January 7, 2010
Important Dates:
January 18: No School
January 19: Return to Anne's for Social Studies
Writing: I use the Six Traits of Writing to help students develop their writing skills. This week we
began working on Organization and sentence fluency. Students will be working on developing a 4
paragraph essay. They will pick a job in which they are interested in becoming. They will research
the pros and cons of the profession they choose. Their essay will consist of the pros and cons in a
persuasive format.
Reading: Balanced Literacy is used to help student progress in reading. I
will work in small groups with struggling readers.
This week we have begun reading Pictures of Hollis Woods. We have read chapters 1 and 2. Student
will then respond in their writing journals. We will focus on Character Development.
Spelling: I use Rebecca Sitton's Spelling program, it helps students learn
to spell for their writing and not just for a Friday spelling test.
The words that they spelled wrong or used incorrectly on their closed word story test are now their
spelling words. Students need to study and practice their words on a daily basis for their words may
not be recycled for another week or two.
Math:Monte Vista implements Investigations.
Students will begin working on Unit 4, which covers percents, decimals, and fractions. This week we
have started learning how to add and subtract like and unlike fractions. Students will also reduce
fractions.
Science: Students will spend the next week learning about Simple Machines through hands one
exploration.
Social Studies: No Social Studies for 6 weeks. Students will return to Anne's on the 19.
