This page contains an outline of the stories, vocabulary words, spelling
words and grammar concepts which are associated with each week of our
language arts curriculum. You can use this page to help your child study
for weekly reading and spelling tests. This information will also help you
stay informed about what your child is learning as the weeks go by.
Periodically, I will update the date each topic will be covered. Thank you
in advance for all the time and effort you will put in this year helping
your child prepare for school each day.
Unit 1 Skills Overview: “You + Me = Special”
What makes us all special?
Date: 9/14 - 9/18
Daddy, Could I have An Elephant
Spelling Words: bat fit cub that this mug could have need then was flag slip
Spelling Challenge: understand quiet
Vocabulary: ladybug sprang understand truly strange wonder apartment
elephant python quiet window dolphin pianos
Writing/Grammar: complete sentences
Date: 9/21 - 9/25
Poppleton and the Grapefruit
Spelling Words: sand send lost land desk last taste people live made your
pencil stop
Spelling Challenge: nowhere grapefruit
Vocabulary: empty popcorn wobbly nowhere pretzels grapefruit knocked outside
hundred longer sick tears
Writing/Grammar: subjects
Date: 9/28 - 10/2
Tools
Spelling Words: child chip ship chin shape shut use world clean many work
grade write
Spelling Challenge: computer easier
Vocabulary: computer phone sign everything ready easier fix tool farm pound
write
Writing/Grammar: predicates
Date: 10/5 - 10/9
Three Little Bikers
Spelling Words: deep seen meal free leaf team should their very through
would each lunch
Spelling Challenge: eagle soared
Vocabulary: eagle helmet signals steep trail climb crept everywhere giggled
gravel gully soared spray steep
Writing/Grammar: statement and question sentences
Date: 10/12 - 10/16
The Surprise
Spelling Words: jumped pushed wished pulled crossed picked house never took
these off candy shiny
Spelling Challenge: whispered guess
Vocabulary: backpack birdhouses completing repair whispered guess lawn messy
pile pleased rake single surprised tomorrow
Writing/Grammar: command and exclamation sentences
Unit 2 Skills Overview: “Zoom In!”
What can we learn from looking at the world around us?
Date:
Duck
Spelling Words: passes teaches wishes passing teaching wishing mother myself
keep new warm danger paint
Spelling Challenge: beautiful explore
Vocabulary: beautiful hatches duckling floating beak chipped duckling
explore hatch huddle laid paddle surface
Writing/Grammar: nouns
Date:
Seeing
Spelling Words: bright sight side line sky try because whole don’t carry
goes hidden mirror
Spelling Challenge: microscope amount
Vocabulary: telescope microscope hidden amount brain messages mirror pupil
skull thumb
Writing/Grammar: proper nouns
Date:
Two Mice
Spelling Words: baby babies bunny bunnies friend friends around food almost
another under world dirty
Spelling Challenge: scurries raccoon
Vocabulary: scurries bottle wheel cage content follow raccoon wheel
Writing/Grammar: singular and plural nouns
Date:
Snakes
Spelling Words: below owe sold coat soap woke animals between before knew
why everywhere nighttime
Spelling Challenge: dinosaurs underneath
Vocabulary: swallow dinosaurs woodpile few enemy flicking medicine peels
protect scales shed slimy slither underneath
Writing/Grammar: irregular plural nouns
Date:
Anansi and the Talking Melon
Spelling Words: cage face huge page tease twice until enough call full heard
teacher’s men’s
Spelling Challenge: different ridiculous
Vocabulary: different insect senses since bore exclaimed hurried impatient
insult patch prodded ridiculous ripe squeeze
Writing/Grammar: nouns
Unit 3 Overview: “Side By Side”
How can we learn and work well together?
Date:
Play Ball
Spelling Words: hugged nodded skipped hugging nodding skipping been friend
show since those crown shout
Spelling Challenge: thousand approaching serious
Vocabulary: giants batter pitched gripped thousand bounced advice
approaching baseball bound gripped pitching returned serious terrible
Writing/Grammar: verbs
Date:
People, People, Everywhere!
Spelling Words: arm farm park barn hard start children high city room place
riding moving
Spelling Challenge: guitar questions country
Vocabulary: darted guitar questions sharing country dashing ferry leaks
plumbing sealing taxis tunneling vendors wailing
Writing/Grammar: subject/verb agreement
Date:
Wanted: Best Friend
Spelling Words: I’ll can’t he’s I’m didn’t she’s across best either
sometimes toward spoon through
Spelling Challenge: basketball Duanesburg immediately
Vocabulary: arrived basketball advertise checkers complained dumped
immediately pretzels sparks tidy wobbling
Writing/Grammar: verb tenses (present, past, future)
Date:
Young Cam Jansen/Dinosaur Game
Spelling Words: corn horse pour door more store bring brought next picture
read hurries cried
Spelling Challenge: echo amazing invitation
Vocabulary: pours canyon fingers echo breath amazing camera chocolate
dinosaurs exact invitation memory musical order
Writing/Grammar: correct verb tenses
Date:
Moonbear’s Pet
Spelling Words: book shook took hood stood wood beautiful become even great
together bigger littlest
Spelling Challenge: voice decide promised
Vocabulary: voice bubbles chirpy clumsy croaked decide grumbled paws
promised quite tadpole
Writing/Grammar: the verb “to be:” am, are, is
Unit 4 Overview: “Ties Through Time”
What things do we do together in the same special way?
Date:
The Great Ball Game
Spelling Words: bravely lightly softly friendly slowly weekly ago better
head idea still cheer clear
Spelling Challenge: argument penalty quarrel
Vocabulary: argument compete gear goal helmet team accept argument creature
divided goal loses penalty quarrel swifter team
Writing/Grammar: Adjectives
Date:
The Best Older Sister
Spelling Words: boil point voice coin enjoy spoil about different father
important told colorful wonderful
Spelling Challenge: adorable attention interesting
Vocabulary: Germany Israel Mexico piñata admired adopt adorable attention
custom fuss interesting outfit secretly special
Writing/Grammar: Adjectives
Date:
Bruno The Baker
Spelling Words: bread spread thread breath sweat weather large wash ready
says today eraser helper
Spelling Challenge: pleasure directions recipe
Vocabulary: measured oven pleasure treasure batter bowl contents directions
ingredients kitchen oven present recipe
Writing/Grammar: Writing with adjectives
Date:
The Rooster Who Went To His Uncle’s Wedding
Spelling Words: climb lamb knit comb kneel knot able early own story thought
chalk sauce
Spelling Challenge: cousin banquet kernel
Vocabulary: cousin banquet dismay brook feathers gobbled grazing growl
kernel wedding
Writing/Grammar: comparative and superlative adjectives
Date:
Missing: One Stuffed Rabbit
Spelling Words: awful claw saw bought draw straw family finally morning
paper really whoever wrong
Spelling Challenge: gnats hospital photos
Vocabulary: gnats gulped wailed wriggle calm diary gathered hospital mail
overnight photos retrace
Writing/Grammar: Adverbs
Unit 5 Overview: “All Aboard!”
What can we learn from traveling?
Date:
Man On The Moon
Spelling Words: camera carry lesson suddenly follow pretty began Earth ever
remember try cousin double
Spelling Challenge: astronaut capsule circled
Vocabulary: astronaut capsule inventor astronauts circled countdown craters
history linked loomed rockets
Writing/Grammar: Pronouns
Date:
Going To Town
Spelling Words: blouse place race blouses places races behind only sure upon
word people apple
Spelling Challenge: machines humble imagined
Vocabulary: mill humble scrambled machines sashes crops edge fabrics humble
imagined pleasures roam trade trembling
Writing/Grammar: singular and plural pronouns
Date:
Riding The Ferry With Captain Cruz
Spelling Words: after flower sister brother over summer course hear things
which years statue which
Spelling Challenge: glides compass engine
Vocabulary: glides steers bay compass crew currents deck dock engine steers
Writing/Grammar: subject and object pronouns
Date:
Down By The Sea: The Jellyfish
Spelling Words: neighbor sleigh weigh reindeer veil weigh weight cold grow
most move near really mostly
Spelling Challenge: octopus parachutes stomach
Vocabulary: jellyfish octopus poison rescue reined beach floating flopped
jellyfish jiggly parachutes poke stomach tentacle
Writing/Grammar: Writing with pronouns
Date:
Let’s Go Dinosaur Tracking!
Spelling Words: undo unfair unhappy unlike unlucky untie along front
probably right someday expert index
Spelling Challenge: noise lagoon quarry
Vocabulary: hollow noise repeated suddenly claws giant helmet lagoon quarry
shallow stone
Writing/Grammar: contractions
Unit 6 Overview: “Just Imagine!”
How do we use our imaginations to do things?
Date:
Lemonade For Sale
Spelling Words: calf laugh rough half phone tough above few kept number
sound money cookie
Spelling Challenge: photograph scissors graph
Vocabulary: photograph piece relief scissors glum graph ice lemonade
squawked track
Writing/Grammar: complete sentences
Date:
The Puddle Pail
Spelling Words: calves leaves shelves halves lives wolves eight road round
start young ceiling neither
Spelling Challenge: favorite crocodile ordinary
Vocabulary: ceiling collect favorite receive castle collect crocodile
diamonds ordinary puddle shadows
Writing/Grammar: quotation marks
Date:
Stone Soup
Spelling Words: airplane chair pair care hair share add any both making mean
judge badge
Spelling Challenge: delicious aroma jealous
Vocabulary: butcher delicious judge onions peddler prepared annual aroma
contest delicious jealous judges ladle onion stranger
Writing/Grammar: Commas
Date:
Annie’s Gifts
Spelling Words: ache chorus school chord echo stomach also group soon though
tried uniform music
Spelling Challenge: schedule embarrassed instrument
Vocabulary: products schedule invention cello embarrassed instrument poetry
practiced radio recorder squeaked talented
Writing/Grammar: commas
Date:
City Green
Spelling Words: earn heard learn flour hour sour already buy nothing piece
used action section
Spelling Challenge: grocery petition petunias
Vocabulary: condition mural petition grocery scoured reaction cranky empty
lease marigolds petition petunias property soil sprouting zinnias
Writing/Grammar: paragraphs