March Comes in like a LION!!!

  Can you believe it?  There is snow in the forecast!!!  This winter reminds me years gone by.  I bet I'm one of the few that truly loves the snow.  Our world has changed from winter gray many times this year to a snowy-white winter wonderland.


  Our classroom has been all heated up despite the cold temperatures outdoors.  We have been reading adventure stories with the tall tale "John Henry" and this week's "Marvin of the Great Woods".  In addition to our reading we have been discussing our recent Winter Olympics.  The boys have been working on a bulletin board that sums up this year's event.  We're making newspaper front pages packed full of Olympic information.  In addition we have read about the history of the Olympics, Olympic symbols, our USA athletes, and even the mascots.  Our athletes certainly did a fine job in Sochi.  The class favorites are snowboarding, luge, skeleton, and bobsledding.  Shaun White is still their favorite athlete, even though he did not come home with a medal this year.


  Our grammar class has been busy working on plural and possessive nouns.  Next week we will be on to verbs!


  Spelling Words for the week of March 3rd include:  there, said, about, would, little, through, don't important, picture, since, across, however, knew, young sun, thing, whole, hear, happened, opened, stopped, slipping, brand, bridles, calves, corral, herd, initials, manes, and reins


This week's list includes fourteen new words and the rest we have covered many times.


Have a great week!  Remember this week is also OPTIMISM week!  Remember to say to yourself when things get challenging "I can do it!"

The Snow Continues....... Go Team USA

This week brings more cold weather and more snow!  Winter has certainly made its presence known this year!  Our class keeps warm with a flurry of reading and writing.  We have lots to learn and lots to do!


This week's spelling words include: 
what, were, your, their, through, think, because, place, something, don't, until, without, paper, hard, near, sentence, better, cells, contorted, digest, immigrants. 
The boys all did very well with these words during Monday's "Spelling Preview". 


We are reading the selection "John Henry" from our Scott Foresman anthology.  The class is enjoying the exaggerations the author uses to illustrate his point.  It is important to go past the literal meaning of individual words to infer the message the author works to get across.


Vocabulary words with this selection include:  boulder, hollered, shivered, horizon, glimpse, tunnel, and rhythm.


We have been working hard on our language skills using "Study Island".  Students may log on to this program from home and continue working to obtain those blue ribbons.  Every blue ribbon they earn with having completed a minimum of 20-30 questions translates to one of our orange reward tickets.  The amount you earn is up to you:)  As the snow days keep coming, remember you can always continue working on Study Island from home.  Its a great way to spend some time at home keeping your skills fresh and ready!


Our class will begin their research reports on the Olympics next week.  We will work on these both in school and at home.  Students will choose from a list of topics to include in this project.  All will write on the history of the Olympics, and then choose from additional topics adding creativity to what they research and write.  More information to follow.


January's book project was an extra credit project.  The February/March project will be due March 28th.  The book must be a biography.  There are many interesting people we can read about during this our "Presidents' Month".


Stay Warm!  Happy Valentine's Day!!!