March 2 Update...

Hi All, 

Thank you for visiting today!  We've had an awesome week.  It's amazing to begin to see everything the students have been learning all come together as we prepare for the Milestones in April.  We've been working very hard on being able  to effectively show what we know!  Check out below...

Grammar:  We learned the difference between a simple sentence and a compound sentence.  We reviewed the two MUSTS in a sentence; a subject and a predicate. We diagrammed sentences and then learned how to identify and write compound sentences. We learned what each conjunction means and when to  use it.  We practiced writing our own compound sentences correctly using punctuation and capitalization. 

Reading: We read several more chapters in The Magician's Elephant.  We looked at words and phrases that were unfamiliar to us and used context clues to determine the meaning. We read several opinion articles and then looked at student sample writing to discuss the good and the bad of the writing using a rubric. We then wrote our own opinion writing, agreeing or disagreeing with the articles we read.  We also worked in small groups to read and discuss our book club selections. 

Writing:  We reviewed the important parts of essay writing. We discussed when to indent, how to begin each paragraph with a topic sentence, and what the introduction and closing paragraphs need to contain.  

Math:  We looked at more challenging multi-step word problems containing  all four operations.  We talked about the strategies that will help us identify the various steps needed to complete the word problem.  We also reviewed place value, rounding, and fractions. 

Class News and Announcements...

Thank you, Mrs. Morling and Mrs. Beames, for supplying the class with new crayons!

Boosterthon begins next week!  Be on the lookout for important ways you can support our school while your child earns fun incentives in the classroom.

I am having minor surgery next week and will be out on Wednesday and Thursday. (I'll take any prayers you want to offer up!) Please do not email any important transportation changes or other info that is pertinent for either day. 

Please make sure you are keeping yourself informed about how your child is doing on the USA Test Prep assignments.  These scores are a good indicator of how your child will do on the Milestones.