September 7th Friday Update

Upcoming Events

9/12 Prizes for Entertainment books will be passed out

9-13 Mid Quarter and Late Start

9-17 Mid Quarter’s  grade cards go home

9-18 Skate Night

9-27 Picture Day (info sheets coming home tonight)

9-28 Reading book logs due

10-10 Late Start

10-11 McTeacher Night

10-2 End of Quarter

Math
This week in math we worked with money and making change. Next Tuesday (September 10^th) the students will be given their Unit  1 test. On Monday students will bring home their study guide for the test, which we will complete together in class. If you study with your students and sign their guide you they will receive a EXTRA BEHAVIOR PUNCH!

Hands on Science!
This week we paired up with Mrs. Brown's class to complete a rock observation lab. Each students received a different rock and created a paragraph to describe their rock using sight and feeling. The kids has a blast and I was blown away by the vivid description of their rocks.

 

Writing
The students created stories which captured their adience with an interesting lead. Their stories will be displayed outside our classroom in the hallway.


Word Work

On Monday the students will receive a new sheet of word work words. The following is a list of activities you can do with your students at home to practice their words.

Activity - Remind your child to sort the words in categories like the ones we did in school. Your child should read each word aloud during this activity. Ask your child to explain to you why the words are sorted in a particular way-what does the sort reveal about spelling in general? Be certain to discuss word meanings when appropriate.  Variation: Ask your child to sort them a 2^nd time as fast as possible, remembering to read and compare each word to the heading words.

Activity - Do a blind or no peeking sort with your child. Lay down a word from each category as a header and then read the rest of the words aloud. Your child must indicate where the word goes without seeing it, as well as spell the word aloud. Lay the word down and let your child move it if he or she is wrong. Repeat if your child makes more than one error.

Activity - Do a writing sort to prepare for the test. As you call out the words in a random order, your child should write them in the correct category. Call out any words your child misspells a second or even third time.

(Thank you Mrs. Harber for making this list of at home activities for word work)

Reading
September reading logs went home yesterday and are due at the end of the month. In today's take home folder students will be bringing home thwie first graded "Letter to the Teacher" about a non-fiction book they read this week.
 

Below you will find the requirements for the book report. This was a long post, but we did so many fantastic things I just had to brag on my students:) Have a wonderful weeekend!

Love,

Mrs. Ray

Book Projects

Book reports reports will be mostly done in class. The students will choose one of the following activities to complete to showcase their book to our class. September genre assigned genre is Realistic Fiction. Each book report is related to a real life application of sharing their book. I am so excited to see how creative the projects will be!

Retell the story as a character in your book You are an actor preparing to be in a play about your book. To get the part, you will retell the story dressed as the main character. You will share about major events in a character’s life. You can create an outfit for your audition using a paper bag.	Create a test for your book You are a teacher creating a test to give your students after they have finished your book. Make a 10 questions test with 7 multiple choice questions, 2 short answer questions and 1 essay question. You must also create an answer key to use when grading the tests.	Create merchandise for your book You are a marketing agent in charge of creating merchandise to promote your book. Your first job is to create a lunch box design, which reminds you of a significant event in your story. You also will create at least 2 other items of your choice. In a presentation, you will share how each items represents something which occurred in your book.
Create a character  blog You are the main character of your book creating a blog. You must create a paper copy of his blog, which includes an “about me” section and at least 3 posts describing events from your book. Don’t forget other characters from the book can respond to each post.	Create a summary poster You are an author preparing for a book signing. You want to display a poster summary of your book to convince people to buy it. Your poster should be visually appealing, introduce the characters and include at least three illustrated important events.	Create a t-shirt design and sales pitch You are a graphic designer assigned to create a paper t-shirt design, which depicts your book. You will also need to write a sale pitch explaining how your t-shirt accurately represents your book.
Puppet Show You are a librarian putting on a puppet show for a 1st grade class. You will retell the main events of the story using the characters from your story. You can share the puppet show live with your class or record it at home to show to the class. Make sure your puppet show includes the beginning, middle and end of your story. You will create paper characters and glut them to Popsicle sticks.	Create a sequel to your book You are an author writing a sequel for your book. You need to make a plan which includes how the characters from your book will evolve in the next book. You will have to summarize your book, and then make a plan for the sequel. How will their story continue?	Create a preview for your book You are an advertising agent who is in charge of creating a preview because your book is becoming a movie! In the preview you will need to introduce the characters, setting and problem without giving away the solution.