Stop the Presses!!!

Here are the final newspapers from our 5th grade class!  I was so impressed with their work and their professionalism.  Each student was given a copy of their paper today in class.  Click on the links below to see them in color.

The Spartan Shield

Newspaper 5B (Ms. McGurn's Class)

http://midd.me/raSP

The Daily Spear
Newspaper 5A (Mrs. Haugh's Class)

http://midd.me/1LDZ

Gifts to Last a Lifetime

     I have not been able to find the right words (and I'm the writing teacher!) to quite express how much my students mean to me.  Seeing them at my wedding is something that I will never forget.  So many of my friends and relatives came up to me at the reception complimenting my students.   They were saying how well behaved they were in church, how they participated in the mass, and how excited they were to be there.  It warms my heart just thinking about it now.  You made my special day even more wonderful and I thank you for it. 

     The fifth grade classes presented me with a wedding present yesterday.  This gorgeous, handmade, glass mobile (image below) is now hanging in my home.  It is as unique and beautiful as my students and I am truly in awe.  I have been nothing short of overwhelmed by all of the generosity and thoughtfulness.  These students are so amazing because these families are so amazing.  Thank you so much for all that you do!

Spelling Tests

5th Grade is having their spelling test tomorrow (Wednesday).  4th Grade is having their spelling test on Thursday.  These are the lists from last week so everyone should do well!

Practice or Play a Game  HERE ------- >  Spelling City 

Reading Night!

For One Night Only -----> Ms. Golota and Ms. McGurn teaching together!!  

It is worth the trip just to see this historical event.  

K - 4th graders will be going from room to room with different activities.  Ms. Golota and I will be in Room 1 reading the book Actual Size by Steve Jenkins (image below).

5th - 8th graders will be reading and discussing books together in the gym.  

Hope to see you there!

Going to the Chapel....

Well, some of you may have heard ... Ms. McGurn is getting married this weekend!  I just wanted to thank all the students and parents for all the cards, treats, and well wishes.  You have made this special time even more extraordinary.  I am truly grateful.

Oh and don't worry, you won't have to learn how to spell Schiemann until next year :)

See you back at school on Tuesday!

xoxo,

Ms. McGurn

Spelling Test for May 9th

Since 5th grade has a field trip this Friday, and next Friday is the Olympithon, we needed to squeeze a spelling test in on a Thursday.  We will be having our next spelling test on Thursday, May 9th.  I have uploaded the lists to Spelling City so students can take a look and practice early.

Spelling City 

4th Grade Poetry Unit

April is poetry month and we have been celebrating it in Language Arts class!  The 4th graders are currently working on their poetry portfolios.  They have an animal alliteration poem, a descriptive color poem, and two haikus completed so far.  We have also been reading and sharing a lot of different types of poetry in class.  I love that my students have been coming in with poetry books for me to read aloud to the class.  When they are excited about what they are learning it makes it all the more enjoyable.  :)

Spelling Lists for April 22 - 26

Spelling City

5th Grade Newsies

To say my 5th grade students are excited about writing their own newspapers would be an understatement.  Half of my class showed up with neckties, "press" hats, small pads of paper, etc.  Teacher = thrilled! I look forward to some riveting news stories. 

Spelling Lists

Here we go again!  Test will be on Friday.   Study/Practice/Play here -----> Spelling City

Character Collages

For our April Book Talks students were asked to create character collages.  Each student was given a poster board and a stack of magazines.  The goal was to fill the poster board with images and words that describe the main character from their independent reading books.   Students presented these collages along with their review of their books this past week.  I was very impressed with the descriptions and the collages themselves.  Well done! 

Here are a few great examples:

Back to School - Back to Spelling

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Break.  I'm looking forward to seeing all my students tomorrow.  Here are the spelling lists for this week.  We will be having our test on Friday.  Study hard and don't forget to check out Spelling City to help you practice your words.   http://www.spellingcity.com/MsMcGurn/

Spelling Lists for March 22nd Test

Make sure you are going over to Spelling City to practice your spelling words.  Play games, give yourself a practice test, etc. Spelling City  The more you practice, the better you will do on Friday.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Happy St. Patrick's Day!! 

Pope Francis

We were lucky enough to watch the announcement of our new Pope yesterday in our classroom.  We had read an article on the Conclave and the Papal Insignia in preparation for this historic day.  I did not even have enough time to get the black smoke up, before the white smoke was spotted. 

Spelling Tests on March 15th

We all made it through the Terra Nova tests - great job students!!  We are back to Spelling this week, and here is your sneak peak of the words for Friday.  Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Irish Irregular Verbs

St. Patrick used it to explain the Holy Trinity - Ms. McGurn uses it to explain irregular verbs.  The shamrock is so very versatile! 

To form the past tense form of most verbs, you simply add -ed to the end of the word.  (ie: look, looked)  Irregular verbs are a bit more difficult because you don't add -ed to make them past tense.  The whole word changes depending on its tense.  (ie: eat, ate, have eaten)

 SHAMROCK: the leaf on the left is the present form of the verb, the center leaf is the past, and the leaf on the right is the past with a past participle. 

Students were asked to write a sentence for each of the forms of the irregular verbs.  They did a great job and now my hallway is ready for St. Patrick's Day and for our quiz tomorrow!

Saint Study

After watching videos and reading books about St. Valentine and St. Patrick, we were ready to put our knowledge into action.  The class divided up into two groups and worked on creating an informative displays for our hallway.  Great job!! 

St. Valentine's Day

Thank you to all the parents who helped in the classroom, who contributed food, and brought in items for our party.  We had one amazing spread!  With all the candy and fun going on, it's good to remember the story behind the holiday.  What better way than with a cartoon (this one is not as strange as the baby Jesus and the Magi!)  Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day with the people they love.

Spelling List for Feb 22 Tests

I hope all students and parents are enjoying the long weekend so far.  I imagine some of you are going to be resting your feet after the dance-a-thon last night.  If so, why not take a look at next week's spelling list!  We are off on Monday but will still have our test on Friday, February 22nd.
See you Tuesday!

Spelling Lists

Happy Monday!   Here are the lists for this week.  4th grade has a tricky list this week with plural vs possessive words.  We will be reviewing in class but make sure to practice at home too!

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

The New Read Aloud

  With MLK Day and February being Black History Month, we have been talking about Civil Rights in our classroom.  I thought it would be great to reinforce these teachings with our read aloud book.  The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 gives the students a look into the life of an African American family during the 1960's.   

Spelling Lists (early!)

Spelling is back next week.  It is a shorter week next week (Monday off for MLK Day) so I thought I would post the lists early.  Maybe there are a few of you out there who want to get a jump start on your words.  I know, I know, probably teacher's wishful thinking.  :) 

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

I hope everyone has a relaxing and safe long weekend.  See you Tuesday the 22nd! 

Happy Birthday MLK

Spelling Takes a Week Off

We have a short week this week (students are off on Friday) so we will not have a spelling test this week.  We will be focusing on finishing and finalizing our Catholic Schools Week papers.... 

4th Grade - rough drafts of inventor papers are due on Thursday

5th Grade - revisions to rough drafts will be finished this week

 Happy Monday!

Wonder

It has been an emotional ride with this new read aloud book.  Wonder by R.J. Palacio has proven to be an inspiring and heartfelt story that the students are enjoying.  The reason I selected this book was for the overall message of acceptance and love for one another.  It is truly a beautiful story.

Spelling in the New Year

It is the first full week back so we are back to spelling.  Here are the lists for 4th and 5th grade.  Remember test this Friday. 

Practice and Review on Spelling City ----> http://www.spellingcity.com/MsMcGurn/