5th Grade Island of the Blue Dolphins Comprehension Questions

Chapter 19:

1.       Why does Karana want to spear the devilfish?  Why do you think she later decides never to hunt one again?

Chapter 20:

2.       As Karana explores Black Cave, what does she discover there?  How does it make her feel?  If you were Karana, would you ever return to Black Cave?  Why or why not?

3.       When the Aleuts come, what does Karana do to hide from them?

 

Chapter 21:

4.       Do you think Karana is more afraid of the Aleut girl or the hunters?  Why?

5.       Do you think that the Aleut girl is afraid of Karana?  Why or why not?

 

Chapter 22:

6.       How do we know that Karana has come to trust Tutok?

7.       Why do you think Karana cooks food for Tutok even though she knows Tutok is gone?

 

 

5th Grade Reading Homework 12/11

Read chapters 15 and 16 of Island of the Blue Dolphins and answer the following questions in your reading journal.  You must use complete sentences and restate the question in your answer just like we do in class.  We will check this together first thing in the morning.

Chapter 15:
Why does Karana decide she must kill the leader of the dog pack?  What changes her mind?

Why do you think the leader of the dog pack begins to trust her, rather than want to harm her?

Chapter 16:
Karana’s life changes after she befriends Rontu.  Have you ever had a pet or human friend who has changed your life?  If so, can you describe how?

Scholastic Book Clubs December Orders

Scholastic Book Clubs Ordering Information
www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: HXNDY

Dear Parents,

Sometimes the right book is all it takes to nurture a child's love of reading. That's why I'm pleased that our class will be participating in Scholastic Book Clubs this school year.

The Book Club flyers that I will make available on line each month are full of just-right, affordable books and Storia™ eBooks for every age and reading level.

All December orders must be entered on the Scholastic website and paid for there by December 11th.  Thank you for helping grow your child's love of reading and for supporting our class!

Mrs. Bethany Hill

P.S. When you place your order online, you'll help earn FREE Books for our class and you also get a $5 FREE Book Pick Coupon to use on your next online order!

P.S.S.  I will only be using online ordering via the Scholastic website this year.  I do not plan to send home flyers, and accept payments directly to Scholastic.  If you need any further assistance with navigating their website please contact me.

Ordering online is fast and easy:

• REGISTER at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs
• ENTER the Class Activation Code at the top of this letter
• CHOOSE from thousands of print titles, value packs, and Storia eBooks
• SUBMIT the order to your child's teacher
• EARN FREE Books for you and the classroom too!

 

5th and 6th Grade ELA and Reading 12/3-12/7

5th Grade

• Grammar - Unit 3 Test (Verbs) is scheduled for Tuesday, December 4th.  We will review on Monday.  After the unit test we will begin the unit on adjectives.
• Reading - We will continue reading The Island of the Blue Dolphins.  The comprehension quiz for chapters 6-10 is scheduled for Thursday, December 6th.  The vocabulary quiz will be on Friday, December 7th.

6th Grade

• Grammar - Unit 3 Test (Verbs) is scheduled for Tuesday, December 4th.  We will review on Monday.  After the unit test we will begin the unit on modifiers (adjectives, adverbs, etc...).
• Reading - We will continue reading from the Treasures program next week.  The comprehension skill that we will be covering is making generalizations.

5th and 6th Grade Friday Tests

• Grammar - Both grades will have grammar quizzes on Friday.  We will review in class tomorrow.  They will be allowed to bring home their grammar notebooks tonight to begin studying. 
• 6th grade - The 6th graders will have a Treasures reading test on Friday.  Our comprehension skill this week is making inferences.  The children will bring home their textbooks tomorrow.
• 5th grade - The 5th graders will have a quiz covering Chapters 1-5 of The Island of the Blue Dolphins on Friday.  They have their vocabulary cards, reading journals, trade books, and study guides with them today.

6th Grade Tuck Everlasting Projects

We finished reading Tuck Everlasting last week!  Today the children chose their cumulative project from the items listed below.  I am posting the directions for all three options, so the children can refer back to them at any time.  The projects are due Tuesday, November 27th.  If there are any questions (even during the Thanksgiving Break) please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

1. Paper Bag Book Talk – Take a plain brown paper shopping bag and fill it with 5-7 items that represent important parts of the story: characters, setting, and conflict. You will use these props as you present your book report, explaining the significance of each item. The outside of the paper bag should be decorated to fit the theme of the story and should include the book’s title and author.

2. Board Game – Design a board game with Tuck Everlasting as the theme. The game must include a game board, pieces to move around the board, written directions for how to play the game, and all other materials needed to play it. The game must be neatly and colorfully done, fun to play, and relate strongly to the book. If there are obstacles in the story, they should be the obstacles in the game. You will present your project by sharing the game with us, explaining how to play and how it relates to your book.

3. Character Monologue – Pretend to be one of the characters in the book, and tell us the story as that character in first person (using pronouns like I and we). You must submit a written script of your monologue.

5th and 6th Grades Reading and ELA 11/12 - 11/16

5th grade

• Grammar - Lessons 8-10 quiz on 11/12, regular and irregular verbs 11/13-11/16, next grammar quiz is scheduled for Mon. 11/19
• Reading - Treasures program with traditional Treasures Assessment on Friday
• Writing - Expository writing exercise about historical memorials of Washington D.C. (This project will require some at-home work and research this week.)

6th grade

• Grammar - Lessons 7-8 quiz on 11/13, subject verb agreement 11/14-11/6, next grammar quiz is scheduled for 11/20
• Reading - We will continue reading Tuck Everlasting.  We will have a small comprehension quiz on Tuesday.  There will not be a vocabulary portion of this quiz; it is strictly comprehension questions.  The quiz will cover chapters 6-12.  We are scheduled to finish this book next Monday.
• Writing/Social Studies - Please remember that rough drafts of Industry Giants Projects are due TOMORROW.  The final copy (typed and printed out) is due on WEDNESDAY.  All directions for this project are posted on this blog, and the students have hard copies as well.

5th and 6th Grades ELA and Reading 11/5-11/9

5th Grade

• ELA - We will cover subject-verb agreement, agreement with be and have, and contractions.  There will be a quiz covering this information on Monday, November 12th.
• Reading - We will continue reading from the Treasures program.  Our skills will be context clues (vocabulary) and main idea and details (comprehension).  We will take our traditional Treasures test on Friday.

6th Grade

• ELA - We will cover simple verb tenses, perfect verb tense, and regular and irregular verbs.  There will be a quiz covering this information on Monday, November 12th.
• Reading - There will be a comprehension quiz on Chapters 1-5 of Tuck Everlasting tomorrow.  We will continue to read the story and work with similies, metaphors, setting, and plot.  The next Tuck Everlasting quiz will be next week.

5th and 6th Grade ELA & Reading 10/29 - 11/2

5th Grade

• ELA - Grammar quiz covering lessons 4-7 on Wed. Oct. 31st
• Reading - We will return to the Treasures program & take regular reading assessments on Fridays
• Where the Red Fern Grows  projects are due Mon. Oct. 29th
• Spelling - None this week

6th Grade

• ELA - Grammar quiz covering lessons 4-6 on Wed. Oct. 31st
• Reading - We will begin reading Tuck Everlasting, by Natalie Babbit
• Spelling - None this week

**Please remember that our field trip to the Birmingham Zoo is Thursday, November 1st.  If you haven't turned in your child's permission slip yet, please do so ASAP.
**School will dismiss today (Oct. 25th) at 12:00 Noon

5th Grade Where the Red Fern Grows Book Report Options

This past week we finished reading Where the Red Fern Grows. I offered 3 options for book reports, and the children voted to do 2 of them. Oddly enough, all of the boys picked the same one, and all of the girls picked the same one. :) (I love these kids!) Anyhow, below are the directions for both book report options that were chosen.  All projects are due on Monday, October 29th. 

Collage/Painting the Coleman Home as Depicted in Chapter II

Materials:

• 1/2 sheet of white poster board
• paints (any kind is acceptable, but no markers)
• pencils (to initially sketch your picture)
• magazine or pictures from the Internet (must be in color) that depict the Coleman's Ozark Mountain home
• glue
• scissors

Directions: You will not use all of the materials listed above to do your project. For instance, if you choose to do the painting you will not need the magazine pictures, glue, or scissors. Read Chapter II carefully and creatively illustrate the "movie that you see in your mind". You can also look on the Internet for pictures of the Ozark Mountains in Oklahoma (where the story was set) for inspiration. You will need to put your name, date, and subject in the upper right hand corner of your poster (just like we do in class). I would also like for you to give a title to your poster. Be creative and neat - it counts!


Raccoon Poster

Materials:

• 1/2 size sheet of white poster board
• picture(s) of raccoons in their natural habitats
• pencils
• markers
• scissors
• glue
• information about the Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species, habitat, and diet of raccoons

Directions: You should use all of the materials listed above for your project, as well as the Internet and books for research. Your poster must include at least 1 picture of a raccoon in its natural habitat and all of the information listed next to the seventh bullet above. You will need to put your name, date, and subject in the upper right hand corner of your poster (just like we do in class). I would also like for you to give a title to your poster. Be creative and neat - it counts!

Reading and English Language Arts Assignments

6th Grade

• We are reading The Stranger, by Chris Van Allsburg, this week.  Our skills are point of view and personification.  The test will be on Friday.
• In grammar we are starting Unit 2 (nouns).  There will not be a test this week.

5th Grade

• We are continuing to read Where the Red Fern Grows.  The children have their 6 vocabulary words in their reading journals, as well as on index cards which they have made to use when studying.  On Friday they will be expected to know the definition and part of speech for each word.  They will also be expected to be able to put them into sentences.  There is a possibility of a comprehension quiz this week, but that depends on how much reading we get done this week.  The skills they are working on this week are point of view and setting.
• In grammar we are starting Unit 2 (nouns).  There will not be a test this week.

Reading and English Language Arts, September 17-21

5th Grade

• 9/20 Grammar test covering subjects, predicates, conjunctions, compound sentences, sentence types, and run-on sentences
• Where the Red Fern Grows, Chapters 1-5
• 9/21 Where the Red Fern Grows, Chapters 1-5 Quiz

6th Grade

• 9/21 Weekly Treasures reading assessment
• 9/21 Social studies test - The Civil War
• 9/22 Grammar test