atkinsonis’s Blog

Students are stretching their brains learning the final spelling concepts of Phonographix. Mrs. Nixon, the district teaching specialist came and taught concept 4, and students are applying them now to words for a better understanding of how words are spelled and how to decode them when reading!! The concepts are #1–Letters are pictures of sounds, which applies to every word #2 Sometimes it takes more than one letter to make a picture of a sound–sh, wr, rr, ir, ea, th, st, etc. This is common in many words
#3 Sometimes there is more than one picture for a sound–r=r, rr, wr, ir, or, er, ur, ure (all make the r sound but are spelled differently) and #4 Sometimes a picture can be used for more than one sound–c in circus both c’s but have different sounds in the word
This week’s list:
furniture, doctor, submerge, yearn, thirsty, luster, grammar, factor, earthquake, collar, circle, burn, martyr, measure, outskirts

We are focusing on visualization in reading this week for our reading strategy. With it we are using the book entitled, The Whingdingdilly, and students will visualize and draw the character with descriptions without actually seeing the picture. Visualizing is getting a mental picture in your head of the characters, setting, and story as you read from the author’s description. Since 5th graders read chapter books, this is a strategy they use regulary to help connect and comprehend their reading. It is actually one adults also use most often!!
Students are enjoying sharing their animal powerpoints they created on the Netbooks last week. It was our first attempt at writing with research, and everyone really enjoyed the assignment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

**We could use some more candy bags for the treat box!!

Thanks and have a great week!!!!

Hope all is well with everyone!! Students are probably enjoying their day off, thank you Martin Luther King!! We did a choral reading Friday for our reading buddies about Martin Luther King, so your child might have some interesting facts to share with you!!

This week we will be publishing a short research report on animals, then students will be doing some descriptive writing next. Descriptive writing goes well with visualization in reading, so that will be our next focus. As always, we continue to practice all reading strategies as good readers do!!
The other topic which we noticed needed a re-visit, will be subjects and predicates in sentences!!
Don’t forget to be encouraging your child to read ANYTHING at home, and reading out loud to you is very beneficial!!!!
Spelling list for the week:
wrist, wrinkle, rhyme, were, rhino, ring, wrap, rap, screech, drastic, dreary, where, scurry, ferry,wring
Please encourage your child to be reviewing his/her words each night. We do something with them everyday, but for many, they still need the extra practice!! Thank you!!!

Have a great week, let me know if you ever have questions or concerns, I am an email or phone call away!!

Good news, my dad is on the road to recovery after a serious scare last week, causing me to miss Thursday and Friday last week. If all goes well in the next couple of days he will be transfered to a care facility for two weeks then home after his 20 day hospital visit.
This week in writing we will begin our first experience with expository, research based, writing. Students will continue reading non-fiction pieces and practice main ideas and details for summary to help them prepare for this type of writing. We will also be working on subjects and predicates.
Spelling list this week will focus on “p”:
pasture, Egyptian, putrid, purify, happiness, pang, impulsive, pictograph, sappy, prism, suppose, perfect, pleasure, petroleum, pyramid
**For students that reached their Book It reading goal in December, the after school pizza party will be Tuesday and Thursday this week. Thursday tutoring will resume next week, meanwhile I will work with my groups during iTime this week on spelling!!
Have a wonderful week!!!

Welcome back!! Luckily we have short week to ease back into our school routine. Hope everyone had a relaxing break with family! Unfortunately I spent the break at Cox South because my dad has been very ill with pneumonia. I did get to see all my siblings that live far away, which is a positive, but dad will be there awhile. School will be a good change of pace from the hospital!!
Third quarter is here, and we will begin doing some expository writing, which is research based and informational. We will also do some how to writing. We are also going to work on paragraph writing. Fifth graders should be constructing 3-4 paragraphs with main ideas and details, so this will be the expectation.
We will also be focusing on summarizing what we read in writing.
*Grade cards go home Thursday, Jan. 5
*Book it reading logs are due Friday, for December—Walking field trips will be next Tuesday and Thursday for students that reach their December reading goal!!
I hope Santa brought school supplies to thise students that were out!!
Have a great short week, and enjoy the sunshine!
No spelling this week, we will resume next week!!!!

On this short week before the break, we will be watching a movie based on the book we have been reading in class, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. With it being the end of second quarter and first semester, Tuesday will be our movie/make up work day for students to catch up on any work they need to finish. Wednesday is our party and half day, students will be released at 12:30 p.m.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas break!!!

This will be the last full week before Christmas break, so the last week of spelling for the year!!!
This week’s words focus on the ‘n’ sound:
funnel, against, knight, gnu, knew, night, until, signal, sign, known, knot, answer, gnat, not, new

The students are working on activities to summarize the ending of War with Grandpa. They chose from three activities: 1) write a letter as a character from the book (either Grandpa Jack or Peter) to the other character about the ending of the story using examples from the book.
2) Create a detailed illustration or comic of the ending of the story, with color and captions explaining what is happening in the picture or comic.
3) Write a song or rap to a familiar tune about the ending of the story.

These creative creations will be shared on Wednesday, as we move on to a short and classic story, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.
Students will also be publishing a narrative about their best Christmas ever or a family tradition at Christmas!!

Tuesday, December 13, will be our walking field trip to Pizza Hut for Atkinson and Earl’s homeroom students that reached the goal!! Pick up at WIS at 4:30p.m.

Next week is only 2 1/2 days, Wednesday will be a 12:30 dismissal!!! That will also be our holiday party day!!

Hope everyone enjoys the warmer weather this week, not sure how long it will stick around in the lovely Ozarks!!!

Winter is here, and Christmas is upon us. The time seems to be flying by so quickly!
With only 12 1/2 days left until the break and end of second quarter, we will be busy in the classroom. This week will wrap up War with Grandpa and write a summary on the story. Students are also working on The Grinch as a reader’s theater to share with our reading buddies Friday.
The spelling sound of the week is ‘m’, using m, mm, and mn. Dont forget you can log into spellingcity.com to view words and students can practice.
Due to me being ill, the Tuesday walking field trip will be Thursday , December 8.
Thanks for donations of pencils and bags of candy!!!
Have a safe and wonderful week!

I hope everyone enjoyed the long break and got to eat plenty of delicious food with friends and family!! It is back to the routine, for just three more weeks, and then Christmas break.
Our next finished piece of writing will be the personal narrative.
We be having a test on War with Grandpa this Thursday. We will continue working on summarizing strategies, as well as the other reading strategies we have covered so far. During iTime students will have an opportunity to brush up on any areas they might need some extra reinforcement. Several students will be signed up with an online reading program called RAZ kids. They will have access to get on this at home as well.
This Wednesday book orders and reading logs are due. Our walking field trip to Pizza Hut will be next week for students that complete their logs for the month. Keep encouraging your child to read at home even if they don’t complete the reading log. Reading aloud is also great practice, especially to increase reading rate and expression!!
Spelling this week focusus on the ‘l’ sound with ll, l, and le.
alligator, tremble, level, element, illustrate, album, lightning, ripple, lounge, dribble, animal, also, always, school, world

Winter is upon us, please make sure your child has proper winter wear for recess!!!
Have a fantastic week!

Students are sharing their Cereal Box Book Reports Monday and Tuesday!! We will also have a test over the first 13 chapters of War with Grandpa.
Spelling will resume next week. Go to spellingcity.com if you want to get a head start on the new words.
Mid-quarter grades go home Monday!! Hard to believe we are halfway through second quarter already.

Remember no school Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday! Happy Turkey Day!!
Book orders and reading logs are due Wednesday, November 30. The walking trip to Pizza Hut will be the following week, December 6 and 8th.

Enjoy the days off!!

This Friday the Cereal Box Book Reports are due!!! We will be in the computer lab Wednesday to create the word searches or crosswords of the vocabulary from the students’ books.
We are searching for similes and metaphors in daily reading, War with Grandpa, and conversations!
There will also be a reading comprehension test Friday on the first half of War with Grandpa. Students will be able to use their books.
This week’s spelling list continues the ‘k’ sound in words: (c, cc, ch)
Christmas, chaos, echo, occupy, occur, account, moccasin, dictate, American, California, ecosystem,