Holiday Fun :)

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Powerful Persuasive Pieces

Our class just finished our Persuasive Writing Unit. The kids did a wonderful job trying to convince someone to agree with their opinions. Here are a few examples of what we published. Enjoy :)

Dear League Director,
     Isn't it boring when football season is over? I think there should be more than 16 pro-football games in a season. Having more football games keeps you active, you get to hang out with your friends and it is fun to watch!
     First of all, I am a football player. So I know it keeps you active! We run a lot in football and work hard! We have practice at least one hour a week. Don't you think if you were more active you could be much more healthier?
     Second, you get to hang out with friends that aren't in my class during football. It's fun to hang out with them. Football is a team sport and you encourage your friends to play hard.
     Finally, football is fun to watch. It gets you excited and you get to watch your city play. For example, my city has the Jacksonville Sharks for arena football. I got to go and watch them play. It was pretty fun and they won!
     I want you to increase the amount of games in a football season now! This way people will become stronger and have more fun playing and watching football! Also, a lot of people will thank you like me. Thank you!
                                                                                                                      Sincerely,
                                                                                                                       Dylan

    Hello! I'm a Christmas tree. Are you looking for a Christmas tree? If you are, then pick me! Pick me! I'm the biggest, tallest, most prettiest Christmas tree you've ever seen!
     First of all, I'm big. Really big! But not too big that I will take up a lot of space in your house. I'll work perfectly if you have a lot of ornaments in your house that you don't know what to do with.
     Second of all, I'm tall. Tall enough to almost reach your roof! Lots of people buy small Christmas tress because they can't find trees tall enough. If you buy me, I will solve your problem!
     Last, but not least, I am really pretty. I have a bright green glow that I'm sure you and your family will love. I look even brighter with ornaments and a star on top. Your house will look fabulous with me in it. I also don't have that many sharp spines on me so that if you have kids, they won't get hurt if they touch me.
     I think that you are going to love me the minute you put me in your house. I'm big, I'm tall and I'm pretty. What more could you ask for? Pick me for your Christmas tree if you want to have a real good Christmas!
                                                                                             
                                                                                                                      by Shreya

                                                                                                             

Promise to Kate

Our class will be supporting "Promise to Kate" for our "Seasons of Giving" project this year. Kate was born with myotonic muscular dystrophy which is an inherited gene that laid quietly in their gene pool. Kate's parents, Elizabeth and Dave Conte, founded "Promise to Kate," a foundation that embodies their promise to raise money to cure the disease. The money they raise goes to fund research but also helps families who need services of Wolfson Children's Hospital. Elizabeth is a teacher here at Chets Creek and she came with Kate to speak to our class about their organization. Our students were quite impressed when Kate signed the whole alphabet for us :). Our class made special ornaments that will be on display in the front lobby. In receipt of your donation to this wonderful cause you will receive one of these special ornaments. 

Oreo Turkeys :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Persuasive Writing

This week we have been working on our Persuasive Writing unit. We started our unit reading books with persuasion in them. We read I Wanna Iguana by Karen Kaufman Orloff. We talked about the reasons Alex used to persuade his mom to let him have the iguana. Then we discussed whether or not those were valid reasons. Next, we learned that in order to write a powerful, effective persuasive letter, it is important to write about something you really care about. So then we brainstormed ideas we were passionate about through a heart map. Students came up with some great ideas! They then created a T-chart about what they wanted to persuade someone to do and gave reasons why they should agree with them. Finally, we used a planning sheet to organize our writing. We will continue to work on our Persuasive Letters and  then turn them into powerful persuasive essays. Stay tuned for our published work!

Author's Purpose

We have been working on the reading concept: Author's Purpose. Writers always have a purpose, or a reason, for writing. This week we learned how to pay close attention to clues in what we are reading to figure out the author's purpose. It was as easy as P.I.E.E :).

Literary Pumpkin

One of our favorite traditions here at Chets Creek is the Litarty Pumpkin. Each class choses a book and then decorates a pumpkin to represent that book in some way. This year our class chose Frindle by Andrew Clements. Frindle was our first chapter book read aloud this year. It is a story about a boy named Nick whose creative troublemaking causes an uproar in his school and then throughout the nation. Frindle is a word Nick makes up just to bug his fifth-grade teacher who is a dictionary expert. Nick is determined to get everyone to use his new word as Mrs. Granger is to stop it. This prank spirals out of control as the word catches on all over the town. Our class gives this book 3 stars! Ask your child what the word Frindle means :).