Book order reminder and Newsletter for March 18, 2011

Dear Families,

Book orders are due today.  I will be placing the order tomorrow (Saturday) morning.  If you have not already placed your order, you can do so online by going to www.scholastic.com/bookclubs our Class Code is: GY2HX.

 

Here is what's been happening over the past week and what is planned for this coming week.

What's Up!

·         Reading:   This week we read Trapped by the Ice.  It was an exciting, true story about Sir Ernest Shackleton and his crew’s trip to be the first to the South Pole’s ice cap.  This story was written in journal format; therefore we took the opportunity to work on our strategies of finding a main idea and details as well as summarizing.  Many times we learned that main ideas must be inferred and written in our own words.  This is a difficult concept that we will continue to focus on throughout the remainder of the school year.  Next week we do not have a story, but we will be focusing in on the two strategies mentioned above as well as inferencing.  The Theme 5 test will also take place.

·         Writing: This week in writing the students continued to type their research reports.  We will be editing these reports based on the FCAs.  We will then learn how to make these changes on the computer.  We are also continuing to work on individualizing our writing goals through the tic-tac-toe writing menu.  I am meeting individually with each student to review their work and discuss how to improve their writing.   Next week we will be writing a persuasive piece to save us from the ice as we will be one of Shackleton’s crew members!

·         Spelling: Review Words Theme 5

1.        grew

2.       daughter

3.       until

4.       cook

5.       ought

6.       forget

7.       balloon

8.       caught

9.       dollar

10.    boot

11.     window

12.    taught

13.    flew

14.    brought

15.    hello

16.    tooth

17.    Monday

18.    pretty

19.    chew

20.   sudden

21.    order

22.   spoon

23.   thought

24.   happen

25.   bought

 

·         Vocabulary: None for next week

·          Math:   We are continuing our work in chapter 7.  This is all about division.  However, it is imperative that MULTIPLICATION practice still takes place each evening as it is directly related to division.  We will continue to focus on multiplication fact power in the class with the use of Rocket Math.  This will take place a few days of week where the kids will work on multplication facts at their level.  Each time they beat that level they move up.  Remember www.multplication.com is a GREAT website for fact power and don’t forget you can view the text book online by going to www.pearsonsuccessnet.com.

·         Science: Science this week we worked on weather vocabulary words as well as our weather journal.

·         Social Studies: We have been learning about the difference human features in the East.  Each student did a quick research through nettreker.com to find 5 interesting facts about a famous place or thing you’d see in the East.  Next they created a postage stamp of this place.  Finally they figured out how far away it is from Michigan.  Please practice the states located in the east.  If you need worksheets or ideas, please contact me as I'd be happy to help!  Online resources are www.sheppardsoftware.com (USA) and http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/maps/usa-numbers.pdf  Test will be Wednesday, March 30^th.  Study guide forthcoming next week.

·           Cursive: Students have now learned all their letters.  We are practicing writing and reading cursive in class. We will continue to practice our keyboarding skills in computer lab as well as learning our cursive letters in class.

 

More Multiplication Ideas

Keep studying those facts. The more they have memorized, the easier it will be. Here are websites or use the flashcards we sent home earlier.  If you are looking for other ideas, send me an email or give me a call!

·         http://www.mathfactcafe.com/

·         http://www.aaastudy.com/mul.htm

·         http://www.aplusmath.com/

·         http://www.multiplication.com – LOVE this for self-timed and graded tests!!!

·         http://www.coolmath4kids.com/times-tables/index.html

·         http://resources.oswego.org/games/mathmagician/cathymath.html

 

 Behavior

Our word is Acceptance. The students once again must keep at least one letter in order to participate in our fun activity on March 28^th. Please remind your child of your expectations and the Amberly High 5. This includes being responsible for doing their chores around the classroom including making their lunch choice in the morning and turning their homework in first thing.

 

Dates to Remember

·         March 25^th – APT Movie Night

·         March 28^th – Behavior Reward Time and March Birthday Celebrations with Mrs. Daoust!
March 31^st – No School Teacher Professional Development and Records Day

·         Friday, April 1^st through Friday, April 8^{th –} Spring Break

·         Monday, April 11^th – School Resumes!

·         Friday, April 15^th – Report cards sent home

·         Monday, April 25^th – Tiger Trek Pledge Forms due

·         Thursday, April 28^th – Spring Pictures

·         Friday, April 29^th – Tiger Trek

 

As always, please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Mrs. Winstanley