4th and 5th graders created a word cemetery.  This is a way to "bury" some of the overused words (said, good, bad, small, big) and think of some other words to use in their place.  4th graders came up with 8 replacement words while the 5th grade came up with 10.  While this was a fun and timely activity it really got the students thinking about other words they can use and how their word choice can really improve their writing. The adorable decor was just an added bonus! :)

Spelling Lists

Here are the spelling lists for the test on Friday.  Remember there is Halloween on Wednesday so study early!

Spelling City Link: http:Spelling City

ANGRY VERBS!

To review our verb phrases and helping verbs, the 5th graders wrote sentences on Angry Birds.  Next they underlined the verb phrase in the sentence and circled the helping verb.  After they showed me their sentence they were able to color their Angry Birds.  So our Angry Birds turned into Angry VERBS!

I also want to thank the 5th graders from my homeroom who helped create this awesome background to display our Angry Verbs.  It looks amazing!

Spelling Lists This Week

I know these lists are hard to see so please click on the link below where you are able to print or save a list as a pdf.  Hope that helps!

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

What's In Your Bucket?

One of the main characters in the Mysterious Benedict Society is Kate Wetherall, a tenacious young girl who never goes anywhere without her trusty bucket at her side.  This fire engine red bucket carries all the items that Kate finds to be essential.  This week I asked our class "What would you put in your bucket?  What is essential for you? "  As each student presented their unique buckets to the class, it was fascinating to see what students would bring with them if they could.

Student's Bucket Worksheets:

A few students brought in real buckets filled with objects.  

Here are a couple of student's buckets:

They all did such an amazing job with these buckets, you can tell 

they were excited about the assignment.  

Spooky Stories in 5th Grade

Students were given back their spooky story rough drafts today in class.  Along with my notes on their writing, I also gave them a Suspenseful Narrative Rubric (see below) that I will be using to grade their final papers.  We went through each section of the rubric and talked about what changes they may need to make to their papers to get all the points possible.  We also focused on foreshadowing, what it means and how to add it to our writing.

Students have the next few days to revise and edit their drafts before they have to turn in their final papers on Friday, October 19th.

Spelling is Back this Week!

After a couple of short weeks in a row we are now back to a five day school week.   We took our spelling pretests today and learned our new words of the week.  They are attached here and also up on Spelling City for further practice. 

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

4th Grade's Pet Monsters

For 4th grade's writing assignment they are creating a story about a pet monster.  This is not just a summary of what the monster they created looks like, but a story with a beginning, middle and end.  Tonight's homework is filling out a graphic organizer (Prewriting) about the story they will be writing.  This will allow students to generate lots of great details about what they are writing about before they sit down and begin their rough drafts.  This graphic organizer is an idea collector and will help our class stay focus on the topic they are writing about.  I can't wait to see what they come up with!

The Writing Process

This week in Language Arts we are focusing on the 5 steps of the Writing Process:

1. Prewriting

2. Drafting 

3. Revising 

4. Editing

5. Publishing

We discussed the steps in class today and began talking about what each step means and looks like.  Over the next two weeks we are going to go step by step through the writing process.

This video can help students remember the five steps to this process:

What I Am

Leaving for a long weekend I played this for my students right before we left the room today.  I think it's important to leave on a positive and upbeat note.  I hope as a class and a school we reiterate this message to our students so much that they never forget.  

Will.I.Am + super catchy tune + Sesame Street characters = instant hit! 

Ellis Island POV - 5th Grade

In Reading class this week we read a selection about a boy who is traveling to America from Romania in the early 1900's.  We learned a little bit about the struggles he went through and what it was like enter America through Ellis Island.  For their writing assignment in Language Arts I wanted them to take on the perspective of one of these immigrants and write a journal entry from their point of view.  I asked the 5th graders to imagine they were one of these people in the picture above.  Write a journal entry describing how you feel and what you see at Ellis Island.  Use vivid details and remember to SHOW me, not just tell.  I look forward to reading these papers and getting a clear sense of what it might have been like at Ellis Island.

Video we watched in class today on Ellis Island: 

Scarecrow POV - 4th Grade

 For today's writing assignment I asked the students to imagine they were a scarecrow living in a field. Describe a normal night from your point of view.  What do you see?  How do you feel?  Be specific with vivid details!  We discussed what a story written in first person sounds like an what it adds to the writing.  This assignment will be writing using first person.  I look forward to reading these fall themed stories and getting a good sense of what it's like for all those scarecrows out there!

Sentence Patterns

4th Grade received this worksheet today.  For homework they have to come up with an example for each type of sentence (Simple/Compound/Complex) then color it in.  It is a good review for all students and I will be showing my 5th Graders as well.

Spelling List - Short Week

Remember it is a short week this week so the spelling test will be on Thursday.  The lists are below and are up on Spelling City as well. 

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

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/