February 25, 2014

     Thanks to huge words on this week's spelling list, the children were more than likely asking you what some of those words mean. It is okay to answer as best as you can. I have been doing the same thing. One parent asked where the word list came from. It's a combination of things: language books (such as textbooks from my professors when I attended the elementary program at Western Washington a few years ago), my own children's language books from when they were in the 1st-2nd grade (they have always been a year ahead of their classmates in ELA), the children's Word Builder, and the internet. Previous spelling lists were words that came from either their Word Builder binders (both classes), or their Spellwell (PM class). This time, I'm upping the ante.

 

     In looking at where the children were at in their spelling, and in looking at previous words that they needed the most help in, I decided to comprise a list of words with double consonant letters this week.  There are three different levels: AM I, AM II, and PM. 

     As the word list contains challenging vocabulary we launched preparations for dictionary skills which have just begun today. The children started looking at learning how to look at letters alphabetically, which has been brought home for tonight’s homework (AM and PM classes). For the PM class, they have brought home the second part of the exercise -- putting words in alphabetical order, numerically. The PM class will go over that with my substitute, or will have to wait until Thursday. I told the PM class that they don't have to do it for homework, but if they wanted something challenging they can have a head start on it. I won't be surprised if they do: those kids are very competitive with themselves!  For both classes, they are to figure out what letters are "before" or "after" a given letter. They had fun going it over with the entire class today. The rest of the exercise should be done at home.

     If there are any questions, you may hold them off until Thursday, or email me. Thanks!

 

February 24, 2014

 

 

 

 

 

For AM I and PM classes, they have worked on respective levels on capitalization. With the PM class, I'm still seeing errors, though very minor.

Spelling words for this week. Please be wary of the double consonants.
 
AM I:

1.       fatter

2.       ladder

3.       ribbon

4.       accurate

5.       glasses

6.       swelling

7.       canned

8.       bottle

9.       caffeine

10.   magically

11.   assurance

12.   giraffe

13.   passport

14.   illegal

15.   awfully

16.   abbreviate

17.   according

18.   aggression

19.   aggravate

20.   irritate

 

AM II:

1.       parallel

2.       occurrence

3.       recommend

4.       labeled

5.       successful

6.       misspell

7.       embarrass

8.       magically

9.       apparel

10.   mattresses

11.   appointment

12.   missing

13.   critically

14.   guarantee

15.   communication

16.   summary

17.   community

18.   accuracy

19.   balloon

20.   giggle

 

PM I:

1.       beginning

2.       committed

3.       business

4.       broccoli

5.       cellophane

6.       Cincinnati

7.       decaffeinated

8.       dessert

9.       desert

10.   difference

11.   disappear

12.   exaggerate

13.   excelling

14.   misspelled

15.   generally

16.   harassing

17.   ideally

18.   immediately

19.   intelligent

20.   magically

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 20, 2014

The children's journal writings are incredible! They all thought of the prompts themselves -- they were able to understand the lesson on acceptance and respect.

Feb. 20 Agenda

 

 

 

 

 

AM's writing prompts

 

 

AM's writing prompts

 

 



PM's writing prompts



February 19, 2014

I have grouped the children by AM I, AM II, PM I, and PM II. When there are assignments written on the board, the children know what to do. I also do separate lessons for each group.

 

 

At most times, AM II and PM I are learning the same thing and have similar homework. This is today's agenda. The concentration was on Civics due to African-American History Month which ties perfectly with parents who were concerned about inclusion/exclusion. The children will write about today's discussion and lesson in their journals tomorrow. For AM I, I will have them write simple sentences about their new friends; they have the option of going into detail about today's experience. AM II and both PM-groups (I and II) are expected to use correct grammar in their writings.I will be looking for capitalization (e.g. Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., their friends' names, names of special places, etc.), appropriate punctuations (period, question mark, exclamation point, etc. -- not including commas), and spelling. Their journal writings will not be due until Friday. Their journals will have to stay in the classroom.

 



February 18, 2014

Today's agenda. Take note of tonight's homework. The children have written down their assignments.

 

 

 

Adverb list that the entire class came up with (AM I, AM II, PM I, PM II). Amazing kids!!

I apologize for the view on this one. No matter how hard I try, the picture will not rotate for me and I nearly spent an hour on this, so please bear with me. This one was for AM I (my "beginners" group plus a couple more from my AM II). This is proper nouns homework where they need to proofread and make corrections by crossing out the letter and writing the correct letter above. We did a few in-class exercises on this one.

 AM I (my "beginners" kids) spelling list:
1. unhelpful
2. extract
3. extracted
4. remark
5. remarkable
6. clearance
7. clearances
8. delightful
9. delightfully
10. light
11. lighter
12. lightest
13. enjoyable
14. overjoyed
15. enjoyment
16. joyfully
17. displaying
18. replay
19. misplay
20. misplayed




AM II Spelling List


 



PM spelling list. This list applies to ALL PM children.
#20 is an error. It should be "capitalization"

February 13, 2014

Definition of what an adverb is.

Click on the link ------>>> Examples of Adverbs <<<--------Click on the link



Today the children finished their art ("heart") projects. We're ready for Valentine's Day tomorrow. We did mini-lesson on adverbs and a short discussion on President's Day.

February 12, 2014

Today's agenda. The PM class have started writing about their families in their journals. Adjectives were discussed (see below) for both the AM and PM classes. For AM I, if they're able to find 5 sentences in their library books with at least one noun in each of them, they will circle those nouns tomorrow as part of their assignment.

Samples that the entire class provided (they were good ones!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 11, 2014

All students in the AM have briefly learned nouns, pronouns, and adjectives. I was so proud of them: every single one of them understood the lesson and gave examples for each. See below for explanations on what the each part of speech means. They did not practice their spelling words as we didn't have enough time. We ended up working on completing the Great Lakes States and their capitals. We also labeled the 5 Great Lakes (L. Superior, L. Huron, L. Erie, L. Ontario, L. Michigan).

 

 

The PM class did a little pop quiz on the Great Lakes' states and their capitals. They will have to study more -- it was tough! We reviewed nouns, pronouns, and how adjectives are correlated with nouns/pronouns. See explanation below. Adverbs will be introduced tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 10, 2014

PM Spelling

 

AM Spelling

Specialized spelling lists are available in your children's assignment notebooks.

 

 

 

The children continued with their Comprehension workbooks on the next section and I was able to see where they're at and offer help where needed. The majority of them have had new comprehension workbooks in the past couple of weeks and each of them are enjoying every page!

 

We did work on a Valentine art project, so that took some time. I worked with a couple of children who needed help with their penmanship. I do remind everyone to take their time writing and to double check their work for spelling errors (such as copying the words off the white board).

 

Each child received two reading comprehension worksheets. Not everyone have the same thing as many of the children are at different levels in comprehension. With the PM class I had them work on "Reading With Detail" flashcards. The AM class -- most were working on their penmanship.

 

I am looking into introducing adverbs with the PM class and maybe the AM (group II) class. We will continue to review nouns, pronouns, antonyms, and synonyms.

February 6, 2014

 

Homework: Comprehension, next page or section. Study for spelling. Library day and spelling test tomorrow.

 

Thanks for helping your child read up on Harriet Tubman. The children were able to summarize the story about her life. They answered questions about Harriet Tubman; it was a bit tough, so I helped them look for clues when answering multiple choice questions.

 

The PM class worked on replacing words in sentences that are synonymous with each other (e.g. "exit" to "leave"). 

 

The AM worked on answering questions on reading comprehension using complete sentences. They are getting better at remembering to capitalize the letter at the beginning of each sentence when writing multiple sentences.

 

Both classes did continue to work on their journal writing and "cleaned" it up a little.

 

We will be going to the library tomorrow, but if construction or the weather becomes a bit much, we will hold off until the 21st. We will not be having library on the 14th, next week Friday, as we are celebrating Valentine's. Please see the update: http://leilaniverangonlmsmiscellaneous.blogspot.com/2014/02/valentines-day-pajama-day.html See 

 

 Please return any books that are due if we do decide not to go to the library.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

February 5, 2014

 

Feb. 5 Agenda

 

 

Today involved a lot of journal writing. I wanted to see where the children are at regarding grammar, spelling, and printing. While waiting for friends to finish writing in their assignment notebooks, others practiced "tunneling" on cursive.

It seems that most of them have improved in their writing journals, while a few needed a little help. By doing so, I prompted the children with questions that helped them with their writing. By providing visuals and reading material, we started with brainstorming on what is Groundhog Day and what is a groundhog. When they came up with words on their own, the children were able to put words into sentences, thus creating a paragraph (for the AM children) or paragraphs (for the PM children). It was so much fun that the children want to continue their writing project tomorrow. I will heed to their requests, but I do expect them to be done within a few minutes tomorrow as I want to talk about Harriet Tubman (tonight's reading homework). Time permitting, we will do the same thing on what we did with the Groundhog Day journal writing today. I do proofread their work, so if it seems "perfect", it's because I helped them make their sentences sound "better" or helped with their spelling, and most especially, punctuation (there was one child who went comma-crazy!). 



AM Groundhog and Groundhog Brainstorm

PM Groundhog and Groundhog Brainstorm
 









For the newest children, at first they seemed apprehensive, but as soon as I prompted them with simple questions, they came up with answers on their own. I then say, "I like how that sounds. Now how about writing exactly what you told me?" And they do with my help in spelling. In other words, they are dictating their own words and ideas. I do guide them with printing as well. In time, they will do this on their own. In the meantime, I spend a lot of one-one with them.

 

The topic on Harriet Tubman is ELA-Civics combination. If you have read my lesson (blog) on Harriet Tubman http://leilaniverangonlmscivics.blogspot.com/2014/02/february-4-2014-harriet-tubman.html, you will notice that the children took home the top half of the sheet today. I want them to concentrate on who she was rather than answering questions. The questions will be for ELA to check for understanding of the material; the Civics part is to remember who she was and the importance of her work and influence on those successors who idealized equality.

 

Thanks to all who helped the children with their homework last night. I'm so glad that they are on a get-go when it comes to Comprehension work and grammar. 

 

 

 

February 4, 2014

 

AM homework: Comprehension workbook, next page or section. Comprehension worksheet (If your child forgot to put it in their notebook, they can make up for it tomorrow. It's a really easy assignment). Study for spelling.

 

PM homework: Comprehension workbook, next page or section. Noun to pronoun worksheet. Study for spelling.

Even though the children had a few assignments to do today, they were mostly engaged in their journal writing (AM class). Some heavy duty proofreading was necessary to make sure that words are spelled correctly and grammatical structure is correct. They also practiced on pronouns and each child did it at their own level. Their homework is the next level up. Here are a few examples:

Group I:

Read each sentence and choose the best pronoun for the underlined word.

1.     Billy is sitting down.

a.     She

b.     He

c.      They

Group 2:

Write the best pronoun from the list to fill in the blanks. The words may be used more than once.

<he, his, she, her, those, it>

1.     __________  (Claire)is sitting down.

Group 3:

1.       Write 5 sentences using each noun(s).

2.       Re-write each sentence and replace the noun with a pronoun.
Richard, camera, chair, Dad and I, the trains, Brianna



Some are still struggling with pronouns as it does involve listening to the grammatical structure of the sentence. I will ask them by replacing the noun with either pronoun so

they can listen to it. A lot of times, they will hear if it's either correct or not.