Reading

We are about halfway through our Realistic Fiction novels. I have being forced to come up with alternatives to our weekly schedule with all the irregular weeks recently, but the kids are not too upset since they are getting extra vacation! Next week will be more of the same with a district professional development day on Monday. The extra credit I told the students about almost two weeks ago must be in by Tuesday, February 2^nd – the day they return from their three day weekend. I have reminded each class of the various projects that they can complete to boost their grade and offered a print out with the specifics to anyone interested. I still have several extra sheets.

Writing

We are currently working on technical writing. The project focuses on writing down sequenced directions (for a pet, younger sibling…or an alien) on how to get from their home to Langston Hughes. We went over what makes technical writing what it is, and I showed the class the rubric that they will be scored on. Tomorrow I will show them my own final draft for an example, accompanied by a hand drawn map. Final drafts and their illustrated counterparts are due on Friday. We will share our projects with our second grade book buddies, who will be coming down to our class on Friday.

Science

Excellent job on your science fair presentations and functional robotic inventions! I loved seeing all the creative work that the kids were so proud to share.

Math

Mrs. Minor is back. Yahoo!

Family Health FYI

About two weeks back my family was slapped with a pretty terrible cold, which eventually turned into “Baby Bronchitis” in our five month old, Abel. Both kids were a coughing mess, and were in and out of fevers, which forced Mrs. Hegeman and I to take turns staying home for over a week. Thanks to some good substitute teachers, and a helpful and well behaved group of kids, I believe things in the classroom stayed pretty smooth while I was in and out of attendance. Kudos to my wonderful class!

State Testing

We will be doing our state testing after Spring Break. The reading portion will be between March 29th and April 1st (no fooling!), and the math portion will be taken between April 5th and April 8th (my birthday!). Please make sure your child is present on these days unless they are feeling sick. Thanks!

Other Blogs

Please don't forget the check Mrs. King and Mrs. Minor's blog from time to time.

MONDAY, January the 4th

READING
Today we started new book clubs! We will be studying the Realistic Fiction genre as we read "Holes" and "Bridge to Terabithia" for about the next five weeks. Both books are award winning and wonderful. In fact, I have discovered that several students had already read one of the two, and a few kiddos have already read both! I reminded them that rereading has been shown to strengthen fluency and comprehension, and there will be scores of interesting details they will be sure to uncover as they study it this year.

As it is just past the middle of the second trimester, I am organizing things so that current reading grades will be coming home by the end of the week. Please talk to your child about their scores and your expectations, and sign and return the sheet by Monday, the 11th.

WRITING
This week we are beginning a short three paragraph paper about a special gift that kids have received. The goal is to differentiate between the following three types of writing - narrative, descriptive, and persuasive. They will include one paragraph of each, take it through the writing process, and then read them aloud for their peers to guess which is which.

GEOGRAPHY BEE
The preliminary rounds of the Geography Bee will be held tomorrow in the fifth grade. Students with standout knowledge of geography will move on to represent their grade in an upcoming bee between other students in the fourth and sixth grade.

SPELLING BEE
We are also preparing for a Spelling Bee this week. On Thursday, each fifth grade class will hold a competition in their own classroom to select eight class representatives. This will be followed by a grade competition in the pod to select which three students (I believe) will be representing the grade in the school wide competition on Thursday, January 14th. You are welcome to attend the school Bee!

LHTV
Mrs. Fredrickson, the librarian and media specialist at LHES, visited our classroom today to talk about LHTV. If you don't know, LHTV is the student run, morning announcements which are projected onto screens throughout the building each day. We are the only elementary school in the district to have this fantastic resource! Fifth graders will soon be able to partake in its production. I will be handing out applications for the various jobs in the crew later this week, and these applications should be filled out and signed by you by Monday, January 11th if they wish to a part of this.

FIELD TRIP NEXT TUESDAY!
We will be spending a few hours in Allen Fieldhouse next Tuesday, the 12th, watching the Lady Jayhawks stomp on their opponents (hopefully). Every child will be given a T-shirt and a sack lunch. Thanks again to the five parents that will be coming with us: Jennifer Culbertson, Mandy Yoder, Shyla Strathman, Colleen Evans, and Rodney Eklund. Each parent will also get a T-shirt, and will be responsible for keeping an eye on a group of five kids from our class. The game is set to tip-off at 11 o'clock. I will get back to you about when to show up at school on Tuesday to board the buses with us.