MCGHEE'S MESSAGES
9/8-12/14
IMPORTANT UPDATES
9/18 at 6:00 is the kick off for Watch D.O.G.'s, this is a program to increase dad's involvement in our school and our children's lives. It does not have to be a dad, it can be an uncle, grandfather, etc. We want to to see the wonderful men in our community come and impact our children. The meeting will be held in the cafeteria. Please check the PTA website for more information if you missed the flyer that went home.
#RESPECT OSE has officially launched our respect theme for the year! We had a whole school assembly and a teacher flash mob! Fun! Each grade level will be taking a letter from the word respect and will build a project to reinforce what respect looks like. Our letter is P=partner. Look for updates on our project soon.
MONDAY 9/15 International Dot Day-We will be reading the book The Dot and Ish by Peter Reynolds. Please wear polka dots, bring a circle shaped snack (any volunteers for donut holes??, if so reply to all on the email to let us know) and come ready to make our mark! It is going to be a fun day!:)
WISH LIST A couple of things would make life nice here in Room 220: colored pens (gel or otherwise), magnetic tape, ziploc sandwhich bags, and (if there is such a thing) black copy paper, pink copy paper, yellow copy paper and orange copy paper. If you are out and about and find any of these items CHEAP, we would love to use them in class.
If you aren't following us on Twitter you are missing out! We post pictures of things we are doing, comment on our days and would love to make it a daily, on going conversation with YOU! Please ask a teenager to help you get your account started and follow us at @mcghee_rm220. A fun way to stay connected!
PE is on Friday so wear tennis shoes.
We will be planting in the garden on Thursday at 8:30 (I think??) so dress accordingly.
Gummy Bear Experiment
Painting: The Arnolfini Portrait by Jan van Eyck
Teacher Flash Mob #RESPECT
Our Days...
Language Arts-We have continued to work on making connections to the books we read to enhance our comprehension. The kids now must evaluate a book for Text-to-Self, Text-to-Text, and Text-to-World connections. Please reinforce this at home as you read with them, ask them about how they are connecting to the pages they read to make sense of, understand more deeply and remember well. This is the whole point of reading! Otherwise, its a waste of time. Here is an exerpt from an article on some reading tips for you at home:
Parent Tips on Learning to Read #6
An excerpt from the phonics webinar by Kimberly Oliver Burnim, 2006 National Teacher of the Year and a Senior Curriculum Advisor at ABCmouse. com:
Parent Question: How do I help my child to read fluently?
Answer: To read fluently means to read words expressively and smoothly. Children who are not fluent read choppily and word-for-word. This can affect their comprehension, because they don’t remember what they have read by the time they reach the end of a sentence. Reading fluently is an important skill.
To help your child learn to read fluently, one of the most important things you can do is to regularly read aloud to your child so that you’re modeling the type of reading you want your child to do. For example, if you’re changing your voice for different characters, your child will know that he or she needs to do the same. If a book that you’re reading has text features such as bold print, and you decide to read a bolded word loudly, you’re modeling that they, too, can do that while they’re reading. Another way to develop fluency is to have your child read a book over and over again. Children tend to become fluent readers after reading the same thing many times. They know when to pause, when to speed up, and when to slow down. As they listen to themselves read more and more fluently, this also helps to build their confidence.
To learn more about how ABCmouse. com can help your child build a stronger educational foundation, please visit our website.
Science-We continued learning science vocabulary such as infer, measurement, observe, etc. We put these words into actions by investigating gummy bears dry, then in water, vinegar, baking soda and salt water. We then of course, got to eat some fresh ones! That may have been the best part. :) More messy fun is ahead! I LOVE science...