Weekly Gazette (March 23rd-March 27th)

What is My Child Learning this Week?





Reading/Science-We continue reading Dig, Wait, Listen, a desert tale. We focus on visualizing, summarizing, evaluating, and questioning. Students will continue working on the WebQuest and practicing the reader's theater. We are also preparing for the museum in May!


Writing-Students are still publishing a selected piece of writing. We continue with learning capital letters in cursive.


Math-We begin geometry today! This week, students will review shapes and learn six solids: cube, sphere, cone, cylinder, rectangular prism, and triangular prism.


Grammar-This week, we focus on adding -ing to words that double the consonant such as stopping and bugging. We will also review the word sets too, two, to; were, where, wear; and there, their, and they're.





Reminders

• This Wednesday, March 25th is an Early Start for students. Students are to report to school at 9:15. Please make proper arrangements.


• Parent-Teacher conferences begin next week. A note will go home today regarding time and date. Please return the slip as soon as possible. Report cards will be distributed during conference time.
  
• Graded papers will go home this Friday, March 27th.

Tests/Quizzes

• Math problem solving quiz Wednesday, March 25th. No study guide will go home. We have practiced this skill throughout the year and for the past two weeks. In addition, a home practice was sent home with similar problems about six weeks ago. Students have had ample time to practice and prepare.
  
• Word Wall Assessment Thursday, March 26th.


• Vocabulary quiz on story Dig, Wait, Listen this Thursday, March 26th. Study guide is in your child's homework folder.


• Students need to have a piece of writing published by this Friday, March 27th.

Desert WebQuest

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Desert (Sahara)

View more presentations from thurmiere.

Desert

Weekly Gazette (March 16-March 20)

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! :)  

Weekly Gazette (Week of March 9-March 13)

What is My Child Learning This Week?

Reading/Science-We begin a unit about deserts/habitats. Students will read various texts related to deserts, but the primary texts will be Dig, Wait, Listen, a wonderful desert story in their reading textbooks, Desert Biome, an informational text, and Living in the Desert, a play(Reader's Theater) about animals and the people who live in the desert. We will study this unit for about four (4) to six (6) weeks. Today, we begin Dig, Wait, Listen. We focus on its vocabulary and use of picture and context clues to determine unknown words.

Also this week students will complete two (2) science experiments related to magnets and force/motion. This week ends our unit on force and motion. The last month and half of school will cover social studies topics.

Math-We focus on logical reasoning skills. Everyday this week, students will work in pairs and/or groups to problem solve various mathematical situations and write/explain strategies used to solve them. The goal is for students to make sense of math in their own way. In addition, for about ten (10) minutes daily, we will focus on double-digit addition and subtraction strategies.

Writing-Students continue to write good leads to begin a story. Also, students will be introduced to an activity called "Who Took My Caps?", a very powerful writing and shared reading activity that reinforces the use and importance of using punctuation in writing.

Word Wall/Shared Writing-Students will use the word wall to spell other words. e.g with rain, they are able to spell brain, drain, pain, train, stain, main, and sprain. It is very important for writers/readers to make these connections. We will also work with word families such as -ike and -ould. We do these activities as a group, with students 100% involved in the writing and thinking processes of these activities. The students write, not the teacher. Please work on activities such as these at home to help reinforce how words are related. I have websites posted in the online resources section that have activities such as these also.

Tests/Quizzes This Week

• Subtraction timed test this Friday, March13th. Students will have five (5) minutes to complete fifty problems of single-digit subtraction or five (5) minutes to complete twenty double digit subtraction problems. (practice work is in your child's homework folder).


• Cursive Writing assessment (only lowercase letters) this Friday. Students begin learning capital letters next week, March 17th!


• Word Wall assessment this Thursday, March 12th.

Important Reminders

• There is NO SCHOOL next Monday, March 16th. (Spring Break)


• Graded papers go home this week. Please return them by Wednesday, March 25th.


• Third quarter ends this Friday, March 13th.


• Thanks to all who attended FamilyDay! It was fantastic, and the kids had a wonderful time! :)


• Please check the Online Resources section of the blog to explore various activities that your child can do at home to reinforce skills in math, science, and language arts.

Update Online Resources!

Parents, please check the left sidebar. I have added some really great websites. All subjects are included: reading, writing, phonics, math, and science. These sites are great for independent practice of skills! Explore them with your child! :) 

Weekly Gazette (Week of March 2-March 6)

What is My Child Learning This Week?

Reading-This week, we continue to read "How Machines Affect Our Lives". We will focus on important vocabulary and  prepare for the test this coming Friday. 

Writing-We begin the trait of organization. This trait focuses on having a good lead (beginning sentence), conclusion, and sequence of events. As books are read aloud during class this week, students will evaluate whether the books have good leads. 

Math-double-digit subtraction with and without borrowing.

Science-Students will visit the science lab three days this week to work in three science stations. These stations are mini experiments that students will complete in groups. The stations are as follows: 1) Water as a force that changes nature, 2) Wind as a force that changes nature, and 3) Magnetic Attraction. While doing these experiments, students practice recording data in a chart and review the steps of the scientific process. 

Cursive Writing- This week, we finish the lowercase letters! Students will learn f, r, s, v, and z. Beginning next Monday, March 9th, students will be required to write in cursive at all times. We will begin learning the capital letters on Tuesday, March 17th. 

Word Wall words: before, caught, could, house, use

Tests and Quizzes This Week

• Double-digit subtraction quiz Wednesday, March 4th. Study guide went home today, March 2nd. 

• Word Wall/spelling assessment, Thursday, March 5th. Students will be assessed on spelling using sentence dictation and familiar spelling patterns. This assessment helps me evaluate each student's growth. This is not an assessment for which students need to study; it is taken as an authentic assessment of their spelling skills.

• Reading/Science vocabulary quiz ("How Machines Affect Our Lives), Friday, March 6th. (Study guide went home today, March 2nd).

• Reading quiz on "How Machines Affect Our Lives" Friday, March 6th. (study guide went home today also).

• As you may have noticed, timed tests have not be given recently. Beginning next Friday, March 13th, students who passed the last subtraction timed test with an A+will begin a weekly double-digit addition timed test. (It's not as bad as it sounds.:) Those students will have five (5) minutes to complete twenty (20) problems (with or without carrying). The students who have not passed the one-digit subtraction test will now have five (5) minutes to complete fifty (50) subtraction problems. These students should be studying flash-cards daily/weekly. Now,the grading skill for the one-digit subtraction will be harder. Students are expected to learn these basic facts in order to progress. Grades of B and A- are unacceptable at this time of the year. 

Important Reminders

• Please return graded papers by the due date. If you need them longer, just let me know.

• Students need to read daily. Although we attend library once a week, students are free to visit the library to check in/out books throughout the week. Please encourage them to do so.

• Third (3rd) quarter ends Friday, March 13th. How time flies!

• Please make a note that March 25th will be a late start. Students will report to school at 9:30 a.m. 

• Family Day is this Saturday, March 7th at 9:00 am. Don't miss out on lots of food and fun! Hope to see you there! :) 

Any questions or concerns, email me: thurmiere@gmail.com. You may also send a note or stop by after school. Thanks. HAVE A GREAT WEEK! :)