Dear Parents, January 6, 2014
Happy New Year! I hope that you all enjoyed a peaceful, restful, and blessed Christmas.
We are starting theme 5 (Home Sweet Home) in our reading series. Our reading strategy is questioning and the comprehension skill that will help us with that strategy is compare and contrast. We will practice this skill using a Venn diagram. Our phonics focus is on the consonant digraphs, th, wh, sh, ch, and tch. We will also review triple clusters and the short sound of /u/. Our grammar focus is on exclamatory sentences – sentences that express strong emotion and end with an exclamation point.
Our spelling words are from unit 19 and concentrate on the digraphs th (this, that) and wh (when, which). This is the first week with the jump to ten basic words and two challenge words. This means a couple of things! 1) Spelling tests will be graded on correct formation of letters. For example the reversals of letters b/d, p/q will be marked wrong. 2) We will begin “7 sentences” for homework on Wednesdays. This homework is to be completed in the students spelling journal (as Rainbow Write 2x is completed). Students are to select 6 basic words and 1 challenge word for a total of 7 words. They are then to create a sentence with each of the selected words they chose.
As a reminder, all students are tested on their sight words once a week (Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday). Students are to know the words by sight within 3 seconds. I am challenging the students by asking the students to use each word in a sentence. This helps with building our reading comprehension. As always, your student receives a new packet only if all words are mastered, this includes knowing the assigned words within 3 seconds and using the word correctly in a sentence.
Our lessons in math continue from Chapter 4. We will be learning about number scrolls as well as fact power (turn-around facts). We will also continue to review content we have already learned, time, money, and strengthening our number sense.
In religion we will be learning from our Family Life Series with a focus on families sharing life and love.
In science we will begin a new chapter on environments. This week we will be previewing the vocabulary.
In social studies we will be addressing a new chapter with the focus of living in a community!
Reminders for the week:
– Please remind your student to bring their library book to school on Tuesday so that they may check out a new one.
– Tuesday and Thursday are PE days! Please remember to have girls wear their hair up and all students to wear PE appropriate shoes! Please see the handbook for further information.
– Friday is a full day with the beginning of a great art project on pointillism in the afternoon!
Have a wonderful week!
Ms. Manning
