The Week of 14, 2019

I love a fresh start!  This week is the first of the 2nd term of the school year, and a perfect time for a reset!  Remember your classroom procedures and use your workplan to guide your days...if you  do, your term 2 will be a success!

In social studies, I will be presenting lessons on the political/physical geography of Latin America.  We will also be presenting our puppet shows about the Revolutionary War and the 1920's in America!  5th graders will enjoy another writing lesson with Ms. Pat, while I will help everyone else edit the first half of the "Red Door" narratives we've been working on.  As usual, we will have some time to enjoy our novel study books together.  Your required assignments will include lesson followups, a www.quill.org work, and a current event article at www.newsela.com about what animal eat.

I used the spelling inventories we took last Friday to place you in new word study groups.  Please study the following words for a quiz on Friday, October 18th.

Swirl Group
-est: strangest, cleanest, quietest, harshest, kindest
-iest: earliest, crummiest, murkiest, shiniest, fanciest

Arrow Group
short ea: thread, deaf, meant, dread, read
long ea: beast, cream, pea, leak, neat

Star Group
accent in first syllable: sidewalk, driveway, lightning, slightly, higher
accent in second syllable: delight, surprise, survive, describe, arrive

Finally, be sure to be prepared for your first vocabulary quiz of the second term!  It will be based on the words given to you last Monday.


Have a wonderful weekend,
Mr. Trent

The Week of October 7th, 2019

Here we are, the last week of term 1! It seems like only yesterday that we were walking into our classroom on the first day of school!  As we finish our first 9 weeks together, I challenge you to have the best week yet!

Our social studies lessons will focus upon important people and events in the American Revolution, American culture in the 1920's, and a final review of European countries.  Your follow-up work associated with these lessons is due Friday. 4th and 6th graders will reach the mid-point of the "Red Door" narrative assignment and 5th graders will receive a writing lesson from Ms. Pat.   In addition, don't forget to do your weekly www.newsela.com current event and www.quill.org activity.  

Your word study quiz this week will take the form of a spelling inventory that I will use to put you into spelling groups for the second term of the school year.  Because of the nature of this test, you will not need to study a word list this week. 

Your vocabulary words for the week will be a review of some vocabulary words you've seen during term 1.  They are found here:

4th Grade 1st Term Vocabulary Review List

Please study the following terms for a quiz on Monday, October 14, 2019

Folk Art- the traditional, typically anonymous, art of usual non-professional artists

Ornamentation- an object or action done to embellish one's appearance 

Tyrants- a cruel and unreasonable ruler

Boycott- to stop buying or using goods or services from a certain company or country as a protest

Representative- a person chosen to speak or make decisions for another person or group of people

Republic- a country governed by elected representatives and by an elected leader (like a president)

Fauna- animal life

Vanity- pride in oneself or appearance

Townshend Acts- law that taxed tea, glass, paper, paint, and lead

Engraving- a print made from an engraved plate, block, or other surface.

5th Grade 1st Term Vocabulary Review List

Please study the following terms for a quiz on Monday, October 14, 2019

Alexander Graham Bell- invented the telephone in 1875.

Thomas Edison- An inventor best known for creating the first practical light bulb and electrical generating system.

Assimilation- the process of fitting into a new culture or becoming like others in that culture

Refugee- a person who flees one country for another in search of safety. 

Treaty of Versailles- a peace negotiation signed in 1919 between Germany and the Allied Powers that officially marked the end of WWI.

Louis Armstrong- legendary jazz musician who began in New Orleans

Visa- a legal permit to enter a country

Deportation- to force a citizen of another country to leave a country

Gold Rush- a large-scale and hasty movement of people to a region where gold has been discovered, as to California in 1849.

Chisholm Trail- a cattle trail leading North from San Antonio, Texas to Abilene, Kansas It was used for about twenty years after the Civil War.

6th Grade 1st Term Vocabulary Review List

Please study the following terms for a quiz on Monday, October 14, 2019

European Plain- a vast, flat area stretching from France’s Atlantic coast to the Ural Mountains.

Pyrenees- a mountain range that forms a border between France and Spain

Heartland- the central or most important part of a country, area, or field of activity.

Agriculture- the science or practice of farming, including cultivation of the soil for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food, wool, and other products.

Eurasia- the large landmass that includes both Europe and Asia

English Channel- a narrow sea between Great Britain and France

Urban- characteristic of a city or town.

Rural- relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.

Allied Powers- The alliance between Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union, and the United States during WWII.

D-Day- June 6, 1944; when Allied Forces invaded German-occupied France

Friday is a half day of school! Dismissal will take place three hours early. Please let me know of any changes in dismissal for the day as soon as possible.

Most importantly: since Friday is the last day of the term, it is also the last day to hand in any required assignments from term 1.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Mr. Trent