Literature: Important Note about the Novel

Last week we introduced two new literature books that the students will be reading for the next couple of weeks. The books, War Comes to Willy Freeman by James and Christopher Collier and The Fighting Ground by Avi are both historical fictions books that center on the Revolutionary War, our unit of study in social studies.


Many of the places and characters in the stories are real, but they story itself is fictional. The Collier brothers do extensive research and attempt to make their books and character as much like people of that day. They have tried to give something of a flavor of how an uneducated black person may have spoken then. The ideas of people from that time are also expressed in the reading; in particular the use of the word "nigger." It is NOT intended at all to be offensive or used in an insulting manner, but the authors use it show how it is commonly used during this historical period of time.

We welcome and encourage parent(s) to read the story along with your student. We will be starting most of the reading assignments here in class to get the students a head start on their nightly assignments. For EACH chapter, they will need to write a chapter title, brief summary that encapsulates the main ideas of the chapter, as well as a reasonable prediction for the next chapter. We have worked a lot in class about how to make a good prediction by using evidence and events from the previous chapter as indicators for what could happen next.

Before the students even began their reading, we had a discussion about the usage of different terms and the dialect of the books and why the authors felt that it was important to their writing.

For additional information on the authors and their books, go to these links:
http://mcelmeel.com/writing/collier.html or
http://www.avi-writer.com


Thanks!
Amy Lockhart, Curt Nielsen and Kim Miller

Spelling

The students do not have a "regular" spelling list this week. Rather, they are taking dictation sentences which include frequently misspelled words. They are being scored on their listening, spelling, punctuation and capitalization. They will not have to take the sentences again if they received 85% or better on their "pretest" on Monday.

Spring Pictures Due

Please return the spring pictures as soon as possible. You can choose to purchase any, all or none of the pictures per the directions inside of the picture packet. Your child can return the pictures to either one of us.

Mrs. Lockhart
Mr. Nielsen

Swimming on Wednesday 3/23/11 !

Since Thursday is a half day of school we will be having swimming on Wednesday of this week.

Swimming Reminder

Elementary students will NOT be swimming on Thursday, March 3rd. We will continue with our skating unit. PreK only will be swimming Friday morning.

Thank you,
Shelley McCumber
Elementary PE

On to State!

Congratulations to the NU boys' basketball team on their 4th consecutive trip to the state basketball tournament! How exciting to be down in Des Moines again! State basketball t-shirts are on sale through tomorrow (Tuesday) morning until 10:00. An order form has been sent via RD3 messages as well as PLS Public by Joe Smeins. If you would like to place an order, payment is due in the office. No late orders will be accepted. If you have any questions, please contact the office.
Thanks!
Go Panthers!

Mr. Nielsen and Mrs. Lockhart

Structures Unit

We are nearing the end of our structures unit in science class. The students have been doing a lot of building in class with different materials. In conjunction with their science unit, they are working on an integrated project in writing class as well. They have been gathering facts about a structure of their personal choice. They have used books, videos, websites as well as a web site through the AEA called Learn360. We have also been working on how to take all of that information and sort it into different categories. Those categories/topics will become their main ideas for the paragraphs in the writing part of this project. In addition to the writing project, they have created a list of possible ways they could share their knowledge with their classmates and others at school. Some of them have chosen to build a replica of their structure, a scaled drawing, a detailed drawing, etc. My hopes is that they will use their talents and creativity in other ways instead of printing pictures from the internet and gluing them onto a cardboard tri-fold board.
The writing portion of this project is being done during language arts time in class. However, the other portion of the project (drawing, building, etc) will need to be primarily worked on at home.
These projects will be due on MONDAY, FEBRUARY 28.

Thanks!
Mrs. Lockhart