Class #10--5th Grade English

Monday, September 27, 1:45 P.M. 5th Grade English Class. Class #10 on my “50 Classes or Bust!” tour. After Mr. Little’s class, I stroll down the hall to Mrs. Lawrence’s 5th grade English class. We added several afternoon English blocks to the 5th grade schedule this year—to supplement the daily, morning class--so that we can spend additional time on this crucial, core element of the Calvert curriculum. Mrs. Lawrence, who teaches one of our 5th grade girls’ homeroom classes as well as 6th grade English, does not waste any time in getting started. She conducts a formative spelling assessment to see how well her girls know the words at the start of the week. Mrs. Lawrence says the fifteen words aloud, and then the girls write the word on their individual white boards. They hold their boards in the air (showing only the teacher) and then Mrs. Lawrence can see how many girls got each of the words correct. Here is a sample of the words: obedient, patient, pedestrian, burly, compatible, obstacle, retire, accustom, assign, budge, and concept. As it turns out, the girls know most of the words very well, so the test on Friday will only be on the seven words that most of the girls got wrong. This makes perfect sense—why should the girls spend time studying fifteen words for Friday’s test when they know eight of them already? Studying seven words will save them time—and allow them to focus on the most difficult words! Next, the girls give a short oral presentation on various letters of the alphabet. The girls have to “sell” their letter by making a small poster and then giving a short but persuasive speech. One by one, the girls make their way to the front of the class and make their pitch. I feel like buying lots of letters! What a productive, fun class—spelling and public speaking—what could be better?! By the way, did you know that Mrs. Lawrence played basketball in college? She is still a very good player! With this class completed, I am now 20% of the way to my goal of seeing 50 classes.