September 12, 2016

Well I think we made it through one of the hottest weeks!

After classroom activities and work I did not have the class do the math assessment for Chapter 1 on Friday. We did some review activities today and clarified some questions so I believe we are ready for the Chapter test tomorrow, September 13. All of the students brought home their JAM over the weekend to review and they are bringing it home again tonight to review. Following the assessment we will be starting Chapter 2 which is about addition and subtraction. 

This week we are working on similes in the classroom. In honor of 9/11 we watched a very child friendly video that highlights heroes rather than the tragedy of 9/11. We read a story called Fireboat, which is about a decommissioned fireboat that is put back into action to help put out fires that regular fire trucks could not reach at the Twin Towers. We then brainstormed a list of words that describe what a hero is to us and then used those words to write similes. We have also been working on synonyms and did a group Cinnamon Synonym Activity. This week we will continue reading the chapter book The Stories Julian Tells and finding the similes in each story. We will also practice using context clues to help determine the meaning of new words. This week we will begin vocabulary and a list of vocabulary words will come home today. Each week the students will learn 5 new vocabulary words that are based on words that they are likely to see during their reading.  In the classroom we have a vocabulary journal and in our journal we are writing sentences, definitions, synonyms and antonyms for each word. The vocabulary journal also contains a picture dictionary section and a WOW word section. The WOW word is a word study in root words, prefixes, and suffixes. The word study will allow the students to use the different word parts to determine the meaning of the word which will help in their comprehension and vocabulary development while reading. The students will be tested every two weeks on vocabulary which will include 2 vocabulary lists for a total of 10 words. Please have your child read over the list each night so that the definitions are very familiar to them when it comes time to have the test. 

In Social Studies we are continuing to learn about maps and map skills. After reviewing all of the parts of the map and the different types of maps we will make our own map and an island of our own creation. 

Reminders:
Please continue to have your child read and do math minutes. The first math/reading logs are due on October 1st and they will get a new one for the month of October on that date also. 
New spelling words and vocabulary words were sent home with students on Monday.
Wednesday, September 14th is picture day at Chippewa.

If your child brings in something orange and places it on my desk without telling other students they will earn 2 extra tickets.