Writer's Workshop

     We've embarked on a Poetry Unit and learned so many new things! We learned that poetry can have so many different features including rhyming, stanzas, and line breaks.  Poems can have similes, metaphors, personification, and idioms.  Poets make interesting and intentional choices about punctuation and capitalization, and poetry often invokes emotion.  We learned that an anthology is a collection of poems on the same topic, and as a class we wrote a Vacation Anthology. Students are currently in the process of writing their own anthology on the topic of their choice.  

We studied and annotated famous works of poetry.  

Anna wrote a poem that shows the suspense (and disappointment) going fishing can bring. 

Author Mrs. Judy Young visited Crestwood to teach us about the writing process.  Jacob, Griffin, and Alondra help Mrs. Young to display some of her best known books.  

Mrs. Young calls on students during a girls vs. boys game of Missouri trivia.  

Social Studies
    We can't get enough of the Underground Railroad in Room 28.  This week, we learned so much about this network of secret routes that many passengers took to reach freedom.  Conductors helped fleeing slaves by providing food, water, disguises, direction, knowledge, and more.  Stationmasters provided a safe place to hide along the journey.  We learned about courageous people like Harriett Tubman and Levi Coffan, who together helped thousands of passengers find their way north.

Reader's Workshop
    We recently started Book Clubs and are loving our time together discussing our mysteries.  As a team, students decided their reading assignment and meeting schedule.  They completed specific tasks as well as the assigned reading.  Students took notes on each character, describing them in detail.  They recorded predictions about the plot, and they harvested unfamiliar and/or interesting words.  Talking about our reading together helps us to better understand the story and gives us practice communicating our thinking with others.

Mr. Norton teaches the class about an activity.  

Students practice yoga to cool down after working out.

Anina shows off her favorite book character.

"I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs!" Alondra shared.  

Anina, Jacob, Alondra, Samantha, & Rachel show off their character costumes.

Jack, Maddie, & Anina get a little silly in Art.  

Gaby models a student-made mask with Mrs. Callahan. 

Gage & Anna show their excitement for their Art.