Our Week In Review

This week, We had our first English test. Mrs. Merten hasn't finished grading them yet, but they will be sent home on Monday.

We built our Puff Mobiles this week, too. Some groups are still working on their vehicles, and other groups are testing their Puff Mobile to see who is a better puffer.

Today we got to shop in our class store. Most of the kids bought Smarties and Twizzlers. Dennis bought a LOT of candy. Thank you to all of the families who made donations to our store!


We also rearranged our desks today. Mrs. Merten likes to move desks around once a month. We aren't sure if we like the new set up yet.

From the Teacher's Desk: Just Right Books

You may have heard the term "Just Right Books" from your child. A just right book is one that your child enjoys, can read with few errors, and has vocabulary that is understandable. It is expected that these books will look a bit easier than you expect.

When choosing a just right book, I've asked the children to follow some steps:
1. "5 Finger Rule": Students should open the book to a page (not the first one) and read it. Each time there is a word that needs to be sounded out, or is hard to read, one finger goes up on your child's hand. If 5 fingers are raised at the end of the page, that book is not "Just Right".

2. "Clunks": Reading the same page, students should keep track of "clunks". A clunk is a word that your child may be able to read, but does not understand. Two clunks on the page is the maximum.

3. Read the back: Students should read the back (or inside jacket) of a book in order to be sure that the book is interesting to them. I've really stressed that the book must interest your child. Please discuss this with your child, and remind him/her that the book needs to interest him/her, not the teacher, friends or family.



I have really been working to stress for the kids that reading is work, but it should be FUN! If it isn't fun for a student, I am working to help them get there.