|
Literacy
During Literacy this quarter students are reading a number of historical books.
A large number of students is reading A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla. This is the story of Amanda Freebold whose father left for Jamestown three years ago and who has just lost her mother. The only thing she has to remember him by is a little brass lion's head he gave his family to guard them while he was away. Amanda decides to take her brother and sister across to America to find their father.
Another group is reading Will's Story1771 by Joan Lowery Nixon, about twelve year old Will Pelham whose father is the gaoler (jailer) for the city of Williamsburg, Virginia. The prisoners live in cells beneath Will's family home and Will is a bit afraid of them. When he meets a runaway slave named Emmanuel and learns that he plans to escape, Will has to decide whether to tell or not. Part of him thinks Emmanuel would be better off as a runaway, but he knows he is responsible to his father and the law. Will he tell his father?
A third group is reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. This is the story of orphaned Kit Tyler who knows that the bleak shores of Connecticut Colony will never compare to her shimmering Carribean islands. Living with stern Puritan relatives leaves her feeling lonely, but when she meets a Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond she becomes accused of witchcraft herself!
The final group is reading another of Clyde Robert Bulla's books, Pirate's Promise. In this story, a boy named Tom Pippin has been sold as a deckhand on a ship sailling from London to America. His ship is taken over by pirates, something these boys feared. However, the pirate captain takes a liking to Tom who learns all about the pirate's life. Will he get to the New World or not?
Writing
Here is a poetry assignment which is due on the next day your child's writing folder is due to me. It was assigned in class this week on Tuesday for the group reading Witch of Blackbird Pond and Will's Story and on Wednesday for those in A Lion to Guard Us.
Poetry Assignment
Week of 5/10/10 - Write a love story between a tennis shoe and a potato peel, a doctor and a bandage or two other unusual pairings of people or things. Tell how the love story developed. The other choice was to write a poem with an animal and a kitchen utensil in every line.
Due on the day you are to turn in your writing folder. Those of you who hand in your folders on the day this is assigned have one week to do the assignment (Tuesday group in Will’s Story or Witch of Blackbird Pond).
Here are some of the results of this assignment:
A Love Story Between a Doctor and a Bandage
by Jamie M.
"Roses are red, violets are blue. When I look at you, you heal me, too, bandage."
"Oh, Doctor, you're too nice," the bandage smiled.
"Bandage, I need to go," the doctor sighed.
"Oh please, Doctor, don't go!"
"I must," he insisted.
"Doctor, go buy some more bandages, please," yelled the nurse.
"Okay," he replied.
"More bandages!?" the bandage roared. "I can't believe you! You...you're cheating on me!
"No, no, no...I'm not cheating on you," the doctor cried. "I'll see you in two minutes," the doctor added.
"But that's like two hours!" Bandage roared. "I hate bandages," Bandage muttered.
What's For Dinner
by Zachary
I saw my mom cutting a duck with a knife.
Sipping the spoonful of chicken soup.
I wanted to sip the chicken soup with my spoon.
But my mom gave me the cow made roast beef,
And when I took a bite, I threw my spoon,
Out of my mouth!
The Doctor and the Bandage
by Sydney
Chapter 1 - Meeting
Once upon a time, a doctor named Cindy fell in love with a bandage. Here's how it happened.
One day Cindy found an unused bandage out of a package. Suddenly, the bandage began talking to Cindy. She was really frightened. But then she knew the bandage was the one!
Chapter 2 - Love Letter
"Dear Cindy," wrote the bandage, "will you go out with me tonight? I want to go out with you, because your eyes sparkle like a new fresh bandage. I want us to 'stick' together forever."
Chapter 3 - Receiving the Letter
"Ahhh, bandage. That's so sweet. But I don't know yet," said Cindy. "But I...I do know one thing. I would love to stick together with you forever."
Chapter 4 - Conclusion
What do you think? Will she say yes? Or will she say no to the letter for their very first date?
Coming in Book 2 - The Answer
Prom Day for the Tennis Shoe and the Potato Peel
by Gary
It was prom day. The boys, also known as the tennis shoes, and the girls, also known as the potato peels were busy haging up signs.
The prom queen, Isabella Francis, was looking nice with her best butter on. And the dumb, unpopular Richie Nike was dressed in silver laces. The students worked throughout the day.
At last, it was prom night and Isabella's date had canceled. He said that he was going with a different peel.
"Why you dirty, rotten shoe!" Isabella sobbed for half an hour. "The prom's in an hour and I don't have a date!"
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Isabella answered it. It was Richie. He was on his knees with a bouquet of roses in his hand. "Oh, please Isabella, will you go to the prom with me?"
"Oh yes. Thank you for coming!" She went upstairs and put on her best butter, powdered her face in sour cream and sprinkled bacon in her hair.
They had the best prom ever. Years later they got married and lived happily ever after.
Waking Up Poetry
Candy Dreams
by Evelyn
I wake up one morning and see,
A world full of joy and glee.
The smell of chocolate wafts up my nose,
As I spot a little red gumdrop rose.
I scoop up a teacup and take a small plate.
Oh, so delicious!
I think to myself, this place...
Is suspicious.
Then with a jolt I sit up.
I realize it was just a dream,
I think as I look up.
Waking Up
by Allison
Do I have to wake up?
I see those beautiful waffles,
And strawberries waiting for me at the table.
I hear the frying pan sizzling.
I taste those waffles and strawberries.
I feel the whipped cream, sticky on my hands.
I think I should wake up!!!
When I Wake Up
by Meaghan
When I wake up on my birthday.
I smell the great, yummy smell,
Of cinnamon buns.
I have one more big yawn,
And stretch,
And then I go eat,
My yummy cinnamon buns.
When I Wake Up 2
by Meaghan
When I wake up,
I smell the blueberry muffins and lemon tea.
As my mom yells, "Where's the dog?"
Then she yells, "Get up!"
Yes, just five more minutes.
My sister comes in and flicks the lights.
They glisten off my eyes.
She says, "Get up."
As she flips her hair,
Leaving my room.
Morning
by Kiley
I wake up in the morning,
Turn off my alarm clock,
And slowly drift back to sleep.
My dog howling a lullaby,
The sweet smell of coffee drifts into my room.
Wake up now, honey,
Smell the coffee.
Waking Up In The Morning
by Hunter
When I wake up in the morning,
I taste the food my mom is making for breakfast.
It is usually cinnamon buns.
Just from the smell I can taste it in my mouth.
I feel like I want to go back to bed,
But I can't because it's a school day.
I have to get up early to get on the bus,
And if I don't, then we have to catch it.
I always think it is Friday,
When it's really Monday.
School Days
by Emily R.
As I wake up to the flick of the light,
As it hits my eyes,
I think to myself,
One more minute,
As I fall back asleep.
I wake up again,
And hop to my feet.
I begin on my way.
That's the beginning of my school days.
Last Day of School
by Kaysie
"Wake up dude."
"It's like 7:45!"
Is what I hear.
I can smell warm summer air.
I can see the t-shirt and shorts I laid out the
night before,
I can smell my cat.
But I don't care!
It's the last day of school.
Waking Up
by Sydney
Wake up, wake up.
Rise and shine sleepyhead.
Get out of bed.
Wake up and smell the waffles.
It's time to go.
"One more minute," I moan.
Sick Day
by Sydney
Sick as a dog.
I feel sick as a dog.
No getting up for me.
Dog, sick as a dog,
Is what I feel.
Straight to the bed,
Is our rule.
Please stop sickness.
Morning
by Makayla
It was a nice morning,
When I woke.
I tasted my thumb.
I heard Mom on the phone.
I touched my toes and started to cry.
I saw my daddy.
I smelt my dirty diaper.
And I thought...
Is Mom gonna change me soon?
Nightmare
by Zachary
As I lie, I shiver in fear.
I'm up against a wall.
And when I think it's most terrifying,
I wake up,
Saying it was only a dream.
I get out of bed for the day.
The Thunderstorm
by Zachary
Trap, trap, trap, trap, trap, trap, trap.
Outside, the forces of nature battle.
Flash! Bang!!! Rumble!
Lightning flashes.
The wind howls and the sound of thunder,
Blocks out all light.
Like chaos outside.
It's like the world will end.
But then, silence...
The battle has stopped.
The battle may be frightening,
But it brings refreshment of our land,
To every living thing.
I guess a cloud does have,
A silver lining.
Waking Up
by James T.
Woozy.
Asking for another hour,
Keeping eyes tightly closed.
I'm angry that I was woken,
Never wishing to get up.
Going to have to get up soon.
Under the covers,
Pretending not to hear the call.
Homework
by James T.
I hate homework,
Homework hates me.
But I have to do it,
So angrily.
Homework is annoying.
Homework is silly.
Homework makes me feel,
Very, very chilly.
Snow in April
by James T.
The grass was green.
It was keen.
Then came snow,
And it was mean.
The flowers were blooming.
Who knows now?
I hate snow in A-per-ull!
Crack!
by Gary
Crack!
Thumpity-thump
I wriggle and
squiggle
try to
stop
the
boom
Crack!
What do I do?
I tiptoe
to the
closet and
get
in
hoping
morning
will come
soon.
Waking Up
by Jamie M.
I see a glimpse of my desk,
Then all the rest.
Once my eyes open wide,
I look out the window,
And see the morning sun.
I hear cars going by.
How come they're out so early?
Oh wait, it's Wednesday.
There's school.
I taste the taste of plain,
Disgusting spit.
I smell the smell of my room.
I feel sleepy and tired,
And I don't want to get up!
Just let me go to sleep,
For an hour or a half!
The Dark Side
by Hannah
Uhh....I don't want to wake up.
Sleepy I am.
So dark and quiet inside.
Outside lies buzzing and life and action.
Yet, I am so worn and tired.
The dark side is where I lie.
Hidden, and dead to the world.
Students have been busy writing in class and at home. I have been finding it hard to get all of this writing read and handed back, but am chipping away at it. We have been working on idea development up to this point. I have given students the option of writing pieces of their choice. Most have been writing stories, but some have written poetry, song lyrics and riddles as well as journal entries. I will begin to publish some of the work on these web pages for all of you to enjoy. Because the pieces are being published, I will do some editing, but only for spelling and conventions. This week's selections follow below.
Magazines
by Kahner
Go to a store,
Dance around.
Buy a magazine.
Sit down.
Read out loud.
Walking
by Allison
I was walking along, home from my cousin's house when I heard noises in the woods around me. I walked through the woods and there was a big dog.
"Ahhh!" I screamed. And I was off running like a cheetah, panting like a dog.
Finally I reached the porch. I felt my heart beat. I tried to get inside, but the door was locked. I ran to the wood shed and locked the door behind me. I sneakily ran down to see if the other door was unlocked. It was, so I went inside, up the stairs and onto my porch. No animal can get there except a bird. I was safe at last.
The Nerf Vulcan
by Kevin
Awesome! Yesterday Carl came over. We're going to skip to the good part. About when it was time for him to leave, we went upstairs and experimented with my Nerf Vulcan. You could see the aftermath of the Nerf war between us and my sister. We were looking at the Vulcan, studying how it worked, when I pointed out that the barrel extension can come off. Carl took it off which made it a lot lighter and more mobile. He said it would make it less accurate but, with the Vulcan, who really cares?
A Memoir
by Nathaniel
When I was three or four, my mom made a batch of jalapeno poppers. I decided to feed all of them to my dog while my mom was in the bedroom and my dad was downstairs.
When my mom came out and saw that they were all gone, she said to my dad, "Honey, did you eat all my jalapeno poppers?"
"No, I've been down here the whole entire time."
Then we noticed that the dog drank all the water in the toilet, all of the water in his bowl and then another bowl of water. For three days he lay on the floor just going, "Oooooow! Oooooow!"
The next day my mom baked a big batch of chop suey...
Vietnam
by Sgt. Carl ...
6/13/63 - I've been drafted into the army again. This time I'm a veteran and a squad leader. Two words for you: I'm ready.
6/14/63 - I'm in boot camp now. I always thought veterans didn't have to go back to boot camp. I also met my team: Pvt. Griggs, Pvt. Macoy, Pvt. Allen and Pvt. Sanderson. All of them are great.
6/15/63 - Today our squad got its first mission: Liberate a town from the Viet Cong, but I've got a sinking feeling...
6/18/63 - Well, our mission was perfect. "It was a cakewalk," is what Pvt. Allen said. It was three days long, though, and not much sleep.
6/19/63 - A new day, a new mission. We've got another mission. This will not be easy. On a level up to 5, this will be a 5.
6/26/63 - Hardest mission ever. Seven days and six sleepless nights. It was hard.
Your Dog
by Kiley
Your dog may have a pedigree as far as records reach.
It may be obedient to everything you teach,
Or it may be a common mutt, that lingers at your feet.
Somewhere it found you, as you walked along the street.
It will be truly loyal, or may be a champion.
But for every friendly smile and every friendly pet,
The dog will love you and go the extra mile.
The dog will love you to the end,
Yes, it will even die for you to prove it is your friend.
A Walk in the Woods
by Brittany
One day I went into the woods. I forgot where I came from. The trees were everywhere. I didn't know where to go! Suddenly there was a snap from a branch on the ground. There was a cat, but not a house cat - a bobcat! I was so scared, but tried not to show the bobcat, because I had heard they would try to come at you faster.
I didn't know what to do, but I slowly went down into a ball. I didn't want to think about what could happen, so I went really, really slow. Finally, I heard a four wheeler on its way up and yelled for help. I was lucky!
The Nightmare of the Titanic
Southampton Docks
April 8, 1912
Chapter 1
by Shane
John McDouglas looked up as far as he could from the trolley. The Titanic was much bigger than he thought. The hull, the upper decks, and the smokestacks - almost anything else in London was dwarfed by it. The trolley stopped near the docks and John began to walk off with his eyes still fixed to the Titanic. He bumped into the wall of the tolley.
"Pay attention, boy!" John's mom, Maryanne, said.
"Sorry, mother. That beast of a ship shan't just surprise me."
People were scattered around the docks like seagulls at shore. John almost got lost before he even got on the ship. His dad had told him that he had gotten lost in 1910 on the decks of the Olympic, another White Star Line ship as big as the Titanic. This thought made John light-headed. But, finally, he found his mom at the gangplanks that load passengers onto the ship.
"John, where have you been?" his mother asked.
"In that maze of people," John replied. "Oh, and Mother, which class are we in?"
"Second," she said. "Tis nicer than any hotel in London."
FOOOOOOM! FOOOOOM! The ship's horn blasts twice. It makes almost everyone around John, including him, jump. The docks become eerily quiet.
"That means second class!" John's mom says. "Hurry, child. Get on the ship!"
"Were the horns supposed to make us deaf?" John asks.
His mom looks at him, then slowly starts laughing. She then hands the tickets to the ticket collector, and they both get on the ship. Immediately, John wants to explore the floating maze... (to be continued).
Commercials
by Kaysie
No one likes commercials.
Yes, that statement's really true.
If I ask me, or you ask you,
We'll say, "Yes, those things are pests."
We'll buy it if we'll buy it.
We shall if we must.
But we don't care about our credit score,
Or a stupid opera bus!
I won't call 877-CASH-Now,
And I won't vote for the next California Cow!
Willa and Her Dreams
by Hannah
According to Willa, anything can happen with a push of a button! Anything from raining ice cream to flying to Mars!
"Wiiiillllllllllaaaaa, it's time to go to bed, Honey," called her mother.
"What should I dream about tonight?" wondered Willa. "Hmmmmmmm, it would be nice to see what it's like to get a cookie whenever I want," she thought.
You see, Willa has this machine that, whenever you type in something, it happens in your dream. Nobody knows about this! And that is a good thing, because Willa doesn't want anybody to know, or else her life would be completely ruined! The dream machine read, 'raining cookies'. Willa closed her door. Bang! Crackle! Pop! Pshhhh! A big dream wave escaped into her brain. Tonight it will be raining cookies!
"Willa, what was that bang?" questioned her mom.
Oh, no, thought Willa! What am I supposed to do now?
"I tripped on my bureau and my mirror fell," lied Willa. She hopped into bed and closed her eyes.
Suddenly a bang from downstairs woke her up. That's sad, she thought. "I didn't even get the chance to dream about raining cookies!" wailed Willa. If only the press of a button in real life could make cookies rain. "Now that was weird, dreaming about almost having a dream," pondered Willa. With that she went back to bed.
My Birthday
by Evelyn
My birthday was coming up and I was so excited! I was also getting a little frazzled, because I didn't know what or where or when to have my party. Finally, my mom and I haddecided. I was to have a sleepover with all of my friends at my house on April 9th. I was really excited and super happy. I had it all planned out. I was going to stay up until 11:30 that night, because that is when I was born.
The morning of my birthday, I got all of my presents from my family. I got everything I wanted. I was so happy. The rest of the day was pretty much the best day ever. I had so much fun and everyone was so happy.
That day, when I got home school, I did my homework and was sitting down with mydad and my brother. After a little bit, my dad asked, "Where do you want to go for dinner?"
I said, "I don't know. What are you thinking about?"
Then he started listing restaurants that we could go to. At the last minute, he added in, "But I really like the wings at Hoagies. Want to go there?"
I was sort of suspicious about that, but he really does love the wings there, so I didn't think anything of it.
"Sure," I said.
We went on to sit for a little bit longer. Then I realized that I needed to get ready for going out to dinner. I was looking pretty shabby at the time and I had just realized that it was already 5:00 P.M. I had to leave at 5:30! I wasn't that worried, though, because I had already taken a shower, so all I had to do was get dressed. Then I realized that my mom had to go to a meeting at 5:00. She was going to be car pooling with a neighbor because she lived so close. She would meet us at Hoagies. She said goodbye, gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and she was out the door. When we got Hoagies, we were seated. While we were being led to our table, the waitress asked us, "Are five menus okay?"
My dad said yes. Then we walked into this room that I had never been in before. When we first got in there, I saw a quick glimpse of a camera and Ms. B. I caught a glimpse of balloons and then I saw and heard all of my friends and family jump out and yell, "Surprise!!!" I was shocked and speechless. I hadn't the least bit suspected that I would get such a surprise birthday party!
All my friends kept asking me if I was surprised. I said, "Yes," but that was all I could spit out. Then everyone told me to sit down and we ate. After that all of us went into the gameroom and played all sorts of games for awhile. The parents and adults just talked. Then I opened all of the presents. Everything was so awesome!! We played for awhile longer and then everyone needed to go home. They all got huge chocolate bars as party gifts.
I had so much fun that night and day. I went to sleep dreaming super happy thoughts.
|
