Moon Unit

We are studying the moon in science.  Your child is bringing home his/her science journal and a piece of chalk each night for the next 2 weeks.  Please remind your child to draw what the moon looks like each night.  If you can't see the moon, you can use the following website to check the moon phases:

http://www.moonconnection.com/moon-november-2013.phtml

Poetry

Just a reminder that your child's poem is due on Tuesday, January 8.  Please make sure your child is ready to present it in front of the class with a prop, some actions, or sharing their favorite part of the poem. 

How Creatures Move

The lion walks on padded paws,

The squirrel leaps from limb to limb,

While flies can crawl straight up a wall,

And seals can dive and swim.

The worm, he wiggles all around,

The monkey swings by his tail,

And birds may hop upon the ground,

Or spread their wings and sail.

But boys and girls have much more fun;

They leap and dance

And walk and run.

~Anonymous

  

Upside Down

It's funny how beetles

And creatures like that

Can walk upside down

as well as walk flat.

They crawl on a ceiling

and climb on a wall

without any practice

or trouble at all.

While I have been trying

For a year (maybe more)

and still I can't stand

with my head on the floor.

~Aileen Fisher

Little Talk

Don't you think it's probable

that beetles, bugs, and bees

talk about a lot of things--

you know, such things as these:

The kind of weather where they live

in jungles tall with grass

and earthquakes in their villages

whenever people pass!

Of course, we'll never know if bugs

talk very much at all,

because our ears are far too big

for talk that is so small.

--Aileen Fisher

  

Spider

I saw a little spider

With the smartest spider head:

She made-somewhere inside her-

A magic silken thread.

I saw her sliding down it.

She dangled in the air.

I saw her climbing up it

And pulling up each stair.

She made it look so easy

I wished all day I knew

How I could spin a magic thread

So I could dangle too.

~Aileen Fisher

Flat Stanley

Our class is currently reading Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.  We have a Flat Stanley cut-out that is going home with interested students.  If Stanley comes home with your child, please take a picture of Stanley doing something and send him back with your child the next day.  You can email me the photo and I will add it to our blog.   

Please email me if this is something you'd be interested in doing with your child and have time for.  lbateman@edisoncs.org       

 

Challenge Words

This grading period, our class will begin challenge words.  Challenge words are for students who get 100% on their spelling test on Friday. 

The challenge words are optional.  Students who choose to do them will not have a pretest for homework on Thursday.  Instead, they will use their challenge words to write sentences showing meaning and correct usage of the word or come up with synonymns for the words.  They will still be responsible for the 30 spelling words on Friday's test. Along with the 30 regular words, they'll be tested on the 5 challenge words.  

 

Poetry

Just a reminder that your child's poem is due on Tuesday, November 13.  Please make sure your child is ready to present it in front of the class with a prop, some actions, or sharing their favorite part of the poem.  Thanks! 

Rhyme

 I like to see a thunder storm,

        A dunder storm,

                A blunder storm,

I like to see it, black and slow,

Come stumbling down the hills.

 I like to hear a thunder storm,

        A plunder storm,

                A wonder storm,

Roar loudly at our little house,

And shake the window sills!

~Elizabeth Coatsworth

Hold Fast to Your Dreams

 Within your heart

Keep one still, secret spot

Where dreams may go,

And sheltered so,

May thrive and grow--

Where doubt and fear are not.

Oh, keep a place apart

Within your heart,

For little dreams to go.

~Louise Driscole

Who Has Seen the Wind?

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling

The wind is passing through.

 Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I;

But when the trees bow down their heads

The wind is passing by.

~Christina Rossetti

An Emerald is as Green as Grass

And emerald is as green as grass;

A ruby red as blood;

A sapphire shines as blue as heaven;

A flint lies in the mud.

A diamond is a brilliant stone;

To catch the world's desire;

An opal holds a fiery spark;

But a flint holds fire.

~Christina Rossetti

Family Interview

We are studying culture and traditions for the next couple weeks in social studies.  Your child should bring home a paper titled Family Interview.  Please help your child fill out information about your family and your traditions.  The worksheet isn't set up in an interview format, but your child may ask you or a grandparent questions to help get information.  Please send it back on Friday, November 9.  Thanks for your help at home!

Spelling Words

The spelling words for the week of December 10-14 are:

true, truth, took, again, inform, both, heart, month, children, child, build, built, understand, follow, charge, member, case, while, also, return, office, great, Miss, miss, who, died, die, changing, change, few