Hi, October 12, 2014
Mad Science did an assembly for us on Friday afternoon and it was so much fun. The presenter used lots of volunteers performed demonstrations about the effects and power of air. It was very comical and educational. Ask your child about it.
Don’t forget that the students don’t have school on Monday, October 13. The teachers have staff development then we will begin our conferences on Monday afternoon. We look forward to seeing you this week. The conference is student led, so be sure to bring your child with you and we will all talk about goals and plans to reach those goals.
Writing Club will meet on Thursday, October 16. All 2nd-5th graders are welcome and we meet in the library from 2:45-3:45. If students need to make up homework or assignments, they are welcome to use this time in the library to do so.
Tutorials will be on Tuesday from 2:45-3:45.
Service Club continues to collect new toys for Dell Children’s Hospital. We have collected 55 toys so far and our goal is 150 toys by November 14. This toy drive is bringing awareness to OMS, which is a disease in which the child’s immune system tries to fight a tumor and ends up attacking the brain. Thank you so much for your donations.
In social studies, we continued to research our region and writing an expository essay to explain and teach about the region. We are working with our Texas group to help each other with continued research and writing about each region. We are in the process of peer editing and conferencing about the essays, then will type the essays and work on planning our projects this week.
In writing, we are collecting entries for expository writing. We walked around the school and in the gardens and made observations. Then pushed our thinking and wrote about what was interesting or important about our observations to try to lead us to big ideas. We also thought about special people and places and reasons and examples of their importance to us. Expository writing will include a central idea and supporting details and its purpose is to explain or teach information. When we think of expository, we think of explain and examples. Personal Narratives tell a small moment story.
In reading, we continued reading lots of expository or informational books. We looked for text features and their purposes and text structures. Text features include table of contents, index, glossary, photos, charts, captions, and subheading or subtitles. Text structures refer to the different structures of the text or how the information is organized. These include description, compare/contrast, problem/solution, question/answer, and sequential. We will also be making inferences (background knowledge +information from text=inference).
Vocabulary words are posted on Quizlet. These words are nonfiction text features. The children will have their notecards with the words and definitions written on them and the vocabulary words and definitions are also stapled to their agenda. Email me if your child is not able to access quizlet.com. Thank you for studying vocabulary words at home.
In spelling, we worked on words with changing words from singular to plural by adding an s. This week, we will look at plurals and ways that words change by adding es. Words that end in ch, sh, ss, x, and z become plural by adding an es. 12 of the words will be singular and plural (add es) and the other three words are from the student’s writing or words to work on from previous spelling tests. Thank you for studying spelling words with your child at home.
Nichole Allison, our student teacher, has been doing more of the planning and instruction for our class and is doing a wonderful job. We are so lucky to have her with us.
Dates to remember:
Monday, Oct. 13-no school for students, conferences begin
Tuesday, Oct. 14- Pen Pal Visit at 9:20. All are welcome to attend and meet our pen pals, Reading log due, Tutorials after school 2:45-3:45, Computer Lab open 2:45-3:45
Wednesday, Oct. 15-Summary and Response due, conferences continue
Thursday, Oct. 16-Writing Club after school 2:45-3:45 in library, Computer lab open 2:45-3:45
Friday, Oct. 17-Summary and Response Due, Spelling Test, Vocabulary test
Saturday, Oct. 18-Conferences continue-come to the back car rider door and call 512-464-5388
Have a great rest of the weekend! Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Pam Bartholomew
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