Ms. Tovey's Blog

Well, to begin the week, I have been summoned to fulfill my civic responsibility and let's just say that the great state of Indiana does things a little differently than Illinois. My official summons ordered me to report for the week of March 2nd. I am hoping that after Monday I will be free to go.
English
We will continue the chapter on adjectives this week. The next few sections can be a little challenging for some children. The sections are: using the suffixes er and est to compare, spelling certain adjectives correctly, and using more or most to compare. Any extra review you can give your child will be greatly appreciated.
Writing
All of the How to papers have been presented and I would like to say that they were all wonderful. We will continue with expository writing this week. The focus will be on writing compare and contrast essays. The children and I will do one short essay together, comparing and contrasting Afghanistan and the United States. Then we will read an article that Rick Reilly, a former writer of "Sports Illustrated" wrote a few years ago about two very different 12 years old boys' basketball teams. The children will then set up a Venn Diagram with facts that show comparisons and facts that show differences between the two teams. They will then use this information to write a four paragraph essay comparing and contrasting these two teams: introduction, two body paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Science
We will continue our study of The Solar System. I am hoping to cover Earth and Mars this week.

English
We will continue with the chapter on adjectives. To date we have covered pages 292 - 301. I hope to get through pages 302 - 305 this week and to finish the chapter next week. The test will be sometime at the end of next week.

Writing
Tuesday we will work on limerick's in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
On Wednesday, the children will read the article by Rick Reilly that was mentioned in my blog before I became a participant in our legal system. As a class, we will then set up a Venn Diagram comparing and contrasting the two twelve year old basketball teams. As the week progresses the children will write an introduction paragraph and two body paragraphs; one that compares the two teams and one that shows their differences. On Monday of the following week we will write the conclusion together. The children will use their computer time to type their final drafts.

Science
We will continue our study of the solar system. I will be covering Mars and the asteroid belt this week. If time allows, I will introduce Jupiter. To date your child should have notes on Mercury and Venus, the vocab words for the chapter and the extra credit question in their notebook.

English
We will wrap up the chapter on Adjectives this week. The test will be Thursday, March 26th. On Wednesday, the children will get a review sheet to help them study.
Writing
The children will finish their compare and contrast essays on Monday. On Tuesday, they will begin a creative writing assignment that has them playing the role of a Solar System Travel Agent. This assignment will be a group assignment and each group will be expected to have two parts: 1. a colorful brochure that has a picture of the spaceship they designed, a hotel vacationers can stay at, and three activities to participate in while visiting the planet of their choice, 2. A seven paragraph paper that will include an introduction and conclusion, as well as five body paragraphs. One for each picture in the brochure the children designed.
Science
On Monday we will finish the first section of the chapter: the sun and the inner planets. There is a quiz scheduled for Tuesday. This quiz will cover the notes on the sun, Mercury, Venus, and Mars. On Wednesday we will discuss the asteroid belt and then begin the outer planets.

English
We will begin the next chapter in the English book this week. The chapter is on pronouns. In the past, I have found this chapter to be very difficult for some students. If you get a chance, please review any material that we have covered with your child.

Writing
The children will be working on their creative writing assignment for the planet vacation this week. This assignment will count as a science grade.

Science
We will be finishing the chapter on The Solar System this week. The test is scheduled for Tuesday, April 7th.