Parents, this is a very exciting time
of year, and as STAAR approaches, we are going to be working extremely hard to
prepare ourselves for that test. With that in mind, I definitely do not want to
press the test as much as I press the skills necessary. Talking too much about
STAAR can give students unneeded stress and test anxiety. I’ve seen it first-hand.
Reading
This week, we will work on the
following reading strategies: point of view, sequencing, and making inferences.
Point of view (or first vs. third person) is a skill that most students are
very strong at, so it will be mostly reviewed this week. Sequences (order of
events) is a skill most students grasp fairly easily, so this week will be
mostly review. Point of View and Sequencing is a skill students
can be doing on their own as they read books outside of school. Making
inferences (using clues and what we already know to make an educated guess) is
a big, very important skill and we’ll be working on it throughout the week.
Writing
This week, students will finish their
Expository paper over what their favorite dessert is. When we’ve completed the
paper, we will spend the rest of the week talking about topic sentences,
supporting detail, and combining sentences as a skill tested on the Writing STAAR.
Parents, please have students staple
the sight word homework together. Also, this first week back was to test the
water with essay homework. This week it will be taken for a grade. Please see
the blog: goingplaceslife-school.blogspot.com if you need to see more detail on
how that can be done. And please remember, if students do the sight word
homework, they are likely to score a 100% on the quiz each Friday, which significantly
boosts their overall class grade.
Field Trip Fundraiser
Parents, I am very excited to announce
that this week marks the launch of our fundraiser to raise enough money to take
students on a college visit. More information about this trip will come in the
near future, but the trip will not take place until May, so our main goal right
now is to be raising money. I have started a PledgeCents donor’s page where any
person can help donate to the cause. If you have any questions, please feel
free to contact me via text, call or email. I will be selling chips in class if
the students would like to buy them. $1 per bag. I will also be doing some
heavy footwork with my University because I’m betting once they hear about the
trip they will be more than willing to fund it. The trip will be completely
optional, but I’m hoping parents are supportive of the trip.
Parent Night This THURSDAY!
This Thursday, Life School Oak Cliff
Elementary will host a health fair/open house for parent conferences. I believe
it begins at 6:00pm, but I will send out more information soon, so stay posted.
This week, next week, and the rest of
the year, we will be talking about how to transition between ideas in a paper.
With that being said, it is very important for students to be able to identify,
recognize, understand, and use transitional words and phrases in their own
writing.
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In addition,
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Furthermore,
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Also,
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Besides,
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By the way,
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Similarly,
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For example,
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In fact,
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In conclusion,
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As a result,
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Like I said before,
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Therefore,
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Like always,
if you have any questions, please feel free to call, text or email. Be sure to
follow what’s happening in the classroom at goingplaceslife-school.blogspot.com.
Follow on Twitter @goingplaces303.
Mr. Miller
214-517-3793
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