SPELLING: A spelling list containing words for the upcoming week will be sent home each Friday. This list should be kept at home for students to study. Students will receive a copy of the same list to be kept at school on Mondays. Lists will feature sight words, words that follow specific spelling patterns, and academic vocabulary. Students will complete activities weekly to reinforce both spelling and vocabulary. Pretests will be given each Monday, with final tests given each Friday. If you sign and return your child’s list after you have studied for the test together, five bonus points will be awarded. These bonus points typically raise a student’s overall grade by one letter if done weekly.
LANGUAGE: The main emphasis will be on improving writing skills. Daily Language Review (DLR) sentences will be done regularly to improve punctuation and usage skills, and a text and IXL language will be used occasionally as tools to help students identify and use parts of speech correctly. The steps of the writing process will be utilized as we work to develop engaging stories that contain complete sentences, have subject-verb agreement, and contain a beginning, middle, and end. We will also do major themed writing pieces throughout the year.
READING: We will read four class novels together during the year, as well as stories from our text. Vocabulary is introduced before each new story or chapter, and predictions are made based upon the vocabulary. Comprehension questions answered in the form of a complete sentence will follow each story or chapter. Reading at home will be a very important component to school success as well. Students will have a reading calendar that they will be responsible for monthly that will require your supervision. Completion of this calendar, as well as required monthly points, will be a part of the reading grade.
MATH: We will continue with our math series entitled Ready Mathematics. Because this program is quite rigorous and challenging, I will do my best to introduce more difficult concepts slowly and thoroughly. We will work from our old Math in Focus text frequently as well. Many of our assignments will be workbook pages that go along with lessons that have been introduced and practiced from the texts. Upon completion of the first two units, we will take 8-10 days to focus entirely on learning multiplication and division facts from 1-10 both quickly and accurately. This will require 20-30 minutes of practice at home nightly. We will do Topps cards and Daily Word Problems on a regular basis to improve problem solving skills as well. Expect homework in math on a regular basis, including frequently brushing up on specific skills through IXL, a very useful online site that students may access from home.
SOCIAL STUDIES: We will learn about our state of Indiana and many famous Hoosiers who have called Indiana home. There is a great deal of reading in social studies, and each lesson will include vocabulary words that will be new to most students. Study guides will be assigned to help students prepare for chapter tests. Please review these guides with your child prior to each test.
SCIENCE: We will study scientific methods, heat and electricity, changes to earth’s surface, adaptations and survival, and forces and transportation. Homework assignments and study guides will be used for test preparation. Please review them with your child before each test.
ASSIGNMENT BOOK: Please sign or initial each evening. Your signature lets me know that you believe all assignments are complete and all papers that have come home have been looked over and discussed if necessary. These books are an excellent way to keep informed of what we are doing each day at school, and they are probably the most important book in your child’s desk.