Genres

Check out these websites for information about your genre spotlight:

List of Genres
What is a fable?
What is a fairy tale?

Puzzle Maker

Click here to make your own crossword puzzle!

Alphabet Organizer

The link to the alphabet organizer we are using to make our class verb book can be found here.

Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry

I was so excited to see that someone posted a comment telling me they love to learn! Here's what I've been learning lately, and I hope you leave a comment telling me what you've been learning lately.

I am reading a book by Jack Prelutsky called Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem. Prelutsky writes really fun poems. You can check out his website here and read some of them.

In his book, Prelutsky shares his writing tips about where he gets his ideas for his creatively crazy poems. When he was young, he liked to play with his food. He even played baseball with meatballs once! Now that he's grown up, he likes to write poetry about food--and about how his mom got mad at him for his bad manners! He says that anything that happens in your life, or anything you observe can be a good idea for a poem. So if you're ever trying to think of a topic to write about, just think back on your own experiences!

Hello from Mrs. Dean

Guess what, fifth graders: The test that you took about the Constitution shows that you know more about the government than two-thirds of Americans!

Sandra Day O'Connor was the first woman to be part of the Supreme Court (Do you remember which branch of government that's part of?) She said, "Only about a third of Americans including young people can name the three branches of government... That's scary. But 75 percent of young people can tell you at least one of the 'American Idol' judges."

I'd love to hear from my fifth graders! If you have read a good book or even if you just want to say hi, post a comment and let me know what you are up to lately!

Go West!

Kid Info Contains links to other helpful websites
Westward Expansion Contains links to other helpful websites
Social Studies for kids Contains links to other helpful websites
History of Money Learn more about money through the years
California Gold Rush Click on Part 1, then "The Journey by Land"
Oregon Trail History Library
Inventor Cyrus Hall McCormick
Westward Movement Contains links to other helpful websites

Your Representatives

Jason Chaffetz, U.S. House of Representatives
Wikipedia
Congresspedia
Campaign Page
House Page

Orrin Hatch, U.S. Senate
Wikipedia
Congresspedia
Senate Page

Bob Bennett, U.S. Senate
Wikipedia
Congresspedia
Senate Page