Sept 14-17

Reading: We continued getting comfortable using Edmodo this week.  The 3rd graders are working on restating the question when answering.  The 4th graders are working on using evidence to support their answers and putting more details in their answers.

The vocabulary we focused on this week was: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution.  We will continue becoming more familiar with this vocabulary.

Spelling:  We had our 2nd spelling test.  I will return them to the students on Monday.  If your child received a 1 please sign their test and have your child bring it back to me.  

New spelling lists will be passes out on Monday.  We will have our next test on October 1st.  Your child has time to practice their words at school but please help them practice at home also to ensure that they are confident when they take the test.

Latin/Greek:  We will be having our 2nd Latin/Greek test on Thursday 9/24.  Please help your child be prepared for this test.

penta: 5
hex: 6
sept: 7
oct: 8

Grammar: We learned about singular and plural nouns.  We then did a sort on singular and plural nouns.  Next week we are going to focus on regular and irregular plural nouns.

Writing: The students finished their ant writing.  We will be starting a new writing piece on Monday. 

Projects:  We started learning about the scientific method.  We took notes and then did our first activity to practice using the method. We tested 3 different brands of bubble gum to see which brand would blow the biggest bubble.  The kids had lots of fun with this!

September 8-10

Reading:  This week in reading we introduced the vocabulary words protagonist and antagonist. We also learned about character traits.  The 3rd graders were assigned a picture book and started using Edmodo to respond to their reading question.  We will continue practicing using Edmodo for one more week with a picture book before the students start reading chapter books.  Some of the 4th graders even came in and helped the 3rd graders with how to use Edmodo and how to use evidence when answering a question.  The 3rd graders should feel more comfortable with Edmodo this week.
The students also received their new spelling lists.  Don't forget to have them study their words so they are ready for their next test on Thursday the 17th!

Latin/Greek:  We had a first test and the students did awesome!!

Writing:  We watched an awesome video about giving specific feed back and making revisions.  We also practiced skipping lines when writing our rough drafts.  This is a concept that seems easy but the students are having a hard time first understanding how it works and then remembering to do it when writing.  We also practiced self-editing a paragraph.  The students then continued filling out their graphic organizers and started writing their paragraphs for their opinion writing.

Grammar:  We reviewed adjectives and adverbs.  We then took an assessment on Thursday.

Projects:  We finished our Tribes in Action skits.  It was fun to watch the kids perform for the class!

August 31- September 3rd

Reading:  This week in reading we learned about inference.  We watched some fun videos and pixar shorts to practice our inferencing skills.

The students received their new Latin and Greek words. The test on these will be September 10th.  They need to know the meaning of the L/G word and an example of a word that includes that prefix. For example bi means two bicycle. The word bicycle has the prefix bi because a bicycle has 2 wheels. The words this week are:
                     
                              uni- one
                             mono- one
                              bi- two
                             tri- three
                             quad- four

Spelling: We had our first spelling test this week. Overall most of the students did a good job on the test, but there were a few who did not. Make sure your student is studying his/her spelling words. The test is given in sentence form and part of their grade is starting the sentence with a capital and ending with the correct punctuation. 

Writing: We added using evidence to support our opinion in the writing process.  We a book that ends with the reader getting to decide if an should be squished by a boy or not. The students took notes while I read of the reasons why the boy thought he should squish the ant and reasons why the ant thought he should not. We then read a few non fiction books about ants. The students then practiced using the facts to support their opinions. They began filling out their graphic organizers.  

Grammar: We learned about adjectives on Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday the students reviewed the different parts of speech using IXL Grammar. We then took a test on the parts of speech on Thursday.

Projects: The students continued working on their skits. We will film this week.

**4th graders are all up and going on Edmodo. They can sign on at home if parents want to check it out or if they don't think they will finish in class.

**Thank you to all the parents who ordered from Scholastic. I am excited to get new books for our class with the points that I earn!

google sign in

The students have been filling out their google calendars with their nightly  homework assignments.
To access this at home the students need to sign on to their google account at home. To do this you will:
            1. go to google.com
            2.  Click on mail
            3.  sign on using firstnamelastname@oasisacademyfallon.us
            4.  Their password is the same one they use to get onto their computers at school.
            5. once logged in click on google calendar



***Some parents are finding that they cannot sign their child on to google.  They get a message that says the password does not work.  If this happens let me know and I will work on solving this problem.

August 24- 27

Reading:  This week we continued building stamina during Daily 5.  We added Word Work and Read to Someone.  I continued assessing the students while they were working during Daily 5.  We also continued learning about context clues.  The students made up their own words and put them in sentences.  The class then had to use context clues to figure out the meaning of their word.  

Spelling:  The students received their spelling lists.  We will be having a spelling test on September 3rd.

Writing:  This week we learned about how to write an opinion paper.  We began with a taste test between mint Oreos and berry Oreos.  The mint won by a landslide! We then discussed opinion sentence starters and transition words. Next, we used our information from our graphic organizer to write our paragraphs. We will continue with opinion writing next week by learning how to use facts to support our opinions.

Cursive: We learned 8 new letters (s,u,v,w,x, b, h, k).  The students are loving learning how to write in cursive!

Grammar: This week we learned about verbs and adverbs.  Next week will we learn about adjectives to complete the parts of speech.  There will be an assessment on all the parts of speech on Thursday.

Projects: The students were put in groups and are starting to write their scripts about their Tribe agreement.

** Remember that book orders are due on September 3rd.  You may order online or send in a check or cash.  If you send in cash please send in exact change. 

8/17-8/20

We had a great first week! I loved seeing what everyone brought in their Me Bags.

Reading: We worked on building stamina during read to self.  They are doing a great job. The 4th graders also started "work on writing". Our mini lesson this week was on context clues. We will continue this next week.

Writing: This week we did a quick opinion writing and a narrative. I wanted to see where everyone is with their writing so I know which areas we need to focus on.

Grammar: This week we talked about nouns. The students got into groups based on which kind of noun was written on their card. The groups then created a poster to represent their group.

Projects: We talked about the different Tribe agreements and how they look in our classroom. We also did some fun team building activities. One involved spaghetti noodles and marshmallows. The other involved stacking cups. Ask your student about these fun activities.

Specials: We have music this quarter.

Almost everyone has turned in all of their paperwork.  If you still need to turn your paperwork in please send it on Monday with your child.

Don't forget to send in $1 with your child if he/she would like to wear any kind of socks or tights during this quarter.

Our classroom gets cold during the day.  It would be a good idea to bring a school approved sweatshirt to wear in class.

We still need a PE parent on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3:30-4:00. If you are available please send me an email.  tmoon@oasisacademyfallon.us

Let the new year begin! :)

Thank you to those of you who made it to the Back to School night. Please remember to sign all the paperwork, including page 15 of the handbook, and send it back in the binder on Monday. For those of you who were unable to make it, I will send home the paperwork in a folder. Please get it returned to me ASAP. 

Your student should have  received a letter from me by now.  If for some reason he/she did not he/she needs to bring in a bag filled with 3 things (small items or even pictures) that will let us know about them. We will share the bags during the first week.

We have a student with a nut allergy in our class. When packing the snack for the afternoon please have your student bring something that does not have nuts in it since we will be eating these snacks in the classroom.  Also if you make a treat for the class remember to make it nut free.

I am so exited to meet our class!  I know we will have a great year!

Remember if you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me.