Awful Adjectives and Nasty Nouns

Students worked on their Edited Drafts of their Winnie Stories today, after I checked that their Explore Draft was completed for homework. I also assigned a Witches Brew writing asignment which will be completed in class, and students are writing disgusting recipes using 6-8 nasty nouns as ingedients (e.g., rats, toe nails, etc.) that are described with stomach turning adjectives (e.g., thick, runny, etc.) to make their ingredients sound as gross as possible. Sure, fish guts are yucky, but juicy, festering fish guts are even worse. I can almost smell it because it is described in such detail. Students will be determining appropriate units of measure for their ingredients, and witing the recipe's procedure in 3-5 steps, using cooking/baking verbs (e.g., mix, chop, etc.) to tell the reader what they need to do in order to prepare and cook the disgusting Witches Brew recipe for themselves. Bone appetit!!!

In Math, the Grade 5 students had their final review session before their Unit 2 Numeracy Test tomorrow. We went over any difficult questions, and students were assigned specific Chapter 2 Review Questions from the textbook, which will be the type of questions they will see on tomorrow's test. Grade 6 students had a lesson on converting/rounding decimal thousandths to hundredths and tenths using grids, place value charts and number lines.

In Science, the Grade 5 students used their home-made balance scales to challenge store-bought balance scales, to see if their own were as accurate. Surprisingly, most of their home-made scales were pretty close (off by 1-2 grams only). We discussed what could be modified on our scales in order to improve their accuracy, whether it be the materials used for the fulcrum, arm and pans, or in some cases, the length of string used to suspend the pan from the arm. Grade 6 students presented their research on common products that use compressed air, and eaxplained how they worked. We heard about balloons, tires, fire extinguishers, scuba tanks, soda pop containers, airplanes, and more.

Homework Asigned Wednesday October 24, 2007:
Grade 5
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Reading Response Journal entry due Monday
-Spelling Unit 7
-Winnie Story - Edited Draft due Friday, Published Draft due Monday
-Math: Chapter Review questions in textbook, UNIT 2 TEST TOMORROW!
-Detention letter signed by parents

Grade 6
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 7
-Winnie Story - Edited Draft due Friday, Published Draft due Monday
-Math: Textbook, page 55, # 3, 4, 7, 8