Gwendolyn planned the contents, questions, and format of her friendly letter. We concentrated on several aspects of organization and planning for a project, as they are academic and life skills. She made a list of items she would need to complete the task, we brainstormed questions and contents using different graphic organizer formats, and she learned the contents and structure of a friendly letter, as she used the Mac to type in the information into Word.

Discuss Stephen Curry and poems about him. Look into poem topics involving sports and other interest areas. Think and discuss how to write a poem using Stephen Curry. Start the writing process by Pre-writing, drafting.

Gwendolyn and I created poems today. We talked about different kinds of poems (couplets, etc) and we brainstormed words that rhyme with the qualities of our muse, Ms. Betsy. We created poems for get well cards for Ms. Betsy. After giving them to her, we read poems written by Shel Silverstein.

Ethan and I read "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" together. He would read 2 pages, and I would read 4. We discussed the text after reading. We practiced his spelling words for the week. He wrote them in ladder fashion on the white board after I called out the word to him. We reviewed the words he had trouble with the first time.

Gwendolyn and I continued to work on her Steph Curry biography. She practiced the following skills through this project: typing, internet research, finding reliable sources for information, using descriptors in internet searches, using conventions of Microsoft Word, reading to identify pertinent information, taking notes, and organizing information into categories for a biography.

Gwendolyn and I used a brainstorming exercise to help her think through the questions she wants to answer about her subject, Steph Curry. We created a chart-style graphic organizer with the sections: who, what, when, where, why, and how and we collaborated on developing ideas and questions under each category. We then created a Word document to begin collecting images for the biography, and we reviewed the contents of a biography.

Today Bobby started his session reading a second chapter in his book and reviewing vocabulary. He also started his new spelling for this week. All of his words are more complicated words with the short a sound. We also talked about what he wanted to learn about this year. He will begin his 5th grade book of awesomeness later this week.

Gwendolyn and I worked on her research powerpoint today. We read articles and color coded facts that we found (one for general facts, one for tigers in the wild, one for tigers in zoos, and one for tigers as pets). Then we typed in the facts and made sure transitions and animations looked good. There is still a little but of work to do but the presentation is quite interesting. Did you know that 12 states in the US allow tigers as pets with a permit and 8 more allow them with no permit?

First, I introduced Baylie to a "Hamburger Packet" provided by Mrs. Fuller that will guide her through this writing assignment. I introduced her to the transition words in the packet and then we chose a topic. After she picked a topic to write about, she completed the outline in the packet. The outline includes a topic sentence, three details, and a closing sentence. Then, we started working on her introduction paragraph. After this we worked on her first body paragraph. I told her that next week, we will finish the packet and write her final draft.

Chase reviewed several aspects of non-fiction writing today including: organizing thoughts and brainstorming topics he knows about, and ones he is interested in learning about, organizing thoughts and brainstorming ideas for chapters and sub-topics in his new project book on puppies; the parts of a nonfiction book including the title page, about the author, table of contents, glossary, and index. Chase also practiced using a Mac computer to begin research ideas supporting his main topics. He practiced using a keyboard effectively, using descriptors, using the search engine, choosing a reliable source of information online (ASPCA), and ways to print an article. He practiced skimming and scanning and highlighting important information in a passage. When he began writing, we started listing the important topics to create a draft. In doing so we reviewed capitalization, punctuation, penmanship, and other writing conventions. Finally, he selected three non-fiction books to read from a series of leveled readers in levels K, L, and M.