Next Grades

This week again we do not have a focused vocabulary list. Students will be focused on a genre called Trickster Tales. Have fun discussing these stories with your child this week. On Friday they will have their spelling test (on words with the sound and pattern of oi and oy as in boy) and reading test on the trickster tales in the book.

Next week students will not have spelling but will take the Theme 2 test on Monday. Even though it will be a short week, students still need to read and log in over the break. When they return from the holiday, we will start a new theme and we will be back to weekly spelling and vocabulary tests. Students should be studying these words for a Friday test. If I were to say 2 areas most students can improve it would be in vocabulary and their reading logs.

Reading logs are part of their grade and a very important part of their reading practice. Students will not become better readers without practicing reading themselves. We do a lot of shared readings and read alouds in class so it is very important for students to read daily to practice that same reading on their own.

Until next time...Have a great Thanksgiving Holiday!
R. O'Steen

End of Unit

We are wrapping up the unit starting this week. Students have been focused on Author's Viewpoint, Categorizing and Classifying, Noting Details, and Main Idea with Supporting Details. You can look in their readers notebooks to see classwork on these topics.You should have seen tests coming home on all of these focuses.

This week students will not have vocabulary words assigned, they will keep a list of words they don't know as they read the two stories for this week. I will collect the words on Friday. Their spelling list will be a review of all long vowels.

You should be seeing your child reading and logging in daily. Ask your child what they read and logged in to reinforce comprehension.

Starting this past Friday you should have seen their weekly reading assessment test stapled in their Friday folder. This is the test I shared at Open House. We can now tear them out of the book, so I will be stapling them in the Friday folder for you to see and review with your child. Students are allowed to bring home their reading textbooks any time they need to so feel free to read the story with your child then review the mistakes on the tests. Please leave them however in the folder as I need to file them in their portfolio throughout the year.

Lastly, report cards will be coming home on Friday, November 14 and we are already half way through the 2nd nine weeks, so the new progress report will be coming home shortly.
Thanks for all you do!
Until next time...R. O'Steen