Sunday, March 7, 2010

March 7 "March is a tomboy with tousled hair, a mischievous smile, mud on her shoes and a laugh in her voice." - Hal Borland



"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."
- Charles Dickens
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Hello families, did you wonder where I was? Sorry--I've been feeling pretty "under the weather" for the last week or so. I'm finally beginning to feel better. Whew!

(Belated) Welcome to March--the ebbing snowfields, the warming breezes , the running sap , the returning songbirds , the omnipresent frost heaves ... Have you noticed? It sounds different; it smells different. It feels different. I love this changing time.
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Speaking of change, grades 5 and 6 are beginning a new Social Studies unit on Colonialism , which will occasionally include visiting this blog to access websites. This week we're going to embark on a cyber-journey through Jamestown by visiting an awesome site called "Jamestown Rediscovered". We'll visit tour stops and answer questions at each site. (Most of the text from this tour is taken directly from signs on the island of Jamestown.) The websites are as follows:

What did the land look like when the settlers first arrived?










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Visit these next sites and answer the questions for extra credit:



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Students will be given worksheets that will guide their journey and provide space to record their findings.

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There will be no GSV this week since it's a short week. (Jacob, if you're reading this, you're welcome!) We always have lots to do when one trimester ends and another begins, so we're going to be busy organizing ourselves.

In writing, we completed a narrative prompt entitled, "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night." It will be included in the grades for the marking period that just ended. I'm scoring them now. We are finishing up Responses To Literature --another portfolio piece. Later this week, both the fifth and sixth grades will begin a persuasive writing piece. You will receive scoring rubrics and comments for your child's writing pieces and other assessments in report cards, which will be sent home on Thursday, March 11.

Well, that's about it for now. I hope you all have a good start to your week; we're in for a week of nice weather! (Did you notice I put the "7-Day Forecast " link on the blog? I added quite a few others that are excellent, too. Check them out with your kids!)

Good night, families-
Teri
P.S.--I'll keep an ongoing post of confirmed conference times as they come in, so keep checking here for your times. (Did your child give you the schedule??)