April 17-21, 2016

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That's brotherly love right there!! 

Welcome to Monday! About six more weeks of school left!! We've got this! 

In History this week we're moving into the settling of the Great Plains. This is the time when Laura Ingalls was young. This is a time of huge change in transportation, class systems, and a very sad time for Native Americans. 

Monday: Define these words: Pony Express, transcontinental railroad, Chisholm Trail, stampede, Homestead Act, homesteaders, Promontory

Read pages 414-419 and answer the questions on p. 419. 

Tuesday: Define these words: Sioux, Nez Perce, Apaches, Chief Red Cloud, George Custer, Crazy Horse, Chief Joseph, Geronimo, Black Hills, Sierra Madre

Read pages 422-424 and answer the questions on p. 424. 

Wednesday: Define these words: conservation, reforms, Populist, John Muir, Gifford Pinchot, Thomas Edison, Guglielmo Marconi, Yosemite, Yellowstone, Sequoia (place, not person)

Read pages 425-428 and answer the questions on p. 428. Also read p. 429. 

In Science this week we're going to be talking about nutrition.
Monday: Read the lesson on Types of Nutrients and do the practice questions.
Tuesday: Read the lesson on Vitamins and Minerals and do the practice questions
Wednesday: Read the lesson on Choosing Healthy Foods and do the practice.
Thursday: We will be doing a nutrition lab today on reading food labels. I have the packet and materials you'll need for this, so ask me for it! 
Friday: Today we're going to be watching videos from myplate and answering questions about them. These videos on on youtube.  There are six videos. Start with part 1. YouTube should take you through the rest automatically. If it doesn't, just go back to part 1 and click on the user name and watch each of the parts of the video. They are cheesy, yes. But cheese is a good source of calcium.

In Reading we will be doing a unit on Poetry for the next two weeks. We won't be doing Spelling for the next two weeks, but you will have vocabulary words that are poetry terms you should know. Keep in mind that these are poetry terms when you find the definitions, so be sure and choose the right one.

Monday: Define these words: 

Alliteration        connotation        couplet        denotation       fixed form         free verse 

hyperbole          imagery        metaphor        meter       onomatopoeia          repetition   

rhyme          rhyme scheme         rhythm        simile        stanza           theme

Also, look through the poetry notebook that I've given you. We won't be discussing all of these poems in the next two weeks. Some of them are just poems I like and would like to share with you.  If you have poems you like that you would like to add, please do! Also, watch this video:

Tuesday: Read "O Captain! My Captain!" by Walt Whitman on page 1 of your poetry notebook. 

Walt Whitman wrote this poem just after the death of Abraham Lincoln. The "Captain" is Abraham Lincoln. Let's think about the other imagery in the poem-what would the ship be? the trip? the prize? 

Get an idea of what you think Walt Whitman is saying in this poem and write a short paragraph about it. Look at this shmoop article. They go line by line through each stanza and explain the meaning. See if you agree with their interpretation. If not, what do you not agree with and why? 

Wednesday: Today we'll be reading another poem by Walt Whitman called "I Hear America Singing". Its on page 4 of your notebook. What idea does he give the reader of America and Americans? Consider the fact that Walt Whitman published this poem in 1860, how does it differ from how we might feel about America today? Why do you think that our feelings have changed? 

You can look at the shmoop article analyzing the poem also. 

Now read a poem by Langston Hughes called "I, Too" on the same page in your notebook. Langston Hughes was an african american poet who lived during what was known as the Harlem Renaissance.  This took place in NYC in the 1920s and 30s and all kinds of black artists became well known for their art. This poem was published in 1945-about 20 years before the civil rights movement started in the U.S. How are the tones of the two poems alike? Could he have have written this in response to Walt Whitman? How are the experiences that Whitman and Hughes write about the same and how are they different? 

Here is an analysis of Hughes poem. 

Thursday: Today we'll be moving on from Uncle Walt and looking at one of Daddy's favorite poems-"The Children's Hour" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. This poem is the first time the phrase "the patter of little feet" was used.  Longfellow was a single father of six children.  You can find it on page 2 of your notebook.  What symbolism does Longfellow use in the poem and what does each thing represent? How does his imagery conflict with what is actually going on? How does it support what's going on?

Friday: Poetry slam day! Watch some of these videos and see what you think. I really love slam poetry, but there is all kinds. You may not like what I've posted. Try and find something YOU like, and when you do share it with me, because I want to hear it :) 

"Blink" by Lamar Jordan

"Shake the Dust" by Anis Mojgani

We're not going to have Writing this week because you're going to be doing a lot of writing in your other subjects. 

Ok, chica-that's it!! I'm excited about this poetry unit and I hope you will be too. Poetry is like I've always told you about books-if you don't like what you're reading, keep looking because you just haven't found what you like yet-its out there! 

I love you so much, and remember: 

Connor Franta wants to marry you, even though he's gay.