Doth thou know what is thine homework?

Shakespeare?! Thou dost protest too much me thinks! This morning I introduced a shortened kid-friendly version of William Shakespeare's King Lear to my students during Drama class. We talked about theatres during the 1600s and how they compare to entertainment venues of today. While reading the different parts of scene 1, students began asking questions about unfamiliar words such as, "doth", "thou", "thine", and "thee". I explained that this was the language of that time period, and compared it to giving someone from the 1600s a cell phone or MSN Messenger, and sending them a text message with language of today like, "lol", "ttyl", "bff", and "brb". This also came in handy when describing the dramatic symbols of the comedy and tragedy masks, which could be represented in text messages as :) and :( respectively. We discussed stage directions as they appeared in the script in parantheses (brackets), as well as the use of "(aside)" in scripts to indicate what a character should mutter under their breath, so the audience hears it, but the other characters do not.

Spelling Unit 4 was assigned today, followed by our continued Novel Study of Tuck Everlasting. Students worked in their groups to make connections and comment on each others' illustrations based on chapters 10-12. Grade 5 and 6 students also received time to continue working independently on their writing folders, and some students are starting to reach the editing phase for some of their works.

In the Computer Lab today, students worked on a new 4 Square Writing box, with a topic of their choice, and began typing their paragraphs using Apple Works software. Students have saved their work, and we will continue building on our basic paragpahs over the next few weeks to increase their use of detail in their writing.

In Math, the Grade 5 students coninued their Numeration unit, having a new lesson and working on problems involving reading and writing 5-digit numbers. The Grade 6 students began their Patterning unit review, as they will be having their unit test on Wednesday. 11 review questions were assigned, which we will go over tomorrow, and I will provide extra help to any students who are still having difficulty. A shorter review will be assigned Tuesday for homework, in order to help students study the night before the test.

REMINDER: Grade 5 students should come to room 201 Wednesday at lunch for our Math Club if they are interestin gin bringing their marks up from their Patterning tests.

CURRICULUM NIGHT FOR PARENTS is this Thursday October 4, 2007 from 6:30pm - 7:30pm. Parents should meet in the Gym for a brief word from our Principal, Paul Grogan, followed by 15 minute presentations by their childrens' teachers in the classrooms. I hope to meet all of my students' parents there, and ensure we are all on the same page with respect to what will be covered in class each term this school year.

Homework Assigned Monday October 1, 2007:
Grade 5
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 4 due Friday
-Math Textbook page 30, #4-7 (if not finished during class time)
-Math Workbook page 9, #1-4 (assigned for homework)
-Book orders for October are due Thursday October 4, 2007

Grade 6
-Read 20 minutes, update log
-Spelling Unit 4 due Friday
-Math Textbook page 28-29, Skills Bank # 4, 7, 8, 12
-Math Textbook page 30-31, Problem Bank # 4, 6, 7, 10
-Math Textbook page 33, Chapter Review #2, 6, 7
-MATH TEST WEDNESDAY - Patterning
-Reading Response Journal entry due Monday
-Book orders for October are due Thursday October 4, 2007