Miss Branchick's Newsletter
January 4-8, 2016
Holiday Party- update!
If you are still able to send something in you may do so! I understand it might be an inconvenience with having to wait until after break.
*To modify our schedule to accommodate for our party, we will have a shortened reading block. All lessons will still be taught but small groups will not meet.
Change in Daily Schedule
7:25-7:50 am Morning Routine/Breakfast
7:50-8:30 am Writing
8:30-8:35 am Snack/Restroom Break
8:38-9:23 am Specials
9:25-9:30 am Restroom Break
9:30-10:30 am Math
- 9:30-11:10 Extended Math on M/W/F
10:30-11:10 am Social Sciences (only on T/Th)
11:15-11:35 am Lunch
11:35-11:55 am Recess
12:00-12:40 pm RTI/Reading Stations
12:45-2:15 pm 90-minute reading block
2:15-2:25 pm Afternoon Routine/Dismissal
Reading Class Changes
The exception being with students who are flagged High Ability; they will remain with Miss Twyman and her homeroom students will be shared with other classrooms.
This week in room 506
Math-
Miss Branchick's Math Class-
Unit 11- Customary Measurement
Monday- Vocab/Lesson 14-1 and 14-2
Tuesday- Take the SMI
Wednesday- Lesson 14-3 and 14-4
Thursday- Lesson 14-5 and Measurement Real World Problems
Friday- Assessment
Standards:
3.M.1- I can estimate/measure for mass, volume; solve real-world problems with mass/volume.
3.M.2- I can choose/use units/tools to estimate/measure length, weight, and temperature.
Social Studies:
Chapter 3- Communities Build a Nation- Planning with the End in Mind.
Tuesday, Jan. 5th- Lesson 1- America's First People
Thursday, Jan 7th- Lesson 2- Early Explorers
Tuesday, Jan 12th- Lesson 3- Early Spanish Communities
Thursday, Jan 14th- Lesson 4- Early French Communities
Tuesday, Jan 19th- Lesson 5- Early English Communities
Thursday, Jan 21st- Lesson 6- Creating a New Nation
Tuesday, Jan 26th- Review
Thursday, Jan 28th- Assessment
Standards:
3.3.11- Describe how Native Americans and early settlers adapted to and modified the environment.
3.1.2- Explain why and how the local community was established and identify its founders and early settlers
3.1.4- Give examples of people, events and developments that brought changes to your community and region
3.1.5- Create timelines that identify events in regions of the state
3.2.2- Know the significance of fundamental democratic principles and ideals
Writing-
We will be starting our Persuasive Unit- also called Opinion or Argumentative. This unit will last for the month of January.
Standards:
3.W.1- I can write routinely over a variety of time frames.
3.W.2.1- I can write neatly in print or cursive.
3.W.3.1- I can write persuasive compositions that:
-state the opinion in an intro statement/paragraph
-support the opinion with reasons in an organized way
-connect opinion and reasons using words/phrases
provide a concluding statement/paragraph
Reading-
Unit 3 Week 3-
- Comprehension Strategy: Summarize
- Comprehension Skill: Main Idea and Key Details
- Genre: Literature- Expository Text
- Vocabulary Strategy: Suffixes
- Phonics: r-Controlled Vowels /ar/ /ir/
Standards:
3.RN.2.2- I can determine the main idea and key details of a text.
3.RV.2.4- I can use knowledge of suffixes to determine the meaning of words.
Spelling will continue this week, with the exception of a pretest. Students will receive spelling words tomorrow morning, along with a spelling choice board of suggested activities they can work on. We will take a spelling test on Friday morning.
Spelling- r-Controlled Vowels
shared
square
careful
fairly
stairs
wear
there
where
career
steer
nearly
weird
gear
beard
here
Vocabulary
amount- The amount of something is how much of that thing there is.
astronomy- Astronomy is the study of the stars and planets.
globe- The globe is the world.
solar system- The solar system includes Earth and the planets that move around the sun.
support- If you support someone or something, you provide what they need.
surface- The surface of something is the outside of it.
temperature- The temperature of something tells how hot or cold that thing is.
warmth- When you feel the warmth of the sun, you feel its heat.
SRI/SMI
After all students have completed the tests, updated score sheets will be going home.
Homework Changes
My expectations will be explained to students tomorrow but I want to outline them below.
-Reading- Students will have reading homework if they do not finish a reading assignment in class, this could be station work or an independent reading reflection. If students do not have assignments to complete, they should read for 20 minutes. They may read anything they want, in their lexile range or not.
-Math- Students will have math homework if they do not finish a math assignment in class, this could be station work or lesson work from their packets. No matter what, students should be working on math facts each night for 5-10 minutes.
-Spelling- Students will have one spelling station a week during our RTI block to focus on spelling. All other practice they want to do should be done at home. The best spelling practice is to use their words in sentences/stories and not just writing them three times each over and over. A spelling choice board will continue to come home with students and as the year progresses, will become more challenging.
Scholastic Book Orders
Orders can be submitted any time you or I place an order because I have free shipping this year =)
Websites
- ScootPad
- TenMarks
- Acuity
- Tumblebooks (username northelementary / password books)
- MasteryConnect
- Symbaloo (username kbranchick@danville.k12.in.us / password room506) - this website has links to kid approved websites we use at school)
- IXL - a great website for students to practice skills from any subject!
Tumblebooks is registered for grades K-4 so North and South share.