Week 33

Our story this week is a selection called "The New Bed" from a book called "Poppleton Everyday". It is a fiction story that shows the humor n used in many fiction selections. The phonics lesson for the week is to review the long sound of /u/. Long u is the sound you find in either cute or tube. This weeks vocabulary is:

boy

brought

few

head

read

Math is still fractions and number grid puzzles. We are getting close to finishing our math book so we are doing lots of review.

I still have a few children without an AR shirt. I hope they can earn one before the end of the year.

You can tell that spring is in the air (even though the weather sometimes does not show it). We seem to not be working as much and manners and following directions are taking a back seat. I am hoping this is just a small bump in the very short road we have left. I am hoping to take them to the park the last week of school. Each child's ability to go will depend on classroom behavior. Each will have to earn the privilege of going.

Remember Friday is an early release. We will be prepping for the school carnival that will be at our school from 5:30-7:30 Friday evening. It is great fun for the kids. I hope to see you there. I will be in the food booth. Drop by and say hello.

AR lunch will be on Thursday as usual. If you do not have on your shirt you will not be allowed to eat in the room.

Have a great week.

Week 32

Our story this week is "The Puddle." This fiction story has a mix of realistic and make-believe parts. The sound for the week is that -ge and -dge both make the /j/ sound. The vocabulary is:

angry

okay

nearly

sorry

Math will be dealing with fractions and place value.

We had a great trip to the Forest Service building to see the mural. The weather cooperated this year so we had a great walk. If you haven't seen the mural, you should stop by to see it. Many thanks to all the parents who accompanied us. . . Irene Tilford, Melissa McNeill, Shannon Latham, Dale Sloan, Mary Ann Adair, John Rhis, Brittany Puzas, and Kimberly Merrill. A special thanks to Irene Tilford for providing our snack.

Spelling is going well. Everyone is where they need to be. They have been very good at keep to at least one list per week.

AR continues to be a big thing. They are going to break me. I have several that are close to passing 150 tests. The class is four short of 1500 tests passed.

Have a great week.

More AR Stars

Here is the latest round of AR pictures. At the end of the slideshow you will see pictures of the kids reading and testing. It is so nice to look up from what I am doing to see the kids all reading, working, or testing. The last one shows the new NEO's we got. They are only good for AR or Math Facts but still great for the price. I used my tax credit money to get these.

Week 31

Our story this week is a non fiction piece called " How to Be a Nature Detective."The phonics sound to review is long o. The new vocabulary words are:

clues

detective

floor

nature

piece

pulls

Fractions will be the focus in math this week. There will be one review of "What's the Rule." We will be doing halves, thirds, and fourths as well as finding a fraction of a group of objects.

We will be walking to the Forest Service to see the mural on Friday morning. We will leave school between 8:45 and 9:00. The mural has lots of animals in it. It will be a good place to practice being a 'nature detective.' Please be sure your child has on comfortable walking shoes and a jacket if necessary. We will plan on going even if it is windy.

AR has really been going this week. I have given away several shirts and at least 3 watches. It is so fun to see them work for something that they want and are practicing reading at the same time.

Remember that Thursday is AR day. PLEASE WEAR YOUR SHIRT IF YOU HAVE ONE. Everyone got to eat in the room again this past week.

We have had a few instances of needing to reach parents. Please remember that our phone at school comes up as an unknown number. We may be trying to reach you for a serious or emergency situation. Please pick up.

Have a great week!

Week 30

Our story this week is a non-fiction story called "Fishing Bears." It is an informational piece about the Alaskan Brown Bear. The phonics lesson is reviewing the long sound of i, especially in words like kind and wild. The vocabulary is short, only three words. They are:

both

during

ready

In math we will finish up the geometry section, dealing with three dimensional shapes and start a new unit which seems to be a review. I see mostly time and money coming for the rest of the week. It does ask the kids to make change this week. That is difficult for many.

Thursday is AR Day. Please wear your shirt on that day if you have earned one. Those who haven't earned a shirt must pass 3 tests in the previous week to be able to eat in the room. Last week EVERYONE had done that so the whole class ate in the room. It was great. Everyone seems to be excited about AR. The kids have passed over 1000 tests so far this year. The difference this is making in reading fluency is amazing. Some of my average readers have become great readers. It is so exciting to see the change and the confidence it is giving those children.

I think this will be our first normal week of school since Christmas. . .imagine 5 whole days of school!!! We really do need it.

I am sending permission slips for the walk to the Forest Service this week. Please watch for them.