PA and TD for the Week of 11-14

Kindergarten TD will spend this week looking for sounds we hear in words.  This is an extension of the Jolly Phonics work the kids do in their classrooms, but with a twist.  The kids and I will go on a tour of the school looking for sounds and we will explore books searching for different sounds.  On Friday, I will be trying out a math puzzle the K team asked me to test out.

First Grade TD did a great job last week taking notes about two different picture books, and this week we will use those notes to write a book critique. Later in the week, we will be examining text features in informational books and literary books. 

Second Grade TD spent last week reading two different versions of "Little Red Riding Hood."  This week, students will be making Venn Diagrams in teams comparing the different stories.  Later in the week, we will begin to explore the elements of tone and mood in the books we read. 

Third Grade PA will continue to explore how character's experiences shape their identity using the novel The Girl Who Owned a City.  This week we will "step inside" the characters and think about what Lisa and Todd might be thinking about with these questions:

• What can this person see, observe, or notice?
• What might this person know, understand, hold true, or believe?
• What might this person care deeply about?
• What might this person wonder about or question?

Fourth Grade PA will finish reading Call it Courage this week.  Some of the kids have already picked a modern Newbery Award winning book to read and analyze, for the next step in this unit.  We will be examining the similarities and differences in writing for young people in the 1940's compared to contemporary fiction. We will also be picking a color, a symbol, and an image to summarize Call it Courage. 

Fifth Grade PA will continue our close read of a chapter from Little Women on Monday as we try to make sense of the vocabulary and writing style of Louisa May Alcott.  On Tuesday, I will be introducing a new unit to the fifth graders inspired by young people making a difference in the world.  The fifth graders will be writing and giving a TED Talk based on a young person who tried to make the world a better place.  The kids will pick a person from a list I have, or pick someone they are inspired by, to research and share with the class.  I have posted two TED Talks that I will be sharing with the kids this week to get the kids excited.