Happy Holidays!

                                                   Friday, December 21, 2012

Dear Families of Class 4-411,

Wow, time flies! I cannot believe 2012 is coming to an end. It seems like September was just yesterday and I was just meeting all of you and your children for the first time. The kids have worked so hard since then and accomplished so much.

Academically, your children have learned so much! In writing, the students have written personal narratives, realistic fiction stories, personal and persuasive essays, and are just finishing up their research-based argument essays. In reading, they have been soaring through their fiction and non-fiction books, and are already up to reading 40 minutes each night! In math, the students have tackled multiplication and are now working hard on division!

        

We have also come together as a community inside our classroom. Your kids have bonded together not only as classmates, but as friends. I have seen so many acts of kindness and children supporting one another in our classroom and it makes me so proud.

I am truly impressed by your children and all the amazing things they have accomplished thus far. Seeing how far they have come in just a few short months makes me even more excited for all the amazing things they will continue to accomplish in the second half of the year.

I want to thank you for your participation and the continued support you have given your children these last few months. I so appreciate all that you do and I am looking forward to working together to make 2013 the best year yet! I hope you are able to enjoy some family time with your loved ones this season. Wishing all of you happy holidays!

Best Wishes,

Ms. Mactas

Homework 12/19/12

HOMEWORK FOR 12/19/12

DUE 12/21/12

Reading: 1) Read 20 minutes (each night) in your fiction books and 20 minutes in your nonfiction books and log. 2) Write long off some of your post-its to grow your ideas.

Math: Complete Weekly Word Problem #11. DUE FRIDAY

Social Studies: Remember, your Native American project is DUE FRIDAY

Persuasive Essay: Animal Cruelty Should Stop by Sophie Applewhite

ANIMAL CRUELTY SHOULD STOP!

I think animal cruelty should stop because if we keep on hunting down animals there will be no animals. I think animal cruelty should stop because  species are getting extinct and if people keep on killing animals its bad and we can and up with no animals at all. That's bad news.I think animal cruelty should stop because why are we killing animals? I mean what did they do to us? so we are like going around and killing animals. I think animal cruelty should stop because animals are dying from habitat  like the polar bears. they are dying from the ice melting and zoos are trying to help. Also circuses are hurting animals.How would you feel if you got slashed with whips. Hurt right? so I think animal cruelty should stop.

Persuasive Esasy: Stop Bullying by Angelina Priano

       STOP BULLYING

            By Angelina Priano

  Hey!  Don't you think bullying is wrong? Well you're right, bullying is cruel I think bullying should stop, it hurts peoples feelings, It makes people not want to go to school, and it's bad for your health.

      One reason bullying should stop is it hurts peoples feelings. For example: If someone is bullied they will feel really bad.  Another thing is, one time my friend was getting picked on and she felt really left out and she was crying. She said to me that she was really hurt. She said that she wanted to stand up for herself but she couldn't because she was so scared.

    Another reason Bullying should stop is it makes kids not want to go to school. For example: They would get so mad they would think it was going to happen again and not go to school. Another thing is kids don't like to deal with that kind of stuff and they get upset and don't want to go to school.

    My last reason why bullying should stop is it's bad for your health for example: People get so upset they don't eat and they don't sleep and they don't talk it could be really unhealthy especially for kids, and it also holds them back in school because they don't concentrate.

    Well I hope I have convinced you.  Just try to standup for what you believe in and fight for bullying. Because it makes people not want to come to school, it hurts their feelings, and it's bad for your health. So just think about stopping bullying.

Persuasive Essay: Electricity by Jack Moorehead

Hi. Do you think wasting electricity is a problem? I do. It is just wrong because it affects peoples lives , affects the way people feel when the hot and cold weather come , and its bad for the environment .

        One reason I  think wasting electricity is a problem because it affects peoples lives. For example, people can’t get to far places, people can’t contact others, and people don’t know what is going on . This proves one reason why you should not waste electricity.

     Another reason I think wasting electricity is a problem because it affects the weather if it is hot and cold . For example, in the winter time it is freezing cold and if you don’t have electricity you won’t be able to stay warm. When it is hot, you won’t be able to be nice and cool. This proves another reason why you should not waste electricity.

       My last reason why wasting electricity is a problem is because it is bad for the environment. Most electricity is created by burning oil or coal .If electricity is being wasted, a lot of air pollution is being made.

    In conclusion, I thought wasting electricity was not bad at all. But when it came to affecting people’s lives, it became bad. Millions of electricity is being wasted everyday and it is become harder and harder to save it. This is why I think wasting electricity is a problem.

Persuasive Essay: Bullying by Michael Waguenouni

                      Bullying

Michael Waguenouni                                                                                12/14/12

4-411

Bullying is horrible because kids do not want to go to school. They always get injured. For example, say that you were getting bullied, you should walk away and find an adult because, once I got bullied, and I was hurt. It also hurt my feeling too.

Besides there are two things you should not do when being bullied. One, never stand up to him, that’ll only make it worse, and two, never talk to him because that’ll make it even more worse because they think they can do whatever they want.

Say that you were in class and this bully wanted to get attention. If he or she is bothering you, ignore he or she because he or she gets ignored he or she will give up and move on to a new target.

Unfortunately, teasing is often a part of growing up. Almost every child experiences it. But it isn’t always as innocuous as it seems, words can cause pain. Teasing becomes bullying when it is repetitive or when there is a conscious intent to hurt another child.

It can be verbal bullying (making threats and/or name calling), physiological (excluding children, spreading rumors), or physical bullying(hitting, pushing, taking a child’s possessions.)

Bullying can happen everywhere. At work, school, on the street, in the park, everywhere. No one is safe from bullies. researchers estimate that twenty to thirty percent of school-age children are involved in bullying incidents. Let me give you some advice how to fight a bully. Never hit the bully. Show that you are not scared. don’t answer them. Walk away and go to an adult, policeman, your parents, their parents, a teacher, or a principal.

In conclusion bulling is horrible because all throughout these reasons: they hate to go to school and get injured by bullies. I advise people instead of getting bullied they can just be friends. And if people are having problems they should tell their parents.

Persuasive Essay: College by Sophia Ignon

Has college been your dream since you heard of it? That’s great, but there are some issues to come with a college package, the cost. It is too expensive! Elementary school, middle school and high school are just as important and they don’t cost as much at all. College shouldn’t cost so much because it leads you to a lot of great wonders ahead. It helps you prepare for big surprises. College is important for jobs and careers. Let’s stand to make college cost less. For instance: people shouldn’t pay so much for college because, it leads you to a lot of great wonders ahead here are my listings: college leads you to a lot of great wonders because, college teaches you the importance in life. College leads you to a lot of great wonders in life because you can choose to do something and then learn how to do it even better. Even though this part is over, I still think I should tell you a bit more.

People shouldn’t pay so much for college because it helps you prepare for big surprises. Listen to my examples: College helps you prepare you for big surprises because, sometimes you don’t know what kinds of events to watch out for and things that are safe without college.  College helps you prepare for big surprises because you need to be good at what you’re going to do so you can be successful and not get fired.  College prepares you for big surprises because you can make mistakes without being aware of how to do something if you can’t go to college.  Don’t go to away ‘cause I’ll be right back, but that doesn’t mean that this part isn’t important anymore.

 
People shouldn’t pay so much for college because it helps you with jobs and careers.  Here’s a thorough story to prove my point. My dad was a successful journalist before I was born, but he became that he went to Columbia University, and there he learned journalism and then he joined the Budapest Sun, but he couldn’t have done it without college.  Now my dad is with me, my mom, my sister and my dog, plus he’s also got an amazing career as a P.R. agent.  I hope you now realize why I think college shouldn’t cost so much.  And now that I think about it, I realize that if people can’t go to college because some of them get bad bad luck and might end up working in a gas station or driving people around in taxis as a taxi driver.  Fortunately some people are smart even without college and then they can have an awesome life continuing to be successful.  But sadly it’s not always like that.  I hope that one day someone will realize that colleges (the good ones and bad ones) need to cost less and equal more.  Don’t you?

Persuasive Essay: Global Warming by Anisa Hamidi

Global Warming

Global Warming has to stop. If it doesn’t, animals like polar bears will become extinct. And if we don’t work together to help global warming to stop, you could be harming an animal’s life! So basically that means if you’re an animal lover, you’re not doing anything good to help them stay happy for as long as they live. I feel bad for those animals, and you should, too. How would you feel if you would just STARVE to death?? These poor animals aren’t doing any harm to us, so we shouldn’t be harming them at all. It’s just mean to hurt an animal just like that for no reason to do it at all. We need to treat animals the way we treat ourselves and other people too. That’ would be something that’s actually fair.

     For example, let me just set this straight. We burn fuel. How? By using gas or electricity. And it melts ice. Why does it melt ice?? Because polar bears capture seals when they pop out of the water to breathe, and the polar bear sits on the ice to wait for them to pop up. So if the ice is melted, there are no seals for the polar bears to capture!
       Let me explain the whole cycle of extinction for polar bears; No food=Starving.  Starving= pain in the stomach. Pain in the stomach= hole in the stomach. Hole in the stomach= could lead to death. Death= EXTINCTION DUN DUN DUN!!!

 If you want to try to help STOP global warming, get a close look at what I’m saying here; if you want to stop global warming, you could just turn a light off! YES, IT’S THAT SIMPLE. And that would basically be your job of the day. However, you could also use a different strategy to stop global warming, and what that strategy is, is to s\maybe use a bike instead of a car, or just by not using any gas or electricity. 

   It will be very easy, so don’t try too hard to save animals. Just do your best. Good luck!

Persuasive Essay: No Smoking by Bella Ercolano

No Smoking

Do you think smoking is unhealthy? Well, I do because it makes people sick and makes people avoid other people. The people who smoke get sick and die.

My first reason is that people get sick by breathing in the smoke. For example, I have asthma and when I breathe in the smoke and I can’t breathe. And you don’t know if someone else has asthma so you might be injuring someone else really really bad without knowing it. I know that a lot of people have it so please don’t do it!

Another reason is the people who smoke will get no friends because no one will want to be around them. Then people will be very lonely  without friends because people don’t want to be around someone who smokes. According to what I know not one person does!!!!!!!

My last reason is the people who smoke can get lung cancer and die. And no one wants that to happen!!!!!!

So are you convinced?????? If you are great!!! If your not read this as many times as you need until you are!!!

DO SOMETHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What are you doing still standing here???????

Gooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Persuasive Essay: Litering by Mia Van Doren

Do you think littering should stop? Well you're right! Let me explain to you why. Sea life could die out! Also, do you want to walk in trash?! Adding on to that, it smells!

One reason littering should stop is sea life could die! That means the  animals can become extinct! Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for
jellyfish. It could get stuck in its system and it could die! According to scientists over 1 million sea turtles died in 3 years from litter in the ocean.

Another reason littering should stop is it's everywhere on the
streets! It could catch on fire! That could set your house on fire!
And no one likes to get gum on their shoe. Littering could be dangerous. You can slip on plastic wraps. I know that that feels pretty embarrassing. I think you don't like it either. No one does. And if you're walking your dog, some food or a drink could have been spilled over. If your pet eats or drinks it, it could get sick or have a shorter lifespan!

Another reason littering should stop is it smells! Do you like
inhaling trash? If you like to go to the the beach it stinks. The
litter makes the places you love to go to, or even just to go to get some fresh air, it won't work! I used to walk down the same block when I was little. A nice garden, peaceful, quiet- NOT ANYMORE! The litter piled up and it smells!

Littering is a terrible and horrible thing. The sea life could be gone
forever! The litter could cause a fire. It could burn down a whole
block of buildings! And on top of everything it has a terrible stench! Lets make the world a better place to be! Stop littering!!!!!!

Writing: Persuasive Essay

Writers in class 4-411 learned all about what it takes to write a persuasive essay!

We learned to:

*Choose topics we feel passionately about and take a stance on the topic
*Write an introduction that sets up our readers (with a hook, opinion statement, and three reasons)
*Write 3 body paragraphs, one for each reason
*Include evidence (anecdotes, quotes, micro-stories, lists, etc.) to support each reason
*Unpack each piece of evidence with a sentence or two to explain how it relates back to our reasons
*Revise our evidence to make sure it is as strong as possible
*Revise our language to make sure our word choices really convey our meaning
*Write a conclusion that wraps up our essays and leaves our reader still thinking about our topic 


Please enjoy reading our persuasive essays!

Homework 12/14/12

 HOMEWORK FOR 12/14/12

DUE 12/17/12

Reading: 1) Read 20 minutes (each night) in your fiction books and 20 minutes in your nonfiction books and log. 2) Write long off some of your post-its to grow your ideas.

Writing: Publish your persuasive essay using all of your revisions and edits. Make sure you write neatly and be sure to use paragraphs to separate your introduction, body paragraph 1, body paragraph 2, body paragraph 3, and conclusion. If you type it, I will put it on our class website! Email it to msmactas@gmail.com

Social Studies: Remember, your Native American project is due December 21^st!

Have a great weekend!

Native Americans of NY State Culminating Project

You have learned so much about the Native Americans of NY State! Using all of your notes, please complete the project below. Remember, your project is DUE Friday, December 21st!

Native Americans of NY State

Culminating Project Guidelines

Congratulations on become social scientists! You have learned all about the culture, food, government, daily life, and geographical features of the Algonquians, Iroquois, and Lenape Native Americans. You learned various note-taking strategies such as sketching, making a web, boxes and bullets, and creating quick lists to help you organize and interpret information. Now it’s time to showcase all that you have learned!

Please choose one of the following options:

Historical Fiction Story Write a historical fiction story about Native Americans living in NY State using what you have learned about narrative writing Guidelines: -At least 2 pages in length -Shows evidence of nurturing, revising, editing and publishing -Follows story structure (beginning, middle, end) -Includes elements of narrative writing (dialogue, action, inner thinking, setting, etc.) -Includes relevant, specific information about Native Americans in NY State that you learned from this unit

Compare and Contrast Essay Write an essay to compare and contrast your life now in NY State with the way life was for the Native Americans Guidelines: -At least 2 pages in length -Shows evidence of nurturing, revising, editing and publishing -Follows essay structure (introduction with claim, body paragraphs with supporting details, conclusion) -Includes relevant, specific information about Native Americans in NY State that you learned from this unit

Diary Entry Write a diary entry describing your daily life and activities as a Native American living in NY State Guidelines: -At least 2 pages in length (or two separate entries, one page each) -Written from the perspective of a Native American living in NY State (Think: What is life like for you? What might you have done in a typical day?) -Includes relevant, specific information about Native Americans in NY State that you learned from this unit

Series of Sketches Create a series of at least 8 scenes to showcase what life was like for the Native Americans in NY State. Guidelines: -At least 8 half-page scenes - Must include detailed drawings, dialogue tags, thought bubbles, and labels -Sketch in pencil as your draft, but the final sketches should be in color -Includes relevant, specific information about Native Americans in NY State that you learned from this unit

Secret Pal Book Exchange

Remember, we are having our secret pal book exchange at our holiday party on Thursday, December 20th. Please make sure you keep your secret pal a secret! Don't forget to bring in your books by Monday, December 17th.

Secret Pal Book Exchange

4-411 is having a Secret Pal Book Exchange!  In this exchange, each child will receive one new paperback book from another child in the room as a reading gift. We will have the exchange at our class holiday celebration on Thursday, December 20^th.

Here is how it will work:

Who do we get a book for?

Your child has received the name of another child.  This is your child’s book exchange secret pal!

How do we know what type of book to get?

Your child has received the book request of a few favorite books/authors/series of another student in our room.

What does my child do with the book once we buy it?

Wrap it up in wrapping paper and send it to school with your child.  It must be wrapped so that it is a surprise!

How do we label it?

Put the name of the child who the book is FOR on the outside. Do NOT put your own name on the book…remember, it is a secret!

Thank you, and happy book shopping!

Please send in all books by Monday, December 17^th.

*If you are unable to send a book with your child for any reason at all, please send me a note.  A book will be provided on your child’s behalf so that all students will receive a book!

Homework 12/12/12

 HOMEWORK FOR 12/12/12

DUE 12/14/12

Reading: 1) Read 20 minutes (each night) in your fiction books and 20 minutes in your nonfiction books and log. 2) Write some post-its to keep track of your ideas while you read!

Time for Kids: As part of your nonfiction reading, read the article “Coolest Inventions of 2012” and complete the questions that follow. DUE FRIDAY

Writing: Collect evidence (facts, quotes, anecdotes) to support your reasons and revise your essays to include that evidence.

Math: Complete weekly word problem #10. DUE FRIDAY