Week of September 19th

I am so proud of the progress that the children are continuing to make. I am seeing improvement on spelling scores and seeing the kids working hard to apply their word knowledge and word building skills to their writing. The goal is not to memorize the spelling words, but to understand the "rules" and be able to consistently apply them. This week is a review week for spelling. The kids were given a pretest today of all the words that they have had so far. This determined their spelling words for this week. Each child will have different words. Some kids may have none and some kids may have 20. Please practice these words for the assessment on Friday. Those who do not have words have a week off. This also means that they will not do ABC order or spelling sentences this week.

As we continue to work on Small Moment stories, we are focusing on how to plan and write a true small moment story. Here are the components that we have been working on with our small moment stories:

• writer's think of something that has happened to them
• they picture it in their minds
• they sketch it on the paper
• they write words

The students also got writing partners this week! They did a wonderful job working with their partners. We talked about how when we confer with our partner we can start by giving them a compliment (telling them something they really did well). We can then offer them a suggestion or ask them a question we would like answered as a reader. I am so proud of how hard they are working. The students are really beginning to see the connection between reading and writing!

We will continue working on this unit for the next month. I can't wait for you to see their writing.

The kids did well on their first math assessment. This is a great tool to see what the kids are really confident with and what they can use some more work on. The great thing about our curriculum is that it spirals throughout the year and each topic continues to be addressed. Please take time to look over your child's math assessment, sign it and send it back to me. The students took the assessment on Wednesday and then were given the opportunity to "correct" it. We then went over it together. The open response page is not for a score. The students do attempt to solve the problem. We go over it as a group.

As I mentioned last week, please start working with your child on their basic addition facts. Being able to recall these facts quickly, will enable them to tackle the more challenging problems as we move on through the following units. In math this week we will be learning about doubles facts (2+2=4, 4+4=8, etc.), Turn-around Facts, +9 shortcut, addition strategies that use doubles, and subtraction from addition. Please take time to check over your child's Home Links. These are a direct review of the lesson taught each day.

Last week in Reader's Workshop we worked on characters. We learned how to use what the author wrote to help us learn more about the characters. The kids did some activities where they chose a character from a book they have been reading and worked on determining characteristic, personality traits, descriptions, etc. They did a really great job! This is an activity you can do at home while reading with your child. Ask them questions about the character(s). We have also been talking about sentence structure and commands vs questions. Please make sure that when your child is writing sentences to make sure that they use a punctuation mark at the end as well as a capital letter at the beginning.

In science last week we discussed the changes: freezing and melting. The students observed and recorded the properties of ice. They designed and implemented a method for melting an ice cube, and they set up an investigation of evaporation. We called the activity The Melting Race. The students each had a partner and they had to find a way to get the ice cube that was in a baggie to melt quickly. They were hysterical. They tried everything from blowing on the bag to putting the bag down their shirts (with sound effects of course). Once they were able to get the ice cube to melt, they recorded how long it took. The water from the ice cube was then placed into a petri dish and left out for observation of evaporation. Oh, what fun we have in science!

Tomorrow is Gardening Day! We will be going out in the morning to help plant in the garden. If you have not already, please send in gardening gloves and/or an oversized shirt you don't mind getting dirty. We look forward to watching the garden grow! Our next big science unit is the Plant Cycle!

Wednesday is International Peace Day. We will have a special assembly in the morning out at the flag pole. The kids have done a couple projects that will represent peace. The students may also wear a non uniform shirt if it has a peace sign on it.

Your child is bringing home a small manilla envelope today with a book inside. This book is at your child's level (it may have some tricky words they need to work through). Please use this as part of their reading at home. They can read this during their 20 minutes of reading. Inside you will find a letter that will give you information and ideas for reading with your child at home. Please encourage them to read with expression and fluency. We want to promote good reading habits. Please keep this book for the week and return on Friday.

**I am not sure why my font sizes are not consistent...sorry!