Room 404 Newsletter
February 26, 2016
Curriculum Updates
Reading:
We are continuing to learn about long
vowels. We have covered some of the
common vowel combinations for long a and
e (ai, ay, ea, ey, ee, y). Next week we will
cover long i. When reading with your
child, help them to notice the vowel
combinations that make long vowel sounds
as they attempt to decode unknown
words.
We would like to share with you some of
the prompts that we use regularly in the
classroom with students as they read.
We encourage you to use these when you
read together at home. When miscues
occur, we will often ask:
Does it look right?
Does it sound right?
Does it make sense?
The children know that a “No” answer to
any of these questions means that they
need to stop and do something to fix it
up. There are different ways that this
can be done. They can go back and
reread. They can locate the problem area
and take a closer look. They can think
about what would make sense. At the end
of any problem solving action like this,
they should go back and reread the
sentence to help them get back on board
with carrying the meaning forward as
they read.
In addition, we encourage the children to
use what they know about words to figure
out words that they do not know by
looking at word parts. For example, if
the student comes to the word “recline”
and does not know it, they can look for
parts that are recognizable to them. The
student might know the blend “cl”. The
child knows the word “nine” so they are
familiar with the “ine” part of the word.
They can use this information, along with
the meaning of the text to piece the new
word together. You can prompt with a
word they know as well. “It is like the
word nine.”
We thank you for your support with home
reading and encourage you to use these
tips. Our students have quite a bit of
word knowledge at this point in the year
that they can use in decoding. Reading
regularly has a tremendous positive
impact on a student’s progress in reading,
so please keep up the good work at home.

Language Arts:
Our homework this week included a
timeline. We will be using these to write
an autobiography next week. If you
haven’t returned it, please do so ASAP.
Spelling:
Our students will be bringing home their
2nd trimester sight word assessment.
Many students have not mastered their
sight words taught to date. PLEASE work
on learning to read and spell these words.
Math:
We have been conducting our trimester
assessments. This test includes time,
fact families, doubles, turn around facts,
Room 404 Newsletter
February 26, 2016
and story problems. Keep an eye out,
they will be coming home soon.
Science:
Our unit on Rocks and Soil is under way!
The children are enjoying learning about
rocks, minerals and fossils as well as
“observing” the many properties of them.
We have also learned about how people
use rocks in everyday life. You may want
to Google this and have a discussion about
this with your child about it. There are
so many surprising uses of rocks in our
world!! Our vocabulary words for this
chapter include; weathering, erosion,
gravity and soil.
General Information
Our classroom is very dry. We do have a
humidifier in the classroom. We have
noticed several students with dry lips or
hands. Please feel free to send in lip
balm or small hand lotion to have them
keep at their table. Also, water bottles
are welcome as long as bathroom
privileges are not abused.
Homework is due Thursday!! We should
not have any late work at this point in the
year, but we do!  Please check your
child’s backpack daily. We have
homework every Monday that is due
Thursday.
Please help your child to develop an
understanding that homework is a very
important responsibility and is a priority.
Your consistency in helping them to
complete their homework and turn it in on
time teaches them a very valuable lesson
that they can carry with them as the
progress through the grades.
Social Hour
This week the students got to add yoga
to their Zones tool box! They had so
much fun learning new poses such as
ragdoll, frog, snake and cat! Mrs. Hope
helped them understand how stretching
and exercise in not only good for the
body but good for relaxing the mind! A
relaxed mind and body can manage
triggers and feelings much easier!
Parents are encouraged to visit our
district homepage for a link to the
Illinois 5Essential Survey. We welcome
your feedback and encourage your
participation. The window will be open
until March 11. We need 20% of our
parent body to participate in order to
receive data.
http://www.lz95.org/illinois_5essentials_survey
/
Room 404 Newsletter
February 26, 2016
Reminders
Feb. 26 ~ Trimester 2 ends
March 10 ~ Early Release
March 11 ~ Report Cards come home
March 28 ~ April 1 Spring Break
Thank you!
Mrs. Sheri Brizzee
Mrs. Ellen Finer