Fundraising Update

Due to circumstances beyond our control, the fundraiser has been cancelled.  We are still about $240 away from earning the document camera - if you can help in any way, please let me know!

I have enjoyed watching my students begin to recognize the need for the document camera. As we used our older, clunkier overhead projector this week, several students stated, "You really DO need a document camera!" The students will notice a real difference when we have this updated technology to use in the classroom.

November Newsletter

The newsletter went home with students, but you may also read the electronic version.

Fundraising

I am currently fundraising for a classroom item I find myself needing just about every day...a document camera.  This camera would allow me to project both instructional materials AND student work to entire classes of students. Students would be better able to share their work with their peers, get feedback and collaborate using this item.  If you would like to donate, or if you have ideas for how to fundraise, please get involved.  Many parents have already donated — and I truly appreciate it! Every little bit helps! 

To donate, visit Donor’s Choose. 

Reading Assignment 1

I have had some questions about how to complete Reading Assignment 1 (Due Friday, September 16).  The students should be familiar with the format, as we have completed similar charts for other stories we have read together in class.

Still, here are some steps to follow, if you are helping your student to complete this assignment:

1) Cross out "complication" on the list of items to be explained, because we have not covered this adequately in class.
2) Explain how the setting is important (or not) to the plot.
3) Fill in the other blanks as they relate to the book the student has completed (a book of the student's choosing):
* conflict (the problems/challenges the main character faces)
* climax (the most exciting part of the story - - usually having to do with the conflict)
* resolution (when the conflict is resolved/problem is solved).
4) Plot those items on the plot chart (the piece that looks like a graph).
5) Answer two questions about the characters in the story – who are the main characters andwhat words could be used to describe them?

I'm looking forward to reading what the students have to share about the books they have read!

Helping Out our Class

Hello Parents and Families!

It was a great pleasure meeting so many of you last week at Back to School Night.  Our year is off to a roaring start, and I anticipate having a newsletter to go home within the next couple of weeks (after I let students know about their first big project).

I wanted to let you know about a couple of things you can do to help the students. 

One is to order books through Scholastic Book Orders. If you are interested in having your children own their own books, then this is a great way to access inexpensive, high quality books. In return, Scholastic gives books to our classroom for free.  Everyone benefits. The September and October orders are now available online. Here’s how to order:

SIGN UP at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Register" button in the "First Time Here?" section. Register for your own user name and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code (GPL6V). This unique code ensures that your order is sent to me.

SELECT the books you'd like to order -- choose from thousands of titles -- many more than in our monthly flyers.

SEND your order to me online by the due date and your child's books will be delivered directly to my classroom.

The second way to help is to spread the word about a fundraising project I have going on through Donor’s Choose. I am trying to raise funds for an item called a document camera. This allows students to share their work on the projector screen – that means that as students complete tasks, we can all look at them together. Also, as I review project goals and requirements, students would not only have their personal copies but a large visual with which they can follow along.  Please spread the word to family and friends – just the smallest donation can help us meet our goal. Visit http://www.donorschoose.org/mrsknutson for more information.  Thank you for whatever way you can help!

Welcome to 2011-2012

Welcome to F-7

I am a graduate of UC Berkeley’s Department of English, and I have a passion for literature that I hope to share with my students.  In addition to introducing my classes to a variety of genres and authors, I plan to turn each child into a writer. That’s right. Every student who enters my classroom can expect to write every day.  We will work on journal entries, with topics ranging from poetry to persuasive essays and goal setting to news articles.  Families, encourage your students and offer to read their work. The more they share what they write, the more it comes alive.

 I expect nothing less than the best from my students. I will accept only responsible, respectful behavior and work to the best of each student’s ability.  I am confident that with a team of families, students and teachers, we can accomplish our goals and have a fantastic year.

Please explore this website -- where I will post information about assignments and other classroom activities -- and contact me with questions.

Thank you!

Mrs. Knutson

CSTs are Over...Now What?

Congratulations, students and parents!  The English Language Arts CST is completed! Hurrah!  So...now what?


Currently, we are finishing up with the final book report presentations (the last of six book report presentations this school year) and working our way through the end of both the literature and grammar textbooks.  Additionally, AR (Accelerated Reader) goals are due June 1 -- keep your students reading!  More information is available in the May newsletter.


Students still have concepts they need to learn before moving on to seventh grade. Those concepts include:

• Distinguishing between autobiography and biography
• Identifying first and third person narration
• Finding the meaning of symbols & symbolism in text
• Sequencing narration
• Evaluating the credibility of fictional text (literary criticism)
• Capitalization
• Writing clear and coherent sentences

What can you do? Support  your student as he or she tries to focus during these last few weeks of school -- the beautiful weather and the promise of summer can be rather distracting!

Sample CST Question 12

Origami

        (1) Can you create a whole world out of pieces of paper? (2) You can if you know origami.
(3) Origami is the Japanese art of creating shapes and figures by folding pieces of paper.
(4) Without scissors or glue, origami artists can make paper animals, flowers, or objects like boats
or windmills. (5) The word origami comes from the Japanese words oru, meaning “to fold,” and
kami, meaning “paper.” (6) Some people think it might have been introduced to Japan in the
early seventh century by the Chinese, after they began to make paper.

        (7) Most origami sculptures are made from a few basic shapes, like the bird, fish, kite, and
frog. (8) Diagrams that show how to make origami pieces are easily available, not only in books,
but also from online sources. (9) They show how to create origami through a series of
descriptively named folds: for example, the valley fold, the mountain fold, the petal fold, or the
pleat. (10) In addition, events like the Pacific Coast Origami conference offer exhibitions and
workshops for beginners as well as for advanced origami artists.

        (11) Origami is a beautiful art that anyone can try. (12) It can be difficult at first but if you
stay patient and follow instructions carefully, you can be an origami artist too!

CSW1P069-W

Read this sentence.

Origami is the Japanese art of creating shapes and figures by folding pieces of paper.

This sentence offers support by

A   defining the subject.

B   comparing the subject to something else.

C   beginning a story about the subject.

D   including an example that illustrates the subject.

Sample CST Question 11

Here is Miguel’s first draft, which may contain errors.

From Boyhood to Knighthood

1        In tales of medieval days, we are told that brave knights wore shining armor
and rode beautiful horses. They bore sharp, glistening swords. In these stories, fair
maidens in distress are rescued by these knights, who seem to appear mysteriously
out of the mist. The truth is that the knights of the Middle Ages did not just appear
from thin air.

2        In times of war, a young man who fought bravely on a battlefield could become a
knight on the site where he had demonstrated his courage. A king or knight could tap
him on the shoulder with a sword, giving him this title of honor.

3        In peacetime, becoming a knight was a more lengthy process. A boy began this
training when he was about seven years old. He went to live in the home of a noble
family, where he served as a page. He ran errands for the family, served their meals,
and learned to ride horses and handle small weapons. He also learned a code of polite
behavior that was as important as learning to fight.

4        When a page was about fourteen years old, he became a squire. A squire served
a knight who was called his lord. He took care of his lord’s horse and helped him
practice hunting and fighting skills. If battle broke out, a squire rode beside his lord
to the end.

5        Most squires were knighted by the time they were twenty-one years old. If not
knighted on a battlefield, the squire might be knighted in an elaborate ceremony
called dubbing. He bathed, cut his hair short, and prayed all night in a chapel. In the
morning, he knelt before his lord who tapped him on both shoulders with a sword. He
then gave him the spurs and sword of a knight.

6        Either in battle or in a dubbing ceremony, the squire rose from his knees as a
knight. He promised to use his bravery and fighting skills to defend the weak and
protect his homeland.

CSW0P006-W

In paragraphs 3 through 5, which
organizational pattern did Miguel use?

A   time sequence

B   spatial sequence

C   order of importance

D   comparison and contrast

Sample CST Question 10

Water Picture
by May Swenson

In the pond in the park

all things are doubled:

Long buildings hang and

wriggle gently. Chimneys

   5     are bent legs bouncing

on clouds below. A flag

wags like a fishhook

down there in the sky.

The arched stone bridge

10      is an eye, with underlid

in the water. In its lens

dip crinkled heads with hats

that don’t fall off. Dogs go by,

barking on their backs.

15      A baby, taken to feed the

ducks, dangles upside-down,

a pink balloon for a buoy.

Treetops deploy a haze of

cherry bloom for roots,

20      where birds coast belly-up

in the glass bowl of a hill;

from its bottom a bunch

of peanut-munching children

is suspended by their

25      sneakers, waveringly.

A swan, with twin necks

forming the figure 3,

steers between two dimpled

towers doubled. Fondly

30      hissing, she kisses herself,

and all the scene is troubled:

water-windows splinter,

tree-limbs tangle, the bridge

folds like a fan.

“Water Picture” from NATURE: POEMS OLD AND NEW. Copyright © 1994 by the Literary Estate of May Swenson. Reprinted
by permission of Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CSR1P245

How does the poet achieve her tone?

A   She sets the poem in a public park.

B   She describes familiar things in a surprising
      way.

C   She uses lines of varying length.

D   She contrasts the swan with other birds.

Sample CST Question 9

The Leaning Tower

        (1) Those who built the Tower of Pisa never meant for it to lean, though this is what
has made it famous. (2) Other towers, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Tower of London,
are known for their own unique qualities. (3) In recent years, workers have had to make
the Tower of Pisa lean less to make it safe for visitors to enter. (4) How did the tower
come to lean, and how did workers make the Leaning Tower stand straighter?

        (5) The tower was constructed about eight hundred years ago in the town of Pisa,
near the Coast in Northwestern Italy. (6) The tilting came about because of the land on
which the tower was built. (7) This land being an old riverbed. (8) It wasn’t good. (9) This
caused the tower to lean to one side more and more over the centuries. (10) By 1990, it
was leaning so much that it had to be closed to visitors.

        (11) Then workers began to try to straighten out the tower enough to make it safe.
(12) A lot of soil was taken out from under one side. (13) When the land was settled, the
tower was leaning seventeen inches less than before. (14) Though this dosn’t sound like
very much, the tower is considered safe again—for now.

CSL1P021-W

Which of the following revisions would make
sentence 12 more informative?

A   There was very much soil taken out from
      beneath one side of the tower.

B   From under one side of the tower the workers
      took out an enormous quantity of soil.

C   The workers performed much labor to remove
      soil from its place under the tower.

D   About eight tons of soil were removed from
      the non-leaning side of the tower.

Sample CST Question 8

The World's Fastest Human

1        In the summer of 1919, Quincy and Jesse Owens rested in the shade of an oak tree near the farmhouse
where they lived. The cool shade was one of their favorite places to linger during the hot summer days. In the
distance they could see their father, a sharecropper, working in the fields under the Alabama sun.

2        Quincy, who was the oldest of the eight Owens children, pulled three marbles from his pocket and tossed
them onto the ground. He drew a circle in the dirt and placed the largest marble in the center. Then, while
Quincy began practicing, Jesse climbed up to sit on his favorite branch.

3        A few minutes later their neighbor Sarah joined them. “Hi, guys!” she said. She took two marbles from her
dress pocket and sat next to Quincy.

4        “Hi, Sarah,” the boys mumbled. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves on the tree. Quincy stopped shooting
marbles and leaned against the tree’s trunk. He closed his eyes and smiled.

5        Sarah said, “We always play marbles. Let’s think of something else to do.”

6        Jesse jumped to the ground. “I know! I'll race you, Sarah,” he said. “I'll race you to the willow tree and back.”

7        “You’re only six years old!” said Sarah. “Besides that, I’m as fast as the wind. I can even run faster than my
cousins, who are fourteen!”

8        “I’ll tell you what,” Jesse said, continuing as though he hadn’t heard her. “If you beat me, I'll give you my
kaleidoscope.”

9        With that, Sarah quickly jumped up and drew a starting line in the dirt a few yards away. “Quincy,” she said,
“you count to three. Come on, Jesse. I can’t wait to play with my new kaleidoscope. Let’s start running on three.”

10      Quincy got up and stood next to the starting line. In a fatherly tone he said, “Jesse, just do your best.” Then
he began counting, “One . . . two . . . THREE!”

11      A cloud of dust rose behind the two children as they took off. Sarah quickly pulled ahead of Jesse. She
looked over her shoulder and smiled at him, but he didn’t even see her. He looked straight ahead at the willow
tree and focused on moving his arms and legs in perfect rhythm. Three minutes later, Sarah tagged the willow
tree and spun around to complete the return trip. She was startled to see Jesse right behind her.

12      Jesse tagged the tree and dashed past Sarah. He heard Quincy shout, “C’mon Jesse, you’re ahead. Run
faster! Run faster!” Seconds later, Jesse crossed the finish line,—ahead of Sarah. He had won the race!

13      Quincy danced with excitement. “He won! He won!” he shouted as Sarah crossed the finish line. “Jesse
beat you! My little brother beat you!”

14      Sarah placed her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. “He surely did just that!” she said with a
smile. Then she put her arm around Jesse, who was beaming. “You really run like a pro!” she said.

15      Several years later, Sarah became a student at Missouri State University. She continued to run races as
a member of the track team, but she always remembered her race with Jesse. One day, as she walked into a
building on campus, she noticed a newspaper stand. The headlines on the newspaper caught her attention:
World’s Fastest Human: Jesse Owens Wins Four Gold Medals in Berlin Olympics.

16      “That’s my Jesse!” she thought fondly.

Note: It was in the year 1936 that Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.

CSR0P120

The phrase “as fast as the wind” in paragraph
7 is an example of

A   metaphor.

B   simile.

C   personification.

D   symbolism.

Sample CST Question 7

The World's Fastest Human

1        In the summer of 1919, Quincy and Jesse Owens rested in the shade of an oak tree near the farmhouse
where they lived. The cool shade was one of their favorite places to linger during the hot summer days. In the
distance they could see their father, a sharecropper, working in the fields under the Alabama sun.

2        Quincy, who was the oldest of the eight Owens children, pulled three marbles from his pocket and tossed
them onto the ground. He drew a circle in the dirt and placed the largest marble in the center. Then, while
Quincy began practicing, Jesse climbed up to sit on his favorite branch.

3        A few minutes later their neighbor Sarah joined them. “Hi, guys!” she said. She took two marbles from her
dress pocket and sat next to Quincy.

4        “Hi, Sarah,” the boys mumbled. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves on the tree. Quincy stopped shooting
marbles and leaned against the tree’s trunk. He closed his eyes and smiled.

5        Sarah said, “We always play marbles. Let’s think of something else to do.”

6        Jesse jumped to the ground. “I know! I'll race you, Sarah,” he said. “I'll race you to the willow tree and back.”

7        “You’re only six years old!” said Sarah. “Besides that, I’m as fast as the wind. I can even run faster than my
cousins, who are fourteen!”

8        “I’ll tell you what,” Jesse said, continuing as though he hadn’t heard her. “If you beat me, I'll give you my
kaleidoscope.”

9        With that, Sarah quickly jumped up and drew a starting line in the dirt a few yards away. “Quincy,” she said,
“you count to three. Come on, Jesse. I can’t wait to play with my new kaleidoscope. Let’s start running on three.”

10      Quincy got up and stood next to the starting line. In a fatherly tone he said, “Jesse, just do your best.” Then
he began counting, “One . . . two . . . THREE!”

11      A cloud of dust rose behind the two children as they took off. Sarah quickly pulled ahead of Jesse. She
looked over her shoulder and smiled at him, but he didn’t even see her. He looked straight ahead at the willow
tree and focused on moving his arms and legs in perfect rhythm. Three minutes later, Sarah tagged the willow
tree and spun around to complete the return trip. She was startled to see Jesse right behind her.

12      Jesse tagged the tree and dashed past Sarah. He heard Quincy shout, “C’mon Jesse, you’re ahead. Run
faster! Run faster!” Seconds later, Jesse crossed the finish line,—ahead of Sarah. He had won the race!

13      Quincy danced with excitement. “He won! He won!” he shouted as Sarah crossed the finish line. “Jesse
beat you! My little brother beat you!”

14      Sarah placed her hands on her knees while she caught her breath. “He surely did just that!” she said with a
smile. Then she put her arm around Jesse, who was beaming. “You really run like a pro!” she said.

15      Several years later, Sarah became a student at Missouri State University. She continued to run races as
a member of the track team, but she always remembered her race with Jesse. One day, as she walked into a
building on campus, she noticed a newspaper stand. The headlines on the newspaper caught her attention:
World’s Fastest Human: Jesse Owens Wins Four Gold Medals in Berlin Olympics.

16      “That’s my Jesse!” she thought fondly.

Note: It was in the year 1936 that Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany.

CSR0P120

The author makes the events of the passage
seem more realistic by

A   describing the Owens home in careful detail.

B   supplying the conversation that might have
      taken place.

C   naming all seven of Jesse Owens’ sisters and
      brothers.

D   telling the name of the town where the events
      took place.

Results

Sample CST Question 6

Are We There Yet?

1        Think about a time you went someplace that you had never been before. It was not
really far away, but it seemed as if it was taking a really long time to get there. Then
you noticed that the return trip did not seem to take nearly as long, even though it
was exactly the same distance. Scientists have studied these common observations.
They have concluded that our perception of how time passes is sometimes based on
the amount of information with which we are dealing. The more information we are
getting, the more slowly time seems to pass.

2        On the way to the strange place, we are confronted with unfamiliar sights and
sounds, and maybe even smells. We may be reading directions, looking for landmarks,
or trying to find a particular road sign. There may be others in the car asking, “When
will we get there? Are we there yet?” We are constantly processing and evaluating the
information we are receiving.

3        On the return trip, we are somewhat familiar with the route. Now much of the
information is not new to us. Our brain now processes the information more efficiently.
We are able to ignore a lot of what we see and hear. We remember that it does not
require action on our part.

4        In other words, scientists believe that on the way to a new place we see things in
great detail. Thus time seems to move slowly. On the return trip we are not paying as
much attention to detail. Time seems to pass more quickly.

5        The process could be compared to the first and second days of school. On the
first day everything is new and different, and time seems to pass slowly. On the
second day, you know what to expect, and your brain spends less time processing new
information. The second day of school usually seems to proceed at a more rapid pace.

CSW0P075-W

Read the last two sentences of paragraph 5.

On the second day, you know what to expect, and your brain spends less time processing new information. The second day of school usually seems to proceed at a more rapid pace.

Which word should be added to the beginning
of the second sentence?

A   However,

B   Therefore,

C   Although,

D   Nevertheless,