The House on Mango Street

This week we begin reading The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Students will complete a pre-reading activity in class, read a few chapters, and add unknown words to their Vocabulary Notebooks on a daily basis.

For homework, students will finish any pre-reading activities and complete their Vocabulary Notebooks on a daily basis. The pre-reading activities are due in class, but those students who need extra time can finish them at home that night and turn them in the following day. Vocabulary Notebooks are due on Friday, May 14th and should contain at least 20 words from the chapters read during the week. Each entry in the Vocabulary Notebook should include the word, definition, and a sentence.

REMINDER:

Students should continue reading their favorite book (any genre - fiction, non-fiction, mystery, science fiction, biography, etc.) - Bookshare Presentations are on Thursday, May 20th.

Cinco de Mayo Video — History.com#cinco-de-mayo

Cinco de Mayo Video — History.com#cinco-de-mayo

May 3 - 7

Watch a video to learn more about Cinco de Mayo:

Cinco de Mayo Video — History.com#cinco-de-mayo

Cinco de Mayo Essay

• include vocabulary words in your essay
• use the Hamburger graphic organizer to write your 3 paragraphs

Vocabulary Words:

• Cinco de Mayo


• Mexico


• General Zaragoza


• Napoleon III


• La Batalla de Puebla


• Fiesta


• Pinata


• Mariachi


• Benito Juarez


• Maximilian


• Amigo


• Celebration


• Heritage

April 12-16, 2010

This week we will be learning how to use context clues to determine the meaning of words. The vocabulary words assigned are multiple meaning words. Multiple meaning words are words that have several meanings depending upon how they are used in a sentence.

We will be writing a sentence for each meaning as homework for this week.

1. angle
2. base
3. compose
4. craft
5. credit
6. dash
7. fair
8. image
9. maintain
10. mind
11. peak
12. rank
13. reserve
14. scale
15. senior
16. social
17. superior
18. treat

April 5-9

Vocabulary Words

1. Poseidon – the Greek god of the sea
2. enraged – to be extremely angry
3. fleet – a large group of fishing boats
4. chariot – a vehicle usually pulled by horses
5. troublesome – to stir things up and cause problems
6. startle – to disturb by surprise
7. goddess – a woman of beauty; a female god
8. temper – a state of mind or feelings, esp. with respect to patience or anger
9. budge – to move slightly
10. pitchfork – a large, long-handled fork used to lift something
11. castaway – a person who is lost at sea
12. farmland – an area where crops are grown
13. undersea – the world of the ocean
14. command – to order or demand
15. nymph – a beautiful maiden that lives in the sea

March 29 - April 02, 2010

approve (v) – to check over something and give a good rating
associate (v) – to connect with something
attempt (v) – to try to do something
broadcast (v) – to send out a program over radio or television; to announce widely
conquer (v) – to defeat and take control
dedicate (v) to devote a lot of time and energy to something
emerge (v) – to come out into the open
flourish (v) – to grow and do well
organize (v) – to put in a certain order
overwhelm (v) – to overpower or overcome completely
pursue (v) – to chase after
resemble (v) – to be or look like someone or something
restore (v) – to bring back to its original condition
surrender (v) – to give up; to give something or yourself to someone else
withdraw (v) – to drop out; to remove or take away something


Cognates: aprobar, asociar, intentar, transmitir, conquistar, dedicar, emerger, florecer, organizar, abrumar, perseguir, parecer, restaurar, entregarse, retirar

March 22 - 26, 2010

• Reading Journal - Read 30 minutes every night and write a summary - 4 journal entries due Friday.

• 4 vocabulary assignments due Friday.

• REMINDER: Bookshare Presentation due on Thursday, March 25 (neatly written or typed report, visual, and presentation).

10 Ways to Study your Vocabulary Words:
1. Create a crossword puzzle to be completed by a peer.
2. Make a vocabulary word map for each word (definition in your own words, write a sentence, synonyms & antonyms, and draw a picture to help you remember the meaning of the word.
3. Write a sentence for each word (underline each word, use proper punctuation, capitalization, and write complete sentences).
4. Write a story using all of your words (underline each word, use proper punctuation, capitalization, and write complete sentences).
5. Create a comic strip using your words.
6. Develop newspaper or magazine headlines.
7. Write a tongue twister for each word.
8. Create a word search or word jumble activity completed by a peer.
9. Scramble the words and use the definitions to create a matching activity to be completed by a peer.
10. Alphabetize the words and divide them into syllables, or pyramid format, or write each word 3 times.

Vocabulary Words:

1. considerable (adj.) worth considering; fairly large amount
2. continual (adj.) happening repeatedly; happening without interruption
3. flimsy (adj.) thin or weak; without much substance
4. insistent (adj.) demanding attention all the time
5. jubilant (adj.) happy and delighted
6. lush (adj.) growing thickly and healthily
7. magnificent (adj.) splendid or impressive in appearance
8. majestic (adj.) having great dignity; grandly beautiful
9. merciful (adj.) showing kindness and compassion
10. obscure (adj.) not well known; not easy to understand
11. resolute (adj.) firm in keeping to a purpose
12. rowdy (adj.) wild and noisy
13. secretive (adj.) tending to be silent about something; tending to conceal things
14. sinister (adj.) threatening or indicating harm
15. supportive (adj.) giving support; helpful

Cognates: considerable, continua, endeble, insistente, jubiloso, exquisito, magnifico, majestuoso, misericordioso, oscuro, resuelto, ruidoso, secreto, siniestro, de apoyo