Mrs. Azzarello’s Newsletter
Week of May 14, 2012
Announcements/Reminders
• There is no school next Wednesday, May 16th-Teacher Professional Development
• The Student Leadership Council is sponsoring an out of uniform day on May 18th to support a
very important cause, “Reaching for the Stars”. We want everyone to contribute $1 or more on May 18th
so we can make a donation in Isabelle’s name.
• The Spring Show for the students in grades 1-8 will be on Thursday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m. in the
gym. We will start promptly at 7:00 and the show will run for about one hour.
Math
Students will continue to review lattice multiplication. We will begin to explore products of 2 digit
numbers using the partial product method. Please continue to have your children go through flash
cards for 10 minutes every night to help them memorize their facts. Thank you for your help!
Reading
We will continue our non-fiction study this week! All students will begin reading non-fiction books at
their instructional reading level in literature circles.
Literature Circles: Mrs. McDermott and I will work in literature circles with reading groups this week.
Students in my groups will create KWL charts and discuss text features before reading. They will learn
important note-taking strategies as well as use graphic organizers to help them record new facts
learned.
Mini-Lesson Focus: “What do we know about non-fiction texts?”
Reading Centers Students will rotate through the reading centers of: reading strategy, buddy reading,
listening center, word work, and choice writing.
Mini-Lesson Focus: Text structure of non-fiction writing
Spelling: Contractions
Weekly Words: I’m, it’s, he’s, that’s, didn’t, won’t, let’s, haven’t, doesn’t, aren’t, I’ve, they’ve, we’re,
you’ll,
Challenge: needn’t should’ve, you’ve, that’ll
Language Arts
Writing: Students will continue a unit on poetry. We will study Diamante and Couplets this week. On
May 30, we will Shel-ebrate Poetry! In honor of Shel Silverstein, we will publish our poetry on the
sidewalk behind the church- Where the sidewalk ends, poetry begins.
Grammar: We will continue to identify adverbs in sentences.
Religion
Students will begin learning about the Rosary and how to pray the rosary. We will focus this week on
The Joyfyul Mysteries. We will also begin Chapter 12: God Calls us to Holiness. Students will be tested
on Chapter 12 on Friday.
Social Studies
Students will be tested on Chapter 8- Government. A study sheet will go home on Monday and the test
will be on Thursday.
Science
Students will learn why the Moon appears to change shape, describe the different phases of the moon,
and describe the physical features of the Moon.
Handwriting
Students will work in their review handwriting book to practice their cursive letters.