2/01/2010
We began Theme Four in the second reading book from Houghton Mifflin.
The stories in this theme "Amazing Animals" are about fiction and nonfiction
animals that do amazing things. The stories in Theme Four are "Officer
Buckle and Gloria," "Ant," "The Great Ball Game: A Muskogee Story," "Little
Grunt and the Big Egg," and "Mighty Dinosaurs." The genre focus for this
them is Biography. We will read "Reach for the Stars: The Ellen Ochoa
Story," "President Theordore Roosevelt," and "Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Track
Champion."
The vocabulary words for the genre focus of biographies are:
biography: a true story about someone's life
champion: the winner of a game or contest; the best of all
event: something that happens, especially something important
fact: something that has really happened or that really exists
information: knowledge about an event or subject
president: the leader of a country or a group
The vocabulary test will be on Friday, Feb. 5th, 2010.
The regular spelling words are born, core, short, morning, fork, four, horn,
sport, torn, sort, snore, and fort. The challenge spelling words are done,
knew, pretty, back, some, yours, I'll, around, found, once, girl, and into.
The bonus words for everyone are forty, forest, February, and hour.
The regular spelling words, challenge spelling words, and bonus words will
be posted on this web page after the pretest on Monday. If your child
spells all the words correctly, he/she will take home the challenge list of
spelling words. The spelling test is on Friday or the last day of the week.
The students are tested on the either the regular spelling words or the
challenge spelling words. All students are responsible for the bonus words,
the review words and the dictation portions of the test.
The spelling test is Friday, February 5th.
This week students will identify pronouns and the sonuns they stand for.
They will replace pronouns with nouns when the pronouns are repetitive or
unclear. Please note: "A noun names a person, place, thing, or animal. A
pronoun is a word that can take the place of a noun."
Students learned about plural possessive nouns. "A plural noun mean more
than one and ususally ends in s. A plural possessive nouns shows that
something belongs to more than one person, animal, or thing. These nouns
usually end in s'. Some plural nouns, such as children and mice, do not end
in s. To form the possessive of thes nouns, add's." Last week students
learned to identify singular possessive nouns. "A possessive noun is a noun
that shows ownership. To form the possessive of a singular noun, add an
apostrophe and s." Students learned to identify pronouns. A noun names a
person, place, thing, or animal. A pronoun is a word that can take
the place of a noun. He, she, it, they, and you are examples of pronouns.
Students distinguished between singular nouns and plural nouns with regular
spellings. "For most nouns, add s to name more than one. For nouns that
end in s, x, ch, and sh, add es to name more than one. Students learned to
special nouns in sentences (proper nouns). "A special noun is a word that
names a certain person, place, or thing. Special nouns always begin with
capital letters." Students learned to identify namming words (common
nouns). Nouns name a person, place, thing, or animal.
This week students will learn that some snouns change their spelling
completely in the plural (more than 0ne) form. Examples are man, men, tooth
and teeth. Students learned to add "s" to most nouns that name more than
one. For nouns that end in s, x, ch, and sh, students learned to ad "es" to
name more than one.
Students reviewed the definition of a sentence. "A sentence is
a group of words that tells what someone or something does or is." Then
students will identify and revise stringy sentences. A stringy sentence has
too many and's. Students learned about an exclamation sentence. "An
exclamation sentences shows that someone has a strong feeling. It begins
with a capital letter and ends with an exclamation mark. "A command is a
sentence that tells someone what to do. A command has the understood
sugject 'you.' A command begins with a capital letter and ends with a
period." Students learned to identify telling sentences and questions. "A
telling sentnece tells about someone or something. It begins with a capital
letter and ends with a period. A question asks about someone or something.
It begins with a capital letter and ends with a question mark."
Students learned to identify run-on students. "A run-on sentence is formed
from two or more sentences, each with a naming part and an action part,
that are joined together but should not be." Students learned to identify
the action parts of sentences. "Sentences have naming parts and action
parts. The action part of a sentence tells what is happening." Students
learned to identify the naming parts of sentences. "The naming part of a
sentence tells who or what does the action." Students reviewed about how to
identify and write and a complete sentence. "A sentence is a group of words
that tells what someone or something does. A sentence always names the one
who does the action. A sentence always tells what the action is. A
sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with an ending mark."
Literacy centers will begin the week of October 5th. Guided reading groups
will begin the week of October 12th and will be on Tuesday and Wednesday
mornings. Students will work cooperatively in literacy centers while I see
students in small reading groups. Students will work cooperatively in the
partner reading center, poetry center, listening center, and the writing
center. I am looking for volunteers to assist from 9 to 10 AM.
We will begin our in-depth unit on the community. We are also working on
our "young Author" stories. Students will go to art class for
the third quarter. Students need art shirts to wear for art.
Schedule for Specials - Quarter Three
Monday: PE (Physical Education), Mrs. Johnson, 10:40 to 11:10 AM
Tuesday: Art, Ms. Boyle, 10:40 to 11:20 AM
Media Center, Ms. Mishkin, 1:50 - 2:20 PM
Wednesday: PE (Physical Education), Mrs. Johnson, 10:40 to 11:10 AM
Thursday: Art, Ms. Boyle, 9:20 to 10:00 PM
Friday: PE, Mrs. Johnson, 10:40 - 11:10 AM
Computer, Mrs. Gould, 1:50 to 2:20 PM
