Week in a Peek for Sept 13-17th

It was great to meet so many of you on Monday at Open House.


Reading
We have been very busy getting use to our Reader Response Journals.  What I have decided to do this year is send home the rubric after a Journal entry has been corrected.  The rubrics for the first 2 journal entries will not grade vocabulary as we are easing into our new routine.  I will write the rubric scores into the Reader Response Journals so we have a record in school and you have one for home.  The main thing I want to focus on is supporting their responses with evidence from the text.

This we we finished the story Mandy Sue Day, and we read another story about Annie Sullivan, Helen Keller's teacher.   We also used our morning work story, Hearing vs. Seeing, to help us make Text-to-Text connections.

Writing
We are finishing our All About Me writings.  We are focusing on writing 3 paragraphs, each with a main idea and 4 details.  Next week we will move on to research expository.  The next writing unit will guide the students through the research process and ending with the students researching their own topic and completing their first 5 paragraph expository essay.

Math
We continued with Parallel, Intersecting, and Perpendicular lines, as well as naming polygons.  The students will need to know these terms to help identify shapes.  For example, what shape has 2 pairs of parallel sides?  (square, rectangle, rhombus, trapezoid).  This question can be taken a little further by adding: shape also has at least 2 acute angles.

Social Studies
We are continuing to learn the continents and oceans and their locations on the globe.  A study guide will go home this week and we will have a test on Friday September 24th.

Other News:
The volunteer schedule is a work in progress!!  If you sent in the weekly volunteer form look for an email from me soon.  I am hoping to use parents to help read with students, do flashcards for math facts or vocabulary, for fluency practice, and of course the typical copying!!  I am creating folders to help with all of these activities (which I may need some help creating!!!) but they are coming along!  Thank you again to all who volunteered their time!!!!!

Dates to remember:

• Friday September 24th is PTA "Make a Friend" Movie Night - Look for information from the PTA - THIS EVENT HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED.  LOOK FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE NEW DATE!
• Math masters celebrations will begin soon.  Our first Math Master's celebration will be on October 21st.  Invitations will be sent home as your child passes each level!
• Nickelodeon's 7th Annual Worldwide Day of Play is on September 25th.  Log on to www.planetexplore.com to find outdoor events in our area.