Hello, Parents. Students were excited to receive their Spalding notebooks this past week, and continue to be enthusiastic about learning spelling rules. This Wednesday, September 21st, Mr. and Mrs. Arbogast will be leading the Parent Spalding Clinic from 6-7PM at our school campus. If your student is new to Spalding, or if you would like to learn how to better support your child at home in Spalding, please attend. The Arbogasts' passion will inspire you to want to learn the patterns and rules of the English language for yourself along with your scholar. In class on Wednesday we will have a written phonogram test over the first 70 phonograms, as students should aim for quick mastery of these as we will soon begin weekly spelling tests; students will also be tested orally over the first 70 phonograms before the end of the quarter. Students should continue to practice neat cursive strokes on all assignments. Before we began Where the Red Fern Grows on Friday, we first discussed the life of the author, Wilson Rawls. Although the book itself is inspiring and impactful, Rawls' life story is worthy of sharing. Having not received a formal education, he viewed his writing as "pure trash," in regards to vocabulary, spelling, grammar and punctuation. He burned manuscripts of 5 novels, but later rewrote Where the Red Fern Grows with encouragement from his wife, who helped edit his work. The students gasped at the thought of Rawls destroying his work, and wholeheartedly agreed that persevering in matters of Language Arts is a worthy goal. We will continue to have comprehension questions that check for understanding and discussion questions that allow students to think more deeply about this classic and practice expression of ideas in class. In Writing and Grammar, we will be reviewing concepts taught up to this point. We will edit and rewrite summaries and practice more outlining in class, along with focus on how to use commas properly and skillfully in written work. On Friday we will have a grammar test over the definitions of the parts of speech, helping verbs and personal pronouns. A study guide will be provided and should remain in the Grammar section of students' binders. Students will also begin memorization of a new poem, "Jabberwocky," by Lewis Carroll. This will be a challenge, but one that I trust students will rise to. I suggest students listen to audio version of poem being read to familiarize selves with language. I will post links of where to find audio versions on the "Links" tab above. We will begin recitations for this poem the week before fall break, or earlier for those who master it quickly. Although nonsense words, in class we will apply our grammar knowledge to determine adjectives, nouns and verbs from the sentence structure in the poem. Looking forward to another great week, Mrs. Baird Important Dates: 9/21 - Parent Spalding Clinic from 6-7PM 9/23 - Spirit Day, Wear ATE spirit shirts with uniform bottoms 9/30 - Half Day, Noon Release due to Teacher In-Service
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Mrs. Baird Archives
February 2017
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