Perseverance
“It always seems impossible until it's done.”
PTA Meeting at 6:30 on Thursday, December 4
The Shadow Collector's Apprentice
Throughout the book we have been tracking what we read by using a "climax thermometer" and writing a one sentence summary after each chapter. At the conclusion of the book the students will put all of their sentences together to create a summary for the book. It is the first time I have done something like this, but so far it has been quite beneficial for the students to help comprehend what is going on in the book.
Early Dismissal December 10
Writing
Next up is writing from the perspective of a rock. How the rock forms, where it goes and then stays for the rest of its "life." We will also be completing our summary writing from our read-aloud book, The Shadow Collector's Apprentice.
Guided Reading Stations
We have been working our way through academic language skills and finding the main idea. The goal for the class is to be able to read a paragraph or two and then be able to summarize the meaning of the text in 10 words (or less) only using words that come from the text that has been read.
A good skill to work on this at home is reading aloud fluently. It becomes much easier to comprehend a text if a child can read fluently. The only way to know if your child is reading and comprehending fluently is to practice this skill. In class we will practice this skill by reading unknown texts out loud with a partner twice a week.
1 - Spelling City - activities to help students practice the spelling words of the week. (available at home)
2 - Study Island - activities to help students become more familiar with standardized questions. (available at home)
3 - Mr. Fritz - varies, this week we will be discussing and identifying academic language and how to discover the meaning of unknown words.
4 - Independent reading - students read and are able to take AR tests.
5 - Google Classroom - students are given a prompt to discuss topics with peers from their groups. (available at home)
6 - Close reading/grammar - activity that works on close reading techniques (newsela.com) or working through the grammar book.
If you have any questions about accessing any of these sites, please let me know! These sites will be under the class website very soon.
Students should be taking an AR test at LEAST once every 2 weeks
Fuzzy's Taco Night
Monday, Dec 8, 2014, 05:00 PM
Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Wornall Road, Kansas City, MO, United States
Winter Break December 20 - January 4
Learning Graphs and Reading Goals
Reading Goals - this is your child's "reading log" done via google drive. They also set their own personal goals that I discussed with you at conferences. They should be keeping track of these throughout the week. If they cannot fill out at home, I will always provide time at school if necessary.
Learning Graph - this is how they performed in class throughout the week. This should be a talking piece at home and a great discussion point as you can see how well your child listened, worked, focused and was engaged during the day.
BOTH slips need to be signed and turned back in on the following Monday. The class came up with consequences if either is not signed and returned:
Monday - 5 minutes of recess
Tuesday - 10 minutes of both recesses and a call home
Wednesday - 2 weeks of lunch by themselves and a call home (they thought a month, I changed it to 2 weeks)
We are starting to work on your child making the decision on what they have earned for each time frame. This helps hold them accountable and creates a dialogue of where they can improve or continue to work consistently.
Soil, rocks and minerals
Math
This week we are beginning our topic on division with larger numbers that do not have a remainder. By the end of the topic your child should be able to divide large numbers (25,000) by a smaller number (5) without a remainder. It is essential that your child knows their basic facts or this concept will become confusing.
We have been talking about the building of a structure and how it is formed from the base up. The same can be said for math, reading or writing skills. Pertaining to math though knowing the basic facts fluently helps your child spend less time on the fundamentals of the problem and more time working and double checking answers.
We will always be working with basic math facts. Make sure that your child is practicing 5 minutes a night, as over time this really adds up. Their goal is to know 20 correct answers in a minute by the end of the year.
Spelling Words
Remind
Need to contact me?
Email: mfritz@center.k12.mo.us
Location: 10781 Oak Street, Kansas City, MO, United States
Phone: 816.612.4218
Twitter: @frolicknoxen