Home-School Connection

Dear Family Member:

This week our class will be focusing on the importance of teamwork.
How does a team help us do things more effectively?

Here are some activities that you can

do with your child to help reinforce the
skills we’ll be practicing.

Word Workout (see page 139)

• Words to Know: Greek and Latin
roots You and your child will
pretend to write a letter to the
school newspaper expressing your
opinion about teamwork.
• Spelling/Phonics: consonant + le (el, al) syllables As you say
each list word, your child will clap once if the word has one syllable,
and twice if the word has two syllables. Then your child will write the
words that are related as word pairs. Some of this week’s phonics
words contain the consonant + el sound of el in the final syllable.

Comprehension: main idea and key details (see page 140)

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Your child will read different passages and choose the key detail that
best tells about each main idea.

136 Unit 6 • Week 3

 Word Workout
Words to Know
Let’s briefly discuss the meaning of each word below. Then we will
pretend to write a letter to the school newspaper expressing our opinion
about teamwork. How do you feel about teamwork? Why? We need to
use all of the words to get our point across to our readers.

important machines prepare repair

result scientific exploration teamwork

Spelling Words
I’ll say each of the words on the list. Clap once if the word has one
syllable, and clap twice if it has two syllables. Then write the words that
are related in pairs. There are two words which are not related. Which
ones are they?

pad little set bubble

paddle ripple lit middle

rip settle

Review: outside replace

Copyright © The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Unit 6 • Week 3 139

 Comprehension: Main Idea and Key Details

Details! Details!
Read the two sentences that give the main idea of a story. Then circle
the key detail sentence that you would find in the story.

1. Louis and Don were friends.

They did everything together.

Louis lived in Chicago and Don

lived in Cleveland. Louis and
Don were on the same softball
team. Louis and Don went to
different elementary schools.

2. A whale was beached on the shore. Adults and

children came to help it.

The adults sold food to people

nearby. People poured water on
the whale to keep it cool.
Everyone went swimming
offshore near the whale.

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3. Sandy and Jenna walked
home from school. They
saw smoke coming from
a local store.

The girls quickly called the

fire department to report
the fire. Sandy said, “If we
stay to watch, we’ll be late
getting home.” Jenna took
a picture of the fire.

140 Unit 6 • Week 3