August 24-28, 2015
Reading and vocabulary will look a bit different this year in my classroom. We will be spending
two weeks on each story and set of vocabulary words in an effort to really dig deep into our
stories/words. Students will be assessed on their comprehension of the story the every other
Wednesday (a week and a half after the story is introduced). Vocabulary will be assessed every other
Friday. Spelling will continue to be assess each week. The majority of spelling practice will occur in
our classroom. If students don’t complete their spelling menu choices by Thursday, they will be
expected to complete it for homework Thursday evening. I know this is a different format so please let
me know if you have any questions. Once we get into the swing of this it will all be fine!!
Reading: The next two weeks we are reading A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech. We will
be discussing story structure this week and work on using the text to support our answers.
Spelling Words: crop, plan, thing, smell, shut, sticky, spent, lunch, pumpkin, clock, gift, class,
skip, swing, next, hug, hospital, fantastic
Our focus this week is on short vowels. The words in italics are challenge words.
Vocabulary Words: Announced – made know
Certainly - surely
Community- a group of people who live in the same area
Fine- very nice
Inquiry – the act of asking questions to gather info; investigation
Proud – pleased with yourself or someone else
Soared – flew upward
Strolled – walked slowly
Writing: This week will be focusing on writing complete sentences. We will discuss that simple
sentences are made up of subjects and predicates. We will begin a brainstorm of a descriptive
paragraph.
Social Studies: Our focus this week will be on citizenship, the reasons we have rules/laws and
the 3 types of communities.
Science: We will be learning about scientific tools and the scientific
method this week.
Math: This week we will be going over various math tools, sequencing, number grid patterns and
how to use our reference book. As I mentioned before, math will look a bit different this year. The
students will rotate through a teaching time with me, independent work time, partner games, writing in
a math journal and technology time.
Important Dates/Reminders:

Monday, September 7, 2015 is the Labor Day holiday. No School

September 17, 2015 Interim reports will be sent home

You should receive information about LiveGrades – the online gradebook soon. Each
child has a specific password so you can go online at any time and check your
son/daughter’s progress.

Please send in any boxtops, Campbell’s labels or Tysons points you have!

We will begin math fact practice soon. Here are a few sites your child might enjoy for
playing math fact games online:
http://www.abcya.com/math_facts_game.htm
http://www.mathplayground.com/ASB_Index.html
http://www.playkidsgames.com/games/mathfact/mathFact.htm
https://student.frontrowed.com/#login –each child has a specific login in and can
practice facts or common core skills on this site (also an app)

Wish list – we will be completing a science experiment next week. I need gummy
worms (enough for 20), gummy rings (can be lifesaver or another type of ring) and
small paper cups (20). If you can send any of these materials in with you child by
Tuesday, 8/25 please let me know. Thank you!