Thursday, October 7, 2010

Happy Thursday!

I am gone today to attend an Iowa Core meeting at Simpson College. I'll be spending the day with a large group of teachers from Norwalk and other districts learning more about the Core and what we need to do to make the transition to full implementation easier. I have to admit, I'm not really that excited about missing a day in the classroom, but I'm sure the kids will be in good hands. I've left plenty to keep them busy, that's for sure!

Tomorrow is "Hat Day" at Lakewood! For 5 Warrior Way tickets, the kids can wear a hat on Friday. This is just another example of an incentive for the kids to be "Respectful, Responsible, & Safe" at Lakewood. Next week, we'll have a drawing for breakfast with Ms. Else! The kids are always excited to see what's going to be next!

I've had a lot of questions about Acclerated Reader. Hopefully, you've gotten a chance to read the newsletter Ms. Hanson put together and that some of your questions have been answered. I wanted all of you to know that this program is completely voluntary. I will encourage those students who are interested to participate, but it is by no means a mandatory expectation. I see this as being a good way for the kids to read a variety of genres as well as focus on reading comprehension. One of the stories that we have a quiz for is If You Made A Million, which is the story we read in reading groups last week. My plan is to take the kids to the lab next Monday and have them practice using the quiz for this story. Hopefully this will get them better acquainted with the process. I'm also currently reading Charlotte's Web to my class, which also has a quiz we could take when we finish the story. I will be touching base with the kids next week to let them know which level they should choose for books. I also plan to look at the quiz list and pull books off my classroom library shelf that would work as well. My hope is that this will make it easier for the kids to choose books. If you have any questions, you can email me, and I'll try to answer them, or I'll contact Ms. Hanson if I don't know the answer. :)

Homework

1. Math Home Link 2.6
2. Grammar page 18
3. Study spelling words
4. Read 15 minutes

We will take our final selection test for Unit 1 on Friday. This is over the story My Rows & Piles of Coins. Next week, we will review for our Unit 1 test and take the test which covers all the skills we've learned during Unit 1. There will be no spelling list next week. Spelling will resume on Monday, October 18th.

Have a great day!

Mrs. Vroegh