Word Study
The class took their first word study assessment from the Words Their Way program. They were tested on several words they had practiced in their sorts, but also some new words that shared the same generalizations. Most of the class did really well spelling and identifying the sounds and patterns in this unit's words. I met with those few who struggled with one or more of these elements. Please look for their word study assessment and discuss it with your student. They should be signed and returned at your convenience (no hurry).
We are using sight to recognize our vowel-consonant/vowel-consonant-consonant (VC/VCC) and vowel-consonant-e (VCE) patterns and our ears to listen for the short a and long a sounds, which correspond with the visual patterns. Our anchor words are cat and cake, both of which exemplify the sight and sound patterns we studied. Students also practiced looking for words that share these oral and auditory patterns. There is still some confusion. For example, a student volunteered the word call as a VCC and short a word, but it is an "oddball" because, while it follows the VCC pattern, the vowel makes an "aw" sound instead of a short a sound. This is also a great opportunity to simply focus on words and start to build vocabulary. We had a real range of words, from at to granite.
Students started day one of their new generalization of short and long i and further supported their visual patterns of VC/VCC and VCE. After sorting students alphabetized their words and looked for a short i word in their reading. I always include a few oddballs that test the students' understanding. Today's oddball was give, which follows the VCE pattern, but presents a short i sound. See if your student can give you short and long i words that follow these visual patterns at the dinner table. Listen for oddballs. I used to play "word tennis" with my own kids where we had to give each other words that followed a pattern. It may seem silly, but volleying back and forth words can be a lot of fun.
Reading Workshop
We continued to focus on main idea. Students read longer, multi-paragraph passages and highlighted the topic sentence. They are starting to recognize that the topic sentence is the same thing as the main idea or central theme. Please remind your student to highlight or underline the topic sentence in each of their reading homework paragraphs. Occasionally, there may not be a topic sentence, which provides great learning and gives your student an opportunity to create one.
I also introduced figurative language (sayings and idioms). "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," came up in our read aloud and launched a great discussion on literal (main idea/central theme) versus figurative language. We will explore some of the most commonly used idioms and their origins.
Writing Workshop
Students rewrote their opinion pieces on why they should be elected to student council. There was a lot of surprise that they had to rewrite their pieces after modeling how they could improve them. I've shared with the class that we will redo much of our writing. The initial draft gives us something to work with, but in 3rd grade we will learn a lot for revising and reworking.
I was really pleased with the students' presentation skills as all of the students running for student council, which was most of the class, read their papers.
Math
I assessed students this week on numeracy (place & value; standard, expanded and written form; comparing numbers; patterns; comparing numbers and fact fluency). I will send these home next week. After this initial assessment, I will create specific standards based assessments.
There is some noticeable anxiety surrounding math fact fluency. Please practice with your student at home! A few minutes nightly will pay off quickly.
Science
We had fun with soda geysers and discussed physical change. If you repeat this at home, I suggest diet soda. It won't bring bees:) Different sodas have different carbonation levels, which you can observe in the varying heights of the soda geysers.
We will begin our science, social studies, health and technology rotation next week!
Our first field trip will take place on Tuesday, September 29th. We will walk to Thompson Park to photo document the Thompson Park Tree Trek. Here is a link to last year's work.
http://thompsonparktreetrek.blogspot.com/
Field Trip permission slips were sent home today. Please email me if you would like to chaperon this great field trip. We will meet in our room at 9am for a brief overview of the morning and will return by 11. Background checks must be up to date prior to helping on the field trip. Thank you in advance for your support. We do know it can be very hard to take time away from work.
Important Dates and Reminders
I will highlight new and changed dates on subsequent posts in red.
September 23 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
September 29 - Thompson Park Tree Trek Field Trip
October 9 - Fall Family Night
October 16 - End of First Quarter
October 19 - No School Teacher Grading Day
October 25 - Scarecrow Display Contest
October 26 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
October 29 - UA Trick or Treat Night
November 2 - Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
November 2 through 4 - Fall Conferences
You can sign up for Fall Conferences by clicking on this link:http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0a4fa5ac2ea64-fall3
November 3 - No School Election Day/Professional Development
November 9 through 13 - Terra Nova3/InView
November 25 through 27 - Thanksgiving Break
December 1 through 2 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
December 21 through January 1 - Winter Break
January 8 - End of Second Quarter
January 11 - No School Teacher Grading Day
January 18 - No School Martin Luther King Day
January 21 - Conferences, Early Dismissal at 11:05, NO LUNCH SERVICE
January 27 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
February 1 through 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center donation drive
February 15 - No School Presidents' Day
February 16 - Ohio Wildlife Center Visit
March 2 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
March 18 - End of Third Quarter
March 21 through 25 - No School Spring Break
March 28 - No School Teacher Grading Day
April 6 - Early Dismissal Professional Development 1pm
April 12 and 13 - Ohio English Language Arts Assessment
April 20 and 21 - Ohio Mathematics Assessment
May 27 - Last Day of School for Students
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