Winter Break is Coming Up...

Friday, December 21 is our last day of school before winter break. We will be having a winter celebration on Friday. We will not be celebrating any specific holiday but it is an opportunity to gather as a 5/6 community to appreciate this time of year. My homeroom students may bring in a snack for the end of the day.

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful winter break!!!

December 17-21

Hello! This week the students are continuing to study the Civil War in Social Studies. We have been getting familiar with our vocabulary through various vocabulary strategies. One of the strategies is vocabulary squares:

In Language Arts we are reviewing summarization and context clues (two of our Big Five Reading Strategies). Additionally in Language Arts, we are finishing our literature circle books (about Asian Folk Tales and culture).

We have also started reading Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson, as a whole class shared reading.

This Week... Dec 10-14

Hello students and families! This week the students have been studying World Geography and have begun studying the Civil War. Friday, December 12, the students will be quizzed on World Geography; they will be responsible to label all the continents and oceans on a world map. To start off our Civil War unit the students have been studying the differences between the North and South during that time period.

Culture Fest was a Success!

Thanks for coming out to the Achieve Language Academy Culture Fest! A big thanks to Golden Harvest who donated food and for all the families who brought food! We had a great turnout for the continent Asia!

All the fifth and sixth graders did a fabulous job on their culture fest projects. More specifically, my homeroom students did an excellent job on their kites, the Chinese Shadow Puppets, and the Chinese Zodiac posters.

This Week... December 3-7

In Language Arts we are reviewing synonyms, antonyms, and homophones. The students have been interacting with the content through various means, such as: antonym dominos, synonym "go fish", and homophone jeopardy.

Below is Synonym "Go Fish":

Antonym Dominos:

Additionally, we are continuing literature circles focusing on Asian folk tales and culture in preparation for Culture Festival. The books we are reading are: The Boy Who Drew Cats by Margaret Hodges, The Moon Lady, by Amy Tan, The Crystal Heart by Aaron Shepard, and continuing Dragonwings by Laurence Yep. The student's literature circle groups are differentiated to meet their level.

In Social Studies we are studying World Geography and continuing to stay informed daily with CNN Student News.

Culture Festival This Friday!

Achieve Language Academy's Culture Festival is this coming Friday, December 7 from 6:30-8:00p.m. For the Culture Festival each grade level has received a continent to study and represent at the Cultural Festival. The fifth and sixth graders received the continent Asia. Each homeroom is focusing on a topic of study, either: geography, culture, asian animals, and symbols (flags). My homeroom is learning about the Chinese Zodiac Calendar and Chinese Shadow Puppetry. We will be showing off our projects in the fifth and sixth grade hallways and a classroom on Friday night. We will also have music and food for the event. Hope to see everyone there!