Unit 2 Week 3 Preview

We begin looking at maps to find our place in the neighborhood, city, state, country, and world. We review the strategies of finding main idea and details to aid comprehension and continue our work with summarizing. Our oral vocabulary words are amazed, frequently, service, useful, variety. Our sight words are live, many, out, place. In spelling we take a look at blends with 's' and 'r' (spill, still, grab, drip).

Math Test Results

Of 23 students taking the mid chapter test all students passed with an adjusted score of 10 or better. One student scored perfectly and 2 students only missed 1 point.

Thirty-Eighth Day of School

There is no homework tonight.

In Social Science we compared the past to the present and learned (tested) (HS 1.2.4):

• Streets were unpaved.
• There were no oil burning vehicles.
• Long distance transportation systems were dependent on beasts of burden.
• Schools often only had one room shared by students of all ages.
• It could take weeks to deliver the post which was carried by riders on horses.

Thirty Seventh Day of School

For discussion:

• Which elements of a narrative are generally presented at the beginning (of a story)? (the setting and the characters)
• What element of a narrative is contained in the middle? (the plot/problem)

Note: This is the traditional structure of the Western narrative whereas Eastern narratives often will not include conflict/problems to be surmounted but rather a twist or surprise which is presented in the third act followed by the reconciliation (fourth act).

Notes on the District Assessment

The November and January assessment questions have been selected and reviewed by the first grade team. There are no surprises on the test. The questions are very similar to the questions on the regular chapter tests.

Thirty-Sixth Day of School

We will likely take a mid-chapter test in Math on Wednesday. The district Math assessment questions will be finalized this week. Optional practice questions will be posted soon. If you would like to have your child's practice-test work reviewed before the assessment, have your child bring it to school along with their regular homework assignment.

In Social Science we compared the past with the present. In particular how many items (toys, candles, horseshoes) were made made by hand (tested).

For Oral Language we practiced our interview skills on the subject of Roberto Clemente.

Unit 2 Week 2 Preview

This week we discuss cooperation and our role in helping out. We discuss families and neighbors working together to help each other. Our oral vocabulary words are appreciate, partner, cooperate, responsibility, and delectable. This week we will continue with the comprehension strategy of summarizing. We will focus on short vowel 'e' (tell, went) in spelling and touch on long 'o' spelled 'o_e' (hope, note). Our sight vocabulary words are eat, no, of, some, who. For grammar we will pluralize nouns requiring '-es' (lunches, dishes).

In Writing are strategy will be to work on a number of settings for a collection of realistic fiction pieces. Then once we have some detailed beginnings, we will choose from among those some which will be developed into full stories.

In Social Science we will discuss at length how physical environments affect the way people live (food, shelter, clothing, transportation, recreation) (HSS 1.2.4) (tested). We will compare the environments of Alaska, Spain, and California.

In Science we will continue with our examination of liquids.