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Spelling: Students spelled these words and tried to figure out what they have in common:

• answer
• become
• write
• often
• less
• knot

Homework is to write down in the planner what the words have in common.

Students have the Unit 1 spelling worksheets (download here), which will be due at the time of the spelling test. Find more information, including spelling lists, by clicking on the Spelling link.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 20-22 were made available today and are due Friday.

Reading: We again spent time talking about making good choices, not being stubborn, being teachable, listening and learning, and not having to repeat things time and again. Each student was asked to write the problems our class is having and what they can do to help. The story below illustrates some of the problems our class is having:

 An Autobiography in 5 Short Paragraphs by Portia Nelson

1. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I fall in. I am lost. I am helpless. It isn’t my fault. It takes forever to find a way out.

2. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I pretend I don’t see it. I fall in. I can’t believe I’m in the same place, but it isn’t my fault. It still takes a long time to get out.

3. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I see it is there. I still fall in. It’s a habit. My eyes are open. I know where I am. It is my fault. I get out immediately.

4. I walk down the street. There is a deep hole in the sidewalk. I walk around it.

5. I walk down a different street.

We are still at step two or three, falling into the same holes over and over again. Some students, say it’s not their fault, others are starting to admit that they fell in the same hole again and are going to try to fix it. But until we use our time for listening, learning (the first time, not the twelfth time), and thinking, we’ll continue to have to use our time for repeating and reteaching.

Writing: We started making Authority Lists of things we are good at and know about.

Students are also working on decorating their Writer’s Portfolio (manila folder) with pictures, magazine clippings, stickers, drawings, anything that can lay flat. This is due on Thursday.

Math: We learned about parallelograms, parallel lines and intersections. Homework is to complete Journal p. 8.

Science: We reviewed the Pulling Through experiment and found out that the force of a magnet can penetrate different materials if they are not too thick.

Social Studies: We continued to learn coal and coal mines, finding out that most of our country’s coal is in the Southeast, and that children used to work in coal mines. Homework is to finish reading about coal and finish the Fact or Fiction worksheet.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 3
• Orange magnets: 1
• Red magnets: 0

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at SnapGrades to see if your student moved their magnet.

Notes:

• The class is (still as of September 25) struggling with making the same mistakes over again, and being slow to correct. And it really is the class, not just a few individuals, so everyone can work on thinking, participating, showing more energy, working together. This was the same thing that showed up last week during math. It’s still happening this week, and usually takes the form of…teacher gives direction…class hears it (maybe)…class does the same old thing…teacher repeats direction…class does the same old thing…class has to practice…repeat these steps a bunch more times. This makes us very slow and inefficient, so improving this is at the top of my list, no matter how many recesses we give away, or how much homework goes home. We can’t continue to function this way. Hear it, do it, that’s what I’m telling the class. Make a mistake, fix it. We’re getting better, but we have a long way to go. Until this improves, expect to see more homework come home that wasn’t finished in class.
• Here is the school supply list. I have dry erase markers for $0.25 and poly envelopes for $0.50.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• This week’s juice volunteers: Justice C. and Hannah