Mrs. Cormack's Class Newsletter
For the Week of September 16th-20th
Week in Review
What We Will Be Learning About This Week...
What you can do at home: Ask your student about what he/she knows about graphing. See if they can tell you about the different types of graphs (bar, picture, tally), and how we can draw conclusions based on the data.
Reading: The focus in reading will be connections in the beginning of the week then we will move into setting later in the week. Students will make connections to their own experiences, to ideas in texts, and to the larger community and discuss textual evidence. Students will ask relevant questions, seek clarification, and locate facts and details about stories, and compare texts and support answers with evidence from the text. Students will describe similarities and differences in the setting of several works by the same author. **I will be assessing students individual reading levels this week. I will be sharing this information with you during conferences.
What you can do at home: Get your student thinking about connections. Ask them when they read to self if they have any connections to the text. Quiz them about text-to-text connections (when one book reminds you of another), text-to-world connections (when something in a book reminds you of something in our world, like weather, history, or current events), or finally text-to-media connections (when something in a book reminds you of a movie or play you've seen, song you've heard, or website you've visited).
Writing/Language Arts: In writing and language arts this week, we will begin "Work on Words" by having a whole-class word sort for practice. I will introduce how we do "spelling" in our class by have a list of words and the students will practice sorting them into categories. Then we will practice word work activities as a whole group. This week will be a segway into the different spelling groups we will have in class the following week. We will also focus on punctuation, namely the use of periods, question marks, and exclamation points. We will go back into our Writing Folders to check our punctuation.
What you can do at home: Have your student identify the different types of sentences he/she has learned in class. Ask them to find examples of "telling" sentences (sentences that use periods), "asking" sentences (using question marks), and "strong feeling" sentences (that use exclamation points).
Social Studies: This week we will be flipping back to social studies for celebrate freedom week. Students will understand the functions of government, and how we celebrate freedom in America. Constitution day is officially Tuesday, Sept. 17. On Friday, Sept. 20 we will have a Freedom Walk after assembly where we will be assignment a specific color to wear (red, white or blue) - more information will be coming in the following days.
What you can do at home: Talk with your student about the government helps to keep us safe, manages conflict, and establishes order. Compare and contrast how rules at school and home are alike and different from the laws of our state/country. Also talk about our personal freedoms; we have certain rights just by being a citizen of this country.
Spotlight Stallion
On the Calendar
Monday, September 16th... Homework Due
Friday, Sept, 20th....Assembly and Celebrate Freedom Parade
Wednesday, Sept. 25th....Early Release DayWednesday, Oct. 2d..... Mrs. Cormack out for Math Training, Picture Day
Friday, Oct. 4th....Mrs. Cormack out a half day to see family :)
Thursday, Oct. 10th...TAG Parent Info Night
Tidbits from the Teacher
Parent Conferences - Confirmation Forms that show your official date and time for your Parent Conference will go home this week. Look for it in your student's Take Home Folder. You only need to return the Confirmation Form if you need to change the date of the conference. I tried to schedule as many of your 1st choices as I could, but there were A LOT of you who signed up for the exact same date and time! Again, THANK YOU for your cooperation and patience!
Homework - Always due on Mondays. Please have your student wait to turn it in until Monday. They can keep it in their Take Home Folder if they finish it early.
TFK Magazine and Class T-Shirts - THANK YOU to everyone for turning in the TFK money on time! Yay! Also, please be on the lookout for Class T-Shirt orders. I know that is one more thing to buy, but please keep in mind that we will wear these shirts a lot, especially on Fridays, Field Trips, etc. They are also really good quality shirts and make for great class pictures! It is not mandatory to buy one, but I would really like everyone to have one.
Birthday Book Club- The library has gone electronic. Please use the link provided to complete your child's birthday book form: https://sites.google.com/a/roundrockisd.org/sommer-library/library-programs/birthday-book-club
e Backpack Please check out eBackpack for electronic copies of flyers and handouts from the school and PTA!
https://drive.google.com/a/roundrockisd.org/folderview?id=0B6MTD-CnFpCYQVcxcGlnQmpOSXc&usp=sharing#
Public Service Announcement
Library!
Library!
Read Aloud
Mrs. Kelly and Ashwin
Golden Plate Award
Contact Me
Email: eleanor_cormack@roundrockisd.org
Website: http://sommer.roundrockisd.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=7582&pageId=203536
Location: Room C223
Phone: (512) 704-0689