June 14, 2010

I can't believe it's the last week of school! The year has come and gone so quickly. I'm so proud of all the students and am amazed at how far they've come in such a short time. I realize this more and more as we wrap up the year and reflect on their accomplishments.

Becky's class Parents are invited Thursday from 1-2 to view portfolio's and year long writing folders. I hope to see everyone there!

Friday we are planning to have a potluck style lunch. Please send something in with you child to share with the class. Please email me if you plan to send dessert, as we cannot have 22 desserts for lunch!

Thanks for a great year students and parents! I have truly enjoyed each and every student and am looking forward to the fall already! I will miss the 6th and 7th graders but hope to continue to support their academic, social and emotional growth in some way moving forward.

Have a fantastic and safe summer! Keep reading and writing, even if it's an email to an old ELA teacher (hint, hint)!

June 1, 2010

Shakespeare shows Wednesday and Thursday nights! I can't wait to see all the hard work students have put into rehearsals come to fruition.

All three classes must finish their poetry booklets and analysis by the start of class on Friday. This means time put in at home is a must. Students should have been working a little bit each night the past 2 weeks in order to stay on track. They have been reminded of this every day.

May 25, 2010

The end of the year is quickly approaching and with rehearsal in full swing in all three classes,  students are seeing limited ELA classtime. 7th graders are writing Ballads this week to finish their poetry unit and should have a draft complete for Friday. Next week 7th graders will finalize and compile their poetry into booklets including a cover and illustrations. 5th and 6th graders are working on their booklets this and next week.

May 13, 2010

We are cruising right along in our Poetry unit in all ELA classes. We have reviewed how to slow down and savor the words we read in poetry, and the importance of choosing the just right words to create a picture in the reader's mind when we write.

7th grade students are focusing more closely on using an "I" voice in their poems, and finding meaningfu topics to explore and reflect on as well as fun forms like Limericks.

5th and 6th grade students are exploring all kinds of poetry and all 3 classes will continue to write, write, write over the next week or so. Students will create a poetry booklet to showcase their creative imaginations and deep thinking.

5/6 compilations will include Haiku, Limerick, Cinquain, Free Verse, and several free choice formats

7th grade complications will include Haiku, Limerick, Lyric, Sonnets, Ballads, Free Verse and several free choice formats

Along with writing poetry, we are reading a lot of poetry as well. From Robert Frost, to Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, T.S. Eliot, Langston Hughes, Alfred Lord Tennyson and many more. 7th grade students are writing formal revews/critiques while 5th and 6th grade students are enjoying mostly conversation about the meaning and symbolism they see in the poems they are exploring as well as examples of strong word choice to create imagery.

Unfortunately, the end of the school year is rapidly approaching and we will have to move on from our poetry unit in a couple weeks. The last big project of the year will include a return to persuassive writing (7th grade) and organizational, descriptive, "explode the moment" story telling (5th and 6th grade).

I will be administering the QRI  - end of the year reading assessment - to each student over the course of the next several weeks. Students have done an enormous amount of reading this year. Even our most reluctant readers have found new favorite authors they can't get enough of!

May 6, 2010

7th graders:

Small groups of students will be pulled from ELA on some days during the next several weeks to work on the Wizard of Wii. If you miss class for any reason, it is YOUR responsibility to make up any and all missing work from class. Handouts will be available for each assignment. Click on the link below to obtain the 3 assignments for this week, including the one assigned on Monday.

7th grade poetry week of 5/3 - 5/7

May 3, 2010

All three classes began a Poetry unit that will take us through the next several weeks. In class students will read and analyze various poems and create their own in many forms. 7th graders currently are focusing on Free Verse, writing in the first person to show voice while 5th/6th graders are writing forms of their choice to kick off the week.

April 9, 2010

7th graders have seen a lot of ELA classtime used for writing the Wizard of Wii. They will see increased writing homework as a result of limited classtime.

5/6th grade students have a book recommendation due before April vacation. Classtime will be used for conventional studies as well as classroom biographies to launch a poetry unit.

All three classes will see a focus in class on poetry during the month of May, and possibly starting next week.

April 5, 2010

Many students in grades 5-7 have incomplete assignments from last week and today. Clear instructions were given to all 3 classes about what was due and when so there are no acceptable excuses for late/missing work. Students will use their lunch/recess time to finish any outstanding journal letters and/or essays.

March 28, 2010

5th & 6th grade Civil War biographies:

An email was sent to all 5th and 6th grade parents with regard to Civil War biographies and can be viewed here. Revisions will take place in class this week and must be worked on for homework as well. Guidelines are provided in the parent letter. Due to limited classtime this week students must work on their biographies at home. A completely revised and edited final draft, including a bibiliography is due Monday, April 5th.

Bibliography handout.

7th grade:

Personal Belief Essays: A completed first draft is due Monday, 3/29. Many students have already begun the peer-editing phase, the rest will read aloud, peer-edit and begin revisions in class on Monday. 2nd draft revisions and editing will be assigned as homework with a final draft due Friday, April 2nd. The goal is to convey personal beliefs and values in a 4-6 paragraph (350-500 word) essay expresses specific values and an experience through which those values were learned.

Much of the 7th grade ELA classtime in the next few weeks will be dedicated to writing dialogue for the musical students are creating and will perform towards the end of the school year. The script must be finished by April vacation and we will be working in conjunction with Mary and Mary to accomplish this goal.

Becky's Class only:

Portfolios - Students must include one item from each subject from 1st and 2nd  trimester. Students will begin writing reflections for each item using a reflection template during work periods Wednesday and Friday this week.

March 15, 2010

5th & 6th Grade Civil War Biographies: On Monday both classes talked at length about properly citing sources. Students are required to have 3 sources, 1 may not be an online reference. At this point students should have information from at least 3 sources and need to bring this research to class. We talked about the organization of a 5 paragraph essay and students are drafting this week. The goal is to finish drafting by Monday, in order to begin revising next week.

Bibliography handout.

Seventh graders will begin drafting their personal belief essays this week. Daily assignments are being started in class and need to be finished for homework, in order to use the next class period for discussions and narrowing topics.

March 7, 2010

Feels like spring is in the air! I hope everyone was able to spend some time outside this weekend. Report cards go home tomorrow and we are kicking off the beginning of the third trimester with some exciting things.

Seventh graders demonstrated their sentence fluency by writing song parodies about school. Students read and performed their songs last week and are excited for an opportunity to write more! This week they will explore their beliefs and compose personal essays through an NPR writing project called This I Believe. This is an opportunity for students to reflect on individual values and craft an original essay. Students will use all the tools they've learned so far this year to draft, revise and edit.

Fifth and Sixth graders are also exploring the genre of essay writing with a biography project in conjunction with the Civil War unit they are currently studying in Social Studies. Students have chosen the Civil War figure they wish to research and in the coming weeks will use their research to craft original essays including a bibliography. Students will need to do some research outside the classroom and take notes, not just print information from the internet. More information to come.

Fifth and sixth graders are also beginning to learn about sentence fluency and the importance of the sound and flow of their writing.

February 15, 2010

Science fair is Friday! Please check your email for updates on due dates as well as the homework section.

Click on the links to view class LOVE poems written by 5th, 6th, and 7th grade students in lieu of Valentine's day. Students wrote individual poems and chose their favorite lines to add to a class poem. Very creative!

Peter's 5/6

Becky's 5/6

John's 7

This week students in 5th and 6th grade will have a small descriptive writing piece to be completed in class. Seventh graders are focusing on sentence fluency and have begun writing parodies to favorite songs. Parodies will be performed on Friday!

February 7, 2010

The science fair is quickly approaching. At this point students should be finished with their experiments and rough drafts. This week students should be writing final drafts, putting together their visuals and writing their notecards for their presentations.

In ELA this week we've been talking about forms of writing. Specifically narrative, expository, persuassive and descriptive. Students have written in all forms this year but we are focusing on expository writing currently with the science fair reports coming up. We will wrap up the Month of February with activities and in-class writing assignments focusing on the trait of sentence fluency.

January 25, 2010

Fifth, sixth and seventh grade students are focusing on the word choice writing trait with various in class writing activities. Emotion Recipes should be completed by Wednesday. We are not working on these in class anymore. This week students in 5th and 6th grades are creating a personal thesauras replacing commonly overused words with vivid and descriptive language. Students are focusing on using precise language targeted to match their audience and purpose as well as everyday language uniquely. Word choice is not about using difficult language, it's about finding the right word and cutting out the rest. 7th graders will partake in similar activities with a twist on descriptive writing as well as an "Adjectives in detail" poetry assignment. It's all about fun with words. Come check out our word wall next time you're at SCS!

January 19, 2010

Students in all 3 classes will compile an Emotion Cookbook this week with recipe's they have created in class as well as for homework. The purpose of this assignment was to have some fun imitating the voice of a cookbook by creating an unusual recipe (assignment adapted from www.writingfix.com)

5th and 6th graders have written some fantastic stories from the perspective of their shoes as well as paragraphs portraying (without saying) a specific emotion or mood.

This week, all three classes will begin studying the word choice trait during writing workshop.

January 11, 2010

Last week 5th and 6th graders began studying voice. They are having fun taking the perspective of such things as their pets, shoes, and this week will focus on descriptive writing to convey a specific emotion or mood by showing rather than telling.

Seventh graders finished a mystery writing project as well as a writing piece focusing on organization. They too, have moved on to voice and this week will write emotion recipes using specific kitchen nouns and verbs to write ingredients and directions on how to be happy, sad, confused, angry, anxious, etc.  In reader's workshop, seventh graders will also be reading and critiquing a play as a starting point towards brainstorming ideas for their own musical.

January 4, 2010

I hope you all had a safe and fun winter break and a very happy new year. This week all 3 classes have begun studying a new writing trait: voice. Voice is the most important of all the traits as it is what determines whether a reader will continue to read or not. Voice includes knowledge, interest and enthusiasm about a topic, shows individuality, personality and it connects the reader to the writing. Students have done a great job in class writing from various perspectives and will see an assignment come home this week as well, due Monday 1/11. This assignment will begin a weekly at-home writing assignment pertaining to skills we are working on in class that will continue through February vacation.

Seventh graders will no longer have a weekly journal letter due. Instead they will respond to their literature through journal-essays every 3 weeks. We will talk about the guidelines and requirements in class, and the first journal-essay will be due on January 21st. Seventh graders are working hard in class to finalize their Harris Burdick mysteries as well as an organizational writing piece started before the break. The organizational piece is due Friday 1/8; Harris Burdick due Monday 1/11.

Fifth and 6th graders will write journal letters every other week as opposed to every week and will see the requirements increase in this area as well. Becky's class is due this week, Peter's next week, and then every other week following.

The purpose of these changes is to increase the depth and quality with which students are responding to and critiquing the authors and stories they read.

December 21, 2009

The winter concert last week was fantastic! I'm so proud of all our students for a job well done. All their hard work certainly paid off. We have 3 short days until winter break.

Becky's 5/6: On Monday morning students will be showcasing their science projects from 9 - 10:30 and therefore will not have math or language arts. Students will be expected to complete their organizational writing pieces on Tuesday during their work period and at the very latest for homework turned in on Wednesday. Final drafts should be completely edited and submitted with rough drafts and peer editing sheets.

Peter's 5/6: Students will be expected to complete their organizational writing pieces between Monday's class and Tuesday's work period. Final drafts should be completely edited and submitted with rough drafts and peer editing sheets. Peter's class will have a reading workshop on Tuesday where students will share their book recommendations with the class.

7th Grade: Before winter break students should complete final drafts (either Harris Burdick or a writing prompt) and submit with rough drafts and peer editing sheets. In class students will begin drafting the 2nd writing piece if they haven't already.

December 14, 2009

Winter break is quickly approaching. Students will practice for the winter concert on Wednesday and Thursday this week. The concert is Thursday night at Sanborn High School, 6:30pm. 5th, 6th and 7th graders are working through the process of drafting, revising, peer-editing and finalizing a writing piece to be completed before winter break.

December 5, 2009

Students jumped right back into the swing of things this past week writing leads, sequencing stories, identifing transition words/phrases and critiquing samples as we continue to study the Organization writing trait.

7th Grade

The 7th graders have started a writing project that will take them probably through to winter break. They have done a fantastic job writing leads and story introductions based on The Mysteries of Harris Burdick (click on the link for the history). Many students have been eager to share their creative and often humerous ideas. They have each chosen a drawing they will write a story about. Most of this will be done in class, however, they will have deadlines to meet so they may also do some writing at home.

A 2nd writing assignment has been given to expand and complete a piece based on a previous writing prompt given in class. 7th graders have been given the guidelines to both assignments as well as the option to decide which they will complete first. Both will focus on a complete idea as well as the various elements of organization and as always, conventions.

5th/6th Grade

In class, students will be writing a new piece based on a previous prompt of their choice with the focus on a complete idea as well as the various elements of organization and as always, conventions. This week we created an "always" list of conventions they should always check during the editing phase and we will add to this throughout the year as we learn new conventions. We studied homophones and talked about choosing the correct word in their writing (e.g. ARE vs. OUR - technically not a homophone, but often misused in student writing)

Peter's class - After modeling the elements of a book recommendation and writing a sample as a whole class (based on the picture book Diary of a Worm), students have been assigned to write their own book recommendations on a book they've finished and would rate a 9 or 10. Students are encouraged to write as well as they can, being the first responder to their own writing. Assignment guidelines were provided and a link attached in the homework section.

Becky's class will be assigned a book recommendation in the coming week.

November 22, 2009

Grades closed on Friday, November 20th. However, if you are missing items for your permanant and daily writing folders you are still responsible for their completion. This will affect you when it's time to present your portfolios!

Report cards will go home on Tuesday, November 24th.

A reminder to parents, you are welcome to stop by between 11:30 and 12:00 on Tuesday when students will informally show you around the classroom and present portfolio items to this point.

November 15, 2009

Coming up this week, students will again be focusing on the Organization Trait of writing as well as finishing up scrapbook projects in Becky's class. The end of the first trimester is upon us, so students will collect and review their work thus far and look forward to setting goals for the second trimester which begins after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Last week, students in Becky's class participated in the first auction of the year. It was a lot of fun and left many students broke! The next auction will be sometime towards the end of December before winter break.

November 8, 2009

We have a short week this week with Veteren's day on Wednesday and a field trip for Social Studies on Friday. That means all 3 classes will have a Writing Workshop on Monday focusing on the organization writing trait and a Reading Workshop on Tuesday (Peter) or Thursday (John and Becky). Several students have volunteered to formally recommend books they've read this year through a book talk during this week's reading workshop.

Final drafts of "Places" is due on Friday, Nov. 13. Please review the following guidelines with students.

• Students are revising and editing focusing on the IDEAS and CONVENTIONS traits.
• Students should be asking themselves: "Is my topic narrow? Is my idea CLEAR and FULLY SUPPORTED with STRONG DETAILS? What can I do to improve? Can I get rid of any dead wood? What is my purpose?" These are all terms we have been talking about in class.
• As always, students should write as well as they can with regard to spelling, grammar, punctuation and paragraphing.
• Take pride in the finished product (ie. neatness counts! Include name, date and relevant title)We played a lot of catch up last week with the return of most students. If you were absent last week, don't worry, you will have time to make up missed work.

Becky's class is completing scrapbook projects on Tuesday which will be on display  for the next week or two. Parents are invited to visit the classroom on Wednesday, November 18 from 2:00 - 3:00 when students will showcase their accomplishments so far this school year. We are in the beginning stages of portfolio building so students can explain what this means when you visit. I look forward to seeing many of you.

Lastly, we have one November birthday....Happy Birthday, Aidan!

November 1, 2009

Last week many students were home sick so I hope everyone had a restful weekend to get and/or stay healthy! Students who were absent please see me to get your missed assignments. Names and missing assignments are posted for all students, not just those who were out. The end of the trimester is coming up in a few short weeks. It is your responsibility to complete your assignments and turn them in. Students will begin choosing items for portfolios which they will present during the year. Strive for high quality. Take pride and ownership of your work!

Currently, students in my class are working on the Scrapbook of their Lives project as well as various writing pieces. All classes are beginning to study the organization trait and have completed group writing assignments focusing on narrow topics and exploded moments. Individual pieces focusing on the Ideas trait are in the revision stage and will be final (hopefully) by the end of the week.

Reading workshop this week will focus on all the genres that students are reading and can find in our library as well as book recommendations from peers. Students are encouraged to break out of the genre they normally go for and try something new! So many great books, so little time. Please be sure students are reading at least 30 minutes per night.

Our first in class auction will be held November 10th. Students have been earning money and balancing their checkbooks each week and will choose to bid on items in the auction or save for something in the future. If students purchase an item, they will deduct from their accounts and balance them accordingly.

October 26, 2009

Coming up...

5th/6th graders will finish Camp Lincoln reflection booklets on Monday.

All students will revise their "Places" assignment focusing on ideas and conventions. Also during writer's workshop students will be learning about the organization trait through various in-class writing activities.

In Reader's workshop, students will find examples in their own texts of exploded moments to share.

Becky's class will be designing regalia drawings to represent a scrapbook of their life in connection with the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum field trip. They have been brainstorming the symbols/items of importance that represent who they are and what is important to them as individuals.  Final projects will be displayed in the classroom and I encourage all parents to stop by and check them out. I will let you know when they are finished.

Teambuilding Overnight - 10/22/09

From the warm weather to the wake up call, and everything in between, the overnight at Camp Lincoln was a huge success! Students were excited, responsible, helpful, repectful and reflective about the whole experience. The team building activities helped students gain a new appreciation for each other and a better understanding of what it means to communicate effectively and be a part of a team.

Students and staff reflected yesterday on the purpose of the overnight as well as insight gained about themselves and each other. The out-of-the-classroom learning far exceeded my expectations. I hope students will apply the lessons learned in other aspects of their academic and personal lives.

A huge thank you to our parent chaperones for your willingness to do whatever we asked of you! We hope you had as good an experience as we did. I especially want to say thank you to Ann, Peter and John for all the work put into making this trip successful. I can't wait to do it again next year!

October 18, 2009

Go Pats! I am just returning from Foxboro after a successful, SNOWY day of football at Gilette Stadium. The Pats looked great today even with the unexpected turn in the weather.

We are gearing up for the overnight this coming Tuesday. Please be sure to bring permission slips if you have not done so already. Also, please review the checklist provided to you and be sure you are prepared with layers. It may be a bit chilly, but it's going to be a great experience for all of us.Students must bring their reading books as well as a journal (reading journals may be used for this) and something to write with. I will review with my class tomorrow (Monday).

Last week, we had a short week including a full day at the Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum. We can all be proud of the way the middle schoolers represented SCS. They were attentive, engaged, inquisitive and well mannered. Just as we should expect them to be. Bravo!

October 13, 2009

Dear Parents and Students,

I apologize for the delay in updating the website. I have been experiencing technical difficulties with my laptop and must admit I took a couple days "off" this weekend to enjoy three of my favorite activities: hiking, golfing, and watching Patriots football! (although I am not thrilled with how the game ended). I am back online, although my laptop is still not working properly. Please bear with me as I work to fix the issues I am encountering.

Last week...

Students did a fantastic job staying focused and doing their best during NECAP testing. Many students expressed how helpful it was to practice and critique student samples the week before testing, and I am proud of how well students applied this practice to the actual test.

Having said that, I am happy to stop talking about NECAP and get back to the business of Language Arts. We are currently focusing on an overview of the 6 traits through specific writing assignments and group work. Students are working together to critique and rewrite stories with specific goals in mind. Ask your child what it means to "rewrite The Redwoods, Mouse Alert style" and vice versa. (Becky's class will start this activity this week as they did not have ELA last week)

A "High Quality" wall has been set up in the classroom to display high quality student work. This sample board is a way to recognize student effort and quality in writing.

Coming up...

Middle school students have 2 field trips in the next week to look forward to. The first is a social studies field trip and the second is an overnight at Camp Lincoln. Permission slips for both have been emailed as well as sent home with students.

• Please return the Social Studies field trip form by Wednesday, 10/14 (field trip on Thursday, 10/15).
• Please return Camp Lincoln field trip form by Friday, 10/16, field trip Tuesday to Wednesday, 10/20-10/21.

A huge thank you to the Larkham and Rice families for the pillow donations! Thanks also to those families who have contributed auction items. Students are earning money weekly and will have a chance to bid on items at the end of October in the first auction.

October 4, 2009

Students worked hard all week preparing for NECAP testing which begins tomorrow. In Language Arts we reviewed test taking strategies, took a practice test and critiqued student samples based on scoring rubrics similar to the ones used on the actual NECAP test. Students had fun and did a fantastic job assessing sample answers. Some were harder on the samples than the actual test scorers!

Through practicing and assessing, students gained a better understanding of how to answer a question completely and relevantly using specific examples from the texts they read. I am confident all 5th, 6th and 7th graders are prepared to be successful going into this week's testing. The practice is valuable not only for the test, but also because it teaches students to be on-topic, precise and to back up their claims with relevant information and examples. These skills are important across all academic disciplines, but also in helping students become competent, credible, effective communicators.

In Language Arts we have been discussing the importance of keeping topics narrow and exploding moments in our writing. This week we will also begin an overview of the ideas, organization and voice traits of writing. Some students will have limited ELA class time this week due to the test schedule, so short writing assignments will come home to allow for students to write and add to their daily writing folders.

Happy Birthday to Jackie Rice who celebrated her birthday on Saturday October 3rd!

Coming up...

Students will have an opportunity to be published in the monthly newsletter if they wish to submit middle school news articles. I encourage all students to gather information from their classes and submit articles for publication. Articles will be chosen based on content and edited conventions. In order to go to publication, articles must be well written (think 6 traits) with no grammatical errors!

Start thinking about what you would like to report on. What's been happening in science, social studies, math, language arts, music, art, town meeting and during work periods?

September 27, 2009

Last week students continued to become familiar working in both reading and writing workshops. The 6 traits of writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions) were introduced on Friday as a framework for most pieces of writing. Throughout the school year students will take a much closer look at each trait and incorporate what they learn in both self-chosen and teacher-directed writing assignments.

Students are nearing completion of their first piece of writing and should turn in final drafts by Friday, October 2nd. Students will see less time this week for free writing in class due to preparation for NECAP testing. Preparation will include a review of test taking skills as well as practice testing in reading and writing. Students will also study and critique a number of student response samples (from non-SCS students).

QRI testing will continue this week during work periods.

A special thanks to Emily Clough for presenting the first student-led booktalk about a new favorite she discovered in our classroom library. Great job Emily!

Several students across all three classes are missing work. I've also noticed most students are making progress in their reading books but there are a few who are not. A reminder that reading homework is not optional. Unfortunately, there is not always time for independent reading during the school day. It is imperative that students are reading their books at home each night. Students who are absent are responsible for finding out what they've missed and making up the work/assignment.

Last but not least, we had/have 3 September birthdays...Lindsey Jordan, Tiffany King and Michael Giordano. Happy Birthday!

September 18, 2009

NECAP testing is approaching! The dates are October 5 - 7. Please be sure your child has a good healthy breakfast (everyday) but especially on the mornings of testing. Students will be assessed in the areas of math and reading and 5th graders will also have a writing componant. During the week of September 28 - October 2 we will do some test prep to assure students are comfortable with the format and types of questions they will see on the actual test. We encourage students to do their best and strive to help them be as prepared as possible.

This week students completed the beginning of the year writing assessment for Language Arts. Fifth and sixth grade students were asked to write a story based on a picture prompt while seventh graders wrote persuasive essays arguing either for or against longer school lunch periods. These writing assessments serve as a starting point and will be given at the end of the year as well to assess individual progress.

Weekly assignments up to this point are posted in my notes from last week. Please review with your child and help them to keep on top of their assignments. Students with missing work will stay in for recess to catch up.

Coming up...

Students will continue reading and writing workshops this week with the introduction of the 6 Traits of Writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions) as well as book talks/recommendations from classmates and we will begin to define more concrete writing deadlines.

QRI testing will continue this week.

Lastly, ask your child about SCS's VIRTUAL WALK ACROSS AMERICA. More information on this to come!

September 11, 2009

Schedule

Language Arts

We are rolling right along with the launch of reading and writing workshops in all 3 middle school ELA classes this week. All students have a book they are reading, and have learned the check out and record keeping procedure for the books they will read all year. I am delighted to hear so much buzz talk happening between students about the books they are choosing for themselves. This week we started our literary letters to each other where students write back and forth to me and friends in a journal about the books/authors/literature we are reading. Students know the guidelines and are responsible for one letter each week due on Tuesday (Peter's 5/6), Thursday (7th grade) or Friday (Becky's 5/6). I have enjoyed reading and responding to all the letters I've received so far. This is a great way for us to communicate. Students are reading some terrific books and already I'm learning a lot about who they are as readers.

Personal spelling lists and vocabulary will be introduced next week (Sept 14) as well as a writing assessment and continued QRI testing (reading assessment).

Starting next week (Sept. 14) you can count on the following assignments every week:

1. Read for 30 minutes each school night (5 nights a week)

2. Journal letter

3. Bi-weekly vocabulary

4. Word study (5 words from personal spelling list)

We will be writing in class and a writing assignment may come home as well from time to time.

Feel free to contact me at becky@seacoastcharterschool.org or rebecca.riekert@gmail.com if you have any questions/concerns.

September 16, 2009 - If anyone is interested in volunteering to help with Fitness, I am looking for a second adult from 1:00 - 2:00pm on Tuesdays. You will not have to do any planning and can be as involved (or not) as you would like. Thanks!

Volunteer opportunities will be available in the coming weeks. Thank you to those of you who signed the volunteer list at open house. You will be contacted soon. Please email me if you would like to add your name to the list.