For the Week of February 11-15, 2013

Thursday: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Friday: Winter Break

Spelling/Grammar/Literature: In spelling, we will be focusing on instant letter recognition, unblending sounds in words, and changing sounds to make new words. We will be reviewing the phonograms and spelling patterns we have learned. As we review the spelling of our words for the week, we will also be discussing and learning proper handwriting. We will continue to discuss “closed syllables,” a syllable that ends in at least one consonant. The vowel in a closed syllable is short. We will also be working on alphabetizing words by the first letter.

This week we will be introducing the first three mental actions: checking for understanding, making connections, and predicting. Good listeners and readers check for understanding of words, phrases, and sentences; make connections between their prior knowledge and what is stated in the book; and predict type of writing. We will also be reading in unison and individually.

Due to the short school week, we will not be sending readers home on Monday.

Unit Study: This week we will be moving from Italy to the country of Russia. We will discuss that part of Russia is on the continent of Europe and part is on the continent of Asia. The capital of Russia is Moscow. Our landmark for this unit is St. Basil’s Cathedral. We will look at pictures of St. Basil’s Cathedral and learn about the top sections, which are called onion domes. The cathedral was built on the edge of Red Square between 1555-1561, and was commissioned by Ivan the Terrible.

Math: In math, we will complete Chapter 13: Patterns. We will create and extend patterns of shapes. Our vocabulary for this chapter includes repeating pattern (a design that recurs uniformly) and pattern unit (the root unit of a repeating pattern). In Chapter 13, the children will learn to recognize, extend and create a repeating pattern, to identify a missing portion of a repeating pattern, and to create ABAB, AABAAB, ABBABB, and ABCABC repeating patterns.

Nature Study: This week, we will be reviewing the all of the animal class characteristics we have learned this year. We will match animals with characteristic cards to correctly identify which class the animal belongs in.

Bible: This week, we will be reading the stories “Samuel is Called to Serve God” and “The Ark is Captured.” Please feel free to read and discuss these stories with your child.

Show and Tell: This week we will not have Show and Tell, due to Winter Break on Friday, February 15th.