Summer is officially upon us, and although we are all excited to have an extended break, we also will miss our daily routine of working together, reading, writing, and arithmetic.
To keep the kids headed on the right direction, they have been provided with a reading website bookmark that has various resources and genres of books the students can access via any electronic device. We have already checked out a graphic novel that was set up with an audio reading! How much fun we can have with reading!
The link for the site is: www.tumblebookcloud.com
The username is: lowellmidhigh
The password is: login
I know you won't be disappointed with the books and how interactive some of them are!
Enjoy your summer, don't stop reading, and keep blogging! I'll be checking it!
Ms Grodberg's 6th Grade Class
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
We Are Getting Our Read On!
This week we have another fantastic Scholastic book fair in our library!
Homeroom 1027 will be going on Thursday afternoon during our writing time fro 12:30-1:00.
Homeroom 1028 will be going on Friday morning during reading from 9:00-9:30.
If you would like to preview the book fair with your students, please feel free to come to the school library on Wednesday afternoon from 4:30-6:00!
Homeroom 1027 will be going on Thursday afternoon during our writing time fro 12:30-1:00.
Homeroom 1028 will be going on Friday morning during reading from 9:00-9:30.
If you would like to preview the book fair with your students, please feel free to come to the school library on Wednesday afternoon from 4:30-6:00!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
The Mysterious Cave
Jeff and I have been walking through these woods for hours and still haven't found anything yet. So we kept looking around in silence. Just when I was about to lose hope, I found an entrance to a mysterious cave. Jeff told me that the first person to find the treasure wins. But then Is top him and grab the lighter for a second. Then I light fire to a nearby torch, and the rest lit up automatically.
I told Jeff that there could be traps set in various places. So we searched for anything unusual that we might run into. Then we were 20 feet away from the treasure, I see a weird stone floor. I push one with a symbol down and an arrow shoots out of the wall a the height of my head. I carefully grab the treasure and leave. This adventure isn't over yet. It's just the beginning.
By GOLDENFIST45
I told Jeff that there could be traps set in various places. So we searched for anything unusual that we might run into. Then we were 20 feet away from the treasure, I see a weird stone floor. I push one with a symbol down and an arrow shoots out of the wall a the height of my head. I carefully grab the treasure and leave. This adventure isn't over yet. It's just the beginning.
By GOLDENFIST45
Thursday, March 28, 2013
FLASH Fiction
Some more brilliant writing from more brilliant students!
The Red Sweater
By Bubbles234
"Just stop it already. Please!" screamed Jenny, who had a group of girls taunting and teasing her at school daily. She was never one of those girls who wore fancy dresses and expensive jewelry. It didn't help that she didn't have a mother to help her through these tough times.
Jenny was one of those girls who had to live with her aunt and uncle her whole life because she had no parents. Her aunt and uncle were also very poor and could not afford much for themselves and Jenny. They couldn't afford much food, nor could they afford much clothing; they each had two pairs of paints, two shirts and one sweater.
One day Jenny had had enough of the girls laughing at her. As she was walking out of school, she started to think why the group of girls hated her so much. She figured it was because of the way she looked and acted. "But then again, why should I care what people think about me? I am who I am and I can't help that." She had been walking for a while when all of a sudden she had no clue where she was. It was as if she walked into a completely other part of the dark and frightening woods. She decided to wander around until she felt so worn out from all the walking and running. She collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
That night, when Jenny didn't return home after school, her aunt and uncle rushed to search for her in the town and the woods. They kept walking and walking when all of a sudden, sitting right in front of them was Jenny's bright red sweater. They didn't know if they should jump to conclusions, but what they did know was that Jenny was missing.
*********************************************************************
Criminal
by Greek guy
I walk into the courtroom wearing an orange shirt and pants, handcuffs at my back, and two guards pushing me forward with their billy clubs. I see in front of me, a man all high and mighty, the decider of my fate. He looks at me like I'm not the same as everyone else, like I'm a disgusting cockroach, which most people think I am.
But now look who's talking! With his scruffy mustache and the sunlight glaring off of his bald head. It actually makes me smile because he looks like a cartoon character. He keeps blabbering on about stuff that's boring, and I try to tune him out but some of the things he's saying are things I have to hear. But what really gets me is that he tells me things that I already know like why I'm here. Like he thinks I'm too dumb to remember. And even though I just want to get out of my seat, climb up there and punch him in the face, I just can't do anything about it.
Even an hour after the hearing, I can still hear the banging of his mallet, telling me the jury's verdict. "Guilty, guilty, guilty." This is how it is when I sit on my metal bed while iron doors close around me. And ever since my childhood, everyone has treated me as nothing else but... a criminal.
The Red Sweater
By Bubbles234
"Just stop it already. Please!" screamed Jenny, who had a group of girls taunting and teasing her at school daily. She was never one of those girls who wore fancy dresses and expensive jewelry. It didn't help that she didn't have a mother to help her through these tough times.
Jenny was one of those girls who had to live with her aunt and uncle her whole life because she had no parents. Her aunt and uncle were also very poor and could not afford much for themselves and Jenny. They couldn't afford much food, nor could they afford much clothing; they each had two pairs of paints, two shirts and one sweater.
One day Jenny had had enough of the girls laughing at her. As she was walking out of school, she started to think why the group of girls hated her so much. She figured it was because of the way she looked and acted. "But then again, why should I care what people think about me? I am who I am and I can't help that." She had been walking for a while when all of a sudden she had no clue where she was. It was as if she walked into a completely other part of the dark and frightening woods. She decided to wander around until she felt so worn out from all the walking and running. She collapsed to the ground from exhaustion.
That night, when Jenny didn't return home after school, her aunt and uncle rushed to search for her in the town and the woods. They kept walking and walking when all of a sudden, sitting right in front of them was Jenny's bright red sweater. They didn't know if they should jump to conclusions, but what they did know was that Jenny was missing.
*********************************************************************
Criminal
by Greek guy
I walk into the courtroom wearing an orange shirt and pants, handcuffs at my back, and two guards pushing me forward with their billy clubs. I see in front of me, a man all high and mighty, the decider of my fate. He looks at me like I'm not the same as everyone else, like I'm a disgusting cockroach, which most people think I am.
But now look who's talking! With his scruffy mustache and the sunlight glaring off of his bald head. It actually makes me smile because he looks like a cartoon character. He keeps blabbering on about stuff that's boring, and I try to tune him out but some of the things he's saying are things I have to hear. But what really gets me is that he tells me things that I already know like why I'm here. Like he thinks I'm too dumb to remember. And even though I just want to get out of my seat, climb up there and punch him in the face, I just can't do anything about it.
Even an hour after the hearing, I can still hear the banging of his mallet, telling me the jury's verdict. "Guilty, guilty, guilty." This is how it is when I sit on my metal bed while iron doors close around me. And ever since my childhood, everyone has treated me as nothing else but... a criminal.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Fiction in a FLASH!
The kids have been working tirelessly on some amazing flash fiction pieces, that being fiction that takes place in one scene, with one or two characters, and is less than 500 words.
At first, I thought this might be a difficult task, as many students love to tell their loooong stories, with laborious details. But to my surprise, the students not only rose to the challenge, they blew me away!
Here is a sneak preview! We will post more throughout the week!
The Da Vinci Secret
by PurplePanda
"What does it mean?" she said. Amy Da Vinci is in her mother's workshop, which was passed down to her after she died. Amy lives in Juneau, Alaska and is stuck indoors with the blizzard outside. She is sitting on the side table, studying her ancestor's notes and drinking coffee next to the fire while the T.V. is blaring breaking news. "I wish mom could tell me what to look at, she would have known," Amy said with despair.
Amy gest up to look through the other boxes while the wind whips and howls. WHen she looks under a box,there's a pitch black safe. She drags it to the center of the room. "How do I open this? Maybe mom's birthday is the password." Amy tries but fails. "What about... Aha!" Amy turns the lock with such speed you couldn't even see the numbers.
Then she hears a click and the door opens a crack. Amy swings the door open and she can't believe her eyes. She picks up this old leathery book; she gasps. Her heart is beating out of her chest. "This is what she was hiding." She grabs the book and runs to the table, and reads. Her eyes burn as if lava was poured on them. But she doesn't stop. She was half way through and she couldn't stop now.
"And for the name of the woman I am painting is..." she reads. Amy flips the page slowly. She's breathing heavily, palms sweating, forehead dripping, and her mouth like a desert. Her mind wanting to know who this mystery woman is. She closes her eyes, then opens them after she finished flipping the page.
"It's empty!" Amy says. She skims the book with desperation. "No, no, no, no, no, NO!!" Amy yells. She sees something that catches her eye. There were pieces of torn paper behind the last page she read. "Someone took the pages out. But why?" Amy said.
Her face turned bright red. She skims through her thoughts. "Who did this? Who would do such a thing?" Then she gasps and drops the book. "Could it be?" She turns her head and looks toward the picture at the end of the room. "You."
*************************************************************************
Dream Come True
By Giggles
I wake up by the sound of the alarm ringing so loudly my ears could fall off. I got up as quickly as I could without my legs breaking. My friend still in bed, I go over to her and shake her so we don't get in trouble. She gets up with her skeleton body and lips as she does her chores. I help her every chance I can, but I only get beaten. I know by everyone's face with them run down and tired, a few have said they would rather die than starve to death.
At night I look up at the hole in the roof to see the moon still standing, thinking the moon takes so much, between storms and people destroying what God had created, and thinking if the moon can take so much destruction, then I can take what has come to me a while longer.
I stay looking at the sky with wide eyes. I see a shooting star. Only I have heard of these in stories, but I believe that my wish will come true because without hope, I have nothing. "I wish my friend to be better and for things to be like they used to be." I whisper with tears coming down my face. I closed my eyes only to hear my thoughts when I drifted away into a deep sleep.
I wake up to the same sound every morning, nothing was any different. I look up to see my friend already looking better, but one thing is different about her. She had gone to do her chores when she couldn't lift the barrel, her hands going through it; even if she had the strength she still couldn't lift it.
I look at her and start to cry, not knowing how to cry about it as if it was a happy cry, sad cry or angry cry. The star had given me my wish, but had to take her life to give it to me. One day I had gotten the ending wish for things to be the way it was before I had followed my friend to a place with no misery. Light filled the room, laughter shook the halls, and forever we will be together.
******************************************************************
LionHeart
by Mask of Truth
"It's just where the shopkeeper said it would be." LionHeart looks at the note and enters the cave. "Will I find her here?" Many thoughts go through LionHeart's mind as she wanders deeper into the cave. She sees a refreshing light at the end of the cave that brightens the sad darkness.
She approaches the light and finds a fountain with golden waters and silver pillars. LionHeart stands in fascination at the fountain, and suddenly her eyes turn to look at a girl standing in the center of the fountain. She turns around and LionHeart knows that this is the person she was looking for... herself.
Friday, March 22, 2013
MCAS is Coming!
It comes as no surprise that we are in the midst of MCAS season, which means testing, and concentration, and lots of unnecessary stress for students, teachers and staff! That's the bad news.
The good news is that our students seem very well-prepared for the next week, and we are certain that their work will come with high honors and accolades.
Just to ensure our students' success, make sure they do the following before and on testing days:
1) Get a good night's sleep
2) Relax with a good book
3) Get some exercise
4) Eat a good breakfast!
Please make sure your student gets to school on time on both Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27. We will be testing the morning. Also, homework will not be given out on those days, so please allow your student to enjoy their afternoon.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!
The good news is that our students seem very well-prepared for the next week, and we are certain that their work will come with high honors and accolades.
Just to ensure our students' success, make sure they do the following before and on testing days:
1) Get a good night's sleep
2) Relax with a good book
3) Get some exercise
4) Eat a good breakfast!
Please make sure your student gets to school on time on both Tuesday, March 26 and Wednesday, March 27. We will be testing the morning. Also, homework will not be given out on those days, so please allow your student to enjoy their afternoon.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact me!
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
6-Word Essays
It's been a while since we've written on the blog, so I'm posting some 6-word essays I made up during our after-school meeting today! I hope you all come up with some tonight and post them here!
Two cultures combined into one being.
Riding the waves through life's storms.
Ascending higher, caring less, finding more.
**Now it's your turn!!**
Two cultures combined into one being.
Riding the waves through life's storms.
Ascending higher, caring less, finding more.
**Now it's your turn!!**
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)