Happy Weekend

Weekend Homework -

Read for half an hour in your Roald Dahl book and log.
Think about your October goal and write it on the paper.

Week of September 24th

Week of  September 24th

Homework will be light this week because of Terra Nova Testing. The days are long and stressful enough without adding a ton of homework.

Thursday Homework -
One more day of Terra Nova!

Read for 20 minutes in your Roald Dahl book and log it.

Religion - pages 22 and 23
SS - Complete pages 1 and 2 in your notebook.  Page 1 is a list of What I Know About New York.
Page 2 is Questions I have About New York

Wednesday Homework

Read for 20 minutes in your Roald Dahl book and log it.
Finish reading the Roald Dahl timeline. In your Writer's Notebook, make a timeline of your life including at least ten events that interest you about your life.  Be sure to start with your birth!

Tuesday Homework

Read for 20 minutes in your Roald Dahl book and log it.
Math sheet

You're always welcome to do Reflex Math. I'm really seeing progress which will make the rest of math easier for you!

Any parent who would like a report of their child's Reflex progress, just email me through the link on the HomeworkNow page and I'll be happy to send a report.




Terra Nova Testing begins on Tuesday of this week and runs all week in the mornings.
We did practice testing today and went over the answers in class. The children are bringing the practice booklets home so you can have an idea of what to expect.
 Monday Homework -
Bring sharpened #2 pencils.
Read for 20 minutes in Roald Dahl book and log.
Reading survey sheet.
Reflex Math (It is VERY important that this homework be done. I have been getting alerts that some people are not doing their Reflex homework.)
Wordly Wise corrections
 There will be a bake sale at lunch  tomorrow to benefit Tommy Guardavaccaro.

Happy Weekend!

I hope everyone has a lovely, restful weekend.

The only weekend homework is to read in your Roald Dahl books and get the Wordly Wise tests signed.  Don't do the corrections for Wordly Wise yet. I'll show you on Monday how we will do them.

Next week is Terra Nova testing.

Monday will be practice tests.
The actual tests will run Tuesday through Friday in the mornings.

Week of September 17th

Thursday -

Reminder - book orders are due by Friday.
 Walkathon is Friday. Students should wear gym uniforms. They will get a slice of pizza for lunch!

Read for 20 minutes and record it in your Roald Dahl log.
In your Reading Journal respond to Roald Dahl's comment that children's books must be funny. Do you agree or not? Give your reasons.

Math - sheet

Science - It's been a week since we dissected the peaches and put them in the bags. What do you think you will see when you look at them tomorrow? Write your predictions in your Science Notebooks.


Wednesday -

Reminder - book orders are due by Friday.
 Walkathon papers were due today


Read for 20 minutes and record it in your Roald Dahl log.

Reflex Math

Wordly Wise - Exercise 1 E and study for test.

Tuesday -

Read for 20 minutes and record it in your Roald Dahl log.

Ladybugs - re-read the article on Ladybugs and complete the close reading sheet the way I showed you in the example.

Wordly Wise - 1 D and study for Thursday's test

Math - workbook page 1. Remember to read the directions!


Monday -

I'm looking forward meeting all of you tonight.

Because of the meeting, I'm following Mrs. Bartone's policy and not assigning any written homework.

Students should still read for 20 minutes in their Roald Dahl book and record it on their log.
Reminder - Wordly Wise test is Thursday so everyone should be studying the words.

Week of September 10th, 2012

Friday Homework
Book order forms went home today. You can continue to order the traditional way by sending in the money (cash or check) with the form if you like. I also sent home a letter with information about how you can do your ordering online. That way is much more efficient and Scholastic rewards you with a $5 coupon and the class with a $3 coupon for each order.  You can just click on the link above to get started.I'm looking forward to meeting with you all on Monday night. There will be no written homework on Monday in order to make the evening less of a hassle for you. The only homework will be reading in the Roald Dahl book.

Writing - Normally there is no written homework on the weekend for the first part of the year, but people who did not finish their draft of their paragraph will have to finish that this weekend.  The assignment was for each student to choose an event from his or her life and complete a WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY list about it.

Who was there besides you?
What was the event you chose?
When did it occur? It can be general (3rd grade, summer when I was 5) or more specific (birth date, Christmas 2006).
Where did it happen?
Why did you choose this event to write about.

Then you have to take that list and turn it into a news story paragraph - something fun that shares the news about your event.

This was was begun in our Writer's Notebooks (the one with Snoopy on the cover).

Reading homework - spend at least half an hour reading your Roald Dahl book over the weekend.
Reflex Math - any time. Build those points!!!

Wordly Wise - Test on Lesson 1 will be Thursday, September 20th. (Note - the Wordly Wise tests will be about every two weeks until the children get the hang of them.)




REMINDER - Lunchroom fee is due tomorrow.

Thursday Homework

Read for 20 minutes in your Roald Dahl book.
After you read, write a letter to Roald Dahl (in your Reading Journal) telling him your thoughts about what you have read. You can ask questions, tell what you like, what you don't like. Mention anything that confuses you or words you don't know. Don't forget to wish him what would be his 96th birthday!

Science - Do an observation of anything in your house, garden, school (basically anything you see that interests you). Do it the way we did the peach observation remembering to do qualitative and quantitative observations.

Wordly Wise - Exercises 1 B and C.

Math - sheet.  The sheet should be a review but if there is anything you don't know (or didn't learn) try your best and circle the number.





Wednesday Homework

Reminders:
A) Lunchroom fees are due by Friday.
B) The youngest child in each family received the Walk-A-Thon papers. If your family did not receive the papers, please let me know.

Read for 20 minutes in your Roald Dahl book. (The one you chose today.) Record your reading on the Roald Dahl reading log. That means write the pages you read (ex. 4 - 24), your comments and check the last column. You can write post-it notes like you did last night. Certainly you should do a note for any word you don't know. Follow the formula we used in class:
Write the sentence and underline or circle the word.
Write a ?
Figure out what you think the word means based on the sentences around it.

2.  Reflex Math

3. Religion Book pages 12, 13 and 14.





Don't worry about using the Reading Log tonight. Since this is a mix of reading and writing about reading, it's a bit confusing. We'll start with the log tomorrow and I'll explain it better to the students.


Tuesday Homework -

1. Read for at least 15 minutes. Read your assigned chapter of James and the Giant Peach. (Reminder: the chapter matches your class number.) Do a close reading like we did with Chapter 1 in class. Use the post-it notes to write down things you notice about how Roald Dahl wrote the story. For example, you could note certain words he chose, expressions he used, any words you don't know, thoughts you had while reading. Anything like that to show you are thinking while you are reading. There is NO set number of notes That will vary chapter to chapter. Just do YOUR best work.

2.  Math - sheet
3.  Wordly Wise - Lesson 1 Exercise A (Finding Meanings)
4.  Religion - write a prayer for the people affected by the events of September 11, 2001. Write a good copy and illustrate your prayer. You can write it on loose leaf or type it or do it on construction paper. That's up to you.


ETA:

Yes - there are two journals. One for reading and one for writing.  The one that has the entry for "My Reading Life" is actually the Reading Journal (formerly known in my class as the RRJ).  We can just change the label if someone wrote in the wrong one because we haven't used the Writing Journal yet.


So, to clarify - we have the following notebooks:

Religion
Reading Journal
Writing Journal (Which I am renaming Writer's Notebook to avoid confusion.)
Math
Science
Social Studies
Word Study/Vocabulary
ELA Skills

I gave each child a school homework notebook.
Hope that helps. I'm sorry it's so confusing at the beginning. I'm sure it will all work out. 

Monday Homework -

1. In your Reading Journal, write what you remember from reading James and the Giant Peach last year.
 Read for at least 15 minutes. For tonight, that reading time should be going back through James and the Giant Peach and refreshing your memory about the story.

Thank you to those of you asking for more details on this:
I'm using the Roald Dahl log while we do our author study, but I told the children they are free to read anything else they want. I will provide an alternative reading log for those children who prefer to read something else at night. For tonight I specifically wanted them to go back through James and the Giant Peach. If they do other reading, they can always write it in their reading journal.



2.  Math - 2 sheets from Math Curse.  Do the problems in your Math notebook. Try to make up similar problems about our class or your family.

3. Think about what resolutions you can make to have the best school year ever. Write out your "New Year's Resolutions" on paper and decorate.  I will collect and hold them and we'll review them in January to check our progress.

Happy Weekend!

Congratulations on completing the first week of school.

I've got a question for you - based on the math we did the other day, how many days of school do you think are left now?


There's no homework this weekend. Rest up and come in ready to work hard starting on Monday!

Also - you can always play on Reflex Math. I was going to change the settings so you can do multiplication too, but I can't do that until you've completed the addition and subtraction.

I gave the children the special subjects schedule, but here it is for anyone who wasn't sure:

Monday - Computer

Tuesday - Art and Gym

Wednesday - our day for class Mass

Thursday - Sister Rosela (1/2 class) and Library

Friday - Music, Spanish and our Olweus "No-Bullying" meeting

Thursday Homework

Attention American Girl Doll fans -

I just got an email from Barnes and Noble that they're running a contest to win the new American Girl Doll (from the War of 1812), Caroline Abbott.  If you'd like to enter for a chance to win, go to the B&N site  - Barnes & Noble Meet Caroline Abbott

These short days go by so quickly!

Tonight's homework -

Read for a minimum of 15 minutes. You can read any book you like. Try to bring the book to school tomorrow to share what you are reading.

Remember to look for your copy of James and the Giant Peach. We will be working with the book on Monday as we begin Roald Dahl month. There is no need to purchase another copy if you no longer have it. I have some copies.

Reflex Math - I distributed a letter with information about the program. I also sent home cards with student login info and passwords. The children should spend some time tonight getting familiar with the program and playing it as long as they like.
Please let me know if there is any problem with your child doing this work at home. We also have access to computers in school so if there is a problem doing it at home, I can make sure each child is getting sufficient time in school. Just let me know.

Handwriting - we have a new handwriting program this year. Tonight's homework is page 9.


If you have any questions or concerns about anything, feel free to email me through the Homework Now site. The page doesn't have info on it yet, but the email works.  Mrs. Curry at Homework Now.

First Day of School

Welcome to the new school year.
Despite the heat and humidity, the year got off to a great start today.

Wednesday Homework -

All About Me bag - decorate the bag with things about you and fill the bag with items, photos or drawings that show information about you. We will share tomorrow.

Math - A big focus of Common Core Math is recognizing math in our everyday lives. The homework tonight is to find an example of how you or your family used math in your day.

Lots of forms and notices went home. Please return Gym form tomorrow.  The school emergency form will go home tomorrow.

I was fortunate enough to obtain a Math Grant this summer for a math fluency program called Reflex Math. More information will come home about that tomorrow.

If anyone needs to contact me - the email address mcurry@stephremsch.org is working.
The Homework Now page should be working by tomorrow, but I will continue to maintain this site as well.