Dear families,

This post is in regards to my 5th grade writing class (4th block of the day).

We have begun working on persuasive writing – one of my favorite genres of writing! Students have chosen a topic they care about, and they have found three compelling reasons to support it. We are currently working on building evidence to illustrate and prove each reason. We have discussed what makes solid evidence – that in some cases it’s facts, statistics and data; and in other cases, it’s personal stories and “what if” scenarios that paint mental images for readers. We have also practiced being discerning users of the Internet for research, using the acronym AAA: Appearance, Author, and Accuracy to find valid, trustworthy websites to gather evidence when facts and statistics are needed.

Students are working on building their plan for their persuasive essays, called boxes and bullets, on their Google Drive accounts. I hope you will take a look at their plan with them over the weekend! Next week, we will finish making our plans and begin drafting our essays using the language of persuasive writers.

We have just started a slightly new spelling/vocabulary program with three sections (commonly misspelled words, strong vocabulary words, and word patterns with Greek and Latin roots). All the students in the class are working on the same list right now because we realized that it is important for the entire class to not only have exposure to, but also to master the skills that are on the lists – both for their own writing, and also for test-taking skills as the year goes on. We will take a break from it next week as we have a shortened week, but the week of January 25, students will receive a new list that we will go over piece by piece. They will be tested on that list the following Thursday, February 4. I will give a practice test during the week of the test as homework, so that you and they can see what the test will be like and be fully prepared for it.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me!