April 16-20 Newsletter
Pamela Herbert
This week we will be reading about and working on projects on the life cycle of a frog. See if your child can tell you the different stages of a frog from egg to adult frog. We will not be starting our next unit until next week, so there will be no Open Court story or assessment this week.
In phonics and dictation we will be practicing: words with the long a sound, spelled a, a_e, ai and ay. The short a sound, the suffix ing, preposition words, past tense and present tense words.
This writing focus for this unit will continue to be on writing a descriptive paragraph. We will continue to work with adjectives in our writing. We will also be focusing on writing the main idea in a topic sentence and in a concluding sentence. We are also working on incorporating similes into our writing. I am also working with the kids on being able to write more. They are doing a half page journal write on a given topic every day. We will also be writing descriptive paragraphs using the information we got on our dinosaurs for our dinosaur reports. We are learning more specifically about adding details and examples into our writing. On WEDNESDAY students will be bringing home 3 paragraphs that they are to read with you and for you to help them correct. We started this project before break and it was their only homework before they went on break. I also told them that if they did not have it done before break that they needed to finish it over Spring Break. They were also given quite a bit of time to work on it in class. SO, with all that being said, if they do not have all three rough drafts written and edited on Thursday I will not be happy!! Please look over these paragraphs with your children and make sure that they have a rough draft that has been edited with them on Thursday. We have been working on peer editing them in class. Today we did the paragraph on what their dinosaur looks like, tomorrow we will be working on peer editing the paragraph on where it lived, and Wednesday we will be working on What it Ate.
We will also be starting an in class reading called Matilda by Roald Dahl.
In math we will be working on starting Unit 10. This unit is on making change!! So have your child work with coins at your house and learn to make change to the nearest dollar. We will be reviewing values of coins and equivalent coin combinations to use to make certain values (ex: 5 pennies = 1 nickel), different ways to pay for things, understanding value in terms of pennies, understanding median, understanding how cost of items has gone up over time, and estimating cost of an item.
In Science we will be working on Chapter 6. This chapter is on different forces. We will be working on how gravity affects objects. Specifically, we will be looking at what causes objects to fall.
This week we will be working intensely on how to write a descriptive paragraph. We will be doing one in class together and then they will be asked to work on writing one on their own. This is in preparation for the upcoming district writing test. This is the only one we do that it is required to send the actual writing to the district office. So, it is important that they do well. They will need to be able to write a one paragraph descriptive paragraph on a given topic that has a topic sentence, concluding sentence, at least 4 details or examples, adjectives and a simile.
FYI I hope everyone had a wonderful Spring Break. I had a wonderful time, but was glad to be back at school today. It is hard to believe, but there are less than 8 weeks of school left. This is when I start to push the kid to get ready for third grade. My expectations for quality of work and behavior are raised and I ask the kids to show me all they have learned. We are also starting to prep for the state test. Please do not freak them out about it. Although, we want them to do their best kids can become needlessly stressed about it. Your children are incredibly bright and I have no worries that they will all be ready to excel on the test in May. We have been working all year on being ready for this, and I know they will make me proud. So please do not worry and do not cause your children to worry. Take a deep breath and remember they are only 8 years old.
Upcoming Dates to Remember…..
Wednesday April 18 kids should bring home rough drafts of all three paragraphs for their dinosaur reports. Please work with them on these.
Thursday April 19 We will begin working on our final drafts in class. We will continue with these on Friday, but if they are not done on Friday they will need to be finished at home over the weekend.
Friday April 19 Spelling and dialogue assessment. Homework due.
Herbert High Fives
Aayush Seetharaman For great participation in class discussions!!
Mingxin Wang For great participation in class discussions!!
Owen Feng For great participation in class discussions!!