Practice! Practice! Practice!

We learned the lowercase r and s today. Way to go, Austin! These r's and s's look SUPER!
Malia is working hard on her cursive.
Matthew took his time and did a great job!
Caleb and Ashleigh are doing really well cursive.
Brinkley has wonderful cursive handwriting!

Workshop

While I meet with my reading groups, the children will go to stations during WORKSHOP time. Today was our first time. This week will be a trial run while we learn the rules and procedures!

This is the listening station. The children were listening to this week's story, "Teammates."
This is the writing station. First, the students practiced writing the letters we have already learned in cursive. Then, they wrote freely in their writing journals.
This is the Comprehension Station. The students read a passage two times and then answered questions about it. When they finished, they read books in the reading center.
This is the Social Studies station. These students worked on map skills.
This is the computer station. These students took their first STAR test and then played on FUNBRAIN.COM
These students went to the Spelling Station. They had to figure out the cost of each spelling word. Each letter of the alphabet has a coin value. The children had to figure out the coin value of each letter of their spelling word and then add them together.

Reading and Vocabulary Test Thursday!

Here are our VOCABULARY words for the week!
This week's story is a biography. We have talked about how a biography and an autobiography are different.
This is this week's story. It is a really good story. However, I had to do a lot of explaining to help the children understand. Please reread this story with your child at home. Also, please encourage discussion.

Grandparent's Day At Julian Harris

Look at What Mrs. Coon Did This SATURDAY!

First, I ran 20 miles with my husband and friends. We started at 4:30 A.M. Mrs. Coon and her best buddies, Mrs. Barabara and Mrs. Paige.
Next, we went and volunteered at the Animal Shelter on Central Parkway. This is one of Patton's favorite things to do.

This Patton signing in so he can walk the dogs.
Patton and his cousin, Callie, took a bag of dog food to donate to the Animal Shelter.
This dog, or was it a horse, was so good with kids. He loved Patton and Callie.
They enjoyed playing with the cats, too.
This one was my favorite! She was adorable and so calm!

Next, our family pitched a tent at the campgrounds in Point Mallard. We went with two other families from our church.
We ate barbeque, roasted marshmallows (made SMORES), explored the woods, told ghost stories --- We about did it all!
Mr. David taking a break!
He didn't sit for long. Here he is helping set up another tents.

The children did lots of running around. It did not take long for them to fall asleep.
WE HAD A GREAT TIME!

Class Represenative Campaign

We vote on September 16!

Happy Birthday, Austin!

Today Was Austin's Birthday!

His sweet mother brought in cupcakes so we could celebrate his special day!

Austin helped his mother pass out the "yummy" cupcakes.

Hannah and Preston seemed to get more on their faces than in their mouths!
Here is the birthday boy!

Writing a Paragraph

We have been practicing writing paragraphs CORRECTLY during writing. First, we have discussed main ideas and topic sentences. Then, we have worked on creating detail sentences that support the main idea. We have also worked really hard on organizing our thoughts before writing our paragraphs. We have done this by using graphic organizers. Here you will see that Collin from Mrs. Mazes' room used a web to help him organize his paragraph. I use the HAMBURGER MODEL to teach my students how to write a paragraph. We discuss that the paragraph must have a topic sentence (the top bun), at least 3 supporting detail sentences (the meat, the cheese, the lettuce), and a concluding sentence (the bottom part of the bun).
Right now, I am encouraging the students to write 5 sentences in their paragraphs. This week and next week, you will see several paragraphs coming home that your child has written in class. Practice makes PERFECT!

Book Order Due Monday

This is our first book order this year! If you want to order, please send in your order form and payment by Monday, Sept. 15. Please make checks payable to Scholastic not Julian Harris. Thanks!

Taking a Peek!

I had fun peeking in on the children in Mrs. Maze's class today. They seem to really be getting into it!
Ask your child what he/she did today in science? I am sure you will get a good response!

Grammar Test on Thursday: Simple and Compound Sentences and LINKING Verbs

We FOCUSED on linking verbs AGAIN today. The children are having a terrible time learning the "forms of be." We chanted, "Am, Is, Are, Was, Were!" over and over again.
Since we didn't do so well on the first two grammar quizzes identifying the linking verb in the sentence, I have decided to throw it on the quiz again this Thursday.
To help them learn the "forms of be," we made posters today to put in our BEE books.
Both classes worked really hard on these! I think they enjoyed it, too!
Please encourage your child to study these. I keep reminding them that a sentence might not always have an action verb, it might be a linking verb. I explained that the linking verbs connects the subject to the rest of the words in the sentence. It LINKS it together!
I was so proud of how serious they took this project!
Anna, Matthew, and Brittney worked really hard decorating their posters!
Destiny and Caleb did a fantastic job! Way to go!

SIMPLE/COMPOUND Subjects and SIMPLE/COMPOUND Predicates

Today in your child's BEE book there should be a workbook page (pg. 59-60) on this subject that we did together in class. At the top, your child should have written the word STUDY on it. This information will also be on the test on Thursday.

First of all, the students should be able to identify the subject and the predicate in a sentence. I explained that the subject is who or what the sentence is about (noun) and the predicate is what the subject is doing (verb).

A simple subject: A dog ran down the street.

A compound subject: A dog and cat ran down the street.

A simple predicate: Mrs. Coon drove to the store.

A compound predicate: Mrs. Coon washed and folded the laundry.

This Week's Story

Last Friday, we started reading Beauty and the Beast. Please reread this story and discuss it with your child at home. Our reading test is on Thursday.
Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale. Throughout the week, we will be discussing the characteristics of a fairy tale. We will also will determine the author's purpose for writting this tale.
Here is a list of this week's vocabulary words. The words and definitions should be in your child's BEE book behind the reading tab. On Friday, we used the glossary in our reading books to find out what each word means.
Remember, the students will be responsible for knowing these words for their reading test on Thursday.