1. Ms. Deming’s Weekly Newsletter Last Week’s Happenings…
November 22, 2015
Last Week’s Happenings…
I used OREOS to introduce the strategy. First students were given an Oreo and had to eat it quickly. They then had to describe the Oreo. It wasn’t very detailed. They then received a second Oreo. They had to take it apart and use their 5 senses to observe it. They then described the Oreo again in writing and they were much more detailed.
Close Reading
Students were introduced to close reading last week. It is a reading comprehension strategy that allows the students to dig deeper into the text and get a deeper understanding of the text.
1st Quarter Writer’s Celebration
Students participated in their first writer’s celebration. They shared a personal narrative that they have been working on. They all did a fantastic job

2. Happening This Week… Grammar
Math
Students will continue working on our multiplication unit. Students will learn how to use pictures, skip counting, repeated addition, and arrays to identify multiplication, finding rules and patterns in multiplication, multiplication properties, multiplying a one digit number by a multiple of ten, figuring out unknown multiplication equations, and one and two step multiplication problems. I have also extended the due date for the million dollar project PBL to the Monday after Thanksgiving break. If students master all multiplication standards they will also be given a PBL.
Reading
This week we will continue with our nonfiction reading unit. Students will learn how to find the main idea of a paragraph. Students should continue to read and do Compass Learning at home. Compass Learning is based on the students’ MAP scores and helps them focus on skills they need to grow. The week after Thanksgiving break students will identify the main idea of an entire text. They will then take an assessment on main idea. We will continue this unit for the next few weeks and then move onto a different reading unit.
Writing
We will continue with our Upping the Quality of Our Narrative unit. This week students will learn how to write a good story ending and how to create an interesting title that is creative and does not give away their entire story.
Grammar
This week the students will learn about run-on sentences. They will learn what a run-on sentence looks like. They will need to break run-on sentences into two separate sentences or add a word to join them together.
Science- This week we will continue with our force and motion unit. Students will be doing an experiment that explores force and motion using a ramp and car.
Social Studies- We will continue with our unit on citizenship. This week the students will learn about the three branches of government.
Important Dates to know…
-11/24 Irwin’s Annual Turkey Trot
-11/25-11/27 No School Thanksgiving Break
-12/9-12/10 Third Grade Field Trip to Rosedale
-12/11 Last day of fall clusters
-12/14 – 12/18 Scholastic Book Fair in media center
-12/18 Cluster Expo
-12/21 – 1/3 No School Winter Break
Vocabulary Dates:
-List 4 words introduced 11/9 – 11/10
-Test on list 4 Friday 11/20
-List 5 words introduced 12/7 and test 12/18
Spelling Dates:
Group 1: New words introduced 12/2 and test 12/9
Group 2: New words introduced 12/3 and test 12/10
Group 3: New words introduced 12/4 and test 12/11
Assignment Due Dates this week:
Million Dollar Project PBL due date extended. Now due Monday after Thanksgiving break (only to students who are doing it)
Monday 11/23/15 Science and Social Studies interactive notebooks collected for a grade
Test & Quiz Dates this week:
None! 
Notes from Ms. Deming 
-The district has been having some issues with Power School. There was a connect Ed that went home about it on Friday. If you did not receive it, it just notified parents of the issue and let you know that the district is trying to get it resolved as soon as possible. This has impacted me being able to input grades. I am hoping that I will be able to input grades this week without having any issues. I will be trying Monday after school to input the grades that I have. Please check Power School Monday night or Tuesday and as long as I am able you should see updated grades.
- This is just a reminder that we only have a two day week this week. There is no school Wednesday through Friday due to Thanksgiving break. I hope everyone is able to spend time with family and that you have a relaxing and enjoyable break spending time with the people who mean the most to you!  My parents will be coming down from New York, so I will be enjoying my holiday break here in Charlotte!
Important Information and Reminders
To efficiently manage classroom items on the wish list, a sign up genius was created. The link is:
Please check it weekly!