Week of October 26, 2009-Homework

Happy Halloween Week-BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Group 2 had a busy, interesting and fun week.

Historic Figures: Sharon Clark, founder of Clark School, visited Group 2. She enlightened and entertained the students on the founding and history of Clark School. We learned the following interesting facts:

• Sharon has three children (Jeff, our headmaster, is her youngest) and 5 grandchildren. All her children are entrepreneurs!
• Sharon grew up in Washington,D.C. and played in her high school band at the inauguration for President Dwight Eisenhower!
• Sharon has her Master's degree and attended Wheelock College in Boston.
• Ron Clark, her husband, was a minister and started the Clark School with her.
• The Clark School "antique", built in 1665, was home to her family as well as the initial school classrooms. The upstairs administration office was the master bedroom and Jeff's bedroom was the attic! The 1st floor front rooms were classrooms.
• Sharon's educational philosophy was centered on the belief that classrooms of small sizes with mixed grade levels provide more educational opportunities for learners.
• The Clark School barn/garage is ranked as one of the oldest barns in the country.
• Clark School was founded 30 years ago.
• The Clark School antique building played a role in the historic "underground railroad" movement providing a safe house for escaping slaves. There is a "hollow" area between the 2 fireplaces in the Goup 5 rooms where slaves were secretly hidden.
• Sharon is very proud of her children (especially her grandchildren) and everything about Clark School!

Science: Brody, our Cavalier King Charles Spaniel visited to continue our lesson on the life cycle of dogs. Our log books were updated as he was weighed and measured and the students made observations of changes in his appearance and behavior.

Language Arts: Students continued with the reading of Charlotte's Web, wrote book reports, friendly letters, reading response journal entries and poems.

WW: Students did a great job on their Wordly Wise spelling tests.

A.M./Morning Work: A great job in completing these early morning handouts on A-B-C order, dictionary skills, plurals and money$.

Activities: Pumpkin picking was fun and chilly. We will utilize the pumpkins for a math lesson on Monday.

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Please Note: We may not record "reading" in the Assignment Notebook each day, however, reading is expected each night for at least 20 minutes. The more the better! If students are reading other subject material, this may be counted as "reading". Students are always working on different reading activities. Some nights, writing exercises such as book reports or reading responses may be worked on in lieu of reading. Please continue to read to your child as much as possible! This provides great modeling and bonding!

Monday 10/26/09

• Reading: 20 - 30 minutes, reading journal responses, book reports
• WW: Please make flashcards ONLY IF you find they are helpful to learn the spelling and definitions of your WW words. (Some students feel that flashcards are not necessary to aid their learning process.) We will continue to make Dolch Word flashcards and put them on our "rings". Please study all of your words! (AND make a plan to complete the WW List 4 Exercises, pages 15 - 18- due 10/29/09.)
• WW Words: assemble, cloak, entire, even, gay, irrigate, nibble, omit, ram, reduce, ruin, vast.
• Dolch Words: found, gave, goes, green, it's

Tuesday 10/27/09

• Reading: 20 minutes
• SS: complete pages 8 -13 in Workbook

Wednesday 10/28/09

• LIBRARY VISIT: Please bring in library books and reconcile any fees or missing books!
• Reading: 20 minutes
• Reading Comprehension: Read next section and complete questions.

Thursday 10/29/09

• Reading: 20 minutes
• WW: Pre-test
• WW: Complete Wordly Wise List 4 Exercises: pp 15 - 18

Friday 10/30/09

• Halloween Party: If appropriate, students may wear costumes to school or bring the costume and change after lunch. Please leave all weapons home! The party starts at 2:00PM. All are invited!
• WW: Spelling/Defintion test