May 20, 2013


"Sum"ative night is May 21st from 5:30 to 7:00.  Please plan to come and stay for the entire time.
Thank you to our volunteers who have already signed up to help us for a 30 minute shift.  When you enter the school, please check the sign to see if you go to the game classrooms first, or if you go to your child's classroom to look at their work.  Students will have work to show you from project group this quarter in their orange folders.  We studied the American Revolution and we also learned about life in the original 13 Colonies.  Check out our inventions too!  Ask your child to read you the paper that goes with their invention to learn even more information.  Please take a look at portfolios which contain work samples from the entire year.  Orange project group folders, inventions and portfolios can go home with you.  Please join us for a martial arts performance from 6:30 - 7:00.


Mrs. Sullivan's reading class does not have any spelling or dictation this week or next week.
We are finishing our centers from the stories Lon Po Po  and Little Red Riding Hood.  Ask your
child to compare the two stories and to explain differences and similarities to you.

Mrs. Sullivan's math class is reviewing math facts and measurement.  We are also taking some end of the year assessments.

Mrs. Caruthers' & Ms. Gonyea's Reading:

READING:  Half-Chicken, a Mexican folktale.  
Spelling words:  Prefixes - /un/, /re/, /dis/
undo, redo, dislike, react, refill, uneasy, reread, unlike, remove, dishonest, unhappy, rebuild, displease, uncover, rewrite, recycle, disagree, review, unclear, disorder 
Vocabulary words:  suggested, enormous, exclaimed, swift, vain, overheard 

MATH: We started sharing some multiplication strategies - drawing pictures to represent __ groups of ___ = ____, repeated addition, and skip counting.  Please review and practice basic subtraction facts at home. 





Mrs. Fahey's Math

This week we're starting a unit on measurement.  The class will be working on using a ruler correctly and measuring with non-standard tools (foot steps, paper clips, etc).
We have also been working on two-digit subtraction with regrouping.  Practicing subtraction facts up to sums of 18 will help the students with this concept.

Mrs. Fahey's Reading
For the next two weeks the class will be working on the following spelling rule:
 

K&C Spelling Rules

k 

before e, i, or y
keg, kid, milky

c before a, o, u, or any consonant
cat, cot, pact

  
 The kids will not need to memorize the rule, they will need to be able to identify when to use c or k with the aid of a classroom chart.  For example, I will give the students a word with the /k/ sound missing (__at).  Using the the chart they should be able to see that to make the /k/ sound before the letter a they would use a c.
The spelling test will be a "fill in the missing letter" format.

This will be the last spelling pattern of the year and the test will be on Friday May 17th.  

We are finished with the weekly sight words for the year.  I will be sending home the complete list of sight words for you to continue practicing.  The students should not be sounding them out, they should be able to read them without hesitation.  Putting these words on flashcards is a good way to practice them.