"I am not a good writer, I am a great reviser."        Ralph Fletcher


Week of Oct. 5
This week we started our study of rocks and minerals.  We explored different types of rocks and hypothesized on how they were formed.  Students brought in rocks to share.  In math we completed the September assessment.  In reading, we continued our study of the elements of a story: character, setting and plot.  While in writing, students learned how to revise their stories by adding details to characters. We connected our empathy training in Second Step to make the characters come alive.   We learned to recognize a person's emotions by describing their facial expressions and physical gestures.  Students used this lesson to show, not tell, in their writing.  For example, instead of writing, he was sad (tell), we wrote, his eyes filled with tears as he put his head down (show). 

" Hold Fast to Dreams"     Langston Hughes

Week of Oct. 12
The magazine drive kicked off this week.  Students received a packet to bring home.  The money raised will be used for our school.  We continued our study of rocks.  Students researched types of rocks and their uses.  In writing we used a graphic organizer to help organize our stories and to add more detail.   Our focus in reading was to understand the author's message and what it takes to be a leader.  We read stories about Dr. Martin Luther King, Langston Hughes and Nelson Mandela.  We read poems by Langston Hughes and we memorized one of his poems.  In social studies we continued map skills and we will begin to research the Northeast region. 

Reminders: 

Students need to bring back a completed and signed by parent or guardian computer use agreement (yellow paper) and field trip form (green paper)

October 22  Field trip to Skinner State Park in Hadley
October 30  Field trip  to MRF in Springfield