Biography Creator Online

Time For Kids Biography Creator

Click the link above to create your biography completely online!

How to Write a Biography

Biography Project Due Dec. 14th

The Quartering Act of 1765 - King George III Announcement

School House Rock - Prepositional Phrases (with lyrics)

"Preposition" by The Bazillions

Realistic Fiction Project Due Nov. 29th.

It is finally time to start our Realistic Fiction project!  I was so impressed with the Mystery projects.  I cannot wait to see how the children do with this project.  This is usually a favorite genre for a lot of kids, so they feel comfortable to get creative with their projects.  I have a copy of the project page in my classroom for every student.  They will be kept in the striped bucket in the front of the room until November 29th.  Below is what that sheet has on it.  I have also attached a PDF in an email to parents  sent on October 23rd.  We will check out books for this project on Tuesday, October 25th.  I will look up the reading level for each student to ensure that they are reading a book that challenges them.

Name ____________

Realistic Fiction Project   

Due November 29th

Book Title:  _______________________________

Author: __________________________________

Reading Level: ____________________________

Number of Pages: _____

Directions:

After reading your book, you will need to create a paper scrapbook for the main character.  Create a cover for your scrapbook with the title of the book, author, and the name of the main character.  Your scrapbook should include 2 pictures of main events in the book with a 2-3 sentence description for each.  You must also include at least 2 souvenirs or mementos that the main character would have put into the scrapbook.  These objects should reflect events in the story or important aspects of  your character.  Include 2-3 sentences that explain about the object’s significance for each object.  Don’t forget to fill out questions on the back of this page.  

Project Rubric:

Scrapbook Cover Include your name, the title, author, and name of the main character.  The cover should be decorated to reflect the main character’s personality.	/20
2 Pictures of Main Events Your pictures should be neat & colorful.  You must include a 2-3 sentence explanation for each picture.	/30
2 Souvenirs or Mementos Your souvenirs may be real objects, magazine pictures, or drawings.  You must include a 2-3 sentence explanation of each object’s significance.	/30
Character Chart and Book Review Complete the character chart and book review on the back of this page.  Your writing should be thoughtful, spelled correctly, and in complete sentences.	/20
Total	/100

Is your character a static character or a dynamic character?  How can you tell? Explain below using complete sentences.

(Need help?  Visit www.mrssparkssays.blogspot.com for a video)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

List two character traits that would describe your character.  Provide evidence to support your choices.

Character Trait	Evidence from the Novel

Write a one paragraph (5-7 sentences) book review.  (Did you like the book and why or why not?)

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Character Traits chart for Realistic Fiction Project

Dynamic vs. Static Character Video

Mystery Project!!!

Hi Everyone,

I am so excited to get started in our first big project of the year!  The students will go to the library on Monday where a crime has been committed!  Somebody has totally wrecked the library, but luckily, they have left behind some clues!  The students will do an investigation to solve the mystery in teams of 4.  I will Facebook Live it so that you all can see it in action.  Below is the rubric they will get when they checkout their Mystery book.  I will take a look at each book to make sure it is challenging, but not too hard.  They will bring home the book on Monday night to show you guys.  Take a look and if you do not approve of the book, they can return it on Tuesday and get a new book.  The due date for this project is October 18, 2016 when they walk in the classroom.  If they are trying to work on it on that day, it will be considered late.  I would like to encourage the children to bring their supplies for the project starting on October 13th to work on it during my class.  That way they can ask questions if they need to.  I will let them work on it during class the 13th, 14th, and 17th.  Speaking of supplies, I have everything they need in the classroom, but if they would rather do their project on poster board and not manilla paper, you will need to send that to school with them. 

I know that you all know this, but I do need to insist that you do not do any of this project for your child.  This project should look like a 5th grader did it.  I know that everyone wants their child to have the best looking project, but they gain so much more when they do the projects themselves.  These projects are a lot about teaching children to follow rubrics, work on a timeline, taking their time, and putting their best into their work.  It is a process that is hard for some children, but pushing them to put out great work will only help them in the future.  Please let me know if you have any questions! 

Traditional Literature Project

For the Traditional Literature project, we will work together in class.  I do it this way so that the students understand what I expect from these projects.  Students will choose 2 of the same type of book to compare and contrast the settings, plots, and characters.  For example, we will read a version of Cinderella from Russia and one from Japan.  We will then create our Venn Diagram together as a class as their example.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

They will have to answer these questions:

This will be their rubric:

Genre Genius Information

MISD Proud!

I am so excited about our district initiative this year!  We are all and have always been MISD Proud!  Now is the time to spread the word and tell our story.  We will be doing a lot with this during the school year and to kick it off, I traced our logo to create a page the students can design to represent their unique style.  Please visit www.midlothianisdproud.com for more information!  You can even get your very own yard sign! 

Tips for Getting Started in 5th Grade

Tips for Getting Started in 5th Grade

• You are responsible for your own supplies.  That is why we let you keep almost all of them.  If you are out of something, please let your parents know. 
• Do not overfill your binder!  You need your dividers, 2 pencils, scissors, and half a pack of notebook paper.  That is all you need.  Do not stuff your glue, 2 packs of paper, markers, all of your pencils, and everything else you get on your supply list in your binder.  It will bust the zipper.  All of your teachers will let you know what supplies you need for each day, so don't worry about being unprepared. 
• Speaking of supplies, you will need to bring headphones to school every single day.  It is a requirement starting in 5th grade because of the amount of technology we use.
• We will be using Canvas and Google a lot this year.  You all have an email address with the district that stays with you forever.  Your email address is your lunch number@misd.gs (1234@misd.gs) and your password is either misd or panthers.  If you try it right now and it doesn't work, wait until we start school and we will figure it out.  The technology department is not resetting passwords right now.  I have no idea how you guys will login to Canvas, but I will let everyone know when I do.
• Please click on this link to learn more about technology in the classroom.  http://www.misd.gs/Page/634  I plan on being a BYOD classroom as long as you can handle it.  Please do not feel obligated to buy technology.  We have extras at school that you can use if you do not bring your own.  
• You need a book with you every single day after we visit the library for the first time.  My class is very much project-based and will require you to be reading constantly.  Don't worry, you will have a lot of class time to read and talk about your books with me and your classmates. 

Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.  I look forward to seeing everyone on August 18th!

With Love,

Amber Sparks

Parents, Welcome to 5th Grade!

Dear Parents,

Can you believe we are here already?  5th grade!  Where did the time go?  I want to welcome you back to school for another year of learning.  I am thrilled to welcome your family into my classroom and look forward to working with you to make this year the most successful one yet.  

Fifth grade is a challenging year.  A lot of responsibility is put on the student as they learn to be successful for the future.  This is the time when the stakes are raised, and a level of maturity is required of them that has not yet been asked for. They will be working independently, in groups, and with teachers along the journey, all in an effort to help them acquire skills they will need down the road.  Please know that we are all in this together and want the same thing for your child. I feel that all parents want the very best for their children, and I want you to know that I want that too, and will work tirelessly to achieve that standard.

I want my classroom to be one of learning, growth, light, and love.  I want the children to learn responsibility, but to not forget that they are children and that this time in their lives will pass too quickly.  We need to slow down and enjoy being 10 and 11 years old. So, if your child comes home and says, “Mrs. Sparks let us play in the snow this morning instead of practicing our spelling words,” know that we will catch up on that later, but I find it equally important to seize those small moments in life.  I am so excited that your child was chosen to be in my classroom this year, and look forward to helping them grow and find the place that they thrive.  I am 100% invested in your child and their future.  Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.  

Thank you,

Amber Sparks

amber_sparks@misd.gs

972-775-2881

Blog: http://mrssparkssays.blogspot.com/

Twitter: @MrsSparksSays

Instagram: @MrsSparksSays

Facebook: @MrsSparksSays

Planning Out My Year

Hi Everyone!

I hope that you guys are enjoying your summer!  I wanted to share with you how I plan out my upcoming year using my state standards.  My standards are called TEKS here in Texas.  TEKS stands for Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills.  They are laid out by grade level and subject.  I teach ELAR/SS, but will just be focusing on the ELAR side of things today.  ELAR is wonderful because, unlike SS, you have a lot of options on how you want to lay out your year to best meet the needs of your students.

The first thing I did was go to our state website to locate my TEKS.  TEKS are found at TEA.Texas.gov and you can pull them up two different ways.

TEKS by Content Area 

TEKS by Grade Level

It doesn't matter which way you choose, as it is the same information on both PDFs other than the location of Figure 19.  I'll address that in a bit.  Once I pull up my TEKS, I scroll down to the Knowledge and Skills statements.  You need to read the introduction, but it isn't part of your planning process.

Start here:

Next, I open up a Sheets page on Google Drive.  You can use Excel if that is what you prefer to use.  I begin to copy and paste my TEKS one by one into my spreadsheet into columns. What is really important, and often overlooked is the Knowledge and Skills statement.  That is the wording right after the number.  I put all of the K&S statements in the first column.  I put the SE (Student Expectations) in the second column.  So, this means that a lot of times, I have to copy that K&S into multiple squares on my sheet to match up with the SE.   This is what it looks like:

Some SEs have additional information using Roman Numerals.  I put those with the corrisponding letters and continued copying and pasting the K&S and SE statements that go with them.  This is important because when we use these to plan, they are as important as a strand on their own.  If you just copy and past everything once, you will end up separating the K&S statement from the SE, and that will not help you understand what is actually being asked of the students.  As I'm doing this, I separate the TEKS by topic.  For ELAR, these are the topics I used:

Do not forget your Figure 19.  It is actually at the VERY top of the TEKS if you look at them by subject.  If you look at them by grade level, they are at the bottom of your TEKS, after Listening/Speaking.

Once I have these finished on the spreadsheet, I print them one sheet at a time and change the color of the paper I use for each topic.  My print settings look like this:

Once I have them printed, I cut them out without separating the K&S statements from the SEs.

 Then, I laminate and cut again.

Now, I have my TEKS ready to lay out and sort.  One thing I did with mine that I have fixed in the copy I am linking below is that I made writing and oral language the same color.  That has made it a little harder to quickly see the different topics.  

Reading TEKS

Research TEKS

Listening/Speaking TEKS

 

Writing Process

Writing TEKS

Conventions TEKS

Now that I am done with that, I want to start looking at the genres.  I like to start with fiction because I think it is the one our students are most familiar with in reading.  I pull my fiction TEKS and then see what else could go with this as a unit.  For me, that is TEKS 5.6A-C.  When you look at your TEKS and start to break them down, you will start to realize that there are TEKS that go with all fiction genres, informational genres, and all genres.  For me, TEKS. 5.1, 5.2A-E, 5.3, and 5.9 go with all of my genres.  They are my independent reading, vocabulary, and fluency TEKS.   

Once I go through all of my TEKS and decide what I want to go in each unit, I make a copy of my previous Sheets where I have my TEKS by topic.  I use it to create TEKS by unit.  My units are Fiction, Expository, Poetry, Drama, Persuasive, and Literary Nonfiction. 

I will then print these sheets to use when I plan out my lessons and activities.  I have attached the Google Drive links below to both Sheets I created.  They are view only, but if you make a copy, you can edit them in your own drive without messing with mine.

5th Grade TEKS by Genre

5th Grade TEKS by Topic

The art of teaching is absolutely fascinating to me.  I hope that even if you work in a district that mandates what you teach and when you teach it, you take advantage of really knowing and understanding your standards.  My biggest advice to any teacher is to remember that we do not teach data points, tests, or even standards, we teach children.  They are our "Who" and they must come first when designing units, lessons, and activities.  Be creative and never be stop being innovative.  Our students deserve it.  

With Love,

Amber Sparks