In observance of Red Ribbon Week, you may choose to say No to Drugs in the following ways:
Monday: “Sock it to Drugs” wear crazy socks
Tuesday: “Can Drugs” bring a can of food for a local food pantry
Wednesday: “Red Out” wear something red to say No to Drugs
Thursday: “I’m a genius, for I will not do Drugs” wear your blue jeans
Friday: “Team up against Drugs” wear your sports team shirt or a spirit
Shirt

Parent Conferences
School will be dismissed at noon on Thursday and Friday to allow time for teachers to have parent conferences. Thank you to all the parents who have already completed their conferences! I was glad to meet with all of you! Please email me if you have any questions or concerns at any time this year.
Writing Website
http://www.writingfun.com/Ms. Markham found this website about writing.
Book Clubs
Students will be reading their book club books and meeting with their groups. They will discuss the book to increase their comprehension skills.
Writing
We are discussing how setting, characters, and plot are used in our personal narratives. Students will be working to develop the characters in their writing.
Time for Kids
The cover story in Time for Kids this week is "Kids Need More Sleep." Click here to check out the cover story! Click here to read the other articles.

Andrew Clements

Book Clubs

We have started book clubs, and are reading books by Andrew Clements. Each student will independently read the assigned chapters and complete a written assignment that includes identifying the characters, identifying the setting, making a prediction, making a connection, asking a question about the reading, and writing the main idea of each chapter. Students will then meet with their groups to discuss their reading.

Linear Versus Webbed Writing

We are learning the difference between linear writing and webbed writing. In linear writing, all the sentences have to do with the topic, but they don't connect to each other. The writing is more like a list of events that happened. We use a line as a symbol of this type of writing in class.

Linear:
I had a great birthday party. We went swimming, I took my friends bowling. We ate my favorite chocolate cake. I got to open my presents.

While most students' writing is much more detailed than this example, most students are writing linear compositions. We want to move them to webbed writing.


In webbed writing, all the sentences are on topic, but each sentence directly connects to the sentence before it. This type of writing is much more focused and goes deeper into the subject. We use a star as a symbol of this type of writing in class.

Webbed:
I had a great birthday party. We went swimming. I went off the diving board. I did a belly flop. My stomach hurt so badly. Soon I felt much better.