Paper Shortage

    We currently have a paper shortage at our school. So, I've been trying to conserve paper in the classroom and with homework.  Every week our homework packet alone creates 208 copies (front and back count as 2) and our class only receives 500 copies for the semester.    
     I have talked to Mrs. Wilbur about the paper sitch.  She has assured me that our class will be able to make the needed copies every week.  I appreciate all our parent advocates who have been vocal for our school to have access to more paper, thank you. 
      If you know of a business that is willing to donate copy paper to our school, please let me know.  Unfortunately paper does cost money and our students need paper to complete work.  We also need paper to communicate with you, our parents. 
     So tomorrow, you will receive your child's new reading log and their new homework packet.  Thank you for your patience while this was all worked out.

Spelling Words for the week of October 3rd

Group 1&2       Group 3       Group 4     Group 5
1. fast             1. same       1. clip        1. gloom
2. sand            2. whale      2. mine      2. dew
3. tax              3. flake       3. try          3. who
4. dig              4. mail        4. win         4. school
5. lick             5. pain        5. trick        5. bloom
6. lip               6. train       6. price       6. grew
7. pop             7. day         7. spine       7. crew
8. rock            8. say          8. fly          8. to
9. spot            9. play         9. shy         9. too
10. mom        10. said       10. why       10. two

11. important
12. until
13. children
14. side
15. feet
16. car
17. miles
18. night
19. walked
20. white

21. October
22. prince
23. princess
24. there
25. their

Writing
This past month your student has been carefully constructing their own original fairy tale.  We have learned that our story must have a beginning, middle and an end.  We have learned how and when to indent (most of the Rock Stars are still working on indenting) and how to spice up their writing with splendid words and adjectives. 

At the end of October, we will have a small writing celebration where your student will share their story with important adults.  All parents are invited to attend.  I know you will be so excited to see your child's creations!  During parent teacher conferences, you will get a handmade invitation to join us.

Reading
Your student is working hard at proving their answers by underlining supporting evidence in the story text.  Most students are still struggling with this concept.  Over the course of next week, we will discuss this in detail during our guided reading time.  Please support their proving endeavors during their homework time at home.  We have practiced this skill now for 7 weeks.

We will have a blind reading selection test on Tuesday of next week.  A portion of the test will ask students to be able to tell the difference between a fairy tale, folk tale, myth, fable or tall tale.  A study sheet will go home on Friday.

Math
On Monday, we will have a test over fractions.  A review sheet will go home on Friday.  Please review and quiz your student on the definitions and concepts.

The remainder of the week will kick off our multiplication/division unit.  Your student will need your help to practice their 1's and 2's test Friday.

Social Studies
Your student will be learning about the branches of Oklahoma government.  This unit will take about 4 weeks. 

However, we will have a recitation test over the Declaration of Independence.  This information will be on the review that will go home on Friday.

Science
Your student will be learning about non-fiction text features.  This will be of great help when reading non-fiction books! 

As you can see, your little Rock Star will be quite busy next week.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me at onealch@tulsaschools.org or call me on my school or cell phone. 

Sincerely,
Mrs. Cowan

Chess Update :)

Today was our first lesson for First Move.  The lesson was so engaging and the Rock Stars LOVED the Chess Lady.  We learned how to find cordinates on the chess board.  We learned what the words rank, file, diagonal, vertical and horizontal mean.  Additionally, we learned how these words apply in the game of chess. 

Please check a little later and I will post pictures from today!


Reminders:
1. Spelling pre-test tomorrow.
2. Math unit 1 test (the pre-test came home today).
3. Recitation and "Where am I?" test tomorrow.
4. Progress Reports will come home Friday.

Rock on,
Mrs. Cowan

First Move Chess!

    
After our pre-test tomorrow, your students will be learning chess!  We are very fortunate to have the First Move chess program here at Mitchell.  This a wonderful program, to find out more information about First Move check out their website at: http://www.af4c.org/
     Hopefully by next Thursday, your students will receive their log on i.d. cards so they can play chess online.  That website is: Play Chess Online link.  Your students password will be their student school i.d. This i.d. number will follow your student throughout their school career at TPS.  This i.d. number will also be required to access other school software. So, it is vital that they memorize this number because they will need to know it year after year.randomly chosen by the First Move software.  I would have liked to have kept the password the same, but it's not possible.  The First Move staff explained that if a student in New York had an identical i.d. number it would cause problems.  So, I'll be flexible.  :) 
     What's wonderful about the online play feature is that it won't let your student make an illegal move.  Also, First Move has multiple contests throughout the year which center around online play. 
       I hope you check out the website on next Thursday with your student and allow them (once their homework and chores are done) to play chess online.  We are still learning about the rules, so any additional play time will help your student. 

Have a great evening!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Cowan

Updated 9/19/2012 1631

Spelling Words Sept. 17-21

Spelling
Groups 1 & 2
1. pet
2. nut
3. help
4. mud
5. bell
6. jump
7. test
8. hug
9. yes
10. sun
11. life
12. always
13. those
14. both
15. paper
16. together
17. got
18. group
19. often
20. run
21. thousand
22. hundred
23. million
24. billion
25. Constitution

Group 3
1. cap
2. sale
3. lake
4. last
5. nail
6. wave
7. wait
8. laugh
9. maze
10. sail
11. life
12. always
13. those
14. both
15. paper
16. together
17. got
18. group
19. often
20. run
21. thousand
22. hundred
23. million
24. billion
25. Constitution

Group 4
1. dish
2. hike
3. chip
4. ride
5. give
6. king
7. white
8. rich
9. whip
10. dime
11. life
12. always
13. those
14. both
15. paper
16. together
17. got
18. group
19. often
20. run
21. thousand
22. hundred
23. million
24. billion
25. Constitution

Group 5
1. crude
2. suit
3. knew
4. bruise
5. fuel
6. threw
7. flute
8. juice
9. screw
10. chew
11. life
12. always
13. those
14. both
15. paper
16. together
17. got
18. group
19. often
20. run
21. thousand
22. hundred
23. million
24. billion
25. Constitution

**Remember to practice correct capitalization with your child.  We have been practicing in class, but sometimes they still get confused.  Starting last week, if your child uses incorrect capitalization on their spelling words, the word will be wrong. 
**Only proper nouns receive a capital letter.

Math--Easy as 1-2-3
Wednesday, we will have our place value test.  Watch for the review that will come home on Monday.  On Thursday and Friday, we will begin our money unit.

Social Studies--Constitution Week
We are learning some basic geography facts about ourselves.  Your child will need to know his/her address, city, state, country and other state general knowledge.  Additionally, your child has been working on reciting a portion of the first paragraph of the Declaration of Independence.  The social studies test will be on Thursday.  Please watch for the study sheet to come home on Monday. 

Reading
We are learning about Fairy Tales.  Last week, we learned that a traditional fairy tale has certain elements. 

• magic
• royalty (sometimes involved)
• flat characters (good stay good and bad stay bad)
• Sometimes begin, "Once upon a time..." and end "And they lived happily ever after."

This week, we will compare traditional fairy tales to fractured fairy tales.  We will be talking about point of view.  We will read several stories from the bad characters point of view.  How is the story the same?  How is the story different?

We will have a reading test on Friday.  This will be a blind selection.  Students will need to go back and prove their answers.  Proving (a.k.a. underlining and referencing the question) will count as one point.  Correctly answering the question will count as another point. 

If you have any questions, please give me a call.  For those of you that called this weekend, I will call you after school on Monday after 4:00 p.m.  I was under the weather this weekend...I don't think it helped that my family volunteered for Race for the Cure at 6:00 in the morning on Saturday.  If it hadn't been for my daughter's insistence, I would have stayed in bed!

*Progress reports will go home on Friday.  Please check your child's STAR folder.* 

 

Children's Museum Visitor

Hello~we had Ms. Meadows from the Children's Museum come to visit Room 8 today! 

She talked to us about reducing, reusing and recycling.  We used some of her recycled materials and reused the waste.  The waste became tiny little foreign dolls. 

This was what greeted me after a long day!  What could be better than this?

Reminder:  
1.  Homework packets are due tomorrow
2.  Practice spelling test tomorrow
3.  I need Home Language Surveys from 3 families, please return those by Friday. 
4.  The weekend is almost here :)

Questions on Spelling Words

I've had some questions on how to study for spelling words.  I'd like to clarify the lists to make it a little easier to study.

Groups 1 & 2
1. bag
2. job
3. mad
4. stop
5. pan
6. fox
7. pat
8. lock
9. cat
10. lock
11. along
12. might
13. close
14. something
15. seemed
16. next
17. hard
18. open
19. example
20. beginning

Group 3
1. hat
2. name
3. jack
4. date
5. ask
6. race
7. slap
8. plane
9. fast
10. cape
11. along
12. might
13. close
14. something
15. seemed
16. next
17. hard
18. open
19. example
20. beginning

Group 4
1. fern
2. clear
3. bear
4. germ
5. dear
6. swear
7. jerk
8. deer
9. sneer
10. wear
11. along
12. might
13. close
14. something
15. seemed
16. next
17. hard
18. open
19. example
20. beginning

Group 5
1. crust
2. huge
3. blue
4. lump
5. tune
6. due
7. luck
8. cube
9. true
10. clue
11. along
12. might
13. close
14. something
15. seemed
16. next
17. hard
18. open19. example
20. beginning

I hope that clears up any questions you may have!

Sorry for the late post, but I left early to go have a birthday dinner! :-)
 

The Mysterious 10 Words

Dear Parents,
     Your child will be bringing home a collection of spelling words weekly that will be introduced on Monday.  Each night of the week your child is expected to do a different activity to assure these words and the spelling principles they represent are mastered.  These activities will be modeled and practiced in school, so your child can teach you how to do them.
     Your child is split into a group to practice spelling principles they need based on their spelling assessment the first week of school.  Your child will be reassessed again right before parent teacher conferences and at the end of the year.  Research over more than 20 years has established how children learn to spell words and the order in which they learn to spell.  This guides your student's instruction and allows them to learn to spell based on spelling rules. 
     The group words are listed below.  Ten words for their spelling test will be taken from their pattern. 
      If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Mrs. Cowan

Group 1 & 2
Short-a and Short-o
cat        not
bag       job
mad      stop
pan       fox
pat        lock
tack       got
lamp     top

Group 3
Short/Long a

hat	name	odd	jack
date	was	ask	race
plane	fast	cape	lap
page	flag	same	pass
safe	path	gave	glad
gate

Group 4
R-influenced e

her	near	cheer	bear
odd	fern	clear	deer
pear	heart	germ	dear
sneer	wear	jerk	year
queer	swear	herb	spear
peer	herd	beard	perch

Group 5
Short/Long-u

bun	June	blue	odd
fuss	cute	glue	truth
luck	rule	clue	lump
tube	due	trust	tune
true	plum	huge	crust
cube

Homework Packet News

Hello Parents and Students!

I have fabulous news!  Our school copier is working and the homework packets are made.  There is a brief letter on the front of your child's homework explaining the process.  Here's a little more detail for you.

Thursday 9-6-2012 Math Drops In the Bucket #1 and 2
                           Reading Makoto's Garden (front and back)
                           **Self selected reading for 20 minutes.  Record information
                           on reading log.
                           Spelling Study spelling words from list 3C

Friday 9-7-2012     Math Drops In the Bucket #3 and 4
                          Reading Hot Dog Wraps (front and back)
                          **Self selected reading for 20 minutes.  Record information
                          on reading log.
                          Spelling  Study spelling words from list 3D.  Write words 3
                          times each.
Monday 9-10-12    Math  Drops in the Bucket #5 and 6
                          Reading Basketball Practice (front and back)
                          **Self selected reading for 20 minutes. Record information
                          on reading log.
                          Spelling  Make index cards with spelling words on one side
                          and an illustration on the other.  Find someone to quiz you.
Tuesday 9-11-12   Math  Drops in the Bucket #7 & 8
                          Reading  Pond Day (front and back)
                          **Self selected reading for 20 minutes.  Record information
                          on your reading log.
                          Spelling  Have your student write their words in shaving
                          cream on the kitchen table.  It's fun to practice your words
                          and it makes the kitchen table really clean.
Wednesday 9-12   Math Drops in the Bucket #9 & 10
                          Reading The Rabbit Thief (front and back)
                          **Self selected reading for 20 minutes.  Record information
                          on your reading log.
                          Spelling  Give your student a quiz.  Tomorrow is the
                          practice test!

I hope this clears up any questions you may have.  I love to hear back from parents, so please let me know if you encounter any problems! 

Have a great week!

Mrs. Cowan

Homework 9-5-2012

Tonight's homework:

Your child needs to answer 2 questions.

1.  How much television do you watch each evening?

2.  What time do you go to bed?

Lastly, I want them to draw a map of their home.

Big news is that our copier is working!  I'm off to the copy room to make the homework packets for the week.  :) 

Copier Down! (and other news)

Our school copier is down.  I hope our copiers are working this week, so your child can have their homework packet in a timely manner.  I appreciate your understanding regarding this matter.  :)

Tonight's homework is a math word problem in conjunction with their Scholastic book flyer.  If you are interested in placing an order, they are due by September 20th.  The homework will be due tomorrow September 5th.

Our spelling words this week are from list 3C, in your child's folder.  After this week, we will have 3 more classmate names as extra credit words.  The students love to hear their name as a spelling word and love to hear sentences made up about them!

Spelling Words

light
thought
head
under
story
saw
left
don't
few
while
Kimberli
Natalie
Kevin
Alondra
Dominic
Angel
Eric
Adrian
Dontrell
Chiovari

Extra Credit
expanded
college
standard
digit
savings