Tuesday, September 29, 2015
Monday, September 28, 2015
LA Update 9-28
Last update for September! Conference sign-ups should have been sent out by your child's homeroom teacher, please let me know if you have questions about this.
We started our book, Capture the Flag, and the kids seem be loving it! We have learned so far that the Star-Spangled Banner flag has been stolen from the airport. So far, we have met three kid characters, one senator, and tonight they should be reading about another kid and Snake-Arm! Today we learned that Jose's mom is a textiles scientist-see the video we watched in class that helps us learn more about it. Ask your child about it.
Class-time has been given to read part of the homework each day. Capture the Flag may be the only book your child is reading at home for the next two weeks and that is okay. If your child is reading through it quickly, then they should also be reading another book too. This book can be used on the reading log too if your child chooses to do that. A reminder that logs are due each Friday with a signature.
In reading, we are learning about what makes fiction-characters, setting, and plot. Plus, we have talked a lot about inferences. On Friday will be our first fiction weekly ten that covers those same skills. We are also completing questions based on Capture the Flag daily.
This week in writing, we are focused heavily on revising our information article on our American symbols. Friday, we worked on elaborating and today using transition words. Tomorrow, we will write leads for our articles followed by refining our craft and writing and ending. We have been busy! All kids have conferenced or will conference with me this week regarding their writing pieces.
Thanks for your support!
*Book orders are due by October 9th if interested. Most book orders from September have arrived and have been delivered. I will get them to your kids as soon as they come in.
We started our book, Capture the Flag, and the kids seem be loving it! We have learned so far that the Star-Spangled Banner flag has been stolen from the airport. So far, we have met three kid characters, one senator, and tonight they should be reading about another kid and Snake-Arm! Today we learned that Jose's mom is a textiles scientist-see the video we watched in class that helps us learn more about it. Ask your child about it.
Class-time has been given to read part of the homework each day. Capture the Flag may be the only book your child is reading at home for the next two weeks and that is okay. If your child is reading through it quickly, then they should also be reading another book too. This book can be used on the reading log too if your child chooses to do that. A reminder that logs are due each Friday with a signature.
In reading, we are learning about what makes fiction-characters, setting, and plot. Plus, we have talked a lot about inferences. On Friday will be our first fiction weekly ten that covers those same skills. We are also completing questions based on Capture the Flag daily.
This week in writing, we are focused heavily on revising our information article on our American symbols. Friday, we worked on elaborating and today using transition words. Tomorrow, we will write leads for our articles followed by refining our craft and writing and ending. We have been busy! All kids have conferenced or will conference with me this week regarding their writing pieces.
Thanks for your support!
*Book orders are due by October 9th if interested. Most book orders from September have arrived and have been delivered. I will get them to your kids as soon as they come in.
Monday, September 21, 2015
LA Update 9-21
Our unit focusing on informational text has come to a close. Summative reading tests went home today. Please let me know if you have any questions about them. The writing pieces will go home later this week. Ask your child to see what we are working on!
This week we will finish polishing our pieces on an American symbol. Your child may have the Statue of Liberty, the White House, the Liberty Bell, or Mt. Rushmore. They have been researching them and taking notes. The next step is to draft about them with the ultimate goal being an informational article.
*We are at our halfway point for the 1st quarter. It is hard to believe! A reading counts report will be sent home later this week detailing your child's progress with that. Please remember that the goal will be for your child to reach at least 20 points. Again, please let me know if you have questions.
*This week we will be starting to read the book, Capture the Flag. See the review here. Parts will be read in class and kids may have to be reading the book at home too. Audio versions for each chapter can be found using this link if needed for your child.
*Reminder that reading logs are due each Friday with a parent signature.
*Book orders for October are due by 10/9. I submitted September orders last Friday so hopefully those will arrive soon. :)
This week we will finish polishing our pieces on an American symbol. Your child may have the Statue of Liberty, the White House, the Liberty Bell, or Mt. Rushmore. They have been researching them and taking notes. The next step is to draft about them with the ultimate goal being an informational article.
*We are at our halfway point for the 1st quarter. It is hard to believe! A reading counts report will be sent home later this week detailing your child's progress with that. Please remember that the goal will be for your child to reach at least 20 points. Again, please let me know if you have questions.
*This week we will be starting to read the book, Capture the Flag. See the review here. Parts will be read in class and kids may have to be reading the book at home too. Audio versions for each chapter can be found using this link if needed for your child.
*Reminder that reading logs are due each Friday with a parent signature.
*Book orders for October are due by 10/9. I submitted September orders last Friday so hopefully those will arrive soon. :)
Monday, September 14, 2015
LA Update 9-14
Today we started researching for our mini-project about American symbols. The kids seemed very interested in their topics. You child may be researching about the Statue of Liberty, the White House, the Liberty Bell, or Mt. Rushmore. We talked about the steps you take to write an informational article (their final product) and today started with highlighting important information. We will continue the week with note-taking on the symbols and then drafting paragraphs.
We also made synonym strips using paint strips. These started with a boring word and ended with a really juicy one. It was pretty neat! Check out the photo.
On Wednesday, we will have our first reading summative covering these skills:
-main idea and details, summarizing, inferencing, and using context clues.
On Thursday, the kids will have to write a short informational piece about the articles they read Wednesday.
Friday, we will be watching a movie called "National Treasure". Click here for more information about the movie. This movie will tie in to our American Symbols we are researching and be a great prelude to the book we will be starting soon in class called "Capture the Flag". Click here to learn more about the book. It is great one!
**Reminder- planners should be completed daily. If not, please let me know.
-20 Reading Counts points due by October 15
-Reading Logs are due each FRIDAY and must be signed by a parent/guardian
We also made synonym strips using paint strips. These started with a boring word and ended with a really juicy one. It was pretty neat! Check out the photo.
On Wednesday, we will have our first reading summative covering these skills:
-main idea and details, summarizing, inferencing, and using context clues.
On Thursday, the kids will have to write a short informational piece about the articles they read Wednesday.
Friday, we will be watching a movie called "National Treasure". Click here for more information about the movie. This movie will tie in to our American Symbols we are researching and be a great prelude to the book we will be starting soon in class called "Capture the Flag". Click here to learn more about the book. It is great one!
**Reminder- planners should be completed daily. If not, please let me know.
-20 Reading Counts points due by October 15
-Reading Logs are due each FRIDAY and must be signed by a parent/guardian
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
Update 9-8
We are off and running! Reading Counts is in full swing. Each child has a goal of 20 points to reach by the end of the quarter. There will be a small treat for all the kids that meet that goal. I also told them there will be an extra treat if they are one of top five point earners in their class!
We stopped reading, "The One and Only Ivan" aloud in class. I purchased some copies for the kids to take turns and read. This week, I am going to let the kids pick a historical fiction book for me to read aloud to them. I am trying to read aloud part of it and then offer copies for them to finish. Just a way to "hook" them into a new book.
Today, I sent home letters about your child's SRI performance. This was a test we took on the computer that is just one measure of a child's reading comprehension skills. It assigns each child a Lexile score. By the end of fifth grade, the goal is for each fifth grader to score between 700-1000. We will take it again in January and finally in May. Please let me know if you have questions.
Tomorrow is our first "Weekly Ten". This is a reading quiz worth ten points. Students will independently read an informational article and answer questions. This is a formative. Next week, we will be having a reading summative over the skills of: main idea, inferencing, summarizing, and quoting evidence from the text.
We are focusing on informational writing and have drafted a few pieces about different topics focusing on sharing facts. We are going to start a project where students will pick an American symbol to write an article about.
We stopped reading, "The One and Only Ivan" aloud in class. I purchased some copies for the kids to take turns and read. This week, I am going to let the kids pick a historical fiction book for me to read aloud to them. I am trying to read aloud part of it and then offer copies for them to finish. Just a way to "hook" them into a new book.
Today, I sent home letters about your child's SRI performance. This was a test we took on the computer that is just one measure of a child's reading comprehension skills. It assigns each child a Lexile score. By the end of fifth grade, the goal is for each fifth grader to score between 700-1000. We will take it again in January and finally in May. Please let me know if you have questions.
Tomorrow is our first "Weekly Ten". This is a reading quiz worth ten points. Students will independently read an informational article and answer questions. This is a formative. Next week, we will be having a reading summative over the skills of: main idea, inferencing, summarizing, and quoting evidence from the text.
We are focusing on informational writing and have drafted a few pieces about different topics focusing on sharing facts. We are going to start a project where students will pick an American symbol to write an article about.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)