My apologies, I left my Spelling for Writers book at school. I will send this week's spelling words via email tomorrow.
Some families have asked about handwriting resources. This page offers many links to different sites for both print and cursive to meet your student's needs: http://www.learningreviews.com/Handwriting.html. For students who I have identified as needing additional handwriting practice, I will be sending home handwriting practice that is independent of spelling words as spelling is being differentiated and students have different spelling lists. This will also maintain practice even on weeks when we don't have spelling words. Students should practice in a quiet, well lit environment without distractions, (e.g., pets, siblings, electronics, etc.), with good posture. They should make their letters from the top down, fill the page paying attention to spacing between letters, height of letters and should begin by tracing the letters. Please sign your student's handwriting before they return it. Most students are capable of producing very nice handwriting, but they simply haven't been held accountable. My "deal" with students is that when I consistently see good handwriting, they do not have to do the homework any more.
I introduced new reading homework this week and went over my expectations on Thursday before sending it home. We reviewed students' attempts on Friday once they had a chance to try it at home. Contrary to the image above, it is not my goal by adding challenge math homework and more rigorous reading to exhaust students, but rather to continue to challenge them and not let them plateau. I ask that students number and underline evidence for the questions (not all questions will have "right there" evidence and they may not find evidence for every question). They should support their answers for the extended response questions by adding "why" statements. Students are ready for the additional challenge and the non-fiction text with charts, graphs, tables etc. are important non-fiction elements that will support their science and social studies reading.
I will send home your student's most recent pen pal letter on Monday. Please look at the published letter, draft, and plan. The published letters reflect some teacher editing for spelling and convention, but the letters show significant growth. I had students compare their first "paragraphs" from the beginning of the year to what they are producing now. This is a meaningful exercise and builds confidence when they see how far they've come. It took us about a week and a half to follow the entire process from planning to published piece.
We took a formative geometry assessment on Friday as well as fact fluency assessments. We will review our assessment for reteaching on Monday and will take the final summative assessment on Tuesday. We concluded our instruction on polyhedrons by looking at the following figures: spheres, cones, cylinders, prisms, and pyramids. We studied their bases, faces, and edges.
In science we invited Mr. Bill Palmer, a water and board sport enthusiast (and our former physical education teacher, Mrs. Palmer's husband) to visit. He shared the invention process from problem all the way through multiple solutions to manufacturing and marketing. He also gave the students a demo. You can learn more about his product by visiting his website sk8pole.com. His invention was very meaningful to kids as it provides a solution to a kid interest and is simple. We will conclude our Invention Convention process next week. I'm including links to examples of display boards (which you can purchase at teacher supply stores like United Art and Education in Hilliard) and prototypes. You can find more information about the Invention Convention including rules, judging and awards at http://just-think-inc.com/columbus/index.html. I will provide students with registration forms this week. Any student wishing to participate in the UA Invention Convention will have the opportunity to present to the class to develop their public speaking skills.
Some hints for boards from www.estuffenough.com/Carlson/Invention/Board%20Display.doc
You may also want to consider including:
- A commercial jingle for your invention
- A marketing slogan or campaign slogan
- An example of what an advertisement for your invention might look like
- Information on how you plan to market your invention"
Inventions must be:
- Registered for the local competition received by Mr. Hudson no later than Wednesday, April 11th in the a.m.
- Presented by inventors.
- Original work of a single student or designated team of K-8 students.
- Researched to ensure originality.
- Accompanied by a prototype of the invention which is no larger than 2' by 3'.
- Accompanied by a presentation board that details the student's invention.
** Please note: inventions that need power should run on batteries, not electricity.**
From Mr. Hill and Mr. Moore - "Windermere is holding a Jump Rope for Heart event on Friday, March 9th from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. As part of the kickoff for this great event the students watched a video in P.E. and received a permission slip and donation form which will be coming home in your child's backpack. If your child chooses to participate in this activity, please return all permission slips and donation forms to school by Thursday March 8th."
March 6 - Election day. “Attention Parents: Primary Election Day is March 6th. Students will be eating in their classrooms. The sack lunch menu for March 6 (Election Day) is: A 5 inch sub with lettuce & tomato on the side, carrot sticks with ranch dip, diced peaches and a milk. Please do not place any peanut products in your child’s packed lunch on that day.” .
March 11 - Daylight Savings time begins
March 16 through 25 - Spring Break
March 6 - Election day. “Attention Parents: Primary Election Day is March 6th. Students will be eating in their classrooms. The sack lunch menu for March 6 (Election Day) is: A 5 inch sub with lettuce & tomato on the side, carrot sticks with ranch dip, diced peaches and a milk. Please do not place any peanut products in your child’s packed lunch on that day.” .
March 11 - Daylight Savings time begins
March 16 through 25 - Spring Break
March 29 - End of third grading period
March 30 - No school - Teacher grading day
April & May Assessment Dates - Please do not schedule appointments and trips on these dates if possible.
April 2-5 - Terra Nova and InView
April 6 - No school - Good Friday
April 9 - Progress reports sent home
April 11 - Early dismissal at 1:15
April 21 - Invention Convention at UA High School (more information coming)
April 30 - Ohio Reading Achievement Retakes (only for students who did not pass in fall)
May 1 - Ohio Mathematics Achievement Assessment
