Newsletter

Hi,

We had a very busy week with two assemblies, a pen pal visit, and an early release day. The Mad Science Assembly is always lots of fun and we had a "hair raising" time. (especially Mia and Samantha who got to put their hands on the Van de Graaff generator!) We also enjoyed some awesome jump rope stars from Murchison Elementary. It was fun and helped to kick off our Jump Rope for Heart program.

Our pen pals are amazing and we enjoyed spending time with them on Tuesday. We talked to them about favorite people, places,and things and reasons that make these things special. We also made some Valentine crafts together and played games. It was great and we will see them again in April.

Don't forget that picture day is on Tuesday. This is our group photo and individual spring photos. Forms came home in Thursday folders. If you need another form, let me know and your child will bring one home on Monday.

Information for Six Flags Read to Succeed will come home on Monday. Remember, for class, your child is expected to read 20 minutes per night. Any time beyond that is considered recreational reading and can be counted for the Six Flags Program. Your child has until Tuesday, March 1 to read 6 hours recreationally. If your child reads this weekend toward their Six Flags reading, record it on their regular reading log and then write it on the blue form that will come home on Monday. Be sure to record on your class reading log also. Happy Reading and have fun at Six Flags!!!!!!

Welcome, Kaleigh! We are planning on having a new student on Monday. We are excited to meet Kaleigh and welcome her into our bat cave.

Our Valentine's Day Party will be on Friday, February 12 from 1:30-2:30. Your child is invited to pass out Valentines to friends. Remember, if you give valentines, be sure to give to everyone in class. Here is a list of our 21 students. Handmade valentines are great! More information about the party and a sign up genius will be emailed to you soon.

Ethan Samantha Ava Elise Riley Justin Aiden
Kendall Kaleigh Martin Shelby Brighton Shae Mia
Juliana Sofia Lorelai Ryne Hagan Joseph Cameron

Read about our week:

Reading-We finished up talking about traditional tales and will begin working with more non-fiction this coming week. We will also establish reading partners and will begin some book groups. We will learn about World War II through historical fiction and informational text. We will also look at text features and text structures to help with comprehension. Be sure to record reading on reading logs and turn them in with Reading Response Letters every Friday. Happy Reading!

Writing-We are writing fractured fairy tales and will finish those up this week. We will collect entries in our notebooks of things that are around us that we notice and what big idea it makes us realize or discover. We will push our thinking and draw conclusions as we write expository essays. We will also write in response to quotes that cause us to think deeply about life in general. This week we wrote about things we noticed and one person wrote about how much he hates his glasses. Even though he realizes that they help him, he still hates them. Those are some deep thoughts for a nine year old. We will continue to work on conventions like spelling, capitalization, and punctuation as we work on our craft of writing with specific details, similes, metaphors, and lots of reflective thinking.

Grammar/Word Study-We will continue to work on combining sentences and will use transition words and quotation marks appropriately in our writing.

Spelling-This week we will spell words with the suffixes ment, less, ful. (agreement, hopeful, priceless) Everyone will have some individual words as well. We will also practice words from prior spelling and patterns in our dictation sentences.

Vocabulary-Words with therm- and aud- are our focus this week . Thermal, thermometer, hypothermia, audio, auditory, and audience are some of our words this week. Go to quizlet.com to practice and use the word list with definitions from the homework packet.

Social Studies-We will be empresarios in Texas and will plan our settlement. We will think about our location and what resources we will need, and what skills we want our settlers to have. We have a lot of fun while we try to survive in old time Texas!

My family and I went to see the production of "Into the Woods" at Ridgeview Middle School tonight and it was amazing! They did a wonderful job on the sets and costumes. The acting and singing was incredible. Check it out on Sat. Feb. 6 and next week Feb. 11, 13, 14 at 6:30 in the RMS Cafe. $7.00 tickets.

Inline

Dates to Remember:

Saturday, Feb. 6-Painting for Paws Art Show and Meet Dogs-10:30-1:00

Monday, Feb. 8-Wear FCE shirts-Writing Club from 2:45-3:45.

Tuesday, Feb. 9-Library check out. Spring Pictures

Friday, Feb. 12-Spelling test, Vocabulary test, Reading Response letters due, Reading Logs due, Wear college shirts-Valentine's Day Party at 1:00

Monday, Feb. 15-No school for students

Have a great weekend! Thank you for sharing your child with me. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,
Pam