March 20,2009

Friday Folder Notes

Wow! We are reading Pleasing the Ghost, a novel from Sharon Creech. It is short, but tough. One of the leading characters has had a stroke and misnames everything he says. We are compiling a dictionairy of Uncle Arvie's words. Before that we read Michief and Mayhem and looked for onomatopoeia and alliteration examples. These fifth graders are really working hard!     In writing, we are working on using the literary devices we have found and in really trying to add detail and length to the piece. This is also tough, but we are improving.

In math, we are starting chapter 8. I am so proud of the competentcy these students have developed with calculator use. They are adept and appropriate with their use of negative and positive integers, square and root keys, clearing memory, and parentheses. Please don't think they are replacing their brains, or forgiving facts, they are employing this tool for higher skill work. Keep up the good work