Dear Families, 
 
I can hardly believe January is over! February's windy, cold weather blasted us today at recess, but it was worth it to spend a little time outdoors. Children have such energy, both physical and creative! Our week has been filled with just this kind of energy. Please read on for more details! 
 
Students continue to spend time in reading class working on their independent reading. This reading time is really more than reading. Students are encouraged to use the many comprehension strategies they've learned throughout the year. As they read they have learned to think about many things. How can I connect to this story or the characters? Does the setting of this story remind me of any place I have been? Can I relate to the characters' experiences? Can I connect any part of this book with another book I have read? We also focus on questions we have as we read. Why did the character do that? What will happen next? For non-fiction texts we can have reactions like "Cool," "I didn't know that,"or, I knew one thing about this topic, but now I have learned something new." All of these are the reactions we want students to have with their reading. The questions and thinking possibilities are endless and encouraged. These are the topics your children are encouraged to write to me about each week in their letters. You can understand why the letters are such an important part of your child's weekly comprehension grade. 
 
In language this week, we focused on two parts of speech. We reviewed prepositions and prepositional phrases, and adjectives. In writing, we continued note taking on our informational research papers. We also had a lesson from Miss Cairns on public speaking. In another week, your child will become "the expert" in the field they are researching. They will need to dress the part or bring a prop to help them take on the character. They will give a five minute presentation on what they have been researching from the "experts" point of view. Make sure to talk to your child about the expert they have become and how they plan to make their presentation creative, informative, and a bit entertaining too! Most students are in final stages of note taking for the written part of the research. They learned this week about determining what facts from their research are important, how to take notes in our own words, how to stay organized with our topics and resources, and how to write a beginning that has a fictional component to pull the reader in! Lessons next week will focus on writing paragraphs, synthesizing and summarizing information, and writing a good ending. 
 
We had a wonderful trip to the Hunter Museum of Art yesterday. The docents guided us on a tour to the various parts of the museum. They helped us learned how to view a piece of art and interpret it in our own way. Our students were shining stars in their knowledge of the artists and techniques thanks to their wonderful instruction from their art teacher, Mrs. Bradford. Many of the pieces of art tied in with our social studies curriculum which made for great conversation and discussion about the periods of history. The fun did not stop when we left the museum. When we arrived back at school, we had picnic (sack) lunches in the class. Then the students went through a rotation of three activities. All activities were related to the early 1900's. Dr. Yonts' showed clips of silent films made at the turn of the century. Students then performed short reader's theater plays while being videoed by a student. I had the students create crayon resist landscape paintings, and Miss Stowe, our young and energetic student teacher, introduced the students to games played by children a century ago! All in all it was a great day filled with learning presented in a fun way! 
 
Thanks for taking the time to be a part of our week. Have a wonderful weekend. 
 
Until next time, 
 
Karen Persinger