*I will try to highlight new dates and information with red text.
October 8, 2013 - Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment (Please avoid scheduling appointments and absences on this date).
October 9, 2013 - We will go to library on Wednesday instead of our regular E day (Tuesday) schedule due to the Ohio Reading Achievement Assessment.
October 11, 2013 - Fall Family Night is from 6 till 8. This is a great evening for families to reconnect and enjoy the beautiful fall weather. Unfortunately for me, I will be unable to attend this year. It is the first Fall Family Night I've missed that I can remember. I have a previously scheduled performance I can't get out of. As a parent and community member I have really enjoyed this event. As a teacher, it is wonderful to see my students outside of the classroom and I regret I'll have to miss this one.
October 17, 2013 - Field trip to Thompson Park. Chaperons, thank you in advance for volunteering.
October 18, 2013 - Local author, Mark Walter, will be visiting Windermere to share the craft of writing.
October 25, 2013 - Field Trip to Highbanks Metro Park for Earth Science. Thank you volunteers! Students should wear good hiking/walking shoes that can get muddy, pack a sack lunch and wear something they can zip and unzip as it is usually cool and the morning and warms up throughout the day.
October 25, 2013 - End of the first quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.
October 28, 2013 - No school, teacher grading day.
October 31, 2013 - Halloween party (extended lunch from 12pm till 1:30pm, most students go home to change into costumes). Please note it is district policy that no costume may include any weapons or facsimiles.
November 4 - 7, 2013: Parent conferences. If you have not signed up, please contact me. I will send reminders of your date and time in your student's progress report.
November 5, 2013: No school for students: Professional development.
November 27 - 29, 2013: No school - Thanksgiving.
December 11, 2013: Early release: Professional development.
December 23, 2013 - January 3, 2014: Winter break - no school.
January 6, 2014: First day back to school.
January 16, 2014: End of the second quarter. Please avoid appointments this week as I'll be assessing.
January 17, 2014: No school, teacher grading day.
What We Learned This Week
A briefer entry than most weeks...
Word Study
I introduced word ladders, an exercise where we construct new words from a root word by changing, adding and deleting letters. This builds some vocabulary, but more importantly it shows students the strong phonemic connection many words share.
Reading
We worked on authors' messages and note-taking. We read A Voice from the Wilderness, the biography of Anna Howard Shaw by Don Brown and Mr. Peabody's Apples, a cautionary tale of the power of words by Madonna (yes - I was skeptical too, but it is a great book).
I reviewed reading homework with students this week and will be expecting more of them in the coming weeks. Students who do not write complete sentences, use convention, or use the text for spelling will be asked to redo the homework. Over the years, I have found this really pays off over the coming months. It is rare that a student is unable to do perform to these expectations, but is habit.
Science
We studied geodes this week for earth science. I explained the formation of geodes and showed a short video clip of the world's largest geode, which is apparently at Put-in-Bay.
