January 22-26

Goodness, what a crazy month this had been!

It's all about catch up this week.

Reading
We are continuing with non-fiction! Last week we read an article about Polar Bears. The kids read it once and marked it up. We will now discuss the main idea and supporting details. Students will then answer some STAAR like questions using the article. We will do this together. I will take an observation grade on this. We are also reviewing our reading strategies. On Friday, we will do a practice passage together but this time over non-fiction.
I'll be holding one on one reading conferences this week and next. This grade will be based on the book they are reading during reader's workshop. I'm looking for fluency, accuracy, but most importantly, comprehension.


Writing
We are continuing to critique. Students have been reading base stories from my life. We've been discussing as a class what craft elements can be added to improve the story. I've been impressed in what they have to say. The kids will have a craft on Friday. They will need to know the definitions of each craft element. There will also be a reproduction activity with the quiz. (We have done this many times in the classroom). They will have a story out of order. They will need to put it back in order according to the story arc and then label the structure. I encourage you to ask your child to explain the different craft elements and how to do a reproduction activity. :)
They are continuing to work on their winter break stories. I hope to have them wrapped up by the end of the week.

MAP testing: Students will complete the language portion on Thursday. This will test be over conventions, grammar, spelling, etc.

Grammar- We are continuing with prepositional phrases. More than likely they will take the grammar quiz on Friday.

Social Studies
We will continue to study important people from our past. Students are taking notes in their social studies journal. I will send these home for you all to see once we are done.