Conferences
Thursday, November 19, 2009
There are three options for parent-teacher conferences. Thursday, 11/19, from 5-8 PM,
Friday, 11/20, 8:30-11:30 and 1:00-3:30 and Monday, 11/23, from 5-8 PM.
Please plan on attending one of these sessions, so we can discuss the progress of your child in language arts.
Thanks, I look forward to seeing you.
leealiceoutline
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Big Research Day
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Today is a very big day in our Discovery Research Unit. I know you have been eager to spend a lot of quality time on researching your topic, without interruption from me. Today is that day.
You should spend the whole class period looking for information on your topic and working on source and content cards. Here are just a few tips before you begin:
- You need at least three different sources -- one book, one encyclopedia and one web article
- When writing a content card, be sure to match it to the proper source, using letters and numbers. For example, if I get a second source and call it B, my second content card for this source should have B2 in the upper right-hand corner.
- ALL content cards MUST have headings. A heading is a title for the card. This title summarizes the information on the card. For example, if my topic is Endangered Species, I might have several content cards with the heading, "Causes of Endangered Species." NOTE: you can have the same heading on cards from different sources. So, I might find good information on "Causes of Endangered Species" in both an A and a B source.
- Work quietly and work diligently today.
Remember, source and content cards are due in class and will be graded on Friday.
Research Unit Begins
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Last week, we kicked off our research unit. On Monday, November 2, students will begin working in our library on their research projects.
Students will decide on a "Discovery Research" topic and begin finding books, encyclopedia articles and Internet articles about their topics.
To learn more about research, see the topic list and the guidelines, please visit our Research Unit page, linked here, and on the top navigation bar of this website.
Delicious Now on Barnesclass.com
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Check out our newest feature on the left-hand menu of the class lobby page. Look down below the birthday square and you will see the new Delicious Tags.
These tags are links to web sites that I have tagged as useful both to me as a teacher and to my students and parents. For example, if you click on the "leadership" tag, you'll be taken to this Delicious page, where you'll find links to great resources like the Leadership Minute.
Delicious is a wonderful organization tool that will make all of us more successful. Look for more tags and links to great places regularly.
Quarter 1 Ending
Monday, October 12, 2009
As the old saying goes, time flies when you're having fun. The first quarter of the school year is only a couple of weeks from ending. The first quarter ends on October 30.
Before the quarter ends, we will have another vocabulary quiz and a short story test. These two forms of evaluation will make up a large part of our grade, so students need to prepare.
It is important to review all reading log entries and vocabulary lessons.
Also, if any journals are missing, please write them and let me know you have updated your journal page, so I can score your work.
Let's be sure to finish this quarter strong.
Playing Catchup
Monday, October 5, 2009
Do you need to catch up? Are you missing anything -- like the recent vocabulary quiz we took? If so, you should make it up soon.
Check ProgressBook and if you're missing the quiz or anything else, make it up at your earliest convenience.
Patriot Pen
The Patriot Pen essay contest offers young writers a wonderful opportunity to compete on a national level and win some excellent prizes.
Learn more at this link, where you can also download an entry form.
The deadline for entering an essay is November 1, 2009.
You can submit your essay to a VFW post near you. You can locate a VFW post by clicking this link and typing in your zip code.
Calendar News
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Be sure to check our our interactive calendar, posted on the home page, or Class Lobby.
Just click on any colored date and a pop-up box will appear, showing activities for that day, including homework.
Be sure to check our calendar daily.
Class Website Account
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Today, students learned how to log into their classroom websites. They were given a username and password and taught how to create a new page and a link to that page.
If you need more information on logging into www.barnesclass.com, review the video linked here.
We will use this website all year for various writing activities and other projects. Students and parents should get here as often as possible.
As always, if you have any questions, please e-mail me at barnes@sel.k12.oh.us.