Tuesday, January 30, 2018

January 2018 Newsletter

January Newsletter, 2017

Reading:
As readers we are continuously practicing and using the skill of self-monitoring. This means that students are thinking about what they are reading and checking to make sure that what they read matches the words on the page. This includes recognizing any errors made and fixing them right away when reading. When reading, students are not only self-correcting, but also making sense of and understanding the story. Students are learning it is okay to reread a book several times to build fluency, or being able to read smoothly with expression. 
Comprehension is another key to reading. Can your child tell: 
Who is in the story
Where the story takes place
When the story takes place
What happened in order 

Some additional Comprehension questions: What is the author's message? What is the author trying to teach you?
What is your favorite part and why?
What was the most important in the story and why?


To help foster a love of reading and to help support your child’s progress, please make sure your child is reading about 20 minutes each night as a part of his or her homework. Please stop every couple minutes to discuss the reading. You could talk about: a favorite part, the problem and solution, predictions, connections or discuss the heart of the story. 

Writing:  We started our New Unit: Persuasive Reviews. We are starting with Opinion pieces. First, the children observed and judged my seashell collection.  The children have enjoyed deciding which is the best, and came up with rules for winning the competition.  Thank you for sending in your child's collection. We did a gallery walk today to admire each others collections and discuss why somethings are collected.  See pictures in next post. Next we will judge other items. For example:  The best pet is, The worst restaurant is, The best movie is.  Students will learn to have a title sentence, three reasons and and ending sentence. A reason can not be, "It is my favorite. I like it best. or It is cool." We will read many mentor books to help us understand how to write good opinion pieces. This include: 
Red is BestThe Pet ShowThe Perfect PetEarrings,  I wanna Iguana and Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt.


Math: We have finished Chapter 8 since Winter Break.  This week we are starting Chapter 9, Length. We will learn vocabulary: er and est word. We will learn that long is for horizontal items and tall is for vertical items. Short can be used either way.  Next up:  Chapter 10- Weights  and the Ch. 11-Picture Graphs and Bar Graphs.
Remember you can use  www.gregtang.com to help enrich your child or print out the Tangy Tuesday Puzzle Packs that come via email. 

Social Studies: We have been studying famous African Americans from the Harlem Renaissance period. Some of the people are learning about are: Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald, Josephine Baker, Langston Hughes, and Faith Ringgold. We have watched videos, listen to music, read stories, and learned so much about these artists.  In addition, we learned how important quilt making was during the 1920s. We are making paper quilt squares for each famous African American and then we will piece together our quilt of these talented artists. Please look in the hallways in the first part of February for your child's quilt.

Science:  We will spend the Month of February in the Science Lab learning about Solids and Liquids in the Science lab. We will learn about viscous, thick liquid, and translucent, light emitting  liquid and transparent, see through liquid.  The students will work with beans and strainers to help them understand size and volume. 
 Feb. 14,Wednesday-Valentines Day Celebration-
2:00-3:30 p.m.
The celebration will include a magician 
and then a Valentine exchange with story.
No parent Volunteers are needed

To do at home:
1. Decorate a box or bag for Valentines.
Bring to school any time. These will be set on top of the lockers. 
 2. Send Valentines with your child on Feb. 14.
You can handle this in various ways:
-Write classmate’s first names on Valentines
-Send Valentines without names


February 2, Friday- Groundhog Day Get Burrowed in with a good book. Students are encouraged to bring in a comfy pillow/ blanket to enjoy while reading with friends.

February 10th- Community Teams- More on Black History Night/Harlem Renaissance

February 14th- Valentine’s Celebration 2:00-3:30, Need box and valentines. 

February 16th- Early Release, Wear Community Team Shirts 

February 19th- President’s Day- No School

February 22ndBlack History Night for ALL Captain Students 1st-5th. Starting at 6:30 p.m at CHS

No comments:

Post a Comment

THANK YOU

Dear All, I have had a great year with my students. Your children were curious and passionate about learning. They filled my bucket! I wa...