Room 208 Update Week of September 9, 2013 Spring Street School Mrs.

Lubys class

and the walls will come tumbling down! On Friday, the children planned and explored the mortar materials in order to build walls and then built them! Will they stand up to the dreaded softball roll? We shall see on Monday! We spent time discussing the Great Wall of China and exploring various materials such as straw, plastic, and wood to determine why some materials are better than others for specific projects. Your child should be reading regularly at least 4 nights weekly (this can include weekends) whether it be a chapter book, kids magazine, or other appropriate reading materials. I realize it is difficult with family activities, so use your best judgment! Genre Bingo forms were introduced in class this week; students have begun recording their reading. We will begin Homeworkopology soon hopefully we can get a parent to help out for about 30 minutes each FridayI know last years parent wiould be glad to show you what its all about! The children can win small prizes for completing their homework on a regular basis! If you are out and about and see any inexpensive packages of pencils or bookmarks or other small trinkets, we could use them for our Homeworkopology bucket!

*Xtra Math Since many of the children used the on-line program last year, I have been told they need to use a different email address to start from the beginning. The same e-mail address will have them continue where they left off. We would like the children to review addition/subtraction if possible, but if you need them to use the same e-mail address, they may want to practice on AAAMath.com as well or choose another site on our TeamLuby Resources Blog. Friendly House in Worcester was very appreciative of the wonderful school supplies we delivered last week! The supplies will go to local youth who use the program and those in shelters! Thank you for your generosity! Math Club begins this week! Tuesday, September 10 from 8-8:30 in our classroom. This week we will review geometry figures and vocabulary from Unit 1. All children are invited to attend any of these sessions throughout the year.

Media Wednesday, Sept. 11 DRAs this week School Photos Thurs., 9/19

Curriculum Night is Thurs. 9/12/13 6:30-7:30 PM. Please meet in our classroom RM 208 (top of the stairs on the left) from 6:30-7:15. You will then move down to the cafeteria where our principal, Bryan Mabie, will speak to the group. Homework Date Assigned Due Date Nightly Reading approx. 20 min/each day Dont forget sneakers for PE on Tuesdays! TBA for writing, reading comprehension and Math. I apologize, but with DRAs and new Math content, we will be taking it day by day this week. Language Arts All children will have their DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) this week. We will also begin reading short passages and stories to determine what is important. *Children can choose a book to read from our class library to read in class and to also bring home to read!

polygons, lines/segments/rays. What makes a polygon a polygon? It must be flat, closed, and have 3 or more straight sides. *Check out TeamLuby Resources Math Sites! There are many fact sites to choose from especially for fact practice. You may want to look at the one titled Multiplication Practice. EVERYDAY MATH FAMILY LETTERS can be found on-line this year! As in past years, they contain unit vocabulary, activities, and selected homework answers. You can find these newsletters at: http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th- grade/family-letters/ If you cannot access them, please let me know. Social Studies This week we will watch a video on geography and begin working with map skills compass rose and directions. Last week we used Google Earth to see where we lived in relation to the universevery cool! Science - from the desk of Mrs. Liporto It was great to finally begin diving into science for the year. We took some time to discuss what science is and look at some different types of scientists (ask your student to tell you about the different video clips we watched). Next week we will jump into our Earth Materials unit and begin to examine our mock rocks. These will help the students to sharpen their observations of properties and teach them the difference between rocks and minerals.

Writing

We will continue with the summer reading opinion/persuasive writing essay by looking at what makes up strong introductions and reasons that include text evidence.! Math Unit will be completed with circles and compasses as well as reviewing

Class Tidbits! Happy Birthday Dennis 9-28 Sam 9-28 (Hours apart I have been told!)

*Specials* Art: Monday, 9:15-9:55 AM Physical Education: Tues., 10:45 11:25 AM Music, Wed, 11:25 12:05 PM Health: Thursday, 10:45 11:25 AM Chorus: Friday 10:00-10:40 AM Media: Every other Wed. 9:10-9:30 AM As always, your comments are welcome. Please drop me an e-mail at school or at home. Barbara Luby