November 3, 2014

A note from Mrs. Tabor…

The Pumpkin Parade was a huge success!  I loved seeing all of your children’s creative pumpkins!  They did an awesome job.  Thank you so much for helping them.  There is no School on Tuesday, November 4^th due to Election Day.  Look for a bag coming home on Monday.  Your child needs to find an everyday object that is a 3-D shape.  Students will use it as a “Mystery Item,” where everyone gets to guess its shape on Wednesday.

Reminders

*Keep Flat Stanley going! We are really enjoying the letters that we have received so far.

*Send in a healthy snack and water bottle every day!

*Be sure to sign and return your students planner every day! Don’t forget to record their reading!

•Box Tops – please send them in!!!  For every Box Top we collect, 10 cents is added to our class budget! I’ll be glad to send you another bag, just let me know!

What are we learning?

 Reading Workshop

This week we will continue our third ELA Unit, A Season for Chapters. We will identify these elements in picture books. Then we will learn about the thinking strategy of Questioning.  Students will engage in a variety of activities to get their brains to think of deep/thick questions vs. thin questions.  Our questioning thinking stems include:  I wonder…, What if…, Why…, I don’t understand…, It confused me…, How could….  We will also discuss how good thinkers have questions before, during, and after reading. 

Writing Workshop

This week in writing we will learn how to write informative paragraphs.  We will start by writing about the seasons in Kentucky in relation to sports/activities, agriculture, holidays, and weather.  Then we will research China’s seasons and focus on the same four categories to compare/contrast China with Kentucky.  We will end the week by independently writing informative paragraphs about China.     

Word Study

This week’s words are: world, something, please, thank, Brown

Spelling patterns:  review of long vowel patterns

Long vowel group: Other vowel group: less common vowel patterns

Blends group: wh, qu, tw, and k

 Math

This week in math we will wrap up our study of shapes. We will create 3D shapes and identify faces, edges, bases, and vertices. Students will bring in a mystery 3D item from home to share.  We will review our geometry/graphing unit and then take an end of the unit assessment. 

 Social Studies

This week we will continue our Social Studies unit on ancient China.  We will learn about Emperor Qin, the Terracotta soldiers, and important Chinese inventions. 

Habit of the Week:

We will begin reviewing the 7 habits, beginning with “Put first things first”.

Related Arts Schedule

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
art	No school	art	art	art

October 27, 2014

A note from Mrs. Tabor…

Thank you to everyone for meeting with me during conferences to discuss your child’s progress!  Believe it or not, I enjoy the opportunity to discuss your child’s successes and goals.  It also helps me get to know your children as a member of your family.

Pumpkin Parade assignments and pumpkins are due on Friday, October 31st.  I hope you and your child have fun with this project.    If you are a Pinterest person, there are tons of great ideas and blogs with pictures of story book pumpkins out there.  Please have children bring in their pumpkin and writing assignment on Friday, October 31st so we can display them for all to see. 

Reminders

*Keep Flat Stanley going! We are really enjoying the letters that we have received so far.

*Send in a healthy snack and water bottle every day!

*Be sure to sign and return your students planner every day! Don’t forget to record their reading!

•Box Tops – please send them in!!!  For every Box Top we collect, 10 cents is added to our class budget! I’ll be glad to send you another bag, just let me know!

What are we learning?

 Reading Workshop

This week we will conclude our second ELA Unit, Building Bridges with Unlikely Friends. Students will apply what they have learned in this unit by completing a transfer task.  Then we will begin our next unit, A Season for Chapters.  We will start by learning about story elements (character, setting, plot, conflict, and theme).  We will identify these elements in picture books. Then we will learn how to identify important events from the beginning, middle, and end of a story.  We will discuss how the middle is usually longer because a lot happens in the middle of stories.   

Writing Workshop

This week in writing we will begin learning how to write multi-paragraphs.  We will use what we have learned about leads and transitions to get us started.  Then students will write about the story elements from the books we shared during reading.  Next we will summarize the books by writing about their beginning, middle, and ending.    Word Study

This week’s words are: morning, leave, turn, hard, along

Spelling patterns:  final /k/ sound (-ck, -ke, -k)

Long vowel group: Other vowel group: short I, long I with short o, long o

Blends group: pr, dr, tr

 Math

This week in math we will resume our study of shapes. We will review what we learned about polygons.  Then we will learn about different quadrangles/quadrilaterals (4 angles / 4 sides).  Next we will explore using tangrams to make larger shapes.  We will also learn to classify triangles by their sides (equilateral, isosceles, scalene).  We will end the week by exploring 3D shapes and learning to identify faces, edges, bases, and vertices.

 Social Studies

This week we will continue our Social Studies unit on ancient China.  Students will locate Asia and China on a map.  We will review China’s mountains, rivers, and nearby bodies of water. Then we will learn about the deserts located in China.  Next students will learn about two important people, Confucius and Lao Tzu.  

Habit of the Week:

We did not yet get to discuss the 7th Habit of Happy Kids, which is “Sharpen the Saw”, due to Red Ribbon week.  We will learn about the importance of this habit this week.  We will learn that balance is best!  We can take care of our bodies by eating right, exercising, and getting sleep.  We can learn in lots of ways and lots of places; not just at school.  We take time to help others.

Related Arts Schedule

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
technology	technology	technology	technology	technology

October 13, 2014

A note from Mrs. Tabor…

Thank you for the great turnout at the Fall Festival! I saw a lot of familiar faces; it was so good to see you!  Thank you to all the PTA parents and our room parents for the hard work that went into this event. 

We had a great field trip on Friday to see La Petite Rouge.  I hope that your child told you all about it.

·         I will be meeting for fall conferences October 13^th and 16^th.  The conferences that I’ve had so far have been great, and so helpful for us to discuss your children’s progress and set goals for them.

·         Red Ribbon Week!  This week, we will celebrate making healthy choices.  Please look at the handout that came home last Wednesday to learn about daily events.  It’s always be great to have everyone participate.

·         Pennies for Patients!  Last Friday, your children attended a school-wide assembly to kick off Pennies for Patients.  Throughout the week, we will be collecting pennies (and dollars; even checks payable to Harmony) to support children with blood cancers.  Our school has really gotten behind this cause in the past; I’m excited to see how motivated my class is this year!  We will be collecting the money each day in class.

Reminders

*Keep Flat Stanley going! We are really enjoying the letters that we have received so far.

*Send in a healthy snack and water bottle every day!

*Be sure to sign and return your students planner every day! Don’t forget to record their reading!

•Box Tops – please send them in!!!  For every Box Top we collect, 10 cents is added to our class budget! I’ll be glad to send you another bag, just let me know!

What are we learning?

 Reading Workshop

We will continue our second ELA Unit, Building Bridges With Unlikely Friends.  This week, our guiding question is, “What is the author’s purpose?  Through our reading, we will explore three reasons author’s write (to persuade, entertain, or inform).

Writing Workshop

This week in Writing we will continue to learn about good leads or hooks. As authors, we will explore the purpose in our own writing.   Also, we will learn about similes.

Word Study

This week’s words are: morning, leave, turn, hard, along

Spelling patterns:  long (silent e) and short vowel review

Long vowel group: Other vowel group: short I, long I ( i_e, _igh, _y)

Blends group: br, bl, gr, gl

 Math

We will explore bar graphs and picture graphs.  We will discuss how important it is to label graphs, and we will discuss when to use bar, picture, and line graphs.

 Social Studies

We are beginning our unit on Ancient China!  This week, we will focus our learning on the Geographical features of China.

Habit of the Week:

No habit of the week.  Our focus will be on Red Ribbon Week (making healthy choices), and collecting money for Pennies for Patients.

Related Arts Schedule

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
P.E.	P.E.	P.E.	P.E.	P.E.

October 6, 2014

A note from Mrs. Tabor…

•          Our first field trip will be this Friday, October 11th!  We will depart school at approximately 9 am.  We will first go to Stage One to see a Cajun folktale, Petite Rouge.  Then, weather permitting, we will go to Waterfront Park to eat lunch. Because of a Breast Cancer Awareness project happening on the bridge, we've decided to return to school after the park. Please make sure your child packs a lunch in a disposable bag and brings a water bottle.  If you plan to meet us at the park for lunch, please plan to arrive at approximately 11:15 am. 

•          Harmony Harvest will be this coming Saturday, October 11th from 5-8 pm.

•          I will be meeting for fall conferences October 8^th, 13^th and 16th.

Reminders

*Keep Flat Stanley going! We are really enjoying the letters that we have received so far.

*Send in a healthy snack and water bottle every day!

*Be sure to sign and return your students planner every day! Don’t forget to record their reading!

•Box Tops – please send them in!!!  For every Box Top we collect, 10 cents is added to our class budget! I’ll be glad to send you another bag, just let me know!

What are we learning?

 Reading Workshop

This week we will continue our second ELA Unit, Building Bridges with Unlikely Friends.  We will read several picture books together and discuss the problems the main characters faced.  We will identify problems as being problems caused by nature, problems with ourselves, and problems with others. We will practice identifying specific examples from the text and determining what kind of problem it is.

Writing Workshop

This week in writing we will learn about good leads or hooks.  Leads are the first sentences we read in a piece of writing / chapter.  We will explore four types of strong leads; questions, sound, descriptive, and dialogue.  Students will practice identifying the kind of lead in their just right books and also practice writing leads of their own.  We will also discuss transition words (first, next, then, last, etc.) and practice writing a summary using them.  We will learn how they make our writing flow and make sense.  

Word Study

This week’s words are: water, though, early, sure, show

Spelling patterns are the same as last week:

Long vowel group: Short u versus long u (u_e)

Other vowel group: Short u versus long u (-ew and –ue)

Blends group: cr, cl, fl and fr blends

 Math

This week in math we will begin our next unit, Geometry.  We will discuss different polygons / 2D shapes (quadrilaterals, pentagons, hexagons, octagons) and practice making these shapes using geoboards and tangrams.

 Science

This week we will finish our Matter unit.  We will wait to start a new Science / Social Studies unit until next week due to Mrs. Hammons visiting us with her Kelso Lessons this week.  

Habit of the Week:

Synergize.  Please read the handout in your child’s take-home folder.

Related Arts Schedule

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Music	Music	Music	Music	Music