The major writing project that we did last trimester was an ABC Book project completed in PowerPoint. Students worked in teams to create paragraphs with topics A to Z surrounding a theme of their choice.  They had fun with PowerPoint, and I can say that everybody benefited from the focused paragraph writing.  Today in lab we attached their projects to their websites, so check it out!!  It is on their portfolio page. You should be able to click the file and either open it or save it. Please check them out!
~Erica
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One of the great resources in our classroom this year is our Scholastic subscription to the Storyworks magazine.  It has amazing stories in it every month. The story we have been reading this week is in honor of the one year anniversary of the Japan tsunami. The article featured a junior high school in Kamaishi that had been practicing tsunami drills prior to the March 11th disaster. Apparently their town was destroyed in both the 1896 and 1933 tsunamis, and they realized it could happen again. Because of their preparedness everyone in the school survived, and they helped rescue students at a nearby elementary. Of course my heart just catches remembering the images and stories of last year.  

Scholastic provided an opportunity to write letters to an English class at the junior high. I just finished typing the letters that your kids wrote.  They were great. I gave very few directions, and it was so special to see their compassion come through in their letters. I spend a good portion of my day reminding students how to talk and what is appropriate to say and redirection conversations...it is always good to see that behind typical 5th grade madness is genuine humanness and kindness. :)
~Erica
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One of the great things about the beginning of the new trimester is the fresh beginning. There isn't a better time to clean desks. I'm not sure how to describe this experience, so I'll just show you!

Desk Cleaning Photos

~Erica
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