Sunday, March 15, 2015

Reminders for Mon., March 16th

Dear Parents,
         This is just a reminder that this Monday all students will be taking the Unit 4 ELA Test. Besides the vocabulary sent on last week's blog that should be thoroughly reviewed, students should review well the TWO ELA quizzes sent home last week. These two quizzes need to be returned on Monday. The last Religion quizzes will be given out on Monday so students can review theses for the Religion Unit 4 Test on Tuesday. These should be returned on Wednesday.
         This week we will be beginning Unit 5 after the tests. On Tuesday I will list the first half of the Unit 5 vocabulary definitions for each grade. These should be copied into their ELA notebooks and will be checked on Thursday.
         Due to the tests there will be no ixl work assigned this week. There is Mass this Thursday and NO SCHOOL this Friday due to Teacher's Conferences.  I will keep you updated as soon as we hear more information.
       Please see below in case you have any difficulty with the Review Guide for the ELA Unit 4 Test.
Each class will be required to read a passage, give two short responses, and then write an essay (as required on the state test).   We have been practicing this in class but students may wish to see sample on   https://www.engageny.org/.../2013_ela_grade_4_sample_annotated_item. and 
https://www.engageny.org/.../2013_ela_grade_3_sample_annotated_item..

FOURTH GRADE
 Review definitions of the following in your ELA notebook: genre, prose, poetry, drama, rhyme scheme, rhythm pattern (meter), point of view, dialog, stage directions, theme, first and third person, tense, collective noun, limerick, mood, poetic license, preposition, prepositional phrases, climax, idiom, simile, metaphor, alliteration, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, personification,  fragment, run-on sentence, emotion, primate, pachyderm, tsunami, instinct, nymph, brood, emerge
 For help with essay scroll down to see pp. 13 to 45 for student samples on file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/2013_ela_grade_4_sample_annotated_items%20(1).pdf

THIRD GRADE
Study the definitions of the following words in your ELA notebook: simple/compound/complex sentences,coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions, concrete/abstract nouns, adjective, adverb, pronoun, biography, regular and irregular plural nouns,  regular and irregular verbs, tenses (present, past, future), subject-verb agreement, comparative and superlative adjectives, pronoun-antecedent agreement, fragment, run-on sentences, opinion, reasons, impact, innovation, creative, inventive, smallpox, inoculate
For help with essay scroll down to see pp. 14 to 49 for student samples on 
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/2013_ela_grade_3_sample_annotated_items%20(1).pdf

SECOND GRADE
Review the definitions of the following words. Remember a print out of these should be in your ELA notebook:
autobiography - story written about one's own life
biography- story written about a person's life
introduction- the beginning of a essay
conclusion- the ending of an essay
narrative - writing that tells a story
linking words - for example, also, however
time order words - first, next, then, last
opinion- one's personal belief
reasons- explanations that support an opinion
revolutionaries - people who make changes by protesting
sequence- correct order
draft - first try writing an essay
edit - to correct errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization
revise- to rewrite to improve one's writing
apostrophe - punctuation mark used in possessives and in contractions
possessive form - showing ownership: Joe's jacket or his, mine
contraction - two words joined to form one word using an apostrophe    eg. I'm, didn't
comma - punctuation mark used to separate words or number
plural - more than one
noun - name of a person, place, thing, or idea   eg. Mike, store, dog, kindness
verb - action word   eg eat
adjective - word that describes a noun   eg. small
adverb - word that tells where, when, or how   eg. slowly
pronoun - word that takes the place of a noun   eg. he,  her
tall tale - story about a real person that is exaggerated
fragment - an incomplete sentence
run-on- two sentences run together  incorrectly without a period
character trait - adjective that describes how a person behaves  eg. brave, selfish, curious

agriculture- farming by raising animals or growing crops
product - something we use that is made or grown
civil rights- law that treats all people fairly
segregation- being separated due to one's race
marshals- men assigned by law to protect Ruby Bridges
boycott- refusal to use a service in protest
legacy- something valuable left by a person when they die
Underground Railroad - an escape route for slaves from the South to the North

Second graders may also wish to check out the third grade ELA test samples noted above.