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.