Weekend Update

Good Morning Team 201 and 202 Families! I have just a few updates for you.

• I noticed that 202 kids did not take home Journeys on Friday. This means that you won't be able to read Because of Winn Dixie.  We will read it in class. Just read a book of your choice for 20 minutes or more and finish the I Nouns poem.
• We need parent helpers on Monday. If there are any parents who are willing and able to help us organize and distribute our book, we will greatly appreciate it. Thanks to Gabriel's mom for her efforts last week. If you can join us, please come first thing on Monday and we will put you to work. You can email me to confirm at mport@cps.edu, and I will give the front office your name.  Note: Volunteer status needs to be up-to-date. Thank you!

This week we will....

• continue working with Ms. Hicks in Go Math. 
• begin Journeys with me. 
• discuss plot structure as we read BOWDixie
• dive into our new Vocabulary workbooks
• continue with our read aloud, Wishtree, by Katherine Applegate
• share our OWLS on Monday afternoon
• begin our US Regions Social Studies Unit. We will start by exploring U.S. Maps
• participate in a Code Red drill on Tuesday at 8:00 a.m.
• lift our voices to join in the 9/11 Sing Along Assembly on Wednesday, September 11.

Spelling is.....

• ...important, and we will be studying spelling skills each week.
• ...is not THE most important part of reading and writing. Our precious time at home and school will be wasted if ALL of our energy is spent memorizing 25 spelling words each week.
• ...not more important than reading ACTUAL books each night at home. Reading is the most important component of our ELA work

Therefore, I will be selecting 10-12 words from the spelling list each week. These words will be tested on Friday. We will practice the skills with ALL of the words. Kids should concentrate on studying the 10-12 words that I select. Words selected will represent a sampling of the week's skill set. All 201 and 202 kiddos should have a list in the red folder. ON Monday, we will mark the words that will be on the test.

I hope that everyone enjoys this beautiful weekend! Enjoy these video previews about Plot Structure.