Ms. Humphreys

Jan. 23 - 27

AC Reading- most students completed the poem they were writing today;  a few had to take it home to finish it.  It is due Tuesday.  Students will begin reading the novel The Young Man and the Sea this week.   Students will keep a notebook for vocabulary and questions; students will read the novel in class.  This book will not take long to read; we are going to read The Old Man and the Sea next.    If you have a copy of this book at home, I would appreciate it if you would bring it to school to read.

Reading-students completed the poem that was started last week.  Some had to take it home and finish it for homework.  On Tuesday, we will start the vocabulary work for the novel we will read next, The Young Man and the Sea.  On Wed., we will begin the novel.  There will be questions to answer every chapter or so, and these will be kept in the student’s folders in the classroom.  This novel study will include a study of figurative language, which is very prevalent in this book. 

HW:  Students should read for 20 minutes every night, at least!

January 17 to 20

 Reading: This week we will be busy writing an ode and responding to books that have been read so far this year. Tuesday and Thursday are dedicated to the Ode to 2011, this includes instructions, writing the rough draft and editing the work. Wed. will be in the Media Center to nominate a favorite book read this year for the Dickerson Book Award. The specific guidelines for this will be discussed on Wed. Finally, on Friday, students will go to the computer lab to type their Ode and turn it in for a grade. As usual, please read for 20 minutes per night.

Week of January 10 to 13

 

Welcome back!  It was great to see everyone today.  I had a bad fall while on vacation, and all of my students were very sweet and concerned about my bruised face, but I am fine and have no pain. 

Reading:  This week will begin our study of HIPSOMA, which stands for the following figurative language terms:   Hyperbole, Idiom, Personification, Simile, Onomatopoeia, Metaphor and Alliteration. These terms may be familiar to some, but we will apply these terms to our reading of the novel The Young Man and the Sea, which we will begin next week.   We also will discuss and write some New Year’s resolutions as we begin 2012.  Finally, I would like to add that all of my students have logged into and set a password for USAtestpretp.com.  This is a site where they can practice reading skills and have the opportunity to play games along the way.  I highly recommend it for all of the students; math practice is also available with the same log-in.   

Dec. 19 to 22

Reading--students are reading and finishing their Lexile book projects this week.  Most students are also updating their "Book Challenge Chart"; it is impressive to see how many books have been read so far this year.  We will go to the Media Center on Wed. to pick out books to read over the vacation.  This reading is not part of any formal assignment, but many students want to read during free time.  I hope everyone has a happy, fun-filled and safe vacation.  See you next year!!

Dec. 12-16

“Lexile Book Project”—for students, this entails reading a fiction book in his or her Lexile, or reading a classic or historical fiction book and then taking the AR test on the book.  This counts as a test grade and must be done by December 22. We checked these books out before Thanksgiving Break, so many students have already read his or her book and taken the test; however, it is imperative that this is done as a zero on this activity would really hurt! 

We will have the post-test on the material we have been studying on Wed., 12/14.  This test will include questions on main idea, text structure, idioms and vocabulary in context.  Unlike tests in other subjects, students do not have a study guide, flashcards, etc. for this test.  The best way to prepare is to have a good night’s sleep and eat a good breakfast.  At the time of the test, be sure to read each section carefully, especially the questions and think about the response. 

Dec. 5 to 9

Reading:  We will work on the organizational structure of texts this week.  The different types we cover are:  Cause and Effect, Compare and Contrast, Sequence, Problem and Solution, Description and Chronological Order.  The students have notes on these structures that were given today, and they applied them to certain paragraphs.  We will continue applying this all week.  In class, we are also reading historical essays, examining the organizational structure of the text and writing about the people depicted in the essays.  The time frame for this reading is 1917-1930.  This week we will read about the first woman to serve in Congress, The Great Migration, a WWI war hero and an American nurse stationed in France during WWI.

HW:  Students have 13 school days to finish reading their Lexile Project book and take the test on the book.  Please remember to read this book every night, and bring it to school to read when time permits.  Some students are finished with the reading and have taken the test, but many are not!

November 28-Dec. 2

Reading:  We will continue to read non-fiction and practice note taking strategies to help determine the main idea of these pieces.  We will have a quiz on Wed. to see how students are doing in determining the main idea of non-fiction work.  Students have all checked out a book from the Media Center that should be finished by Dec. 22.  They did not have to read the book over the Thanksgiving  break, but now they must read at home in order to finish this requirements.

HW:  Read each night in order to finish your book by 12/22.

 

 

Nov. 14 - 18

YEAR BOOK SALES ARE THIS WEEK!  THEY WERE NOT SOLD AT MEET AND GREET!

Reading:  Students will continue to practice outlining on Monday and Tuesday.  This skill is to help students determine the main idea of non-fiction material and help them to learn the organizational pattern of non-fiction text.   We will work with this skill over the next few weeks as it takes time and practice to do this correctly.  There will be a quiz on Wednesday on outlining; you must know when to use Roman numerals, Capital letters and numbers correctly. 

Also this week students will learn their Lexile score and check out a book that falls within this range.  I will show you how to use Destiny to find the Lexile of a book so there should be no confusion.  I have carts of books pulled from the Media Center to use for this.  This book does not have to be read over the vacation week, but if a student needs something to read, they will have a book checked out by Thursday. 

I hope you all have a happy and relaxing Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for all of my students; they are wonderful to be with every day! 

Today in class we learned about a note taking skill called OUTLINING. 

We learned the following:

Roman Numerals are used for Main Topics,

 Capital letters are used for Sub-Topics,

 Numbers are used for Details.

We practiced outling notes and articles today and will continue tomorrow and Monday.  This is a great skill to use for a science or social studies class.  Creating an outline after reading an article will also help  determine  the organizational  structure of that article.

Nov. 7-11

Reading: In class today students took a pre-test covering main idea, organization of text, and vocabulary in context. These will be our units of study for the next two weeks. On Wed. students will take a test over the prefixes and suffixes we have been studying along with using vocabulary correctly in context, which we have worked on during warm-ups in class. On Thursday students will do some research in and find the main idea in reference material and on Friday there will be a mystery to read and predictions to make. Remember that tomorrow Nov. 8, is Election Day, so we will not have school. Enjoy your day off! HW: Test on prefixes and suffixes will be Wed., Nov 9. Study the lists that you have in your notes. Remember to read for 20 minutes every night.