Homework Links for Word Study HERE

Families of 3-Schaefer,

This week we had amazing Reading Workshops! Ask your child about finishing up Biography Book Clubs with a group poster and their choice of independent biography. You should also ask your child about how we describe our reading rate. We're focusing on "2nd gear" as we read and take notes on our new biography, but I'm sure your child would love to explain all 4 gears of reading for you!

We are working on remembering to bring our word study words back and forth from home to school. As a matter of fact, we have a new routine to verbally check-in with your word study partner at the end of the day to double check he/she has the words packed away. It would be very helpful if you could help your child to remember to bring the words back to school as we used them during our word study time.

Would you believe we even got outside for recess in the mild weather twice this week? Of course now Punxsatawney Phil has seen his shadow, so perhaps this will change. But boy, did we enjoy being outside in the sunshine!

Have a great weekend,

Meredith

READING WORKSHOP:

• We learned how to decide what information is the most important to the main idea of a biography.

• We used our 2W's reading strategies to create a poster explaining who our character was and what they did to become famous.

• Students chose biographies to read independently. We'll be applying our note-taking skills and focusing on slowing our reading rate down since we are reading for information.

WRITING WORKSHOP:

• This week we created a bar graph of our writing mistakes. Students chose a piece of writing they'd done previously in the year and edited for capitals, punctuation, spelling, organization, word choice, and sentence variety. Based on the bar graphs, students set a personal goal for themselves in writing.

• We had a "writing check-in" where students wrote about their biography character. They'll receive feedback to help them with their personal goal.

MATH:

• We explored more with decimals this week.

• Unit 5 on place value has ended with a test on Friday. Unit 6 on geometry will begin on Monday.

• Great iXL skills to practice for geometry: R.1, R.6, R.9, R.11, R.12, R.13

• Students are encouraged to practice math skills a few minutes a night at this website: www.ixl.com/signin/gcsd
We will also continue using this at school.

SCIENCE:

• We learned about the Scientific Method this week.

• We did a series of experiments and had the chance to hypothesize about our question before experimenting.

• In this unit, we are also working on following written and oral directions and working cooperatively in a group.

TECHNOLOGY:

For reading blog: www.wikispaces.com

For math: www.ixl.com/signin/gcsd

UPCOMING EVENTS:

2/10 - "Pirate of Penzance" - 5th grade play (we'll watch the performance in school on the 10th, but you can also purchase tickets for the evenings of the 10th & 11th!)

2/14 - Valentine's Day (we will exchange Valentines in the afternoon)

CONTACTING ME:

Email or call anytime and I will get back to you as soon as I can!

schaeferm@guilderlandschools.org

357-2770 x4100