Mr. Greg's Third and Fourth Grade Class

Mmmbop by Hanson

2012-03-11T07:19:00.002-07:00

A lot of new stuff today.

2012-03-11T07:18:00.000-07:00

We have a lot of new stuff this week. We are starting to work on our Spiderwick Dramas. Tomorrow we will write them and then we will practice and memorize them. Next week we will perform in and start the next book.

There are new spelling words.

Get ready for your storytelling this week. Only one person went today. That is not good.

Finishing the Spiderwick Chronicles and Speaking

2012-03-06T05:06:00.002-08:00

We finished the Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing Stone. If students didn't finish it they need to do that this weekend. All students need to bring the book to school next week. We will be using it.

We have a spelling test tomorrow.

Students need to be working on their fruit and vegetable projects for next week. The can make poster to bring to class and have pictures. They must talk for 45 seconds about why we should eat their fruit or vegetable.

Writing Day

2012-03-05T03:06:00.002-08:00

We are working on Chapter 7 of the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Today students wrote about what they would do if they were older. I will edit the papers and we will rewrite them on Wednesday.

Tomorrow we will read, work on commas, and have a speaking competition.

Study the spelling and work on you fruit and vegetable storytelling for next week.

We have a short week and a lot to do.

2012-03-04T05:31:00.002-08:00

We talked in class today about chapters 5 and 6 of the Spiderwick Chronicles. We will be reading and talking about chapter 7 this week.

We talked about our dramas and students continued to talk about their favorite sport in class.

Students have also started a new storytelling project. Next week, they have to talk to the class about a fruit or vegetable and why the class should eat it. They can talk to people, use books, or the internet to find out about it. They should also bring something into class like a poster, picture, or the fruit or vegetable. They must speak for 45 seconds without reading.
They can talk about:
the nutrients
why it is healthy for you
how it tastes
what you can do with it (how to cook it)

End of the Week?

2012-02-29T03:40:00.002-08:00

If we have class tomorrow, we will have our spelling test and finish the storytelling.

If we don't, we will do everything next Sunday.

If you didn't finish chapters 5 and 6 of the Spiderwick Chronicles, do it by Sunday.

If you did finish it, read chapters 5 and 6 again. We are doing chapter 7 next week.

We did a lot today

2012-02-28T01:58:00.002-08:00

I read with Shayma, Fitian, Kareem, Ward, and Rifaat.

Students finished writing their essays and we will edit them tomorrow.

We also worked on speaking drills today and the students did a good job with them. We will do them every week and go faster and faster.

Students also talked about sports in class today and did a great job.

Writing

2012-02-27T05:01:00.002-08:00

Today the students are writing about why is is bad to be a kid. If they didn't finish it they will work on it tomorrow in class.

Also we have storytelling tomorrow. This week students are talking about a sport, any sport. They have to talk for at least 30 seconds and can bring things into class.

What is a galaxy?

2012-02-26T04:45:00.003-08:00

This question came up today.

A galaxy is a big group of stars and planets..... not chocolate.

This is a picture of the Milky Way Galaxy.

It is very big and our sun a is a very, very, very small light in the galaxy.

New Week, New Song

2012-02-26T02:22:00.003-08:00

Today I read with Mona, Ameed, Adam, Amelia, and Omar A.

We are reading Chapter 5 in the Spiderwick Chronicles this week.

Today we worked with consonant-vowel-consonant and why some words are like swimming and running.

This week's storytelling is about a sport. Students must talk for 30 second to 2 minutes about any sport. They can things in to show the class when they are talking; balls, pictures, clothes, anything.

Here is the video for our new song, Drops of Jupiter

Reading and Verbs

2012-02-22T02:35:00.003-08:00

Today I read with Shayma, Maya, Kareem, Omar, Ward and Rifaat.

This week we are reading chapters 3 and 4 in of the Spiderwick Chronicles. If students are not finished they need to finish the chapters this weekend and give me their answers on Sunday. All students should read chapters 3 and 4 again. There are a lot of difficult words and I want them to understand the story very well.

We have a spelling test tomorrow. Students need to study the spelling and vocabulary.

Writing All Day

2012-02-21T01:54:00.002-08:00

I read with Taleb, Lyana, Shahed, and Beesan.

We wrote in class today. Students wrote essays about what makes them happy. I will red them tonight and then we will rewrite them on Thursday.

There is a spelling test on Thursday and students need to practice for the storytelling.

This week students need to tell me a story when something funny happened.

We have a short week.

2012-02-20T02:42:00.003-08:00

There was no school yesterday and there might not be school tomorrow.

Today I read with Mona, Adam, Amelia, and Ameed.

We worked on commas today and read from our Spiderwick books. We are reading chapter 3 in class. It is good for students to also read the chapter at home.

This week's storytelling is tell me a story when something funny happened.

Science and rewriting.

2012-02-15T02:20:00.002-08:00

Today I read with Lilia, Tareq, Mohammed, Ali, Safa, and Narmeen.

In science we read about nutrition, energy and carbohydrates.

Things to remember:
We get a lot of energy from carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates help us move our muscles and our bodies grow.
There are two kinds of carbohydrates: simple and complex.
Complex carbohydrates are better because they give you energy for a longer
time.

Students worked on editing their papers.

There is a spelling and vocabulary test tomorrow.

Students can reread chapters one and two of the Spiderwick Chronicles.

Writing Day

2012-02-13T09:42:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Beesan, Lyana, Shahed, Masoud, and Taleb.

We wrote in class today. If students didn't finish the writing, they have to finish it tonight and give it to me tomorrow so I can edit it. We will rewrite the papers on Wednesday.

2012-02-12T02:37:00.000-08:00

Here is our song, Ghost Riders in the Sky by Johnny Cash

Our New Book

2012-02-12T02:28:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Mona, Omar A., Adam, Amelia, and Ameed.

We started our next book, The Spiderwick Chronicles: The Seeing Stone. The students have started chapter 1 and we'll also read chapter 2 this week. Students that don't finish the chapters in class will read them over the weekend.

We also learned how to use commas. This week we are working on commas in a series.

We have a spelling test on Thursday.

There is also a vocabulary test on Thursday. I will give you the words tomorrow.

We are also going to start Storytelling again. This week students need to tell a story about their break.

Here is a video of our new song.

Tests today

2012-02-09T00:46:00.001-08:00

We finished a lot in class.

The students had a spelling test and test about the Spiderwick Chronicles.

These students did a great job on the spelling test: Shayma, Ali, Beesan, Masoud, Ameed, and Safa.

Students also finished writing their essays. They did a great job with them. I will give them back on Sunday.

Goblins need to finish Chapter 3 of Charlotte's Web by Sunday.

Don't forget.

2012-02-08T05:20:00.000-08:00

Bring your Spiderwick books tomorrow.

Wednesday February 8

2012-02-08T01:21:00.001-08:00

We have a spelling test tomorrow.

Students need to remember their papers for school everyday.

Rewriting today and test tomorrow

2012-02-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

I read with Lilia, Ali, Tareq, Mohammed, Safa, and Narmeen.

We went over the vocabulary for the test tomorrow.

I gave the students their essays back and we worked on editing and rewriting them today. Most of the students will be working on them tomorrow too.

Tonight study the story, spelling and vocabulary. We have our tests tomorrow.

After that we will finish rewriting our essays and then practice our dramas for next week.

A Full Day

2012-02-07T00:48:00.000-08:00

I read with Rifaat, Fitian, Ward, Shayma, Maya, and Kareem.

We did a lot of the little things today.

We reviewed and talked about the homework from last night.

We also worked on speaking and using the past tense.

The students have homework tonight and tests on Thursday.

Writing today

2012-02-06T01:26:00.000-08:00

I read with Beesan, Masoud, Taleb, Lyana, and Shahed.

We worked on writing and students wrote essays about what makes them angry. I am going to edit the papers and we are going to rewrite them again on Wednesday.

The students have a spelling, vocabulary, and reading test on Thursday.

Our Next Song

2012-02-01T07:29:00.001-08:00

Here is the music for our next song, The Harder They Come.

Back to School Today!

2012-01-31T23:53:00.000-08:00

It was our first day back and I'm glad to see the students again. Today was a slow day but we got some stuff done.

We talked about the book the Spiderwick Chronicles. Most of the students liked it a lot and we are going to read the next one soon. If students haven't finished the book they need to keep on reading it. We will have a test next Thursday about the book. Students need to also study the vocabulary for the book.

Today we wrote about the book and students that didn't finish the writing in class have homework. They need to bring their writing back to school tomorrow.

We have new spelling words and spelling test next Thursday.

We have an easy day tomorrow and then we start a lot of new things next week.

Wdnesday , January 11

2012-01-11T02:26:00.000-08:00

We read in class today and studied our spelling words. Not much else. Tomorrow I will give the students their homework over the break.

The Last Week

2012-01-08T11:18:00.000-08:00

We're almost finished for the semester. We will spend most of the time in class reading and reviewing spelling and vocabulary. Groups will also perform the drama Chicken Little this week.

Today I read with Omar A., Amelia, Ameed, and Adam.

There is no homework this week.

There will be homework over the break.

Writing and Jokes

2012-01-02T23:47:00.001-08:00

Today I read with Rifaat, Ward, Shayma, Maya, Kareem, and Fitian.

We wrote a lot today. The students wrote essay about what they would do if they were a teacher. The students are doing a great job with the writing.

Students did a great job with the jokes today and more students will go tomorrow.

We have a short week but a lot to do.

2012-01-01T23:54:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Taleb, Lyana, Shahed, Amelia, Omar, Adam, Beesan, Masoud and Ameed.

We started a new drama today, Chicken Little. The students need to practice it and next week they will perform it in class.

We have a spelling test on Thursday. Only 10 words this week:
closer, everywhere, phone, chicken, writer, carrots, cries, lying, seventeen,
welcome

This week students are telling jokes for storytelling. Student have to tell either one long joke or three short jokes. They can't read their jokes to the class. This is speaking, not reading.

Storytelling tomorrow: Tareq, Mohammed, Fitian, Shyama, Maya, Narmeen, Lilia, and Taleb

Goblins have to finish their reading work from today.

See you guys next Wednesday

2011-12-21T23:44:00.000-08:00

We only had English for an hour today because the students had art.

The students had their spelling test and did well. There were some hard words this week like difficult, chocolate, and vegetables. Nareem, Masoud, Ali, Rifaat, Shahed, Ameed, Beesan, and Omar A., did a great job on the test.

Lyana, Tareq, Masoud, Maya, and Ali told their stories today and did a great job.

Have a nice weekend. I will see you guys next Wednesday. We will have a very short week.

Next Week: reading, verbs, and how to tell time.

The Big Science Test

2011-12-21T00:39:00.000-08:00

We had our science test today and the students did a good job. Some struggled but they have learned a lot about our bodies and the different systems in our bodies.

The grade they get on the test isn't important. What I want is for them to remember the vocabulary. Next semester we will continue studying science in class but we will study exercise and nutrition. It's important that the students remember what we've learned this semester about our heart, brain, lungs, stomach, muscles, and bones, because we will be talking about them again, and again, and again.

Today Rifaat, Fitian, Lilia, Shayma, and Kareem told their stories.

Tomorrow we have a spelling test.

Maya, Tareq, Ali, Masoud, and Lyana will tell their stories to the class.

Studying for the Science Test

2011-12-19T23:52:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Fitian, Shayma, Ward, Kareem, Maya, and Rifaat.

Today we studied for our science test tomorrow. Students should be studying tonight.

Adam, Shahed, Narmeen and Amelia told their stories to the class and did a great job. Tomorrow Shayma, Lilia, Rifaat, Fitian, and Kareem will tell their stories.

The students have homework tonight.

Writing Today

2011-12-18T23:45:00.000-08:00

I read with Taleb, Masoud, Lyana, Beesan, and Shahed today.

We worked on writing today and students wrote "The scariest thing in the world is __________." Some of the students did not finish so they need to finish writing tonight. Parents, please do not write for the students. They need to do it by themselves. If I think they didn't write it, they will do it again.

Today Beesan, Ameed, Mohammed, Ward, Taleb and Omar A. told their stories to the class. Great job. Tomorrow Adam, Shahed, Lyana, Narmeen, Amelia will tell their stories.

Students have past tense homework tonight.

The Goblins have reading homework tonight.

Life is Highway

2011-12-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

Here is the song....

Sunday December 18th

2011-12-18T00:14:00.000-08:00

We practice using the past tense in class today and using it correctly when we talk.

I read with Ameed, Adam, Amelia, and Omar A.

We are doing storytelling again this week. Students need to tell the class a story about a time when they were younger. Here is the schedule for the week.

Monday (tomorrow): Mohammed, Ward, Taleb, Omar A., Beesan, Ameed.

Tuesday: Adam, Shahed, Lyana, Narmeen, Amelia.

Wednesday: Shayma, Lilia, Fitian, Rifaat, Kareem.

Thursday: Maya, Ali, Tareq, Masoud.

We have our science test on Wednesday.

Tests and Singing Competition

2011-12-15T03:54:00.000-08:00

The students had art so today was a short day in class. The students had a spelling test and vocabulary test. I've graded the spelling tests the the students did well.

Ali, Lyana, Tareq, Masoud, and Ameed got a perfect score on the spelling test. Good job!

We also sang in the singing competition and the students did a great job.

Tareq, Masoud, Nareem, and Adam told their stories to the class today. They did a very good job.

Science and Disease

2011-12-13T23:45:00.000-08:00

We had science and talked about disease and how your body protects you from getting sick.

Today I read with M.S., Tareq, Lilia, Narmeen, and Ali

Shayma, Lilia, Ali, Kareem, Fitian, Rifaat, Taleb, and Maya told their stories to the class today and they did a great job.

Tomorrow Narmeen, Beesan, Adam, Masoud, and Tareq will tell their stories to the class.

We also worked on context clues in class. Context clues are when the students have to find out what a new word means by looking at the other words in the sentence. This was the first time and they did a great job with it.

Tomorrow there will be a vocabulary and spelling test in class. Study.

Conditionals and Storytelling

2011-12-12T23:46:00.000-08:00

We practiced future conditionals today and most of the students have homework tonight. When we write future conditionals we do this....

If + pronoun + verb (present), pronoun + verb (future).

Today I read with Shayma, Rifaat, Fitian, Maya, Ward, and Kareem.

Shahed, Ameed, Ward, Lyana, Mohammed, Omar, and Amelia told their stories to the class today. They all did a great job.

Storytelling for tomorrow: Shayma, Lilia, Ali, Kareem, Fitian, Rifaat, and Taleb

Goblins have reading homework tonight.

We had writing today.

2011-12-12T00:20:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Beesan, Masoud, Lyana, and Shahed.

We worked on writing today and the students wrote essays about "If I had a billion shekels." The essays look really good and I'll read them soon.

We also work on the future conditional. We will do more with this tomorrow.

The Goblins have reading homework.

Some of the students will tell their stories to the class tomorrow.

Students have vocabulary and spelling to study for Thursday.

Storytelling.

2011-12-11T00:11:00.000-08:00

This week we aren't doing a drama, instead the students will be telling stories to the class. The need to practice their stories before they tell them to the class.

Remember to use the past tense when you are telling your story.

Your story must be more that 30 seconds and less than 2 minutes.

I will be in the teacher's room or our classroom before and after school and on the break on
Tuesday to help your with your story.

We also worked on unreal conditionals today.

If + pronoun + verb (past tense), pronoun + would + verb (present tense)

Today I read with Omar A., Amelia, Adam, and Ameed.

The Goblins have reading homework tonight.

We have a spelling test on Thursday. Here are the words.

friend, favorite, because, when, beating, closer, goodnight, isn't, leaving, digging, empty,
telephone, studied, tables, waiting.

We also have a vocabulary test on Thursday.

bother, brain, message, reflex, sweet, silver, cheer, joy, bridge, organism, disease, sweat, cough

Extra vocabulary: The Goblins have to study these and other students can too.

spinal cord, meek, bold, tale, pound, tears

New video for the song

2011-12-06T07:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a new video that will hopefully work better.

Writing and Dramas

2011-12-05T23:54:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Rifaat, Shayma, Ward, Maya, Kareem, and Omar F.

We finished writing today and the student did a great job. By the end of the semester I want all the student to be able to write 3 paragraphs. Right now a lot of students are and some are writing four. They are doing a great job.

The students are also performing their dramas this week and they are doing very well.

The students need to study their spelling.

The Goblins have reading homework.

Phrase of the Week (12/4)

2011-12-04T00:02:00.000-08:00

Don't forget to use the phrase of the week.....

Got up on the wrong side of the bed!

Carol of the Bells and Quotations

2011-12-03T23:54:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Adam, Amelia, Omar A., and Ameed.

We worked on using quotations and how to use them in our writing. Student have a short homework where they need to write quotation marks in sentences and then write two of their own sentences with quotation marks.

We also started a new song, Carol of the Bells. It is our hardest song yet but we have the singing competition in a few weeks. Here is the video.

Tonight the Goblins have reading homework. Use the dictionaries and don't forget to bring them back to school tomorrow.

Group 1 will perform the drama tomorrow.

Tests tomorrow.

2011-11-30T04:21:00.000-08:00

I read with Lilia, M.S., Tareq, Ali, and Narmeen.

We worked on apostrophes in class and the students have apostrophe homework. If they don't know what to do they can read the worksheet from class.

We have a spelling test tomorrow.

We also have a vocabulary test tomorrow.

Past Continuous

2011-11-28T23:50:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Ward, Fitian, Kareem, Maya, Rifaat and Shayma.

Today we worked on the past continuous tense in our grammar books.

Remember.....

We use was with I, he, she, it
We use were with you, they, we

The students need to study the vocabulary and spelling. We have a test this Thursday.

We have a lot to do this week.

2011-11-26T23:46:00.001-08:00

Today I read with Amelia, Ameed, and Omar A.

We've started a new drama in class, "Three Billy Goats Gruff." We will practice this week and then the students will perform it next week. I want them to practice and memorize their lines and this time we will work on acting.

We also started learning the past continuous. Sometimes we say....

I was watching TV yesterday.

You were sleeping in class.

Remember when to use were and was.

were: you, they, we
was: I, he, she, it

The students have homework tonight.

We have a spelling test on Thursday. These are the words:

beautiful, bought, sunny, uncle, aunt, window, wishes, kicked, knees, nicest, happiest, studying, died, grew, hundred.

We also have a vocabulary test on Thursday. These are the words:

bossy, pump, onomatopoeia, agree, disagree, strange, servant, heart, thief, invisible, won't splash, hiccup, stomach.

There are also extra words that some of the students have to know:

senses, blood vessels, rearrange, nutrients, cacophony, see-through.

The Circulatory System

2011-11-21T23:47:00.000-08:00

Today I read with Ward, Fitian, Shayma, Kareem, Rifaat, and Maya.

We talked about the circulatory system and learned about our blood, heart, and blood vessels.

Things to remember....

Blood vessels are small tubes in your body for your blood.

Your heart pumps blood in your body.

You blood carries oxygen to the rest of your body.

New words from today.

strange, heart, pump

The students in part 2 of the drama performed today. They all did a good job and Mohammed S. did a great job memorizing his lines. Awesome.

Homework
past perfect homework
spelling words
vocabulary

Writing, writing, and more writing.

2011-11-21T00:12:00.001-08:00

Today I read with Lyana, Beesan, Shahed, Taleb, and Masoud.

We worked on writing today. More of the students are starting to write three paragraphs now and they are doing very well. Today we wrote the class taking a field trip to anywhere in the world. They had a lot of good ideas.

Half of the students did not finish the writing so they need to finish it at home. Parents, please do not do the work for the students. I need to see the work they do by themselves so I know how their writing is and what they need help with.

Homework:
finish writing
spelling words
vocabulary words
practice dramas

Onomatopoeia

2011-11-20T03:07:00.000-08:00

Today was good day and we got a lot done.

2011-11-20T02:58:00.000-08:00

We started some new things today.

We have a new song called Onomatopoeia. Onomatopoeia is words like knock, buzz, boom, and bark. The word is the sound. Practice the song at home.

I read with Adam, Ameed, and Omar A. today.

We started learning about the past perfect today and the students did well with it.

Remember we use had, not have or has.

I had been running when I saw my friend.

They had slept before they went to school.

We also worked on our dramas today. Here is the schedule:

Monday: Part 1
Tuesday: Part 2
Wednesday: Part 3
Thursday: Part 4

Students have new spelling words and vocabulary to study.

Back to School

2011-11-12T04:31:00.000-08:00

We had a great day in class. Some of the students have started reading a chapter book called "Bridge to Tarabithia" in class and today I read with Ameed, Amelia, Adam, and Omar A.

We learned about metaphors in class and the students did a great job with it. We will do more metaphors tomorrow and they will have homework.

We also started our drama for this week "The Emperor's New Clothes." Students in Parts 1 and 2 will perform on Wednesday and Parts 3 and 4 will perform on Friday. Memorize your lines.

The students have 15 new spelling words for the week. The test is Thursday and they need to practice the words.

Last week Masoud, Adam, Shahed, Mohammed, Narmeen, and Ameed did a great job on the spelling test.

There is also a vocabulary test on Thursday.

Things to do at home:
study spelling words
study vocabulary
memorize lines for the drama

It was a great day in class today.

2011-10-31T01:38:00.000-07:00

I read with Lyana, Taleb, Masoud, Shahed, and Beesan. The rest of the students read quietly by themselves.

We did a lot of writing and the students did very well. Today the topic was "I am the best boy/girl in the school because...."

Half of the students wrote a paragraph and they did very well. The Goblins had to write three paragraphs today and they did a fantastic job. I am very proud. It was difficult at first but the understood and did a really good job.

We also started our drama "Rumpelstiltskin" today. Lyana, Shayma, Adam, and Omar A. performed part 1 of the drama.

You can watch it.

Students have work to do at home.

Study the vocabulary.

Study the spelling words.

Study their lines in the drama.

We did a lot today and have a lot this week.

2011-10-30T01:10:00.000-07:00

Today I read with Amelia, Omar A., Adam, and Ameed M. After reading we started working on similes.

This week the class is going to perform a drama called Rumpelstiltskin. The students are working in small groups and each group will perform a part of the play. Today the students practiced their lines but I want them to practice at home and memorize them.

These students will perform on these days.

Monday: Shayma, Lyana, Adam, Omar A.

Tuesday: Beesan, Tariq, Lilia, Kareem, Omar F.

Wednesday: Everyone else.

We also started a new song today "Pinky and the Brain." Here is the video...

Students have a lot of work to do this week.

Spelling: The students need to practice the spelling words. We will have our spelling test on Wednesday.

Vocabulary: Students need to practice and know the vocabulary words. The Trolls and Dragons only have to know the first half of the words (stop after tube). The Goblins have to know all of the words. If you want to practice all of the words you can.

Drama: I want the students to practice their lines at home. They should memorize the drama.

The Muscular System!

2011-10-25T04:04:00.000-07:00

Today in class we talked about the muscular system. We had a short reading and then we watched a video about our bones and muscles.

Remember....

Muscles are connected to your bones and they help move your body.

You can control most of your muscles. You control your muscles when you walk, run, smile,
and sing.

Some muscles you don't control, like your heart, your stomach, and breathing.

Tendons connect your muscles to your bones.

New vocabulary from today: exercise, stretch, muscle, control and cartoon.

We also worked on contractions in class today.

Vocabulary for the test.

2011-10-23T03:36:00.000-07:00

We have a test on Thursday.

It will be over the present continuous tense. Remember....

I have been to Jordan.
I have ridden a horse.

There will be questions about nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs.

These are the vocabulary words.

supposed, illusion, support, protect, joint, healthy, equal, unequal, hollow, knee, shoulder, bone, skeleton, halves, thirds, fourths, muscle, connect, sailor

Another week and a lot to do.

2011-10-23T03:12:00.000-07:00

We spent some time working on debates today. This is something we have been having a hard time with in class and we'll be working on it all year. Right now we are spending time trying to make good arguments.

We also continued to work on the present continuous in class and in our grammar books.

Today I read with Amelia, Omar A., Adam, and Ameed.

Skeletons

2011-10-18T04:41:00.001-07:00

Every Tuesday we are going to talk about our bodies in English class, and today we started with the skeletal system.

Things to Remember

Our skeleton supports our body. If we don't have a skeleton we will look like jelly.
Our skeleton also helps us move and it protects parts of our body like the heart.

A joint is where two bones in your body touch and move. Like your knee and
shoulder.

The inside of your bones look like a sponge.

Inside your bones is the bone marrow. The bone marrow makes blood for your body.

This is the Bill Nye video we watched in class about bones.

The students have homework tonight. If they are having a hard time with the words. They can use the reading from today to help them.

Writing, Writing, and more Writing.

2011-10-17T03:01:00.000-07:00

We are going to do a lot of writing this year.

We should be writing two times a week (Monday and Wednesday)

I think it's very important to teach the children how to organize their writing. Any of the students can write me a page about anything, but the students don't really know who to organize their thoughts and write it in a way so other people can understand them.

Today the students wrote abut their favorite place in the world. First, we write on a worksheet that where the students write their topic sentence and the reasons that support their topic sentence. Then we turn those reasons into full sentences and organize them form most to least important. Last, the students start to write the actual paragraph and turn it into me.

We are going to start a new unit about The Human Body. Tomorrow is our first day and we will be talking about bones and the skeletal system.

The vocabulary.

2011-10-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

These are words we used last week and will use this week. Study them.

I will give you a list of the words tomorrow and what they mean.

rainbow
supposed
illusion
support
protect
joint
healthy
equal
unequal
knee
shoulder
skeleton
halves
thirds
fourths
bones

We have a big week.

2011-10-16T03:15:00.000-07:00

We have a lot to do this week and I'm very excited.

Today the students worked with their debate teams for the first time. Most weeks the students will work with their teams and debate a topic against another team. It gives the students a good chance to speak in class, organize their ideas, and learn how to make arguments. This week teams will be debating "Are video games good or bad?" "Is watching a lot of television good or bad?" and "Should we have the Tawjihi tests?"

We also continued to practice using the preset perfect tense (using have + participles).

For example: I have been to America.
I have broken my leg.

We will continue practicing this throughout the week and the year.

Students have homework tonight.

Here is the video for our new song, The Rainbow Connection by Kermit the Frog.

Thursday, October 13

2011-10-13T10:41:00.000-07:00

We had our vocabualry test today and the students did well with that.

We spent most of today talking about math and shapes. We worked with fractions, equal and unequal parts, halves, thirds, and fourths. The students did a great job with a it.

There is math homework for Sunday.

Students with reading homework, keep reading.

Wednesday, October 12

2011-10-12T03:38:00.000-07:00

Students read from the reading books and today I read with Mohammad, Tareq, Lilia, and Narmeen.

Yesterday and today we worked on the present perfect tense. We use this a lot when we ask and answer questions, and talk about our lives.

I have been to Ramallah.

Have you done your homework? I have done my homework.

Today we talked about places we have been in the world.

We also did a short review of the conjunctions: and, or, but. The students did well but we will have to spend more time on when to use or.

We have a vocabulary test tomorrow,

Sunday, October 9th

2011-10-09T03:20:00.000-07:00

I gave students the vocabulary for the test on Thursday. They need to practice this at home and in class when they finish work early.

We working on the present continuous today. We use the present continuous when we are talking about things we are doing right now.

For example: I am writing on the blog.

We use is, am, or are. Then a verb +"ing."

We also wrote a lot in class today. Today the students started and organized their paragraphs for "Should mobile phones be in school?" I really like what they've written and they will do more this week.

Our new song: Unwell

2011-10-02T12:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 2nd

2011-10-02T04:39:00.000-07:00

Hello,

The students have started reading in their designated reading groups and everyday I will read with a small group of students. I do this so every week I can the students individually and help them with reading, new vocabulary, and understanding the stories. Today I read with Adam, Omar A., Amelia, and Ameed.

We watched a short video in class about beatbox and and students talked about it.

This is the video.

In class today we worked on adverbs and finding adverbs in sentences. Remember, adverbs describe verbs and adjectives describe nouns.

We also started an adverb drama this week. Every day a different group of students will act out the drama and focus on acting out the adverbs in the story.

Sunday, September 25

2011-09-25T06:10:00.000-07:00

Hello,

We didn't get everything done today but it was a good class. We started class with a short spelling test with words the students have been spelling wrong int heir writing.

We finished reading about plants and today we read about how plants grow.

The Plant Cycle

We also talked about nouns. Remember, a noun is a person, place or thing.

We watched a short video in class and then talked about it as a group after.

There is a test on Thursday. The test will be about...

the parts of a plant

period ( . ), exclamation point ( ! ), and question mark ( ? )

the vocabulary from last week. Today I passed out a list of all the words to the students, but they are also on the blog.

Vocabulary on the test:

seeds - very small and makes a new plant.

flame - fire

woods - place with a lot of trees

carefully - you do something slow so nothing bad happens.

thunder - the sound lightening makes when it rains

defeat - to beat someone

destroy - to break something into small pieces.

peek - to look

wrap - to put something around, like a blanket around you.

spill - something like water falls out of a cup.

warm - not cold

sharp - very thin and can cut you, like a knife.

lightening - a light in the sky when it rains. It is very dangerous.

minus - -

plus - +

equals- =

Monday Spetember 19th - Plants!

2011-09-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

Hello,

Today we had a very busy day in class. We started with a warm-up that reviewed some of the new vocabulary words: warm, spill, wrap, woods, flame, carefully, and thunder.

Right now we are learning about plants in class and how plants grow. We read from the Science books which are hard but the students did a good job and understood a lot. We learned the different parts of a plant: stem, leaves, roots, and flowers.

We also learned that plants need water, the sun, and carbon dioxide in the air to make food and oxygen.

After our reading we started our first science experiment. Each students has a plate with different kinds of seeds. We have sunflower, corn, bean, and gazinia seeds. For the next week we will watch as the seeds begin to grow.

At the end of class we talked when to use periods ( . ), question marks (?), and exclamation points (!). The students did really well and they have homework tonight.

New words from today:

system - a group of things that work together.

carbon dioxide - a gas that plants use to make food.

energy - You get energy from food and water and need it to do things.

seeds - a small thing that grows into a plant.

Yoshimi Battles the Giant PInk Robots

2011-09-17T23:57:00.000-07:00

Here is the video for the song!!!

Homework for Tomorrow (9/19)

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This week we will use these words in class and in our readings.

I want you to use each new word in a sentence.

EXAMPLE: apple

I ate an apple on break.

Vocabulary:

wrap - put around something. Like a blanket around someone.

flame - fire

peek - look

woods - place with a lot of trees

warm - not cold

spill - when water or juice falls on the ground

Write six sentences. Remember to capitalize the first word in each sentence and write a period at the end

You will get a reward if you use these words in class this week.

Welcome Back!

2011-09-03T15:14:00.000-07:00

I'm really excited to be back in Nablus again. I have a lot planned for this year and I hope we'll have a good time again.

As of now, school will begin Tuesday September 6th. I hope to see you then.

Thanks,
Mr. Greg