Let's start with Word Study.
On Mondays (from now on) your child will take a pretest...this pretest will have a spelling pattern focus or affix (suffixes and prefixes) focus. Then, based on the results of the pretest, your child will make his/her own list based on his/her own needs...the list is 10 words and it is put on a piece of paper called the "Word Study Contract."
Homework on Mondays is always "write your words" in your WORD STUDY COMPOSITION BOOK (in a few moments you'll understand why writing them in the composition book is so important)...they can write in bubble letters, write the words in rainbow letters, write the words in cursive, make a code for their words...any way that makes them think about the words and creates a copy of the words in their comp books.
On Tuesday and Wednesday your child's homework is to write 10 MEANINGFUL sentences...5 a day, or if they choose, all 10 on one of the two days...I give them two days because I want them spending quality time writing fantastic sentences. These sentences are turned in on Thursdays...in order to be considered "meaningful' they must use excellent word choice, be interesting, and use the word study word properly...you will see this develop as the year progresses.
On Thursday the kids are charged with studying...I would like them to do this any way they choose...but I will show them the website, "Spelling City" where they can type in their words and then play games and take a pretest...and I will show them the Zaner Bloser website where they can print out their words in cursive and practice them that way...however a traditional pencil and paper test at home is a great way to know which words need a bit more work!
On Friday the kids will take a test...they do this with a partner, since there are 20 different lists in the classroom...(and now the composition book part from Monday will make sense)...many kids leave their word study lists at home by accident...so if this happens, the composition book is the "back up list"!!
The process sounds crazy, but it is actually a very organized way for each child to have a list that is just right for them...please email me if you are confused on any night and I am happy to help!
NOW...to Daily Language.
On Mondays (from now on) your child will take a pretest...this pretest will have a spelling pattern focus or affix (suffixes and prefixes) focus. Then, based on the results of the pretest, your child will make his/her own list based on his/her own needs...the list is 10 words and it is put on a piece of paper called the "Word Study Contract."
Homework on Mondays is always "write your words" in your WORD STUDY COMPOSITION BOOK (in a few moments you'll understand why writing them in the composition book is so important)...they can write in bubble letters, write the words in rainbow letters, write the words in cursive, make a code for their words...any way that makes them think about the words and creates a copy of the words in their comp books.
On Tuesday and Wednesday your child's homework is to write 10 MEANINGFUL sentences...5 a day, or if they choose, all 10 on one of the two days...I give them two days because I want them spending quality time writing fantastic sentences. These sentences are turned in on Thursdays...in order to be considered "meaningful' they must use excellent word choice, be interesting, and use the word study word properly...you will see this develop as the year progresses.
On Thursday the kids are charged with studying...I would like them to do this any way they choose...but I will show them the website, "Spelling City" where they can type in their words and then play games and take a pretest...and I will show them the Zaner Bloser website where they can print out their words in cursive and practice them that way...however a traditional pencil and paper test at home is a great way to know which words need a bit more work!
On Friday the kids will take a test...they do this with a partner, since there are 20 different lists in the classroom...(and now the composition book part from Monday will make sense)...many kids leave their word study lists at home by accident...so if this happens, the composition book is the "back up list"!!
The process sounds crazy, but it is actually a very organized way for each child to have a list that is just right for them...please email me if you are confused on any night and I am happy to help!
NOW...to Daily Language.
I assign 4th grade Daily Language for my third graders. Daily Language is a combination of skills including use of punctuation, grammar, correct spelling, dictionary skills, analogies, etc. They find the 4th grade level challenging...and this is a good thing...but for many of them, an uncomfortable thing. I want them to become risk takers and learn to be ok with not always knowing everything. They're so accustomed TO knowing everything that I want them to feel the struggle...and then feel good about learning and knowing the next time they will not struggle as much.
Each week there are new skills introduced and previous ones practiced. If they come and ask me a question, I usually give them clues, but I want them to try to make sense of the different skills themselves. Then on Fridays we spend about 25 minutes going over each of the five days, marking ones we got wrong incorrect, discussing the areas that students got wrong, and asking them what they LEARNED that day. I love it when a kid says something like, "Well, I never knew that the end punctuation went INSIDE the quotation marks!" I usually reply with, "And now you do, and I bet next time you see it, you might even remember how to do that!" with a smile.
At the end of the 25 minutes we count up the correct number out of 25 and we celebrate everyone...whether the child got 4 correct or 24 correct. Then the kids set a personal goal...to improve their number correct. Because isn't that what we want from our kids. To do work and then reflect, and then do better? Some kids do not admit how many they got wrong or they make it up because they're embarrassed...my personal goal is to have everyone in our classroom admitting their mistakes by the end of the year...I tell them that if they don't get things wrong, how on earth will I ever find things to teach them!! I want them to take pride in their work...correct or incorrect, because incorrect means they have something new to learn. And as I tell them, that's exciting to me because they come knowing SO much.
Again, if you have questions...don't hesitate to reach out.
BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT
Parents are invited to meet teachers, learn about procedures, expectations and curriculum for the year.
Doors will open at 6:30pm to allow parents to sign up in the cafeteria for November conference times.
In Classrooms - 7:00-7:05 - Opening Remarks from Adminstration/PTA
Session 1: 7:05 - 7:30
Session 2: 7:35-8:00
Two sessions have been set up for families that have more than one child.
This is an informational meeting for parents only.
I copied this directly from the FIND OUT FIRST email that went out today...if you are not signed up on FIND OUT FIRST...you will want to do that. Signing up takes about 3 min...and its well worth it...all school news is delivered in this manner. If you need help signing up, I can help!!
At Back to School Night I will go over basic things...and the presentation is SO quick...so if you don't get a question answered that you are curious about, feel free to drop me an email that evening and I will get back to you the next day.
I am SOOOO enjoying your children. They are truly a delight to teach and I'm so excited to see where we're headed!
