Predicates say, "Everything revolves around me!"

Fifth graders in Writing Workshop took center stage today as they took on the role of either a subject or a predicate. Subjects wrote a speech to an audience at an athletic banquet, and their speeches were entitled, "It's All about Me." Predicates, on the other hand, had to write a song, "Everything Revolves around Me," to sing to "Top 40" radio listeners. The students had to take on the role of their respective sentence part and create the words to their speech or song, considering their audience and their own attributes. Take a look at the video and pictures attached.

A Special Visitor

A sparrow flew in the room and paid the students a visit yesterday. Finding friends nearby, the bird fluttered around the room before perching on a Kleenex box in search of a window. Some kids screamed, and some "shushed," and eventually the bird found friends of its own species on the other side of the window. While kids worked on memoirs, the bird helped them make a new memory.

Kids Discover their Unique Writing Neighborhoods

This week, students took the concept of "neighborhood" to a new level by drawing a place that had eight to ten significant memories for them. Some drew their back yards, including the places they remembered hiding out, breaking a bone, or building a fort; others drew their camp and all of the poignant places that made the camp special to them. Whether showing a yard, a camp, a house, a vacation spot, or a closet, the students worked to convey special places with special memories. They will use these memories as they think about the memoirs they will begin writing next week.

Recess Rocks

Sixth Grade recess
Blog #1
September 6

Going into our second week of school, the sixth graders are getting back into the swing of things: waking up early, not being late to school, managing lockers, tolerating school lunches, doing our homework, and not staying up all night. The sixth graders’ favorite part of school seems to be, not surprisingly, recess! With some playing tetherball, some on the swings, others playing football and basketball, and some just hanging out by the hangout wall talking, everyone seems to find something to enjoy doing for recess. With our first pep-rally this year today, we will hopefully end this week on a good note!

Posted by Alexandra