Biographies: Turning Point

In Reading Workshop we have been learning about the turning point in a person’s life.  The turning point might be an obstacle the person is determined to overcome, a special talent that suddenly gets noticed, or seeking a solution to a problem.   A turning point causes a person to change or leads to a new discovery.  Students learned that a turning point in Rosa’s life occurred on Dec. 1, 1955 when she did not give up her seat on a bus and was arrested.  As a result of Rosa not giving up her set the “Bus Boycott” began.  Rosa is an important person because she sparked the civil rights movement.  Below is the turning point diagram we completed for Rosa’s life.

Wonder of the Week: Where Does Snow Go When it Melts?

I think when snow melts it turns into water and it stays like that and the sun dries out some fo the water.  (Madison)

I think when snow melts it goes in the river or a lake because snow when it gets warm turns into water. (Nadja)

I think when snow melts the water can't get down if the mountain is high enough so it absorbs into the grass.  (Gavin)

I think when snow melts it goes into lakes and oceans. (Ilona)

I think when snow melts it goes into the drains.  (Luke)

I think when snow melts most of the snow goes into the lake or ocean and then it turns into water which makes the water levels rise in the lake.  (Caitlin)

I think when snow melts it dries into the ground.  (Peyton)

I think when snow melts all of it goes down into the lake or a pond, it then turns into ice and the sun melts it again.  (Talan)

I think when snow melts it goes into the ocean.  (Josh)

I learned....

I learned when snow melts it goes into the ground.  (Luke)

I learned when snow melts when it is warmer than 32 degrees.  (Nadja)

I learned that the three steps of the water cycle are: condensation, evaporation and perceptation. (Josh)

I learned that when it rains it goes on land and then into the ocean and then it brings it back up into the clouds.  (Madison)

I learned that a run off is when the water comes down and when there is enough water in the ground it keeps going into the bodies of water.  (Dana)

"HATS"

Biographies: Name of People and Places

Yesterday, during our biography lesson, we continued to learn about the category famous people fall into.  We sorted many biographies into different categories.  The categories we came up with are:

-         First at Something

-         Leader

-         New Discovery

-         Special Talent

Today we learned about a special text feature in biographies: Names of People and Places.  Students learned that we can expect to find the names of people and places in biographies, capital letters are a big clue.  Students went on a names scavenger hunt in biography books.  Below are photographs from our scavenger hunt.  We took a photograph (using the iPad) of a page in a biography, and we then uploaded the photograph to the app, “Explain Everything”.  From there we were able to highlight the names of people and places.  Names of people were underlined in red and names of places were underlined in blue.  We also discussed how students know whether a word beginning with a capital letter is a person’s name or a place.  Some of our clue words to help us know it is a place are (born in, lived in, moved to, grew up in).

(click on a picture to enlarge it)

Wonder of the Week

How Can You Pay It Forward? 

I think you can pay it forward by paying more money in cash registers. (Josh)

What Does it Mean to Pay it Forward?

I think paying it forwards means if you get something from someone you have to try and do it again. (Nadja)

I think paying forward means you pay with the money that you owe to the cash register. (Luke)

I think laying it forward means that you have to pay someone if you want to get on the bus. (Hunter) 

I think paying it forward is when you don't return your movie to the Redbox on time so you have to pay another dollar because he returning the movie late. (Roma)

I think paying it forward is when someone buys you something and then you have to pay them back for what they bought for you. (Iris)

I think paying it forward is a special day when the prices go up. (Spencer)

I think paying it forward is to pay tax money. (Caitlin)

I think paying it forward me that you pay more than you're supposed to and you don't get any change back. (Madison)

PPS musical

Wonder of the Week 4.7

Who Was Theodor Geisel?

I think Theodor Geisel was the first person to invent the lightbulb. (Luke)

I think Theodor Geisel was an important person because he saved many peoples lives.  (Madison) 

I think Theodor Geisel invented the lightbulb.  He was important because people couldn't see if we didn't have a lightbulb. (Nathan)

I think Theodor Geisel was the first to land on the moon.  He was important because he learned more information about the moon. (Mari)

I think Theodor Geisel was the first to do a play.  He was important because he entertained us. (Peyton) 





Wonder 150 

Biographies

This week in Reading Workshop we have been learning about a new genre in reading: Biographies.  We have learned that a biography is a true story of someone’s life (bio=life  graph = write).  We have talked about why a person has a biography.  As a class we determined categories people who have biographies written about them fall under.  We then found various biography books in our classroom and sorted them into the categories.  Below are the categories and the biographies we sorted under each category. As we read a new biography each day we are going to add to our list! 

Leader:

Abraham Lincoln (president) 

Harriet Tubman (led people on Underground Railroad)

Martin Luther King (led people to freedom) 

First at Something:

Rosa Parks (first to refuse to give up her seat on a bus) 

Amelia Earhart (first person to fly plane over Atlantic Ocean)

Inventor:

Thomas Edison (invented the light bulb) 

Artist:

Vincent Van Gogh

Athlete:

Babe Ruth (baseball -- Red Sox and Yankees) 

Musicians/Singers:

Taylor Swift 

Miley Cyrus 

PTO Letter

April Fools Day

I think April Fools Day is a day where you tell jokes. I think it began when somebody made up the first joke on April 1st. - Spencer

I think April Fools Day began in the 18th or 19th century. - Caitlyn

I think April Fools Day is when you get to play fools on your friends. - Luke

I think April Fools Day began on the first day of April and lots of jokes were made. I think you okay pranks on your friends because if you didn't play pranks on your friends it wouldn't be called April Fools Day. - Dana

I think April Fools Day is when you can make jokes early in the morning or in the afternoon and you don't tell anyone and they find out. - Peyton

I think April Fools Day is when you play pranks on your friends because if you don't play pranks it wouldn't be called April fools! I think April Fools Day began on April first whe someone played a prank and it was the best prank ever! Talan

I think April Fools started when April was invented. They wanted to have a joke and so they pulled it on someone. - Hunter