As part of our fantasy unit, we read the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis.  Then we watched the movie.  Now it is time to compare the two, looking for similarities and differences, as well as elements of fantasy.  Follow the list below to complete your assignment.

1. Explain the elements of the story: magic, good vs. evil, realism, a quest, and an author's purpose.

2. Compare the book to the movie - similarities and differences.  Think large, not small.  Don't tell us about the color of their clothes, instead talk about events and the order of events.  Discuss at least 3 of each.

3. Which did you enjoy more - the book or the movie?  Tell us why.

4. Be sure to stay focused and organized.  Use a graphic organizer if it will help you.

5. Elaborate on your ideas. 

6. Answer all the questions within a cohesive essay.

7. Edit carefully.

8. Add a picture to help make your point. 

This blog assignment is due on February 12th.  If you want suggestions, you must submit the blog by the morning of February 10th.

For the week of January 25th, Denton Avenue will be celebrating cultures.  The whole week will be dedicated to learning about different cultures and heritages.  This should be a great educational and fun week for us.  In order to prepare, it is time for you to tell us about your heritage.  What makes your heritage unique?  Do you have special foods you eat?  Clothes you wear?  Holiday traditions you follow?  Do you have more than one heritage that you combine in your household?  Maybe your family is far removed from your country of origin and your heritage celebrations are more of an American mix.  Maybe your family is very close to your country of origin and your heritage celebrations are closely related to those in other countries.  Tell us all about it.  Follow the directions below to complete this assignment.

1. Tell us what your background is.  What are your family's country(s) of origin?

2. Tell us how you celebrate and honor your heritage.  Talk about holidays, food, dance, music, art. 

3. Tell us about how close you are to your culture.  Have you become very "American", not celebrating any specific cultural traditions or do you still stay true to your family traditions?

4. Be sure to stay focused and organized.  Think about using a graphic organizer to help you with this.

5. Use dialog, internal thinking, and action to talk about your family.

6. Use higher level vocabulary.

7. Try to add pictures, video, etc. to make your blog more exciting.

8.. Edit carefully.

This assignment is due on Tuesday, January 19th.  If you submit it by Friday, January 15th, you will be given suggestions.

 Welcome to 2010!  With a new year comes new ideas.  Think about your passions.  What do you love to do?  What would you love to try doing that you've never done?  What gets you excited?  Tell us about your passion.  What is it?  Why are you so passionate about it?  How do you find time to do it?  What would you like to achieve using your passion and what holds you back?  How do you see your passion being part of your life in the future?  You might want to include videos/podcasts/pictures that show more about this passion.  Teach us all about it.

  For this assignment, remember to do the following:

  1. Explain your passion and teach us what it is. 

  2. Answer all the above questions.  

  3. Stay focused and organized.

  4. Begin with a terrific grabber and end with a wonderful conclusion.

  5. Use voice.

  6. Use higher level vocabulary.

  7. Edit carefully for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

 This blog assignment is due on January 11th.  Should you want suggestions, submit the blog by January 8th.  

#Image:http://www.flickr.com/photos/33734355@N08/3829584105/

Our class blog was nominated for an Edublog Award for Best Class Blog. 

This award celebrates the best Education Blogs on the web.



You can vote for our class by visiting the Edublog Website. 

Follow this link to the Edublogger Website:

 http://edublogawards.com/2009/best-class-edublog-2009/

You just had a unique opportunity to join in the parent/teacher conference.  This was a great chance for you to have a discussion with your teachers and your parents about your strengths and some things you need to work on in school.  We know there was much anticipation and anxiety about coming to conferences.  This week, your blog assignment is to write about your experience.  How did you feel when you heard you needed to come to the conference?  What did you think about how it went?  What kind of conversation did you have with your parents following the conference?  Would you want to be included again?  Why or why not?

While writing this blog, keep the following in mind:

1. Answer all the questions.

2.Stay focused on a small moment.  Use actions, dialogue, and internal thinking to tell your story bit by bit by bit.

3. Use higher level vocabulary.

4. Edit carefully for spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar.

This assignment is due on Monday, December 14th.  If you submit your blog by Thursday night, it will be checked and suggestions sent back to you.

This week is National Young Readers Week.  So to celebrate, you are going to create an advertisement.  Choose your favorite book and sell it.  Your goal is to make your favorite book a book that everyone will want to rush out to read.  Follow the directions below to create this blog.

1. Choose your favorite book and briefly summarize it.


2. Include the title and author.


3. Tell us why you chose this book to write about.


4. Tell us why we should read this book.  Make it so interesting we can't wait to read the book.


5. Stay focused and organized. 


6. Use higher level vocabulary.


7. Edit carefully for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.

This assignment is due on Monday, November 16th.  If it is submitted by Thursday night, suggestions will be sent back to you for revision.

This month, all our reading groups are reading books about children who have difficulty being accepted by others.  We are also learning empathy as part of our CARES ideas.  Your blog assignment is about acceptance.  Think about a time you were not accepted.  Maybe you acted differently than everyone else.  Maybe you were new to a group.  Maybe you looked different.  Think about how others treated you and how that made you feel.  Maybe you can also think of a time you weren't so accepting.  Would you do anything differently today?

Follow the rules below to complete this blog assignment.

1. Write a brief summary of the book you are reading in group. 

2. Write about a time you weren't accepted.  Relate it to the book.  How did you feel?  How did you know you weren't accepted?  What did you do about it?  Has anything changed now?

3. Think about a time you weren't so accepting of someone else.  Relate it to the book.  Why did you not show acceptance?  What would you do differently today?

4. Do not use any real names when writing your blog.

5.. Be sure to keep your blog focused and organized.  Write an interesting introduction.  Use higher level vocabulary.  Edit, edit, edit for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.

This blog is due on Friday, October 30th.  If you want it checked before it is scored, it must be submitted by Thursday morning.

This week we performed demonstration videos in science.  We learned a great deal about the formation of the earth, as well as a tremendous amount about presenting information to a group.  Your blog assignment this week is to rewatch each video and write about what you learned.  Follow the instructions below:

1. Write about one scientific fact you learned from each video about the formation of the earth.


2. Write a concluding paragraph about what you learned about presenting.  What will you change next time you present?


3. Keep your focus and stay organized.  Use a graphic organizer if it will help you.


4. Edit carefully for spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar.

This assignment is due on October 16th.

This blog challenge was started in the Dragons Blog classroom.   "7 Random Facts assignment gives us a chance to look for connections all around the world. We post 7 things about us, everybody else posts 7 things about themselves...we go around the world and leave comments!It's supposed to be fun and supposed to teach us how to leave appropriate comments with other classes around the world. You will need to sign your comments with your online nickname and leave a link back to your blog."

Directions: 1. Come up with 7 Random Facts about yourself.  They need to be interesting but not too personal.  Be careful about what you are posting online. 2. Write an essay including these 7 random facts.  3. Be sure to include: a. An introduction b. A conclusion c. A clear focus d. Details e. Edit carefully for spelling and punctuation.

Let's have fun! This assignment is due on October 9th.

Blogs on our sidebar who also are participating in this challenge are:  Top Dogs, Mrs. Brown, Dragon Blogs, Blogger's Blast, Mrs. Smith, and Ms. Gidinski

Last week we began writing our Hopes and Dreams for the new school year. Now it is time for you to post your first blog about your Hopes and Dreams. Go into your page, post the article in the article section, click the Post button and wait for the teachers to approve your blog. Be sure to check back to see if comments were made by the teachers for more editing.

Here is Mrs. Parisi's Hopes and Dreams for you to use as a model.



My Hopes and Dreams for this year center around integrating math into more curriculum areas. I realize that math can be found in all subjects and I want us to solve math problems often during the day.  This will help us improve our math skills. It will also be fun and challenging to find math in every day topics.  I am looking forward to achieving this goal.