Ms. Schustak's Reading Blog

Now that we have become experts on Colonial jobs, we are going to learn about all the 13 colonies and important facts about them. Each pair of students are going to learn about the natural resources in their colony, the origin of their colony’s name, the common jobs there, important events, and important people. They will use this research to create a “Fast Facts” project about the colony to teach their classmates. Then, we will compare the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies with one another. Below are some great websites to get the information you need! Happy Researching!

http://www.brtprojects.org/cyberschool/history/ch04/regions.html

www.socialstudiesforkids.com/graphics/13mapnew.htm

www.brainpop.com: 13 colonies

In our reading groups, we have all been learning different information about Colonial America and daily life of the colonists. Here is a place to share the facts, and questions/responses that you learned! In your post, write the fact that you learned in your own words, and your thoughts about that fact/any questions that come up from the fact. What have you read that you think your classmates would find interesting? Here is the place to post a comment!

We all read many different books at home, and have many different thoughts and opinions about them. This is a place for us to comment about our independent reading. Following the prompts given to you in your IR log, write your written responses on our blog so your classmates can see your amazing thinking! Happy reading!

News is all around us! Have you read an interesting story in a news article, magazine, or Time for Kids? If you would like to teach others about the world around you, post it here! Be sure to include the source (the name of the magazine or newspaper), the title of the article, the facts, and what your opinion is on the topic.

Have you ever wanted to read a certain type of book, but you don’t know if it exists? This is a place where you can ask your classmates and teachers if they have ever read a book about a certain topic, type of character, genre, etc., that you are interested in. Maybe someone in our class has read a book like the one you are looking for, and can recommend the book to you. In your comment, post what you look for in a good book. For example, “I’m looking for a book that is science fiction, and full of adventure. I really enjoy reading about….” Good luck finding your books readers!

   Have you read an amazing book at home that you couldn’t wait to share? This is your place to recommend a book to a fellow classmate to read either during D.E.A.R time or at home. You must write the title of the book, the author, the genre, a brief summary of the book (try not to give away any juicy information!). You should also tell why you enjoyed it, or any other interesting information that you want to include. Feel free to respond with questions or comments

Welcome to our blog! You may be asking, “What’s a blog Ms. Schustak?” Well, I can tell you. Blogging is a way to communicate your ideas with others on a certain topic. It is like having a conversation with a classmate but instead of talking and responding to each other in conversation, you post your ideas on the blog. If you want to know some more about blogs, go to the BLOGROLL on the right of the screen, and watch a short video to help you understand this a little better.

For our blog, we are going to discuss our thinking after reading, both with books we have read together in class, and books that we read at home. If you have an idea that you would like to share, or would like to discuss a certain topic with your classmates, post a comment! Look below, and write a comment or question in the text box at the bottom of the page. Then click “add comment.” If you want to reply to someone else’s comment, click after their post where it says “reply to this comment.” I am excited to hear your thinking. Happy blogging!