Wordle

My wordle based on my pyramid.

Spelling Week 3

1. mound
2. gloomy
3. vault
4. annoy
5. dawdle*
6. counter
7. haughty
8. rejoice
9. devour
10. thoughtful
11. flawless
12. maroon
13. droop
14. crouch
15. bamboo
16. hoist
17. oyster
18. exhausted
19. scoundrel
20. boundary

Review

21. royal
22. naughty
23. avoid
24. announce
25. cartoon

Challenge

26. bountiful*
27. aloof*
28. adjoin*
29. taut*
30. turquoise

*indicates vocabulary word

Friday, September 10

Don't forget book orders are due Friday, September 17th. You can send the order into school or enter it online. There is more information on a post from a few days ago.

Math: This week we reviewed some 5th grade concepts, but threw decimals into every equation. We worked with place value, comparing, ordering, rounding, and estimating numbers. Next week the students will learn about exponents. They will be tested on their knowledge of these math concepts at the end of the week. I have been very impressed by how hard the whole class has been working in math.

Science: We learned that the shape of the earth's orbit is an ellipse. Ask your student to explain this shape to you. If you write a note on their homework that they have done this they can receive extra credit for science.

Social Studies: The hunter/gatherer society was very different from the agriculture civilizations. Once they learned how to farm they could stay in one spot instead of moving where the food was. They also had more time to learn other skills such as math, art, science, astronomy, and their civilization grew immensely in knowledge.

Reading: This week we will be finishing up the 6 elements of a story star. Then we will be starting metacognition, a reading comprehension strategy. We will have Benchmark testing on Tuesday. I'm looking forward to starting guided reading soon!

Writing: We will continue through the writing process this week as we work towards publishing our personal narratives.

Spelling/Vocabulary: We learned 5 new vocabulary words this week and took our weekly test today. I've been pleased with the scores so far--the extra credit for bonus words are adding up quickly! This week we'll have a new list and 5 more vocabulary words. Students should be prepared for quizzes on vocab. words this week.

Student of the Week

This year in our class we are spotlighting one student per week. Each student has built a pyramid with four different sections. Your student is responsible to decorate and bring back his/her pyramid by the Thursday of their spotlight week. Mrs. Bird and I divided our sections into family, friends, likes, and teaching. It can be decorated with pictures of their family, friends, hobbies, school, etc. Basically the pyramid is to show our class anything they would like us to know about them as the student of the week. You will get a blue note the week your student is the one being spotlighted. Thank you for all of your help in making this activity fun for our class. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or email me.

Thanks again,

Emily Blaisdell

emily.blaisdell@nebo.edu

(801) 489-2850

Spelling and Vocabulary

Just a reminder about spelling and vocabulary. We will take a pre-test on Mondays (or the first day of the week) and students will have a spelling test on Fridays (or the last day of the week). Spelling lists have 30 words, but the last 5 are bonus words, making it possible to get extra credit in spelling with a maximum score of 30/25. Students are responsible for bringing home their spelling pre-test marked with the vocabulary words from that particular list. Every 6 weeks, instead of doing a spelling test, we will be doing a vocabulary test. Students will be responsible for knowing the definitions of all the words. In addition, sometimes during the week, students will have vocabulary quizzes. The students make vocabulary flashcards at school each week. They need to continually study all the words in order to be prepared for the vocabulary test. In addition, I'll be posting the spelling words and vocabulary words on the blog each week, just in case a list gets lost. Students can also ask for extra paper copies, if necessary.
Spelling Vocabulary Words from Week 1:
blunder
dreadful
quintet
tense
tepid

Spelling Words for Week 2 (this week):
Long Vowels
1.supreme
2.bracelet
3.mute
4.strive
5.faithful
6.devote
7.rhyme
8.succeed
9.coax
10.rely
11.conceal*
12.forgave
13.lonesome
14.delete
15.confine
16.exceed
17.terrain*
18.reproach
19.abuse
20.defeat

Review
21.disagree
22.compose
23.awake
24.unwise
25.release

Challenge
26.ratify*
27.serene*
28.refute*
29.appraise
30.humane
*indicates a vocabulary word

Please let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks,
Emily Blaisdell
emily.blaisdell@nebo.edu

Book Orders

Today I sent home scholastic book orders with each student. They are due next Friday, September, 17. I love book orders because they have the best books for the lowest prices. When looking through the catalogs you will notice that Arrow has books that are just about right for every student. Tab has some older/mature reader books. Keep that in mind as you look through the titles. If you have any questions about the contents of a particular book please let me know and I will help you as much as possible.

Arrow:
The Red Pyramid: A fun read about Egypt. I am reading this one right now and love all the new information I am learning about the Ancient Civilization. It is by an author I know and love Rick Riordan.
The Last Olympian: The last book in The Lightning Thief series. I enjoy reading these books over and over. If your student has not read them yet, we urge you to wait as we will read the first book as a class, but it is fun to have the rest to read when we finish.
39 Clues: Mysteries written by your favorite authors. Each one is written by someone new.
Island of the Blue Dolphins: A classic story about a girl on her own who must learn to survive off the land.
Space Encyclopedia & Explore the Moon: Expository texts that follow our science core topics.
There are many more books, ones for those who love mysteries, animal lovers, joke books...

Tab:
Mocking Jay: The last book of the Hunger Game series. Great books, but very mature. I would be careful with who you let read these books as the content is for a more mature audience. The first two books are in this catalog as well.
Sabotaged: Margaret Haddix is a wonderful author. I have not read this book but love Double Identity written by her as well. The whole missing series in the book order.
Uglies series: Very intense books, but once again for muture readers.
To Kill a Mockingbird & Freak the Mighty: Classics!
Boy at War: Great for war lovers

Arrow October: I sent home a new catalog later in the week because it had "THE LOST HERO" which is Rick Riordan's new series. You can preoder the book and many students were excited about it. Also, THE BFG is in this order for only $1. I absolutely love this creative story!!

You can order from the cataloges and send the order to school with your student or do it online.
Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: GVV6J

With new online ordering from Scholastic Book Clubs, you can choose from a much wider selection of books than in the printed flyer. Plus, you can send your orders directly to me online and use your credit card.

Best of all, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent places their order online.

It's so simple! Here's how it works:

• SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown above. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.
• SELECT the books you'd like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.
SEND your order to me online by the due date. Books will be delivered directly to our classroom, as always.

Thanks,
Shannon Bird
Shannon.bird@nebo.edu

Friday, September 3

The weeks are already flying by. Students were able to start doing their class jobs this week. Police men have been writing tickets for breaking school rules, but we have also received many bonuses written for excellent behavior. Thank you Jessie and Zach N. for our wonderful World Newscasts. Thanks to all the students for completing their jobs.

*Reminder that our basket for the basket auction is "Family Fun Night". If you can donate anything to our theme by next Tuesday that would be great. Thanks to those who already have sent their donations.

Math: We finished working with multiplication and division strategies. Next week we will practice these while we learn about place value, comparing numbers, rounding, and estimating.

Science: We will be graphing the students survey results on Tuesday and look forward to learning the real answers as we study the resons for the seasons. Students wrote descriptive paragraphs about their favorite season and shared them with the class. They did an excellent job at using their senses to describe the mystery season.

Social Studies: Students looked at artifacts from years ago and tried to guess what they would have been used for. They then shared their own artifacts. We talked about how archeologists use these to learn about the ancient civilizations. As a class, we discussed the hunterer/gatherer civilization. They had to move around often to follow their food.

Spelling: This week the students took their first spelling test and began studying their first 5 vocabulary words. Next week we'll be taking a pre-test on Tuesday and have a post-test on Friday. In addition, we'll be studying 5 new vocabulary words. Students should be regularly studying and reviewing these words for vocabulary unit tests that occur every 6 weeks. Look for weekly spelling lists and vocabulary words to be posted on this blog.

Reading: We had a special guest, Mrs. Albrecht from the district, come and talk to us about reading stamina. Our class goal is 15 minutes and we've been working on silently reading for 15 minutes a day. We also started learning about the 6 elements of a story star and will continue examining those elements in picture books this week.

Writing: This week we completed our hands poems--they look great in the hall! We also did a yearbook entry and started exploring the writing process with our personal narratives. We started off with a fun lesson about memories, wrote those ideas in our idea books and are now expanding one of those memory ideas into a personal narrative. We'll continue going through the writing process with our personal narratives this week.

Have a great Labor Day Weekend! We'll see you on Tuesday!