Spelling - we took test 17.  Be ready for that when you return.
Vocab - Quiz on Friday.  Everyone should have their words and definitions at this point.
Reading - Complete the Inference Worksheet (download here)
Reading - Read ch. 19 tonight
L A - We will finish drafting our 3 body paragraphs today
History - finish reading 8.4

As we are nearing the end of the trimester, make sure to be checking Sycamore for missing assignments.

Spelling - Test 17 this Wednesday
Vocab - New words out today, Quiz on Friday
Reading - Read through ch. 18 tonight
LA - Today and tomorrow we will be drafting our three body paragraphs
History - Read section 8.4

Parents, this weekend take a second to check in with you child about their research project.  At this point, most students should be very close to finished.  When you look at their research gathering sheets, you should see three different colors of paper stapled together. Each color represents all the gathered information for one topic, which will also be one body paragraph.

The rule of thumb is that each topic (paragraph) needs to be researched using three resources (one of which needs to be an actual book), and students need to gather seven facts per resource per topic.  In other words, a "fully" researched topic will have three sets of seven facts, or 21 facts.  Since each student is researching three topics (early life, importance, legacy, causes, etc.), a fully researched paper will have 63 facts.  Some of these facts will be repeated because multiple sources reported the same facts.

Early next week (Monday or Tuesday, depending on how today's research goes) we will move on from gathering information to the actual writing of the paper.

Don't wait until the last week of the trimester to check your reading blog posts.  Remember, if I commented on your post with "Count it", then you are finished.  If I commented with "Repost for credit", then you need to do that.  If I haven't commented, then that means I haven't seen your post for some reason and you may want to check in with me.

We have five kids home sick today.  Let's try to end this thing that's going around.  If you think you might be getting sick or maybe need an extra day at home to recover, please take it.  Thanks!

Your final reading blog posts will be accepted no later than Tuesday, March 13th.  Don't forget to get them in soon, so you have time to get feedback and rewrite posts that are not done correctly.  Also, don't forget that you may only turn in two posts per school day.  They must be submitted by 8:30am to count.

When you don't know what other facts you can gather, ask yourself if you have:

• What's interesting
  
• What's important
  
• Who is involved
  
• When it happened
  
• Where it happened
  
• Why it happened
  
• How it happened

For example, if you are writing a paragraph about the events leading up to the winter at Valley Forge or the Battle at Yorktown, you might ask yourself, "Why did General Washington choose Valley Forge?  Where there other options?  Was there something attractive about Valley Forge?"

For Yorktown, ask yourself why the army was moving to Yorktown.  Did they have to go there?  Were they choosing to go there?  What was different about Yorktown than all the other places in the colonies?

If you are interested, here is a list of resources that can help keep your kids safe on the internet.

Last week we read the first chapter of our newest book Anne of Green Gables.  There are definitely some challenges that come with teaching it, but I think the learning opportunities it provides outweigh them.  

Of course, it is a "girl's book".  Some of the boys will steadfastly insist that they hate this book because it is for girls, and all the while they will be laughing and commenting their way through every chapter.

The main challenge with this book, though, is that it requires a very high reading level.  While it was difficult to find challenging words in Nate Saint, in Anne of Green Gables, some students would probably be able to find 10 or more words on a page that they don't know.  This elevated vocabulary is one of the main reasons we are reading the book.

So far this year, we have been reading easier books and practicing reading strategies like figuring out vocabulary words, inferring, finding important lines, asking good questions, etc.  Now, if the students are going to be successful, they will need to apply these reading strategies during their reading.

Each student has been given a reading strategies journal in which they will record their thoughts and questions as they read.  My hope is that it will reduce their frustration level by giving them a place to write something like, "I don't understand anything on page 3!"  Then, the next day in class, we can talk about it.

Once we get our feet under us, we will have about a chapter of reading per night if we are ever going to get through the book.  If your child is having trouble with this book consider:

• letting them read it to you
  
• taking turns reading to each other
• reading it to them and talking about difficult passages 
  
• asking them about what they read when they finish
  
• making sure they don't read when they are tired
• making sure they don't read in a distracting place

Finally, let me know if you are seeing a high frustration level with this book at home.  The more I know, the more I can help set your kids up for success.  Hopefully, I'm being overly cautious here, but I just want everyone to be in the loop as we start this new book.