Spelling Words for the Week of February 28

This week's words are like door and more. The story words are from Postcards From Pluto: A Tour of the Solar System by Loreen Leedy. The test on all 14 words will be on Friday, March 4, 2005.

1. storm
2. door
3. corn
4. born
5. floor
6. more
7. short
8. sort
9. horse
10. shore

Story Words:

11. forget
12. form
13. orbit

Bonus Word: solar system

Let me tell you how Abraham Lincoln and George Washington were different. First of all, George lost all of his teeth, so he had false teeth. Abe like to read a lot of books. Abe was a lawyer. Washington was in the army. George was the 1st President. Abe was the 16th president. That is what I would like to tell you about the presidents.

--Anna

Let me tell you how Lincoln and Washington are alike. They both were presidents. They are famous. They have February birthdays. They have pictures on money. They both worked for freedom. That is what I learned.

--Kristin

Spelling Words for the Week of February 21

This week's words have the suffixes -ed and -ing. The story words come from a non-fiction selection entitled Shooting Stars. The author is Franklyn A. Branley.

1. doing
2. called
3. looked
4. wanted
5. going
6. being
7. started
8. trying
9. waited
10. looking

Story Words:

11. floating

12. shooting

13. traveling

Bonus Word:

14. George Washington

Writing to Compare/Contrast

This week we've been learning about Washington and Lincoln. We used graphic organizers as pre-writing tools.

Let me tell you about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. George had false teeth. George was an army general. Abraham lived in the 1800's. Abraham was the 16th president. Abraham was born in a log cabin. George lived in the 1700's. Abraham loved books. George's father died when he was a boy. George was the first president. George had a brother.

--Matthew

Let me tell you about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. First, they were both presidents. They are on money and have birthdays in February. They both worked for freedom and their parents died when they were children. That's what I learned about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.

--Mireilla

Let me tell you about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. They are both on money. George lived in the 1700's and Abe lived in the 1800's. They both have their birthdays in February. George had a brother and Abe had a sister. They both worked for freedom.

--Jonah

Let me tell you about how they are alike. They are presidents. Their mom and dad died. They are on money. They work for freedom.

--Nancy

Let me tell you about Abraham Lincoln. First, Abe was tall. Next, he was our 16th president. Then, Abe was born in Kentucky. He treated other people how he wanted to be treated.

--Patrick

Let me tell you about how George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are alike. They are both on money. They both had a parent die. Both of them wore a hat. As you know, they were both presidents. They are very famous. That is what I know about how they are alike.

Zachary

Let me tell you how Abraham Lincoln and George Washington are different. George liked horses. Abraham was born in February 12th, 1809. George was the 1st president. George was an army general. Abe was taller than George. George had false teeth made of hippo tusk. Abe wore a stovepipe hat. That's how Abraham and George are different.

--Luis

Let me tell you about how Abe Lincoln and George Washington are different. George had a brother and Abe had a sister. George was short and Abe was tall. George lived in the 1700's and Abe lived in the 1800's. George lived (at) Mount Vernon and Abe lived in Kentucky. George's father died and Abe's mother died. George wore a three-cornered hat and Abe wore a stovepipe hat. That's what I learned about George Washington and Abe Lincoln.

--Hailey

Let me tell you about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and how they are alike. They have February birthdays. They were both president. A parent died when they were children. They are very famous. That's what I learned.

--Liana

Let me tell you about how Lincoln and Washington were alike. They were both president and they were very famous and their pictures are on money. They both have February birthdays. They both lost parents when they were children. They both worked for freedom. That's what I know about Lincoln and Washington.

--Kenedy

Abe Lincoln and George Washington were both president. They are both famous. Abe was taller. George's mom died and Abe's dad died.

--Isaiah

Let me tell you about Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Abe was taller. Abe was the 16th president. George had false teeth. Abe had a sister. Abe is on a penney and a 5 dollar bill. George is on the one dollar and quarter. That's what I learned.

--Maria

Did you know Abe and George were different? This is how. George loved to ride horses and Abe loved to read. George's dad and Abe's Mom died. That's what I know.

--Dorian

Did you know that George Washington had teeth made of hippo tusks? Abe was taller than George. George was the 1st president. Abe was the 16th president. Abe loved to read. George is on the one dollar bill. Abe is on the five dollar bill.

--Keianna

Let me tell you about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln about how they are different. George Washington was the 1st president. George had false teeth. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president. Abe loved to read. Abe was born in a cabin. George had a brother. George (wore) a three-cornered hat. Abe lived in the 1800's. Abe (was) taller than George. George's father died. George lived in the 1700's. Abe had a sister. Abe's mother died. George was (an) army general. Abe had a stovepipe hat. That's what I wanted to tell you about Abe and George.

--Kya

Spelling Words for the Week of February 14

The words for this week have long /i/ spelled with igh and y. The story words come from The Night of the Stars by Douglas Gutierrez. The test will be Friday, 2/18/05.

1. high
2. my
3. night
4. right
5. sky
6. cry
7. light
8. might
9. bright
10. fight

Story Words:

11. delighted

12. replied

Bonus Word:

13. president

This is an example of a "100th Day of School" poster.

Important note about the 100th Day of School poster assignment...

Dear Parents,

Due to circumstances beyond my control, the tagboard (or posterboard) was not sent home with any of the students today. (No, your child was not the only one who did not receive a piece of tagboard!) It will be sent home tomorrow! (The assignment isn't due until Friday, 2-11-05.)

Also, I feel I need to make some clarifications regarding the poster: It can show an array of ten rows or columns of ten, or any other grouping of "10 tens". (See example above.) Your child is free to choose whatever items s/he would like to glue or draw on the poster. It need not be elaborate...the objective is to show 100 of something!

I apologize for any confusion regarding this matter!

Yours truly,
Ms. Prine

Let me tell you about what is in a groundhog's burrow. Their burrows have secret exits. They use sticks, leaves, and soil for their burrows. They chew on the sticks. That's what I learned about groundhogs.

--Matthew

Do you know that groundhogs hibernate? They sleep on leaves. They eat hay, alfalfa, and clover. They lose weight while they're sleeping. That's what I learned about groundhogs.

--Keianna

Let me tell you about where groundhogs live. Groundhogs make their beds out of leaves and hay. They live in burrows. Their burrows have secret exits. That is what I have learned about groundhogs.

--Jonah

Let me tell you what I know about groundhogs' burrows:

1. They use sticks, leaves, and soil for their burrows.
2. Their burrows have secret exits.
3. They hide their dens from enemies, such as foxes.

That's what I wanted to tell you I learned about groundhogs.

--Gabby

Let me tell you how groundhogs make their beds. First, they find sticks. Then, they chew on them. Last, they make the bed and go to sleep. And when they're sleeping they are losing weight. When they wake up they check to see if it's spring. That's what I wanted to tell you about how groundhogs make their beds.

--Kya

Let me tell you how groundhogs hibernate. They eat in the summer and fall. If he sees his shadow we have six more weeks of winter. Groundhogs have secret exits in their burrows. That is what I would like to tell you about groundhogs.

--Anna

Spelling Words for the Week of February 7

The words this week have /ar/, spelled with ar or ear. The story words are from The Great Ball Game, retold by Joseph Bruchac. The test on all 14 words will be Friday, 2-11-05

1. are
2. far
3. hard
4. dark
5. arm
6. heart
7. farm
8. park
9. start
10. part

Story Words:

11. argued

12. darted

13. argument

Bonus Word:

14. Abraham Lincoln

.

Hundred's Day

Friday, February 11, is the 100th day of school! We will be doing a variety of math-related activities to explore the many ways we can make one hundred. As part of our celebration, each student needs to create and bring to school a poster of 100 items. Tagboard will be sent home for this assignment on Monday, 2-7.

Some suggested items for the poster:

• stickers
• pasta shapes
• cereal
• buttons
• M & M's
• beads

Be creative! The poster is due on Friday, 2-11-05 (no other homework will be assigned on Thursday, 2-10-05).

Thank you.

Ms. Prine

.

Valentine's Day

We will be celebrating Valentine's Day on Monday, February 14. We will have ice cream sundaes, courtesy of the Betsy Ross PTO.

Also, the boys and girls are invited to bring Valentine cards and/or candy treats to share with the class. If you would like your child to participate in the card exchange we ask that you do the following:

Please send a card for each student (19 cards--we have a total of 20 children in the class).

Only sign on the inside of the card; please do not write individual names of students on the envelopes!

Also, the children will make/decorate individual "mailboxes"; each student will need a shoe box for this purpose. Please send the shoe box to school (with lid) by Thursday, February 10.

Spelling Words for the Week of January 31, 2005

Words with -es that end with s, sh, or x. The test on words 1-11 will be on Friday, 2/4/05.

1. boys
2. wishes
3. boxes
4. kisses
5. toys
6. days
7. dresses
8. glasses
9. foxes
10. ashes

Bonus Word:

11. February