Classroom Update - Week of August 14th
I was so happy to see so many of you at Open House last week! If you were unable to attend, I have uploaded my PowerPoint presentation to the "Classroom Resources" section on my website.
Wordly Wise:
It has come to my attention that the online site, Wordly Wise 3000 has not been the most user friendly and that it is not working well on tablet devices. To remedy this, your children will have a study guide in their notebooks tomorrow under the "Resources" tab to help them prepare. I am also planning on linking resources such as this Quizlet to further help your child prepare for the Wordly Wise assessments that will be held every two weeks. Finally, your child will be able to take their workbooks home each night as an additional tool to help them prepare.
Solar Eclipse:
Our class will be taking advantage of the learning opportunity that the Solar Eclipse on Monday, August 21st will provide. On Monday, our class will be doing activities related to the eclipse and watching a live stream of it on the NASA website during the peak time frame. If your child already has glasses and you would like them to view it live, there are a few teachers that will be taking some students outside for this and I can arrange for your child to join them, as long as you comply with the following stipulations. First of all, the glasses need to have certification information with a designated ISO 12312-2 international standard and have the manufacturer’s name and address printed somewhere on the product. Second of all, parents need to fill out a permission slip (and get a witness to sign it, as well) allowing your child to participate. If this is something that you are interested in, please complete the authorization form by Friday, as well as send me an email (or message me on Bloomz), so I know to expect it.
Updates / Reminders:
Ident-a-Kid paperwork went home today in your child's LIGHTHOUSE binders. Pictures for this ID card will be on Thursday. Please be sure to submit the form by Thursday morning.
Please visit the MES website for more information about Student Clubs! Many have applications that need to be filled out by a certain deadline.
If your child plans on bringing in a device for our BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) program, they may start doing so on Monday, August 14th, as long as the BYOD agreement has been completed by the student and parent (this went home in Friday Folders) and you have registered your child's device HERE.
Our first early release day is Friday, August 18th. Students will dismiss at 1:15PM. I will send out a Google Form closer to the date to determine any changes in transportation.
Our next early release day is Friday, September 29th. Students will dismiss at 1:15PM.
Mark your calendars for Morrisville's Annual Fall Festival! It will be held on Friday, September 29th.
Reader's Workshop:
This week in reading the students will continue to work on building their reading stamina, while I continue to pull them to work on beginning of the year reading assessments, individual conferences to work on goal setting, and for guided reading/strategy groups. As a whole group, we will be focusing on the following learning outcomes:
Good readers pay close attention to new and interesting words to help expand their vocabulary
Good readers enlist a variety of strategies to support them when they get confused while reading
Good readers create a buzz about the books we love, and we do this by summarizing these books
Good readers use various systems to identify good fit books so that we always have something to read
Good readers determine the theme of a story by using support from the text
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
How do you plan on pushing yourself as a reader to read longer and stronger?
What are some strategies that you can use when you come to a confusing part when reading?
How can you tell if you are reading a “good fit book”?
What are some common themes that we have discussed in class?
What is the theme in the book that you are reading now? How do you know (support)?
Writer's Workshop
This week in writing, the students will work on finishing up their planning page and starting their personal narrative drafts. As they draft, they will focus on using strong sensory details, slow motion replay, and advanced vocabulary to paint a clear picture of their memory in the minds of their readers. They will also be conferring with me as they move through the different components of the narrative.
Qualities of Good Personal Narrative Writing:
Write about a small moment in time (one time, one place, one topic)
Zoom in so you tell the most important parts of the story.
Include true, exact details from the movie you have in your mind.
Begin with a strong lead – maybe action, setting, dialogue, or a combination which creates mood.
Use Slow Motion Replay to describe the actions
Paint vivid pictures that are important to the focus
Use strong vocabulary that is precise and purposeful.
Make a strong ending – maybe use important actions, dialogue, images, and whole-story reminders that make a lasting impression.
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
What small moment have you settled on to write about?
Tell me more about your WOW moment.
What important details are you slowing down in your story?
How do you plan on beginning your story in a way that catches the reader’s attention?
Math:
The students will take their first math assessment that will cover the taught place value concepts next Tuesday, August 15th. Later this week, the students will be focusing on solving problems that involve addition and subtraction on multi-digit numbers up to the millions place value. They will be focusing on solving word problems that involve multiple steps and/or estimation. The students will be encouraged to use the C.U.B.E.S. problem solving technique.
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
What are some different strategies that you can use to add and subtract numbers?
Using the numbers 34,938 and 28,928, can you create an addition word problem using estimation?
Can you show me how you use the C.U.B.E.S. strategies you use to solve a word problem?
Social Studies:
This week in social studies the students will learn about the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. The students will continue to take notes in their social studies notebook and these would make great study resources as they prepare for their assessment on Tuesday, August 22nd. I decided to move it back one day, due to some of the activities that we have planned for the eclipse. Students should take their notes home to study from, however they will be allowed to use their notebooks on the assessment.
Questions to Ask Your Child at Home:
Tell me what you learned about the Revolutionary War? Who fought in it? What were they fighting for? Who won?
Tell me what you learned about the Civil War? Who fought in it? What were they fighting for? Who won?