Tax Credit Support-Queen of Arts

To Kindergarten and 1^st grade families:

We are holding a grade-level team competition called “Royalty for a Day” to see who can bring in the most tax credits to support Archway Arete’s extracurricular clubs and sports.  If Kindergarten and 1^st grade bring in the most tax credits, I will be crowned “Queen of Arts” for a day when we return from our holiday break.  As the Queen, I plan on holding an Activity Extravaganza complete with games and dancing for all my royal subjects!  I will also hand out a special treat at the end of the event.  I appreciate all your help in asking friends, neighbors, and family to help support Archway Arete and help us win this competition!  I cannot wait to become Queen!

 

Most Gratefully, Miss Weddle, Queen of Arts

Week 19!

Good Morning,

Important Announcements:

 -Winter break starts on Thursday, December 22^nd through Sunday, January 8^th.  School will resume on Monday, January 9^th.

-Quarter 2 Evaluations will be sent to parents on Friday, January 6^that noon.

Here is what to expect this week: 

Literature:

This week we will finish our Frog and Toad unit with an assessment on Monday.  Tuesday and Wednesday we will be reading the Little Red Riding Hood and Lon Po Po stories. Students will discuss the similarities and differences between the two stories and make puppets!

Spalding:

Monday: they, would, could, should, any, many, city, only ,where, week, weak

Tuesday: Review

Wednesday: Spelling test, WPR test, Reading test

Writiing:

This week we will be reading excerpts from The Light Princess.  Students will listen to passages and retell important details from the story.  We will also work on basic conventions of a proper sentence and rewrite model sentences.

Grammar:

Students will practice writing sentences using adjectives, subject noun, verbs, and adverbs.  They will review the five parts of a sentence, and on Tuesday they will work independently to create two sentences for a grade.

History:

This week in History we will learn about Jesus’ last week of life on earth.  We will learn about Palm Sunday, the crucifixion, and the resurrection.  On Wednesday we will celebrate our studies of Judaism and Christianity in our end-of-the-year party, with special foods from each religion, along with crafts and stories.

Science:

This week we will review the scientific method with a candy cane experiment! We will predict what will happen if we put candy canes in cups of vinegar, warm water, and cold water. After the experiment we will make observations about the effect of vinegar, warm water, and cold water on the candy canes.

Math:

Over the next three days we will spend time reviewing addition and subtraction with some very festive winter activities. This will help us make sure that we have achieved mastery of adding and subtracting so that we can start off next quarter ready to learn even bigger numbers! 

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Week 18!

Good Morning,

Can you believe it? Our last full week until winter break!

Here's what you can expect:

Math:
This week we will begin reviewing all of our math units from the past two quarters in order to prepare for our final cumulative test. We will start by doing some graphing in class by taking surveys of our favorite things. We will then review how to identify and sort shapes as well as ordinal positions. We will spend the most time working on our math and subtraction concepts in order to reach a level of mastery on our skills. Wednesday will be very exciting because we will go on a math treasure hunt around the school to have some fun and practice solving our math facts!

Science:
This week we will continue to study electricity! We will read Thomas Edison’s biography and discuss his virtues and inventions. We will conduct an experiment using magnets, and use what we discover to learn about conductors and insulators. We will also learn about electrical circuits. We will also review how to be safe with electricity and why that is important. Finally, we will list the many ways that electrical power affects our lives and how our lives would be different if we didn’t use electricity.

History:

Christianity is the next religion we will be discussing this week.  Students will learn key elements of this religion and will learn why Jesus is a key figure to Christians.

Literature

Students will continue to read the Frog and Toad All Year  book and will be able to retell the story while highlighting important details.

Poem:

Table Manners – Recite on Friday!

Spalding:

Monday: mine, chair, forgot, guess, hang meat, mouse, phone, store, supper

Tuesday: Through, toe, became, brother, rain, keep start, mail, male, female

Wednesday: eye, I glass, party, upon, two, twin, twice, twelve, twenty, between

Thursday: Write each word once with markings.

Friday: Test

Writing:

Students will be able to understand the basic  conventions of a proper sentence and rewrite a model sentence.

The story we will be using is Winnie-the-Pooh.

Grammar:

We will review parts of a sentence, and then work as a team to develop complete sentences.  We will also review our adverb and adjective jingles.

Have a great week!

Week 17!

Good Afternoon,

Here is what is coming up this week:

Idiom:

The more the merrier!

Poem:

Table Manners by Burgess

Writing:

Students will create proper sentences, and rewrite model sentences using the story The Reluctant Dragon.

Grammar:

Students will be introduced to adjectives, and we recognize that adjectives make a noun or pronoun more interesting.  They also modify a noun or pronoun. 

Literature:

We will begin our last book in The Frog and Toad series, Frog and Toad All Year.  We will discuss the virtues of courage. Perseverance, wisdom, humility and friendship in the stories.

Spelling:

Monday: life, here, car, word, ev er y, un der, most, made, said, says, say

Tuesday: work, our, more, when, from, form, wind, wind, print, air

Wednesday: Fill, a long, lost, name, room, hope, same, glad, with

Thursday: Write each word once with markings.

Friday: Spelling Test

Science:

We will be learning about atoms and electricity this week! We will learn about the main parts of an atom and build a model to show protons, electrons, and neutrons. We will also use balloons to make discoveries about static electricity and read about Benjamin Franklin and his lightning experiment. Finally, students will be introduced to current electricity and circuits.

History:

This week in History we will continue our study of Judaism.  Students will learn about the celebration called Hanukkah, and will read a story regarding the background of the holiday.  Many other celebrations will be discussed, and then we will make our own menorahs and eat some challah bread!

Math:

This week in math we will continue to work work on measurement. We will learn about capacity, comparing lengths, and measuring using non-standard units such as paperclips and beads. During math centers we will continue to review addition and subtraction. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

1st Grade Field Trip!

On January 17th, the entire 1st grade will take a field trip to the Arizona Museum of Natural History!

The cost for each student, teacher, and chaperone is $10. Each class needs 6 chaperones (we have already had one of our class mom's sign up, leaving 5 sign ups still needed). Please sign up here if you are interested. http://www.signupgenius.com/go/4090f4ea5a72da7f58-1stgrade

We would like to begin collecting money starting this week. Permission slips will also be sent home in the next week or so. We will leave at 8:15 am and return at 1 pm. Students should pack a lunch as we plan to eat together off campus. Please let me know if you have any questions. 

http://arizonamuseumofnaturalhistory.org/

Week 16!

Good Evening,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break filled with much gratitude and relaxation. 

Here is what you can expect this week: 

Math:

This week in math we are moving into our measurement unit! We will be comparing the weights of different objects both in solid and liquid form. We will estimate weights based on the feel and look of an object and we will also use a balance to find exact measurements. We will continue to review our addition, subtraction, and 2D shape concepts throughout the week. 

Science:

This week we will be wrapping up our unit about matter by learning about changes in states of matter. We will complete some experiments to observe melting, freezing, evaporation, and condensation. On Wednesday, we will review for an assessment about the states of matter. Then, students will take review sheets home to study for a quiz on Friday. We will end the week with a fun experiment with Oobleck and discuss whether it is a solid or a liquid!

 

History:

In the the World History and Geography section of our Core knowledge Curriculum, we introduce children to not only ancient civilizations but also to topics in the history of world religions.  Many people who contributed to the Core Knowledge curriculum agreed that religion is a shaping force in the history of civilization and thus should be a part of what our children know about.  In introducing children to the history of world religions, we focus on major symbols, figures, and stories. Our goal is to be descriptive, not prescriptive, and to maintain a sense of respect and balance.  As we share about the symbols, figures, and stories I mention to our scholars that these are practices and beliefs of the people of that religion. If you practice one of our studied religions please feel free to send in any symbols to sharing.

 

This week we will begin our study of the three major monotheistic religions which worship One God.  They are Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.  Our journey begins with Abraham and Moses this week.  We will learn about their faith in God and the promises God made to the Hebrew people.  We will look at maps which show the travels of Abraham as he moved into “The Promised Land”, and retell the story of Moses dealing with Pharaoh in Egypt and the plagues God sent to cause Pharaoh to let the people leave Egypt and return to “The Promised Land.

Literature:

We will continue in  Frog and Toad Together, reading stories about being brave and courageous, and listening to dreams.  There will be a short comprehension check for this book on Friday.

 

Idiom:

Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.

 

Poem:

Table Manners by Burgess

 

Spelling:

 

Monday: gold, read, read, red, fine, can not, May, may, line, left

Tuesday: ship, train, saw, pay, large, near, down, why bill, want

Wednesday: girls, girl, part, still, place, re port, nev er, found, side, kind

 

Phonograms:

g  l  r  w  ai  aw  ir  ou  sh  wh

 

Writing:

Our focus passages this week will be excerpts from Master of All Masters, and The Dog and His Reflection.

 

Grammar:

Students will unscramble sentences and then classify them.  We will ask questions while assisting them in labeling the parts of the sentence. On Friday there will be an assessment to check the student’s understanding of concepts presented thus far.

 

 

 

Week 15!

Good Afternoon,

I hope everyone is excited for this brief two day week! We are going to have so much fun this week with our ancient Egypt party on Monday and fall themed activities on Tuesday.

Here is what to expect:

Literature: This week, we will read chapter 3, “Cookies” from Frog and Toad Together. We will discuss the importance of having will power and determination, and we will also put our own will power to the test!

 

Spalding: There will not be a spelling test this week, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Instead, please practice your phonograms. We will take a graded WPR (written phonogram review) on Tuesday in class.

 

Writing: copy work and narration exercises from The Railway Children

 

Grammar: We will use our question and answer flow to classify and build sentences

History: This week will be a lot of fun with our Egyptian Party, which is the culminating event for our Egyptian Unit.  Tuesday we will have a variety of Thanksgiving learning activities and read a book about the history of the Pilgrims and some of their adventures in the New World.

Math: This week we will finish up our shapes unit by reviewing how to identify and categorize 2D shapes as well as put them into a pattern. We will take our Unit 7 test on Monday. On Tuesday, we will take our units 1-6 cumulative test only after reviewing how to add and subtract within 20 and how to count up and down within 20. We will show courage and rise to the challenge of having two tests! 

Have a very happy thanksgiving! There will be an optional thanksgiving work packet sent home on Tuesday but besides that there is no homework, please enjoy some rest and relaxation.

 

Welcome Mrs. Novak!

Please help me welcome 1A's newest member :) 

"Hello!  My name is Jackie Novak, and I am honored and excited to help with this amazing first-grade classroom within the Great Hearts community. I have worked in higher education for twenty years administratively, teaching undergraduate courses and tutoring/proctoring college admission test prep.  I earned a Bachelor of Science in business management and a Master of Business Administration specializing in human resources management from the University of Phoenix.  I have also completed a mediation certificate.  I am married and have two children in elementary school.  I will positively encourage growth and take excellent care of your little scholar.  I will help them do their best in class every day.  If you have any questions, please let me know at jaflahar@email.phoenix.edu.  I will be helping in the classroom on 11/18, 11/29, 11/30, 12/1, 12/6, and 12/7.  Happy holidays!"

We can't wait to work with her!

Week 14

Good evening,

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend! We have some fun stuff coming up this week:

Literature: This week we will be starting Frog and Toad Together. Please bring in your books on Monday! We will read chapters 1 and 2 this week and discuss different virtues found in each chapter.

Spalding: We have 30 words this week and will test on Friday! Please remember to copy and classify the sentences on the spelling homework! Students must identify the “heart of the sentence”: the subject noun and verb. We have also added in adverbs, so please label these with “adv”.

Monday: noon, think, sister, cast, card, south, deep, inside, blue, post
Tuesday: town, stay, grand, outside, dark, band, game, boat, rest, east
Wednesday: son, sun, help, hard, race, cover, fire, wire, tire, age
Phonograms to study: d, g, n, r, s, ar, ay, ea, ee, oa

Writing: copy work and narration exercises from different poems!

Grammar: We are reviewing nouns, verbs, and adverbs this week. We will also practice classifying sentences using our Shurley English question and answer flow.

Idiom: “Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.”

Poem: “Thanksgiving Day” – We will recite one stanza (of each student’s choice) on Friday!

Math: This will be a very exciting week as we begin working with 2D and 3D shapes! We will learn how to classify shapes based on different attributes. We will also learn how to create and recognize different patterns using shapes. As always, we will continue to review the foundations such as counting, addition, and subtraction. On Wednesday, we will have our third week of math centers, and we will be getting some hands on practice with our shapes, as well as reviewing our addition and subtraction concepts.

History: This week is our final week studying Ancient Egypt. We will review for our assessment on Wednesday, and the students can take those home to study for the test on Thursday. We will finally examine our mummified apples and determine if our hypotheses were correct or not. This should be really fun and amazing for them!

Science: This week we will learn about measurement, finding the length and weight of solids and the volume of liquids. We will use rulers, scales, and measuring cups to compare items around the classroom. First, we will learn about inches, feet, yards, and miles. Then, we will weigh items in ounces and pounds. Finally, we will learn about volume by measuring water in cups, pints, quarts, and gallons.

Our Class Fuzzy Friend

Today we were observing our basil plant from our Ancient Egypt unit, when we noticed we have a new friend! We had noticed several bite marks in different leaves, and we now know why... we have a little green caterpillar who made our plant his home!

If you look closely at the second picture, you will see him hiding underneath the top leaf! How fun!

Spelling Bee Written Winners

Good afternoon!

Everyone did so well on the written portion of our spelling bee today! We were so proud of everyone in 1A! The following people will get to compete in the next round, the oral classroom bee, next week:

1. Nick
2. Brinn
3. Alice
4. Liam
5. Jaimelee
6. Michael
7. Josiah

Congratulations!!

Winter Concert

It is time for our Winter Concert! On November 16th our students will be performing at Higley Center for the Performing Arts located at 4132 E. Pecos Road, Gilbert, AZ 85257. The Kindergarten through 2nd grade concert will begin at 5:30pm with 1st grade students arriving promptly at 5:00pm.

Attire for this concert will be as follows:

Boys: Black pants, white dress shirt, black dress shoes and black socks. Hair should be combed neatly.

Girls: Black skirt, white top, black tights, black closed-toed dress shoes. Hair should be pulled away from the face with no distracting adornment, Please follow the Archway Arete dress code for guidelines on jewelry.

If you have any questions please reach out to Miss. Weddle at jweddle@archwayarete.org

Week 13!

Good Morning! I hope everyone is ready for the fun four day week ahead, here is what we can expect:

Literature: In Literature, we will be finishing up Frog and Toad Are Friends. We will reread chapter 4, “A Swim,” and read and discuss chapter 5, “The Letter”. On Thursday, we will take our first comprehension check over this book. Please bring in Frog and Toad Together by the end of the week to begin reading when we get back from the 3-day weekend!

Spalding: There are only 20 words this week due to the shortened week. We will test on Thursday!

Monday: far, gave, alike, add, brave, corn, dance, dinner, doll, egg

Tuesday: fruit, looks, pick, rich, zoo, zip, zero, seven, forget, happy

Phonograms to practice: c, d, p, v, z, ar, ear, er, or, ui

Writing: Our copy work and narration exercises this week come from The Saturdays.

Grammar: We will be working with adverbs this week! We will review the adverb jingle and discuss its function in sentences. We will also learn how to identify adverbs in sentences, using the question and answer flow.

Idiom: “Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.”

Poem: Thanksgiving Day – We will recite one stanza (of their choosing) the following week!

Math: In math this week we will review how to add and subtract numbers within 20 using our "count back", "count on", and "making 10" strategies. On Wednesday we will have our second round of math centers and we will get up close and personal and use our hands to grow our math skills. At the end of the week we will have our Unit 6 Chapter 2 test and introduce geometrical shapes!

History: Students will learn about how the farmers of the Nile River valley transported their crops to communities along the Nile River.  They will learn how reed boats were made and watch an educational video on the life of the Nile River then, and now. We will also learn how the papyrus tree was used to make paper.

Science: This week in science we will be discovering more about the different states of matter. We will find solids, liquids, and gas in the classroom and discuss the differences between them. We will also make observations about balloons that are filled with air, water, and ice. The class will practice the steps of the scientific method by conducting an experiment using a bottle, baking soda, vinegar, and a balloon. We can’t wait to see what happens when we put those together!

Pictures from our buddy reading with 4th grade during the read-a-thon:

Week 12

Happy Sunday! Tomorrow is our Read-a-thon, and we can't wait to see everyone dressed up as their favorite literary or historical character! We will be exploring all kinds of books and doing many after-reading activities.

Coming up this week:

Literature: We are continuing Frog and Toad Are Friends and will read chapters 2, 3, and 4 this week.

Spalding: 30 words in class this week – Test on Friday! Note: Monday's homework will be optional, and we will only test over Tuesday's and Wednesday's words.

Monday: came, Sunday, show, Monday, moon, yet, find, give, new, letter
Tuesday: take, Mr., Mister, after, thing, what, than, its, his, her
Wednesday: it’s, very, or, thank, dear, west, sold, told, best, form

Phonograms to practice: i, m, o, t, w, ew, oo, or, ow, th

Writing: Our narration and copy work exercises come from “Today is Monday” and “Old Mother Hubbard”.

Grammar: We will be reviewing the four types of sentences, learning about abbreviations and titles of respect, and introducing our adverb jingle!

Poem: “Thanksgiving Day” (Select 1 stanza to work on and memorize!)

We will also learn the poem “Solomon Grundy” at our Read-a-thon!

Idiom: “Never leave till tomorrow what you can do today.”

Math: This will be a very exciting week in math! Students will be adding and subtracting two-digit numbers with one-digit numbers as we start learning all about place value. On Monday, during our read-a-thon we will get to conceptualize math in a new way as we learn from some great mathematical literature. Most exciting of all will be Wednesday when we will have our first round of math centers!

History: Students will experience the process of mummification first hand by using natron salt on an apple.  We will create a hypothesis, and anticipate the results.  We will read about the famous discovery of King Tutankhamen and learn more about his earthly reign as pharaoh.

Science: This week, students will review what they have learned about oceans and take a quiz on Wednesday. After that, we will begin our unit on Matter. The class will observe solids, liquids, and gases in bags and describe them. After discovering the properties of solids, liquids, and gases, the class will sort different items into those categories.

Spelling Bee

Dear Parents,

We are very excited to inform you of Archway Arete’s third annual spelling bee! It will be open to all first through fifth graders. There will be a classroom bee to determine who is eligible to compete in the school bee. From there, the winner of the school bee will continue on to the Great Hearts District Spelling Bee. The dates for each are as follows:

November 7-10: written portion in individual classrooms
November 14-18: oral class bee in individual classrooms
December 5 (6 pm): Archway Arete School Bee in the gym
January 24 (5 pm): Great Hearts District School Bee at Archway Veritas auditorium

For the school bee, we will be following the same guidelines as will be used for the District bee and on. This means that students need to say “capital…” if there is a capital letter, “hyphen” if one is present, and address any spaces or accent marks. A student may start over in spelling a word but is not allowed to change the spelling that they previously used.

The speller’s role according to the Scripps National Spelling Bee: The speller makes an effort to face the judges and pronounce the word for the judges before spelling it and after spelling it. The speller while facing the judges makes an effort to utter each letter distinctly and with sufficient volume to be understood by the judge. The speller may ask the pronouncer to say the word again, define it, use it in a sentence, provide the part of speech, provide the language(s) of origin and/or provide an alternate pronunciation or pronunciations.

Attached you will find the word list for the written portion of the test. Teachers will administer these in their classrooms the week of November 7th and will notify parents of students who will compete in the oral portion. For more information on the Scripps National Spelling Bee, please visit http://spellingbee.com/parents-and-students.

Happy spelling!


Warm Regards,

Victoria Chilson and Leslie Ellingson

Week 11

Good morning!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend! It was great meeting with each of you this last week and discussing your child's progress. Everyone had a successful quarter 1! We have some very exciting things coming up this new quarter, including our Read-a-thon, which is a week from Monday! Please note that this is on Halloween day - October 31st - and not on Friday. :) To those of you who have submitted costume proposals, thank you! They are all sounding great, and we can't wait to see everyone dressed up! Later today an email will go out with a sign-up genius, for those wanting to volunteer to come in and read.

This week is a shortened week, as there is no school on Monday. We will be starting our Frog and Toad series this week. Please bring in Frog and Toad Are Friends by Wednesday. We will read it during class, as well as in reading groups.

You may have also noticed the spelling bee paper that went home on Thursday - I highly encourage everyone to participate. It's a great learning experience, and Ms. Chilson and I are excited to be leading it!

Here's what we have coming up this week:

Literature: We are beginning Frog and Toad Are Friends this week! On Tuesday we will read an article about the difference between frogs and toads and then compare and contrast the two. We will begin reading from our book on Wednesday and will predict how similarities and differences will affect Frog and Toad’s friendship.

Spalding: This week we have 20 words. Spelling Test on Friday!

Monday: No School!
Tuesday: song, sing, sang, sung, winter, stone, free, lake, lace, page
Wednesday: nice, end, fall, went, back, away, paper, put, each, soon

Phonograms: a, e, p, s, u, ch, ck, ee, er, ng

Writing: Our copy work and narration exercises come from The Trumpet of the Swan.

Grammar: We will be learning and reviewing the four types of sentences this week: statements, commands, questions, and exclamations!

Poem: “The Purple Cow” by Burgess – We will recite on Friday!

Idiom: “Practice makes perfect!”

Math: This week in math we will expand our counting skills as we begin to add bigger numbers in order to find a sum between 11-20. We will also practice comparing and contrasting numbers within 20 so that we can learn about number sequences and how to identify numbers that are "greater than" and "less than". On Thursday we will have our unit 6, chapter 1 test. Throughout the week we will continue to review concepts from quarter 1, including addition, subtraction, and position.

History: Students will learn that the rulers of Egypt were called pharaohs, and claimed to be descended from the gods.  Students will also learn about the typical dress of a pharaoh and create a pharaoh of their own. Students will be able to discuss the importance of the pyramids and the purpose behind them.

Science: This week we will be learning about sharks and whales! We will discuss defining characteristics of each and eventually compare the two. Some fun facts: Sharks' skeletons are made up of cartilage instead of bone, allowing for greater flexibility. When whales sleep, only half of their brain will sleep at a time, ensuring that they remember to come up to the surface for air!

Have a WONDERFUL week!

Good evening!

I hope everyone is having a great Fall Break! It really flew by! Just a reminder that this coming week we have half days Monday-Thursday (school ends at 11:45), and there is no school on Friday. Please pack a hearty morning snack since there will be no lunch! Ms. Modisett and I are looking forward to meeting with each of you at your scheduled conference. :)

Literature: This week we will be reading stories from Uncle Remus’ Tales. We will begin with Beatrix Potter’s Tale of Peter Rabbit. Then we will read stories about Brer Rabbit and how he likes to trick the other animals!

Spalding: There will be 18 words this week – test on Thursday!

Monday: rides, ride, tree, sick, got, north, white, spent, foot, feet
Tuesday: blows, blow, block, spring, river, planted, plant, cut

Phonograms to practice: b, n, p, r, s, ck, ee, or, ow, wh

Writing: In Writing with Ease, we will do copy work and narration exercises from Davey Crockett and Sacagawea.

Grammar: We will be learning about the four types of sentences this week – statements, commands, questions, and exclamations!

Poem: “The Purple Cow” by Gelett Burgess (We will recite on October 28th!)

Idiom: Practice makes perfect!

Math: This week in math we will continue to work with our ordinal positions (1st-10th) and directions (above, below, up, down, left, and right-among many others). We will learn how to count from the left and the right in order to identify the position of a certain object. Students will have the chance to analyze different photos to discover how objects can be in various positions in relation to one another. This week, we will also be reviewing our addition and subtraction in order to prepare for a cumulative test on Thursday.

History: In History, we will be getting an introduction to Ancient Egypt! We will review its location on a map and be introduced to some new vocabulary words: pyramid, pharaoh, papyrus, and hieroglyphics!

Science: This week we will continue to study oceans. Students will explore coral reefs and learn about many of the plants and animals that find a home there. They will find the Great Barrier Reef on the map and learn about what makes it special. It is more than 1400 miles long, more than 1500 species of fish live there, and it can be seen from space!

See you on Monday!

Conference Sign-ups

Thank you to those of you who have already signed up for a conference time! Here is the link again to sign up!

We also have conferences available for specials! These are not mandatory, but if you are interested in meeting with all of your child's specials teachers in one place, you can sign up here!

Have a wonderful FALL BREAK! :)

Week 9

We did it! We have reached the end of our first quarter! We have a really fun week ahead, culminating with a pumpkin party on Friday before we leave for break! Here’s what we have coming up in our studies this week:

Literature: This week we will be finishing up Owl at Home, as we read “Upstairs and Downstairs” and discuss where we would pick if we could be any two places at once, and the last chapter, “Owl and the Moon”. We will have reading groups again on Tuesday and Thursday! Thank you so much to those of you who came and helped us last week. We couldn’t do it without you!

Spalding: We have 29 words this week and will test on Friday! We will also be pulling students 1:1 to quiz phonograms orally (OPR) and see which phonograms need more practice and which ones are mastered!

Monday: baby, well, about, men, man, for, ran, run, was, that
Tuesday: his, led, lay, apple, ate, author, bread, brown, dog, eat
Wednesday: fast, food, jump, sleep, wash, yellow, nine, face, miss (9 words)

Phonograms to practice: b, f, p, r, w, au, ed, oo, or, ow

Writing: copy work and narration exercises from Charlotte’s Web

Grammar: This week is a review week in Grammar. We will do a noun “Read Around the Room” activity, “Proper Versus Common Noun Scoot” game, an editing worksheet, and review how to classify sentences.

Poem: Autumn Woods by James S. Tippett (in class)

Idiom: “Practice makes perfect”

Math: Before we get to enjoy a very fun and relaxing break, we have to finish up our subtraction chapter in math and start learning about number position. At the beginning of the week we will review how to subtract using number bonds, number placement, and other strategies. After our chapter test on Wednesday, students will practice different positions such as "up", "down", "left", and "right" as well as "first/1st" through "tenth/10th". We will learn about "position" by getting up and moving around and putting ourselves, quite literally, into different positions. :)

History: In History, we are finishing up our study of Ancient Mesopotamia with a fun review game, and then we will test on Wednesday! Students will then begin to learn about the country of Egypt and find its location on a map. They will learn about the Nile River and the fertile soil surrounding the location.  We will have an in-class experiment with a basil plant to learn about the importance of water for agriculture.

Science: In Science, we are beginning our study of oceans! We will learn about salinity and do a water density experiment. We will also explore the tidal patterns of oceans and learn about the Gulf Stream. On Friday, we will have our pumpkin party, so we will take a quick break from oceans to make observations about pumpkins and explore its life cycle.

Have a great week!

Week 8!

Good morning! I hope everyone has been enjoying the first few days of Fall! It's finally starting to cool down and feels great outside! :)

We have a busy week ahead, and it's only four days:

Literature – This week we are continuing Owl at Home and working in our packets. We are also starting reading groups! We can’t wait to take turns reading aloud and sequencing stories in small groups. A huge thank you to those of you signed up to read with us! Homework is to continue reading every night from the leveled readers. Please bring your books back on Thursday this week since there is no school on Friday!

Spalding – In Spalding, we only have 20 words, as it is a short week. Our spelling test will be on Thursday.

Monday: call, long, love, then, house, year, to, I, as, send
Tuesday: alone, lone, one, has, some, if, how, her, them, other
Phonograms to practice: h, l, qu, y, z, ea, ew, ng, th, ui

Writing – We will do copy work and narration exercises from Caddie Woodlawn this week.

Grammar – In Grammar, it’s game week! Each day we will play a different game to review nouns and verbs.

Poem – “Autumn Woods” by James Tippett – we’ll be practicing this one in class for fun the next two weeks in honor of the beginning of Autumn! (Note: This one won’t go home to practice. We’ll send our next one home after Fall Break!)

Idiom – It at first you don’t succeed…

Math - This week we will work towards mastery of both writing and speaking our subtraction facts! We will solve number bonds and relate subtraction to addition based on our different "parts" and our "whole" of each number bond. We will also be practicing counting down from 10 and using a number line to help us solve subtraction problems. It's going to be a fun week with lots of math games and new concepts :)!

History - This week we are continuing our study of ancient Mesopotamia with the study of the Code of Hammurabi. It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code, and partial copies exist on a seven and a half foot stone stele and various clay tablets. The code consists of 282 laws.  We will also read the classic epic of the world’s oldest and most important legend.  The Story of Gilgamesh was first carved onto clay tablets in Mesopotamia.  Its message is of compassion, forgiveness, and friendship and the story has echoed through the ages from its origins of over 5000 years ago.

Science – This week in science, we will be learning about environmental change and habitat destruction. We will discuss the negative effects of pollution and pesticides and also the benefits of recycling! We will also read a short biography on Rachel Carson and discuss her accomplishments.

(A quick note on History/Science: Recently we've begun alternating the days that we have History and Science, similar to what is done in the upper grades. On Wednesdays we do a little of each subject and it is more discussion based. By doing History on Monday/Friday and Science on Tuesday/Thursday, we have even more time to delve deeper into the material and spend more time polishing our projects, rather than rushing through each. So far it is working great, and we are loving the new schedule!)

We love music class! Last week we played a game called "Lucy Locket".

Have a great Sunday! :)

Homework Survey

Good evening,

Please take a minute to fill out this homework survey to help us know areas we can improve upon or areas that are going well for your child! We'd really appreciate any and all feedback! :)

Thank you!

Week 7

Good evening! I hope everyone is having a great Sunday! It's hard to believe we are already in week 7 and only 3 weeks away from Fall Break. We have some exciting things planned this week. Here's what's coming up:

Literature: We are starting Owl at Home this week! We will be learning about the author, Arnold Lobel, on Monday, as well as how to track where we are in a book using a bookmark. On Tuesday, we will learn a little bit about owls, and then we will begin reading on Wednesday! Please make sure your child has their book by Wednesday so they can follow along! We also have reading groups coming up soon! If you would like to sign up to volunteer, please click here. (Note: volunteers must be fingerprint cleared to work with us in the classroom!)

Spalding: We have 30 words as normal this week and will test on Friday! Please make sure your child is including all markings on the words Monday-Wednesday. We have noticed quite a few homework assignments missing these. The markings let us know that your child understands the phonograms and sounds being said in each word.

Monday: tooth, teeth, worm, day, eat, sits, sit, lot, box, school
Tuesday: belong, door, floor, yes, low, soft, stands, stand, yard, bring
Wednesday: tell, five, ball, law, ask, just, way, get, home, much

Phonograms to practice: f, g, j, k, w, au, aw, ck, wh, wor

Writing: In writing, we have copy work and narration exercises from Peter Rabbit.

Grammar: In grammar, we will continue our Question and Answer flow to name parts of a sentence. We will look at longer sentences and find the “heart of the sentence,” which is the subject noun and accompanying verb. We will also explore action verbs within poetry and stories this week.

Poem: “The Pasture” by Robert Frost – We will recite this week!

Idiom/Proverb: If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again.

Math: In math this week we will continue with subtraction! We will switch between using different hands on items and visuals as we learn all about how subtraction relates to addition. We will use what we have mastered during our addition practice to create subtraction stories and sentences. Our first subtraction test will be on Wednesday and I am excited for us to make more and more connections as we learn even more about number bonds and how parts and wholes relate to subtraction.

History: This week in History we will be studying the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia, which means “the land between the rivers”.  The two rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates.  We will learn how these early citizens survived and thrived.  We will discover that many of their inventions have and are still being used today in one form or another.  Students will learn about their temple called ziggurats, and their ancient for of writing called cuneiform writing.

Science: This week in science we will be studying animals! We will begin by learning about food chains and the herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores that are a part of them. We will learn why all parts of a food chain are important. We will also classify animals based on their groups:  mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. We will learn what is unique about each group, and which characteristics animals have in common with each other.

Miscellaneous: We have our first healthy snack day this Thursday! We have been learning all about fruit and its benefits in P.E. Please join us in packing a piece of fruit to eat on Thursday!

Have a FANTASTIC week!