Dear Parents,
Last week was busy with testing in Reading, writing, and Math. The kids were good about trying their best. I was very happy with the Math test.
This week we will be starting Unit 5 in Reading Street. The big question for this unit is "What makes an adventure?" This week we will be reading about smokejumpers and preparing for emergencies.
I started reading a gripping book to the class called Fever 1793 by a national award winning author, Laurie Halse Anderson. It is an historical fiction book about the yellow fever epidemic that killed many people in Philadephia in 1793, the main theme being perseverance and self-reliance. I am quite sure there will be many questions and discussions at home as well as in class about living in that time and making some difficult moral decisions. I feel that this book is rich in vocabulary, steeped in history as well as extremely engaging. We will be using it to compare and contrast that time period with what we now know about diseases and medicine, build vocabulary and review what we learned of that time period. I hope this leads to thoughtful discussions in school and at home. So far, most of the kids love it!
With the longer days and more outside activities, some of the kids seem very tired. I hope that they can get enough sleep to be bright and alert during the school day. Spring fever seems to be setting in.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Dear Parents,
The class has been doing a great job with their cursive writing and I am pleased to see them using it on their own. They should be practicing their spelling words in cursive at home while we continue to practice on a weekly basis in school. Soon they will need to write a whole paper in cursive. They are also doing much better in learning their multiplication facts. I saw a great improvement in some of the children. We have about nine children who have earned a reward for scoring 90-100%. More timed tests will be given through the remainder of the year, so keep practicing.
The children are finishing up their Biome project and will be sharing them with the class this week. They really seemed to enjoy doing it, and I appreciate your help at home.
We will have some more tests in Reading in about two weeks. I hope to see some more growth. In class, I am encouraging them to read more challenging chapter books. If you haven't seen them choosing good books at home, it is time to give them a little push. We have set up a place in the classroom for book recommendations. Hopefully, this will spur the reluctant readers on.
Have a great weekend.
The class has been doing a great job with their cursive writing and I am pleased to see them using it on their own. They should be practicing their spelling words in cursive at home while we continue to practice on a weekly basis in school. Soon they will need to write a whole paper in cursive. They are also doing much better in learning their multiplication facts. I saw a great improvement in some of the children. We have about nine children who have earned a reward for scoring 90-100%. More timed tests will be given through the remainder of the year, so keep practicing.
The children are finishing up their Biome project and will be sharing them with the class this week. They really seemed to enjoy doing it, and I appreciate your help at home.
We will have some more tests in Reading in about two weeks. I hope to see some more growth. In class, I am encouraging them to read more challenging chapter books. If you haven't seen them choosing good books at home, it is time to give them a little push. We have set up a place in the classroom for book recommendations. Hopefully, this will spur the reluctant readers on.
Have a great weekend.
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