I’m back!!!!  What an interesting experience.  I took my responsibility as a Juror very seriously and am proud of our Judicial system.   Now back to my little loves!  I really missed them.  Sometimes I found my mind wandering as to” what are my kids doing right now??”

READING-Unit 6 Week 2 of Our Neighborhood.  This week’s theme is People and Places in our Neighborhood.

WRITING-Dialogue!!!  Speech Bubbles and Quotation Marks   You can look for them in your bedtime stories.

SPELLING WORDS-man  ran  fan  said  go  to yes  I have been putting a list of the words in their Book Boxes and they use the list for several in class Literacy activities.

LETTERS-E  e    Y  y

MATH- We will revisit the penny, nickel, and dime.  We’ll make trades with the coins.  Practice at home.

SCIENCE-Land Forms  We will begin with oceans and lakes.

Wednesday we will add Mountains and Plains.   Add “Where do sand, water, and soil lie?”

SPELLING TEST went very well today!  I wanted to start them with easy words, both familiar and patterns from word family “an.”  Thanks for helping them study on the home front.  They felt proud.  Beginning with next week’s list, I will be looking for ALL letters to be written correctly.  No capital letters in the middle of words, letters going in the correct direction, y, g, q, p, j dipping below the line, etc.  Practice writing them at home with a line.  Their name also needs to be written neatly and correctly…only 1 capital letter in their name and all letters on (or below if appropriate).

In case you were wondering, I work with their writing in a specific routine that I have developed through the years with young writers.

On Mondays I introduce a new idea, concept, or build on one from the previous week.  For example, last week I introduced dialogue.

On Tuesdays we create a writing together.  Last week it was writing dialogue between 2 charachers.

On Wednesdays they write a piece themselves, using the skill taught on Monday and Tuesday.  This is called Prewrite.

On Thursdays I conference with them about their writing.  This is called Revise and Edit.

On Fridays they publish their writing and share with the class.  This is called Publishing.

As you can see, this process is how you would have learned to write your papers in school.  It does take a lot of time and they each want to share their published work, which also takes time.  But is is worth the investment!!

Next Monday I will introduce quotation marks.

Have a glorious week!

Mrs. Smith

“No matter how cool,

talented,educated,

or rich you think you are,

how you treat people

tells all.

Integrity is everything.”