Week of August 31, 2015

Classwork:

ELA (English, Language Arts)
We will continue our Tom Thumb Stories from around the World.  We will read about Thumbelina and Little Finger of the Watermelon Patch.
The vocabulary for this unit is as follows:

reins, harness, stump, "apple of my eye", chopsticks, dodging, cart, energetic, snatched, oaf, extravagance, eddy, gnaw, gossamer, hovered, withered, prodded, despised.
This is not spelling vocabulary.  We introduce an extensive vocabulary in every content area so they may have a better understanding in their independent reading activities

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We have been practicing our Caterpillar Poem for oral recitation on Friday.  Ask them to practice with you.  I am sure you will be amazed!

For Spalding we are beginning our pink notebooks on Monday.  If you have not purchased one for your child, please see Melody in the front office and you may purchase one from her.

Spalding Homework:
MONDAY: me, do, and, go, at, on, a, it, is, she
TUESDAY: can, see, run, the, in, so, no, now, man
WEDNESDAY: ten, tan, tin, ton, bed, top, he, ou, will, we,
THURSDAY: Review ALL Phonograms: ee, u, o, ow, ou, e sh, e
FRIDAY: Practice phonograms for 5 minutes

A quick review:  You will get a blank lined page.  You will fold it in half.  Give you child the first word (left side of page), then correct it if need be.  Give the child the SAME Word again (right side of page), then correct if need be. Finally, turn the page over. Give the child the SAME word again (back side of page). Correct if need be.
I know this may seem long, but believe me, if you lay the foundation strong this week, the rest of the year will be painless.  We have actually timed the homework and it should not take longer than 20 minutes.  Try to curb their complaining and distracting questions so they can focus. This week I will be looking for the letters to be placed on the bottom line.  I don't want to overburden them so I will just check for that.  Thanks for all your help

We have finished our Dibels testing and plan to send home leveled readers every Wednesday.  They will be placed in a large ziplock baggie for protection. Your child will read and then re-read that book throughout the week and on Wednesdays we will change them out. There is great value in the repetitive process of reading.  They may complain a bit, but you can change it up.  You read a page then they read a page etc.  Ask questions about the reading.  What happened first? Next? Last?

Our writing this week will include excerpts from Alice's Adventure in Wonderland.  This includes narration and copy work.
In Language Lessons we will continue to identify "What is a noun"..  We know that a noun is a person, place, thing, or idea. We have identified the difference between  "common and proper" nouns.  Ask them what the difference is.  You may be pleasantly surprised!

In History we will answer the question "What is History?".  Students will be able to identify the vocabulary for this unit which includes:
History, ancient, civilization, basic needs, past, present, future, yesterday, tomorrow, and timeline.

In Science we will study Living Things and their Environment. Vocabulary for this unit includes:
Habitat, forest, deciduous, evergreen, wet, warmer, food chain, food web, producer, consumer, herbivore, carnivore, primary, secondary and top consumer.

Announcements

I would like to thank Ms. Guglielmino for bringing in a case of water and a case of pretzels for emergencies.  That has come in handy so much this week.  Many times the students lose their water bottles and sometimes forget snacks.  The snack in the afternoon is optional, although if your child does not have one they can be very sad about that.  I had a box of vanilla wafers I gave out.  They only need about 5 of those each day, so hopefully it will not be a burden to buy a box to keep on hand at home, and then put a few in a baggie.

Mrs. O. has some help with the classroom. Ms. Gwen Antonio will be assisting Mrs. O. in many of the fun upcoming events that PSO has planned for our school year.  Thank you both so much!

We will start Math Centers this week and Reading Centers on Tuesday and Thursday mornings after the Holiday break.  That week (Sept. 7) we will begin reading Centers on Thursday (Sept. 10).  Mrs. O. has sent out a sign-up page if you would like to help with that. I have the Reading Centers in the morning at approximately 8:15 for about 20 minutes.  Then you have your whole day for yourselves.

Thank you so much for the loving, encouraging emails you send.  I count it a joy to be the teacher of great students and great hearted parents.


"Keep calm and carry on." **** Winston Churchill