Last week my students were required to write a speech for their ELA/Reading Benchmark assessment. The students were to read three passages about the Transcontinental Railroad. The writing prompt asked them to imagine they are the executive of the Central Pacific Railroad company at a ceremony celebrating the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. They are to write a speech to congratulate the workers for all their hard work.
Okay, so great prompt. However, I have only taught my students how to write an opinion, informative, and narrative. I had to come up with an interesting and quick way to teach my students how to write a speech. So, I showed them my favorite speech by a 10 year old kid named Dalton Sherman. He is giving a speech to 20,000 teachers at a back to school conference.
After the students watched the speech we discussed:
1) What made his speech a good speech?
2) What phrase/words did he repeat?
3) Why did he have a "grabber" introduction and a strong conclusion?
Then we watched clips of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech I Have a Dream.
We discussed what these speeches had in common.
Then, I had my students come to the board and generate a list of what they consider qualities of a great speech.
We also discussed different types of speeches: inspiring, congratulating, motivating, and persuading.
My students practiced writing a speech with the following prompt:
"Do you think that violence on TV effects society by causing people to act more violent? Write a speech persuading your audience to agree with your opinion."
Most of my students were very prepared for the writing prompt on the benchmark assessment. They were able to include evidence from the three passages and added all the things we said made a good speech. :)
I had a fantastic day back with my 5th graders. I was a little nervous about returning. I have anxiety about preparing my students to the best of my ability for the PARCC assessment here in Louisiana. I know my students will do the best they can, and some will get it and some won't. I'm definitely frustrated with the PARCC assessment and our benchmark assessments. However, I believe in my students! I will teach them not only how to take these types of tests, but how to tackle comprehension questions, vocabulary questions, and writing prompts. I've been preparing my students all year. We've been focusing a lot on comprehension, text-based writing, and research projects.
Although I had a lot of nerves about the upcoming test practice, I really enjoyed seeing my students faces today. I was so excited to hear about their winter breaks. I assigned new seats to my students, so I did a team builder. I had my students do a Round Robin and share 3 things they received for Christmas, 2 things they enjoyed doing, and 1 thing they enjoyed eating. The kids loved it! We also went over their project requirements and read more from Number the Stars.
We are almost finished with Number the Stars. I'm not going to test them on the book any longer. We are on chapter 12. Once we finish the novel, I've decided to do a timed writing. The students will get to choose from three prompts relating to the novel. They will also be able to use the book to provide evidence for their writing.
Along with the enjoyment of seeing my students, I was also so excited to see some of my fantastic coworkers! I don't know what I'd do without my ELA cohort, Cheri. She is such a great friend, mentor, and teacher! I was also so glad to see my 5th grade team and any more!
I hope you all had a wonderful start to your new year and 3rd 9 weeks!
My students created Character Posters of their favorite character from Number the Stars.
On Monday our wonderful principal threw us a Christmas breakfast party!
We had our faculty Christmas party on Monday at Country Tavern! We revealed our secret Santa. Mine was my principal! She's so awesome! I received wonderful gifts!
Our pajama party was Thursday. We listened to our novel read aloud on audio tape. The students brought blankets and pillows to lay out on while listening to the book! It was fun!
Wednesday my students made Star of David ornaments! We have been reading Number the Stars and the Star of David plays a huge role in the novel. I also took the opportunity to teach my students about Hanukkah. I picked a great day too, because it was the second day of Hanukkah!
I received wonderful gifts from my students (sorry forgot to take pictures). This letter was by far my favorite! It was a tough week due to all the hyper kiddos, but he really made my year with this letter! This is why I do what I do!
(This is a picture of the sweet student who wrote the letter!)
We had our 5th grade Christmas party in the cafeteria on Friday. This year we sponsored a needy family for Christmas. The family has 5 children, one is a new born baby girl who is terminally ill. Our students donated over 100 canned goods and tons of Christmas presents. At the party, they wrapped the gifts, made ornaments for their parents, and decorated cookies to eat with coco!
When we come back from the break I'll be focusing on writing and PARCC practice. But, in the mean time, I'm enjoying my couch and Netflix!
Hello everyone! I'm throwing a Christmas Sale at my TpT store December 22-25! I have also created a couple new Fan Freebies, so check them out!
I know I haven't been blogging too much, but I promise I'll give y'all a classroom update during our break! I hope you all have a fantastic break! Happy Holidays!
Hello everyone!!! I know it's been quite a while! Here are a few updates from the last month or so! I have been extremely busy, as I'm sure you all can relate!
This week my students made predictions about what would happen next in our novel. The students really enjoyed this little activity! They had to write a paragraph describing hat would happen next and draw a picture.
One of my fantastic 5th graders received 1st place for an art competition! The contest's theme was "The World Will be a Better Place if...". Amelia chose to do an anti-bullying theme. Isn't it awesome?She even made me a colored copy that I laminated! It will forever hang in my room! Did I mention she's in talented arts?
We've been giving "Cold Read" assessments, or comprehension passages, as required by our parish. I think they are rigorous and a great preparation for the PARRC assessment. However, I think they are extremely difficult and many of my students are struggling. My top students are failing the assessments. I'm not sure how I feel about PARRC, but I fear that these cold reads are taking away the love of reading. It's a good thing that I refuse to just teach from the text book! My students are really enjoying our novel, Number the Stars. Some have even finished the book already at home! They still have to read along with us though until we finish! haha
My 5th graders are also doing a great job with writing for our school newspaper, The Gator Gazette. I'm really enjoying working with them on this!
We had a great time at our school fall carnival! Have I told y'all that I am blessed to work here? I work with the best faculty and staff who have become my friends, and we have amazing parents!!! I still have days that are stressful, but overall this school makes me so happy!!!
The 5th grade team and a fantastic student!
I had fun dressing up as Katniss form The Hunger Games on Halloween! My students really got a kick out of it too! They know I'm obsessed with it! This is a picture of Ms. Berry and me!! :)
I presented at a mini RTI workshop. I'm really liking the opportunities I am receiving to continue to present and grow in my career. I'm still a newbie at it, but hopefully more experience will come my way! :)
Well that's all folks! I'll try to update again soon!
