Read-a-Thon Information

The Week of October 28, 2019

It's the spookiest week of the year!  Let's scare up some fun and learning!

Our social studies lessons will include the creation of the Constitution of the United States, people of the Great Depression, and Latin America country profiles of Haiti, Cuba, and Mexico.  Please complete any follow-up work from these lessons by Friday.  As always, everyone will also have a weekly quill.org grammar practice assignment and a current event to read about recycling Legos at Newsela.com.  Writing practice will include completing week 7 of the "Red Door" narrative writing project (for 4th and 6th graders) and a writing process lesson from Ms. Pat (5th graders).

You will have a vocabulary quiz on Monday based upon the social studies words you were given last week to study. 

Like last week, your word study lists will look a bit different than you've seen during term 1.  You will have more than 10 words and (often) more than 2 categories.  I've made pre-printed spelling lists for you that can be found on the language arts shelf.  You can simply glue these lists onto your workplan, instead of having to write them down.  I'll also provide you with ready-made sorting card cards to cut apart and use in practice sorting.

Arrow Group

Star Group

Swirl Group

Please note that no costumes can be worn to school Thursday.  

Have a wonderful fall weekend,

Mr. Trent

The Week of October 21, 2019

The weather is finally turning cooler!  Let's take advantage of the chance in temperature to refresh our minds!

Our social studies lessons will include battles of the Revolutionary War, the Great Depression, and Latin America country profiles.  Please complete any follow-up work from these lessons by Friday.  As always, everyone will also have a weekly quill.org grammar practice assignment and a current event to read at Newsela.com.  Writing practice will include completing week 6 of the "Red Door" narrative writing project (for 4th and 6th graders) and a writing process lesson from Ms. Pat (5th graders).

Your word study lists will look a bit different than you've seen in the past.  Starting this week, you will have more than 10 words and (often) more than 2 categories.  I've made pre-printed spelling lists for you that can be found on the language arts shelf.  You can simply glue these lists onto your workplan, instead of having to write them down.  I'll also provide you with ready-made sorting card cards to cut apart and use in practice sorting.

Here are the word lists for the week:

Swirl group

Arrow group

Star group

Please study the following vocabulary words for a quiz on Monday, October 28th.

4th Grade Vocabulary List

Branch- a part that has a role within a larger organization 

Legislative branch- passes laws for a nation 

Executive branch- carries out and enforces the laws made by Congress 

Judicial branch- interprets and applies the laws 

Amendment- a change or addition to a written document 

Due process- a legal process established to make sure people are not punished for a crime without first being found guilty in an orderly, adequate process that includes a fair trial 

Prohibit- to not allow 

Explicit- clear, apparent, and thoroughly described 

First Amendment of the US Constitution- Includes freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the right to petition, and freedom of assembly 

Criminal case- a case brought by the government against a person accused of committing a crime 

5th Grade Vocabulary List

Stock- shares of ownership in a company 

Drought- a long period of dry weather with little or no rain 

Dictator- a ruler with total power over a country and its people 

Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)- helped transform the Tennessee River Valley from poverty to productivity by building dams to control flooding and produce electricity. 

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)- a plan to put young American men back to work preserving the nation’s natural resources 

New Deal- President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s plan to recover from the Great Depression. 

Herbert Hoover- President of the United States during the Great Depression 

Duke Ellington- one of the most famous musicians of the “swing era” (1930’s) 

Margaret Mitchell- Southern author of the book “Gone With the Wind” 

Jesse Owens- American track-and-field athlete who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany 

6th Grade Vocabulary List

Latin America- large region in the western hemisphere that includes South America, Central America, and the Caribbean Islands. 

Gulf of Mexico- an arm of the Atlantic Ocean, cradled by Mexico and the southern US coastline from Texas to Florida 

Caribbean Sea- an arm of the Atlantic Ocean between Cuba and South America 

Panama Canal- a man-made feature located in the country of Panama. It is an important waterway that allows ships to easily travel between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean 

Latitude and longitude- imaginary lines on a map that are used to find locations on Earth’s surface 

Amazon River- the second largest river in the world that flows primarily through Brazil. 

Andes Mountains- the longest continuous mountain range in the world which run along the western edge of South America 

Amazon Rainforest- the world’s largest tropical rainforest that sprawls across much of northern South America 

Political map- designed to show governmental boundaries of countries, states, and counties, the location of major cities, and they usually include significant bodies of water. 

Physical map- designed to show landforms like deserts, mountains and plains 

The PTA fall festival will take place this Friday!  I hope to see you all there to enjoy the autumn season!

Finally, term 1 parent/teacher conferences are coming to an end this week.  I've enjoyed getting a chance to sit down with everyone and talk about our classroom.  

Have a wonderful weekend,
Mr. Trent

6th Grade PowerSchool Grading Info.

Dear 6th Year Parent,

The 2nd quarter of this 2019-2020 school year began this week. As we discussed at the 6th year meeting at the start of this year, your child did not receive grades in PowerSchool for the 1st quarter in an effort to allow him/her to get used to the process of receiving grades, due dates, etc. 

We wanted to remind you that official grades have now begun. Teachers will now begin placing grades into PowerSchool. You will receive a progress report at mid-term, and, of course, you will also continue to receive communication in other forms, such as Transparent Classroom, from your child’s teacher. 

Please feel free to contact your child’s teacher with any questions. 

Thank you for your support,

The Upper Elementary Team

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