Grade Five Writer’s Workshop is a year-long interactive exploration of the 7 good traits that writers use: ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation. This month, we’ve been learning about the way that authors employ voice in their pieces as a way to connect with the reader. Together, we’ve identified that voice is like a thread that weaves throughout a story, drawing the reader in, and setting a tone that varies according to the piece’s form, function and intended audience. Our touchstone text, Voices in the Park, by Anthony Browne, allowed us to begin to identify four voices and the emotions or attitudes conveyed by each. Next, we considered a story, or rather an anecdote, called A Rip in the Pants, in which a teacher rips his pants embarrassingly during class. Each student was assigned a unique perspective with which to re-write the story including a teacher’s pet, a colleague of the teacher, the head of the school, a person watching through a hidden camera, a student visitor and, of course, the pants themselves. This week, students will apply a rubric to each other’s work to assess how voice is conveyed. In addition, our mini-lesson will present students with the rubric, and several anonymous (not written by BCD students) to consider. Prior to heading out for Winter Break, students will craft one additional assessment piece highlighting the trait of written voice.
Important Dates:
*Holiday Gifts (with the leaves) should be sent in this week!
*Egyptian Mythology Presentation (including costume) Monday Dec. 15 at 2:15 – Parents Welcome!
*Egypt Test: Wednesday Dec. 17
*PTR projects: Thursday Dec. 18
*Holiday Party and Secret Holiday Pals (kids have chosen these–maximum $10) on Friday Dec. 19. Please let me know if you can send in a treat for us. We could use two!
Enjoy the pictures of PTR presentation and chicken mummification. 
Thank you!
Jilly