This is going to be a short but busy week! We will not be starting a new focus or have reading logs this week. Students will have some time this week because of this to finish any late or missing work. Please look for notes in their planner listing any missing work they may need to finish over their break. Hopefully students will take advantage of the time given this week in class so they won't have anything to have to complete on their break! I hope everyone has a safe, fun, and delicious Thanksgiving filled with happiness and laughter!!
Reading
Students will take their vocabulary and poetry tests Monday, Nov. 19 then the rest of their time is to complete any missing reading logs they may have. Students won't have reading logs this week, however, as part of our character parade on Tuesday, students will be assigned to complete a character web on any character they have read about this year. As extra credit students may come dressed as that character on Tuesday and participate in the school parade.
Language
Last week we studied the genre of poetry in Reading and now students will try their hand writing a poem of their own. The poem is due November 20. Students will have some class time to use to write their poem, however if they don't finish they will need to finish it at home.
Spelling
Monday, Nov. 19 we will have the classroom spelling bee competitions. The top two scorers will go on to participate in the school spelling bee on December 13th. I will let students know Monday who our classroom winners are.
Important Dates to Remember
Nov. 19......................classroom spelling competitions
Nov. 20......................Character Parade
Nov. 20......................Poem due
Nov. 21-26.................No School Thanksgiving Holiday!
Until next time,
R. O'Steen
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Monday, November 12, 2012
Updates November 12-16, 2012
I hope everyone had a nice holiday and had the chance to thank a Veteran. We were able to thank many Veterans who came to our school Veteran's day assembly last Friday. It was a very nice program filled with patriotism for our country. We have been talking about patriotism in class as it is our character quality for this month. Ask your child about the program and how they show patriotism daily at school and in their community.
Reading
This week we will focus on the genre of poetry. We will read many different poems in class and discuss the different attributes of poetry such as: sensory details, rhythm, rhyme, repetition. Students will use many poems in the textbook to practice reading and analyzing the characteristics of poetry. Students will also learn the difference between prose and poetry. You should see a vocabulary study guide in the front pocket of their reading log folder. Since it is a short week this week and a shorter week next week we will have our tests next Monday, November 19.
Language
This week in connection with our reading focus students will write a poem. It should use any of the attributes of poetry that we study through the week. Their poem will be due on Monday, November 19.
Spelling
This week the spelling focus is homophones-words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings. Students will need to not only know how to spell the words but will have to be able to use context clues in a sentence to know which word to use. Even if the word is spelled correctly, if it was not the correct word for the sentence it will be considered incorrect.
Don't forget the school classroom spelling bee competitions will take place Monday, November 19. We have been practicing in class. Students should continue to study at home. They are receiving a participation grade for their effort in the spelling bee. The practices in class have been great! The students are really trying and do a great job!
Also coming up is our annual character parade. Tuesday, November 20 students may come to school dressed up as a character from a book, history or sport. They need to have the book they read to learn about the person they dress up as.
Dates to remember
Classroom spelling bee competitions........................November 19
Spelling, vocabulary, reading tests............................November 19
Character parade.......................................................November 20
Thanksgiving Holiday...............................................November 21-26 (return to school the 27th)
Until next time,
R. O'Steen
Reading
This week we will focus on the genre of poetry. We will read many different poems in class and discuss the different attributes of poetry such as: sensory details, rhythm, rhyme, repetition. Students will use many poems in the textbook to practice reading and analyzing the characteristics of poetry. Students will also learn the difference between prose and poetry. You should see a vocabulary study guide in the front pocket of their reading log folder. Since it is a short week this week and a shorter week next week we will have our tests next Monday, November 19.
Language
This week in connection with our reading focus students will write a poem. It should use any of the attributes of poetry that we study through the week. Their poem will be due on Monday, November 19.
Spelling
This week the spelling focus is homophones-words that sound alike but have different spellings and meanings. Students will need to not only know how to spell the words but will have to be able to use context clues in a sentence to know which word to use. Even if the word is spelled correctly, if it was not the correct word for the sentence it will be considered incorrect.
Don't forget the school classroom spelling bee competitions will take place Monday, November 19. We have been practicing in class. Students should continue to study at home. They are receiving a participation grade for their effort in the spelling bee. The practices in class have been great! The students are really trying and do a great job!
Also coming up is our annual character parade. Tuesday, November 20 students may come to school dressed up as a character from a book, history or sport. They need to have the book they read to learn about the person they dress up as.
Dates to remember
Classroom spelling bee competitions........................November 19
Spelling, vocabulary, reading tests............................November 19
Character parade.......................................................November 20
Thanksgiving Holiday...............................................November 21-26 (return to school the 27th)
Until next time,
R. O'Steen
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Updates Nov. 5-9, 2012
This week we will vary slightly from our regular testing schedule due to a very special assembly on Friday. We will be honoring our very special Veterans this Friday in our annual Veteran's Day assembly. Since students will be attending this special event on Friday morning I am going to move 2 of their tests (spelling and vocabulary) to Thursday. The skill and selection test will be given on Friday as usual. This way they will have sufficient time to complete their tests. I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend and... don't forget to thank a Veteran for all they do or have done!!!!
Reading
This week we will focus on identifying the topic, main ideas and details in a given text. The topic is what the entire selection is about, the main idea are the most important ideas the author shares about the topic, and the details are the examples that help explain and support the main ideas. Students will use the story Mae Jemison: Space Scientist for the weekly story to practice identifying topic, main ideas and detail. Ask your child what they have learned about Mae Jemison this week.
Don't forget students are still assigned weekly reading logs Monday-Thursday. Ask your child what book they are reading for their reading log practice.
Language
Students have had two writing assignments so far this new nine weeks. The first was a fact and opinion paragraph on their chosen topic. The other was a summary of the story La Bamba in their textbook. Ask your child what their topic was and what facts and opinions they shared in their paragraph. Also ask your child what the story La Bamba was about.
Monday we will participate in the district writing prompt to see progress in their writing from the beginning of the year.
Spelling
This week students are focusing on words with the "er" and "ear" sounds spelled like smear or peer, along with term and perch. Students should be reviewing and studying their pretest from Monday each night. Don't forget this week we will test on Thursday.
We also are practicing mock spelling bees in the classroom to help students become familiar with spelling rules and procedures so whoever goes on to the school bee will be comfortable with the process. Students are really enjoying these spelling bees. You can help your child prepare by calling out the words from their word list out. Classroom competitions will be on November 19.
Dates to remember:
November 5.......................report cards go home
November 7.......................early dismissal 1:30 pick-up
November 12.....................no school-Veteran's Day
*Note: on Friday students received an invitation to the Thanksgiving lunch the cafeteria will be serving. If you plan on attending please make sure you send in your RSVP. Also make sure you go online and complete the volunteer application. Parents will have to be cleared through the office in order to be able to attend. If you have any questions please let me know.
Until next year,
R. O'Steen
Reading
This week we will focus on identifying the topic, main ideas and details in a given text. The topic is what the entire selection is about, the main idea are the most important ideas the author shares about the topic, and the details are the examples that help explain and support the main ideas. Students will use the story Mae Jemison: Space Scientist for the weekly story to practice identifying topic, main ideas and detail. Ask your child what they have learned about Mae Jemison this week.
Don't forget students are still assigned weekly reading logs Monday-Thursday. Ask your child what book they are reading for their reading log practice.
Language
Students have had two writing assignments so far this new nine weeks. The first was a fact and opinion paragraph on their chosen topic. The other was a summary of the story La Bamba in their textbook. Ask your child what their topic was and what facts and opinions they shared in their paragraph. Also ask your child what the story La Bamba was about.
Monday we will participate in the district writing prompt to see progress in their writing from the beginning of the year.
Spelling
This week students are focusing on words with the "er" and "ear" sounds spelled like smear or peer, along with term and perch. Students should be reviewing and studying their pretest from Monday each night. Don't forget this week we will test on Thursday.
We also are practicing mock spelling bees in the classroom to help students become familiar with spelling rules and procedures so whoever goes on to the school bee will be comfortable with the process. Students are really enjoying these spelling bees. You can help your child prepare by calling out the words from their word list out. Classroom competitions will be on November 19.
Dates to remember:
November 5.......................report cards go home
November 7.......................early dismissal 1:30 pick-up
November 12.....................no school-Veteran's Day
*Note: on Friday students received an invitation to the Thanksgiving lunch the cafeteria will be serving. If you plan on attending please make sure you send in your RSVP. Also make sure you go online and complete the volunteer application. Parents will have to be cleared through the office in order to be able to attend. If you have any questions please let me know.
Until next year,
R. O'Steen
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Spelling Bee!!!!
We will have practice spelling bees in the classroom so the students can become familiar with the rules of the spelling bee. Students will receive a participation grade for their effort they put into the spelling bee.
Ways to help you child at home:
*call out the words on the list to make a "know" and "don't know" lists of words
*have students write, read, or make flashcards of words they don't know
*call out "don't know" words through the week to narrow down the list
*a couple of time a week, call out all words on list randomly for practice, having you child spelling them orally
*have your child read the list to you
*ask your child if there are words they don't understand the meaning to
Even though it is a spelling competition, if students can't read the words or don't understand their meaning, they won't take ownership of the word and learn it completely.
Have fun!!!
Until next time,
R. O'Steen
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