Come to Storybook Night at Abbotts Hill this Tuesday evening!  Which storybook character will be portrayed by Mrs. Dickinson??????

IMPORTANT: If your child will be absent from school on Monday or Tuesday (November 23rd or 24th), please email Mrs. Dickinson!  Unit math and science tests are planned for those days and the Reporter's Notebook book report is due on Monday, 11/23.

Your child will need to complete these assignments by THIS Thursday if they will be absent on 11/23 or 11/24.

We have begun learning PowerPoint, and the students are very excited about their in-school Georgia animal research projects.

Once our PowerPoints are completed, parents will be invited to our PowerPoint presentation extravaganza! Watch for more information in the coming weeks. 

Please explore the valuable hyperlinks at the bottom of this page.  The students learned how to access my webpage and know what is available on  PearsonSuccessNet.com 

 

Class News

The "Reporter's Notebook" book report is due on Monday, November 23rd.  Please review the "Reporter's Notebook!" rubric with your child and make sure that he/she follows it closely when completing the book report. 

 Our new science unit about habitats and characteristics of Georgia's plants and animals has begun!

Our division unit is well underway!  We have been writing division stories, practicing basic division facts, and learning long division. We will soon begin interpreting remainders as well.

The Multiplication Ice Cream Sundae deadline has been extended to Wednesday, November 18th.  Students who pass all 12 multiplication fact family quizzes by November 18th will earn a handmade ice cream sundae...courtesy of Mrs. Dickinson!

 Students need to practice their multiplication facts daily in order to memorize them.

 Please help your child to stay organized.  All homework should be completed and placed in the book bag in the evening to eliminate the chance for materials to be accidentally left at home. All Jaguar folders must be returned to school on Mondays.

Thank you so much for helping me to help your children to be organized and confident!

Weekly Assignments

Reading Response Journal entries are due each Thursday.

Math facts quizzes will occur every Friday.  We will be doing 3 minute, 100 problem subtraction quizzes until further notice.  Every child can do well on these IF they practice their math facts nightly (see Helpful Homework Hints in your child's teal folder for more information).

Vocabulary quizzes on weekly words will occur every Friday.

Reading Response Journal

The weekly Reading Response Journal homework

assignment is designed to foster a love of reading

and to encourage discussion about each story. 

When readers talk about what they have read and

make personal connections to stories, their

comprehension and pleasure from reading increase. 

I sincerely hope you enjoy these special reading

times with your child!

Each student will choose and borrow a picture book from our

class Reading Response Journal box on Mondays. 

The book should be read aloud with a parent, grandparent, or

other adult at home (VERY IMPORTANT). 

The student may read the entire story aloud to their parent, or may

choose to alternate pages with his/her reading partner. 

The entire story can be read in a single sitting, or spread out over

multiple days.

 During and after reading, please take the time to discuss the story. 

Talk about what the characters are feeling, make predictions

about what might happen next, and explore similarities (and

differences) between your lives and the experiences of the

characters. Don’t forget to look at the illustrations carefully

because they are designed to help the reader glean even more

information about the story.   

 Each student will write a weekly entry in his/her Reading

Response Journal (lime green composition notebook) based upon

the book and your discussions. The entry should be at least four sentences, but can be as long as an entire page. 

Please encourage your child to INDEPENDENTLY write about

the story (please don’t correct spelling, grammar, etc. 

I am most interested in each student’s thinking process). 

The entry should never be a summary of the story. Instead, it

should reflect how the story touched the student or made him/her

think.  Here are some ideas for journal entry topics: 

 What was your favorite part of the story and why?  Have you

had experiences similar to the character?  What would you have done

in that situation?  How do you feel about the character(s)? 

Did you learn anything about life from the story?

          Reading Response Journals are due each Thursday (but can

be turned in sooner).  Each entry should be headed with the title

of book, the author, and the date.

Weekly Vocabulary Words

Students were given their word lists on Friday.  Lists (with definitions and matching game/flashcard activity) will not be replaced. Students who lose their lists will need to copy them from a classmate after school hours.  This policy is in place to encourage responsibility on the part of my students. Please remind your child to keep all word lists in their homework folders (even once the week has passed).  We will revisit the words regularly.

This is a review of the past two weeks' words.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS.....

February 15th, 2010 is a school holiday. However, I have scheduled a private class field trip to the Capitol in Atlanta on that date.  I believe that the visit to the Capitol is extremely worthwhile as it is related to MANY of our units of study this year.

We will learn about state government, enter the House and Senate chambers where our General Assembly meets to discuss new laws, and see where the governor works. Additionally, we will visit the Capitol museum which houses exhibits related to rocks and minerals, habitats of Georgia, and animals of Georgia.

We may even be able to meet with representative Mark Burkhalter, Speaker Pro Tempe of the House, for a discussion and personal tour of the chamber!

Parents will need to transport their own children and remain with them throughout the tour.  I will meet everyone in the lobby.  All s must present a picture ID in order to enter the building. There is no charge for this "field trip" and it is certain to become a lasting memory!