Upcoming

I hope everyone will be able to make it out to Open House and the PTA meeting tomorrow night, 10/23. This will be less formal than the orientation we had in September. There is not presentation, just drop in, check out your child's work, and see what we have been up to.

Next week we have early dismissal on Wednesday. School will end at 12:45. However, we will be working, so please make sure your child is at school.

The 31st of October is Sinclair's annual Book Character Day, not to be confused with Halloween. Students may dress as a character from their favorite book, but they must have a copy of the book with them. Also, this is not one of the designated party days, so, sadly, there will be no party.

Beginning next week, there will be a new homework schedule and set of spelling lists. There are some changes that I would like to make you aware of. For starters, the format of the spelling assessments will change, as will the words tested. In an effort to improve each child's word study skills, half of the tested words will not be on the spelling list that is posted. We will study the list words and the particular pattern they follow. Through the week, we will add to a class list as words that follow the pattern or rule are studied or discovered. The non-list words that are tested will come from this class word list, so they will not be totally unfamiliar. The Friday assessments will continue to have the passage with multiple choice questions. Added to this will be 10 more words selected from the list complied during the week. All of this means there will be a change in the homework as well. Next Monday, I will have the class set up a page in their homework journals where they are to collect the spelling words we work on in class. The homework schedule will also indicate that they should add 3 words of their own that follow the pattern for the week to share the next day in class.

Another addition to the homework schedule will be the addition of the "Book Talk" assignment. More information will be forthcoming, but what it means is that each student, twice per nine weeks, will be expected to give an endorsement of a book they have recently read independently and enjoyed. Essentially they will be giving a short commercial for a book. More on this next week.

If you are not already following the class on Twitter, I encourage you to do so. I update that a bit more regularly than I do this blog. It is quicker to post photos of our activities.

I hope to see everyone tomorrow night.