January 26 - 30

We hope to get a full week of school in this week! Wouldn't that be amazing!?!

Our spelling words this week are homophones, which means there are pairs of words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings. So, students really need to know the meanings of words in addition to being able to spell them because they'll need to rely on context clues in the sentences I give during the test to know which word to use.

Fitness 5 will be on Wednesday. Tomorrow, permission forms will come home. This takes place in our gym and consists of 5 stations for students to check their fitness. There will be lots of movement to have your students wear comfortable clothes and tennis shoes.

Scholastic Book orders are due Wednesday. If your order is at least $10, you earn a FREE BOOK! Let me know which free book (up to a $5 value) you'd like.

Patricia Polacco Author Study

We have been study the fabulously talented Patricia Polacco the past several weeks. We've used several of her books as read alouds to analyze the craft of her writing. We have especially enjoyed the figurative language she uses, how her illustrations capture the mood of the text, and how she is able to bring to life so many personal moments from her life.

As a culminating project, students have access to about 20 different Patricia Polacco books to further examine her author's craft and practice several reading skills:

• compare and contrast
• describing plot
• analyzing characters
• describing mood
• making text connections
• sequencing

Students will complete 3 activities for this project, DUE AT THE END OF CLASS ON FRIDAY. Everyone must do a reading response letter (click HERE see the example below that was crafted in class as an example) and then may choose the other two activities from 4 options. Please see the documents below.

Students have been given copies of the project sheet and checklist for the response letter. In class, the text message has been demonstrated as well as how to craft the reading response letter. We are spending time each day working on these activities, but students may also do them at home. On students' Edmodo account, they have been given the link to this blog post so they can access it at any time.

         Edmodo Login: First name, middle initial, last name   (ex: janeqdoe)
         Password: 10 digit code

MLK Week (Jan. 20-23)

I hope you enjoyed your 3-day weekend! It was nice to get a taste of Spring in the middle of Winter. We are thrilled to be able to finally have outdoor recess this week!!!!!!

Almost the entire class started off this week on the right foot by turning in their Friday Journal and signed Discipline Report. I love seeing this responsibility.

Below are the Faulkner Flash and TEAM homework for this week.

January 12 - 16 Information

Below you will find the Faulkner Flash, spelling words for the week, and TEAM homework. Please remember that spelling contracts and TEAM homework are due on Fridays. Sadly, we didn't have enough TEAM homework stars to even eat lunch in the room last week, but are hopeful that will be different this week.

Last week, students signed up for an Edmodo account. This allows them to contact me, take online quizzes (Snapshots), play games, and even have online class discussions. Students know they are not to use this as a way to chat to each other unless I have assigned them to do so. Also, I am able to monitor all of their activity. I have added some fraction games that students may play to earn stars for TEAM homework this week.

RED List Unit 4, Week 2	BLUE List Unit 4, Week 2	GREEN List Unit 4, Week 2
Name:	Name:	Name:
years foxes lunches flies cities ponies bunches alleys cherries libraries Bonus: preparations exhausted guarantee inference division	princesses monkeys bananas butterflies pumpkins daisies melodies sandboxes supplies eyelashes Bonus: preparations exhausted guarantee inference division	communities vacations families libraries vacancies dictionaries resources sandwiches doorways generations Bonus: preparations exhausted guarantee inference division

Welcome to 2015!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas break! We are back in the groove at school now. MAP testing has wrapped up and now students are working on the diagnostic assessment in iReady to see how they have progressed through the year. This test will determine the level of lessons they have in the future. Once it is complete, students will be able to start working on lessons again and earning more t-shirts!!

FRIDAY
- Progress reports will come home in the binder letting you know how your child is working through different standards in math, reading, and language arts.

- TEAM homework is due (see below).

- Spelling test & spelling contract due (many students have already completed their spelling contract during the classtime that has been provided)

RED List Unit 4, Week 1	BLUE List Unit 4, Week 1	GREEN List Unit 4, Week 1
Name:	Name:	Name:
found town shout owl couch bow scout round plow crowd Bonus: quotient numerator denominator compare contrast	county outside counter hounded downstairs flower ourselves thousand amount doubtful Bonus: quotient numerator denominator compare contrast	allowance accountant surroundings announcement accountable counselor dumbfounded pronounce powerful doubted Bonus: quotient numerator denominator compare contrast

The bonus words this week deal with current math and reading terms.

Christmas is in the Air!

I hope your family had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! It's amazing that we have less than 3 weeks until Christmas break. During these weeks, we have so many fun things to do!!

This week in Reading, we're all studying figurative language, plot, and use of illustrations through the treasured Christmas book, The Polar Express. Next Thursday and Friday, we'll watch the movie to make comparisons with the book and enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate. YUM!!

We have some exciting special events coming up:

Monday, December 10th - Storybook Christmas
This event includes CHS honor students recreated beloved children's books. Live theater (and some candy treats) are so much fun. Admission is a new book (dollar stores are great places for these).

Friday, December 14th - Treats, Treasures, and Traditions program - 1:45
I hope you will be able to join us for an exciting program we are working to present. We are creating a book where each child will have a 2-page spread including Christmas poems they have written, the recipe for their favorite Christmas food, and their family's Christmas traditions. Our program to you will be a presentation of poems, read by the students, and some other special elements. We'd love to be able to sample the recipes included in the book, so if you're able to make yours for use to taste, we'll have a grand tasting party at the end of our presentation.

Tuesday, December 16th - "The Toys Take Over Christmas" Play @ CHS - 8:30
Admission will only be $1 per student as the school will pay the rest of the ticket price!

Thursday, December 18th - CMS band concert @ the Arena - 10:30

Friday, December 19th - Class Christmas Party
We'll do a breakfast party complete with Christmas Minute-To-Win-It games! Let me know if you can help with the games. We'll do the game portion late-morning.

Treats,

Treasures, & Traditions

Send in your traditions and recipes by

FRIDAY!!

MAP Testing is coming up. See the schedule below to know when your child will do reading and math:
3rd - Lay & Lundy
4th - Bramlett & Bruce
11th - Daniels & Harris
12th - Myers & Hart
15th - Tipton & Faulkner

RED List Unit 3, Week 4	BLUE List Unit 3, Week 4	GREEN List Unit 3, Week 4
Name:	Name:	Name:
checkpoint choice coins coy employ foil joyful loyal noisy soil Bonus: biography inventor yearn acquire convenient	deploy poison destroy moisture annoy enjoyable appointed loyalty noisy viewpoint Bonus: biography inventor yearn acquire convenient	employment moisturizer enjoyment poisonous trapezoid disappointed oyster poisoned annoying rejoicing Bonus: biography inventor yearn acquire convenient

November 17 - 21

Oh my! We are so close to Thanksgiving I can almost smell the turkey!!!

A few important tidbits that were not included on the Faulkner Flash:

• Thursday is CLASS PICTURE DAY! We want everyone to be here so we can remember each special person in our class. If you plan on buying the picture, you need to pay on Thursday (pictures cannot be purchased later). Fliers are coming home today (Monday).
• Midterm reports are coming home Friday in the Data Notebooks. This will let you know how your child is doing in reading and math so far in this grading period. 
• Please send in your recipes and Christmas traditions (email would be the best way) - see letter below the Faulkner Flash.

Dear parents,

We will soon be working on a special Christmas project in class. We will be studying Christmas traditions in different parts of the world. I would like this project to include traditions that we have here. So, if you could please send the following (email, handwritten, or typed) by FRIDAY, December 5^th, it would be much appreciated:

* A recipe for your child’s favorite Christmas treat

* One or two paragraphs explaining special Christmas  traditions that your family shares

Thank you for your help on this part of the project! This will be compiled in a book that will also include poetry that we are writing in class. Each child will have a 2-page spread including the recipe for their favorite Christmas treat, a write-up of their special Christmas traditions, and one or two poetry pieces. Each child will receive their own copy of the book.

In December, we will host a poetry reading for where the kids will read the poems that they have selected for the book. It will be a great experience for them to share their poetic voice in front of an audience, and what better audience than family!! If possible, I would like everyone to be able to sample some of the recipes from the book. I will give you more details when a date and location has been set.

Thanks again for your help. Please feel free to send in your recipe and traditions early (that would be of great help to me!). We look forward to sharing the finished result with you!!

Thanks,

Mrs. Faulkner

RED List Unit 3, Week 3	BLUE List Unit 3, Week 3	GREEN List Unit 3, Week 3
Name:	Name:	Name:
unfair retold misfile precut unwanted recall misnumber preplan unhappy undone Bonus: Thanksgiving grateful appreciative gratitude	unwilling revisit dislike reunite misfire uneven reworded unsafe preheat misread Bonus: Thanksgiving grateful appreciative gratitude	unselfish unmistaken restrain disrespect reawaken mismatched revisited misleading uncovered premeasure Bonus: Thanksgiving grateful appreciative gratitude