Taguls

This week as a culmination for the novels we have been reading in class, the students created a tagul which is similar to a wordle.  Students included critical information about the text including characterization, parts of the story and identifying the theme.  They are organized by novel title.

Close Reading

We have been focusing on reading strategies to help us think and read deeply when examining text.  When reading fiction, we have been looking at six specific sign posts to pay attention to when reading a short story, reading passage, novel, and/or when reading independently.   Each time, they find one of these sign posts, in literature there are questions they need to ask themselves.  This helps them monitor their comprehension when reading independently and with others.  Here is a copy of the bookmark that we use at school so you can use it at home.  The questions are included on the bookmark.  When reading at home, please encourage your child to use these reading sign posts.  This will help them pay closer attention to the text.

Granny Torrelli Makes Soup By Sharon Creech

No Talking by Andrew Clements

Rules by Cynthia Lord

Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass

Explorer Research

We are beginning explorer research.  Your child has selected a specific explorer and with the help of the LMC, we will spend a week researching and learning about each explorer.  They will learn about the explorer's life, motivation to explore, and their impacts on exploration and the New World.  There will be a culminating activity that will be posted here, so stay tuned!

BEAR Folders

Spring break is right around the corner!  This next March-May unit will be a student choice book.  Please help your child find a novel or nonfiction text that would interest them.  It needs to be approved (to make sure that it is a good fit book) by next Friday, so that they can start reading during their spring break.  They will have a project to complete with many different options including their own ideas.  Happy reading! 

Explorer Deep Sea Dive

This week the students dove to the bottom of the ocean to explore artifacts from a ship on the ocean floor.  They collected the artifacts and are now studying how each artifact was a motivation for European exploration.  Once we finish, we will start learning about individual explorers, their experiences and impacts on the New World.

BEAR folders

This is just a reminder that BEAR folders are due on Monday.  Most of the students have turned them in already, but if your child is still working on it, make sure that they turn it in on Monday.

BEAR folders

This is just a reminder that all BEAR folders and projects are due on Tuesday.  Due to all the snow days if your child needs a short extension, let me know.  Remember that your child should have read a historical fiction book and compared the novel to what the actual time period was like.  Was the novel realistic for the time period?

Winter Olympic Study

The students have been researching a country of their choice and are comparing their country to the United States.  They have learned about the geography, economy and government of their country.  This week we will look at the performance of their country in the winter olympics and compare it to the performance of the United States.

Variety Show

It was a fun night at Dryden last night!  The students all did a wonderful job.  Thank you to all the parents that made the performance such a success.  It is clear that there is a lot of talent at Dryden!

Valentine's Day Party- Thank You!

We had a great time at the party on Friday!  Thank you to all the parents that provided snacks and/or volunteered.  We had a wonderful time!  Here are some pictures from the event.

The Winter Olympics

Every four years we are excited to watch individual athletes participate in the Winter Olympics.  As a part of his three week competition, I am asking my students to select a specific country to track throughout the olympics (other than the United States).  Your child will be learning about the Olympics and each child will learn about their country they selected and follow the athletes throughout the olympics to see how they fare as they chase their dreams.