English: Grades 5-8 (Mr. Smith)

<Note: Please see bottom of this page for 5th Grade Religion Updates>

English - General

All grades have aggressively grown their word reserves using Vocabulary Workshop (VW), and now we are decelerating a bit in order to apply ourselves to more reading, writing, and grammar. Grammar lessons will continue in the Grammar for Writing (GfW). Reading assignment sources will vary from My Perspectives (MP) - or My View (MV) for Grade 5, and other sources as needed.

Important Notice: To the best of my ability, All assignments, due dates, and important dates for Quizes and Tests are now in/on Google Classroom. All students have access to this tool and could probably show you how to use it better than I could! I strongly suggest viewing the content in the "Calendar" view. The list view is fine for seeing the latest, but can get a little cumbersome as it is constantly growing.

We have also started using the IXL program of skill practice. Most, if not all students are already familiar with this tool. IXL work, which is graded automatically within the program, will be applied towards grades in the appropriate areas of the English course (E.L.A., Reading and Literature, Spelling, etc.) depending on the content of the skill being practiced. Skill exercise scores may be grouped or averaged into a single grade.

5^th Grade English

Please go to our Google Classroom, (E.L.A. 5) for assignments and important dates.

The students have written essays using a contest promoted by the Maryknoll Society in New York state. The essays are on Hope and its impact in one's life. They did a great job!

Vocabulary words in Unit 8: alternate, demolish, energetic, enforce, feat, hearty, mature, observant, primary, resign, strive, and verdict. Do you know them all? Did I spell them right?

Westarting a section on poetry in MV.  Various exercises and writing. (Reading and Literature). Working Chapter 1 – Sentence Structure of Grammar Workshop (GW). We continue to practice our cursive by writing sentences including the vocabulary words in cursive.

 6^th Grade English

Please go to our Google Classroom, (E.L.A. 6) for assignments and important dates.

The students wrote essays on Hope, using as a guide an essay contest held by the Maryknoll Society in New York State. All students wrote an essay. Many were touching, and a few were submitted for the contest. All were greatly appriciated!

We may resume our analysis of a sampling of Brown Girl Dreaming , a poetic memoir by Jacqueline Woodson. (Reading and Literature).

Continuing Chapter 2 of GfW.  Baseline cursive handwriting assessments are being reviewed.

 7^th Grade English

Please go to our Google Classroom, (E.L.A. 7) for assignments and important dates.

The students wrote essays on Hope, using as a guide an essay contest held by the Maryknoll Society in New York State. All students wrote an essay. Many were touching, and a few were submitted for the contest. All were greatly appriciated!

We are finishing up our work on Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart with writing assignments. (Reading and Literature) H/W Wed. 11/5: Make list of observations the arresting officers would have made, according to the context clues in the story. Students wrote a "Police Report" as if they were the leading officer called to the crime scene.

Finishing Chapter 2 of GfW, completing the chapter review on Effective Sentence and Word Choice. (E.L.A.). Baseline cursive handwriting assessments are being reviewed.  A diocesan essay contest for November will commence shortly as well.

 8^th Grade English

Please go to our Google Classroom, (E.L.A. 8) for assignments and important dates.

The students wrote essays on Hope, using as a guide an essay contest held by the Maryknoll Society in New York State. All students wrote an essay. Many were touching, and a few were submitted for the contest. All were greatly appriciated!

We are finishing up our work on Edgar Allen Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart with writing assignments. (Reading and Literature) H/W Wed. 11/5: Make list of observations the arresting officers would have made, according to the context clues in the story. Students wrote a "Police Report" as if they were the leading officer called to the crime scene.

We are finishing Chapter 2 of GfW, completing the chapter review on Effective Sentence and Word Choice. (E.L.A.). Baseline cursive handwriting assessments are being reviewed.  A diocesan essay contest for November will commence shortly as well.

Religion - 5^th Grade

• We will be learning the ”Studio 3:16” multimedia supplemental lesson. (Your Faith Can Save).
• We completed the monthly Virtue of Hope supplemental lesson for December's virtue of Patience. Our Saint for the month is St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.
• Students will work on personal morning prayers: Next up 12/4,6/2024.
• Currently in the middle of Finding God (FG) textbook Unit 2, working up through Session 10 for Advent. We will finish before break with Session 15, Celebrating Christmas, appropriately.
• Next Studio 3:16 lesson will accompany the FG lessons.
• We will also complete the Circle of Grace Program for 2024. This year’s content covers stress and its management. Opt-out slips were distributed in early October. Please email me (Mr. Smith at dsmith@materdolorosaschool.org if you need more information.

Our little “drama club” of fifth graders did a great job portraying Padre Pio and his ability to bi- and even tri-locate, after the All Saints Day Mass on November 1. We had a Script Department, Wardrobe Master, Prop Master, three Padre Pio’s with Production Assistants and a slew of Penitents.