Mrs. Donofrio

Presently, the class is immersed in a unit on Folktales. This unit involves, first of all, understanding the genre characteristics.

As students are engaged in reading these stories, they will practice summarizing. The following graphic organizer has been introduced as one way to aid students with this skill.

SOMEONE (who is the main character?)

WANTED (what did the character want?)

BUT (what was the problem?)

SO (how did the character try to solve the problem?)

THEN (what was the resolution to the problem?)

Next students will explore the meaning of theme as they read.

The following are common themes students will explore in the stories they read:

After reading many books, students will undertake a writing project involving a lesson they learned. Below is a sample of student writing:

It was a sunny day and Mom and Dad were getting packed up for the fair. My brothers and my sister were excited about going to the fair. I was outside and helped my parents put snacks and drinks in the car.

When we got to the fair,Dad said stay with us. I said, “ Yes.’’ I smelled popcorn. I saw the water slides and a huge Ferris wheel. As I was walking around I went on one of the water slides. As I slid down the slide it was steep and I felt nervous because it looked so big from the top. Once I was at the bottom I was happy I did it. Then I asked for some popcorn. My dad bought a whole bag for us to share. It tasted buttery and salty at the same time. We ate it all in a few minutes. When the day was almost over I wanted to go on the carousel so badly. The carousel is my favorite ride because there are different animals to ride on. My favorite is the bear.

When my mother was looking I stole a ticket from Mom and Dad and ran to the carousel. I felt nervous because I was being sneaky and took something from my mom. I chose to ride the bear. As I rode the carousel I started to feel kind of sick because the carousel kept spinning and I felt dizzy. I got off and my family was gone. I felt scared because I didn’t know where they were.

My mom was about to go looking for me,since she noticed I was missing. My mom said,” I know where he is! His favorite ride is the carousel I bet he’s there.”’My mom was worried until she spotted me on the bench next to the carousel. She ran super fast toward me.

We were both happy and relieved to have found each other. I learned never to leave my parents when we were out and it is wrong to take something that doesn’t belong to you.

Students are studying fractions. First they are learning how a whole can be divided into various fractional parts. Then students will look at a number line as another method of understanding fractions. They will compare these two concepts.