Dear Parents and Students,
Our first week together went very well. The students have been very cooperative, and I am impressed with how hard they work and how well they listen. We've even managed to have a little fun along the way.
Once again, I hope you will not hesitate to contact me with any question or concern you have. I do have an email account, and with my blog now appearing on our website, I feel as though I am officially "up and running."
Here is what we will be doing next week.
SPELLING: Next week we will be doing Lesson 21 and a word of the week. The workbook for that lesson will be due on Thursday, and a test over the words will be given on Friday. Did you know that the District Spelling Bee champion was a student in this class? Ask your son or daughter to tell you about the nail-biting event we all got to watch last Thursday afternoon as Karina spelled her way to victory. How excited the kids were to have the champion come from Miss Trefonas's homeroom. And congratulations to our winner!
ENGLISH: We will begin an expository essay next week. We will start by discussing the elements that are present in a good essay, and look at some examples, identifying the key components. Then, students will begin to write their own versions of this informative essay.
READING: Continuing with the skills students will need to be better readers, as well as to do well on the upcoming ISAT testing, we will be completing various mini-lessons in our ISAT Coach books. We will also be applying these skills as we read sections of the science and social studies texts. In addition, students will read articles in Time for Kids (TFK), and answer comprehension questions on what they have read.
SOCIAL STUDIES: It will be a big week in social studies! Students should have already completed the rough drafts on the first three sections of the booklet they they will be preparing that contrasts the patriots with the loyalists in the colonies. We will complete the reading for the remaining sections, and students will be given time to write rough drafts for those sections on Monday. On Tuesday, we will watch a video about the beginnings of the Revolution.
Thursday we have time reserved in the computer lab for students to type up their rough drafts, and print a color cover for their booklet. The remaining illustrations, and the completed project will be due the following week (That date is yet to be determined.) Students have been given a rubric so they know exactly what they will need to include. Ask to see the rubric for the project to get a good idea of what is expected.
SCIENCE: The projects the students completed entitled, This Place is a Zoo, have been graded. They did an awsome job, and I learned a lot just going through the posters. It was obvious that a lot of work went into each and every project. Students took the open book test on weather yesterday. Everyone did well. Next week we begin the water cycle.
MATH: The test on Chapter 12 was postponed until Tuesday. We spent our class time on Friday going over the concepts once again. Students have a review packet for the weekend. We will correct that packet on Monday, answer any other questions, and, hopefully, be ready for our test on Tuesday. On Wednesday we begin the chapter on geometry. We will be using protractors to measure lines and angles, and talking about geometric shapes.
Deputy Dave Kotovsky will be returning on Thursday morning as part of the T.G.F.D (Too Good For Drugs) program. Thursday's discussion will deal with Peer Pressure.
Our Valentine's Day party is scheduled for Friday afternoon. The office has asked that water serve as our beverage. It seems the stains from past parties have caught up with us. Students may bring Valentines for classmates, and we will be doing a Valentine art project or two throughout the week.
