Week of April 15th- I am happy to be back at school. I have missed the kids! It's best that this is a short week so that I can ease back into work.
Mid-quarter grades are out tomorrow. There are not many reading grades yet as we've been working on a novel study for a couple of weeks and will be sharing our book reports this week. I will be getting them graded as they present.
Reading- Finish up book reports to share this week. Writing- Introduction to poetry and types of poetry Religion- Easter week
Week of March Surgery update- It has been 2 weeks since I received my new knee. Therapy is going okay, it is still painful, but I am working hard to get my range of motion back. Reading- I hope to be able to connect with Mrs. Marcellino this week. We should be finishing a Journey’s lesson and working on verbs in grammar. Testing- Testing for 5th grade begins this week. A good night’s sleep and a healthful breakfast or snack can help for optimum test taking. I miss the kids!!!
Week of March 4th- This week is a short week ending on Thursday. I wish everyone a lovely break. I will be undergoing knee replacement surgery on Monday, March 11th, so I’ll use the time to begin healing and rehabilitation of my knee. I will then miss about three more weeks and then return. I have been planning with Whitney Marcellino, my sub. She will be carrying out my plans.
Reading- We are finishing our work on Hound Dog True. We still need to look at plot elements and have a test over the book on Wednesday.
Writing- We are working with pronouns this week.
Religion- We are discussing Ash Wednesday and Lent.
We are already in the 4th quarter. We will finish strong as we still have a lot of learning to do. I am proud of the students’ growth so far this year!
Reading- We are continuing to read our novel and complete the writing activities that go along with it. We will have a test next Tuesday over this book. We will review for the test on Monday. Students can use the book to complete the test.
Writing- We are working on dialogue a little longer. We are studying subject and object pronouns in grammar.
Spelling- Lists went out today and we will have a test on Friday.
Week of February 18th- Conferences- I look forward to conferences this week. I will have a handout detailing upcoming events in class as the spring progresses. I will email this out this week so you can have the information if you are not attending conferences.
Reading- This week we are reading a novel called Hound Dog True. It's a great book with interesting characters. We also are continuing to work with writing dialogue.
Religion- We are continuing Ch. 9.
We will begin reading logs after this short week.
Week of February 11th-
Reading- This week we will start reading a book that goes with our Journey’s text. Students will work individually and in small groups to complete the reading and written activities. There will not be a spelling test this week. We will work on vocabulary instead.
Writing- We will continue working on writing dialogue and will have a quiz on Friday. The quiz will be writing 5 sentences of dialogue properly.
Religion- We will continue reading Ch. 8 and learning about The New Testament.
Valentine’s Day- We will have our class party on Thursday at 2:30. Thank you to all the parents who have created such fun parties this year. They have been really nice! Thursday is also a dress down day. We will have Mass on Wednesday because of the parties and dress down day.
Conferences are next week! How is it that time already? I look forward to visiting with you next week about your child’s progress this year.
Happy February! I’m happy to leave January behind.
Week of February 4th- Spelling- Lists will go out on Monday and the test will be Friday. spellin_2_4_19.pdf
Reading- We have finished our book club reading and written work. The students did a great job responding to their reading. This week, they will be presenting information about their books to the class. I have already noticed them telling their friends about their books and kids were checking out titles from the library that a friend had recommended. Yeah! We are also learning how to outline nonfiction material.
Writing- Writing dialogue skills will be covered. We also will be learning how to create an outline for writing research.
Religion- Ch. 8- We will be practicing outlining material as we read Ch.8.
Highlights of the week are: Open House after mass on January 27th. Morning prayer as a school and grade levels each day. Discussing the theme: Learn. Serve. Lead. Succeed. Celebrating service in our community by writing cards to Just Food. Grandparent’s Day on Thursday.
Reading- Continue to read, discuss and write about our books in small groups. Most students will be finished reading by Thursday and will begin working on their written book reports. There will also be a presentation piece. I will attach the student directions sheets.
Religion- We recently completed an activity reflecting on small ways we can impact our worlds as Catholics. The students were quite eloquent in their thoughts and I am proud of them.
Due to our short weeks, snow days, etc, we have not had a spelling list. This week, we will have vocabulary work that will be passed out tomorrow and due on Thursday. We also will not have a reading log this week.
Long range plans- Since we are now in the second half of this year, it is time to think about building an academic bridge to middle school. The students and I have discussed this together. We will continue to work on grammar and spelling from our Journey’s textbook, but will also be branching out to do more reading from novels. We will continue to read selections from Journeys, but also integrate other activities to achieve as learners this year. Writing is also an important part of the curriculum and we will continue learning and practicing skills. We will also be working on research skills and non-fiction writing.
Week of January 21-25-
Martin Luther King Day is Monday. Enjoy the day.
Reading- We have begun our book clubs. Students are working in small groups to read and discuss their books. We have some great books in our library! It is wonderful observing serious readers who are happily writing about and discussing their books. We'll be reading and writing more this week.
Grammar Focus- We have been learning about conjunctions and clauses.
Writing- We polished up our news articles and created a " newspaper" on our bulletin board. It will be displayed through Catholic Schools Week for visitors to see.
Spelling- We will not have a spelling list this week.
Week of January 14-18-
Reading- We are beginning book clubs on Wednesday. Students will be reading a book with a partner or small group. There will be daily activities to work on and they will most likely be reading some at home. Please see the attachment for more information. This will also be on Google Classroom and I will give the students a hard copy.We will also be reading a new story. Lesson #10 is a non-fiction piece and the focus will be main ideas and details. There is also a fiction piece and we will work on direct quotations. Think Central test will be the week of the 22nd. There is a lot to cover in this lesson, so I will keep you posted on the test date. book_club_daily_work.pdf
Religion- We are still working on chapter 7 in our religion book. We also have been reading and retelling some Bible stories. The Lime class will be mass participants this week. Join us on Thursday, January 17th at 8 :15. spelling__lists__10.pdf Spelling- Tests will be Friday, January 18th.
Week of January 7th-11th Happy New Year! This quarter we will be working through our Journey's lessons at a speedier pace. That means that the tests will not always be on Fridays. Please look here for test dates.
Spelling- Spelling Lists went out 1/3/19 and the test will be Thursday, 1/10/19. Spelling- JList= Lesson # 9 lesson__9.pdf VFA List- vfa_list_week__4.pdf
Reading- We are reading historical fiction this week. Lesson # 9 also includes work on prefixes and conjunctions. The Think Central test will be on Friday, 1/11/19.
Religion- Chapter 7- The Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus- We will be working on some reading skills as we work through this chapter.
