Week of Sept. 21, 2018

       

It was great to see so many of you at Parent Information Night last week. I know that there is never a night that is good for everyone. If you were unable to attend, I handed out a survey about student led Open House.  I also asked parents to give me some feedback on their thoughts about homework.  I have included a copy of this survey in this week’s Friday folder for those parents that have not already given feedback.  Any comments on homework will help.  For example, how do you feel about larger projects vs. nightly homework?  How much nightly homework do you feel is appropriate at the 4^th/5^th grade level?  Grades 4 – 6 are currently discussing homework and I would greatly appreciate any feedback from families.

This week most students finished taking the Developmental Reading Assessment (DRA2).  This district assessment has 3 sections to assess student reading achievement.  The first section measures the student's degree of reading engagement.  Questions and prompts cover their range of reading, self-assessment and goal setting.

The second part of this assessment is oral reading fluency.  Expression, phrasing, rate, and accuracy are all part of this.   The final portion of this assessment covers comprehension.   The DRA2 is given to students in grades 4-6 at three different times throughout the year.  I will be sharing results with you during the November conferences.

In writing, we continue our work on personal narratives.  Lessons this week have focused on creating a powerful lead.  We have also worked on creating “List” poems.  Next week our focus with narratives will be on elaboration. Beginning in fourth grade, students are asked to use a blend of description through dialogue, thoughts, feelings, and action.

We continue our learning about scientific method through work with bubbles.  Students have been asked to question, predict, make observations, and record.  Next week our work will focus on drawing conclusions.

On Friday, we met with our buddies from Mrs. Gariboldi’s class.  We worked on our fluency skills as we read a variety of books together. 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Week of September 7th

Mrs. Shedd’s Newsletter

Week of Sept. 7, 2018

Although our second week was short, it was quite busy.  Despite the extreme heat this week, the students worked really hard.  We have completed several beginning of year district assessments including the DSA (developmental spelling assessment),  a math assessment, and one of the upper grade reading assessments.

This year students are going to have a chance to be Big Buddies for Mrs. Gariboldi’s kindergarten class.  Last Friday, we got a chance to meet our buddies and spend a short time playing with them.

In our Literacy block we will be working on a variety of meaningful tasks such as reading to self, reading to someone, working on writing, and word work.  Throughout the year you may hear your child refer to the acronym “CAFÉ.”  CAFÉ stands for

            C  -  Comprehension (understanding what you read)

            A -  Accuracy (reading the words correctly)

            F -   Fluency (reading accurately with expression)

            E -   Expand Vocabulary (knowing, finding, and using interesting

 words)

We will be using the CAFE menu to learn reading strategies based on the Common Core standards that will help us become better readers.  This week we began work on Check for Understanding.

Last week, students completed a “Reading Interest Inventory.”  Students were asked to record thoughts about reading.  Below are some of the responses.

-          I love to read.  You can learn new things about the world.

-          I think reading is fun because you learn new things.  It also can help you calm down.

-          I like reading because anything can happen in a book.  There are so many to choose from!

-          I like reading because it relaxes me.

-          I absolutely love to read!

Most students completed their first watercolor and began working on their first piece of poetry – a list poem, Autumn Is…  I have been impressed with the pieces that I have read so far.

We continue our work with bubbles.  Here are a few highlights from Thursday’s activity.

Mrs. Lyford has asked that I include the following Cub Scout announcement in my blog.

Be sure to mark your calendars for next Wednesday’s Parent Information Night (5:30 – 6:30).  Have a wonderful weekend!

Bubbles!

In science we are learning about the scientific method. Last Friday, students explored making bubbles of different sizes, on various surfaces, and exploring different amounts of force when blowing.  This investigation used a cut-off pipette.  Below are a few photos of this activity.