This week in Language Arts:
We are continuing to learn strategies and techniques for finding commonalities and differences between two texts. Most of our practice will come from some paired passages in our magazine called Storyworks. This is a great source because the articles hold the kids' interests while allowing me to assist them on their own reading levels. We will do some practice for what it might look like on a STAAR test as well, but that is not the main focus. The true point is for students to be able to identify key facts shared in two passages, whether it be theme, mood, author's purpose, etc. In writing, we are reviewing poetry again. This time students will try their hands at writing a group of poems that are all about the same topic. We discussed this yesterday and practiced our first type of poetry for this round, the limerick. The kids had a lot of fun trying to find rhyming words that fit within the format of the limerick's syllabication requirements.
In Social Studies, we will be moving on to learn about Texas as its own Republic, now that we have finished studying the Texas Revolution. The first item the kids will come to understand is the pros and cons of being independent from Mexico, followed by the pros and cons of joining the United States.