reading / English

June 15--Much of this day was spent doing textbook inventory and classroom cleaning.

June 14--After a brief introduction to Shakespeare, students listened to a child's adaptation of Shakespeare's play, "The Taming of the Shrew".

June 13--field day today.

June 12--Students wrote letters to Fr. Milhton to express appreciation for the spiritual gifts he brings us and for the gift he is to us.

June 8--

• 3rd: read and discussed a nonfiction selection "Defining Geometry"; answered questions with selection.

• 4th: read and discussed a nonfiction selection "Defining Geometry"; answered questions with selection.

• 5th: began reading and discussing "William Shakespeare and the Globe"; began writing essay about Johnny Tremain; homework: finish reading "William Shakespeare and the Globe" and answer questions 1-4 at the end of the selection.

June 7--Spelling prizes were awarded today for highest scores (on the posttest), highest score above one's own grade level, greatest gain from September to June, and neatest spelling notebooks.

• 3rd: read "The Armadillo from Amarillo" independently and answered questions 1-4. We checked these together.

• 4th: read nonfiction selection "Porcupines" and answered the comprehension questions; we checked this together.

• 5th: finished reading and discussing Johnny Tremain! Homework for those of you who read Johnny Tremain on a classroom Kindle: Please return the charging cord.

June 6--

• 3rd: comprehension exercise, nonfiction selection Quartz"; independent reading.

• 4th: comprehension exercise, nonfiction selection Quartz"; independent reading.

• 5th: continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: read sections 2 and 3 of chapter 12.

June 5--Students worked to finish their own parts of the graduation gift from this class. Please note that spelling pretests and posttests along with report of progress is coming home today in Monday Folders. Homework: each student must finish his or her part of the graduation gift to turn in tomorrow morning. This includes the artwork and the hand-written line on a separate sheet of paper.

June 2--Oral phonogram review, phonograms 60-70; written phonogram quiz.

June 1--By tomorrow, every student needs to be able to show me the drawing she or she plans to use in the class graduation gift.

• 3rd: Roadrunners corrected the comprehension test for "Alejandro's Gift"; Starlings practiced lesson 20 for time and accuracy; students practiced phonograms 60-70 and took the spelling posttest; students worked on graduation gifts.

• 4th: students practiced phonograms 60-70 and took the spelling posttest; students worked on graduation gifts; students finished reading and discussing "The Down and Up Fall".

• 5th: continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain; students practiced phonograms 60-70 and took the spelling posttest; students worked on graduation gifts. Homework: finish chapter 11 of Johnny Tremain.

May 31--Homework: review spelling notebooks for spelling posttest tomorrow.

• 3rd: oral phonogram review, #60-70; completed and corrected the rest of the Greek/Latin vocabulary packet #8 about math; corrected Writing Matters Book One pp. 68-70; cursive practice; Roadrunners corrected comprehension test for "I'm in Charge of Celebrations" and began reading and discussing "Alejandro's Gift"; Starlings read lesson 20 chorally and read individually for time and accuracy.

• 4th: oral phonogram review, #60-70; completed and corrected the rest of the Greek/Latin vocabulary packet #8 about math; corrected Writing Matters Book One pp. 68-70; cursive practice; continued comprehension test for "Fly Traps"; began reading an discussing "The Down and Up Fall".

• 5th: oral phonogram review, #60-70; completed and corrected the rest of the Greek/Latin vocabulary packet #8 about math; corrected Writing Matters Book One pp. 68-70; cursive practice; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: read Johnny Tremain up to chapter 11, section 4.

May 30--Today we began the project of making our class gift to the 2017 St. Michael School graduates. Homework: review spelling words from this year for spelling posttest on Thursday.

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters Book One pp. 65-66; new lesson: prepositions are words that show the position of another word in time or space. In-class work pp. 67-70; Roadrunners finished comprehension test for "I'm in Charge of Celebrations"; independent reading.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters Book Two pp. 66-70; new lesson: prepositions are words that show the position of another word in time or space. In-class work pp. 67-70 from Writing Matters Book One; began comprehension test for "Fly Traps"; independent reading.

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters Book Two pp. 66-70 ; new lesson: prepositions are words that show the position of another word in time or space. In-class work pp. 67-70 from Writing Matters Book One; independent reading; began reading and discussing Johnny Tremain chapter X. Homework: finish chapter X of Johnny Tremain.

May 26--Students took a spelling test today.

May 25--Today was our last nature journaling field trip to Hill Park. Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

May 24--homework: Writing Matters

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 64; new assignment pp. 65-66; homework: Writing Matters pp. 65-66.

• 4th: Writing Matters corrected pp. 64; new assignment pp. 66-70. Homework: finish Writing Matters.

• 5th: Writing Matters corrected pp. 64; new assignment pp. 66-70; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain; homework: finish Writing Matters; finish reading chapter 9 of Johnny Tremain.

May 23--

• 3rd: IXL language and other work with Mrs. Tacker

• 4th and 5th: track meet

May 22--spelling words three times each

• 3rd: put 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; corrected Writing Matters pp. 62-63; new assignment p. 64; Roadrunners finished reading and discussing "I'm in Charge of Celebrations"; Starlings finished reading lesson 16 for time and accuracy.

• 4th: put 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; corrected Writing Matters pp. 62-63; new assignment p. 64; read and discussed vocabulary pages 714-715.

• 5th: put 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; corrected Writing Matters pp. 62-63; new assignment p. 64; began reading and discussing chapter IX of Johnny Tremain.

May 19--students practiced spelling words on the board and took a spelling test.

May 18--homework: study for spelling test.

• 3rd: Greek and Latin roots vocabulary corrected pp.70-71; new assignment p. 72; Writing Matters corrected pp. 60-61; new assignment pp. 62-63;

• 4th: Greek and Latin roots vocabulary corrected pp.70-71; new assignment p. 72; Writing Matters corrected pp. 58-59 and 61; new assignment pp. 62-63;

• 5th: Greek and Latin roots vocabulary corrected pp.70-71; new assignment p. 72; Writing Matters corrected pp. 58-59 and 61; new assignment pp. 62-63; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain; homework: finish chapter 8 of Johnny Tremain.

May 17--homework: spelling words two times each in cursive

• 3rd: Greek and Latin roots vocabulary packet, pp. 70-71; Writing Matters lesson: an adverb describes a verb. It answers the questions when?, where?, how? Assignment pp. 60-61; Roadrunners began reading and discussing "I'm in Charge of Celebrations"; Starlings read chorally and read individually for time and accuracy.

• 4th: Greek and Latin roots vocabulary packet, pp. 70-71; Writing Matters lesson: subordinating conjunction is a word that begins a dependent clause. Examples include after, before, until, when, because, unless; assignment pp. 58-59; began reading and discussing "Fly Traps".

• 5th: Greek and Latin roots vocabulary packet, pp. 70-71; Writing Matters lesson: subordinating conjunction is a word that begins a dependent clause. Examples include after, before, until, when, because, unless; assignment pp. 58-59; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: read Johnny Tremain to the -4- in chapter VIII.

May 16--

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 56; new assignment pp. 57-58; Starlings read lesson 13 for speed and read lesson 16 for a baseline score. Homework: Starlings read phrases of lesson 16 three times.

• 4th: Writing Matters lesson: a complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. And independent clause can stand alone. A dependent clause cannot stand alone. A dependent clause is introduced by a subordinating conjunction. Example: When the cows entered the pasture, the farmer closed the gate. When is the subordinating conjunction which introduces the dependent clause when the cows entered the pasture. The independent clause is the farmer closed the gate. Writing Matters assignment: pp. 61-62.

• 5th: Writing Matters lesson: a complex sentence contains one independent clause and one or more dependent clauses. And independent clause can stand alone. A dependent clause cannot stand alone. A dependent clause is introduced by a subordinating conjunction. Example: When the cows entered the pasture, the farmer closed the gate. When is the subordinating conjunction which introduces the dependent clause when the cows entered the pasture. The independent clause is the farmer closed the gate. Writing Matters assignment: pp. 61-62; read and discussed Johnny Tremain. Homework: finish chapter VII (7) of Johnny Tremain.

May 11, 12, 15--substitute teacher

May 10--

• 3rd: practiced phonograms 46-59; quiz on phonograms 46-59; Roadrunners continued reading and discussing "If You Made a Million"; Starlings practiced lesson 12 then read it for speed.

• 4th: MAP testing; quiz on phonograms 46-59.

• 5th: MAP testing; quiz on phonograms 46-59.

May 9--Homework: spelling words in cursive on HWT paper (given in class); cursive practice letters u and v.

• 3rd: reviewed phonograms 46-59 and listed words that have each of those phonograms; Writing Matters: corrected pp. 53; lesson: subject pronouns vs. object pronouns; new assignment pp. 54-55; Roadrunners began reading and discussing "If You Made a Million"; Starlings read lesson 12 chorally then individually for time; cursive practice sentences, u and v.

• 4th: MAP testing--reading; Writing Matters: lesson: subordinating conjunctions; adding a subordinating conjunction makes an independent clause into a dependent clause. Examples: Independent clause: Sally went to the store. Dependent clauses: When Sally went to the store,... Because Sally went to the store,... After Sally went to the store,... These dependent clauses need more information to become a sentence. Example: After Sally went to the store, she went to the beach; reviewed phonograms 46-59 and listed words that have each of those phonograms.

• 5th: MAP testing--reading. Writing Matters: lesson: subordinating conjunctions; adding a subordinating conjunction makes an independent clause into a dependent clause. Examples: Independent clause: Sally went to the store. Dependent clauses: When Sally went to the store,... Because Sally went to the store,... After Sally went to the store,... These dependent clauses need more information to become a sentence. Example: After Sally went to the store, she went to the beach; reviewed phonograms 46-59 and listed words that have each of those phonograms.

May 8--Homework: spelling words three times each.

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; Writing Matters: corrected pp. 50-51; new lesson: a pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Examples of pronouns are I, you, he, she, it, we, they, me, him, her, us, them, my, your, yours, his, hers, its, our, ours. New assignment p. 53; oral phonogram review.

• 4th: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; Writing Matters: corrected pp. 54-55; new assignment p. 56; oral phonogram review.

• 5th: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; Writing Matters: corrected pp. 54-55; new assignment p. 56; oral phonogram review.

May 5--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 new spelling words in their notebooks.

May 4--lesson: Roman numerals Homework: spelling test tomorrow; complete cursive; complete Greek/Latin vocabulary pp. 67-68

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 49; new assignment pp. 50-51; cursive practice page with narrow lines; Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 67-68; Roadrunners finished reading "Blueberries for Sal" and took the AR test; Starlings practiced the phrases for lesson 13 and began reading the paragraph for time.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters p. 53; new assignment pp. 54-55; cursive practice page with narrow lines; Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 67-68; continued reading and discussing "Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox".

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters p. 53; new assignment pp. 54-55; cursive practice page with narrow lines; Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 67-68;

May 3--

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 48; new assignment p. 49; Roadrunners began reading and discussing "Blueberries for Sal"; Starlings finished lesson 12; students wrote letters to thank the drivers who took them on their field trip. Homework: finish Writing Matters p. 49.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters p. 50-51; new lesson: progressive verbs have a form of "be" plus the -ing form of the verb and express continuous action. Progressive verbs can be in any tense, for example, "He was swimming; she is swimming; they will be swimming"; new assignment p. 53; students began reading and discussing "Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox"; students wrote letters to thank the drivers who took them on their field trip. Homework: finish Writing Matters p. 53.

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters p. 50-51; new lesson: progressive verbs have a form of "be" plus the -ing form of the verb and express continuous action. Progressive verbs can be in any tense, for example, "He was swimming; she is swimming; they will be swimming"; new assignment p. 53; students continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain; students wrote letters to thank the drivers who took them on their field trip. Homework: finish Writing Matters p. 53; read Johnny Tremain up to 6.4.

May 2--

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 47; new assignment, p. 48; cursive x, z, and qu. Homework: finish cursive, write three compound sentences using six spelling words.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters p. 48-49; new assignment, p. 50-51; cursive x, z, and qu. Homework: finish cursive, write four compound sentences using eight spelling words.

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters p. 48-49; new assignment, p. 50-51; cursive x, z, and qu; read and discussed Johnny Tremain, the start of chapter 6. Homework: finish cursive, write five compound sentences using ten spelling words.

May 1--

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; identified the Greek roots and Latin roots in new Greek/Latin vocabulary packet about math terms; completed p. 66 in Greek/Latin packet; cursive practice for m and n; Roadrunners finished reading and discussing Sarah, Plain and Tall; Starlings practiced lesson 12 with choral reading then read individually for time and accuracy. Homework: cursive, spelling three times each, Writing Matters p. 47.

• 4th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; identified the Greek roots and Latin roots in new Greek/Latin vocabulary packet about math terms; completed p. 66 in Greek/Latin packet; cursive practice for m and n; read and discussed vocabulary on pp. 668-669. Homework: cursive, spelling three times each, Writing Matters p. 49.

• 5th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; identified the Greek roots and Latin roots in new Greek/Latin vocabulary packet about math terms; completed p. 66 in Greek/Latin packet; cursive practice for m and n. Homework: cursive, spelling three times each, Writing Matters p. 49.

April 28--Students began putting 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks, and they took a written phonogram quiz. Homework: students who did not finish their rock essays will stay in at recess until they are completed. Those students may prefer to finish this weekend.

April 27--oral phonogram review, practice for tomorrow's written phonogram review quiz.

• 3rd: Writing Matters, corrected pp. 43-44; new lesson: an adjective is a word that describes a noun. The three articles, a, an, the are special kinds of adjectives; new assignment p. 46. Homework: finish Writing Matters p. 46; finish Types of Rocks essay if it is not already finished.

• Writing Matters, corrected p. 45; new lesson: reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns; new assignment p. 47-48. Homework: finish Writing Matters pp. 47-48; finish Types of Rocks essay if it is not already finished.

• 5th: Writing Matters, corrected p. 45; new lesson: reflexive pronouns, indefinite pronouns, interrogative pronouns, and demonstrative pronouns; new assignment p. 47-48. Discussed Johnny Tremain section 6.4 an read 6.5 and the start of 6.6. Homework: finish Writing Matters pp. 47-48; finish Types of Rocks essay if it is not already finished, finish Johnny Tremian 6.6.

April 26--oral phonogram review; oral Greek roots exercise using gram, dia, milli, mono, phon, tele, pro, er, ed, s.

• 3rd: began writing five-paragraph essay about rocks; Roadrunners discussed chapter 8 of Sarah, Plain and Tall and began reading and discussing chapter 9; Starlings used choral reading to practice lesson 12 then practiced individually. Homework: cursive worksheet b, w, v for all third graders; Starlings read 100-word passage three times.

• 4th: began writing five-paragraph essay about rocks; finished reading and discussing "I Have Heard of a Land"; read and discussed section about word relationships on p. 666 and did the practice test on p. 667. homework: cursive

• 5th: began writing five-paragraph essay about rocks; discussed section 6.1 of Johnny Tremain and began reading 6.2. Homework: read Johnny Tremain to 6.4; cursive.

April 25--oral phonogram review; oral Latin roots exercise using the root struct and the prefixes and suffixes con, de, in, ob, re, ed, er, ion. Homework: finish notecards for rocks essay if they are not already finished.

• 3rd: finished making the research cards for their essay on rocks; Starlings finished their fluency exercise 9; Roadrunners discussed chapter 6 and read chapter 7 of Sarah, Plain and Tall. homework: cursive; Roadrunners Sarah, Plain and Tall chapter 8; Starlings practice lesson 12.

• 4th: finished making the research cards for their essay on rocks; corrected comprehension test "The Gold Rush"; began reading and discussing "I Have Heard of a Land". Homework: cursive r and s

• 5th: finished making the research cards for their essay on rocks; discussed the rest of chapter 5 and began reading and discussing chapter 6 of Johnny Tremain. Homework: cursive; read Johnny Tremain to 6.2.

April 24--oral Latin roots exercise using form, in, con, mis, per, trans, er, ing, less.

• 3rd: Writing Matters checked pp. 41-42; new assignment p. 43; cursive practice, y, u, i, j; Homework Writing Matters p. 44 and cursive practice; Roadrunners, read chapter 6 of Sarah, Plain and Tall; Starlings, practice reading 106-word selection for speed.

• 4th: Writing Matters checked pp. 43-44; new assignment p. 45; dictionary practice: write three words from our oral Latin roots exercise, look them up in the dictionary, and write one definition for each; cursive practice y, u, i, j; finished comprehension test for "The Gold Rush". Homework: Writing Matters p. 45 and cursive practice.

• 5th: Writing Matters checked pp. 43-44; new assignment p. 45; dictionary practice: write three words from our oral Latin roots exercise, look them up in the dictionary, and write one definition for each; cursive practice y, u, i, j; discussed Johnny Tremain chapter 5.2; read section 5.3; homework finish chapter 5 in Johnny Tremain; Writing Matters p. 45.

April 14--Good Friday

• Students took a spelling test.

April 13--Holy Thursday Homework: Study for spelling test tomorrow.

• Students presented Holy Thursday Morning Prayer to St. Michael parishioners and school students this morning. They put their hearts and souls into doing their best. I am very proud of them all!

• Today we finished reading/listening to The Winged Watchman, the read-aloud book we have been reading for the last several weeks.

April 12--Students completed reading comprehension and read independently; they also practiced for Holy Thursday. Homework: cursive practice page e, l, f.

April 11--Students worked together to figure out which costumes go with which person for Holy Thursday Morning Prayer. Students practiced for Holy Thursday. Homework: If possible, please bring in a fashion scarf to be used as a head covering as part of the costume for Holy Thursday. (Be sure to ask before borrowing from anyone at home; if you are not able to bring one, that is okay.)

April 10--Students finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks and practiced for Holy Thursday Morning Prayer. Homework: spelling words three times each.

April 7--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks.

April 6--Nature journaling field trip to Hill Park. Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

April 5--

• 3rd: cursive practice: proper letter formation and connections, c, a, d, g, o; Writing Matters p. 44; independent reading; Starlings practiced phrases and a passage chorally and individually and continued reading and discussing "If You Made a Million"; Roadrunners read and discussed chapter 3 of Sarah, Plain and Tall. Homework: Roadrunners, finish chapter 4; Starlings practice the first section of the reading.

• 4th: cursive practice, proper letter formation and connections, c, a, d, g, o; Writing Matters p. 44; independent reading; began reading and discussing "The Gold Rush" and began taking the comprehension test together as we read. Homework: continue the comprehension test for "The Gold Rush" through question 14 and p. 623 in the book.

• 5th: cursive practice; Writing Matters p. 44; independent reading; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: Johnny Tremain, section 5.2 and answer written questions with short answers.

April 4--Homework: take a practice spelling test

• 3rd: oral phonogram review; cursive practice: proper letter formation and connections--sliding up and over to the place where we can begin a new letter; Roadrunners continued reading and discussing Sarah, Plain and Tall; Starlings did a reading placement test that showed improvement for each student. Homework: Roadrunners, finish reading chapter 3.

• 4th: oral phonogram review; cursive practice: proper letter formation and connections--sliding up and over to the place where we can begin a new letter; finished reding and discussing "In My Family".

• 5th: on field trip today to Camp Hamilton. Homework: Read Johnny Tremain chapter V, section 1 [stop at 5.2] and answer the three questions on the paper I gave you. If you were absent today, the three questions are below. Give short answers.

Johnny Tremain, chapter 5, part 1 Name: ___________________________

1. For how much money did Johnny want to sell the cup to Mr. Lyte?

2. What did Johnny leave behind when he ran away from Mr. Lyte?

3. What kind of job did Johnny get when he ran to the printing shop?

April 3--Homework: spelling words three times each

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; cursive practice, made two new cards about igneous rocks.

• 4th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; corrected "Blue Willow" comprehension test; cursive practice; made two new cards about igneous rocks.

• 5th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; cursive practice; made two new cards about igneous rocks; discussed chapter 4.4 of Johnny Tremain; finished reading and discussing the remainder of chapter 4.

March 31--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks. Students read Scholastic News.

March 30--Today Mrs. Blum taught third, fourth, and fifth grades while I took middle school students on a science field trip. Students gathered data and created graphs to represent their findings. Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

March 29--

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters pp. 38-39; new assignment p. 40; cursive practice: choose five sentences from the Cursive Sentences page, and write each sentence twice. Roadrunners began reading and discussing Sarah, Plain and Tall; Starlings began reading and discussing "If You Made a Million". Homework: Roadrunners read chapter 2 of Sarah, Plain and Tall.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters p. 40; new lesson adjectives have three forms: positive, comparative, which compare two things, and superlative, which compare three or more. New assignment pp. 42-43; completed the comprehension test for "Blue Willow"; cursive practice: five sentences from Cursive Sentences, written twice each; began reading and discussing "In My Family". The fourth graders wanted to have a bird name, too, for their reading group. They discussed and voted upon "Night Hawks".

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters p. 40; new lesson adjectives have three forms: positive, comparative, which compare two things, and superlative, which compare three or more. New assignment pp. 42-43; cursive practice: five sentences from Cursive Sentences, written twice each; discussed the homework reading for Johnny Tremain and continued reading and discussing. Homework: read chapter 4.4 in Johnny Tremain.

March 28--homework: use 15 spelling words in at least ten sentences.

• 3rd: Writing Matters corrected pp. 36-37; new assignment pp. 38-39; the third graders are dividing into two groups for reading. They spent time together with their group and the bird field guide and chose a bird to name their group. One chose the name "Roadrunners" and the other chose "Starlings".

• 4th: finished reading and discussing "Blue Willow"; checked Writing Matters pp. 38-39; new assignment p. 40; began the comprehension test for "Blue Willow".

• 5th: corrected comprehension test for "Hattie's Birthday Box"; checked Writing Mattters p. 38-39; new assignment p. 40; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: read Johnny Tremain to chapter 4.4.

March 27--substitute teacher today;homework spelling words three times each

March 24--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks.

March 23--Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 35; new assignment pp. 36-37; finished reading and discussing "Boom Town" began comprehension test for "Boom Town".

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters p. 37; new assignment p. 38-39; began reading and discussing "Blue Willow"; vocabulary questions for "Blue Willow".

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters p. 37; new assignment pp. 38-39; finished comprehension test for "Hattie's Birthday Box"; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: finish chapter 3 of Johnny Tremain.

March 22--Homework: finish dictionary work and Writing Matters assignment.

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 33; new assignment p. 35; continued reading and discussing "Boom Town"; dictionary assignment: look up six of your spelling words in the dictionary and write the word, part of speech, and definition.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters 34-35; new lesson: linking verbs. Linking verbs are verbs that do not show action. They link the subject of the sentence to other words in the sentence. They are forms of the verb to be, and they are am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been. New assignment: p. 37; read and discussed pp. 566 and 567, "Elements of Non-Fiction"; dictionary assignment: look up eight of your spelling words, write the word, the part of speech, and the definition.

• 5th: 4th: corrected Writing Matters 34-35; new lesson: linking verbs. Linking verbs are verbs that do not show action. They link the subject of the sentence to other words in the sentence. They are forms of the verb to be, and they are am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been. New assignment: p. 37; read and discussed Johnny Tremain; dictionary assignment: look up eight of your spelling words, write the word, the part of speech, and the definition. Homework: read Johnny Tremain up to 3.4.

March 21--Homework: spelling worksheet: spelling words by parts of speech

• 3rd: corrected p. 31 in Writing Matters; new assignment: p. 33; continued reading and discussing "Boom Town"; comprehension packet, days 3 and 4.

• 4th: corrected p. 32 in Writing Matters; new assignment: p. 34-35; corrected comprehension test, "Saguaro Cactus. Words that end in -ness, -ment, -ity, -ship, -ence, -ance, -tion, -sion, -cion are idea nouns.

• 5th: corrected p. 32 in Writing Matters; new assignment: p. 34-35; continued reading Hattie's Box and working on the comprehension test; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain; Words that end in -ness, -ment, -ity, -ship, -ence, -ance, -tion, -sion, -cion are idea noun. Homework: read Johnny Tremain to 3.3.

March 20--Homework: spelling words three times each

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; began reading and discussing "Boom Town"; completed days 1 and 2 of comprehension week 7.

• 4th: began read and discussing "Saguaro Cactus" and answering the comprehension questions; finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; comprehension packet days 1 and 2.

• 5th: finished putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks; attended a special Lenten workshop with Sr. Liz Tiernan.

March 17--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 more words in their spelling notebook. I read aloud the story of St. Patrick.

March 16--Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: Writing Matters corrected p. 30. New assignment re-do p. 30 C. if necessary and do page 31; finished reading and discussing "Yipee Yay"; independent reading.

• 4th: Writing Matters corrected p. 31; new assignment p. 32 and read the top half of p. 33; finished reading and discussing "A Very Important Day"; independent reading.

• 5th: Writing Matters corrected p. 31; new assignment p. 32 and read the top half of p. 33; discussed yesterday's homework and continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: finish chapter 2 of Johnny Tremain and answer the questions--short answers.

March 15--Homework: make a crossword or crosswords with all 25 spelling words.

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 29; new lesson: complete subject and complete predicate; new assignment: p. 30; continued reading and discussing "Yipee Yay"; continued reading and studying about the rock cycle and types of rocks.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters pp. 29-30; new lesson: complete subject and complete predicate; new assignment: p. 31; continued reading and studying the rock cycle and types of rocks;

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters pp. 29-30; new lesson: complete subject and complete predicate; new assignment: p. 31; continued reading and studying about the rock cycle and rock types; quiz on Johnny Tremain; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain. Homework: read Johnny Tremain up to 2.4.

• March 14--Homework: write compound sentences using spelling words. Remember, a compound sentence has an Independent clause, a comma and conjunction [and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet] and another Independent clause. Example: My mother always taught me to wipe my feet ,but sometimes I forget to do it. Third grade: three sentences, six spelling words. Fourth grade: four sentences, eight spelling words. Fifth grade: five sentences, ten spelling words.

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters pp. 27-28; new assignment p. 29; continued reading and discussing "Yipee Yay"; online learning about types of rocks at https://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/types3.html; independent reading.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters pp. 27-28; new assignment pp. 29-30; continued reading and discussing "A Very Important Day; online learning about types of rocks at https://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/types3.html; independent reading.

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters pp. 27-28; new assignment pp. 29-30; continued reading and discussing Johnny Tremain; online learning about types of rocks at https://www.learner.org/interactives/rockcycle/types3.html; independent reading. Finish chapter 1 of Johnny Tremain.

March 13--Homework spelling words three times each.

• 3rd: students finished putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks; Writing Matters corrected pp. 25-26; lesson: compound predicate; new lesson pp. 27-28; third graders completed the Virtus Touching Safety March lesson.

• 4th: students finished putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks; Writing Matters corrected pp. 24-25; new lesson: compound sentence, which has an independent clause, a comma, a coordinating conjunction [and, but, or, for, nor, so yet], and another independent clause. Examples: The dog loves to swim in the lake, and he likes to shake the water off too. The boy had safety patrol duty this morning, so he came to school early. The girl likes to eat peanut butter, but she does not like jam. New assignment: pp. 27-28.

• 5th: students finished putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks; Writing Matters corrected pp. 24-25; new lesson: compound sentence, which has an independent clause, a comma, a coordinating conjunction [and, but, or, for, nor, so yet], and another independent clause. Examples: The dog loves to swim in the lake, and he likes to shake the water off too. The boy had safety patrol duty this morning, so he came to school early. The girl likes to eat peanut butter, but she does not like jam. New assignment: pp. 27-28.

March 9--

• 3rd: took a spelling test; began reading an discussing "Yipee Yay"; corrected pp. 22-23 in Writing Matters; began new assignment, pp. 25-26; began putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks.

• 4th: took a spelling test; began reading an discussing "A Very Important Day"; corrected pp. 21-23 in Writing Matters; began new assignment, pp. 24-25; began putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks.

• 5th: took a spelling test; took a quiz for Johnny Tremain; continued reading an discussing Johnny Tremain; corrected pp. 21-23 in Writing Matters; began new assignment, pp. 24-25; began putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks.

March 8--Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Leah's Pony"; half page of cursive practice; Writing Matters corrected pp. 20-21; new assignment pp. 22-23.

• 4th: finished reading and discussing "Fire!" and began reading and discussing "Firefighting Long Ago"; finished reading this independently in class; half page of cursive practice; Writing Matters corrected pp. 19-20 ; lesson: coordinating conjunctions join two words or groups of words. They are and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet; new assignment pp. 21, 22, 23.

• 5th: took a quiz on Johnny Tremain homework; read and discussed Johnny Tremain; half page of cursive practice; Writing Matters corrected pp. 19-20 ; lesson: coordinating conjunctions join two words or groups of words. They are and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet; new assignment pp. 21, 22, 23. Homework: read Johnny Tremain up to 1.4.

March 7--Homework: arrange spelling words in a crossword as though on a Scrabble board. If you cannot get them all into one "Scrabble game", just make another board for those you have not yet used.

• 3rd: began reading and discussing "Leah's Pony"; completed comprehension packet #6; cursive practice, half a page; Writing Matters corrected p. 18; new assignment pp. 20-21.

• 4th: began reading and discussing "Fire!"; completed comprehension packet #6; cursive practice, half a page; Writing Matters corrected p. 18; new assignment pp. 19-20.

• 5th: discussed "Seeing Earth from Space"; began reading and discussing Johnny Tremain; completed comprehension packet #6; cursive practice, half a page; Writing Matters corrected p. 18; new assignment pp. 19-20. Homework: read Johnny Tremain chapter 1 to the -2-. (Each chapter is subdivided into five or six chapter sections. I will indicate them like this: if I want you to read to chapter 1 to section -2-, I will say, read to 1.2.)

March 6--Homework: spelling words three times each

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; corrected pp. 16-17 in Writing Matters; new lesson: a proper noun names a specific person, place, thing, or idea and begins with a capital letter; new assignment p. 18; comprehension packet #6, days 1-3; finished reading and discussing "The Crowded House".

• 4th: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; corrected pp. 16-17 in Writing Matters; new assignment p. 18; comprehension packet #6, days 1-3; finished reading and discussing "One Grain of Rice".

• 5th: began reading and discussing "Seeing Earth From Space"; finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; corrected pp. 16-17 in Writing Matters; new assignment p. 18; comprehension packet #6, days 1-3.

March 3--

• 3rd: corrected Writing Matters p. 15 B and C; new assignment pp. 16-17; finished cursive prayer; continued reading and discussing "The Crowded House"; took spelling test; began putting 25 new words in spelling notebook.

• 4th: corrected Writing Matters p. 14-15; new assignment pp. 16-17; finished cursive prayer; began reading and discussing "One Grain of Rice"; took spelling test; began putting 25 new words in spelling notebook.

• 5th: corrected Writing Matters p. 14-15; new assignment pp. 16-17; finished cursive prayer; began reading and discussing "Oceans"; took spelling test; began putting 25 new words in spelling notebook.

March 2--Homework: spelling test tomorrow; finish essay about Lent.

• 3rd: checked Writing Matters p. 15A; new assignment, p. 15 B-C; finish essay about Lent; write new prayer "Prayer for Generosity" in cursive; began reading and discussing "The Crowded House".

• 4th: discussed chapter 11 and read and discussed chapters 12-15 in Skylark; Writing Matters new assignment, p. 14-15; finish essay about Lent; write new prayer "Prayer for Generosity" in cursive.

• 5th: Writing Matters new assignment, p. 14-15; finish essay about Lent; write new prayer "Prayer for Generosity" in cursive; finished reading and discussing "Summer of Fire" and read and discussed "Smoke Jumpers".

March 1--Homework: spelling words in alphabetical order

• 4th: read and discussed chapter 10 of Skylark. Homework: read chapter 11 of Skylark.

February 28--

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Lon Po Po"; took notes on Lent; began five-paragraph essay about Lent.

• 4th: continued reading and discussing Skylark; took notes on Lent; began writing five-paragraph essay about Lent.

• 5th: finished reading and discussing "Name This American" and began reading and discussing "Summer of Fire"; took notes on Lent; began writing a five-paragraph essay about Lent.

February 27--Homework: spelling words 3 time each

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; corrected p. 12 in Writing Matters; new lesson p. 15 set A; continued reading and discussing "Lon Po Po".

• 4th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; corrected p. 12-13 in Writing Matters; continued reading and discussing Skylark. Homework: finish chapter 7 and read chapter 8 of Skylark.

• 5th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; corrected p. 12-13 in Writing Matters; continued reading and discussing "Name this American".

February 24--oops, we had no quiz on spelling rules. Hmm. I may have them complete a worksheet to reinforce these rules next week. Students began putting 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks.

February 23--Rule 11: When a word ends in silent e, drop the e before adding an ending that begins with a vowel. Rule 24: When a word ends consonant and y, change the y to i before adding an ending that begins with anything except i. Homework: quiz on spelling lessons 11 and 24. Sample words:

hope + ing = hoping. [rule 11]

Hope + less = hopeless. [Do not drop the e because the ending does not begin with a vowel.]

Ready + ness = readiness. [rule 24]

Play + ing = playing [Do not change the y to i because the word does not end consonant and y.]

try + ing = trying [Do not change the y to i because the ending begins with i.]

• 3rd: completed worksheet practicing the two spelling rules listed above; corrected spelling worksheet; corrected pp. 10-11 in Writing Matters; began next assignment, p 12; continued reading and discussing "Lon Po Po".

• 4th: completed worksheet practicing the two spelling rules listed above; corrected spelling worksheet; corrected pp. 10-11 in Writing Matters; began next assignment, p 12-13; discussed chapter 3 and continued reading and discussing Skylark. Homework: finish chapter 5 and read chapter 6 of Skylark.

• 5th: completed worksheet practicing the two spelling rules listed above; corrected spelling worksheet; corrected pp. 10-11 in Writing Matters; began next assignment, p 12-13; continued reading and discussing "Name This American".

February 22--

• 3rd: corrected pp. 8-9 in Writing Matters workbook (also called Sentence Sense); new assignment, pp. 10-11; listed words from spelling notebook that followed rules 11 and 24; began reading and discussing "Lon Po Po".

• 4th: corrected pp. 8-9 in Writing Matters workbook (also called Sentence Sense); new assignment, pp. 10-11; listed words from spelling notebook that follow rules 11 and 24; began reading Skylark, which is the sequel to Sarah, Plain and Tall. Homework: finish chapter 2 and read chapter 3. Enough time was given in class to complete this in school because the science fair board and paper are due tomorrow.

• 5th: corrected pp. 8-9 in Writing Matters workbook (also called Sentence Sense); new assignment, pp. 10-11; listed words from spelling notebook that followed rules 11 and 24; began reading and discussing "Name This American".

February 16--Today we finished our read-aloud novel, The Incredible Journey.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Coyote Places the Stars"; took a spelling test.

• 4th: finished reading "Red Writing Hood"; took a spelling test.

• 5th: read "Everglades" and answered comprehension questions on the comprehension test; took a spelling test.

February 15--Homework: study for spelling test; finish grammar workbook pages 8-9 if it was not completed in class.

• 3rd: Oral phonogram review; Sentence Sense corrected p. 6, did p. 7 together pp. 8 and 9 independently; independent reading and / or AR test; began reading and discussing "Coyote Places the Stars".

• 4th: Oral phonogram review; Sentence Sense corrected p. 6, did p. 7 together pp. 8 and 9 independently; read independently; began reading and discussing the play "Red Writing Hood";

• 5th: Sentence Sense corrected p. 6, did p. 7 together pp. 8 and 9 independently; Oral phonogram review; continued reading and discussing "Island of the Blue Dolphins"; read and discussed "Narrative Elements and test practice pp. 242-243; independent reading.

February 14--Homework: ten sentences containing 15 spelling words.

• 3rd: corrected Sentence Sense p. 5; discussed the rest of "Sayings We Share"; finished a letter to our "adopted" seminarian Mr. Snyder.

• 4th: finished reading and discussing "The Case of Pablo's Nose"; read and discussed ""The Hen and the Apple Tree"; corrected Sentence Sense p. 6; lesson: an independent clause is a clause that can stand alone. An independent clause is a sentence; finished writing a letter to our "adopted" seminarian. Homework: Sentence Sense p. 7.

• 5th: began reading and discussing "Island of the Blue Dolphins"; corrected Sentence Sense p. 5; lesson: an independent clause is a clause that can stand alone. An independent clause is a sentence; finished writing a letter to our "adopted" seminarian. Homework: Sentence Sense p. 7

February 13--Homework: spelling words three times each

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; corrected p. 4; new assignment p. 5; continued reading and discussing "Sayings We Share". Homework: Sentences and Sense p. 5; read pp. 396-399.

• 4th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; corrected pp. 3-5; new assignment p. 6; began reading and discussing "The Case of Pablo's Nose".

• 5th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks; corrected pp. 3-5; new assignment p. 6;

February 10--Students read Scholastic News and answered comprehension questions. Students began putting 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebook.

February 9--in this time slot students were on their third naturalists' field trip to Hill Park.

February 8--School spelling bee today.

• 3rd: Homework: read pp. 400-402 in reading book.

• 4th: Homework: read pp. 403-416 in reading book and answer in three or four sentences: what is your favorite invention in the story and why?

• 5th: read pp. 205-214 in the reading book and answer questions 1-3 on p. 214.

February 3, 6, and 7--snow days

February 1 and 2--substitute teacher

January 31--Please note that I am going to my Uncle's funeral in Philadelphia and will be absent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Mr. Egan and Mrs. Bartelheimer will teach in my place. My website will not be updated for the remainder of this week. Homework for the rest of this week: Spelling test Thursday.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Ramona Forever"; corrected grammar workbook pp. 1-2; new assignment, p. 3; spelling practice.

• 4th: began reading and discussing "Look to the North: A Wolf Pup Diary"; grammar--clauses; spelling practice.

• 5th: grammar workbook--clauses; spelling practice.

January 30--Homework: spelling words in alphabetical order. This week's spelling test will be on Thursday. Please note: the six students who will be in this Friday's School Spelling Bee do not need to take the spelling test on Thursday. It is optional for them. They also do not need to do the assigned spelling homework this week.

• 3rd: grammar review: a noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. Students received a grammar workbook today, Sentence Sense Level A, Book One. Students completed pages 1 and 2 in Sentence Sense. Students began making bookmarks for handing out after weekend Masses as part of Catholic Schools Week celebrations.

• 4th: grammar lesson: A clause is a group of words that has a subject and its predicate. Students practiced identifying clauses and identifying the subjects and predicates in clauses. . Students received a grammar workbook today, Sentence Sense Level A, Book Two. Students completed pages 1 and 2 in Sentence Sense. Students began making bookmarks for handing out after weekend Masses as part of Catholic Schools Week celebrations.

• 5th: grammar lesson: A clause is a group of words that has a subject and its predicate. Students practiced identifying clauses and identifying the subjects and predicates in clauses. Students received a grammar workbook today, Sentence Sense Level A, Book Two. Students completed pages 1 and 2 in Sentence Sense. Students began making bookmarks for handing out after weekend Masses as part of Catholic Schools Week celebrations.

January 27--Students finished their posters for the Snohomish Police and corrected comprehension packet #5. The spelling words students recorded in their spelling notebooks last Friday and this past Monday will be the words for the test next Thursday. Students who will be in the school spelling bee may be excused from Thursday's test if they wish, so that they can put their effort into practice for the spelling bee.

January 26--Students finished thank-you letters to Fr. Milhton and began making thank-you posters for Fred Meyer and the Snohomish Police. These are all part of our Catholic Schools Week celebration, which will be next week. Students participated in grade-level spelling bees today.

January 25--Students finished letters they were writing and their paragraph about Martin Luther King, Jr. They also finished up some details of their science fair background research paper corrections or helped others with their science fair background research paper. We practiced for the spelling bee. Homework: study for the classroom spelling bee, which will be tomorrow. Students have a copy of their grade-level words; you can also find the words at this link: http://smpschool.org/documents/2016/10/2017%20all%20grades%20word%20list.pdf After clicking on the link, just scroll down to find your student's grade.

January 24--Homework: I got mixed up as to what week we are in. Our spelling words which students have in their notebooks will be for next week's test (on February 2). This week we will have our classroom spelling bees on Thursday. Therefore, the only spelling homework is to study the spelling bee list in whatever way you find most helpful. We will practice again tomorrow and Thursday, and our classroom bee will be Thursday. The school spelling bee is Friday, February 3.

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Ramona Forever"; continued writing letters to field trip drivers and teachers and to Fr. Milhton as well, in preparation for Catholic Schools Week; had a practice spelling bee.

• 4th: began taking the comprehension test for Sarah, Plain and Tall; continued writing letters to field trip drivers and teachers and to Fr. Milhton as well, in preparation for Catholic Schools Week; had a practice spelling bee.

• 5th: read and discussed the last story in "Folk Tales from Asia"; continued writing letters to field trip drivers and teachers and to Fr. Milhton as well, in preparation for Catholic Schools Week; had a practice spelling bee. Homework: questions 1-4 on p. 178. Answer in complete sentences that use key words from the question so that the question is obvious to the reader.

January 23--homework: spelling words three times each

• 3rd: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; began writing thank you letters for field trip teachers and drivers.

• 4th: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; began writing thank you letters for field trip teachers and drivers; finished reading Sarah, Plain and Tall.

• 5th: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; began writing thank you letters for field trip teachers and drivers. Homework: read the second story in "Folk Tales of Asia", pp. 169-171.

January 20--

• Students took a spelling test, worked on packet #5 of reading comprehension practice, and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks.

• We discussed the inauguration and the importance of this day. Inauguration day is a day of joy not because of who was elected president but because we celebrate our democracy. We have again experienced the peaceful transfer of power. We watched a few minutes of the ceremony and saw the vice president take his oath of office before we headed to Mass.

• Later in the day we watched video of the oath of office for several U.S. presidents.

• Third graders continued reading and discussing "Ramona Forever".

January 19--field trip today to Mercer Slough. Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

January 18--Homework: There is not spelling homework tonight, but it is a good idea to spend some time studying for Friday's spelling test.

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Ramona Forever"; continued working on Martin Luther King, Jr. paragraph; began packet #5 of reading comprehension.

• 4th: discussed chapter 7 then read and discussed most of chapter 8 of Sarah, Plain and Tall; continued working on Martin Luther King, Jr. paragraph; began packet #5 of reading comprehension. Some fourth graders were selected to go help Ms. Ostlund's third graders research for their science fair background research paper. Homework: finish chapter 8 of Sarah, Plain and Tall.

• 5th: continued reading and discussing "Folk Tales from Asia"; continued working on Martin Luther King, Jr. paragraph; began packet #5 of reading comprehension. Some fifth graders were selected to go help Ms. Ostlund's third graders research for their science fair background research paper.

January 17--Homework: spelling words three times each.

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Ramona Forever"; corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 44 and 45; cursive fluency drill; discussed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and began paragraph about him.

• 4th: discussed Sarah, Plain and Tall chapter 5; began reading and discussing chapter 6; corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 44 and 45; cursive fluency drill; discussed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and began paragraph about him. Sarah, Plain and Tall finish ch. 6 and read ch. 7.

  • 5th: began reading and discussing "Folktales from Asia"; corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 44 and 45; cursive fluency drill; discussed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and began paragraph about him.

January 13--Students took a spelling test, finished putting 25 new spelling words in their notebooks, and read Scholastic News. Homework: one student has to finish putting two week's worth spelling words in the spelling notebook and bring the notebook back to school. (He knows who he is. I don' t use student names on my website.)

January 12--Homework: spelling test tomorrow; finish reading comprehension packet #4.

• 3rd: cursive fluency practice; MAP testing; began putting 25 new words in spelling notebook.

• 4th: discussed chapter 2 of Sarah, Plain and Tall; read and discussed Sarah, Plain and Tall chapters 3 and 4; cursive fluency practice; independent work in reading comprehension packet 4; began putting 25 new words in spelling notebook. Homework: read Sarah, Plain and Tall chapter 5.

• 5th: finished reading and discussing "We Will Never Forget You, Roberto Clemente"; took comprehension test for "Roberto Clemente"; cursive fluency practice; began putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; independent work in reading comprehension packet 4.

January 11--homework: practice test at home for this week's spelling words.

• 3rd: practiced cursive fluency; began reading and discussing "Ramona Forever"; corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 42 and 43; began vocabulary pages 44-45; began reading packet #4; corrected reading packet #3.

• 4th: practiced cursive fluency; corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 42 and 43; began vocabulary pages 44-45; began reading packet #4; corrected reading packet #3; continued reading Sarah, Plain and Tall. Homework: Read chapter 2 of Sarah Plain and Tall.

• 5th: practiced cursive fluency; continued reading and discussing "We Will Never Forget You, Roberto Clemente"; corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 42 and 43; began vocabulary pages 44-45; began reading packet #4; corrected reading packet #3.

January 10--Homework: spelling words in alphabetical order; finish reading comprehension packet #3.

• 3rd: practiced cursive letters c, a, d, g, e, i, l, t, n; practiced writing words for speed; read and discussed "The I.C. Detective Agency; continued work on reading comprehension packet #3.

• 4th: MAP testing

• 5th: MAP testing

January 9--Homework: spelling words three times each.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "The Stories Julian Tells"; began taking comprehension test for "The Stories Julian Tells"; students finished putting 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks; students began comprehension packet #3; students practiced cursive fluency. Homework: complete comprehension test for "The Stories Julian Tells".

• 4th: comprehension test for "Two Lands, One Heart" finished putting 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks; students began comprehension packet #3; students practiced cursive fluency; began reading the book Sarah, Plain and Tall. Homework: finish comprehension test for "Two Lands, One Heart".

• 5th: finished putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks; began comprehension packet #3; began reading and discussing "We Will Never Forget You, Roberto Clemente".

January 6--Students practiced cursive fluency, took a spelling test, began putting 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks, and practiced taking an AR test. I read the book "A Tree is Growing" by Arthur Dorros to the students, and students used their own computers to practice logging in to the AR system and took the test for "A Tree is Growing".

January 5--homework: Study for spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 40 and 41; began work on vocabulary pp. 42 and 43; corrected comprehension packet; continued reading and discussing "The Stories Julian Tells"; cursive fluency practice.

• 4th: corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 40 and 41; began work on vocabulary pp. 42 and 43; corrected comprehension packet; continued reading and discussing "Two Lands, One Heart"; cursive fluency practice.

• 5th: corrected Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 40 and 41; began work on vocabulary pp. 42 and 43; cursive fluency practice; continued working on essay about Helen Keller Homework: finish Helen Keller three-paragraph essay (see below).

  • The Helen Keller essay is three paragraphs. The first paragraph is an introduction about Helen Keller: three or more sentences about who she is. The second paragraph is three or more sentences about the challenges she faced and how her teacher Ann Sullivan helped her meet those challenges. The third paragraph is three or more sentences about the virtues Helen Keller showed as she met her challenges.

January 4--Homework: spelling words in alphabetical order.

• 3rd: began reading and discussing "The Stories Julian Tells"; cursive fluency practice; finished reading comprehension packet; workbook pp. 49-50; read Scholastic News.

• 4th: began reading and discussing "Two Lands, One Heart"; cursive fluency practice; finished reading comprehension packet; read Scholastic News.

• 5th: read and discussed chapter 22 of The Story of My Life; discussed outline of three-paragraph essay about Helen Keller; cursive fluency practice; finished comprehension packet; read Scholastic News.

January 3, 2017--Homework: spelling words three times each.

• 3rd: put 25 new words in spelling notebooks, oral phonogram review; cursive practice; read and discussed vocabulary pages 282-284; continued reading comprehension packet.

• 4th: put 25 new words in spelling notebooks, oral phonogram review; practiced cursive; read and discussed vocabulary pages 350-351; continued reading comprehension packet.

• 5th: began reading and discussing The Story of My Life chapter 21; put 25 new words in spelling notebooks, practiced cursive; oral phonogram review; continued reading comprehension packet. Homework: finish chapter 21 of The Story of My Life.

December 15--lesson: coordinating conjunctions are words that join two words, two phrases, or two sentences (independent clauses). The coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, for, nor, so, yet. Examples: joining two words: Rain and snow are falling. Joining two phrases: Over the river and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go. Joining two sentences: The boys jumped in the puddle, so their shoes got soaked.

• 3rd: checked and discussed answers to questions about "Rosie, a Visiting Dog's Story"; Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 40-41 IXL BB.1 and BB.2; continued work on science papers.

• 4th: checked and discussed answers to questions about "The Cricket in Times Square"; Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 40-41 IXL FF.1 and FF.2; continued work on science papers.

• 5th: discussed chapter 19 and began reading and discussing chapter 20 of The Story of my Life; Greek and Latin vocabulary pp. 40-41 IXL BB.1 and BB.2; continued work on science papers. Homework: finish chapter 20 of The Story of my Life.

December 14--

• 3rd: began reading and discussing "Rosie, a Visiting Dog's Story"; continued work on science paper; wrote a message on the hand-painted card that will be given to a resident at Pacifica this afternoon. Homework: finish reading "Rosie, a Visiting Dog's Story", pp. 267-274 and answer questions 1-4 on p. 274 in complete sentences.

• 4th: continued work on science paper; wrote a message on the hand-painted card that will be given to a resident at Pacifica this afternoon. Homework: finish reading "The Cricket in Times Square", pp. 334-344 and answer questions 1-4 on p. 344 in complete sentences.

• 5th: discussed chapter 18 of The Story of my Life; read and discussed most of chapter 19; continued work on science paper; wrote a message on the hand-painted card that will be given to a resident at Pacifica this afternoon. Homework: finish reading chapter 19.

December 13--Lesson: new Greek and Latin roots, p. 40

• 3rd: completed comprehension test for "Little Grunt and the Big Egg"; vocabulary packet p. 40; continued reading comprehension packet.

• 4th: began reading and discussing an excerpt from The Cricket in Times Square; completed comprehension test for "How to Babysit an Orangutan"; vocabulary packet p. 40; continued reading comprehension packet.

• 5th: read and discussed chapter 17 of The Story of my Life; vocabulary packet p. 40; continued reading comprehension packet. Homework: finish chapter 17 and read chapter 18, The Story of my Life.

December 12--Students took last week's spelling test today. Students listened to The Lady of Guadalupe by Tomie De Paola and discussed.

December 9--snow day.

December 8--Students wrote their Autumn Haiku in their nature journals and did a reading comprehension exercise. Choir students took a spelling test today. Homework: spelling test tomorrow for those students who are not in choir.

December 7--oral phonogram review; sentence generation practice with adjectives, adverbs, nouns, verbs, and prepositional phrases. Homework: study for spelling test. (Choir members will take spelling test tomorrow.)

• 3rd: created three sentences that follow this pattern: adjective, adjective, noun, verb, adverb with a prepositional phrase somewhere in the sentence; Greek and Latin vocabulary pages 38-39; finished reading and discussing "Little Grunt and the Big Egg"; began comprehension test for "Little Grunt and the Big Egg".

• 4th: created four sentences that follow this pattern: adjective, adjective, noun, verb, adverb with a prepositional phrase somewhere in the sentence; Greek and Latin vocabulary pages 38-39; began comprehension test for "How to Babysit and Orangutan".

• 5th: created five sentences that follow this pattern: adjective, adjective, noun, verb, adverb with a prepositional phrase somewhere in the sentence; Greek and Latin vocabulary pages 38-39; finished reading and discussing chapter 14 and started chapter 15 of The Story of My Life.

December 6--Homework: Write at least ten sentences using 15 spelling words. Students generated sentences by progressively adding more and more parts of speech to make the sentence more detailed, more precise, and more interesting.

• 3rd: finished trees essay; comprehension packet week 2, day 1; corrected comprehension exercise and discussed strategies for succeeding in comprehension exercises; continued reading and discussing "Little Grunt and the Big Egg".

• 4th: finished trees essay; comprehension packet week 2, day 1; corrected comprehension exercise and discussed strategies for succeeding in comprehension exercises; continued reading and discussing "How to Babysit an Orangutan".

• 5th: finished trees essay; comprehension packet week 2, day 1; corrected comprehension exercise and discussed strategies for succeeding in comprehension exercises;

December 5--Homework: spelling words three times each. Lesson: students practiced generating sentences which included nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases. Students finished taking notes about trees for their essay.

Notes for last two paragraphs:

• Another kind of conifer is the cedar tree. Cedars have foliage of overlapping leaf scales. The leaf scales form flat sprays. The wood of cedar trees smells good.

• Conclusion--students should write whatever conclusion they wish.

• 3rd: began reading and discussing "Little Grunt and the Big Egg"; continued writing their tree essay.

• 4th: continued writing trees essay;

• 5th: checked chapter 13 written answers; began reading and discussing chapter 14 of The Story of My Life; continued writing trees essay.

December 2--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks.

December 1--In this time slot we took our second field trip to Hill Park for the purpose of observation and nature journaling. Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

November 30--Lesson: reviewed prepositions and prepositional phrases. Students generated sentences with prepositional phrases. We discussed the Greek and Latin roots on pages 36 and 37 in their vocabulary packet. Homework: ten sentences which include ten or more spelling words.

• 3rd: vocabulary pp. 36 and 37; grammar worksheet p. 390, A and B; read Scholastic News.

• 4th: vocabulary pp. 36 and 37; grammar p. 390, A and B; read Scholastic News.

• 5th: vocabulary pp. 36 and 37; grammar p. 434 A and B; read Scholastic News.

November 29--Lesson 1: A prepositional phrase is a group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with the noun that is the object of the preposition. There may be adjectives between the preposition and its object. Lesson 2: notes for next paragraph of trees essay:

• • coniferous trees--also called conifers or evergreens

  • several kinds of conifers

    • pine needles come in bunches; the bunches are wrapped at the base. Pine needles are longer than other evergreen needles and are sharp.

    • spruce--needles are stiff and sharp; needles are four-sided

    • fir--needles are flat and flexible and have a blunt tip. Blunt means not sharp.

• 3rd: read and discussed vocabulary on pp. 224-225; IXL Language Arts Z.3 and Z.3; wrote second paragraph of trees essay.

• 4th: read and discussed "Cause and Effect" on pp. 250-251 and vocabulary pp. 252-253; began reading "How to Babysit an Orangutan"; IXL Language Arts DD.2 and DD.3; wrote second paragraph of trees essay.

• 5th: began reading and discussing chapter 13 of The Story of My Life; IXL Language Arts Z.1 and Z.2; wrote second paragraph of trees essay. Homework: finish chapter 13 and write answers to questions in full sentences.

November 28--Oral phonogram review; Lesson 1: Prepositions. A preposition is a word that shows position of a noun in time or place. Students came up with examples of prepositions by looking at the location of a book: in, on, under, beneath, around, below, above. They also identified prepositions that show location in time: before, after, during. Lesson 2: Students took notes about trees. This week they will write an essay about trees. With today's notes, they wrote the first paragraph of their essay. Homework: spelling words three times each.

Notes about trees:

• each tree--two names: common name and scientific name (in Latin)

• two categories of trees: deciduous and coniferous

• deciduous trees--have broad, flat leaves. Also called broadleaf trees; leaves turn color and fall off in autumn.

• coniferous trees--also called evergreens because they stay green; do not lose leaves in autumn; leaves are needle-like; seeds in cones.

• 3rd: IXL Language Arts Z.1; wrote first paragraph of essay; orally answered questions at the end of "Wild Shots"; read and discussed pp. 222-223 about intent of authors. Third graders each received a gift from the Kiwanis Club: a dictionary. They will write thank-you notes later this week.

• 4th: IXL Language Arts DD.1; wrote first paragraph of essay; finished reading and discussing "The Garden of Happiness".

• 5th: IXL Language Arts Z.1; wrote first paragraph of essay; discussed answers to chapter 11 questions; read and discussed chapter 12 of The Story of My Life. Homework: answer chapter 12 questions.

November 23--

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Wild Shots"; completed grammar exercise identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in sentences; began comprehension test for "Wild Shots".

• 4th: continued reading and discussing "The Garden of Happiness"; completed grammar exercise identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in sentences; began comprehension test for "The Garden of Happiness".

• 5th: continued reading and discussing The Story of My Life; continued answering questions in complete sentences; completed grammar exercise identifying nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in sentences.

November 22--Students took a phonogram quiz today.

• 3rd: reading and discussing vocabulary pp. 206-207; began reading and discussing "Wild Shots"; continued putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; completed grammar p. 215 A.

• 4th: reading vocabulary pp. 230-231; began reading and discussing "The Garden of Happiness"; continued putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; completed grammar p. 313-314 A, C.

• 5th: corrected and discussed written answers for chapter 10; continued putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; completed grammar p. 335 oral exercise A, B.

November 21--oral phonogram review and written phonogram review for sh, ee, th, ow, ou, oo, ch, ar, ay, ai, oy, oi, er, ir, ur, wor, ear, ng, ea. There will be a quiz on these tomorrow. lesson: An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, an adjective, or another adverb. Students participated in sentence generation using adverbs as well as adjectives.

• 3rd: began putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook--these will be for next week; grammar lesson 215 A.

• 4th: began putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook--these will be for next week; grammar lesson 313-314, A and C.

• 5th: continued reading and discussing The Story of My Life and corrected written homework; began putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook--these will be for next week; grammar lesson 335 oral exercises A and B (but put them in writing). Answer chapter 10 questions for The Story of My Life.

November 18--

• Students took a spelling test today. (Remember onions or carrots on Monday if you did not already bring them. Thank you!)

• We did oral phonogram review with the phonograms sh, ee, th, ow, ou, oo, ch, ar, ay, ai, oy, oi, er, ir, ur, wor, ear, ng, ea. We will review these again Monday, and students will have a quiz on them Tuesday. (If your student would like more review of these, there is an app for that. It is called "Spalding Education International Phonograms". It is an excellent app which can teach phonograms, quiz students to say the correct phonogram, and quiz students to write the correct phonogram. Students can even isolate particular phonograms for extra practice. It costs $3.99. Third graders or students who are new to St. Michael this year may want a bit more practice, but no one is required to have this app.)

• Students took a listening comprehension quiz today.

• We checked our reading comprehension packet.

November 17--Homework: spelling test tomorrow. Students should study in whatever way they find most helpful.

• 3rd: checked vocabulary pp. 19-20 and completed p. 22; completed comprehension test for "Balto, the Dog who Saved Nome"; completed comprehension packet week 1.

• 4th: checked vocabulary pp. 19-20 and completed p. 22; completed comprehension test for "Nights of the Pufflings"; completed comprehension packet week 1.

• 5th: checked Helen Keller questions for chapter 7; read and discussed chapter 8 of "The Story of my Life"; checked vocabulary pp. 19-20 and completed p. 22; completed comprehension packet week 1. Homework: read chapter 9 and answer questions for chapters 8 and 9 in The Story of My Life.

November 16--practiced identifying nouns, verbs, and adjectives. Homework: write spelling words in alphabetical order.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Balto, the Dog Who Saved Nome"; began the comprehension test for "Balto"; continued science research.

• 4th: took the comprehension test for "The Nights of the Pufflings"; continued science research.

• 5th: continued reading and discussing The Story of My Life; checked answers for questions from chapters 5 and 6. Homework: finish reading chapter 7 and answer the questions in complete sentences.

November 15--lesson p. 20 and 21, Greek and Latin vocabulary packet. Homework: spelling worksheet.

• 3rd: began reading and discussing "Balto, the Dog Who Saved Nome"; Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 20-21; IXL U.2. and U.3.

• 4th: read and discussed "Nights of the Pufflings"; Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 20-21; IXL Y.2. and Y.3.

• 5th: Greek and Latin vocabulary packet pp. 20-21; IXL U.1.

November 14--oral phonogram review; lesson: an adjectives is a word that describes a noun. Adjectives answer the questions which, whose, how many / how much, and what kind. Homework: spelling words three times each.

• • 3rd: finished putting 25 new spelling words in notebook; grammar corrections p. 95, A; new grammar lesson p. 200, C.

  • 4th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; grammar lesson p. 279 D; independent reading.

  • 5th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; grammar lesson p. 307 A and B; continued reading and discussing The Story of My Life. Homework: read chapter 6 of The Story of My Life and answer the questions for chapters 5 and 6. Remember to answer in complete sentences.

November 10--We did oral phonogram review. Students took a spelling test and a pronouns quiz. Students began putting 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks. Students worked independently completing reading comprehension exercises.

November 9--lesson: Greek and Latin roots vocabulary p. 18. Study for spelling test in whatever way is best for you. Many students report that it is helpful for them to take a practice test with a parent or brother or sister reading the words to them. This way students can learn which words they need to study. Remember, the words are listed on the "spelling words" page of this site.

• • 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Turtle Bay"; finish grammar p. 95 A, vocabulary packet pp. 18 and 19; look up three spelling words in dictionary and write definition.

  • 4th: finished reading and discussing "The Emperor and the Kite"; finish grammar p. 232 A, vocabulary packet pp. 18 and 19; look up four spelling words in dictionary and write definition.

  • 5th: discussed the remainder of chapter 3; read and discussed chapter 4 of Story of My Life; finish grammar p. 253 A, vocabulary packet pp. 18 and 19; look up five spelling words in dictionary and write definition.

November 8--lesson: pronouns: which ones to use as the subject of the sentence and which ones to use for the one receiving the action or after the word "to". Homework: Step 1: list ten nouns from the spelling list. Step 2: list four verbs from the spelling list. (For group N, Step 3: find one pronoun on the spelling list.) Step 4: Write five sentences using five spelling words that are not on any of the lists you made.

• • 3rd: corrected letter to Coach Raney with Mrs. Murphy; completed essay about Frances Xavier Cabrini; IXL Q.1 and Q.2.

  • 4th: corrected letter to Coach Raney with Mrs. Murphy; completed essay about Frances Xavier Cabrini; IXL T.1 and T.2.

  • 5th: corrected letter to Coach Raney with Mrs. Murphy; completed essay about Frances Xavier Cabrini; IXL P.1, P.2, and P.3.

November 7--lesson: A pronoun is a word that takes the place of a noun. Pronouns that act as the subject of the sentence are I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they. Pronouns that receive the action in a sentence are us, you, him, her, it, us, you, them. Review: how to format a friendly letter. Homework: spelling words three times each.

• • 3rd: began reading and discussing "Turtle Bay"; finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; wrote letter to Coach Raney for his presentation to our class; grammar p. 95 A.

  • 4th; began reading and discussing "The Emperor and the Kite"; finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; wrote letter to Coach Raney for his presentation to our class; grammar p. 232 A.

  • 5th: discussed the end of chapter 2 and began reading chapter 3 of Story of My Life; finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; wrote letter to Coach Raney for his presentation to our class; grammar p. 253 A. Homework: finish chapter 3 of Story of My Life.

November 4--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks.

November 3--Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "The Olympic Games"; vocabulary study, pp. 156-157; listened to a short biography of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini; began writing a paragraph about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

• 4th: listened to a short biography of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini; began writing a paragraph about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini.

• 5th: began chapter 2 of Story of My Life; listened to a short biography of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini; began writing a paragraph about St. Frances Xavier Cabrini. Homework: finish ch. 2 of Story of My Life.

October 27--Homework: study for spelling test

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "The Olympic Games"; vocabulary p. 14; IXL language exercise O.1 and any exercise from K, L, or N.

• 4th: finished reading and discussing "The Baker's Neighbor"; vocabulary p. 14; IXL language exercise O.1 and any exercise from sections K, L, or N.

• 5th: Finished reading and discussing "Elena"; vocabulary p. 14; IXL language exercise from section J. Homework: If you have a Kindle (or other tablet) that you may bring to school, please download this book from Amazon.com :

  • https://www.amazon.com/Story-Life-Dover-Thrift-Editions-ebook/dp/B00A73BIN8/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1477569525&sr=1-2&keywords=story+of+my+life+helen+keller and bring your reader to school Monday. If you do not have a Kindle or other e-reader that you may bring to school, our classroom has one you will borrow. Parents please note: for those students who are using their own Kindle or tablet, I have sent home $1.00 to cover the cost of the book purchase on Amazon. Thank you for your help.

October 26--Review lesson about verb tenses; oral phonogram review. Homework: spelling words in alphabetical order. (Third grade, just the first ten words.)

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "The Olympic Games"; completed pp. 11 and 13 in vocabulary; grammar exercise p. 137, exercise A; dictionary practice: look up five spelling words and write the word, the part of speech, and the definition.

• 4th: continued reading and discussing "The Baker's Neighbor"; completed pp. 11 and 13 in vocabulary; grammar exercise p. 153, exercises B and C; dictionary practice: look up five spelling words and write the word, the part of speech, and the definition.

• 5th: continued reading and discussing "Elena"; completed pp. 11 and 13 in vocabulary; grammar exercise p. 156, exercises B and C; dictionary practice: look up five spelling words and write the word, the part of speech, and the definition.

October 25--We checked vocabulary p. 10; grammar lesson: Verb tense tells when the action or being took place. Tense tells time. Past tense happened in the past; present tense is happening now; future tense will happen later. Homework: group N: list six verbs from the spelling list. List four nouns from your spelling list. Then write ten sentences using any ten words on the spelling list. Group T: list six verbs from your spelling list. List four nouns from your spelling list. Then write ten sentences using any ten words from the spelling list.

• 3rd: cursive practice, "The Divine Praises"; IXL Language Arts I.2; reading comprehension exercise, Week 1, Day 1; vocabulary p. 11.

• 4th: finish cursive practice, "The Divine Praises"; finish yesterday's IXL assignment; reading comprehension Week 1, Day 1; vocabulary p. 11.

• 5th: Fifth graders completed their October Virtus Touching Safety lesson.

October 24--Homework: spelling words three times each.

• 3rd: Students put 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks and began writing "The Divine Praises" in cursive. We had a lesson on verbs. Third graders completed their October Virtus Touching Safety lesson.

• 4th: Students put 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks; began writing "The Divine Praises" in cursive; grammar lesson: verbs; IXL Language Arts I.2, K.1, K.2.

• 5th: Students put 25 new spelling words in their spelling notebooks; began writing "The Divine Praises" in cursive; grammar lesson: verbs; IXL Language Arts J.2, J.3.

October 21--Students took their spelling test. Homework: students who have not finished this week's cursive packet (v, w, x, z) should finish this at home. It is due Monday morning.

October 20--Students corrected grammar exercises and vocabulary p. 9. Students completed vocabulary p. 10 and cursive packet for this week. Homework: take a practice spelling test then practice the words you missed to prepare for spelling test tomorrow.

October 19--oral phonogram review.

October 18--Grammar lesson: singular and plural nouns, irregular plural nouns. Writing lesson: how to write a Japanese Haiku poem. Haiku: a Japanese poem which has three lines. The first line has five syllables; the second line has seven syllables; the third line has five syllables. Some students shared their Haiku with the class. Homework: finish your Haiku; study for spelling test, which will be Thursday or Friday.

• 3rd: began reading and discussing "The Olympic Games"; grammar p. 85, written exercise B; vocabulary p. 9 (page 8 is optional; corrected vocabulary p. 7; workbook pp. 20-21; write a Haiku poem about your experience going to Hill Park.

• 4th: began reading and discussing "The Baker's Neighbor"; grammar p. 115, written exercises A and B; vocabulary p. 9 (page 8 is optional; corrected vocabulary p. 7; workbook pp. 24-25; write a Haiku poem about your experience going to Hill Park.

• 5th: began reading and discussing "Elena"; grammar p. 107, written exercises A and B; vocabulary p. 9 (page 8 is optional; corrected vocabulary p. 7; workbook pp. 19-20; write a Haiku poem about your experience going to Hill Park.

October 17--oral phonogram review; lesson: cursive lesson v; review on formation of print letter b--some students are reversing b's and d's; grammar lesson: common nouns and proper nouns and capitalization of proper nouns. Homework: spelling words three times each.

• 3rd: read and discussed vocabulary words, pp. 130-131; finished discussing and putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebooks; grammar lesson 27 written exercise p. 77; cursive practice v.

• 4th: read and discussed vocabulary words pp. 150-151; finished discussing and putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; grammar lesson 28 written exercise p. 105-106; cursive practice v.

• 5th: read and discussed vocabulary words pp. 114-115; finished discussing and putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; grammar lessons 22 and 23 p. 100 and 103-104; written exercises; cursive practice v.

October 14--Students took a spelling test, a phonogram quiz (written phonogram review), and a grammar quiz identifying nouns. Students began to put 25 new words in their spelling notebooks.

October 13--cursive letter y. Lesson: using IXL for Language Arts. Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Allie's Basketball Dream"; corrected vocabulary pp. 4, 5, 6; new vocabulary lesson pp. 7,8; IXL for Language Arts, A.1 and E.2.

• 4th: corrected vocabulary pp. 4, 5, 6; new vocabulary lesson pp. 7,8; IXL for Language Arts, A.1 and E.2.

• 5th: finished reading "Dear Mrs. Parks"; corrected vocabulary pp. 4, 5, 6; new vocabulary lesson pp. 7,8; IXL for Language Arts, A.1 and F.1.

October 12--Lesson: Cursive letter u; Students began their study of Greek and Latin roots and the English vocabulary that comes from them. They have a workbook with eleven chapters. They began chapter one. The roots students have learned will be listed on the "vocabulary" page of this website. Students did oral phonogram review. Homework: spelling words in alphabetical order; six students have to finish the sentences assigned in class: Write five sentences with at least seven words each and underline the nouns. (These six students know who they are.)

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Allie's Basketball Dream"; vocabulary book pages 5-7, cursive letter u; completed five sentences in which they identified all the nouns.

• 4th: finished reading and discussing "Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride"; vocabulary book pages 5-7, cursive letter u; completed five sentences in which they identified all the nouns.

• 5th: continued reading and discussing "Dear Mrs. Parks"; vocabulary book pages 5-7, cursive letter u; completed five sentences in which they identified all the nouns.

October 11-- Homework: ten spelling sentences with 15 spelling words. Students did oral phonogram review; lesson about nouns; we reviewed the Latin and Greek roots we studied last year. A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing, or idea. A singular noun names just one person, place, thing, or idea. A plural noun names more than one. A proper noun names a particular person, place, thing, or idea. A common noun does not name a particular one. Students practiced naming a variety of nouns in these categories and finding nouns in sentences in the book The Boy Who Drew Birds.

• 3rd: began reading and discussing "Allie's Basketball Dream"; composed five sentences with at least seven words and underlined all the nouns; practiced cursive letter s; workbook pages 16, 17.

• 4th: began reading and discussing "Amelia and Eleanor Go for a Ride"; composed five sentences with at least seven words and underlined all the nouns; practiced cursive letter s; workbook pages 19, 20, 21.

• 5th: began reading and discussing "Dear Mrs. Parks"; composed five sentences with at least seven words and underlined all the nouns; practiced cursive letter s; workbook pages 15, 16.

October 10--oral phonogram review; homework: spelling words 3 times each.

• 3rd: read and discussed vocabulary, pp. 100-10; practiced cursive r; wrote paragraph about what a naturalist is and does, using the notes students took last week.

• 4th: read and discussed pp. 122-123, roots, prefixes, and suffixes and pp. 124-125, vocabulary; practiced cursive r; wrote two paragraphs about what a naturalist is and does, using the notes students took last week.

• 5th: read and discussed pp. 88-89, roots, prefixes, and suffixes and pp. 90-91, vocabulary; practiced cursive r; wrote three paragraphs about what a naturalist is and does, using the notes students took last week.

October 6--Students practiced cursive letter n, took a spelling test, and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks. Homework: Students who have not completed their four-page cursive (for letters h, k, m, and n) packet need to do so at home. It is due Monday morning.

October 5--Oral phonogram review; cursive letter m; listened to a book, The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon.

• 3rd: began writing a paragraph from yesterday's notes.

• 4th: corrected answers to four questions, p. 115; took notes about naturalists; began writing essay about naturalists.

• 5th: corrected answers to four questions, p. 84; took notes about naturalists; began writing essay about naturalists.

Notes about naturalists:

• A naturalist is a scientist who studies plants and animals as they live in nature.

  • may also study other aspects of nature such as rocks and seasons

  • observes, takes notes and draws about observations, asks questions, researches answers to questions.

• A nature journal is a blank book in which a naturalist records observations with words and illustrations.

• Famous naturalists include Carl Linnaeus, Charles Darwin, James John Audubon, John Muir, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, and Rachel Carson.

• A person can get a job as a naturalist working for a state park or other kinds of parks or camps.

  • observe, draw, photograph, study, teach visitors to the park

  • write books to help others learn how to become naturalists

• Some naturalists are not professional naturalists. They have other jobs but keep a nature journal in their free time.

October 4--Students practiced cursive letter k. Homework: ten sentences containing 15 spelling words. Please underline the spelling words. Please note that this week's spelling test will be on Thursday.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Nate the Great"; took the comprehension test together; took notes about what a naturalist is and does; listened to the book, The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon.

• 4th: MAP test today.

• 5th: MAP test today.

October 3--Homework: spelling words three times each on a paper with the proper heading, and ask your parents to fill out the new field trip form right away then bring it back tomorrow!

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective"; cursive practice letter h; finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebooks.

• 4th: finished putting 25 new words in spelling notebook; finished reading and discussing "Lou Gehrig, the Luckiest Man"; discussed the four questions following the selection; answered questions 1-4 in complete sentences using key works from the question in the written answer; cursive practice letter h.

• 5th: finished putting 25 new spelling words in spelling notebook; finished reading and discussing "Yang the Third and her Impossible Family"; discussed the questions following the selection; answered questions 1-4 in complete sentences using key words from the question; cursive practice letter h.

September 30--Students took a spelling test and began putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks. Lesson: review how to head a paper in the St. Michael School format.

September 29--oral phonogram review fire drill practice; lesson, cursive letter f. Homework: spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: wrote a paragraph detailing our fire drill procedures; continued reading and discussing "Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective"; cursive practice f.

• 4th: continued reading and discussing "Lou Gehrig, the Luckiest Man"; wrote paragraph detailing our fire drill procedures; cursive practice, f.

• 5th: continued reading "Yang the Third and her Impossible Family"; wrote a paragraph detailing our fire drill procedures; cursive practice f.

September 28--

• 3rd: MAP testing; cursive practice letter b.

• 4th: wrote paragraph from notes they took on a Scholastic News article; continued reading and discussing "Lou Gehrig, The Luckiest Man"; cursive practice, letter b.

• 5th: wrote paragraph form notes they took on a Scholastic News article; began reading and discussing "Yang the Third and her Impossible Family"; cursive practice letter b.

September 27--Homework: ten sentences which use 15 spelling words. (It is okay to write more than ten sentences.)

• 3rd: as a class learned how to take notes from an article. Using these notes, they wrote a paragraph to summarize the article.

• 4th: MAP testing

• 5th: MAP testing

September 26--oral phonogram review up to phonogram 53; review of four kinds of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, and exclamatory); students finished putting 25 new words in their spelling notebooks. Homework: spelling words written three times each. Remember to head your paper properly.

• 3rd: read and discussed pp. 66-67, elements of narrative; read and discussed vocabulary, pp. 68-69; began reading and discussing "Nate the Great, San Francisco Detective"; workbook pages 11-12; grammar written exercise B on p. 43; cursive practice for the letter i.

• 4th: read and discussed vocabulary, pp. 102-103; began reading and discussing "Lou Gehrig, the Luckiest Man"; grammar exercise B on p. 88; cursive practice for letter i.

• 5th: read and discussed vocabulary p. 70-71; workbook pp. 11-12; grammar p. 38, written exercise A; cursive practice for the letter i.

September 23--Scholars took their spelling tests, a grammar quiz--composing four kinds of sentences--and a written phonogram review. They began putting 25 new spelling words in their notebooks. These words are listed on the "spelling" page of this website.

September 22--lesson: how to head a paper; best practices in keeping a spelling notebook and completing spelling homework. Homework: study for spelling test tomorrow.

• 3rd: had MAP testing.

• 4th: read Scholastic News. Students chose one or two articles and took notes on those articles. They used the questions who, what, when, where, why, how to prompt their notes.

• 5th: read Scholastic News. Students chose one or two articles and took notes on those articles. They used the questions who, what, when, where, why, how to prompt their notes.

September 21--Lesson: practice composing four kinds of sentences (declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory); practiced identifying the verb, the subject of the sentence, and the predicate of the sentence.

• 3rd: had MAP testing this morning.

• 4th: read and discussed pp. 76-77, "Prefixes, Suffixes, and Roots" and test practice questions; read and discussed vocabulary pp. 78-79; finished answers to questions 1-4, p. 70; cursive practice q; looked up five spelling words in the dictionary and wrote their definitions.

• 5th: read and discussed pp. 68-69, "Narrative Elements" and test prep questions; finished answers to questions 1-4, p. 62; cursive practice q; looked up five spelling words in dictionary and wrote their definitions.

September 20--oral phonogram review; students practiced identifying which kind of sentence with a variety of examples and generating four kinds of sentences; cursive lesson, letters g and q. Homework: compose ten sentences that contain 15 of the spelling words for this week. Be sure to begin each sentence with a capital letter and end with a period.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Pepita Talks Twice"; answered questions 1-4 in writing, using key words from the question in their complete-sentence answer; cursive practice g; finished yesterday's workbook pages.

• 4th: finished reading and discussing "Donavan's Word Jar"; answered questions 1-4 in writing, answering in complete sentences using key words from the question; cursive practice g; finished yesterday's workbook pages; grammar p. 71, written practice.

• 5th: finished reading and discussing "Sees Behind Trees"; answered questions 1-4 in writing, answering in complete sentences using key words from the question; cursive practice g; finished yesterday's workbook assignment; helped third graders to make sure their written answers used complete sentences using key words from the question.

September 19--Oral phonogram review; Lesson: Four Kinds of Sentences

1. A declarative sentences tells something.

2. An interrogative sentence asks a question.

3. An imperative sentence gives a command.

4. An exclamatory sentence expresses strong emotion.

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Pepita Talks Twice"; practiced making four kinds of sentences; workbook pages 5, 7, and 8; finished putting 25 new spelling words in notebook. Homework: write spelling words three times each.

• 4th: continued reading and discussing "Donavan's Word Jar"; practiced making four kinds of sentences; workbook pages 8 and 9; finished putting 25 new spelling words in notebook. Homework: write spelling words three times each.

• 5th: Practiced making four kinds of sentences; finished putting 25 new spelling words in notebook; continued reading and discussing "Sees Behind Trees". Homework: write spelling words three times each.

September 16--We did oral phonogram review. We are up to phonogram 43. Students began entering the first 25 words in their spelling notebooks. We will finish on Monday.

September 15--We reviewed linking verbs and helping verbs. Lesson: constructing sentences with compound subject sentences with compound predicate. Today I finished reading our first read-aloud selection: Miss Alaineus, A Vocabulary Disaster. Homework: cursive practice for c, o, a, and d due tomorrow.

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Pepita Talks Twice"; grammar exercise constructing written sentence, two with compound subjects and two with compound predicates; cursive practice.

• 4th: continued reading and discussing "Donavan's Word Jar"; grammar p. 44 written exercise, #1-6; constructed two sentences with a compound subject and two with a compound predicate; cursive practice.

• 5th: grammar p. 59 written exercise; construct two sentences with a compound subject and two with a compound predicate; cursive practice.

September 14--cursive lesson: special features of the letters b, o, v, w and how to make them work with other letters; oral phonogram review.

• 3rd: Students finished their parts of the virtues bulletin board; continued reading and discussing "Pepita Talks Twice"; practiced cursive letters d and o; read independently.

• 4th: Students finished their parts of the virtues bulletin board; continued reading "Donavan's Word Jar"; practiced cursive letters d and o; read independently.

• 5th: Students finished their parts of the virtues bulletin board; began reading and discussing "Sees Behind Trees"; practiced cursive letters d and o; read independently.

September 13--Oral phonogram review; lesson about linking verbs [am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been] and helping verbs [am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been, have, has, had, do, does, did, may, might, must, can, could, shall, should, will, would] and their relationship to main verbs in the sentence.

• 3rd: vocabulary pp. 42-43; began reading and discussing "Pepita Talks Twice"; cursive practice letter a; grammar p. 29, finding compound subjects and compound predicates; finished comprehension tests for "Officer Buckle and Gloria". Homework: finish comprehension test

• 4th: vocabulary pp. 50-51; cursive practice letter a; grammar p. 28, #1-5, simple and complete predicates; finished comprehension test, "The Gardener". Homework: finish comprehension test.

• 5th: vocabulary pp. 46-47; cursive practice letter a; grammar p. 23, #1-5, simple and complete predicates; finished comprehension test for "The Hot and Cold Summer". Homework: finish comprehension test.

September 12--Oral phonogram review; cursive lesson: letters that begin like the letter c: c, a, d, g, q, o. Today I completed fluency tests with the scholars of this classroom.

• 3rd: finished reading and discussing "Officer Buckle and Gloria"; comprehension test for "Officer Buckle..."; cursive practice, letter c.

• 4th: p. 48, "Narrative Elements". Students learned and discussed the narrative elements: characters, setting, and plot; p. 49, test prep practice; comprehension test "The Gardener"; cursive practice for letter c.

• 5th: finished reading and discussing "The Hot and Cold Summer"; comprehension test; cursive practice for letter c.

September 9--Oral phonogram review for phonograms 1-30; written phonogram review (a quiz on 12 phonograms in which I say the sounds a phonogram can make and the student writes that phonogram); students wrote a paragraph about a person they admire and the virtues that person shows or showed. I always test students for reading fluency in the fall and spring and sometimes additional times as well. Today I began fall reading fluency tests.

September 8--In the large group students again practiced finding subjects and predicates in sentences and constructing sentences. We did oral phonogram review for phonograms 1-28. Students took their spelling pretest. The pretest consists of a sample of 50 words from first-grade spelling words through sixth-grade words. I use the results of this test to determine in which spelling group each student will begin. Parents will receive the pretest along with the posttest in June.

• 3rd: continued reading and discussing "Officer Buckle and Gloria"; completed exercise on grammar p. 24 as a group; practiced cursive; wrote a paragraph about an event that happened during summer break.

• 4th: finished reading and discussing "The Gardener"; grammar exercise on p. 25; cursive practice; wrote a paragraph or more about an event from their summer break.

• 5th: continued reading and discussing "The Hot and Cold Summer"; completed grammar exercise on p. 20; wrote a paragraph or more about an event from their summer break; practiced cursive. Homework: finish grammar exercise B on pp. 20-21.

September 7--We practiced phonograms 1-26. I call this oral phonogram review. Grammar lesson: a sentence is a group of words that expresses a complete thought. The subject of the sentence tells who or what the sentence is about. The predicate of the sentence tells what the subject does or is. [or did or was]

• 3rd: studied the vocabulary on pp. 14-15; began reading and discussing "Office Buckle and Gloria"; wrote five sentences and showed the division between the subject and predicate; copied a paragraph about St. Teresa of Calcutta to practice their best printing.

• 4th: studied vocabulary on pp. 20-21; began reading and discussing "The Gardener"; wrote ten sentences and showed the division between the subject and predicate; copied a paragraph about St. Teresa of Calcutta to practice their best printing.

• 5th: studied the vocabulary on pp. 20-21; began reading and discussing "The Hot and Cold Summer"; wrote ten or more sentences and showed the division between the subject and predicate; copied a paragraph about St. Teresa of Calcutta to practice their best printing.

September 6--We began our day discussing procedures and policies and organizing our material goods.

• 3rd: grammar lesson 2: dictionary and alphabetizing; phonogram introduction; phonograms 1-26.

• 4th: grammar lesson 3: sentences, subjects, predicates; phonogram introduction; phonogram practice 1-26.

• 5th: grammar lesson 2: using a table of contents and index in a book; phonogram introduction; phonograms 1-26.