Week 9: October 16-20

Reminders:
A few parents have not yet signed up for Parent / Teacher Conferences scheduled for October 18-20. Use the links below to secure your spot. We can't wait to celebrate the successes of your child and discuss their goals moving forward.

• Duncan/Ford Signup
• Rozzell/Morphey Signup
• Badrak/Saint Val Signup 

We have students with allergies so please pack nut-free snacks. Snacks should be dry and healthy to promote student learning and not create a mess. 

Examples: 

• Saltines, graham crackers, pretzels
• Fresh or dried fruit/vegetable sticks or slices
• Cheese cubed or sliced·        
• Applesauce (in the squeezable containers)
• Goldfish/Cheeze-its or Cheese Nips       

Reading: Third graders know that reading is thinking, therefore the emphasis this week continues to be on how to comprehend realistic fiction text most effectively. When reading fiction, strong readers connect to the characters, identify with the various settings, and throughout following the plot, focus on identifying the problem and how it leads to a solution. This is done by studying each element carefully, making inferences, and drawing conclusions. New graphic organizers will be introduced, including a five finger visual that is tactile kinesthetic, using movement to solidify concept formation.

Writing: Personal Narratives are stories from our lives. Ralph Fletcher summed up writing  by saying, "The only easy thing about writing is...nothing!"
This quote is so true, and in personal narrative writing, this truth is emphasized. It is much more safe to write about what is outrageous than what we actually experience emotionally. As teachers and parents it is critical to model this difficult process with our children. Sharing 

experience stories takes courage, and we need to reveal our own personal stories. For example, what are you afraid of? Describe a moment when you have been scared. 
Due to time constraints, we were not able to share artifacts or important objects. We are asking that our third graders bring in a special object to share and discuss by Tuesday. We are hoping that conversations inspired by objects that we value, will lead to personal narratives that inspire our authors.

Spelling: The heart of strong spelling skills begins when writers develop a set of reliable strategies that they can utilize independently. Our continued study of syllabication and syllable types allow our third graders not only the ability to tackle basic word structure, but to feel confident tackling much more complex syllable types. Shortly, when we begin spelling assessments, these strategies will guide our studies and understanding.

Social Studies: It is exciting that students are continuing their study of Community using Studies Weekly class newspapers. They will analyze an issue and the features of a news article to better understand the significance of community involvement. They will also work on close reading skills to maximize application of positively impacting various types of communities.

Math: This week in math we are beginning a new grouping of students across the grade level. We have carefully studied the needs of our students and have regrouped to better meet those needs and ramp up the rigor for all our kids. We are excited to welcome different boys and girls into our rooms and hope they enjoy the change as much as we will. 

Regardless of class, all student will transition on to subtraction and all that it entails. We will discuss what students already know and clarify some misconceptions and errors. Students will learn the sound of a subtraction problem and determine why this operation is appropriate. Teachers will emphasize working from right to left in order to accommodate any regrouping that might be necessary. We will begin with "Take Away" subtraction, the one most students have worked with since Kindergarten. In this type, students are given a total number of items and a specific number of them are taken away. This will leave an answer called a difference.  Here is the bar model strategy that shows "take away" subtraction.

Fast Fact Friday (FFF) will occur as usual at the end of the week. Some students have shown mastery of addition and are moving on to subtraction facts. Congratulations to them! Keep studying every evening for whichever facts you will be tested on each Friday. 

Science:  We continue our study of matter by examining the molecular structures of the different common states: solids, liquids, and gases. We will follow the Scientific Method to demonstrate an important fact about all matter, that it takes up space. Even a gas takes up space, though it is difficult to see. Later in the week, a unit review sheet and vocabulary cards will go home in preparation for a test later this month.

Week 8: October 9-13

Reminders: 
Open House is tomorrow evening, Tuesday, October 10. Please join us in your child's classrooms from 6:00 to 6:45 and learn what exciting things have been going on in third grade so far this year.

Individual pictures will be taken this Thursday morning, October 12.

Do not forget to sign up for Parent / Teacher Conferences scheduled for October 18-20. Use the links below to secure your spot. We can't wait to celebrate the successes of your child and discuss their goals moving forward.

• Duncan/Ford Signup
• Rozzell/Morphey Signup
• Badrak/Saint Val Signup 

We have students with allergies so please pack nut-free snacks. Snacks should be dry and healthy to promote student learning and not create a mess. 

Examples: 

• Fresh or dried fruit/vegetable sticks or slices
• Cheese cubed or sliced·        
• Applesauce (in the squeezable containers)
• Goldfish/Cheeze-its or Cheese Nips       
• Saltines/Graham crackers/Pretzels

Reading- This week our third grade readers will be exploring and identifying the elements of  fiction by referring to familiar text, and responding to the question, "What do these pieces of realistic fiction have in common?" The elements of setting, characterization, plot, problem, and solution will be emphasized and mapped. The story arc is an organizer that the students will be using to track the plot line of many realistic fiction texts. It will also be referenced as one strategy during our writing of personal narratives. 

Writing- This week our third grade writers will be spending time collecting ideas for personal narratives. October seems the perfect time to brainstorm lists of scary moments and techniques effective writers use to elicit emotion in their readers. An example of this is to "show not tell"; saying you are afraid is much less interesting to readers than showing you are afraid. I could feel my heartbeat in chest, my fists clenched, and I was unable to speak. Each week the teachers will continue to showcase examples of "magical writing" that will focus on effective techniques from other third grader authors. 

****Also, your child will need to bring in an object or artifact that is meaningful to him/her by Friday of this week. He/she will be sharing why it is special and using it to brainstorm other types of stories from his/her life.

Spelling-Students will continue to work with syllables to spell words. We will be manipulating them by combining some of the six syllable types in different ways. For example, pen-cil, if reversed would be read cil-pen. In doing this, students are better able to practice how to sound out and spell words in meaningful ways. In this example, students put into practice that a syllable, such as pen and cil are closed by a consonant, therefore the vowel will make a short sound in most words we read and write.

Social Studies-We have placed the finishing touches on our letters to our third grade neighbors so significantly affected by Hurricane Harvey at Meadow Wood Elementary. They will be delivered at a school function next week to show our care and concern for members of our Spring Branch community. We are continuing to assess what makes someone a strong member of his/her community by researching historical figures who made a difference.

Math- This week we will wrap up our study of addition and its application to everyday situations. Students will show how they are able to use various strategies to explain how addition is used to combine groups of things. FFF will continue to be addition this week. After scoring 100% on three quizzes, many students will move on to subtraction facts in another week. Please study NIGHTLY with your child. Knowing all facts is very important for every content area of math.

Science-  We will wrap up our exciting Matter Lab early this week and take a closer look at classifying the three most common stated of matter...solids, liquids, and gases.  We will focus on properties of each of the states and understand why its molecular structure is key to why it reacts as it does. Our Matter song will pep up the science class and reinforce our focus this week. On Friday, students will reflect on what we have learned this week.

The Week of 2/16-2/19

Parent Reminders and Information: We will be going to the Museum of Natural science on Friday, February 19.  Students WILL return in to campus in time for lunch.  Please make sure you have sent your child's permission slip back to his or her homeroom teacher.

Language Arts
Reading- Last week we poured our hearts into figuring out how to take notes on an FQR chart using non fiction texts.  Now that we are much better with that skill, we will look at the facts we recorded and learn if they are interesting or important to remember as a reader.

Writing- Students did a great job learning about types of leads and trying them out on the narrative they have chosen to take through the writing process.  We will work more this week on learning about the difference between editing and revising as we work with our narrative stories.

Spelling/Word Work- Test 2/17.  We will take an application grade of spelling patterns and concepts 2/18-2/23.

Social Studies- Test will come home, 2/16 to let you know how your child did on his or her Story of America, Part One assessment.    

We've started the second half of our study and have learned about the life and work of Louis Pasteur.  We will also be learning about Jonas Salk, Bill Gates, Maria Mitchell, Henry Ford, and Cyrus McCormick.  You can reference the SOCIAL STUDIES WEBSITES page on this blog for more information and reading.

Math- In math this week, we will continue working on graphing. Your child will be working on created pictographs, dot plots, bar graphs, and tally charts. We will be transferring the data from tally charts and pictographs and putting the information into a bar graph or dot plot. Your child will have a homework worksheet on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Our fast facts quiz will be on Friday. We will NOT have a problem of the week. 

Science-During our science time, we will continue studying about natural resources. We will learn where our daily resources come from. On Tuesday, your child went home with a Natural Resources flow chart. We will be taking a quiz next week on this information. Your child will be receiving a blank chart and they will be expected to fill in the missing information. 

2/8-2/12

Note to Parents: With the upcoming excitement of the Super Bowl, we have had an increase in students bringing football and baseball cards to school.  Students have been distracted in class and had some trouble on the playground "dealing and trading" cards.  We ask that you please have your child keep his or her cards at home. 

Language Arts
Reading- While continuing to read non-fiction this week, readers will learn a helpful strategy called determining importance.  As we read texts we will stop, think and discuss what important in important to the text rather than simply interesting.  While this sounds simple, it's a more challenging skill for third graders as they have to set aside their personal opinions and think about the information, just the facts! 

Writing- We are continuing to finish up our work on narratives.  We will focus on getting our own personal narratives on paper and practicing many different types of leads to help our readers get hooked into our stories.

Spelling/Word Work- Application grades will be taken 2/4-2/9.  New words will go home 2/10. Test 2/17.

Social Studies- Students should use the review study sheet for our first assessment on Tuesday, 2/9/16.  They can also use our newspaper, journals and online resource (www.studiesweekly.com) to prepare for our test.  

We've started the second half of our study and have learned about the life and work of Louis Pasteur.  We will also be learning about Jonas Salk, Bill Gates, Maria Mitchell, Henry Ford, and Cyrus McCormick.  You can reference the SOCIAL STUDIES WEBSITES page on this blog for more information and reading.

Math- This week in math we will be diving into graphing. We are still studying pictographs, bar graphs, tally charts, and dot plots.  The students will be taking information in tally charts and pictographs and creating bar graphs and dot plots to match the information.  A test question to access this skill might look like this:

The dot plot graph looks like this:

  

A math worksheet will come home on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night. The Problem of the Week will come home on Monday and will be due on Friday. Please continue to study every night for the Fast Facts quiz. 

Science - We will be moving on to Natural Resources in Science.  All students will discuss and learn examples of renewable and non renewable resources and where they originate from.  Students should come to discover that most non-renewable resources come from under the earth.  We will merge into conservation and recycling next week.

Update from Mrs. Ford

LANGUAGE ARTS

READING

Reading

We will continue working with non-fiction features.  Students will learn how to use a FQR (Facts, Questions and Responses) chart this week as a note taking tool and helpful tool to solidify comprehension.

WRITING
Students have been working hard in writing.  We have selected a kernel narrative to take through the writing process.  Last week and this week we have talked about snapshot lead.  Students have brainstormed what senses were engaged at the beginning of their memorable moment.  We have almost finished adding our first round of details to our leads and will continue to learn how to participate in peer and teacher conferences to fine tune our writing.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Landforms

We are starting a new unit in Social Studies, Geography.  Our geography unit is made up of two parts, landforms and map skills. We will start the unit with a look at landforms.  This week and last we review many landforms that are, hopefully, familiar to our students.  

The BIG idea in social studies that we will try to drive home is that our daily life is affected by the land surrounding us.  When we plan vacations, what we pack, what we do, and our travel are all determined by the land and water features surrounding our destination.  

Some of our upcoming vocabulary will be:

Geography-the study of Earth’s features

Landform- natural features, or shapes, of the land including mountains, valleys, plains, plateaus, etc.

Climate- the kind of weather a place has over a long period of time

Human Feature- something that people add to the landscape, such as a building

     Adapt- change to fit the environment

We've used this video and songs to help us remember the different types of landforms.

Genre, Narrative and our first ASSESSMENT in Social Studies

It's a short week, but a FULL week!

READING

Today, we are reviewing genres and working to identify the genres of books students have read during DEAR time. Students should be able to notice and name features of various genres (Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Autobiography, Biography, Informational, Traditional and Poetry).  As the week ends students will work with a partner to determine the genre of a book simply from it's outward characteristics.  We will apply this knowledge next week as we begin a unit on non-fiction texts.  

WRITING
We are continuing our focus on Personal Narrative. Last week, our Literacy Specialist, Krystle Henley taught students how to create a kernel narrative. This week, we will generate a kernel each day.  Soon, students will get to choose which kernel they want to POP and publish.

SPELLING 
New spelling words will come home on Wednesday.  If your child cannot locate his or her words, please reference the spelling spiral. The new homework and spelling test date will be written in your child's planner.

SOCIAL STUDIES
We are wrapping up our 9 weeks focus on Communities, Citizenship and Government.  We will spend Tuesday and Wednesday review for our first big assessment in Social Studies.  Students participated today in class in a KAHOOT which they created questions and answers for to help their peers review.  Please remember that good study habits start now.  We don't want anyone CRAMMING for the test.  The review sheets have been in student binders for a week.  A little review each night will make a big difference. 

Theme, Personal Narratives, Spelling, and Government!

Reading
We will move onto Theme later in the week.  There are many common themes found in books.  These are usually tied to a lesson that the main character learns at the end of the text.  Some examples of themes are: Courage, Acceptance, Kindness, Friendship, Responsibility, Perseverance and Honesty.  We will start by examining texts that we have previously read as a class.  Then, we will move onto analyzing our DEAR books.  Students will have to provide text evidence to support their choice of theme.  We will also read fables to determine theme.
Writing
In Writing, we are continuing our focus on Personal Narrative. This week, we will listen to a read aloud of My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother by Patricia Polacco.  Students will put the events in the text on the narrative arc.  Next, students will reconstruct a narrative.  They will be given an example of a student written personal narrative.  The narrative will be cut up into pieces.  Students will have to work in a small group to "put the narrative back together."  Then, students will have to come up with explanations of why the order works.  Lastly, we will create a quick-list of writing ideas that students can use when writing his/her own personal narrative.
Spelling
This week, your child will bring home new Spelling words on Wednesday.  I will meet with students in small groups to teach the new sort.  Students will practice the sort in class and then bring the words home to complete the Spelling Homework Menu.  I cannot post spelling words on the blog since student lists are differentiated each week and our spelling curriculum is copyrighted.  If you child cannot locate his or her words, please reference the spelling spiral. Each Wednesday after our small group lesson, I have the students write the spelling list in the correct sorts in their spiral so they can see a correct example as they practice throughout the week.    
Please send your child's Ziploc bag back to school on Wednesday to help him/her earn a homework coupon!  This coupon will be worth 2 points off the Spelling Menu homework.  Instead of completing 8 points, he/she will only  have to complete 6 points.  Please attach the coupon to the rest of the completed homework to be turned in next Tuesday.  Coupons cannot be saved up.  A student cannot turn in multiple coupons in one week.  The new homework and spelling test date will be written in your child's planner.
Social Studies
We are continuing our 9 weeks focus on Communities, Citizenship and Government.  Last week, we went through the voting process and now we have elected 2 Leadership Council Representatives!  Congratulations to Raul in Ms. Skrivanek's class and Avery in Mrs. Ford's class!  This week, we will focus on government leaders.  Students need to understand the leaders at each level of government: local/mayor, state/governor and nation or federal/president.

Connections, Character Traits, Narratives and Elections

We've had a great first month of school.  Your children are thinking while they are reading and sharing their thoughts with others!

READING

We will finish up our work on connections early this week.  Last week, we reviewed and practiced making text to self and text to text connections.  This week we will finish by discussing text to world connections.  This type of reading connection can be the most challenging for 3rd graders since it requires background knowledge in world events and history.  I will scaffold our learning by connecting our text to Ruby Bridges story we learned about a few weeks ago in Social Studies.

Students need to continue to read for 20 minutes each night and record the title in their planner.  This is part of their study habits and daily routine which are assessed and reported on the progress report each grading cycle.

WRITING

This week we will introduce our first writing genre study, personal narrative. We will spend the next few weeks sharing examples of personal narratives and noticing and naming the parts of a narrative.  This week we will focus on learning the vocabulary for those parts of a narrative (setting the stage, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution).

WORD WORK

Spelling words came home last Wednesday.  This Tuesday, 9/23, spelling spirals are due.  They should hold your child's spelling homework.  They have had a week to complete 8pts of spelling assignment choices on the spelling menu. On Wednesday, 9/24 students will have their first spelling test.  Since this is our first week to test, there will not be a spelling grade on the progress report.  New spelling words will be introduced and go home on Wednesday, October 1.

SOCIAL STUDIES

This week we will learn about HCE's Leadership Council.  Students will have a chance to notice and nominate classmates whom demonstrate the COUGAR CODE.  We will combine those nominations and then elect a representative for our homeroom class.  We will use this real world example to guide our study and learning about voting.  We will close up the week by learning about our local government and comparing our mayor and city council to the roles of our school principal and leadership council!

Update from Mrs. Ford

It's December!

This is a busy week, so I hope everyone had a very restful holiday.  Our family counted you and your family in our blessings over the Thanksgiving break!  We are so fortunate to be part of such an amazing school.

LANGUAGE ARTS
Spelling
The HCE Spelling Week is on Thursday, December 5.  Information went home in the Tuesday Newsday folders about 3 weeks ago to allow student the opportunity to practice and sign up for early morning workshops.  Students are required to participate in the classroom bee.  I will, as always, stress that this is a learning opportunity.  Not all of us are SUPPER spellers (do you see what I did there)-- but everyone will be allowed the opportunity to see what a spelling bee looks and feels like.
Since we will be focusing on the spelling bee, there will NOT be any individualized spelling lists this week.

Reading
We have been working on reading and producing plays.  Students have learned new vocabulary like: narrator, actor, characters, setting, stage directions and dialogue.  
We will continue to discuss drama or plays but will be focusing on poetry as well.  Please NOTE that your child will be bringing home a poetry worksheet to complete every night this week.  I encourage you to talk to your child about each of the poems.  We will add more vocabulary to our ever expanding repertoire.  
Be ready to discuss the following terms:

• rhythm -  the beat or cadence of poetry Example:  But soft! What light through your window breaks?
• stanza-part of a poem that is made up of lines that are put together in a particular pattern
• imagery- words used to create a picture in the reader's mind
• narrative poem- a poem that tells a story.  some narrative poems are myths.  narrative poems may rhyme, but do not have to.
• line- a row of words in a poem
• rhyme -   two or more words which match in the same last sound  Example: cat/bat  or  flew/grew
• repetition – using a key word several times through a poem  
• free verse – a flowing poem that does NOT have a particular pattern
• alliteration- words in a poem that are placed near each other and start with the same sound

Your child will need to complete the poem practice and 

read for 20 minutes each night this week. 

We will NOT have spelling homework, 

so the time dedicated to homework should balance out.

Writing
We are working hard to finish up our narratives.  
Students have also explored using figurative language to write landform poetry.  
After we consume more poetry, students will be given opportunity to write a variety of poems.
Students will also start working in small groups to research a cultural holiday.  They will work with their groups to take notes, and organize a presentation to teach the class about their learning the week before Winter Break.  Please let me and your student know if you will be leaving early that week.  We want to make sure that he or she gets the chance to contribute to the group project.

SOCIAL STUDIES
Map Skills
Last week we used our knowledge about landforms to jump into our work in map skills.  We looked over a variety of landform maps.  This week we will review map skill vocabulary on Monday.  On Tuesday and Wednesday we will learn how to read and use a grid map.  On Friday, students will start on their grid map project.  They will get to design a city of their very own and put some of our new found map skills to use!

Update from Mrs. Ford

Language Arts

Reading

This week in reading, we will start to talk about using context clues when we read to help us determine the meaning of unfamiliar words.  Students will learn a variety of "clues" that good writers often include to help readers make meaning of what's in the story.  We will be using non-fiction this week as begin.

In small groups, students will be reading non-fiction and poetry with me.  In these groups we will be working on a variety of reading topics depending on what your child and their group needs.  I have looked over our benchmark data and will be targeting children's needs.  

Writing

We will focus on developing strong leads this week in our work with personal narratives.  

Last week, students completed postcards to friends and family describing an imaginary vacation.  This writing was integrated with our social studies curriculum.  Students included new learning about how landforms, location and climate can change the activities we choose and the way we dress when we are on vacation.

Spelling

Spelling groups will continue this week.  Please look for new words to come home on Monday nights.  Students have Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to complete 8 points on their spelling menus.  The DESK fairy showed up after school on Friday and awarded spelling homework coupons to student's with a clean and organized desk.  If your student has earned a coupon, he or she may staple it into the spelling spiral in place of 4 points of homework.

Social Studies

Geography

Click on the link below to check out this cool new rap and song we've been singing to help us remember the different types of landforms.

http://youtu.be/7v7R2bALbgI

We will continue to learn about landforms.  This week we will start thinking of various ways to describe landforms and bodies of water.  We will read the book, I AM THE OCEAN. It will serve as our mentor test as we begin to create LANDFORM POETRY using personification!

10/28-11/1 Language Arts and Social Studies

LANGUAGE ARTS

Reading

We are still reading non-fiction.  This week we will focus on the facts located in non-fiction texts.  Students will learn to distinguish fact from opinion.  They will also work this week to determine if facts read are important or interesting.  This is a hard concept for third graders.  When most third graders read a fact, if they are interested in the topic, they judge the fact to be important.

Please remember that your child should read nightly for 20 minutes.  They are required to record the title and genre in their third grade planner.

Writing

We will create a narrative criteria chart this week as we start to dissect narratives to find out what makes a narrative interesting and good.  Students will also work with a partner to reproduce a narrative.  Reproduction is like putting puzzle pieces together without looking at the picture.  You have to pay attention to what you know about structure and patterns to make the puzzle (story) make sense. 

Spelling

We had last week OFF from spelling.  This week, your third grader should bring home NEW words on Monday.  8 points for the spelling menu is due on Thursday.  We will test on Friday.

SOCIAL STUDIES

Landforms

We are starting a new unit in Social Studies, Geography.  Our geography unit is made up of two parts, landforms and map skills. We will start the unit with a look at landforms.  This week we will review many landforms that are, hopefully, familiar to our students.  Our BIG idea in social studies is that our daily life is affected by the land surrounding us.  When we plan vacations, what we pack, what we do, and our travel are all determined by the land and water features surrounding our destination.  

Some of our upcoming vocabulary will be:

Geography-the study of Earth’s features

Landform- natural features, or shapes, of the land including mountains, valleys, plains, plateaus, etc.

Climate- the kind of weather a place has over a long period of time

Human Feature- something that people add to the landscape, such as a building

     Adapt- change to fit the environment   

Update from Mrs. Ford

Language Arts

In Reading this week, we will start our study on Non-Fiction.  We will use non-fiction resources focused on BATS for the next few weeks as an added bonus to our study on non-fiction texts. As adults, we take for granted the many features a non-fiction text grants us as we read.  Third graders will be learning to identify and discuss the purpose of various text features over the next few weeks.  We will be creating an anchor chart similar to this one from the blog, Second Grade Style.

http://secondgradestyle.blogspot.com/2011/10/teaching-text-features.html 

Last week was fun, but we have some catch-up to do in writing.  We will begin critiquing narrative pieces this week.  Students will create their own lists of what narratives may have and must have to make them an entertaining and informative piece for a reader.  

We have parent/teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday of this week.  Since Thursday and Friday will be half days, we will NOT have spelling words this week.  Please look for new spelling words to come home on MONDAY, OCTOBER 28.

We took our first social studies test last week.  We will spend time in Social Studies this week focusing on daily topics associated with RED RIBBON WEEK.  HCE commits to being drug-free (alcohol, to

bacco, and drugs) by accepting and signing the pledge card at school and home with a parent

Monday, Oct 21:   Wear RED to celebrate red ribbon week.

Tuesday, Oct 22: Wear your favorite Sports Team Shirt

Wednesday, Oct 23: Wear crazy socks or shoes.  Go crazy against drugs!

Thursday, Oct 24: Join the fight against drugs and Wear CAMO!

Friday, Oct 25: Wear a hat or fun hair accessories to school!  Hats off to healthy living!

an update from Mrs. Ford

Reading
In Reading this week we will be look at genre and theme.  We will review some of the books we have shared aloud to determine what text evidence can help us determine a book's theme.  Students will then read fables in partners and independently to find evidence and determine theme.  We will use this same text evidence strategy to determine the genre of a book.  Students should be able to notice and name features of various genres (Mystery, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Historical Fiction, Autobiography, Biography, Informational, Traditional and Poetry).  

WRITING
As we continue to work in the genre of personal narrative, we will continue to consume examples (text and student work).  We will also look this week at critiquing personal narratives.  What things make a personal narrative EXCELLENT or not so great.  We will work as a class to create a criteria chart of the things we think EXCELLENT narratives need.

SPELLING

Please remember that they are responsible for completing 8 points and turning in their homework on Thursday mornings.  

SOCIAL STUDIES

In class, we will begin talking about how the United States government is set up.  Be ready... this week we will talk about how we have a local, state and federal government.  Please continue at home talking with your kids about the three branches of government, elections, and leaders at each level of our government.  There is a RED review sheet coming home today.  Our first Social Studies test on Community and Government will be on October 16.

LA and SS 9/24-9/28

Reading
In Reading this week we will be diving into the word of character traits and character development.  Good readers notice how a character may change throughout a story.  We will begin the week by brainstorming a list of character traits.  What words can we use to describe how the character is acting and feeling?  Then, we will review some books we have read to see if we can find text evidence to support a character's personality trait.  As the week progresses, students will look for this text support in their DEAR time (independent reading) book. 

Writing

Nouns ate our lunch last week!  We spent some time backtracking and thinking about what makes a noun a common or proper noun.  Therefore, this week we will introduce our first writing genre study, personal narrative.  We will spend the next few weeks sharing examples of personal narratives and noticing and naming the parts of a narrative.  This week we will focus on learning the vocabulary for those parts (setting the stage, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution).

Spelling

Please remember that they are responsible for completing 8 points and turning in their homework on Thursday mornings.  Students may complete any assignment on the menu they wish.  If they choose to write their words 3 times this week, they may only use that assignments once this week to get 2 of the 8 points.  

Social Studies

We will focus this week on identifying specific people who have demonstrated qualities of a good citizen.  We will focus on the lives and work of Helen Keller, Ruby Bridges, Jane Addams, and Clara Barton.  After we learn about the lives and work of these four women, students will create a billboard to display their understanding of how these women have changed our society.  

This week we will also work on electing our LEADERSHIP COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE.  We will discuss qualities needed in a leadership council representative and the duties and responsibilities that go along with this leadership position.  Students will create a jot down list and nominate classmates.  By the end of the week, we will narrow our list down to three candidates   Those candidates will have the weekend to complete an application form and write a speech.  We will listen to their speeches next week and vote using a secret ballot!