Monday, December 13

Hi parents,

We had a good day today, although it did feel a bit more unruly than it's been lately. I wonder if being down to the last 5 days of school has something to do with it....

This was also a bit of an atypical Monday because we did not do weekend journals for writing today. Instead, we wrote our own verses for the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". Students had to incorporate descriptive words into their verses, and 'sarcastic similes' for lack of a better word. For example, phrases like "cuddly as a cactus", or "charming as an eel". We talked about how contrasting a nice adjective (cuddly, soft, kind...) with an unpleasant noun (eel, cactus, slug, etc.) can be even more effective than just blatantly saying a character is mean, nasty, gross, or whatever you're trying to convey.

The class went outside with Ms. Brown for Gym.

Ms. Brown has created a brief video to introduce herself and talk a bit about what she has been working on with the students!

In the afternoon, we did some multiplication practice, Daily 5, and Spelling Practice. I've found the 'spelling bee' style of practice has been working well, especially since we've turned our focus to sight words. If you're practicing at home, I recommend asking your child to spell each word out loud from memory. We've talked about how practicing this way can help simulate a quiz situation, and show which words you have mastered and which require more attention.

At the end of the day, the students had Music.

Have a nice day!

Zac