A Good Reader Does This

SO much has been happening in our class. We have been working on Asking Questions. Good readers Ask and Answer Questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for answers.

What should a good reader do?
* Ask questions before, during and after reading.
Ask questions
* when you are curious about something.
* when you make to make a prediction
* when you want to clarify something
* when you want to think deeper about a topic.

Progress Reports

Good evening!

Progress Reports will be sent home tomorrow! I am also in the process of scheduling parent conferences. I look forward to telling you about the wonderful things your child is doing and to discuss what we can work on to improve any weak areas.

Critical Vocabulary

This week, we have two new words we are focusing on:

Draft and Evaluate.

A draft is a rough copy. It is a term often used in writing.

When we evaluate, we judge or consider something.

Our word for the week at Atwater is curious.

Learning Ally

Good News!
I have signed up my class for Learning Ally! This is a wonderful audio book program. Your child can read books on their grade level using the audio support. I'll be signing up the students tomorrow and training them.

https://www.learningally.org/Login

Hi, Parents! 
It was a pleasure seeing you again at Parent Night. We went over our Class Procedures and Expectations for the school year.

I am in the process of scheduling Parent Conferences for September 22. We will discuss any concerns, your expectations, your child's progress and iReady scores.

Today in class, we spent a lot of time discussing the events of September 11, 2001. Can you believe this Sunday will be 15 years?

We listened as the author read The Little Chapel that Stood. C.B. Artiss wrote this informational text about the event and to show the resilience of Americans. No matter what, we have hope and we will rebuild. 
You can watch the video here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3REzmuzdxE

We also looked at photographs of The Survivor Tree. We discussed how a tree or other plant that survives a tragedy or destructive event can become a symbol of hope to people as it eventually thrives or bloom again.

You can view the photographs here:
https://www.911memorial.org/photo-albums/survivor-tree

Open House

I am so looking forward to seeing you at Open House tomorrow, September 8 from 6-7:30 p.m. You'll get an overview of the class and procedures. You will also be able to sign up for individual parent conferences. See you then!

Stretch A Sentence

We are determined to become better writers. One of our center activities focused on stretching out a sentence.

Here was our starter sentence: The bird flies.

Who? The eagle flies to hunt for fish.

Where? The eagle flies around the jungle to hunt for fish.

Why? The eagle flies around the jungle to hunt for fish  because it was hungry.
The eagle flies around the jungle to hunt for fish because she needs to feed her young.