I hope everyone enjoyed their extended weekend. What a gorgeous day to have off. Oh, sorry I was indoors all day working on professional development. The speaker was good and had some insights on how to better prepare students for the now and future.
This is my second week notice, so far, so good. Again, I will not be listing the homework on this weekly notice only long term assignments will be listed. The children do have a daily assignment book that I will check every day. I encourage you to check their assignment book daily so, you know what your child is expected to do.
One of my goals this year is to make learning meaningful and exciting. I want all my students to be risk takers and active participants in their daily learning. They need to stay focused and use the time they are given to complete their assignments (morning work, class assignments, homework). They are always given ample time to finish all their work. They need to set up a routine, where they can be successful and not be distracted.
Another goal that I have is for the children to become more independent and less reliant on the adults in their life. Fostering independence will be critical in making them life long learners. My expectations for all my students is high. I know with a little help and guidance, they can maximize learning and reach their fullest potential.
By now, everyone should have developed a successful routine for them to make great use of their time. Some of us had a tough week last week and I am aware that routines hadn’t been completely establish. However it is a new week and I am ready to go. I hope all are as eager as I am to begin a new week and set the stage for total commitment to doing our best.
Here is my contact information:
[email protected] = email
geocities.com/mrl413 = website

Spelling: We will be working on the pages in our workbook that correspond to the "Grandfather’s Journey" The 4 pages are due on Friday. They also have 5 sentences to write on lined paper, using the spelling words. The sentences are also due on Friday. (The sentences need to be done in cursive.)

Reading: We will begin our next story in our anthology, “Grandfather’s Journey”, about a man form Japan who visits the U.S. and then longs for his homeland. Upon returning to his homeland he misses the beauty of the U.S.

Written Language: We will continue to work through answering questions and expanding our answers. We will also work on the different types of sentences and writing a friendly letter. We have a bit more work to finish from last week on our paragraphs on “Akiak”. I have confidence that everything will start falling into place, with everyone on board doing their absolute best.
The steps to answer a question are:
1. Restate the question
2. Answer the question
3. Support you answer with evidence from the story

We will be spending a great deal of time working on answering questions. This skill is of great importance in my classroom.

Math: I still have some work to do with place value and rounding of numbers. Last week we began multiplication and worked on the 4 properties of multiplication. We also started preliminary discussions on factors, products, multiples and prime and composite numbers. I realize that is a lot to cover. They will not be taught in isolation. Everything in math builds on the previous day or concept. That is why it is imperative to stay focused and participate.

DCR UPDATE: This is an independent math packet that reviews all the concepts and skills we will be using throughout the year. The children should be pacing themselves, 3-5 pages per week. I give them a weekly check on the board and they should be on pages 9 - 11 as of Friday 9/1219/08. There are 3 packets, one for each term. They need to try to finish one packet each term. They do not need to go ahead. It is not a race.

Application of facts and terminology is key to success in math.

Science: We will be continuing our mini unit on Animal Studies this week. This is a simple way to get started in science and we will be organizing information that we learn to help us create a simple project with a report. The simple book report/research on will be done mostly in class, while the project will be done at home. Again, we will do one together as a class so, everyone knows what is expected of them.

Social Studies: Since we are responsible for pledging the flag and raising the flag, we will be spending the next week or so learning about the flag and working through our flag packet.