10/13 News

In reading we are continuing our animal stories. The literature circles are doing a great job with the books. Each day they read together and share questions with their group. We learned about the different types of questions and how to answer them effectively. Hopefully, the students are more confident with these skills after all the practice. We will finish the books next week with a quiz and then begin some mystery stories.

Please check over your child's home reading responses. Students should have eight entries by tomorrow. Some students need to catch up on some of their reading. Please check over the October response sheet also. Some students are confusing 1st person and 3rd person. Thanks for helping your child become a better reader.

 
  In science we explored the world of matter. We classified objects by physical properties, such as shape, color and size. We reviewed the three states of matter: solids, liquids and gases. We learned that most everything is matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. Mass is somewhat confusing because we often think of weight as mass. Weight deals with the Earth's gravitational pull on objects, but mass is really how much stuff is in an object. If you traveled to the moon your weight would be different, but your mass would be the same. We will continue our exploration next week. Also I will be posting online some science materials we will need donated for an upcoming project. I may need some extra hands during science that day also. If you are interested please let me know by emailing me. Thanks! 
Students worked on a graded response to story early this week. The most important part of this type of writing response is to introduce your writing and include details from the story. We have practiced this together in preparation for the graded assignments. These grades are coming home today. Students also began working on informational reports in language arts. Our focus will be writing strong main ideas for the facts we are given. We did get to our Go Home Journal this week, so parents do have homework this weekend. Please don't forget to write to us, the students really enjoying being able to share.    
  Students took their unit 3 test yesterday. Hopefully, I will have these grades posted early this weekend. The tests will come home next Monday. Remember students can correct tests and quizzes and return them the next day for partial credit. Our next unit of study in math is decimals, which will begin next week. Don't forget to keep practicing those facts. We do have daily timed tests that you should see coming home. Mr. Starkey has added an extra incentive also. Any student who gets 100% on their addition and subtraction tests before the last week of October will earn a free ice cream for lunch.

Enjoy the cool fall weekend!
Mrs. Stratton

"No good fish goes anywhere without a porpoise."

Lewis Carroll

 

 
Last Modified: Saturday, Feb. 07, 2009
 
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