The Week of March 28, 2011

LIFESKILL OF THE WEEK:

The lifeskill that we are working on this week is Friendship

BOOK REPORT
The March book report is on a (nonfiction) science book. There is a project that needs to be completed at home for this book report. We will discuss the book report and all the terms this week. I will ask each student to put the book report form in their Home Folder so you and your child can review the types of questions and the assignment for the book report. Please talk with your child about the importance of completing work in a timely fashion. When students wait until the last minute to start long-term projects, it creates tension and frustration. Learning to use time wisely is a skill that will be used for a lifetime. The March book report is due this Thursday, March 31st.

READING
This week we will be reading the 22nd story in our reading book, "A Peddler's Dream" (U5S2). The skill we will be focusing on is PLOT. A plot is a series of events that center on a problem, or conflict. A conflict can be a problem between two people or groups, or between a person and nature. Conflicts can also be problems that characters have within themselves. The climax is where the action of the story builds and the conflict must be faced. The resolution is where the problem is solved.

The spelling words this week are words with kn, gn, wr, or mb. They are: knot, unknown, know, knit, knob, kneel, sign, design, assign, writing, wrist, wreck, wreath, wrench, wren, climb, thumb, limb, comb, and lamb. Their Spelling homework is to use the words in sentences. The students should underline each spelling word. The Tuesday night homework is due on Wednesday. The vocabulary for this week is: bound, fortune, mission, peddling, purchased, quarters, and trudged. The challenge vocabulary words are: betrothed, calico, dowry, merchandise, and wares.

NEW TERM
It is hard to believe that the end of the year is so near. This week we will be starting a new grading period (Spring Term). We will not have an AAI list today because of the new term. Please check each Monday to see if your child has any missing assignments so they can complete them and turn them in as soon as possible.

STATE TESTS
We will have two more rounds of State Tests for students who have not passed. The next round will be April 25-29, and the last round will be the week of May 16-20. If your child has already passed, they will not need to take the test again.

RETIREMENT
If you haven't already heard it from your child, I am going to be retiring at the end of the school year. Teaching has been such an important part of my life for so long and it is with bittersweet feelings that I embark on this new adventure. As part of my retirement, I will be cleaning out all of the teaching supplies that I have collected over the last thirty years. I will be giving teacher materials to staff that would like them, but I also have lots of other items that I think my students might enjoy having. I will be giving tickets for a variety of reasons, for example "good behavior" and "assignments completed". Those tickets will go into a container and we will have periodic drawings for items that I have decided to give away. If you would not like your child to be involved in these drawings and bring home items that they choose, please let me know (note or phone call) so that I don't send things with them. Thank you for all of your support this year. Weddle is truly a wonderful place to be!!