Hello Parents,
We've had another great week! Testing is going well and you should receive your child's CoGat scores sometime in mid-November. The children have really impressed me with their focus and determination. Way to go, class! Below, you will find the details for our first extra credit project. Personal best is expected and the given criteria must be followed to earn the reward! Encourage your child to participate. Check out what else we've been doing this week...
Phonics/Grammar: We learned the new sc, sn, and sw blends. We also reviewed what nouns are and played a sorting game on the smartboard. In small groups, we took sentence parts and made them complete sentences by either adding the predicate or the subject. We also worked on segmenting words into syllable parts on a pocket chart. We began a funny book called How To Speak Politely. This book teaches grammar rules in a funny way. The kids have really enjoyed this book. So far, we have learned never to use the word "ain't", when to add "ly" to the end of words, how to properly use the words "can" and "may", and why we shouldn't use "not" and "no" in the same sentence.
Writing: In writing this week, we were able to tell all about our favorite activity during our fall break. We also began discussing what a biography is and we completed an organizer together on Benjamin Franklin, then wrote a paragraph about his life.
Reading: We worked in small groups and individually this week, focusing on reading fluency and decoding strategies for challenging words. We also retold the story Ticky-Tacky Doll, including important details from the beginning, middle, and end of the story. We are enjoying our chapter book, Because Of Winn-Dixie and can't wait for MOVIE NIGHT at Mrs. Wadsworth's house...details coming soon!
Math: We are practicing our addition and subtraction skills as well as application of these skills in word problems. We are also beginning to explore comparing numbers to 100. We continue to work on skip counting, fact families, and counting money daily during our calendar time. In addition, we are making sure we are all familiar with our days, months, and seasons. Practice this at home if you notice a weakness in any area.
Social Studies: We began our study of Benjamin Franklin and his significant contributions to our country. Your child should be able to tell you at least three of his inventions and two contributions to our country. Just in case you forgot, he invented the lightning rod, bifocals, the odometer, and the first stove and he helped establish our government and helped write the Declaration of Independence.
Conversation Starters:
*Ask your child what Otis did at the pet shop that calmed all the animals down in Because of Winn-Dixie.
*Ask your child to tell you a few words that might indicate subtraction in a word problem. What are the clue words for addition?
*How many brothers and sisters did Benjamin Franklin have? How old was he when he went to work for his brother in the print shop?
*Ask your child how many "gold stars" they have on the AR poster.
Class News and Reminders...
Congratulations to Eric Kho for being chosen as our Teacher's Helper this week! Way to go, Eric!
Thank you to Mrs. Tovar, Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Davis for helping with our reading groups this week!
Thank you to Mrs. Henry, Mrs. Davis (Asia's mom) and Mrs. Davis (Jackson's mom) for sending in magazines and socks for our room! Thank you also to Mrs. DeFreece for sending in a monetary donation for extra snacks and new recess toys for our class!
Parents, please be on the lookout next week for your conference letter, indicating the time we will meet in October. I know we all have very busy schedules and I will try to accommodate any conflicts as best I can.
We are taking our +4's math fact quiz on Friday. If your child is struggling with these facts, please set aside some extra time to work on this at home. We will begin differentiating the quizzes next week. If your child does not make an 80% or higher, please continue to work on this set of facts.
Extra Credit Project: Due October 8th! Reward will be revealed on that day!
This week in class, we have been learning all about Benjamin Franklin and how his curiosity led to many inventions we still use today. I would like for you to find out who the inventor was of something that you think is useful in your life today. Here are the steps to follow if you would like to participate in the extra credit project:
1. Think of what you want to research (some ideas might be the microwave, the camera, the roller coaster, or stop light...get creative!)
2. Do research on the computer or in books to find out who the inventor was.
3. Write at least an 8 sentence paragraph telling us about the inventor's life, what else he/she invented, and how this invention came to be. Paragraph must be neatly written or typed, front side of paper only. Include a title and your name in the paragraph.
4. Include two visuals; one of the inventor and one of the invention. Visuals printed from the computer are preferred.
5. Practice reading your paragraph. Be prepared to independently read your paper to the class on Friday, October 8th.
Good Luck!
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