We've been practicing our drama skills as well as our reading expression. Students were asked to present the poem we read in class called "In 1776". I took clips of their presentations and compiled them into the following video...
We've been learning a bit about the American Revolution in Language Arts. We're reading about the Declaration of Independence, the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, and the Turtle submarine used in the Revolution.
We've been practicing our drama skills as well as our reading expression. Students were asked to present the poem we read in class called "In 1776". I took clips of their presentations and compiled them into the following video...
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We are well on our way to a fabulous performance on November 19th and 20th! Get ready for Shakespearean greatness! To see this year's cast list and practice schedule, click below: So far we have:
1. read about and done group presentations on Shakespeare's life 2. studied facts, watched short videos, and answered questions about history, customs, and dress in the Elizabethan Age 3. discovered the meanings of many of the phrases we use today that were originally made-up by Shakespeare 4. learned about the Theater in Shakespeare's day and created mini-models of the Globe Theater 5. read and acted out parts of the story of this year's play - "The Comedy of Errors." 6. practiced our acting skills of being loud, clear, having expression, and adding motions to help tell the story Look below for just a few examples of our work! We just completed our first monthly book report of the year-- neckties! In the novel we read as a class, called Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, the main character collects porcupine neckties. So, we started a tie collection of our own! Here are a few examples: We're really proud that 5th graders took 5 of the school-wide top ten reader awards for 2013-14! 1. Luke F. - Over 7 million words read this year!!! Over 100 books and over 900 points. 2. Isaiah - Over 6.5 million words!!! WOW! 3. Max 4. Lizzie 5. Rachael I kept track of student reading on the chart to the left. Once they passed 500,000 words I added their photo to the chart. Then, at 1 million I moved their picture up a level. (Next year, I'll have to figure out how to keep the photos from curling up when I take them off the first time.) (Both Luke and Isaiah passed the 3 million at the top of the chart well before Christmas. I wasn't expecting that!) For their last book report, students read historical fiction books. Then, they came to school as their character prepared to introduce "themselves" and give us a bit of information about their lives. It was exciting to see some of the students really get into character! This month our 5th graders made plot maps showing the storyline of their independent reading books. I made 11X17 copies for each student to fill in. Students had to write paragraphs explaining the beginning (exposition), rising action, climax, and falling action. Then, they filled in the map key and decorated the map with scenes from the book. I loved seeing students' creativity! This year was the first year that we had a parent volunteer direct our 5th grade Shakespeare play instead of taking it on ourselves. Stephanie Nelson, you are amazing! We had 2 casts and one play: "As You Like It." Practices mostly took place before school. We still took 3+ weeks in class to research Shakespeare's life and times and to become familiar with the story of "As You Like It." Feel free to ask the students about Queen Elizabeth, the Globe Theatre, the plague, bear-baiting, or social customs of 16th Century England. Everything came together so nicely, and the play was a huge success! For this month’s book report, my 5th graders made puzzles. First, students drew 9-piece puzzles on an 8 ½ “ x 11” piece of paper. They numbered the puzzle pieces 1-9. Each piece told a little about the book:
Students could do the assignment by hand or on the computer. Any pencil lines had to be outlined in black so that they “popped”. We mounted the puzzles on construction paper, and the kids drew simple borders that showed the theme of the book. We read Stargirl, by Jerry Spinelli, as a class at the beginning of the school year. I like the theme of this novel-- be yourself, care for others, and root for everyone. The protagonist of the story collects porcupine neckties; so as our first book report of the year, I gave every student a cardboard necktie to decorate in the theme of a book they had read independently this month. They had to write an paragraph explaining what the book is about and what the tie design has to do with that. Then, on October 1, the 5th graders came to school wearing their book reports. It was a good way to share our books even as we switched classes or walked through the halls. |
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May 2017
AuthorKaren Redmon originally migrated to SLC from Memphis, TN. She has a Bachelor's in International Relations from BYU and a Master's in Teaching from Westminster. She's taught 4th, 1st, and 5th grades. Her interests include: camping, hiking, swimming, dancing, singing, pottery, sewing, theater, music, reading, and most of all-- learning. Categories
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