Reading/Social Studies Assignments
Root Study Words
In your reading notebook, write one sentence for each vocabulary word that demonstrates you know what the work means. For example, for the word "podiatrist", you cannot write "I went to the podiatrist"; this does not demonstrate word knowledge. However, you CAN write something like "I went to see the podiatrist because of my foot injury." This sentence properly demonstrates you understand what the word means.
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Root Meaning Vocabulary
graph write autograph, graffiti, graphite, paragraph, telegraph
photo light photocopy, photograph, photon, photosynthesis, telephoto
cred believe credential, credible creditor, creed, incredulous
aud/audi hear audible, audience, audio, audition, auditorium
ped/pod foot pedestrian, pedicure, pedometer, podiatrist, tripod
port carry deport, import, portable, teleport, transport
aqua water aquanaut, aquarium, aquatic, aqueduct, aqueous
bio life antibiotic, biodegradable, biography, biohazard, biology
phon sound homophone, microphone, phonics, saxophone, symphony
chron time chronic, chronicle,
chronological, chronometer, synchronize
rupt burst corrupt, disruptive, erupt, interrupt, rupture
loc place allocate, dislocate, local, locomotive, relocation
meter measure barometer, diameter, optometry, perimeter, symmetry
therm heat geothermal, hypothermia,
thermal, thermos, thermostat
dict to say or tell contradict, dictation, dictator, predict, verdict
geo earth, ground geographic, geography, geologist, geoponics, geothermal
ject throw eject, injection, interjection, project, reject
scrib/script write descriptive, manuscript, prescription, scribble, transcribe
mit/mis send dismiss, mission, omit, submit, transmit
struct build construction, destructive, instruct, reconstruct, structure
tract draw, pull attract, detract, extract, subtract, traction
vis/vid see invisible, televise, video, visitation, visual
Novels We Will Complete This Year
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Florence and Richard Atwater
The Story Collector by Kristin O'Donnell Tubb
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
George Washington's Socks by Elvira Woodruff
George Washington's Spy by Elvira Woodruff
Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
Freedom Train by Dorothy Sterling
Hidden: A True Story of the Holocaust by
Fanya Gottesfeld Heller
All Reading and Social Studies assignments will be posted here.
Check back often to see what is going on each week, especially if you are absent! Most reading and social studies assignments will be assigned on Monday and due on Friday.
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Mar. 21-24: We will finish George Washington's Spy this week; vocab test Friday. Students were assigned a Founding Father to do a report on; those are due April 3. Students have articles on Betsy Ross and Caesar Rodney to read/complete. They need to have a topic for their speeches by Wednesday. Speech competition will be next Wednesday; all students will receive a major grade on their speech.
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Mar. 6-10: We will continue with George Washington's Spy, completing chapters 11-20 with a test Thursday. Root test Thursday. Students will complete work on the battles of the American Revolution, an examination of patriot versus loyalist perspectives, and the roles of the First and Second Continental Congresses. The article Shall We Dance? will work on reading skills as well.
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Feb. 27-Mar. 3: Start the novel George Washington's Spy. Test Friday and chapters 1-10. Students will start a review packet for science that will be due May 1. We will test on the Ready Book Unit 5 on Thursday. Students will complete the third packet on the human body, and the article Best Hoofer. Weekly HMH test Friday.
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Feb. 20-24: Monthly STAR testing will take place Friday. We will complete our second human body packet, as well as a human body scavenger hunt. The root hydr meaning water is due by Friday, and we will have our root study test on March 9. Ready Book test Thursday.
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Feb. 13-17: Root for this week is vid/vis, meaning to see. We will have our final root study test of the year in the next few weeks. Students will have a packet on organs to complete. We will finish George Washington's Socks on Monday, and students will complete a project on it. ReadWorks contains three articles on President's Day.
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Feb. 6-10: Students will complete the root tract, meaning to draw or pull. Students will complete their next Ready Book unit assessment, as well as read from George Washington's Socks. Vocab test Friday.
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Jan. 30-Feb. 3: Test prep continues all week with our first practice test on Tuesday. We will begin our next novel, George Washington's Socks, on Tuesday. Expect to read about two chapters per day, and tests after chapters 5, 10, 15, and 23. Vocab list will be handed out Tuesday; expect vocab test next Friday, Feb. 10. Root this week is struct, meaning to build. Students will be getting three articles this week that focus on interpreting poetry. We will visit the library on Thursday for lesson and checkout.
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Jan. 23-27: Test prep will begin this week. We will cover a lesson each day and test at the end of each unit. Students will complete the root study for mit/mis and do a timeline of major events of the American Revolution. They will complete three articles on ReadWorks and do several activities related to Literacy Week. We will STAR test on Friday. They also have an article on recycling and their colony packets from last week are due on Friday.
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Jan. 17-20: Quiz on root studies we have done so far on Friday, along with the colonies map. Students will complete articles to continue to practice their reading skills.
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Jan. 9-13: FAST testing Monday. Students will complete articles on giant toads and Australian animals. The root study this week is ject, meaning throw. Root study quiz next Friday, along with their colony quiz mentioned previously. Students will complete an article about colonization by Spain, France, and England, along with an article about the Columbian Exchange. We will also complete data chats about our FAST test results.
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Jan. 4-6: Root study geo, meaning ground. Articles on Australia titled "A New Mate" and "The First Australians.: Two articles on ReadWorks on MLK Jr. In Social Studies we will discuss for formation of the 13 colonies and finish our study map. Students will have a quiz on Jan. 20 and need to be able to identify the 13 original colonies, color them by region, and identify the nine major settlements discussed in class. We will review skills for FAST testing on Monday.
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Dec. 12-16: This week we will read the book Hidden, which is the true story of a Holocaust survivor. We will review text features, do an article on the holidays in Hawaii, and begin to look at the colonization of the United States in Social Studies.
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Nov. 14-18: Continue reading "The Westing Game." Students should be figuring out which book project they want to do and letting me know if they need supplies (copy paper, cardstock, butcher paper, etc.). Our next root is meter, meaning measure. We will read the story "Christo and Jean-Claude" in HMH. Students will have a story to write about a turkey and a grandparent essay to complete this week, along with articles about pumpkin pie, the annual pardoning of the turkey, and how the turkey was considered for our national bird. We will also visit the library later in the week ahead of break. Make sure you are reading and logging your minutes in Beanstack.
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Oct. 31-Nov. 4: Root study for this week is rupt, meaning to break. We will take our next root study quiz on our first 12 roots next week. We will complete several grammar reviews on homophones, a/an, and connotation. We will complete our DBQ on hurricanes and finish our novel The Story Collector. Vocab and reading tests will take place early in the week on the novel. We will begin our next novel, The Westing Game, late this week or early next week, There will be a book project associated with this novel. There are three selections on ReadWorks to be completed.
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Oct. 24-28: Root study for this week is loc, meaning place. We will continue with our novel, The Story Collector, and will test on the middle third of the book on Tuesday. Students will continue their articles on explorers and have science related material on ReadWorks. We will continue to review figurative language and will complete an article on wind. Our essay this week will focus on hurricanes, and students will also write a fun narrative piece based on a Halloween picture. Book Fair is this week, and our shop day is on Wednesday.
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Oct. 17-21: We will read a story in HMH on Hurricanes this week. The root for this week is chron, meaning time. We will edit/rewrite on our Grimm essays (some students still need to turn in their first attempts!). We will look at Hudson/Coronado/de Leon in social studies, and we will review figurative language and text structures. Students will also complete a packet on hurricanes in preparation for an essay on hurricanes next week. We will continue our novel The Story Collector, and take our first test on about Wednesday. We will go to the library on Thursday for a check out only.
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Oct. 10-14: Root study for this week is bio, meaning life. We will accomplish two HMH stories this week on earthquakes. Our essay this week will be our first DBQ (document based question) on the Grimm Fairy Tales. DBQs are an excellent writing tool because they encourage analytical thinking skills in addition to enhancing our writing skills. Our explorer unit will continue with articles about Cabot, Cartier, and de Champlain. There is one article on ReadWorks for completion. Penguin projects are due Friday. We will also begin our next novel study later in the week, reading The Story Collector. The book is set in the 1920s and follows a fictional account of the actual family that lived in the New York Public Library. It is a ghost story, so perfect for this time of year and the novel has a rich vocabulary selection, which is essential for developing reading comprehension.
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Oct. 3-7: All reading assignments are due Thursday this week due to the Friday planning day. We will read the informational text "Eruption" in our HMH books and take the associated quiz. Students have three explorers to read about on ReadWorks, and I have given them articles on Leif the Lucky, Columbus, and Vespucci to complete. They need to make sure they are being thorough on the short answer portions as those will carry more weight when graded. They should resemble a body paragraph in their essays. Root this week is "phon" meaning sound. I am not assigning a new essay this week; we are working on rewrites from our football essay last week. I will do an extensive writing lesson with them Monday and we will examine an example essay that would receive a top score if graded by the state. If your student has any late assignments, those need to be completed and turned in by Wednesday.
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Sept. 26-30: We will finish Mr. Popper on Thursday and test on Friday. Also Friday we will test on the vocabulary from the novel. We have finished our geography unit and will move on to the Age of Exploration. We will read about multiple Europeans explorers and their reasons for exploration. We will examine the trade routes utilized before seafaring expeditions became more common and how navigation improvements drove those ships. Students have articles on ReadWorks to complete in addition to packets on Henry Hudson and Magellan. I will also give them a timeline of exploration to complete. We will write an essay this week on football (yeah!) and focus on getting evidence into our body paragraphs. Good writing is essential to good reading skills. Our next set of roots begins this week with aqua meaning water. (Remember that students are responsible for the previous six roots as well going forward.)
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Sept. 19-23: Friday we will take our first root study quiz. Students are required to match the root with the meaning and then do a series of fill in the blank sentences with the vocabulary words. There will be a word bank for the vocab. Our big states test is on Friday, at which point we will be done with our geography unit and will move on to the age of exploration. State postcard projects are also due this Friday. We will read the HMH story "Poem that Doesn't End" this week. We will also start our first novel of the year, Mr. Popper's Penguins. During novel studies, students are expected to apply all of their reading skills. This novel will take us about two weeks. Students will do a penguin project as part of the unit. They will research one of the 18 species of penguins and create a project from the menu of choices I will provide. Half of the project grade will be from the model and half from the required written portion. They will have two packets about penguins and other flightless birds to complete, as well as three articles on ReadWorks. Our essay this week will be on Space Junk. Please note that everyone needs to have a composition notebook for writing, regardless of whether or not we are typing so that they can plan appropriately and take notes during class. If your student is typing their essay, the essay MUST be completed in Word using the font Times New Roman in 12 point size. No other font style or type size will be acceptable. I strongly encourage everyone to start typing practice in ClassLink with EduType app.
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Sept. 12-16: Students will do their next root, port, meaning to carry. Packets for completion this week will be on space topics sun/moon/Pluto and dwarf planets vs. planets. Students will also read and respond to an article about the Hubble space telescope. Students will complete their first essay this year on Pluto. I'm going to go over basics with them, but I'm not going to do an in-depth writing lesson. I want to see what they remember from last year. Essays do not go in the gradebook UNLESS we have an issue with submission; if I am consistently having to get the class to do their essays, I will make them subject to grading. Our HMH stories this week are "Miracle of Spring" and and excerpt from "The Secret Garden." Quiz Friday on the West and SouthWest regions for our states/capitals/abbreviations. Next week is our final test on those (all 50). Postcard projects are due next Friday as well. Next week, we will get into our first novel of the year, "Mr. Popper's Penguins." During novel studies, students are expected to utilize all of their reading skills. We use novels for practical application of skills on larger, more complex works, which helps them to do better on smaller passages.
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Sept. 5-9: FAST ELA test on Tuesday. We will read the story "Airborn" in HMH and take the associated assessments. The root this week is ped/pod, meaning foot. Students will complete packets on the inner and outer planets and an article about objects in space. In Know It Show It, pages 27-29, 31. Midwest region quiz on Friday. Students should be working on their postcard projects. Our library lesson scheduled for Friday may be rescheduled due to FAST testing on other grade levels.
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Aug. 29-Sept. 2: Students will continue their geography study with the SouthEast region (quiz Friday); study materials went home on Friday. Students will learn the root aud/audi, meaning to hear. ReadWorks has three articles about famous astronauts that focus on practicing our main idea and evidence skills. Students will complete three articles to work on reading comprehension. Students must complete page 20 in their Know It Show It book. In our ScienceSaurus book, students must read pages 218-239, which relates to our science unit. In our HMH reading books, we will read the story "Captain Arsenio" and take the related quiz. Students will be required to take their weekly reading test along with the county mandated Module 1 assessment.
State Postcard Project: On Thursday, I handed your students what they need to complete their project for a major grade in Social Studies. They will be selecting one state to research and create a postcard about that state. Their front design must be big enough to fill the space (it is a letter size piece of cardstock) and the design must relate in some way to the state (for example, a rendering of the Statue of Liberty for New York would be appropriate). In the written portion, they need to write about their "trip" to their chosen state. They must include the name of the state and its capital, information about at least two landmarks, at least one thing the state is well known for, and three other miscellaneous or "neat" facts they learned while doing their research. Postcards will be addressed (using the school address). Neatness, spelling, grammar, punctuation will be assessed; I strongly recommend making a rough draft BEFORE writing on the provided cardstock. Projects are due Sept. 23.
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Aug. 22-26: NorthEast region study materials went home on Friday. Students must be able to identify the state, two letter abbreviation, and capital on the quiz on Friday. Next week: SouthEast region. Students will read Winds of Hope and Wheelchair Sports in our HMH series this week; selection quiz for an intermediate grade and test Friday on skills for a major grade. Students will study the root cred, meaning "believe" due Friday. Students have two articles on Galapagos tortoises and pink river dolphins. Students have three articles on ReadWorks to complete. Students also have two science articles about innovation that require students to apply their story element skills.
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Aug. 15-19: We completed the root "graph" in class together last week. This week students will complete the root "photo" meaning light. We will do a Social Studies packet reviewing basic map skills and adding the new concepts of latitude and longitude. We will do data chats in small group to go over last year's FSA results, discuss what went well, and what our goals need to be for this year. We will do a computer check to make sure our login credentials work. We will use the online program ReadWorks frequently this year; students will complete two articles this week. In their ScienceSaurus books, students will read the chapter on scientific method. We will read the story "Thomas Edison Meets Henry Ford" in our reading books and complete pages 5 and 8 in our Know It Show It books. Our first library lesson of the year will take place on Thursday. We will also read some articles on lab and internet safety. Please note the entire root study lineup for the year is listed at left for convenient studying. Next week will begin our unit on states/capitals with the NorthEast region. Study hard!
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Aug. 10-12: Welcome to class! The COLOR notebook I gave you on the first day of class is your reading notebook for this year. You will complete all of your root study in this notebook, take notes in here, and use it often. This week we will review most of our basic reading skills by completing multiple interactive notebook pages each day. On Friday, students will take an open notebook quiz on the material we covered. This is to get us back in the habit of taking notes and writing what we should in class. Also, coming soon in Social Studies, students will be expected to learn all 50 states and their capitals, and be able to identify the states on a map. Get a jump and start working on that now with the Northeast region of the country!