Forty-First Day of School

Students will be coming home with their Science experiments in a zip-lock bag. The compound is largely harmless. They have been instructed to keep it away from carpet and furniture.

There is Math homework this weekend.

The class will have a substitute teacher on Monday. Availability for after school conferences will continue on Wednesday.

Reminder

Please remember it is necessary to have appropriate shoe wear for school. It has been necessary to exclude children from P.E. because of their shoes. Please consider shoes with ties or straps and that practicality and safety supersedes fashion. It is also better that children have one pair of well-fitting, comfortable, secure shoes rather then a pair to match each outfit. Children should also not be wearing platforms of any type or shoes with a raised back heel.

Thirty-Eighth Day of School

Today we read about American Hero Roberto Clemente. We formulated questions to ask about Roberto Clemente based on our new knowledge. We then used those questions to interview a partner about Clemente. Some partners brought their interview to perform at the front. One pair performed their interview for the principal. We were so pleased with our abilities to be interviewed, to interview, and to speak almost extemporaneously, we thought it might be a good idea to use this format for our end of the year project.

Here's the way this may be unfolding: Students will become an expert on a particular subject [an aspect of nature (e.g., bees, clouds, a planet), or a famous person]. They will develop 6 to 8 questions which will be asked of them regarding their subject. They will memorize answers to the questions they have prepared. They will be interviewed as an expert on their subject by another student while being recorded on camera. They will dress professionally as an expert would dress on a talk show.

Our Roberto Clemente questions:

• Who was Roberto Clemente?
• What kind of person was he?
• How did Roberto Clemente die?
• What did Roberto Clemente want to build?

Unit 1 Week 5 Preview

We close out the unit discussing what we like to do with our friends and what we can accomplish with teamwork. Our oral vocabulary words are challenging, charity, admire, focus, offer. Our sight words are help, now, use, very. We will develop our skill of identifying the author's purpose to develop the comprehension strategy of analyzing text structure. We will analyze texts where authors use description to give information. We will focus on final consonant blends (eg. -nk, -nt, -sk, -st, etc.) for decoding, and spelling.

For Social Science we will discuss the significance of Independence Day (HSS 1.3.2) and some national iconic symbols (HSS 1.3.3) (tested).

In P.E. we will be using teamwork to accomplish various goals.

For our upcoming unit it will be necessary for students to focus on a particular occupation of their choosing. Parents should be aware of their child's choice and possibly help their child research information about that occupation. Your child will need to know and be able to articulate where a person in the selected profession works, what they they wear, what tools they use, and what task they perform.

Thirty-Sixth Day

All 22 students taking the Topic 3 Math Test passed with an adjusted score of 12 or better.

From our discussion on the humane treatment of animals and their habitats, some students suggested that one of our tangents be mentioned here online. A simple and effective solution for ridding your home of unwanted vermin is to pour peppermint oil on some cotton placed in a cup and to then place those cups in each room of your house. This has the added benefit of making your home smell minty fresh. It is best to use pure peppermint oil which can be purchased online for about $36 for 16 ounces. This should last quite a while for a small to medium sized home. When purchasing, make sure your product is pure and not diluted with a carrier oil.

Thirty-Fifth Day

We have begun work with formal talk moves in order to practice accountable academic discussion. We are practicing using the following sentence frames within discussion:

•  I agree with (*) and would like to add...
• I disagree because...

In practice this may sound like:

Mediator: Which character's response to the problem was most sensible?

Student 1: I think the 3rd pig's response was most sensible because a house of bricks would be strong.

Student 2: I agree with (Student 1) and would like to add that sticks and straw are not very sturdy building materials.

Today we learned how some herbivores have to eat for most of their waking hours in order to satisfy their dietary requirements. We learned that some carnivores can go several days without eating. We learned this in conjunction with what animals need to survive.

We took our second timed math test today and will take Topic 3 Math Test tomorrow.

Thirty-Third Day of School

Unsatisfactory notices went home today. If we have already conferenced regarding areas of concern an unsat. notice was not sent home. Keep in mind that these notices are only for your child's reading, writing, and math grades. Also, it is unnecessary for your child to know the contents of the unsat. notice at this time. Remember, an unsat. notice is sent to the parent per district policy to inform a parent that their child may have earned a 2 or a 1 on the report card in the indicated core subject. I does not mean that your child is in danger of failing or repeating their current grade. If you are one of the parents who received a notice and would like to discuss your child's progress, please come after school (not Tuesday) for a conference. There are approximately 5 weeks left before first report cards go home.

We will likely be taking the Topic 3 Math Test this coming Friday.