Thanksgiving Homework

Thanksgiving Homework:

_____ Read at least 20 minutes a day of your new DEAR book. Try for at least 100 pages!
_____ Take notes in your journal for your Holiday Memoir (assignment below).

 
Looking Through a One-Inch Picture Frame

Over the holidays…
Your homework is to be an observer and to notice a moment over this holiday as though you are looking through a one-inch picture frame. Take notes on it in your journal.

In writing through the lens of a one-inch picture frame, DETAILS ARE ESSENTIAL (which mean the most important). It’s not the event that matters, but the language you used to describe it and the significance you give it later.

The moment itself can be as simple as a time when you bake cookies with a sibling and forget the baking soda, or a time you play catch with your father on the lawn.  It can be as simple as a time when you watch football with the relatives, or a time when you help your mother set the table.  These moments can be very ordinary, and may seem very commonplace to you.  But remember that everyone’s holiday experience is very different (and often far more interesting than you think). Plus, the value of the story comes with the details and emotions you bring to the experience.

Over the holidays, simply take notes in your journal. Record colors, smells, tastes, and scents.  What did the tablecloth look like?  What did the kitchen air feel like? What did your grandmother’s perfume smell like as it whisked across the room?  Try to use at least two similes or metaphors in your notes.
I will give you class time on Monday to work on this assignment, and your final draft will be due on Thursday, December 5, 2013.

HAVE FUN WITH THIS!! It will one day be the beginning of a beautiful family memory that will be captured in your writing forever!

Spelling List 5 Week Nov. 11-15

Name:__________________________      Date:___________________________
Spelling Lesson 5 – Test on Friday November 15, 2013
The consonant “c” has two sounds.
Soft “c” sounds:
c before e, i, and y has the soft sound /s/  (such as cent, city, cycle)
1. century
2. certain
3. circus
4. cinder
5. cedar
6. ceiling
7. celebrate
8. celery
9. bicycle
10. cyclone

Hard “c” sounds:
c before a, o, u, l, and r has the hard sound /k/ (such as cake, coat, cut, clash, crust)
11. cattle
12. catch
13. calendar
14. capture
15. captain
16. collar
17. cough
18. cord
19. conquer
20. curtain








Spelling Routine:
Monday:
___Write each spelling word you missed five times correctly.
___Look up 2 unknown words from your DEAR book in the dictionary – include part of speech.
___Look up 1 word in the thesaurus.  Write down synonyms and antonyms.

Tuesday:
___Write 8 sentences IN CURSIVE IF YOU CAN using at least 10 spelling words – including the ones you missed in the pre-test.
Wednesday:
___ Work on Creative Book Report! Rough Draft is due Thursday, November 14th.
Thursday:
___Study for test on Friday morning. Good Luck!

Creative Book Report- Written Template

Please find below the template for the written portion of the book report.  (The kids also have a hard copy of this with the fancy font, etc. in their binders.)

I will be teaching the unfamiliar terms (i.e. "protagonist," "antagonist,the different kinds of conflicts, etc.), so the kids don't have to get started on it yet unless they have a burning desire to grapple with the concepts on their own first.

Rough Draft Due: Thursday, Nov. 14
Final Draft Due: Thursday, Nov. 21
_________________________________________________________________________________

Name:
Date:

Independent Reading  Written Book Report

1. Novel;_____________________________________

______________________________________________
(Don’t forget to underline)
2. Author:____________________________________

3. Pages:______________

4. Genre:__________________________________
(fiction, nonfiction, fantasy, adventure, comedy, drama, science fiction)

5. Protagonist:_____________________________

6. Antagonist:_____________________________


7. General Conflict: ________________________vs._________________________
  1) man vs. man
 2) man vs. nature
3) man vs. society
4) man vs. machine
5) man vs. himself


8. Specific Conflict_________________________vs.__________________________
(specific names- Jenny vs. the avalanche

9. From what point of view is the book is written? (First “I”, Second “you”, Third “He/She)


10. What is the setting of the novel? (Time/Place)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
11. In ONE or TWO sentences please summarize this book.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

12. What is the central conflict?
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

13. How is the conflict resolved?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



14. How does the protagonist grow or change by the end of the book?
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


In a brief paragraph below, please describe your creative project and explain how it is connected to your novel.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Creative Book Report Assignment

Dear Parents,
Please find below the Creative Book Report assignment and deadlines. (The kids received a hard copy of this at school today.)

Because the written rough draft isn't due until next Thursday, those who are still finishing their second book should be fine as long as they keeps reading every night.  

Please email me as soon as possible if your child will be absent Thursday, Nov. 21 or Friday, Nov. 22.

Thanks so much,
Annie

BOOK REPORT CREATIVE ASSIGNMENT

In addition to your written report, you have the exciting opportunity to design your own creative project in response to your novel.  The sky is the limit with this project!  The only requirement is that it is inspiring and creative, and something you create on your own.  (Parents can help with supplies and guidance, but please do not let them do it for you!)

Some possible ideas:  a painting, a mobile, a diorama, a skit, commercial, a movie, a dance, a mock newspaper article, a power-point, a music video, a poem, the first chapter of a sequel, a 3-D model, a handmade costume, a floor plan, a map, a model of a house or building, a baked-dish, a collage, etc.!!

**Don’t forget to design something that relates directly to your novel.  This project is very open-ended, but you must include a brief paragraph explaining how this is connected to your novel in the written book report.

Due Dates:

____Rough Draft for Written Report: Thursday, November 14, 2013

____Final Draft for Written Report: Thursday, November 21, 2013

____Creative Projects Due:  Thursday, November 21, 2013 or Friday, November 22, 2013 as assigned.

Checklist:

___Written Book Report

___Creative Project

Vocabulary List 4

NAME:____________________

4th GRADE VOCABULARY #4 TEST: Friday, November 8, 2013

Classical Roots Lesson 5

1. Root word-  Part = separate piece, part
2. Root word- Studi= to learn, study
3. Suffix – “ness” – noun suffix (i.e. happiness)
4. partial (don’t forget- these definitions are in your orange Classical Roots book!)
5. particle
6. particular
7. partition
8. partner
9. studio
10. studiousness
11. understudy

grammar terms:

12. possessive noun – a noun showing ownership. This is always accompanied with an apostrophe.  Example: Jenny’s backpack, today’s lunch special. The only time there is no apostrophe is with the possessive pronoun “its.”

13. plural noun – more than one noun. This is usually accompanied by an “s” (such as toys or babies), but sometimes the ending changes to an “a” (such as phenomena) or an “i” (such as cacti or fungi).

14. contraction- when two words are combined with an apostrophe (such as you’re or don’t).

15. pronoun- a word that replaces a noun (such as he, she, it, they, me, them).

Challenge:
concrete noun- a noun that can be touched or physically experienced. A person, place, or thing – NOT AN IDEA! (Such as pencil, book, Pacific Ocean, oxygen.)

abstract noun-  a noun that is an idea. (this is an idea, emotion, or concept  that can be experienced, but not on a physical level. (Such as love, joy, fear, imagination, friendship, ambition, forgiveness, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, democracy.)

Vocabulary Routine:
Homework:
Monday:
___Make flashcards of each word; include parts of speech.
Tuesday:
___Write 8 sentences in cursive if possible with at least 10 words.
___Study flashcards.
Wednesday:
___To be announced
___Study flashcards.
Thursday:
___Study for test on Friday. Good luck!
(Tests will be multiple-choice for root words.  For all other words, it will be either matching/fill in the blank, or writing a basic definition and using the word in a sentence.)  

WRITING CHECKLIST:
___Each sentence begins with a capital letter.
___Each sentence ends with the appropriate punctuation mark (period, question mark, exclamation point).
___I checked all punctuation marks – apostrophes, commas, colons, semicolons.
___I indented the first line of my paragraph/story.
___I proofread for simple spelling mistakes (esp. your, you’re, to, too, two, it’s, its, there, their, they’re).
___My writing makes sense and says what I want it to say.
___MY WRITING IS NEAT AND LEGIBLE.