CluesLetter

Man, it seems like this year is flying by. With Christmas break, MLK Day, and the snow day thrown in, I do not feel like we have been on a good schedule yet!. We are getting there, though. You will not see a lot of papers coming home this week because we spent a lot of time reviewing last week, but please ask your children to share with you some of the notes and things we do in class. This is a lot of their grade, and I am beginning to understand how little of it you see. I find their work (that is supposed to be neatly in folders) in the back of the room, or shoved in the back of the desk, or on the floor when students leave. Now, do not get me wrong I expect a lot of this, but I do want you to know what your children are learning. I do not take this work up and grade it because I want the students to use it to study throughout the week. They do, however, receive daily grades for doing and having this work.

Since the beginning of January, we have learned division by two digit numbers, writing an autobiography and persuasive paragraph, fact and opinion and theme in reading, and ecosystems in science. We have read over 30 AR books, and two stories from our reading book. We have had spelling words and vocabulary words in every subject. We have, also, carved out time to review previous math concepts at the end of the day.

Next week, we will be on lesson 19 in the reading book. We will study theme again, our spelling words will be plurals and possessives, our writing will be fables, and our vocabulary will come from the story Juan Verdades: The Man Who Couldn’t Tell a Lie. In math you will be glad to hear that we are finished with division, and will be moving to fractions. Believe me, the division will be harder than the fractions. For the students who are still struggling with division, I will pull them out and work with them in smaller groups. In science we will continue with ecosystems.

I had gotten away from checking the agendas, to make sure they were signed, before the break, but I really think it is necessary because it gives us a better chance to communicate on a day to day basis. So, please sign you child’s agenda every night, and I will make it a habit to make sure you child is writing in it.

Thank you for all your support,