Language Arts

As readers, we are wrapping up our study of characters. We finished reading Shiloh, where we studied Marty and Judd in-depth as characters. We took note of their internal and external traits, their attitude towards themselves and the attitude of others towards them. We also noted what got the characters way of getting what they wanted and how the character changed throughout the course of the book. We also worked on supporting statements from the book such as, “It is okay to lie sometimes.” Students were asked to “vote with their feet” and place themselves along a continuum and orally defend their stance on such issues. Being able to support your opinion is a very important skill at this grade level. At home, encourage your child to support their thoughts on particular issues. Our next unit of study will focus on strategies and skills needed to read nonfiction.

Students have been working on their realistic fiction stories. We generated ways in which authors develop ideas and then decided on individual stories. Based on what we have learned about characters through our reading, students were asked to create characters with these ideas in mind. We then made story mountains with scenes reflecting what the character wants or struggles with. Students are now drafting each scene making sure to include the qualities of a good scene.