What is My Child Learning This Week?
Reading/Science-We continue with the story Dig, Wait, Listen, a desert tale about a Spadefoot Toad wishing for rain. Our focus is on using context clues to define unknown words, and we will revisit "good reader" strategies such as visualizing, summarizing, making inferences, and questioning using the "magic bookmark".
Students are also practicing a Reader's Theater (a small play) about desert life. Reader's Theater facilitates reading fluency, builds students' confidence in presenting in front of others, and this one in particular teaches facts about animals and people of the desert. This small play is great preparation for the "museum" project that students will present in May!
In addition, students begin a WebQuest this week. This is a guided, online research activity in which students explore and investigate information about the desert. The WebQuest will be done at school and at home. Students record all information on a data sheet given to them by me. This online assignment is very important, for it's a prerequisite for the "museum" in which they will participate in May. The WebQuest may take one to two weeks to complete. Please check your child's homework folder for more information.
Math-We continue with logical reasoning/problem solving. Word problems will involve skills that students have learned so far this year such as measurement, addition, subtraction, fractions, etc. Students are required to show and write a strategy for each problem solved.
Writing-This week, students begin publishing a chosen piece of writing! We will revisit using a rubric and checklist to evaluate writing. Also, students will begin peer editing; they become the teacher and evaluate another student's writing! :) The checklist focuses on ideas, having a good lead, organization, grammar, punctuation, and spelling. We begin learning cursive capital letters today! :)
Word Wall/Grammar-Instead of introducing new words this week, we will review word wall words that give students the most trouble. (e.g. there, their, they're; too, two, to; were, where, wear; and who, how. Students will illustrate these words in poster form and record them with the definitions in their personal dictionaries.
Tests and Quizzes this Week
- Subtraction timed test Thursday, March 19th. Please make sure your child studies every night. Students are aware if they are taking double digit or single digit. A practice guide is in your child's homework folder.
- Reading comprehension quiz Friday, March 20th. No study guide will be given for this quiz. Students will be tested on sequencing, main idea, cause and effect, story elements, and locating basic information from a story. Because I am assessing these skills and not the story, I feel that it is not important that students know the story beforehand. I want to assess students' reading comprehension in its most authentic form. This will give me a more authentic assessment of each child's progress in reading comprehension.
Important Reminders
- Please review graded papers with your child and return them by the due date. If you need more time, just let me know.
- Please, please check your child's homework folder daily. Ms. Jakobsen and I are seeing papers in the folder from weeks (sometimes months) before. We don't know if they're being read or not, but we want to be sure that all information is being communicated to parents.
- Fourth (4th) quarter begins today. Please talk with your child about continuing to work hard and working to his or her full potential.
- Report cards will be distributed within the next two weeks.
- THANKS TO ALL THE PARENTS WHO ATTENDED AND HELPED WITH FAMILY DAY! IT WAS A GREAT SUCCESS! THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! :)
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