Progress Reports
Progress reports will be sent home on Tuesday. I will also send your student's end of the trimester math test. You will notice that questions marked in green were missed and possibly corrected. If it is still wrong it is marked in red. I return students' math assessments and let them make corrections to support the habit of checking work (and learning they are capable of making errors).
Pen Pals
We Skyped with our London based pen pals today. We shared about our recent Invention Convention, exchanged songs and learned about each other's schools. Despite a few technology hiccups, this was a great experience and we will Skype with them again before the year is over.
What We Learned This Week
Word Study
Students were encouraged to be systematic when sorting their word study words (and more importantly when they are decoding unfamiliar words) by looking first at the pattern and then listening for the predicted sound second.
The Yellow group is working on closed syllable/short o vowel sounds (e.g., cot); and long o vowel sound patterns (vce, oac, ow).
The Green group is working on open and closed consonant-vowel-consonant multi-syllabic words (e.g., closed syllable, short vowel soundCVC cab/in; open syllable, long vowel sound ro/bot). The open syllable, long vowel sound is more common and should be tried soon.
The Blue group is working on recognizing derived words (e.g., diplomat > diplomacy > diplomatic).
Students revisited using vowels and vowel teams to segment words by syllable.
Reading Workshop
We are revisiting many reading strategies and skills that were introduced and practiced in isolation earlier this year in conjunction with each other and in much more complex passages. Some of the skills we are focusing on are:
- Highlighting and looking for the main idea (topic sentences) - first step in note taking
- Comparing our answers and defending them to peers
- Understanding questions and identifying key words
- Sequence of events
- Main idea and supporting details
- Multiple answers/best answer
- Cause and effect
Writing Workshop
We did daily writing, responding to multiple texts. Adding an additional passage, regardless of how short or how similar adds a great deal of complexity for students. We are trying to move beyond copying the passage and showing we understand it by putting it into our own words.
Math
I introduced area and perimeter in several different ways, including playing a Simon Says version around the basketball court's perimeter. We calculated the area of rectangles and irregular polygons by tiling and multiplication. The area of a rectangle is simply calculated by multiplying the lengths of adjacent sides. Students should remember that perimeter is the outside rim's length.
Important Dates & Reminders
Testing dates are in bold. I will highlight changes and new dates in red.
A Days: No specials (Science, Social Studies, Technology rotation)
B Days: Music and PE
C Days: Art
D Days: Library
E Days: Music and PE
April 5 - 6 Ohio English Language Proficiency Assessment (Headphones are needed for this assessment.)
April 5 Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon - Please plan to join us and let us celebrate your time and commitment to our students. If you have volunteered or supported us in anyway, please plan to join us.
April 6 Spring Picture Day
April 10 - April 28 STAR Reading and Math Assessments
April 12 - 15 Ohio Mathematics Assessment
April 14 No School for Staff & Students: Good Friday
April 22 - March For Science
April 12 - 15 Ohio Mathematics Assessment
April 14 No School for Staff & Students: Good Friday
April 22 - March For Science
April 24 - 28 Scholastic Book Fair
April 28 KID FEST 5 - 8pm
May 8 - 19 Terra Nova & Inview Gifted Screener
May 15 - 19 Diagnostic Writing Assessment
May 22 Field Day
May 15 - 19 Diagnostic Writing Assessment
May 22 Field Day
May 26 Town Hall Meeting 8:25am
May 26 Last Day for Students; End of third trimester
May 26 Early Dismissal 1pm
May 26 Early Dismissal 1pm
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