January 16th, 2013

We reviewed all the waterways in the U.S. that we have learned.  Students received a study guide to help them learn the lakes and rivers of the U.S. for Friday's test.  TEST ON RIVERS AND LAKES ON FRIDAY.

The five SAT words are quite solid.  I have noticed the students using the words: exemplary, emulate, and enervate quite often in the past few days!  We learned and wrote about the idiom: "Few and Far Between".  Be sure to explain the meanings of idioms you use to your children.  Students often say they have heard the terms, but they are unsure of their meanings. 

The spelling activity is to create our own mnemonics, or line poems for ten of our list words.  Kids are working together and being creative.  We first sort the words, review the patterns, brainstorm new words for the pattern, and then reinforce the spellings with a multiple intelligence focus.

Grammar reviewed such homonyms as plain/plane, I'll/isle/aisle, new/knew/gnu, etc.  We touched on synonyms and antonyms and classified a scrambled sentence.

Students chose to work on their 3-point paragraph or business letter.  THE 3-POINT PARAGRAPH IS DUE NEXT TUESDAY.  It should be typed and illustrated.  They are getting longer!  THE BUSINESS LETTER ROUGH DRAFT IS DUE NEXT THURSDAY.
TOMORROW IS MINI-COURSE AFTERNOON.  IF YOUR CHILD IS IN SKI CLASS, PLEASE BRING WARM CLOTHING, ETC. IN THE MORNING.

THERE IS NO MATH HOMEWORK TODAY. The students took the cumulative test on Unit 5 today.  It was a hard test, but so far I am pleased with the results.  I should have the tests graded and in the program by tomorrow night.  We review the test tomorrow and begin our new books at that time.

Several students attended Meridian Math Club and the kids read so quietly and focused for S.I.R. (Structured Independent Reading) that I gave them a bit of extra time and a reward.  They were wonderful!

For writing, we wrote another description of normal - fantasy style.  It is fun to copy authors' styles.  It is a tool to creativity.  Afterwards, students worked on Writer's Workshop stories.  ARE THERE ANY PARENTS WHO MIGHT HAVE AN HOUR TO SPARE DURING THE WEEK TO HELP WITH EDITING, PUBLISHING, ASSESSING SIGHT WORDS, ASSESSING MATH FACTS, OR OTHER ITEMS?

We had P.E.

Students filled in their waterways study guides and read through their "We the People" lessons with their partners.  Each partnership will take a turn teaching the class.  They must be very familiar with the material.