March 24, 2017

Mr. Mattsons ESL Newsletter

Idioms
Upcoming Students in all my classes will be focusing more on idioms in the 4th
Events quarter. Idioms are expressions like its raining cats and dogs (its
raining very hard) or I need to hit the sack (I need to go to bed). Idioms
End of 3rd Quarter have both a literal meaning (what the words say) and an actual meaning
March 17 (what we really mean). When we say its raining cats and dogs, we
Reports Cards Sent
dont mean the literal meaning, that cats and dogs are falling from the
Home/Early Dismissal sky! We mean its raining very hard outside.
12:05
Learning idioms is important, since in English they are found
April 5
everywhere! We will be learning 1-2 idioms per week in class, but Ive
Spring Break also encouraged students to find idioms in what they are reading, either
March 27 - 31 at home or in their other classes. Any idioms students find, we can
share them together as a class!
School Resumes
April 3

ESL Class Updates

1st Grade --- The 1st graders are just finishing their exploration
of food, food groups, healthy vs. unhealthy food, and
expressing food preferences. We are now working on a recipe
of a favorite food and will put together a recipe book to share
how to make them!

2nd Grade --- In 2nd grade, students read a few biographies and
School Information practiced using the past tense throughout the unit. We are now
researching a famous hero or heroine and will write a short
1605 E. Oakland Ave.
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biography of that person.

Phone:
309-662-4302 3rd grade --- Students in the 3rd grade are studying immigration,
past and present. We talked about immigration today, and then
Fax: read a book titled Annushkas Voyage, which is an immigration
309-663-4385
story from the early 20th century. We are now comparing how
E-Mail: immigration took place in the past and in the present.
mattsonc@district87.org
3rd Grade Writing --- In this class students are writing a fictional
Website: story, using past tense verb tenses and a dialogue, in addition
www.district87.org/ to their lessons on idioms and figurative speech.
staff/mattsonc

4th/5th Grade --- We are currently working on a number of

different projects, including a short story that includes a
problem in the plot.