Dear Families,
The progress that we’ve made in writing has been phenomenal. Mrs. Carroll and I have spent a lot of time modeling particular writing strategies like including flashbacks and flashforwards, solid endings, dialogue, internal thoughts, repetition, and more. Students have drafted a narrative story through these lessons. This past week, students were sent out on their own to start writing a new personal narrative story. Students have until Wednesday to finish it. After they finish it, they will choose between this story and their previous story to type and publish.
Some of my friends make fun of me for wanting to plan events far in advance. For example, I’m already plotting what to do for my birthday at the end of April. With that being said, I want to make sure that we put this event on the calendar so you know it’s coming up; we will hold our Fall Writer’s Celebration on Thursday, October 25th at 8am. The Writer’s Celebration will be a mostly informal time for you to come in and check out the narrative writing your child(ren) have published, in addition to reading other students’ work. Some students will read their writing out loud to everybody, but a majority of the time will be open for you and your families to walk around and read the fantastic stories that have been composed.
In the email where I published the link to this week’s newsletter, I included a PDF of all the spelling words this week. Students were supposed to bring home their spelling words yesterday afternoon. In the event your lovely darling forgot, you can access their words on the attached PDF. It is beneficial for students to practice their spelling words for just 5-10 minutes every day over the weekend. Students are assessed on their words every Tuesday. They will have to spell 10 of the words.
I have been in the process of updating my classroom Instagram page to add photos and videos from this school year. I’m a little bit behind in getting it updated and active for though. I’m blaming it on my 13-month old baby. He’s a horrible roommate who disregards quiet hours. Anyways, my classroom account is “mr.barnard” and if you rock the ‘Gram, I encourage you to send me a follow request. It’s a private account and the only people I give permission to are parents of students in our current class, other teachers in the grade school, and our principal. Parents who used to follow the account, but don’t have students in my class anymore, have been deleted. Our trip on Monday to Oxbow Regional Park was wonderful.
It was great to watch the students immerse themselves in the environment and create pieces of art using natural materials. I enjoyed making a cairn spiral with Joe and Jack. There are some pictures on the Instagram account. Thanks to Apricot, Shirley, Leslie, and Lena for chaperoning!
A few important reminders:
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This is the last week to turn in Jog-a-Thon pledges and return money raised. Remember that contributions can be made online here.
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Reading logs should be completed when students read over the weekend and returned on Monday.
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Conferences will be held this week! Remember that I’m requesting your child attend as they will lead the discussion about their reading and writing goals.
Enjoy your weekend,
Mr. B
Idiom of the Week: Sing Your Heart Out
