Starting our journey into the novel Flying Solo by Ralph Fletchet

Here's the link to the youtube video we started with today:

How to make a paper airplane (visual instructions)

Reading Group Follow - Up

We've spent a number of classes working in reading groups discovering the various components of a novel.
I would like each of you to fill out this form based on your contributions and overall work with your group. Please answer carefully & honestly. I will use your input along with my anecdotal notes to help form your mark! Please complete by the end of the day, Saturday, April 12.

Continuing with the Global Read Aloud 2013

In Out of My Mind we've read about Melody, a young girl with cerebral palsy who is looking to find her voice.

In the first chapters we were first surprised by the many different words the author uses to explain how one expresses themselves. This led to a great conversation on synonyms and using colourful words in our writing.

 In chapter six, the author tells us about Mrs. V creating flash cards for Melody in different colours. Green for adjectives; blue for verbs; pink for nouns. 

We looked at words that described Meoldy's mother so far in the book: (notice the colour)

Independent Novel Project.... May 2013

Dear Students & Parents,

Here is the link to the pdf which has the information regarding the expectations of your novel project:
Independent Novel Project Info

The information is also listed below:

Independent Novel Project

May, 2013

Each student is to select a novel (chapter book) to read between now & May 31. Students may finish the novel project as quickly as they wish, as long as they have asked for my permission to use the book for this project. Students are expected to be reading their novels during silent reading time and using any free time in the school day to be reading or working on their selected reading response (outlined below). 

All novel projects are due on or before May 31.

Students are to complete a formal book report as outlined on next page and also choose one of the following ways to follow-up their reading of their novel. Students are encouraged to be referring to this outline as they are reading so that they can be making notes, jotting ideas and deciding which follow-up best suits their book.

Formal Book Report Format

Every written book report will need to follow these guidelines:

1.  You will need to have a title page with the title of the book, the author of the book, the publisher's name, your name and the date.

2.  You will need to describe the setting in detail. Describe how the setting changes the mood of the story.  This section needs to be labeled "Setting" and should be about five lines in length.

3.  Who are the main characters in your story? Describe at least three people who make a difference in how the story evolves. This section needs to be labeled "Main Characters" and should be at least six lines long.

4.  What is the climax in the story? What event happened that changed the way the story ended? Sometimes there are several climaxes. Choose the one that is the most important to you. Describe what happened in detail. This section needs to be labeled "Climax" and should be approximately 6-10 lines long.

5.  In every book there is a moral to the story, or a lesson that the author wants you to learn. What is the lesson in this book? Think about this. Sometimes it is very subtle. This section needs to be labeled "Moral of the Story" and should be about five lines long.

6.  What did you think of this book? Did you enjoy it or not? Why? Label this section "My Opinion" and be specific in your reasons why you did or did not like the book. This should be about four lines long.

7.  Write a ½ page summary of the book, labeled “Summary”.  Include the problem, but not the ending.  Example:

 This magical adventure is about a boy struggling to learn all he can while he solves life-changing mysteries.  The main struggle is good against evil, and the boy has his friends and some of his teachers to help, but mainly is on his own.  The setting, Hogwarts School, is extremely important to the development and understanding of the story, while adding to the sense of adventure and mystery.  A lot of the events that happen here are impossible in the ‘real’ world, but the bonds shared between the main character and some of his friends, are very realistic.  Read this book and you will be routing for Harry to be victorious in his struggle against Voldemort, to save himself as well as the world.  

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Novel Follow-up Project Ideas:                      Choose one (1).

1)      Write a poem about the book, one character in it, or some other aspect of the book. The poem must be at least 16 lines long, but does not have to rhyme. Orally present the poem to the class.

2)      Make a poster that relates to the novel on poster size paper (11X17). Share the poster with the class.

3)      Write a 1+ page in-depth report on a character in the book. (What traits does the character have? What motivates the character? Is he/she well developed by the author? Do you agree /disagree with the way the character handled events in the book? Why? Would you like to meet the character? Why? Etc.) Orally present the character report to the class.

4)      Write a 1+ page “review” of the book for a newspaper or magazine. Orally present your review to the class.

5)      Write a 1+ page biography on the author of the book. Include a list of other works written by that author. Orally present the biography.

6)      Write 3 new titles for the book. Write 1+ paragraphs (5-8 sentences) supporting each new title. Orally present your new titles paper to the class.

7)      Imagine that you are one of the main characters. Write a diary account of daily thoughts and activities for 2+ weeks (14 days) in the life of your character. Orally present your diary to the class.

8)      Construct a pictorial time line that summarizes what happens in the story. Orally present the time line to the class.

9)      Select parts from the story that were the funniest, saddest, happiest, most unbelievable, most frightening, etc. and write a 1+ page paper explaining and supporting your choices. Pick at least three parts. Orally present the “choices paper”.

10)   Dress like a character in the book and read excerpts from the book to portray that character or act out parts of the book as the character.

11)   Locate phrases in the book that appeal to the 5 senses—hear, smell, touch, taste, see. You must have 2 phrases for each sense. Be sure to tell the page and paragraph of each example.

12)   Find 10-15 vocabulary words in the book that are new to you. Create a crossword puzzle using the words and their proper dictionary definitions. Present the crossword puzzle to the class. 

Animal Protests

Here's the wallwisher we started in class!
Looking forward to your research!

What is a ______________?

*LD Funky Scribbles font from LetteringDelights.com

We used this quote from our Global Read Aloud book, The One and Only Ivan, to springboard a writing activity. How would you describe an everyday item to a baby elephant... or someone who didn't know what it was?

“What is a lawnmower?” Ruby asked. “It’s a dad thing. You push it.” “It runs by gas. It is really heavy.” “On the bottom there is a sharp blade that cuts grass!” By: Jessie Helen

“What is a headband? Ruby asks” It is a girl thing, it goes in your hair. It holds your hair out of your face. It is like an elastic with soft stuff  or hard stuff on the outside.                                     --Nora 

“What is an eraser?” Ruby asks. "An eraser is a thing that erases things that you wrote in pencil.” Some of the colors of an eraser are pink and white”. The way you work it is by rubbing it on paper.

                                 By: Sam

“What is a toaster?” Ruby asks. “It’s a human thing, a rectangular shaped box with 2-4 slots in the top.”“You can put bread in the top and turn the knob, then you turn the knob and it heats up and turns the bread in to toast.”
                              By: Emily 

  "What is a iPod?" Ruby asks.  A iPod is a thing that is electric machine that you can play games on. It is a human thing .You can listen to music and go online and learn stuff that’s a human thing to. Some of the iPods can take pictures to play with it, too. 
                                      By:Matthew 

“What is a bicycle?” Ruby asks “A bicycle is like a miniature car, you can go anywhere with it. But the difference between a car and a bicycle is that a car runs on gas and a bicycle runs on your energy. A different way to say bicycle is bike, The use for a bike is that you can go on a ride with your friends, go to your community market for a family member or you can just go to the store for a snack. And that’s what a bicycle is.”                 By: Erin J 

“What is a lamp?” Ruby asks. "It’s a human thing, it helps you when your in the dark and it helps you read, write and do homework.”  By: Taylor 

     “What is a Calendar” Ruby asked?
Well it tells you the month, year and date when you read it. You can write down when your busy and when your not. It helps you keep track of everything and it usually is a square that has numbers and at the top is says the month and year. It’s often made of paper. By: Gabby 

“What is a Computer?” Ruby asks. A computer is a device that humans use to communicate with other humans.They also use a computer to look at information that they don’t know. “So is it big or small?” Ruby asks.You can get them in all different sizes! But its better if its bigger because it will be easier to see the screen. By: Emma 

What is a bed? “ Ruby asks “A bed is a piece of furniture that humans lay on. And it has a soft thing that they put on,And sometimes has four legs. By : Neve 

What is a broom? Ruby asks It is a human thing .It has a long stick it is  called . At the end of it , it can be a triangle or a rectangle .At the end of the triangle or rectangle there is little things called brushes. A broom will sweep up dirt. You hold the handle to sweep. By: Sarah

"What is a paint brush?" Ruby asks. A paint brush's a human thing that leaves atail behind itself and it is hairy they also dip it in liquid and slide it across a wall that is a paint brush.-- Max 

“What is a Globe?” Ruby asked.It is round. It is a map. You can use it to find places. It spins. It is many colors. There is little tiny words on it.
 By Cody & Karzen J

“What is a lightswitch?” A lightswitch is a switch that turns on and off  the lights. If it’s pointed up the lights are on and it’s bright if its pointed down its off and dark. It has stuff behind it that gives it power to turn the lights on and off. By Logan 

“What is a laptop? Ruby asked” “A laptop is a gamer thing. It’s a rectangleFlip able thing with a screen. It has keys with the alphabet and numbers on it and when you type letters pop up on the screen like magic”.                  By Innis 

“What is a desk?” Ruby asks. A desk is a thing you sit on , while doing work , It’s square , It’s s place holder. It has a chair/seat part to sit on with 4 legs.Also where you put your supplies in.                              By Shayde  J 

“What is a stove?” Ruby asks It is a human thing . It is really hot and it is square with a little door in the front of it . It has 4 little circle’s on the top, that get hot to cook stuff, It’s in a house. By:Drake

“What is a Bus?” Ruby asks. A bus is a yellow rectangle with lots of windows and seats. It also has 1,2,3,4 black wheels that go round and round. It has a door  and steps that people walk up. A bus will take you around anywhere you want.

 -- Kalen 

“What is a bookmark” Ruby asks. It’s this thing that helps you remember your page, you can bind it, its small but not to small, it can be any color By: Cheyenne 

 

The One and Only Ivan :: Global Read Aloud 2012

As in previous years, our class is taking part in the Global Read Aloud Project. This year's book is called The One and Only Ivan. From the trailer we watched on the book's site, to the cover, and first few pages of The One and Only Ivan we are all wondering and anticipating what may come next with each page turned.

To get in Ivan's mind, we listened to this music, while we coloured on a piece of paper with a crayon...



What did we create?

I wonder if any of these pictures resemble what Ivan would draw in his domain?!?!












Also, as part of our participation in the Global Read Aloud forum, we created this week 1 word cloud which describes Ivan, the main character in our book.

http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/5805585/IVAN_%3B%3B_The_One_and_Only_Ivan

Stay tuned to our blog and our twitter feed (@inmyclassroom or #Ivan5and6) as we explore this intriguing book!

We're baaaaaaaaccccccccccckkkkkkkkk!

As students entered the classroom last week, they were greeted with the traditional "Welcome Back" message.

Things have been going smoothly; the grade 5/6 class have been considered wonderful role models for many in the elementary wing on many occasions the past week. (YAY!)

Speaking of role models, tomorrow we have our first Reading Buddies session with Mr. MacKenzie's grade 2/3 class. We're starting reading buddies this week as a way to gear up for the Global Read Aloud Project coming up in October. As part of reading buddies, our classes will be reading Charlotte's Web, while in our own language arts time, we'll be reading The One and Only Ivan.  (Watch the video... it has us "sad, but excitedly curious"!)

And finally, we held our student council representative election in our class where 6 brave grade sixes accepted the nominations and challenge to prepare a speech outlining their reasons for wanting to be class rep. The speeches were definitely some of the most inspiring, heartfelt and humorous speeches I've ever heard! Congrats on jobs well done, guys! Once the votes were tallied, the elected class rep was...

Emily!

 Congratulations, Emily! We hope you work to keep us informed!

Independent Novel Project Outline (for those who misplaced their's)

 Novel Project Due Dates:

#'s 1-7 due Friday, April 13th

#8 due in class sometime week 16-20

#9 due Monday, April 23rd

 Independent Novel Project: Term 3

You are going to be choosing a novel you would like to read, and explore.

The following project will be mostly completed at school. Reading will take place at home and at school, especially during our designated silent reading time. Time will be given in class to complete some of the written components, but not all.

To begin the project, you will select a novel from the library, classroom, or bookmobile and complete a mini conference with your teacher to ensure the book you have chosen is grade appropriate and challenging. Class time will be set aside for reading conferences where you and the teacher will meet, and the teacher will assess your reading fluency and interpretation of the novel.

Each task must be completed on a piece of loose leaf, and presented in an organized manner. Write in blue or black ink, one side only, double-spaced and note page numbers where supporting information can be found in the text. Please create a cover page for your project as well as a table of contents (label each assignment with the corresponding page number listed). Please be prepared for a final presentation of your project to your classmates. Your project must be put together in the following order:

 Tasks:

1. Give a brief summary of the plot. 1-2 full pages, tell the story. Include 2-5 of the main events and describe what happens at the end.

2. Explain the significance of the title (5-10 sentences). Authors do not choose a title randomly. Usually the title is symbolic in some way.

3. Describe the setting and genre – time period, location, etc. (5-10 sentences)

4. Discuss in 1 full page your ideas about the main character(s). Answer what you like or dislike about them and why they are worthy of praise and/or criticism.

5. In 1 full page, identify what caused a major change in the main character(s) and explain how the character(s) changed. These changes may have been a consequence of choice, a conflict, a display of some outstanding trait like courage, or even a result of events that occur during the novel.

6. In a journal style entry, copy 5 of your favourite phrase/sentences from the book and explain why you chose them.

7. Make up 5 true and false, 5 multiple choice and 5 matching test questions for this novel. Put the correct answers on a separate piece of paper.

8. In 1 full page write a general review of the book. Would you recommend the book? Why or why not? Would you have changed any element of the story (plot, characters, setting, resolution, conflicts, point of view, etc.)?

9. Select and complete 1 creative project that relate to and reflect the main points of your novel. Suggestions: book jacket, character scrap or memory book, theme or symbol collage, diorama, newspaper, character diary, character/scene sketch, menus from the text, comic or political cartoon, song, travel brochure, scene rewrite from a different point of view, movie poster with a cast of stars and justification of your choices, etc. Please run your ideas by me before you start.

 Your project’s assessment will include:

a) Selecting an appropriate novel.

b) Student/Teacher conferences.

c) Complete all of the tasks (some tasks have early due dates and will be shared as the term progresses). 

Can't judge a book by its cover, they say...

... but here are our covers!

Here are the books we're reading independently to end this term: