Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy these Thanksgiving games!

Turkey Bowling

Tic-Tac-Turkey

Thursday, November 20

This is RED RIBBON WEEK! This year's theme is "I elect to be drug free."

Morning Work: DWP: Write a poem or letter from the point of view of Cara's snake.

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Practice p. 70; Click here to review this week's vocab. words.

Spelling: Practice On-line Spelling Activities: 1, 2, 3

Grammar: Review packet on Plural Nouns & Possessive Nouns 

Possessive Noun Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Singular and Plural Nouns Game

Cursive: Thursday

Adv. Math: SL 4.3

OTHER: LMC Project --Native American ABC Voicethread sheet

RED RIBBON WEEK: On Friday, wear crazy hair or a hat because we "Use Our Heads and Don't Do Drugs."

Wednesday, November 19

This is RED RIBBON WEEK! This year's theme is "I elect to be drug free."

Morning Work: DWP: Write a list of safety tips on how to avoid dangerous animals in the wild.

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Practice p. 71; Click here to review this week's vocab. words.

Spelling: Finish p. 60 -- Practice On-line Spelling Activities: 1, 2, 3

Grammar: Plural Nouns & Possessive Nouns - Finish p. 59-60

Possessive Noun Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Singular and Plural Nouns Game

Cursive: Wednesday

Adv. Math: SL 4.2 & Enrichment 4.2

OTHER: LMC Project -- Continue adding onto your Native American ABC book.  LIBRARY BOOKS DUE TOMORROW!

RED RIBBON WEEK: On Thursday, wear a team jersey because we are "teaming up against drugs!"

Tuesday, November 18

This is RED RIBBON WEEK! This year's theme is "I elect to be drug free."

Morning Work: DWP: Imagine a snake escaped from a cage in your house and it disappeared.  Make a list of adjectives describing how you would feel.

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Click here to review this week's vocab. words.

Spelling: Finish p. 59 -- Practice On-line Spelling Activities: 1, 2, 3

Grammar: Plural Nouns & Possessive Nouns - Finish p. 58

Possessive Noun Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Singular and Plural Nouns Game

Cursive: Tuesday

Adv. Math: SL 4.1 & Enrichment 4.1

OTHER: LMC Project -- Continue adding onto your Native American ABC book.

RED RIBBON WEEK: On Wednesday, wear pajamas to "follow your dreams and don't do drugs."

This week's reading theme is SNAKES!!!  Here are some videos that I think you'll enjoy.

Snake Fakes Video

Sidewinding Snake Video -- see it catch its prey!

Monday, November 17

This is RED RIBBON WEEK!  This year's theme is "I elect to be drug free."

Morning Work: DWP: Name a reptile you want to see at a zoo.  Write a brief explanation telling why.

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Practice Packet p. 66-67 -- Click here to review this week's vocab. words.

Spelling: Finish p. 58 -- Practice On-line Spelling Activities: 1, 2, 3

Grammar: Plural Nouns & Possessive Nouns - Finish p. 57  

Possessive Noun Tic-Tac-Toe Game

Singular and Plural Nouns Game

Cursive: Monday

Adv. Math: Multiplication Quiz tomorrow

OTHER: LMC Project -- Continue adding onto your Native American ABC book.

RED RIBBON WEEK:  On Tuesday, wear sweats because "Drugs are no sweat."

Thursday, November 13

Alliteration ABC Book

Idiom Websites:

Lots of examples of idioms on this site.

Funbrain's Paint by Idioms

Morning Work: DWP: Write a dialogue between you and Ben Franklin. 

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Finish Practice Packet; Test tomorrow - Click here to review this week's vocab. words.

Spelling: Review for tomorrow's test. REMEMBER, THE SPELLING TEST WILL CHANGE FROM MULTIPLE CHOICE TO WRITING OUT THE WORDS.  Click here to review this week's spelling words.

Grammar: Review for tomorrow's test on possessive singular and possessive plural nouns. Click here to review possessive nouns.

Cursive: Thursday

Adv. Math: Self-assessment; parent signature on Study Guide - TEST TOMORROW

Monday, November 10

There will be NO SCHOOL on Tuesday, November 11, due to Veteran's Day.  

Morning Work: DWP: What do you think is the greatest invention ever created?  Explain why.

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Practice Packet p. 59

Spelling: Finish p. 52-- STARTING THIS FRIDAY, THE SPELLING TEST WILL CHANGE FROM MULTIPLE CHOICE TO WRITING OUT THE WORDS.

Grammar: Possessive Nouns - Finish p. 51

Cursive: Monday

Social Studies: Review for the Ch. 3 test(11/13/08) Click on: History Alive Tutorial

Adv. Math: SL 3.8 & SL 3.9 -- Test on FRIDAY

Native American Cultural Regions

We have finished reading about all seven Native American cultural regions.  Our chapter 3 test will be this Thursday!  Make sure you study your color coded flashcards we created in class and take the tutorial as many times as you need to before Thursday.  We'll review and share our group presentations on Wednesday.  

Here are some silly ways to remember a ton of information(created by the creative and clever Mrs. Cheek!):

Northwest Coast: The Cool Kwakiutl live on the Coast. They wear waterproof cedar bark capes, trap salmon with cedar bark fish traps, and live in wooden houses with cool cedar totem poles.

California Intermountain Region: The Pretty Pomo, wear pretty shell necklaces, and make pretty baskets decorated with shells and beads. The Pretty Pomo live in a pretty cone shaped redwood house.

Southwest: The Hot Hopi live in the Southwest and have to stay cool by wearing cotton dresses. The Hot Hopi are thirsty from being so hot and from climbing the ladders up to their adobe apartments. They are so thirsty that they store water to drink in clay pots.

Plateau: (This is the gross one.:)) This region is shaped like a foot and it is green! This region is the Plateau (Pla- TOE) Yuk. The Yakima lived there and ate roots to survive. Roots are at your toes (Pla-TOE). The Yakima lived in underground winter houses--think roots are underground, too. You can remember that they put baskets on their heads because everything else is already at their feet.

Great Plains: Think PLAIN and simple. The Sioux lived here. (Think: Sue is a simple name.) They used buffalo for everything! Buffalo and teepees are PLAIN and simple to remember when you are studying Native Americans.

Eastern Woodlands: Think tongue twister! The Algonquian (Al-gon-kwee-an) in the Eastern Woodlands lived in wigwams wearing wild turkey-feather ceremonial capes. The turkey is a bird and you can link that to a turkey bird birch canoe. :)

Southeast: The Southern Seminole used cypress canoes. To keep safe from the sharp saw grass they wore deerskin leggings. They lived in palm leaf chickees so they wouldn't sweat!

China

What a great coincidence it was that Mrs. Polito got to travel to China this past week which happened to be our reading theme for the week!  

We had some wonderful conversations in both our whole group and small group discussions, and I was so impressed by your comments and questions.  

Here are some links that relate to our topics of conversations.  I know that some of you came up with some great research questions, and I hope you'll be able to find some of the answers below!

China

Giant Pandas

IMAX China's Pandas

Story of Silk

Three Gorges Dam Project

Thursday, November 6

***  Congratulations to our SUPER STAR students for October!  These six students turned in all of their homework on time for the entire month!  Way to go, students 4, 12, 14, 16, 18, & 19!!! ***

Reminder:  November Book Order Forms are due Friday.  You can either order on-line or

 turn in the order to me.

Morning Work: DWP: Write a headline and news article explaining how art was stolen from a mummy's tomb. 

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Finish reading small group book and post-its; Practice Packet p. 56

Spelling: Review for tomorrow's test.  STARTING NEXT WEEK, THE SPELLING TEST WILL CHANGE FROM MULTIPLE CHOICE TO WRITING OUT THE WORDS.

Grammar:  Review for tomorrow's test on irregular plural nouns

Cursive: Thursday

Social Studies:  Start reviewing for the Ch. 3 test(11/13/08)   Click on: History Alive Tutorial

Adv. Math: SL 3.6 & SL 3.7

OTHER: Ivy Hill Spirit Day!

Wednesday, November 5

Reading: Read for 20 minutes

Spelling: P. 48

Grammar: P. 46-47
Cursive: Wednesday

Adv. Math: SL 3.5(2-sided)

OTHER: LIBRARY Books; Mis-match Clothes Day!

November 4 - Election Day

Why do we have Election Day on a Tuesday in America?  Watch this clip and then ask your parents this question.  Do you agree or disagree with the officials that are trying to change this tradition?

Watch this "catchy" video created by some middle school students that explains the pros and cons of presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama.

Don't forget to check our district's election website to find out the results of our mock election that was held today. Click here.  This Friday we will create our podcasts of our presidential campaign speeches.  You can listen to them here.

Monday, November 3

It was so exciting to Skype with Mrs. Polito today!  Even though she's over 6500 miles away, we were able to see and talk to her!  Be sure to check out her blog at http://ivyhilllmc.blogspot.com/ to view her journal and photos of her adventures in China!

REMINDER:  Tomorrow is a SIP Day, as well as Election Day, which means NO SCHOOL for you!  Enjoy your day off and I'll see you on Wednesday morning!

Morning Work: DWP: In China, it is a custom to bring a gift for your host.  What gift would you bring?  Explain why. 

Reading: Read for 20 minutes; Practice Packet p. 52-53

Spelling: P. 47

Grammar: P. 45
Cursive: Monday and Tuesday

Adv. Math: Math Journal p. 74

OTHER: Backward Clothes Day!