Week 16

Happy belated Thanksgiving! I hope everyone got their turkey and football fix. :) Before school let out for the long weekend, we wrote about things that we are thankful for. I created a tree out of all of our leaves, to serve as a reminder that we do have lots to give thanks for.

Thankfulness leaves and Boxcar writing prompt

It is hard to believe, but we are coming to another end of a quarter! As we dive into the holiday season, there are more sniffy noses and germs present. If anyone can donate some Kleenex/tissues, it would be greatly appreciated by our class! Alright, here's what's coming up this week!

Literature: We will finish Boxcar Children this week!! Be sure to work on those dioramas this week at home, as they will be due December 7th (next Monday), and our Boxcar test will be on the 8th! If anyone needs a shoe box, please let me know. I have several at my house, and a couple more have been donated to our classroom for this purpose. I also have red construction paper if anyone is struggling with a way to cover their shoe box! Please let me know if you need anything!

Spalding: We are back to 30 words, and our Spelling Test is on Friday as normal!

1st 10: picture, pitcher, pitch, money, ready, omit, anyway, eight, breakfast, chance

2nd 10: climb, coffee, color, contains, daily, day, eagle, fancy, fly, forest

3rd 10: freeze, gentle, grow, holes, hotel, iron, living, live, monkey, myself

(Did anyone catch the almost alphabetical order in sets 2 and 3?!)

Grammar: This week we will be learning how to write a formal letter, as well as what goes on the envelope in order to mail it! We will also learn more about direct quotations and review prepositions from last week. 

WWE: narration, copy work, and dictation exercises from The Mouse and the Motorcycle

Math: We are working on division this week - sharing, grouping, and word problems. We will also continue to review multiplication, and then we will take a look at the commutative property between multiplication and division. :) Unit 5 chapter 2 Test on Friday!

History: This week is all about Athens! We will learn about the city, democracy, and the children in Athenian times. We will also hold an assembly to see what it would have been like, and we will discuss how this is different from being ruled by a king or queen. 

Science: Insects: Are they friends or foes? We will identify ways in which insects can help people, as well as how some can be harmful. Vocabulary words we will encounter: entomologist (one who studies insects!), extinction, foe, pesticides, and pollinators. 

Poem: The Night before Christmas (Moore)

Idiom: "Easier said than done"

Have a FANTASTIC week!

Week 15

Good evening! We have a very short week ahead. I know I am looking forward to the long holiday weekend, and I'm sure everyone else is as well! :)

Literature: We will read chapter 11 of the Boxcar Children on Monday as a class. I will also send home project directions for our Boxcar diorama that will be due on December 7th. We will not have reading groups on Tuesday, as our Boxcar Feast is during the Literature and Science blocks. Thank you for signing up to bring items for our party! It will be fun!

Spalding: There are no spelling words this week. Instead we will focus on phonogram review, and we will have a graded WPR (written phonogram review).

Writing: We will do a narration exercise and copy work sentence from the story The Borrowers.

Grammar: Our newest focus is prepositions! We will learn a couple different jingles to remember them, including one set to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". :)

Math: We are taking the Unit 5.1 Test on Monday, chapter 1 of multiplication. We will do a fun turkey activity on Tuesday, reviewing all the aspects of multiplication that we have learned so far - repeated addition, arrays, and factors (skip counting).

History: We are learning about the Trojan War and the trick of the Trojan Horse! We will also make our own Trojan horses.

Idiom: "Practice what you preach" - Act the way you tell others to act!

Poem: The Night before Christmas (Clement C. Moore) - Remember, you only need to pick one stanza to memorize!

Have a FANTASTIC week!

Boxcar Feast

Please visit our sign-up genius if you would like to help out with our Boxcar Feast next week! :) It will be from 1:15-2:30 p.m. next Tuesday! We would love to see you there!

Spelling Bee

Please see the message below regarding our Spelling Bee! :)

Dear Archway Parents and Students,

This year Archway Arete will be competing in the Scripps Spelling Bee! We are excited to refine our spelling and public speaking skills in this friendly and fun competition.

The timeline for the spelling bee program is as follows:

Mon. 11/16 – Spelling Bee information distributed to Parents and Students

Tues. 11/17– Optional spelling practice for 1st and 2nd graders in Mr. Posner's room from 3:10-4:10

Tues. 11/24 – Optional spelling practice for 3rd and 4th graders in Mr. Posner's room from 3:10-4:10

Tues. 12/1 – Optional spelling practice for 5th graders in Mr. Posner's room from 3:10-4:10

Friday 12/4 – Each child will take a grade-level qualifier test in their classroom. The test will be a selection of 20-25 words from the challenging Scripps 100 word list for your child’s grade level. The top five scorers in each class will be selected to participate in their oral classroom spelling bee.

12/7-12/10 – Oral classroom Spelling Bees will take place within this week.  The top speller from each classroom will go on to participate in the Archway Arete school-wide spelling bee on 1/6.

Wed. 1/6 – The school-wide spelling bee will be held in the evening at Archway Arete! The top spellers in each class compete in the school-wide bee and only the top speller in each grade will move on to the Great Hearts District bee after winter break.

Tues. 1/26 – The top five spellers from Archway Arete will compete in the Great Hearts District Bee at Archway Veritas! (Details and times will follow.)

While participation in the spelling bee program is voluntary, we encourage every student at Archway Arete to participate in their written and oral classroom spelling bees, as well as the optional spelling practice bees! Here are the word lists that your child will need to study to prepare for this competition: 2015, 2016 Spelling Bee Word Lists. You may also go to Spelling Bee Resources to find additional material and helpful strategies. Students should first learn the 100 study words for their grade level. Please note that the words on this list are quite challenging. The challenge is part of the fun! When your child masters the 100 grade specific words, they are ready to learn the study words for all other grade levels. There are a total of 450 words on the 2016 School Spelling Bee Study List. Finally, when your child masters the study words for grade levels 1-8, they may get a head start on the next level of competition by learning the words on the “Spell It.” This will prepare them for Great Hearts District Bee should they advance to this level of competition.

Please direct questions to Ms. Porcelli and Ms. Smith at MPorcelli@archwayarete.org and hsmith@archwayarete.org. We are delighted to celebrate the English language with your children through the Scripps spelling bee program!

Very truly yours,

Ms. Porcelli and Ms. Smith

Shurley English jingles

For those who want to practice some of the jingles at home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfIxmEqyAbc :)

Week 14

Good evening! I hope everyone has had another great weekend! A couple of quick notes: on Wednesday is our Winter Concert. Attendance is mandatory for this - it will be part of their music grade. :) It will be at the Higley Center for Performing Arts (4132 E. Pecos Rd, Gilbert, AZ 85295), and the concert will begin promptly at 5:30 pm.

We are not supposed to give homework on Wednesday, so the Spalding homework will be optional. We will still practice them in class and again on Thursday, so the test on Friday will cover all 28 words.

Also, we have our Greek play audition tomorrow (Monday) and Tuesday during recess. :)

Here is what we have coming up this week:

Literature: We will continue reading Boxcar Children (chapters 9 and 10) in reading groups and discussing key ideas.

Spalding: 28 new words this week (Test on Friday!). Please practice phonograms 1-70 as well, as we will do a graded WPR next week!

New words: inform, both, heart, month, children, child, build, built, understand, follow, charge, member, case, while, also, return, office, great, Miss, miss, who, died, die, changing, change, few, pleasant, please.

Writing: narration, copy work, and dictation exercises from "Pilgrim's Progress"

Grammar: We will review all the parts of speech that we've learned so far (noun, verb, adjective, adverb) and create sentence blueprints.

Typing: We will try to begin typing this week!! We will work on our typing skills once a week, but it can be practiced at home as well. More details to come... :)

Math: We will review everything up to this point on Monday, and then test on Tuesday. Then we are jumping into multiplication! We will be creating arrays and practicing our skip counting by 2's, 3's, 4's, and 5's.

History: I am excited to say that we are starting our Ancient Greece unit! We will begin with the geography of Greece and then learn about important Greek gods and goddesses.

Science: We are going to be studying insects this week and getting creative, by designing our own!

Poem: We will finish up poetry recitations since we all didn't recite last week. New poem: The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore - Note: This is a very long poem, so we are only asking that each student memorize one stanza to recite the week of December 14th. Pick your favorite!

Idiom: "Practice what you preach."

I can't wait to see all of you on Wednesday at the concert. Have a great week!

Week 13

First of all, THANK YOU for the birthday goodies!! I love my flowers, and I cannot wait to go buy some more craft supplies! The cake was absolutely delicious, and I know our students loved the cookies. It was a good birthday, and I felt special. :)

We have lots to do in our shortened week. Remember, there is no school on Wednesday, in observance of Veteran's Day!

Literature: We will continue reading Boxcar Children - chapters 7 and 8 - in literature groups.

Spalding: There are only 19 words this week: recover, mountain, speak, past, might, contract, deal, almost, all, brought, bring, less, event, off, of, true, truth, took, again. Spelling Test on Friday! We need to practice our Spalding rules, so I will be creating and sending home some worksheets to practice these.

Writing: We have our narration, copywork, and dictation exercises from the story "101 Dalmatians". We will also be writing Veteran's Day letters on Monday to be delivered to our troops on Tuesday.

Grammar: We are reviewing adverbs and adjectives this week. We will also be learning the 4 types of sentences and the terms "subject" and "predicate".

Math: This week we will be learning about weight! We will be using a balance to weigh different objects, and we will learn the difference between kilogram, gram, pound, and ounce. We will have mini tests - 4.1 A on Thursday and 4.2 A on Friday!

History: We will be learning about Chinese New Year tomorrow and then reviewing our previous Ancient China material. We will test on Friday! Be on the lookout for a study guide on Monday!

Science: I sent home a Life Cycle study guide on Friday. We will review on Tuesday with Life Cycle scoot (game), and then we will take our Life Cycle Test on Thursday!

Idiom: "Practice what you preach".

Poem: Merry Autumn Days recitations! (all week)

Miscellaneous: If your child is interested in run club, signups are here! I am really excited to announce that I will be one of the coaches! I love running and can't wait to share this passion with the children!

Have a great week!

Week 12

Good evening! I can't believe we are already into November! I just sent out an email, but I am planning on having a "Flashlight Monday" tomorrow! They can bring in a flashlight and pillow if they would like, along with their favorite book!

On the agenda:
Literature: We will be reading chapters 5 and 6 in literature groups, answering comprehension questions, and journaling as one of the Alden children.

Spalding: We will be reviewing phonograms each day as part of our homework. New words:
1. happen          16. drill
2. begun            17. army
3. collect           18. pretty
4. file                 19. stole
5. provide          20. income
6. sight              21. bought
7. stood             22. paid
8. fixed              23. pay
9. fix                 24. enter
10. born             25. railroad
11. goes             26. unable
12. does             27. ticket
13. Tuesday       28. account
14. go                 29. driven
15. hold              30. real
Spelling Test on Friday!

Writing: narration, copy work, and dictation exercises from Nurse Matilda
Note: There is a narration exercise for homework on Friday!

Grammar: We will be learning about the article adjective! There is a new jingle that we will learn, and then we will practice using adjectives on a sentence blueprint. New vocabulary word: massive

Math: We will practice measurement some more this week - we will be comparing meters, yards, and feet, as well as inches versus centimeters. We have two mini tests over length on Tuesday and Wednesday. There will be a cumulative test (chapters 1-3) on Friday!

History: We are learning all about China! This week we will cover a lot of different topics: Confucius and his teachings, ancestor worship, the Great Wall of China, written language, the Silk Road, and Chinese inventions. :) We will be putting these into a lap book, which should turn out really nice!

Science: We will continue our life cycle unit with frogs and butterflies! New vocabulary word: metamorphosis

Idiom: Cold feet

Poem: Merry Autumn Days continued - practice stanza 4! We will recite this poem next week!

Miscellaneous: There is a movie night at 6 pm on this Friday, November 6th. The flier went home in their green folders last week, but there are extras in the front office, should you need one! The movie watching is free, but you can also order pizza and drinks. :)

Have a great week!