Grade 5

Hi Boys and Girls,

It was a great pleasure to have you in my library class this year, we learned so many things. I had so much fun being your library teacher.

Our year has been ripped away from us, and I am sad because I didn't get to say a proper goodbye.

I hope you are staying healthy, happy, and remembering to take good care of yourselves!

Please keep smiling and stay safe!

KEEP READING!

Love,

Ms. Ilene

June 7

isten to this story about Splat the Cat.

Afterwards, look on your bookshelf and in your room to see if you still have any library books at home. If you find any, ask an adult to return them to the school. They can drop the books in one of the two big boxes at gate 1.

If you are not sure if you still have books checked out, send me your full name and your student ID number and I will reply to tell you what books you have.

Lesson for May 31 - June 4

This week you will finish your folktale story.

Look at the plan you made last week and use it to write your story. You can type your folktale on the computer or write by hand on paper. You can choose to write it all on a page or two and draw just one illustration for your story, or you can write just a few sentences on each page and make a picture for every page.

I can't wait to read your stories!

Leson for May 17 - May 21

This week your assignment is to plan your folktale.

You will be writing a story that is meant to be a folktale from the imaginary country that you have created for your in-class project. You can choose one of two ways to write this story:

1. Take a real folktale and change it so that the story elements fit the natural resources, climate, wildlife, food, and customs of your country. For example, last week we looked at the European folktale "The Three Little Pigs" and then found the changes that were made in it to fit Texas (The Three LIttle Tamales) and Namibia (The Three Little Dassies). For your story you could start with the Three Little Pigs or choose another tale like Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Snow White, Jack and the Beanstalk, or another folktale that you know (it MUST be a folktale). Changing an old folktale to make it fit a new place is called adapting it.

2. Create a story that is not based on a folktale that already exists. Two weeks ago we looked at "seven things about folktales." Those seven things must be true about the story that you write. Your story must also have elements in it that let the reader or listener know that it is from your imaginary country so that it would seem familiar to the people who live in that country. For example, if your country does not have forests or frogs, do not put a forest or a frog in the story.

Use the worksheet to plan your story. You do NOT have to actually write your story this week (that's for next week!)

7 things to remember about folktales.pdf

Folktale planning worksheet.pdf

Lesson for May 10 - May 14

Folktales from different countries

This week you will listen to two different versions of the folktale The Three Little Pigs. You will see that although the plot is the same for both, there are many parts of the stories that are different because of the country where they are set.

The first story, The Three Little Pigs, is one you have probably heard before. This story comes from Europe, where straw, sticks, and bricks are common building materials. People in Europe raise pigs for food, and a long time ago there were wolves in the forests who stole pigs and ate them.

The Three Little Pigs

by James Marshall

The second story, The Three Little Tamales by Jan Brett, is set in the hot dry Texas desert in North America. Many people speak Spanish there. Lobo is the Spanish word for wolf. Corn is the staple food and tortillas and tamales are traditional foods made from corn.

The Three Little Tamales

by Eric A. Kimmel

After you have listened to these first two stories, do the worksheet.

Folktale comparison.pdf

If you would like to hear an example of another version of the same story, this one by Jan Brett is set in the country of Namibia in southern Africa. A dassie is another name for the animal called the rock hyrax, and an agama is a kind of lizard.

The Three Little Dassies

by Jan Brett

Lesson for May 3 - May 7

This month we will be doing a library project to go along with the Weslandia unit in your regular classroom. The project will be to create a folktale for your new country. Each week you will do a part of the project. The first week will be about learning what a folktale is.

Week 1: What is a folktale?

A folktale is a traditional story that is passed down from generation to generation by word of mouth; that means that children learn the story from older people, who tell it to them out loud. All cultures have folktales.

Seven things to know about folktales:

1.The story usually has some kind of lesson in it about how people in that culture should or should not behave.

2. The story usually starts or ends with special words that tell the listener that this is a folktale: “Once upon a time” and “and they lived happily ever after” are examples of this. Different countries use different words for this.

3. Many times there are special phrases in the story that are repeated, like “Not by the hair of my chinny-chin-chin!” or “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair.”

4. Often there are special numbers in folktales. In folktales from Europe, 7, 12, and (most often) 3 are the special numbers. There could be seven brothers, or something that happens three times.

5. The setting of the story is a kind of place like a forest or castle but it won’t take place in a real place that is named (like London or the Black Forest).

6. The hero or heroine will be rewarded at the end of the story.

7. A fairy tale is a special kind of folktale that has magic in it. A fairy tale might include a magical person like a witch or fairy, or there can be magical objects.

As you listen to these two folktales, watch for the seven things to know about folktales and then fill out the worksheet.

What is a folktale ws.pdf

Lesson for April 26 - April 30

Weslandia project

Flags of the World

The government of a country puts a lot of careful thought and effort into choosing a design for its flag. The colors, shapes, and pictures or words on the flag all represent important things about the country. This week you will look at the flags of some different countries as examples.

Watch the 6 minute video to learn how to use CIA Factbook to find information about flags. Then use information from CIA Factbook to fill out the worksheet. You will need to look up the flags of Egypt, the United States (USA), and two other countries of your choice. For each of the countries, write in the box what the colors of the flag are and what they stand for; what the shapes are and what they stand for; and any other special features on that country's flag and what they mean. You can cut and paste a picture of the flag in the first column if you are filling out the form digitally, or draw a flag if you are printing the paper.

Send your completed paper to Ms. Ilene as a document attachment or take a picture of it and send that.

flags of the world pdf.pdf

Leson for April 12 - April 16

Voices in the Park

by Anthony Browne

Four different people visit the park, and their lives touch for a time.

What do they see? What do they say?

Create a character profile for each of the four 'voices' in the story. For “Point of View”, write the character’s name if the book gives it, or a one or two word description of who the character is. For “Character Traits”, make a list of adjectives that describe the character. Try to include words that describe the character’s background, feelings, appearance and personality.

Lesson for April 5 - April 9

Weslandia

by Paul Fleischman

Every nation has a flag that represents important things about the country. The colors, symbols, and words on a flag represent things that are important to the country's people.

Using information from the story, design a flag for Weslandia.

Think about:

Colors of the flag - what do they represent? Sometimes a flag

Will you put a symbol on the flag? Usually flags have only one picture (like the eagle of Saladin on the Egyptian flag) or a few simple shapes (like the stars and stripes on the American flag of the maple leaf on the Canadian flag).

Is there a slogan or word that you want to include? Make it short if you choose to use one.