All Students Have Homework

The higher groups, working in 3.2, have to complete the questions that go with the "Beauty and the Beast" story.

The group working in 3.1 has to complete the questions from "What About Me"

My Laptop is Broken

The blog will be a little bit slow for the next two days because my laptop is being repaired.

Last Week's As

Remember to study your words each day. Studying only the night before is not enough. Even if you can pass the test that way, you won't keep the words in your head for very long.

There were 37 questions on this test.

Perfect

Sindi
Waleed
Karma
Kilani
Fitian
Safa Kh.
Iyad (Great Job Iyad!!!!)
Imad

A+ (-1 or 2)

Ghaith
Abdallah
Khaled
Ahmed Kh.
Jihad
Waleed A.

That's more than half the class. It makes me very happy because the students learn these words with NO help from me.

This year I have talked about a lot of students on the blog but three I haven't mentioned enough are Jihad Jitan, Safa Kharouf, and Imad.

At the start of the year, Imad was the weakest student in the class. Coming from a different school he didn't have the practice with English that our students did. I don't know how many times he raised his hand to say "I don't understand" in that first week. Now he is consistently getting As on his tests, his reading is strong and I can't remember the last time I heard him say "I don't understand." Great job Imad.

Jihad is someone who sneaks up on you. Sometimes I forget how good he is at English until I look at my grades and see he is making As all the time. He has been in my class for three years now and I can't remember a time I was not happy to see him.

If there is a harder working student than Safa, I can't think of who it is. She has been among the best students at every challenge this year. If I added up all the scores from the spelling and vocabulary I would bet that Safa would be in the top two or three as much or more than any other student. Every time I give an assignment where the students have to work on their own, I know that whatever I get from Safa will be the best work she can do.

Thank you for all your great work.

Some Fairly Easy Words

1. Pleasure – Delight, a feeling of happiness. Eating ice cream gives me pleasure

2. Combustible – Easy to burn. Wood is combustible, paper is combustible. Ice is not combustible

3. Murmur – Quiet talking that you can barely hear. If you murmur I can’t hear the words you are saying.

4. Barely – Just enough. Not very much. Five wrong is barely and A. Khaled is barely faster than Sami.

5. Banished – Sent out. A person who is banished has to leave their country and can’t come back.

6. Serious – Important and not funny. This is a serious test.

7. Rumor – Something someone says about a person. It might be true and it might not. I heard a rumor that Saad was going to fight Sindi. I heard a rumor that Anibtawi bought the school.

8. Scream – Shout but crazier.

9. Foolish – Stupid

10. Insane – Crazy

11. Situation – What is happening. The situation is that you are a student that needs to study.

12. Suffer – To feel pain. If you break your leg and no doctor fixes it, you will suffer a lot of pain.

13. Cheer – To yell good things and clap when someone does something good. We cheered for Messi when he scored four goals against Chelsea.

14. Hiss – The opposite of cheer

15. Mattress – The soft thing on your bed. It’s the part of the bed that you sleep on.

16. Clumsy – Not good at moving. A clumsy person falls down when they run. A clumsy person bumps into people a lot.

17. Divine – So good its almost like God made it.

18. Adore – Love

19. Attract – To make something come. Gravity attracts you to the Earth.

20. Lunatic – Crazy person

The Encyclopedia

I have been reviewing stories that I didn't have time to mark yet and I found some excellent work to add to the encyclopedia. It wouldn't cover the school, if it didn't have a section for the teachers, and I added a story about Ms. Haneen. I included parts from Rawya's story and parts from Khaled's but most of the story is Dianna's. Great job to all of you guys.

I didn't get a chance to mark the tests yet. This was a holiday weekend so I didnt work much and then Saturday I couldn't get to school because of the problem in that neighborhood. (our hearts go out to those people)

I'll get them done Sunday night and post the results.

This Week in 5A

We will finish up the Spin work on past wishes that we didn't get to last week

We will conclude our leaf dramas and begin stems and roots. We will also cover flowers and their functions.

We are deepening our understanding of plants but we are also learning about extracting information from a reading passage and organizing it differently.

We will write this week's essay on our families. We will take our last group of words for this semester. (there won't be words while the students are studying for Arabic exams)

We are going to work on self-editing, both with our essays, through homework and a few other exercises. Looking at your own work and being able to discover and correct your own mistakes is an important skill.

Our high and medium groups will begin work in the 3.2 Scott Foresman book (we are a few weeks ahead of schedule there) and the lower group will begin 3.1.

There should be reading homework a couple times this week and editing homework once.

The Essays

I am marking this week's essays now. I haven't finished yet but some already stand out. Rawya wrote a really nice essay as did Sarah Fitian.

Last week's essays were also strong and I added essays by Imad, Waleed, Sarah, and Tariq to the encyclopedia. I may add a few more. Probably either Sindi or Sami's essay about the football match. I also added an essay Imad wrote on how he would change the school.

Yesterday we did the preparation work for next week's essay on our families. Some students finished the essays for homework so I will give those students a new topic for next week and give them points for doing extra homework.

As the students know, to be eligible for an A in my class, each student must have completed at least 25 homework assignments, dating from mid-October. Some assignments we have done this year do not count towards that 25. Most students are a few assignments away from completing this task. So far Noor, Rawya, Waleed, Sami, and Karma have finished the required number of assignments. There are three weeks left in the year and there are always extra assignments to do for students who need to finish their 25.

Good Luck on the Test Tomorrow

We will also be rewriting the essays we handed in earlier this week, completing our dramas, and talking about a large science project we will start soon.

Homework Change

The essays took a little longer than usual today so the students are completing them for homework. That means they did not take the scheduled homework. It will probably be assigned this weekend

Vampire Show First Two Scenes (for Sarah and Waleed)

Scene 1 – The vampire will kill somebody and suck his blood

Sindi: Ms. Rena wants you. She wants to tell you something. She wants you in the bathroom.

Khaled: Why in the bathroom?

Sindi: Because it’s a big secret.
(He takes him to the bathroom)

Khaled: Where is the teacher?

Sindi: I want to tell you a secret. (Sindi goes to Khaled’s neck and then sucks his blood he looks up and he is happy)

Scene 2 – The mother will whisper angrily at him because he didn’t take her to drink the child’s blood. Setting – In the office.
(Sindi goes to the office)

Ms. Rawya: What’s on your mouth? You’re a blockhead because there is blood on your mouth if somebody sees it, he will know that we are vampires.
Why didn’t you take me to the bathroom to drink the child’s blood.

Sindi: Because I was thirsty and needed blood. You are right. Thank you for warning me.

Ms. Rawya: You are a big blockhead. Every day you tell me sorry. If you don’t give me blood next time, you will have a big problem with me.

Sindi: If I brought you to the bathroom maybe someone would have seen Khaled. I have English class right now. Mr. Sean is teaching us today.

Singing (PAY ATTENTION JIHAD, SAMI, and AHMED)

On Monday we will be performing One Jump. At the conclusion of One Jump, Ahmed, Jihad and Sami will perform November Rain (all nine minutes of it).

Please be prepared.

Thank You to Saad Yaish

I just finished reading and listening to the gifts you brought me. Thank you very much. I learned a lot from them.

If you get an A on this week's vocabulary test I will let you make someone else the Beachman.

This Week in 5A

We will be continuing our study of wishes. We are also starting a lengthy examination of life science. The material should't be that difficult but some of the language will. When we get heavily into it, I will curtail the vocabulary for a while because there will be a lot of new science words. We should be studying life science for at least a month or two. Any parents with knowledge of gardening please make yourselves known. I could use a hand with a project.

Our essay topic will be a rewrite of last week's intial topic.

We will have homework on Monday. The students will complete an Encyclopedia assignment about one of our new students (Iyad and Ameed). They will complete a story web and then write the story.

On Tuesday students will have reading homework. They should read pages 8-25 in their science books. This will not be exclusively new material but we are moving more in depth with our study of life science.

On Wednesday the students should spend the evening finalizing their knowledge of the new words.

All these assigments are subject to change depending on the pace of class, how students perfom on assignments, if I have a headache, etc.

A Little Time Off for 5A??????

Nope but I am going to give you a little break. This week we only have 20 new words and I have added sentences so you can understand the words more easily. There are no easy words this week so be sure to spend time studying each day.

1. Offer – To tell someone something you will give. He offered me twenty shekels to help him cheat but I didn’t do it.

2. Feasible – Can happen. Flying in a plane is feasible. Flying by waving your arms very fast is not feasible.

3. Perhaps – Maybe. Perhaps Mr. Canavan will make this test easy but he might not.

4. Package – Something that comes in the mail that is bigger than a letter or a magazine.

5. Delight – Happiness. When I see the Teachers, Thinkers, and Helpers Class my heart is filled with delight

6. Sneer – To look at something like it is not good. Rawya sneered at the cookies Mr. Canavan made.

7. Grin – To smile

8. Bury – To put something under the ground and cover it with dirt. In America when someone dies they bury him.

9. Invisible – You can’t see invisible things

10. Blind – Can’t see

11. Deaf – Can’t hear

12. Mute – Can’t talk

13. Memory – The part of your mind that remembers things.

14. Superior – Better by a lot. A Ferrari is a superior car. Barcelona is superior to the Hippos Team.

15. Dozen – 12. I ate a dozen doughnuts and I feel sick.

16. Disappointed – When you wanted something good to happen and then it didn’t, you are disappointed. I thought my mom would give me 500 shekels but she didn’t. I was disappointed.

17. Intelligent – Smart

18. Fond – When you are fond of someone it means you like them. Saad is fond of the beach. Sarah is fond of rabbits

19. Competitive – Always wants to win. He was so competitive he cheated to win every time.

20. International – In more than one country. I went on an international trip. I went to Jordan, the USA, Mexico, and Palestine.

Vocabulary Test As

This was a very interesting test. There were more perfect scores than there were other kinds of As

A+ (perfect score, none wrong)

Sindi
Karma
Waleed Titi
Imad
Sarah
Sami
Khaled

As (-1 to -3)
Abdallah
Waleed Anibtawi

A- (-4 or -5)
Noooooooooooooooor
Iyad

Great job guys. This week I will get the words up earlier so those who want to study can do better. Remember, don't try to learn the words the night before. Spend time on them each day.

Essays That Went Home

Our revised essay assignment went home for students to complete. Three students finished it in class but the rest have to complete it at home.

The point of this assignment is for students to learn to correct their own work based on the rules they know.

Parents are not allowed to help with this assignment. This is independent work. The students know that if they have help from anyone their grade will be a 0.

The test scores should be up later today. At first glance they look very strong.

Weekly Update

This week is going well. One group completed "The Quilt Story" in their reading book and the second group finished both "Worms at Work" and "the Gardener"

We finished pages 90-91 in Spin and we are continually developing our ability to express wishes. We learned a new review game and a new song.

We completed the first draft of this week's essay but we are going to redo it Tuesday or Wednesday. Then we will work through the corrections next week. There were no specific problems with this week's essays but we are going to review some of the applicable grammar we learned earlier this year so we can make them even better.

Tommorow two groups will work in their chapter books, while the third group works on "A Pumpkin's Life Cycle." Despite the title this is a reading passage with a science theme and not science work.

Since this is a short week, we are also going to give the students a little help with their vocabulary words for the test Wednesday.

New Blogs for Four B and Hippos

For news about Mr. Sean's fourth grade class go here:
http://fourclassb.blogspot.com/

For news about Hippos:
http://pioneershippos.blogspot.com/

30 Words (not 40)

I decided to give you fewer and easier words because we have a lot to do this week.


1. Frigid – very cold
2. Arid – very hot and dry
3. Furious – Very angry
4. Placid – Calm
5. Serene – Calm
6. Vicious – Very mean
7. Reflection – What you see in a mirror is your reflection
8. Shadow – The black thing that follows you on sunny days.
9. Emperor – Someone who rules more than one country.
10. Assistant – Helper
11. Expand – Make longer
12. Curtail – Make shorter
13. Eyebrow – The hair over your eyes
14. Carpet - Rug
15. Sheet – The thing on your bed that you sleep on top of. You sleep under the blanket and over the sheet.
16. Shampoo – Soap for your hair.
17. Implement - Tool
18. Salary – The money you get paid for your work
19. Triplets – Twins when there are three of them
20. Escalator – Moving stairs
21. Silence – No noise
22. Forgive – Stop being angry at someone. You forgive them.
23. Reply - Answer
24. Healthy – Not sick
25. Emerge – Come out
26. Squabble – Fight about something that is not important
27. Chauffeur – A man who drives a car for a living but not a taxi or a truck.
28. Cure – Make you not be sick
29. Arduous – Very hard
30. Miserable – Very sad

This Week's Song

There will be another contest this Wednesday. All four and five classes are singing songs from Disney movies. Teachers, Singers and Helpers will sing "One Jump Ahead" from Aladdin. Here is the song with lyrics.



It will be a busy week for students. Its a short week and we need to learn the song and the new words. I am also sending home flashcards to practice. Every night, spend ten minutes on the flashcards, sing the song three times, and then study the words as much as you need.

This Week in Thinkers, Singers and Helpers

We are going to study wishes.

We are going to talk about how to express present, past and future wishes.

This means we are going to introduce the past participle form of verbs (always a difficult lesson for kids)

This will be supported with a poster to reference the form but it should still be fairly rocky.

We will write our second essay which will be based on these structures. Our essays are graded on how well the children employ the rules we know, how well the story is structured, and if it has internal logic.

We will also be learning 40 new words. There will be a test on these words on Thursday. We will NOT study them in class. They are blog only.

New Blogs

There are two new blogs. This blog is now for the Thinkers, Singers and Helpers Class.

Here is the link to my fourth grade class blog
http://fourclassb.blogspot.com/

Here is the link to the blog for the Girls' and Boys' Sports Teams http://pioneershippos.blogspot.com/

Both should be up and running by Sunday

The Encyclopedia

I have added five new pages to the encyclopedia. They were about changes we need in the school.

Karma Kemal - We Need a New School
Sarah Fitian - All Teachers Should be Like Mr. Sean
Sami Kilani - We Should Change the Canteen
Rawya Abu Rabi - We Should Bring Back the Newspaper
Sindi - Sindi Should be the Team Captain

I still have papers to review, including the stories that Tariq wrote so I will probably add some more tomorrow.

Science Test As

The tests were excellent this week. A lot of As and some students making great progress. Saad, Bilal,and Tariq all improved a great deal. Good job guys

A+
Abdallah
Khaled
Waleed Titi
Sami

As
Ahmed Kharouf
Sindi
Karma
Noor
Imad
Noooooooooooooooooooor
Anibtawi
Sarah
Dawood
Iyad

Updates on 5A Progress

This week we had a small celebration because our students reached the first of their reading goals. This year, every student is going to complete at least four chapter books and ten students will complete at least eight. Those are our long term goals. In addition to the chapter books, our students regularly work in the Scott Foresman reading books.

One group of students is working in the level 3.1. Those students have finished 90% of that book and should complete it next week (time allowing)

The second, smaller, group is working in the level 2.2. book. Those students have finished around 75% of that book.

Our first party was scheduled for the day when the student average for pages read exceeded 350 pages. That number DOES NOT include the Scott Foresman reading book. The student average reached 350 pages some time in the week of December 3.

Some students have read over 800 pages. By the end of next week, every student will have completed two full chapter books. "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and "Superfudge" are books regularly used in American third and fourth grades. Our students are reading and understanding these books. Some of the students are having more trouble with the higher level books, but with the aid of hard work and dictionary skills, they are doing very well on those.

Reading is the easiest and most effective way to acquire a working understanding of English. The ability to read is also the key to studying other subjects, such as science, history, geography, and others in English.

I am very proud of the work your children have done so far this year and you should be too.

For 4B

We will continue to work with the reading web. We will also work on the "Lost" story and "Ellen and the Wobbly People."

We probably won't finish that in class and whatever is left will be the homework. Study the cards I gave you and if I didn't look at them today, bring them.

5A Science Test

The students received flashcards today. We will review the material from the science book tommorow or Wednesday, depending on how long our essay writing takes tomorrow.

The last thing the students need to study are the pictures of the volcano and the layers of the Earth.

Students must be able to label the layers of the Earth (including the inner and outer cores) and the parts of a volcano.

The test will be Thursday.

This Week in 5A

Today we celebrated our reading with pizza and a new card game called Gin. The average student in our class has read more than 300 pages of chapter books this year.

We are going to be starting our essays this week. Each week we will write an essay on Sunday or Monday. Then Mr. Canavan will correct it and we will rewrite it. The rewritten essays will be a large part of the students final grades.

Parents may not help with these essays because this is part of teaching self-editing. That means that students need to learn to find and correct their own mistakes.

Rawya Abu Rabee wrote a story that was accepted for the Encyclopedia. We now have more than 25 pages finished. We expect to have almost 200 when it is finished.

This class is doing exceptional work this year. Keep it up.

Today in 4B

We started using the writing web to make stories. It is a good tool to build descriptions and organize our ideas. You place your topic in the middle and then put details in the bubbles. You connect the bubbles that go together and write sentences from them. Then you have your story.

We got started on the new reading books. Good work from many students. Miqdam did very well in the "Daddy Could I Have an Elephant Group."

Ahmed H. was the star of the "Arthur's Reading Race group along with Mariya.

Jobs for Ghaith, SIndi, and Abdallah?

Playwrights?

Spelling Test As for 4B

As

Zakariya
Mariya
Abdel Hafiz
Zeina
Sena

A-s
Amr
Dania

Great work guys. This week's test is harder and easier. The spelling is harder and the meanings are easier.

Last Week's 5A Vocabulary Test

A+s
Sarah Hassan Fitian
Rawya
Imad
Anibtawi
Noor
Ahmed Kharouf
Sami
Waleed
Khaled
Safa
Jihad

As
Karma
Sindi
Omar
Ghaith

A-
Iyad
Tariq

I am going to have to make the next one much harder. I thought 30 dificult words would be a challenge but the students proved me wrong. Great work!!!!!!!!!

New Blogs Coming Soon

In the next two weeks, this blog will be dividing into three separate blogs. One for 5A, one for 4B, and one for Hippos

This Week in 4B

This week we are going to continue our focus on writing. We will work in our new reading books including the stories:

1.5 (Pink Book)
Arthur's Reading Race

Lost

2.1
Daddy Could I Have an Elephant

These are our words for this week. The meanings are easy but the spelling is not. Study 15 minutes a night for an easy A on Thursday. These words come from the stories so if the students study the words, the stories become easier.

1. Loud
2. Zoo
3. Paint
4. Tug/Tugged
5. Hear/Heard
6. Jar
7. Sign
8. Puppy
9. Police officer
10. Afraid

5A Word Test Thursday.

This is the test that was postponed on Wednesday

This Week in 5A

A lot of reading

The Vampire Show starts filming

Encyclopedia work

Earthquakes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

This Week in 4B

New Books for Reading







This week we are starting out new reading books. Great work finishing the old books so quickly.

We are also going to have our spelling test on Thursday and work on some writing

November Rain Students

Just click on the play button below and wait. Its a long song so you will have to learn it in pieces

A Job for Ahmed, Jihad and Sami (WITH JOB LIST)

This is your job

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQ4a0vW0Y1o

Its the longest song we have ever learned. You have two weeks to learn it.

Here are the other jobs we have so far

Jihad, Ahmed, Sami –November Rain

Saad, Bilal, Imad, Iyad, Asad, Omar – Flashcards

Noor, Rawya, Karma, Dianna – Script

Safa and Sarah – First Grader Stories

Waleed – Five Chapters by Thursday

Dawood – Five Chapters by Thursday

Waleed Anibtawi – 200 pages of Harry Potter (by next Tuesday)

Tariq – Spelling Test A

Khaled - Refinishing the Mr. Henshaw questions and missing no more than seven

There are three more jobs I have to assign. (Sindi, Ghaith, Abdallah)

Safa, Waleed, and Ahmed

Don't forget to study the script for your scenes. We are going to try to start filming on Tuesday. Here is the script for your scenes.

Sindi- Waleed
Khaled - Ahmed K
Ms. Rawya - Safa

Sindi: Ms. Rena wants you. She wants to tell you something. She wants you in the bathroom.

Khaled: Why in the bathroom?

Sindi: Because it’s a big secret.
(He takes him to the bathroom)

Khaled: Where is the teacher?

Sindi: I want to tell you a secret. (Sindi goes to Khaled’s neck and then sucks his blood he looks up and he is happy)

Scene 2
Ms. Rawya: What’s on your mouth? You’re a blockhead because there is blood on your mouth if somebody sees it, he will know that we are vampires. Why didn’t you take me to the bathroom to drink the child’s blood.

Sindi: Because I was thirsty and needed blood. You are right. Thank you for warning me.

Ms. Rawya: You are a big blockhead. Every day you tell me sorry. If you don’t give me blood next time, you will have a big problem with me.

Sindi: If I brought you to the bathroom maybe someone would have seen Khaled. I have English class right now. Mr. Sean is teaching us today.

For Tariq

Footfall
Pioneers
Baccalaureate
Lift
Nuclear
Tape
Tsunami

Hippos Dominate Teachers

Two weeks after a humiliating 1-0 defeat to the Teachers, the Pioneers Hippos turned the tables. With pinpoint passing, strong shooting, and tireless running, the Hippos overwhelmed the game, but outmatched, teachers.

Despite aggressive play from Ms. Kaitlin and Mr. Ahmed, the Hippos controlled the ball and the teachers struggled to gain posession. After a long period of attack, Hippo perseverance paid off with a scintillating goal scored by Waleed Titi. Khaled Abu Gosh in defense and Ameed Amad on the left wing also turned in some excellent play.

The match record now stands at one win for the teachers and one for the Hippos. There will be a final match to determine the football champions of the school. Once that is finished the Hippos will turn our attention to a new challenge. The fathers.

Special thank yous to Tariq and Abdallah who acted as substitutes when the teachers' legs got tired.

Test Delayed BUT NOT CANCELLED

The word test was delayed when Wednesday English classes got cancelled. We will have it the first day back. That gives you five extra days to study

If you were assigned a job, you also have five extra days to complete it, which should make it easier.

The science test will probably be on Thursday the 10th. We have a lot of material to cover and some experiments we would like to try.

No Science Test Wednesday (THERE WILL BE A TEST ON THE 30 WORDS)

The students with flashcards should also be ready for their test. Those students are:

Bilal
Asad
Iyad
Omar

Our New Friend

We received a gift from Ms. Kaitlin last week. Iyad joined our class and has been doing a great job ever since. He is here to stay.

Spelling Test As

These are the grades from last week's spelling test. This was the hardest test yet because I didn't give you a chance to study some of the words. You had to spell them from sound.

Here are the As

A+ (-1)
Khaled
Waleed
Jihad
Safa

A+ (-2)
Dawood
Ghaith
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooor

A (-3)
Dianna
Karma

Great job by all of you

Volcanoes, Tsunamis, Earth and a Science Test

We resumed our study of geology and natural disasters today. We will finish up with volcanoes tommorow. Later this week we will get into earthquakes as well. It looks like our next big science test will be next week.

Some things students must know (so those who haven't done as well can start studying now)

The layers of the Earth

Crust - Top and thinnest

Mantle

Outer Core

Inner Core

Causes of Tsunamis:

Earthquakes

Volcanoes

Nuclear Bombs

Meteors

Parts of a Volcano:

Magma chamber

Central (main) Vent

Side Vent

Crater

Start studying that basic info, then I will post more as the test gets closer. The test will cover, the Earth, Volcanoes, Tsunamis, and Earthquakes

Big Match for the Hippos

Hippos A played Hippos B today. For Hippos A, Ahmed Q., Jihad, Mo'Men, Hassan, Ibrahim, and Zakariya played.

For Hippos B, Saad, Anan, Imad, Yazans, Yusuf, Montasser, Tariq, Mahmud, and Amr played

After a good match the final score was 3-3. Ahmed Q. scored three goals for Hippos A. Tariq and Mahmud scored the goals for Hippos B. The last goal was a penalty against Hippos A.

We will play again soon. Hippos B looked a lot better this time than when we last practiced two weeks ago.

This Week in 4B

Should be another good week. We are going to focus a little more on science.

Our main grammar focus this week will be on parts of speech. The parts we will focus on are:

Nouns - If you can hit it, its a noun. (book, wall, Palestine, pencil, Sena)

Verb - A verb is something you can do. (run, jump, be, fight)

Adjective - A word that describes things. (crazy, tall, ugly, fast)

Pronoun - A word that takes the place of a noun (He, she, it, they)

We have spent some time on these things already so it shouldn't be very difficult this week. We are also going to have a test on the vocabulary words we started working with last week. Here they are again:

Violent
Calm
Placid
Angry
Crazy
Funny
Sad
Before
After
Again
Never

As you can see, most of them are adjectives.

We will also continue to study the correct use of comparatives and superlatives, sentence ending punctuation, and READING, READING, and MORE READING

Encyclopedia Update

I was going through the stories you wrote called "My Favorite Things About Me" and I chose three to go in the Encyclopedia.

They are Noor's, Dianna's and Sarah's. Great work girls.

I will be adding the stories you wrote about third graders soon. Remember to always REVIEW YOUR WRITING FIRST

There were many good stories that didn't get in the encyclopedia because the writing was a little lazy

Study the Meanings of the New Words

We are learning these to build our vocabularies, not to practice our spelling

I forgot to bring the spelling tests home so I cant post the grades yet. I will post them tommorow. I do remember that two of the As were:

Dianna and Safa. Great work girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It Never Gets Easier in 5A

Now that we have finished strengthening our spelling skills, we are going to start working on our vocabularies. That means we are going to be learning new words.



Each week you need to learn the meanings of a group of new words. I am going to start you with 30 easy words. The second week 40, then 50. We will continue as long as 10 students get As on the Thursday tests. When less than 10 students get As the contest will stop.



I expect that you will make it to 70 or 80 words a week before that happens. Here are the words. A lot of these words will be familiar to some of you.

Spelling will not be important on these tests. If you dont understand a word ask me and I will give you a longer explanation.

1. Blade - The sharp part of a knife

2. Enormous - Very big, huge

3. Wealth - Money, land, cars, jewelry and other things that are valuable

4. Shock - A very strong surprise. If Ahmed came to school without his head, you would feel shock

5. Invisible - Something you can't see is invisible

6. Recognize - To see something you know. Yesterday there was a boy on the football field. I recognized Khaled's brother. It was Adam.

7. Nap - A short sleep. Maybe one or two hours. Every day in my class, Sami takes a nap

8. Errand - A short job you have to go do. When I send Omar to the store to buy me falafel, I am giving him an errand.

9. Downtown - The main part of a city. Like the city center in Nablus.

10. Fireplace - Some people use fire to heat their homes. The place they make the fire in the house is called the fireplace.

11. Chimney - If your house has a fireplace, the smoke goes out the chimney.

12. Dew - The tiny amount of water that comes every morning and when it gets dark at night.

13. Coarse - Rough. The playground is coarse. The top of your desk is not. The opposite of coarse is smooth

14. Rise - To get higher

15. Lower - To move something down

16. Raise - To make something higher

17. Preserve - To save or make something strong so it can last a long time.

18. Duplicate - Do something exactly the same. If the Hippos can duplicate the way they played last time, we will win.

19. Adjust - Make a small change

20. Aquatic - About water. Aquatic plants live in the water

21. Screw - The way you put the top on and off a water bottle is by screwing it on, and unscrewing it.

22. Dip - A dip is a kind of food that you eat by putting some other food in it. Hummus is a dip. Salsa is a dip.

23. Luminescent - Something that shines is luminescent.

24. Aggravate - Make angry

25. Nuisance - a small problem. Karma standing up in class is a nusiance. Karma biting Nooooooor is a big problem.

26. Location - Where it is. The location of the school is Khallet al Mud

27. Artficial - Not real. Not from nature. If you have an artificial heart, it means doctors replaced your heart with another one.

28. Precaution - A precaution is something you do to make sure you are safe. Taking an umbrella if you think it will rain is a precaution. Locking your door when you leave your house is a precaution.

29. Hydrate - To give water to. On hot days, you have to hydrate yourself.

30. Exacerbate - To make worse. There was a bad fight and when Imad brought a knife, it exacerbated the fight.

Hippos Practice Today and Hippos B on Saturday

Good practice today. We did a little more exercise than we usually do. The running was good, sit-ups were great and push ups, well those could use some work, but work is what the Hippos love to do.

The football was good. Khaled Abu Gosh and Hassan Khouli scored nice goals. Khaled was also the strongest player for the Mr. Canavan team that won the match. Ameed Amad played some good football and so did Ziyad Kurdi.

This Saturday we finally have Hippos B again. We didnt get to have it on Saturday and Sunday because school was closed but I am excited that we will get to play again. I missed playing with you guys. I am working on a match for you.

Notes from 4B

No class today because of the trip.

Pretty good week in 4B. We got a lot of reading done and some good review. Next week we will have a little more time and we will get to the vocabulary words we started on this week

I got a chance to work with Miqdam and Anan today and it was amazing how much progress those two (and all the students) have made this year. Watching them confidently doing questions and answers was very rewarding for me.

Zakariya, Ibrahim, and Islam I want you to read the first story in the book (about the sisters), the story about the Ugly Duckling, and one other story that you choose.

Notes from 5A

The singing was great today. This weekend I want every student to practice Enter Sandman 5 times. This time go to the third chorus

Anibtawi please return the book you took today. I thought you had taken a different one but I remembered which one you have and its not a good book for you. I will give you another one Sunday.

There will be new question sheets ready for most of you on Sunday.

It was a very good weak. Sometimes it surprises me just how good at reading the students have become. Every student has now finished at least one chapter book and many have finished three or more. Great work. The tests were okay today. I'll put the list of As up tommorow.

A Very Special Birthday

Today was a very special day for me. I got to spend time with all my students and we had fun, danced and played some games. I can't think of a better way to spend the day.

Special thank yous to Imad, Safa and Ahmed, Anibtawi, Abdallah, and all the other students who spent time with me today.

Dont forget if you wear your Mr. Canavan shirt you will get +5 on the test tommorow.

Sean

No Test in 4B

We are going on a trip tommorow so we wont have English class. We will have a test on the words you got next week. We are going to do a lot of work on them next week.

The three hardest to learn are:

violent
placid
calm

The Next 30 Words (harder and harder)

A few repeats here to give the students who missed them a second chance and the students that know them a prize

1. Tsunami
2. Earthquake
3. Volcano
4. Hurricane
5. Wind
6. Rain
7. Snow
8. Sleet
9. Torrid
10. Frigid
11. Mirror
12. Bottle
13. Drawer
14. Switch
15. Change
16. Doorknob
17. Stairway
18. Toilet
19. Sink
20. Scrub
21. Iron
22. Dishwasher
23. Cabinet
24. Mountain
25. Ocean
26. Underwater
27. Submarine
28. Nuclear
29. Bomb
30. Meteor

Great Class in 4B Today

The review work went really well. Most students have mastered syllables and comparatives. We are making progress on superlatives and sentence enders.

The reading work was excellent and today the Dania Ata and Lana team were the best readers in my group. Zakriya, Adam and Ibrahim did a great job working without a teacher's help for most of the period.

This Week in 5A

This is a short week in 5A. We had today off and we won't have class on Wednesday. This week we are going to be focusing heavily on reading.

We have one group of students that just finished "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing"
Congratulations to:

Bilal
Saad
Omar
Safa
Asad
Imad
Abdallah
Tariq

Also to Jihad who finished it last week. These students will start Superfudge. They will be working more independently this week. Iyad will be working with them.

The second group:

Sami
Dianna
Noor
Jihad
Ahmed K.

Will be working in our Scott Foresman reading books. We will start with the "Cowboys" story, and continue on to "the Jingle Dancer."

The third group:
The Waleeds
Sindi
Rawya
Karma
Dawood
Sarah
Khaled

This group will be working on their chapter books. Hopefully we will all complete the book we are working on this week or early next week.

We added a new poster in class so everyone can keep track of what books they have read. It is one of our goals that every student finish four books this year and we are going to meet that goal easily. By the end of this month, every student will have finished two.

We are also going to finish studying Tsunamis and hopefully make a model of how volcanoes form islands using candles and a wading pool. Then we will bombard our makeshift world with meteors to create tsunamis.

Also this week our word wall will begin to take shape as we add many science words. I missed one student but without my list of groups I can't remember who. If its you, leave a note and I'll give you +1.

The First 30 Words for This Week (Last Week of the Spelling 300!!!!)

1. Monday
2. Tuesday
3. Wednesday
4. Thursday
5. Friday
6. Saturday
7. Sunday
8. January
9. February
10. March
11. April
12. May
13. June
14. July
15. August
16. September
17. October
18. November
19. December
20. Vampire
21. Fang
22. Blood
23. Predator
24. Prey
25. Connect
26. Disconnect
27. Palestine
28. Pioneers
29. Baccalaureate
30. School

Songs With Lyrics

In two weeks we are having a singing contest with 5A, 5B, 4A, and 4B. Here are the songs for 5A (Enter Sandman) and 4B (We Will Rock You). Practice them.

Enter Sandman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUUEjd6vrOQ

We Will Rock You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGaOlfmX8rQ

Spelling As

The second group of As is based on the spelling test:

Abdel Hafiz (Great Job)
Lana
Maria
Adam
Zakariya ???????? (There was no name on this one but it looks like Z's writing)

First Round of 4B As.

There were two parts to this test. I just finished grading the part with syllables, comparisons, sentence enders and meanings. These students got As:

Ibrahim
Adam
Zakariya
Ahmed Q.
Islam

Great Job Guys

Next Week in 4B

We will continue with comparatives and superlatives, sentence enders, syllables, and capitalization. It will mostly be a review week with a lot of reading mixed in.

The second group should finish the "Favorite Things Old and New" reading book. We did some really great work with that book and now its time to move on.

We will read Slim, Luke, and the Mules, review a few old stories like "the Rolling Rice Cake," "the Cat and the Rat" and "June and the Mule"

We probably won't start the new book until the week after. We are also going to work on some drama, both writing and performing. It looks like a busy week in 4B.

4B Test Grades

I will have these up tommorow. I am expecting very high scores.

Today's class was a lot of fun. We created and practiced two different dramas.

Today's Hippos Practice

It was a good practice today. The boys ran a little more and we had some good drills.

Omar Helawi, one of last year's stars, had been having a slow year until today. In our final game, Omar was the best player on the field. He stole the ball from faster players and made some great passes. Zakariya was also good and Ahmed Q. scored a great goal.

Khaled Abu Gosh also had a nice goal during drills and put in some good work as goalie. The heading drill was a lot of fun and Jihad had one of the best headers

All the As in 5A

This week, the last two students who hadn't missed a word got one wrong. Both Safa and Sami missed words on this week's test. If you count families though, the Kharoufs have gotten perfect scores on all three tests. This time it was Ahmed with the perfect score.

Here are the Perfect Scores, A+s (-1) and the As

Perfect Scores
Noooooooooooooooooooooooor
Ahmed K.
Imad

A+ (-1)
Jihad
Dianna **
Sami
Waleed Anibtawi
Waleed Titi
Khaled

As (-2 or -3)
Safa
Karma

Test Tommorow in 4B!!

Today's class was great. The group working with me (Ahmed M., Ahmed Q., Sena, Zakariya, Islam, Yazans, Ibrahim, Miqdam, Adam, and Zeina) did a great job on "Leon and Bob" a story about a boy and his imaginary friend.

Don't forget that all students need to study for their test tommorow.

A Hippo Surprise??????

The Hippos are finally getting back into shape. Today's practice was pretty good and the game at the end was a lot of fun. The team with Bilal, Waleed, Omar and friends won the game.

The stars of today's practice were Zakariya and Sami. Zakariya has gotten a lot better and Sami is always great on offense or defense. He is never afraid of the ball and he never gives up.

If I can arrange it I may (not will but may) have something for you tommorow.

5A Science Homework

Don't forget the science reading I gave you. We have a new friend in class this week. Iyad Amer has joined our class and we are very happy to have him.

We will continue with Volcanoes, earthquakes and other natural disasters tommorow and Thursday.

Don't forget the words for the spelling test.

4B Science Thursday and a Test

We are going to be continuing with science on Thursday and students might get to take their books home for the weekend.

The class has been doing so well with the material this week that the spelling test is now on spelling words, syllables, sentence enders and comparatives and superlatives.

All that and it shouldn't take more than 20 minutes

5A

I have been lazy about getting these words up this week so we are going to have a 60 word test on Thursday. Then we will have 70 next week which will bring us to 300 in all.

The next 30 words are

31. Multiply
32. Divide
33. Add
34. Subtract
35. Period
36. Comma
37. Hundred
38. Thousand
39. Million
40. Count
41. Wear
42. Unlock
43. Coffee
44. Tea
45. Soccer
46. Porch
47. Rocket
48. Bullet
49. Shield
50. Sword
51. Magic
52. Witch
53. Scarf
54. Socks
55. Underwear
56. Shirt
57. Drawer
58. Couch
59. Carpet
60. Cologne

There should be two words that we had before but don't tell anyone

For 4B

More homework tonight, its comparitives, superlatives, syllables and more. About 70% of the students had their homework today and it isn't enough.

Don't forget to study your spelling words for 15 minutes tonight.

A Change of Plans in 4B

The class has been doing very well with the material so we are adding comparatives and superlatives to the list of topics. That means we are working on:

Sentence enders (?!.)

Comparatives and superlatives

Capitalizing the first letter of names and sentences

Comparatives and superlatives are how you talk about people in relation to each other.

For example:

Mr. Sean is more beautiful than Mr. Curtis

Mr. Sean is the most beautiful man in the world

4B HOMEWORK!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget the homework Ms. Mara gave you in the learning center today.

Zakariya, Ibrahim, and Adam you do not have to do it, because I gave you extra work.

Today's class was pretty good. Ahmed Q. did some very nice work and will probably get his story in the newspaper when its ready.

Don't forget to practice your spelling words 15 Minutes a night.

First 30 Words for Thursday's Test

1. Computer
2. Tiger
3. Hippo
4. Rhino
5. Open
6. Close
7. Download
8. Advantage
9. Disadvantage
10. Reason
11. Should
12. Job
13. Career
14. Boss
15. Supervisor
16. Coach
17. Striker
18. Goalie
19. Musician
20. Lawyer
21. Teacher
22. Student
23. Certain
24. Used
25. Really
26. Kind
27. Feline
28. Brought
29. Save
30. Delete

4B Study Your Words

Spend 15 minutes a night with your spelling words and you will get an A on Thursday's test.

Today in 4B

We got some good work done today. Both groups did well on the stories.

Half the students had homework (its a repeat of something we did earlier this year)

I marked the homework from Wednesday and it looks good. You guys have some interesting grandmothers.

If you have extra time practice the drama and remember to look for !!! ??? .... to know how to say the sentences

Spelling Test As

There were a lot of As on the spelling test this week. These are the students who got an A +.

On this test an A+ is one wrong or a perfect score.

Perfect Scores:
Sami
Safa
Waleed
Khaled

One Wrong:
Noor
Rawya
Ahmed K.

GREAT JOB!!!!!!!!!!

New words later or possibly tommorow.

For 4B

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irhroQ14Ufo

We are going to work on My Favorite Things again. This is the first song we learned this year. Go to the link above to listen and watch with the words. At the end of this week you should know:

My Favorite Things
Super Girl
Secret
Break on Through
We Will Rock You

For 4B

This week we will study the following:

Capitalization of the first letter in names and sentences (we started this last week)
Sentence ending punctuation (? ! .)
Dividing words by syllables (also touched on last week very briefly)

The vocabulary words are
1. Lick
2. Pick
3. Mad
4. Belly
5. Grow/Grew
6. Stand/Stood
7. Jar
8. Inside
9. Outside
10. Beside
11. Wag
12. Sofa
13. Rug
14. Artist
15. Bath

Last week we didn't do much work with the words because most students already understood them all. This week there are some words we don't know yet so we will be working on them more.

Students in the Reading Group 1 (which varies depending on story but generally has Ahmed M, Zakariya, Ibrahim, Zeina, Islam, Adam, and sometimes Miqdam, Sena and Ahmed Q.) will be continuing their work on "The Snow Glory" in the Surprise Me book.

Students in Reading Group 2 (Abdel Hafiz, Ata, Ahmed H, Lana, Mariyya, Dania, Anan, Amr and sometimes Miqdam, Sena and Ahmed Q.) will be working on the "Rat and the Cat" and "I Wouldn't"

We worked on these some earlier this year but they were a little difficult. Now that we have more experience we are going to try again.

Perfect Scores Continue

Last week on our first giant spelling test, Safa Kharouf, Rawya Abu Rabee, and my grandmother all got perfect scores. That means they spelled every word right before using any pluses they got. This week Safa and Sami scored perfectly again. Rawya got 39/40 (Great Job Rawya!!) but now there are only two perfect spellers left.

They have completed 160 of the 300 words. When we finish this contest in two weeks, we will start another about learning new words.

For 4B

HOMEWORK TONIGHT

Ms. Marah gave you the homework in learning center.

Also don't forget to study the words I gave you Sunday. You can find them on the blog

LUCKY 5A STUDENTS

Mr. Canavan's computer was not connecting to the internet this afternoon so I couldn't post the last 30 words for Thursday's spelling test. Since you wouldn't have enough time to study, we will have the test on 70 words, not 100.

Next week we will have another 70 and then 60 the week after. Study hard and good luck

5A Homework

Your dictionary worksheet is due tommorow

Whats Wrong With Sena's Hair????????

For 4B (This Week)

This week we are going to be practicing writing. We are going to get some stories ready for the school newspaper.

We are going to re-learn to CAPITALIZE the first letter in names and sentences. We are also going to practice dividing words by syllables. This should be an easy week and we might get to learn a new song at the end.

Practice your spelling words.

The Next 30 Words

31. Paper
32. Folder
33. Favorite
34. Juice
35. Hummus
36. Can
37. Trash
38. Night
39. Might
40. Maybe
41. Workboook
42. Apple
43. Watermelon
44. Poster
45. Ketchup
46. French
47. Pizza
48. Cup
49. Bowl
50. Spoon
51. Fork
52. Plate
53. Oven
54. Refrigerator
55. Freeze
56. Melt.
57. Basket
58. Power
59. Heater
60. Understand

For 5A

Tonight is the last homework I will look at before I do grades.

The science test was okay. The average grade was a 79%. Karma Kemal, Mohammed Sindi, and Sami Kilani got the highest scores. Rawya, Abdallah, Imad and Khaled also got As. Great work guys.

For 4B. New Words and Homework for Some Students

These students have homework tonight:

Miqdam
Adam
Ata
Anan
Ibrahim

These are the words for this week. There are 20 because we know what most of them mean, but we don't know how to spell them yet.

1. Orange
2. Bread
3. Rice
4. Milk
5. Grape
6. Cereal
7. Onion
8. Hair
9. Water
10. Cauliflower
11. Ear
12. Eye
13. Head
14. Nose
15. Mouth
16. Light
17. Fght
18. Night
19. Bite
20. Kite

Also this week we continue with a, an, some and any.
We are making questions and answers.
We are learning to capitalize the first letter in sentences and names.

The First 30 Words for the Next Test

Sami, Safa, and Rawya can still win the contest for perfect scores on all 300 spelling words.

1. pink
2. red
3. blue
4. yellow
5. orange
6. white
7. black
8. gray
9. oval
10. square
11. triangle
12. rectangle
13. brother
14. sister
15. grandfather
16. grandmother
17. uncle
18. aunt
19. cousin
20. fire
21.water
22. air
23. gas
24. liquid
25. solid
26. ice
27. melt
28. freeze
29. high
30. low

Remember if you find some words we already had, keep them a secret so you can get an advantage.

For 4B HOMEWORK!!!!!!!!!!

While I was meeting with your moms, Ms. Marah was teaching the class. Some students may have finished this at the end of class and all students made a good start on it.

Yesterday there were six students who didn't do their homework. Lets try to improve that this time.

Congratulations to our good friend Tariq, who is going to be moving to Mr. Tony's class. He has been a great worker all year and we will miss him a lot.

Rawya

At the conclusion of grading, Rawya Abu Rabee had the highest score with a 59 out of 50. Rawya's exceptional score was a result of winning two contests the previous days and then not getting any questions wrong.

Well Done Rawya!!!!!!

Rawya

The First Two Perfect Spelling Scores

Congratulations to Sami and Safa

For 4B

HOMEWORK!!! HOMEWORK!!! HOMEWORK!!!! HOMEWORK!!!!!

There will be homework tonight. (October 28, 2009)

Yesterday (Tuesday) two of our students had their first football practice. Great job by Ibrahim and by Ahmed Q.

There is no test this Thursday because we had last week's test on Monday. This week we studied:

a
an
some

There isn't any
There aren't any
There isn't a
There isn't an

We also completed a couple stories, some students started work on newspaper stories, and we all kept practicing past tense.

First Day of Hippos

Everything went well. Good practice. Ahmed Q. won the races. Waleed scored several goals and all the boys looked strong.

Big Test Tommorow

Our first big spelling test is tommorow. Everyone did well on the pre-test today so don't worry. Try to find some time to study for science too.

Any student who scores 100 out of 100 tommorow will get a prize

What to Study for the Science Test

Read the Water Chapter again from page 150-160. Read it twice this week. Know what the yellow words mean. These are the words you need to know:

Water Vapor
Groundwater
Wetland
Evaporation
Condensation
Water Cycle
Precipitation

You can find all these words in your glossary (the part in the back of your book where it tells you what words mean)

Study the paper I gave you on water and blood. Study the paper I gave you on sewage and how water is cleaned. Study the questions I gave you on the water cycle.

This test will be easier than you think so don't worry too much.

Hippos Starts This Week

Hippos A will be on Tuesday and Thursday after school. Hippos B will be Saturday and Sunday (the first Sunday will be November 1, 2009)

Two Giant Tests in One Week

On Wednesday we are going to have a spelling test on the first 100 words. There are 90 words posted on this site and I am going to give you the last ten words on Monday. Those ten are going to be the hardest ones.

Any student who gets a 100% will get 10 points on the giant science test on Thursday. We are going to have a test on all the things we have learned about water this year. We are going to study water all week and review the old things we learned.

These are the last 30 words that will be on the blog for Wednesday's test. If there are some words on here twice, don't tell. Just use them to help you

61. Brother
62. Sister
63. Father
64. Mother
65. Strong
66. Thin
67. Skip
68. Stir
69. Stop
70. Toe
71. Finger
72. Arm
73. Elbow
74. Knee
75. Foot
76. Suck
77. Sock
78. September
79. Soft
80. Right
81. Left
82. Turn
83. Index
84. Page
85. Chapter
86. Stem
87. Root
88. Tree
89. Leaf
90. Frog

Today's Match

Today we played our first match of the season. We haven't practiced at all so it was a hard match. Some of our boys had tests and couldn't play. We were also missing Zakariya.

We played a team led by Ms. Lubna's son Iman. Iman and his friends have played us before and we are always happy to have them come to our school. They are all good boys.

We had more time than we thought, so we played two matches. We lost the first match 2-1. Bilal Kayed scored our goal. The second match was a tie 1-1. Mohammed Sindi scored our goal. Mohammed Sindi is on the B team to start but because so many boys couldn't play, we let him play with the A team today.

The match was tied so we moved to penalties. Waleed Titi, Sami Kilani, and Mohammed Sindi all scored their penalties and we won the match 3-1. In two weeks we will play Iman and his friends again. By then we hope our team will be much stronger.

There were many new boys that played for us today. Ziyad Kurdi did a great job in his first Hippos match

The 2009 Pioneers Hippos Teams

All boys who tried out will be playing football this year. I am really excited to work with all of you. Every boy is going to practice, improve, and have fun with me this year. There will be two teams. Hippos A and Hippos B. Hippos A will represent the school against outside teams. Sometimes students will move up from Hippos B or down from Hippos A.

The first 12 students on Hippos A are:

1. Bilal Kayed
2. Waleed Titi
3. Khaled Abu Gosh
4. Omar Helawi
5. Sami Kilani
6. Osama Titi
7. Jihad Jitan
8. Hassan Khouly
9. Zakariya Younis
10. Ahmed Q.
11. Ziyad Kurdi
12. Mo'Men
13.
14.
15.
There are three spaces still open on Hippos A. The three students that are the best on Hippos B will move up to Hippos A. The most important thing for me is that the boys try hard and have fun. If we learn something about football, that's great but its more important to be good friends and have fun.

For Four B

There is no test tommorow because I was in Jerusalem but there will be a test Monday. Study these words:

Practice

Have

Cook

Study

Lose

Win

Beat

Talk

Drive

Here are some pictures from our class:

Some Pictures From Our Class

The Next 30 Words (31-60)

Here are the next 30 words. If you see some that are the same, don't tell anyone. That is one less word you have to spell.

31. Upon
32. Us
33. Use
34. Wash
35. Which
36. Watch
37. Was
38. Were
39. When
40. Second
41. First
42. Third
43. Fourth
44. Fifth
45. Would
46. Could
47. Should
48. Wake
49. Shake
50. Fake
51. Knock
52. Clock
53. Mock
54. Pull
55. Read
56. Lift
57. Research
58. Experiment
59. These
60. Those

Spelling Bee

We are going to have a spelling bee. A spelling bee is a spelling contest. We are going to learn to spell 300 words. Any student who can spell all 300 words correctly will get at least a 90 on their report card.

The winner of the spelling bee will get to be the teacher on two different days (but not the whole day). Here are the first words. Every few days I will post 30 new words until we have 300. When we have 300 we will have the contest. The first words

1. Always
2. Around
3. Because
4. Been
5. Before
6. Best
7. Sean
8. Both
9. Buy
10. Does
11. Doesn’t
12. Gerund
13. Simile
14. Direct
15. Object
16. Noun
17. Adjective
18. Adverb
19. Found
20. Goes
21. Green
22. Gave
23. Pronoun
24. These
25. Their
26. Shall
27. Please
28. Fought
29. Taught
30. Were

Back from Jerusalem

I got back from Jerusalem one day early. I was very happy to see all of you. I missed you so much. My trip was nice. In Tel Aviv I met a thief. In Jerusalem I saw many churches, mosques and restaurants. I met some friends and went swimming at night. It was a good trip.

Our class has many projects that we are working on:

Selling Water

The Vampire Show

Waleed, Sindi, Dawood, Saad, Ahmed and the rest of their group are finishing off the first script now. We should start filming next week.

The Encyclopedia

New Teachers for 5A????????

Great News for 5A!!. Mr. Canavan is going to Jerusalem. Ms. Dalia is going to be helping out but several students are going to get a chance to teach lessons. They will lead the singing fight, organize the Detective game we play, and help Ms. Dalia.

Remember student-teachers, rule the class with an iron fist. (iron is a very strong metal).

The Vampire Show

Today one of our working groups (Waleed, Dawood, Ahmed, Sindi, Saad, and Khaled) started working on the script for the first epsiode of our vampire show. We started by choosing a conflcit for our show and working on the first two scenes. There is a lot of action so far.

The show is set at Pioneers School.

The characters are:

Sindi - The fifth-grade vampire
Ms. Rawya - Sindi's mom. She is a vampire too. She works in the office at the school.
Ms. Lubna - Sindi's teacher. Does she know that Sindi is a vampire

Noor, Khaled, and Saad - Sindi's friends in class. Are they friends or are they food?

My Nephew (my sister's son)

This weekend I went tubing with my sisters. Tubing is when you get in a tube (like the ones in this picture)

Then you float down the river, swimming and having fun. We saw big snapping turtles (like this one)

Then we floated over some rapids. We went very fast and my sisters were scared.

When I left to go to Nablus last year, I left my kayak with a friend. This week I got it back. Here is a picture. I'll take more when I get it in the water and there might be a special surprise friend kayaking with me.

Yesterday my sister and my father caught a snake. This is it. We took it to my sister's house so she could let it go.

I am not close to the snake because it was very angry that we caught it. It isn't dangerous because there is no poison but its bite can still hurt you a little. It is called a Black Rat Snake

Some Old Pictures (Yes those are me)

Hey Students

I am sorry I havent posted any pictures in a while. My sister has been very sick and I am visiting her in the hospital. Next week is a big holiday so I will post many pictures

I Went to a Museum

Here are some pictures from my trip. There was a model of an elepant and another one of a whale. They were the same size as a real elephant and a real whale. The whale is a right whale. Its about half as big as a blue whale. To see how big they are look at how small the people next to them are.

My parents have guinea hens. They are strange little birds. There was a mother that didnt like her baby. My father saw the mom being mean to the baby bird so he took the baby. Now he is the baby's mother. He feeds it and holds it and gives it water. Does that mean the bird is my sister?

These are my cousins. They came to visit. I liked them better when they were little Habibtes.

This is my dad's car. He was driving home and he hit a deer. The deer was ok but the car was not. Now he has to get a new car.

This Weekend

I went to a costume party with my sister and her son.

Then I played in a volleyball tournament. We won three games but then we lost to a team from Brazil. My partner, Claudio, is from Italy.

I didn't wear sunscreen so I got a bad sunburn on my legs. I was wearing shoes so my feet didn't burned.

I Am Visiting My Family

I Am in America

I just got here. I am staying at my mother's house. I will post pictures tommorow. I am happy to see my family and all my American friends but I miss all my Habibtes like Jihad, Abdallah, Khaled, Sindi, Dawood, Montasser and others.

My nephew (my sister's son) wants to learn our water fight game, so I am going to teach him how to play it.

This Summer

I will be posting pictures of what I am doing in America. Starting this Friday, check back every day to see something new.

210-240

Chess Words

1. Rook – The piece that can move up, down, left and right.

2. Knight – The horse piece

3. Bishop – The piece that can move diagonally

4. Pawn – The piece that can move one space up at a time.

5. Fork – When you can kill two pieces with your knight. Your enemy has to choose which of his

pieces to give up.

6. Chainsaw – The machine you use to cut down trees.

7. Washing machine – The machine that washes your clothes

8. Air conditioner – The machine that keeps your house cool when the weather is hot.

9. Suitcase – The bag you take when you travel.

10. Star – The person with a big part in a movie or play. Sarah, Ahmed and Waleed are the stars of Peter Pan.

11. Hinge – The thing that holds the door on the wall.

12. Dirty laundry – Clothes you have already worn that need to be washed.

13. Chef – The person who makes the food in a restaurant.

14. Ticket – The small piece of paper you show to get into a movie or play.

15. Dam – A giant wall that stops a river.

16. Three pointer – A long shot in basketball that gets you three points.

17. Junior – You put this behind your name if you have the same name as your mother or father.

18. Vacuum – The machine you use to clean your rugs.

19. Slob – A person who is always dirty or messy.

20. Absorb – A sponge absorbs water. The ground absorbs rain.

21. Graduate – To finish a school.

22. Dagger - a small knife used for fighting.

23. Porch - The area in front of your house where you can sit and drink tea.

24. Make up - What women put on their faces to look beautiful. The students in the play wore it.

25. Goggles - The things you wear on your eyes when you swim.

26. Bathing suit - the clothes you wear to swim.

27. Tire - The thing the car drives on. It is a circle.

28. Steering Wheel - The thing you move to make the car turn.

29. Brake - The thing that stops the car when you push it.

30. Scrawny - Skinny

New Songs Are Up On Grooveshark

I put Another One Bites the Dust and When I Come Around on Grooveshark.

Words 181-210

1. Architect – the man who draws the plans to build a house

2. Secretary – Ms . Rawan is our secretary.

3. Principal – The leader of a school

4.Vice-Principal – the second person in the school

5. Musician – Someone who gets paid to play music.

6.Athlete – Someone who plays sports

7.Rebound – when one thing hits another and bounces off. The car hit the wall and rebounded into the street.

8. Fan – The thing that blows air on you to keep you cool. We have one in the classroom.

9.Power – Power makes the computers, lights, and machines work. When there is no power, the
school is dark.

10.Librarian – the person who works in a library. Ms. Abeer is our librarian.

11. Gratitude – gratitude is what you feel when someone does something nice for you

12. Hatred – when you hate someone you are feeling hatred.

13. Pillow – What you put your head on when you sleep.

14. Blog – what you are reading now. A blog is a website where you can post what you think about things.

15.Headphones – the things that go in your ears when you listen to an IPOD

16. Video camera – the thing we use to make a movie.

17. Rodent – a group of animals that has the mouse, the rat and other animals like that.

18. Purse – the bag women carry everywhere.

19. Jewelry – earrings, necklaces, diamonds that people wear.

20.Assistant – someone that works for you to help you. Mr. Ahmed is Ms. Lana’s assistant.

21.Poster – The things you put on your walls. Like the rules posters we have in our class.

22. Multiplication – 2x3=6 is multiplication

23.Subtraction - 7-2=5 is subtraction

24.Multiply – a verb. It means to do multiplication

25.Subtract – a verb. It means to do subtraction.

26.Add – A verb. It means to put two numbers together (2+3=5)

27. Addition – the thing you are doing when you add.

28. Brush – A verb. It means what you do to your hair

29. Brush – a noun. A brush is the thing you use to move your hair to the place you want it.

30. Sink – the place your mom washes the dishes.

How to Listent to Our Songs

Go to grooveshark.com

doubleclick on login

the user name is seanthedino

the password is Montasser

Then click on seanthedino

click on view music

click on playlists

click on seanthedino's playlist 1

click on songs

Then you can hear and practice all our songs. If you need the lyrics to Hey Hey We're the Monkees go here: http://www.monkees.net/DOCS/LYRICS/THEME.htm

The lyrics we use for Tingalayo are different

Words 151-180

1. Halter - The thing you put on a horse's head so you can ride it.

2. Saddle - The thing you put on a horse's back so you can ride it.

3. Reins - the rope you hold to control the horse

4. Collar - the part of your shirt that goes around your neck.

5. Shoelaces - the things that tie your shoes

6. Loose leaf paper - the paper you put in your file

7. Loose leaf notebook - the file we use in class

8. Download - to take something from the internet and put it on your computer.

9. Illustrator - The person who draws the pictures in a book.

There are four defenseive players in most football teams. They are

10. Left fullback - This person plays on the left.

11. Center half - there are two of these. They are the most defensive players. They are usually very tall.

12. Right fullback - This person plays on the right.

13. Goalkeeper - the person who is allowed to use their hands.

14. Striker - the person who is the middle front. they only play offense. They score more goals than anyone. Thierry Henry is a striker.

15. Songwriter - The person who writes songs

16. Performer - actors, singers, and dancers are all performers

17. Jupiter - the biggest planet.

18. Mars - the planet closest to the sun.

19. Binary star - Two stars that are so close together they are almost one.

20. Paleontologist - A man who studies dinosaurs.

21. Mastodon

22. Igloo - A house made from ice.

23. Screen - The part of a computer you look at. The part of a tv you look at.

24. Remote control - The thing you use to change the channel on your TV

25. Soaked - Very wet.

26. Pouring - Raining very fast.

27. Antagonize - Make angry.

28. Irritate - Bother.

29. Sail - To use the wind to move. A ship with no engines sails.

30. Earlobe - The soft part on the bottom of your ear.