Reading Week of December 14, 2009

The holidays are right around the corner. I hope everyone has a safe and happy winter break!

This week we will not have a spelling list, vocabulary list, or reading focus due to the short week.

I will be reassessing students in reading at this time to measure growth from the beginning of the year. They will be completing a DRA2 reading assessment along with the FCAT practice test. We we return in January students will take the F.A.I.R. test to also show growth. After all the reassessments have been completed I will be looking closely at where students are and if growth has been shown from the beginning of the year. This will also be a time that if I have a concern I will be contacting parents for conferences.

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to let me know! A note in the planner is a quick and easy way!

Until next time...Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

R. O'Steen

Reading Week of Decemeber 7

We have now completed Theme 2 in our textbook series and are moving into Theme 3 Incredible Stories. Students will continue to have vocabulary, spelling and weekly reading focuses along with reading logs.


Reading

This week our focus is realism and fantasy. A realistic story tells about characters and events that can happen in real life. A fantasy story has features and events that can and cannot happen in real life . Through the week we will be reading stories and listing events as real or fantasy.

The selection story is Dogzilla in their student textbook. Vocabulary is on page 308. Students will have reading and vocabulary tests Friday.


Language

Students have been studying singular and plural nouns. We will continue to practice this week with a test on Friday.

Spelling

This week our spelling focus in to ow and aw sound like in clown and lawn. Look for their words in their planner.


Writers Workshop

We have moved into the report writing standard. We are writing a class report on the Statue of Liberty. Groups have been assigned individual topics. We are moving through the writing standard together to complete the first report in class. Ask your child what their topic is for their group and what they have learned about it.


Important dates to remember

Wednesday December 9.........early dismissal
Thursday December 17.......first day of winter break
Monday January 4.............first day back to school from winter break

Until next time,
R. O'Steen