Weekly Newsletter #5

Friday, March 30th, 2007

Dear Parents,

This has been a very busy week. On Tuesday we had our Megaflash test, on Thursday we had our field-trip, and on Friday we had our Birthday Party Day. Please take a look at the website to see pictures. Next week will also be very busy, and there will be some changes to our curriculum.

Due to varying levels English ability in both grade three classes, the school has decided it is best to mix the grade three classes for one period a day for the Writing/Grammar class. Some students need to focus on basic phonics and spelling, and will therefore be studying with Miss Onarecker from class 3-2. The other students who have been studying English longer will study with me. This will help our IED program improve.

I am very happy with class 3-1, and have definitely seen their English improve since the year began. However, I have also noticed that discipline and respect among students has, at times, been lacking. Class 3-1 has a reputation in this school as being very clever and energetic. However, I have also heard other teachers, both Korean and Chinese, say that the students are too noisy, pushy, and competitive. I often have problems taking students to snack-time and the cafeteria. The boys, especially, are pushing and shoving and sometimes hitting other students. Together with Mrs. Choi, I hope to fix these problems and introduce consequences for rude behavior, not listening in class, and being slow to open books. Please help by encouraging good behavior.

Now I will review what we did this week, and what we hope to do next week:

Reading/Comprehension

We read the stories “Days With Frog and Toad” and the poem “Sometimes” in the Harcourt reading book. The students should have completed up to page 10 in the workbook. Students are no longer sharing the reading book, as the late order has come in and every third grade student now has their own book. That said, students are not allowed to write in the reading books but are allowed to take them home.

Oral/Vocabulary

We continue to work with the vocabulary I introduced through studying computer related entertainment such as video games. While this vocabulary is not easy, the students know how it is used and it has taught them how to study vocabulary. The students really seem to enjoy the pop song activity, and this week we learned to sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens. The videos and lyrics for these songs are on the website.

Writing/Grammar

I would like to see more students correcting the mistakes they made in previous English journal pages. If they don’t rewrite, they won’t learn to stop making the same errors. These errors are usually with verb tense. I am also considering making the English journal mandatory, as some students are not handing it in consistently.

We had the Megaflash 3 Test on Tuesday and every student did well. We are midway through unit two, and students are learning to write numbers and contractions.

Science

The school is having a Science Day next Friday, and we will conduct an in-class experiment. I am not sure what this will be yet, but, in each class, one student will be awarded as the best participant based on how well they listened and learned.

Spelling List

Here is next week’s Spelling List. These words are taken from the pop song, the science book, Harcourt’s workbook, Megaflash etc. I postponed last week’s test until Monday because this week was very busy.

1. sometimes

2. amazing

3. clustered

4. gathered

5. wandered

6. fiction

7. roared

8. oxygen

9. minerals

10. one million, eight hundred and eighty

-eight thousand, four hundred and seventy-three

11. photography

12. village

13. jungle

14. controller

15. field-trip

16. experiment

17. organized

18. peaceful

19. reptiles

20. strategy

Daily English

Here is this week’s Daily English. Some are from our weekly pop song, and others are from science. 9,10 are “free response.” Please help students think about what they want to say.

1. Near the village, the peaceful village, the lion sleeps tonight.

2. When the turtle dried out, it shrank back to its original size.

3. A plant’s life-cycle starts with a seed, and it becomes an adult when it makes its own seeds.

4. Animals and insects help plants grow by spreading seeds and pollen.

5. Sometimes I like to be alone – just me, myself, and I!

6. I promise to be kind to my classmates, and to walk quietly and slowly to snack-time and the cafeteria.

7. I promise to stop talking when my teacher says to pay attention in class.

8. A friend is a gift you give yourself.

9. Yesterday, I felt ___________ when ________________________.

10. If I had one wish, I would wish for ______________, because _________________.