SPELLING: List for Week of September 22

The pattern for this week's spelling words is:
Words with ch and words with tch.


Here is our list:

1. catch
2. latch
3. ditch
4. pitched
5. itching
6. reach
7. coach
8. change
9. charming
10. chosen
11. pouches
12. riches
13. searching
14. watchful
15. approach
Watch Out Words
16. this
17. these
18. that
19. those

Field Trip to the Carmel Middle School Garden Center

This morning, we had a blast at the Gardens at Carmel Middle School!

Here are some students trying to identify as many vegetables as they can:

Here are some students getting ready to taste-test fresh picked vegetables:

And here we are learning about how composting works:

Students also had stations about the types of soil and environmentally smart watering practices. Plus, we planted our very own bed of vegetables!

This field trip will serve as a great kick-off to our plant unit that is coming up in a few weeks. We'll be able to make lots of great connections to what we learned on our trip.

SPELLING: List for Week of September 15th

The pattern for this week's spelling words is:
Words with short i sounds and words with short u sounds.


Here is our list:

1. citizen
2. awful
3. decision
4. conduct
5. disagree
6. hectic
7. establish
8. interrupt
9. inquire
10. results
11. opinion
12. success
13. submit
14. witness
15. suggestion
Watch Out Words
16. could have
17. should have
18. would have
19. might have

Dissecting Poems

We've been dissecting poems this week! Before you gag from the smell of formaldehyde, don't worry, no chemicals were used.

Today, we applied our knowledge of certain elements of poetry by "marking-up" two poems by Nikki Grimes. Students identified the stanzas, lines, the rhyming words, and even the rhyming patterns.

You can see in the picture some students finding the words that rhyme and then thinking about the patterns the poet is using to create the poem's form. Like, we noticed that the rhyming words come at the end of every other line.

After our dissections, students paired up and practiced reading the poems, catching on to the rhythm, using the rhyming patterns to help. Here are some pictures of students practicing...

MATH: Using "Plickers" to Help Review

We have our Unit One math test coming up on Friday. In class today, we used a program called "Plickers" to make reviewing a little more fun. Each student gets a card with a code, and they use these cards to answer multiple choice questions I show up on the screen. To answer a question, they hold their card up, turning it to a specific position to match their individual answer.

Then I use the "Plickers" app to scan all the codes, which gives us real-time data on how the class performed on that question. We can show the results up on the screen as a bar graph, and then help explain why the answer was right.

Here's a picture of me using my phone to scan the code cards.

We'll need to fine-tune our "card-holding" skills a little, but overall, it was a great piece of technology to help us out today!

SPELLING: List for Week of September 8th

The pattern for this week's spelling words is:
More words with short a sounds and words with short o sounds.


Here is our list:

1. bothered
2. advice
3. common
4. busybody
5. dollars 
6. conference
7. jobless
8. honest
9. model
10. manage
11. problem
12. onward
13. satisfy
14. promise
15. transform
Watch Out Words!
16. you're (you are)
17. your
18. eye
19. I

A Post for the Students

Only the students will understand why I would post the following picture. Ask them about it, if you dare.

Have a great weekend!