In reading this year, we will be focusing on a variety of strategies that good readers use. We will begin the year by focusing on the strategy of prediction: using what we know to guess what the story will be about or what will happen next. Encourage your children to continue this practice at home by asking what they think will happen next in the book they are reading. We will also take time during reading to focus on elements of plot such as character, setting, problem and solution. When summarizing any fictional story, students should include information about these four elements.
Our writing program centers around the 6+1 traits. These traits include ideas, organization, voice, sentence fluency, word choice, conventions and presentation. An excellent piece of writing will excel in all these traits. Note: Not every piece of writing will be graded for all 7 traits. Sometimes a piece of writing will only be graded on one trait. If this trait isn't conventions, a paper with a good score may have several errors in spelling and punctuation. Large writing pieces, however, will always incorporate a grade for conventions along with other traits.
In spelling, we will look at common spelling patterns that students can apply to hundreds of words. For this week's spelling pattern and study list, see the spelling list portion of the web page.