12/14/09
We began Theme Three in the first reading book from Houghton Mifflin.
The stories in this theme "Around Town: Neighborhood and Community" are
about friendly places in different neighborhoods. The stories in Theme
Three are "Chinatown," "A Trip to the Firehouse," "Big Bushy Mustache,"
and "Jamaica Louise James."
The vocabulary words for "Grandpa's Corner Store" are:
delieveries: packages brought to the home of the person who bought them
flyer: a printed advertisement
grand opening: a celebration for a new store
grocery store: a store that sells food and household supplies
success: a good outcome
supermarket: a very large store that sells food and household goods
The vocabulary words for: "Barrio: Jose's Neighborhood" are
barrio: a Spanish word for neighborhood
customs: practices that me bers of a group usually follow
fiesta: a Spanish word for party or festival
harvest: to pick when ripe
traditions: ideas and beliefs passed from one generation to another
The vocabulary test will be on Friday, December 18th, 2009.
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.
This is a review list of words for Theme 3. Students will be responsible for
either the regular list of words or the challenge list of words. All
students are responsible for the bonus words. A list of all the spelling
words went home today. If your child cannot locate his/her list, I can
replace it with a new one.
The spelling test is Friday, December 18h, 2009.
This is a review week. We will review all the grammar skills that students
learned in Theme 3.
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 continue to go to music class for
the second quarter.
Schedule for Specials - Quarter Two
Monday: PE (Physical Education), Mrs. Johnson, 10:40 to 11:10 AM
Tuesday: Music, Mrs. Blanchard, 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: Music, Mrs. Blanchard, 9:20 to 10:00 PM
Friday: PE, Mrs. Johnson, 10:40 - 11:10 AM
Computer, Mrs. Gould, 1:50 to 2:20 PM