Newsletter and Homework 9/26/11

Parents Plus

There will be a Parents Plus meeting at 4 pm Wednesday, September 21st. Please come join us and suppot this organization. They do so much for our kids!

Newsletter and Homework 9-19-2011

Writing

Hello everyone!  In case you've been wondering, we've been doing a lot of writing in class.  Each student has their own writing notebook.  They write in their journals on a weekly basis.  Sometimes we give them a prompt while other times we just allow them to free write.  

The first full week of school we learned how to brainstorm ideas and make a list.  The second week we worked on making webs.  Our topic or main idea was in the middle and the details about the topic were connected.

Now we're working on taking our graphic organizer or web and turning it into a paragraph.  We tell the kids that a paragraph has a topic sentence and four supporting sentences.  The students are doing a great job of coming up with topics and ideas to write about.

When grading their writing, they are graded on their graphic organizer, capitalization, punctuation, spelling, and writing complete sentences with correct grammar.  The students really seem to enjoy writing.  They are proud of their work and we can't wait to hang some of our beautiful paragraphs in the hallway.

Ideas for Home

1. When telling a story or answering a question, have your child use complete sentences when they're speaking.
2. Allow your child to see adult writing such as letters or even cards you receive in the mail.
3. Provide a comfortable place for your child to write.
4. Provide a notebook or some kind of journal for your child to write in whenever they want to.
5. Provide fun tools such as pens and colored pencils for your child to write with.
6. Encourage your child to write when they are both happy and sad.
7. Whenever your child shows you their writing, be positive.  Tell them what you like about their writing.

These are just a few ideas of how you can help your child become a better writer!

Homework 8-12-2011

Patriot's Day Assembly

Please come join us for our 2011 Patriot's Day Assembly.  It will be held at 2:30 in the Anderson Elementary gymnasium.  Over the week we will be discussing the rights and responsibilities of Americans.  We will also be discussing the events of 9/11 and how it changed our country forever.

Homework and Newsletter 9/5/2011