Mentor Text - U.S. Terrain

Enjoy reading the paper written by Thomas on U.S. terrain. Why did I choose to put this paper on  the blog? comments encouraged

As the Smith family piles into their car, they head out to embark on an exciting adventure to national parks, mountain ranges, and coastlines all across the U.S. To begin with, the impressive terrain across the U.S. is both vast and varied. A multitude of tourists’ favorite national parks are right here in the U.S. From Big Bend to Yellow Stone and Glacier national park, these are some of the largest outdoor attractions in the U.S. Furthermore, Yellowstone national park, located in Colorado, is filled with bubbling hot springs and spitting geysers. Big Bend is located in the Southwest, yet it is on the boarder of Mexico and the U.S. A vast amount of  picturesque mountain ranges are spread across the United States. Stretching across the Southeast region is the Appalachian Mountains. The Rocky Mountains, located in the Southwest and West, crosses two regions. In these two mountain ranges is where outdoor adventurers might find the best skiing in the nation. The U.S. is outlined with a numerous amount of coastlines. Beaches of Los Angeles and Florida are some of the most popular destinations in the U.S. The latter was recently affected by an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The oil spill kept an extremely large amount of people from coming to the coastlines that were affected, but now that the spill is clogged, so people are starting to swarm in again. From national parks to coastlines and mountain ranges these fantastic features make the U.S. a popular destination. After a long day of breathtaking sightseeing, the Smith family parks their car and they stagger into the hotel to take a break and sleep for the night.  

• Words in black are ones I added to avoid word repetition
• Tomorrow, we will work on effective restate sentences

Next Tuesday, you will write an essay in class under exam conditions as part of your Lesson 3-5 Test.

Prepositional Phrases- Test Practice

Use these links to practice for Wednesday's test on clauses, prepositions, and prepositional phrases.

Infinitves - explanations
http://www2.puc.edu/Faculty/Rosemary_Dibben/Grammar/infinitives.shtml
new link on preps. (added Monday night)
http://www.eduplace.com/cgi-bin/hme-quiz-start.cgi?Grade=6&Unit=7&Topic=Prepositional+Phrases&x=25&y=9
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/prepositions_ex1.htm
http://depts.dyc.edu/learningcenter/owl/exercises/prepositions_ex2.htm
http://www.quia.com/quiz/298373.html?AP_rand=219568485

http://www.towson.edu/ows/ESLexercisePrep2.htm
http://www.english-in-chester.co.uk/stayintouch/prepositional-phrases-english-language-practice_32.html
(drag and drop answers for speed)

http://aliscot.com/bigdog/prep_exercise.htm

http://www.quia.com/cc/73781.html
Make sure you watched last week's videos on prepositional phrases.

Enjoy these zany videos on Prepositions







You will not be able to answer all the quesations on this page as we have not studied gerunds yet. However, this is a VERY useful exercise to try (wink wink!)
http://www.grammaruntied.com/phrases/phrasequiz1/Iquizphrase.html

Mentor Text - Essay Writing

Read this sample essay paragraph that earned an A+  on the last writing assignment by Bennett. You will be writing another one of these tomorrow. See if you can see why Bennett earned the highest grade. Comments welcome.


Oceans
by Bennett Smith

On a beautiful summer day John Drinkwater, a scuba diving specialist, prepares to explore the awesome oceans. A number of major oceans cover about 70% of our Earth’s surface. The largest ocean is the Pacific Ocean. Surprisingly, The Pacific Ocean is 69,000,000 square miles wide. While oceans themselves cover 70% of the Earth’s surface, the Pacific covers 30%. The deepest point, The Mariana Trench, can fit 28.7232 Empire State Buildings inside it. The Atlantic Ocean has various amounts of geological features. For instance, the Mid Atlantic Ridge runs right through the Atlantic Ocean. Another feature is the mysterious Bermuda Triangle that is located on the Atlantic. Additionally, there are lots of hydrothermal vents that squirt out waters form 500 – 780 degrees Fahrenheit. The Arctic Ocean is known for its cold waters. Astonishingly, in the winter the Arctic Ocean is mostly sea ice, but sometimes it forms glaciers. The salinity level increases in the Arctic because the water freezes and leaves the salt behind. Not only has global warming affected the water temperature, but also it affects animals’ habitat. From the ring of fire of the Pacific, to the Mid Atlantic Ridge of the Atlantic, and the bone chilling waters of the Arctic, oceans are one of the most interesting and fun topics people can learn about. John Drinkwater is all prepared, and he is finally ready to explore the amazing underwater world of his ocean.

Homework Sheet Week 9+10

Click above to get next week's homework sheet. The next two weeks close this first trimester. Can you belive one third of fifth grade is almost already over.  Be VERY organized with your studies next week as many grades are being taken for your Report Cards. Finish the trimester STRONG!

Word of the Week
Precocious

Phrase of the Week
You'll always know when you are on the right  road; it's uphill.

Note: Buxton class Teddy Bear skit is Monday, Graham class Tuesday.

Prepositional Package H/W

Remember:

• Pages 7-8-9 from your prepostional package for H/W.
• Graham class ONLY - Write three P2s for the topic sentence on the back of the power plan. Next, write three P3 for just one of the P2s.
• work on your prepositional phrase skit. By the end of tomorrow's session, your group should be able to run through  your play from start ot finish. Remember the WILF
• Daily Editing Books due tomorrow. This is an easy A+. You just need to hand it in completed on time.

Don't worry about finishing Hatchet. We'll tackle that tomorrow.