Homework:
Not enough, too much, and "but my teacher said..."
Spelling - For the most part many parents felt that spelling homework was just enough and it was not an issue. Most of you like the consistancy of the weekly HW schedule. (Monday night- sort and write, Wednesday night- sort, glue and choose an activity, Thursday night pretest) If this schedule works for you, continue with it. If not, feel free to adjust the nights to fit your schedule and child's needs.
As you may have noticed, I do not always check to see if spelling HW has been completed. I will do occassional "spot" checks to keep students on their toes. It is usually easy to tell when students have not done the weekly assignments as it is reflected in their spelling tests on Fridays.
Math and IXL Homework-
Math HW- I will continue to send home math HW pages when applicable. These should always be returned the next day. From now on...if it is a two sided page, both sides should be completed. (I learned my lesson by sending home a 2 sided assignment where one of the sides we had not yet covered in class. This caused some confusions)
IXL HW is up and running, we have collectively completed over 5,000 math problems in 2 weeks! I was able to touch base with most of you at conferences and almost ALL families agreed...It's IMPRESSIVE. The class knows that I am keeping an eye on their scores, times, and problems solved. They are also being rewarded for their efforts.
I will now be assigning 2 nights of IXL a week with SPECIFIC areas to go onto. However, students are strongly encouraged to go on as many times a week as they'd like...with your permission.
Pearsonsuccessnet will only be assigned in school, however feel free to use this site as much or as little as you have time for. If you should have any difficulty getting on either site, let me know and I will be sure to check the usernames and passwords assigned.
Purple Poetry Folder- This will continue to come home on Thursday, unless I am delayed like this week and it will go home on Friday. The purpose for this assignment is to gain fluency and work on expression when reading ALOUD. So my advice...read, read, read, read, read.
This weeks poem is Titled: Reading in Bed Be sure to ask your child what happens when they read in bed.
(They will probably stop to think about what they are reading, then they will have amazing dreams, when they wake up they will be happy and want to go and read another book, this will remind them to read at bedtime. When they are reading they will want to stop and think about what they are reading...and so on and so on)
On Friday I asked the class how many of them read in bed. About half of them admitted that they did read in bed. I set forth a challenge to the rest of the class to try reading in bed this weekend. If your child did infact read in bed or ask if they could...PLEASE let me know and I will reward them!
Cursive- Coming soon, student will be asked to practice 2 letters a week at home in cursive. The double sided sheet will be sent home on Monday and can be returned when they are completed.
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Reading and LEXILE numbers- If we did not discuss your child's Lexile reading level or if you do not remember what it is, I will be happy to have a follow up conversation.
For those who I did share this number with, remember that it is only one snapshot in time. We are trying to provide as many opportunities for students to read text at their own individual level in order to build comprehension. If your child needs to strengthen fluency skills while reading orally, be sure to find books that are a bit lower in difficulty and lexile scores in order to avoid frustration and promote success.
Read below for more ways to help your child foster a LOVE for literature. I found this website a few years back and always find inspiration from it. Hopefully you will walk away with one new piece of information after reading it.
Imagination Soup- 7 ideas for a child who thinks books are boring.
Monthly Book Project- Top Notch! I am so impressed with the students 1st book assignment, write a commercial to sell your book. 15 of the videos are now uploaded onto our website in the photo gallery sectionThanks to the technical support staff, Mrs Pittorino. The uploading process took a little bit of time and Unfortunately some of the videos are too large to upload. There are a few more students who will be added next week, if your child's video is not available before Thanksgiving it's because the video was too large to upload, my sincere apologies.
When we return from Thanksgiving break the next book project will be assigned. For those who would like to get a jump start, be on the look out for your child's favorite Holiday picture book.
Have you ever Fake read? Or read an entire page/chapter only to stop and think, what did I just read? I know I have done this many a times both when I was a child as well as an adult. The students this week were asked to Think about their thinking.
Mrs Pittorino taught a very important reading strategy on Tuesday called Metacognition, Thinking about or thinking. We all practiced the famous Rodan Thinker pose as we read an Open Court story on City WildLife. Ask your child to share his/her thoughts about this story. This was a fun and powerful lesson, one in which we will revisit every time we read a book. Try using the word Metacognition or Rodan with your child, and see if they will strike a pose? Mrs Pittorino, once again, is leaving her mark on our students and for this I am thankful.
Cha-Ching! October has come and gone and we have now offically celebrated two months of Hard Work. Students are continuing to cash in on learning. Ask your child how they spent their cha-ching, how much they earned in October, and how much they banked for the class?
Prizes are flying out of the classroom, remember that we're always looking for new rewards to be added to our class collection. From stickers to mini purses, silly straws to craft projects...you name it...we'll take it!
Finally, to my November babies...Thank you for sending in all of the tissues and wipes! Don't forget, when your child's birthday month rolls around, we will welcome donations of tissues, wipes and any other materials you may want to donate to classroom from our classroom wishlist.
Thinking Thankful thoughts as we head into Thanksgiving week!