Here is the link to the rubric for their Animal Fairy Tale.
Please remember to let them do the writing on their rough drafts. It is helpful for them to go through the writing process and not have a perfect piece on the first try. I will be conferencing with them about their stories on Thursday and Friday. After our one on one conference, more help can be given with a final draft to check spelling, grammar, etc. Thanks for all your help!
Animal Fairy Tale Rubric
Monday, October 28, 2013
Week of Oct. 28th
Welcome back to school! I hope you had a great week off. I know we all appreciate breaks, but I am actually so excited to get this week started. Here's all the fun stuff we will be starting this week:
Spelling
The kids informed me that they really loved being able to pick their spelling words last time. My goal is to make things meaningful and enjoyable at school so they retain the information. From now on, we will be picking our spelling words on Mondays. There will always be separate lists that I check before they are set in stone. We will have a few simpler words that the book provides to work on phonics skills, but your kids seem to grasp this pretty well. I will also be adding a couple bonus words that we use for vocabulary each week. The spelling lists will be put up on Mondays after our Reading class from now on.
Reading/Writing
This week we are discussing wolves. We will look at fictional and non-fictional readings about wolves. The kids will need to write a fairy tale with a wolf/wolves as the main characters. The other characters in the story must be only animals. Their rough draft will be due on Wednesday. I would like their final drafts by next Monday. More specifics on Fairy Tales/rubrics will be sent home in their folders.
Science
We are doing science during 2nd quarter and our first unit will be on weather. Your kids are going to be taking what they learn in this unit to create and present a weather forecast. This will take the place of a formal test. Most of this work will be done in school and it will take us 2-3 weeks to complete. I will send home more information as needed. This project idea was inspired by this funny video clip that I stumbled upon. Here it is if you'd like something fun to watch!
9 year old weather forecaster
Thanks all of you for coming to our conferences! You have no idea how much that meant to them that you were there.
Spelling
The kids informed me that they really loved being able to pick their spelling words last time. My goal is to make things meaningful and enjoyable at school so they retain the information. From now on, we will be picking our spelling words on Mondays. There will always be separate lists that I check before they are set in stone. We will have a few simpler words that the book provides to work on phonics skills, but your kids seem to grasp this pretty well. I will also be adding a couple bonus words that we use for vocabulary each week. The spelling lists will be put up on Mondays after our Reading class from now on.
Reading/Writing
This week we are discussing wolves. We will look at fictional and non-fictional readings about wolves. The kids will need to write a fairy tale with a wolf/wolves as the main characters. The other characters in the story must be only animals. Their rough draft will be due on Wednesday. I would like their final drafts by next Monday. More specifics on Fairy Tales/rubrics will be sent home in their folders.
Science
We are doing science during 2nd quarter and our first unit will be on weather. Your kids are going to be taking what they learn in this unit to create and present a weather forecast. This will take the place of a formal test. Most of this work will be done in school and it will take us 2-3 weeks to complete. I will send home more information as needed. This project idea was inspired by this funny video clip that I stumbled upon. Here it is if you'd like something fun to watch!
9 year old weather forecaster
Thanks all of you for coming to our conferences! You have no idea how much that meant to them that you were there.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Week of Oct. 14th
We all made it to the end of 1st quarter still alive and kicking. I want to thank all of you for being so patient and helpful while I figure out how things work at a new school. I have had some questions about field trips and other things that we will be doing this year. I know you are all curious and I just want to let you know that they will be happening. Mr. Fishburn and I are talking about ideas and will let you know when dates are actually set in stone.
Parent Volunteers
In all of my busyness this 1st quarter I had forgotten about having parents volunteer for things. I know that sounds silly, but it just wasn't something that even crossed my mind until last week. I will be sending out some emails to people asking for more help this quarter. Most of you filled out my form at home visits, but if there is something you would really like to do feel free to let me know.
Conferences
The time slot preference sheet is in all of their folders tonight. Please take a look at it and get it back to me by Wed. morning. You can email me your preference to if your child doesn't happen to get the sheet to you on time.
Homework
This week's homework will be very light so that we can spend quality time getting ready for your conference!
Calendar Reminders
Parent Volunteers
In all of my busyness this 1st quarter I had forgotten about having parents volunteer for things. I know that sounds silly, but it just wasn't something that even crossed my mind until last week. I will be sending out some emails to people asking for more help this quarter. Most of you filled out my form at home visits, but if there is something you would really like to do feel free to let me know.
Conferences
The time slot preference sheet is in all of their folders tonight. Please take a look at it and get it back to me by Wed. morning. You can email me your preference to if your child doesn't happen to get the sheet to you on time.
Homework
This week's homework will be very light so that we can spend quality time getting ready for your conference!
Calendar Reminders
- Fall Party - Fri 10/18 @ 2pm
- 12:00pm dismissal on Tuesday 10/22
- Student Led Conferences - Tuesday 10/22 and Wednesday 10/23
- No School Wed. 10/23 - Fri. 10/25
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Week of Oct. 7th
It finally feels like fall, and your kids informed me that they love it. If you haven't noticed, they are quite funny. I'm not sure what it was today, but they were just being sarcastically witty at all the right times, and it was great. They have already grown up since the beginning of the year. I hope that you are taking the time to listen to what they say. They'll most likely impress you and make you laugh at the same time. Here's what we've been up to lately:
Reading
We started a new unit in Reading with the theme of "Investigations". This week our story is an old Zuni folk tale. We will be spending 2 weeks on this story so that we can investigate a little more about the Pueblo culture. We will also be working on writing persuasive paragraphs. A lot of this will be done in class, but next week there will be a final draft due.
Religion
This week our lessons talk all about how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. This covers everything from Baptism and forgiveness to how our faith grows and spreads to others.
Social Studies
Our class has been investigating the differences between rural and urban life.
Things to Remember
Reading
We started a new unit in Reading with the theme of "Investigations". This week our story is an old Zuni folk tale. We will be spending 2 weeks on this story so that we can investigate a little more about the Pueblo culture. We will also be working on writing persuasive paragraphs. A lot of this will be done in class, but next week there will be a final draft due.
Religion
This week our lessons talk all about how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. This covers everything from Baptism and forgiveness to how our faith grows and spreads to others.
Social Studies
Our class has been investigating the differences between rural and urban life.
Things to Remember
- Service Project Form - Due Friday 10/11 (I sent home an extra copy today)
- Church and Sunday School attendance - Due Friday 10/11 (Check your email)
- Fall Party - Fri. Oct. 18th @ 2pm
- Student Led Conferences - Oct. 22nd and 23rd (more information coming soon)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)