Unit of study-Facing History and Ourselves with Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

We are currently building background for our Number the Stars novel study. This week our focus has been on the ideas of identity, membership, and choosing to participate (upstander, bystander, victim, perpetrator). Texts analyzed: The Bear that Wasn't, The Sneetches, Not in Our Town, "We and They", and Pigeon (video). 

Quarterly benchmark assessment this Thursday. This assessment is to inform instruction not to evaluate students and will not be counted as a grade.

Reading: We have completed our novel study of The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963. The unit ended with comparing and contrasting the book with the movie. If your child was absent during the viewing, it can be found on Amazon.
For the weeks prior to winter break, our focus will be on informational text. We will read shorter pieces to practice skills such as identifying text structure, identifying central ideas, and summarizing.
​Wordly Wise:  Lesson 5

Newsela - Completed second Newsela assignment in class. Grades to be posted shortly.
Wordly Wise - Beginning Lesson 3. Test will be next Tuesday 10/15.

Novel - Up to this point, all of the chapters in the book have been vignettes in order to get to know the Watson family and to lead the reader to understand why the Watsons are going to Birmingham, AL. Ask your child to explain the "juvenile deliquent" older brother Byron. As the Watsons plan their road trip to Birmingham, the students will be planning their own personal itinerary for a road trip from Flint, MI to Birmingham, AL. They will be researching three sights to visit along the way, and then mapping the journey using Google Map. This activity will mostly be completed in class over the course of three days.

Progress Report Note- Please note that there are three more assignments that will be graded and added in the categories of Assignments and Assessments by Monday. This will probably have a positive impact on grades. These first 5 weeks of school tend to have fewer assignments in these areas as we spent the first two weeks working on routines and expectations.

Novel Study- Chapters 4-7 of The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963. Paired reading with an excerpt from The Wizard of Oz to compare ideas related to the theme of friendship.

Wordly Wise-Lessons 1 and 2 have been taught. Lesson 1 tests have been returned. Lesson 2 test will be on Monday in homeroom classes.

Newsela-The students logged on for the first time this week. Three articles were assigned to get a baseline on reading skills. As we continue to work in Newsela, the reading level of the article will be adjusted to meet the need of the student while receiving the same content. There is some confusion on how to get logged in from home. We will be going over this in class today.

Novel study- Our current novel is The Wastons Go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis. The novel centers around the Watson family living in Flint, MI and explores themes of family and friendship.  Focus has been on Chapters 1-3. Students are currently working on giving a character report card to Kenny Watson and Byron Watson. We will revisit these report cards at 4 points throughout the novel to monitor how each character changes.
Skills-setting, characterization, point of view