Happy New Year!

Dear Parents,

It’s the 18th week of class. Today is the last day of 2009 and we are ready for a new year. Hope everyone has thought about what their New Year resolutions are. Happy 2010!!!


This week we completed:

Reading: We read A Cool Place to Visit. It is a short article about a hotel in Sweden called Ice Hotel. All the furniture inside and the building are made of ice and snow. A reindeer greets visitors as they arrive at the hotel.

Science: This week, we finished the Chapter 5 science test.


Individual Student Comments:

Arvin is doing well in class but needs to review verb tenses.

Chanel is doing well in class.

Chloe is doing well in class.

Lily is doing well in class.

Roy is doing well in class.

Sam is doing well in class but needs to review verb tenses.

Timmy is doing well in class but needs to remember to not talk so much in class.

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Allen needs to try harder to remember stuff he learns.

Edwin is doing well in class.

Gene is doing well in class.

Joshua needs to study harder for quizzes and tests.

Samson is doing well in class.


Homework:

Student Journal – Summary (at least 8 sentences)
Copy week 19 vocabulary


Have a great weekend!

Teacher Alice

Merry Christmas!!!

Dear Parents,

It’s the 17^th week of class. Tree House has been very hectic lately as we are going under renovations. Thanks to all the students and parents for their patience as we are moving around to different classrooms. All these efforts are for a better and bigger school! This week is Christmas so I want to say Merry Christmas to everyone!

This week we completed:

Reading: We read Pecos Bill: A Tall Tale Play. It is a story about a boy named Pecos Bill who fell out of a wagon 17 years before he was found by his brother Carl the Cowboy. While he was young, he lived with coyotes and learned to be just like them. After meeting Carl, he learned how to be a real cowboy.

Science: This week, we learned about saving and conserving the resources on earth: water, fuel, plants, and animals. We should also reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Individual Student Comments:

Arvin is doing very well this week and has been finishing his work quickly.

Chanel is still a little lost sometimes during class but I hope she can study more on her own.

Chloe is doing well in class.

Lily is doing well in class.

Roy is doing well in class.

Sam is doing well but still needs to copy vocabulary correctly.

Timmy is doing well but needs to remember to write more neatly.

Allen should work on thinking more before answering questions.

Edwin is doing well in class but should always turn in homework on time.

Gene is doing well in class.

Joshua should work on thinking more before answering questions.

Samson is doing well in class.

Homework:

Student Journal – Summary (at least 8 sentences)

Copy week 18 vocabulary

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Alice

Week 16

Dear Parents,

It’s the 16^th week of class. This week was a little crazy at Tree House because of the Christmas Show. All the kids have been busy practicing for a great show.

This week we completed:

Reading: We did not read a story this week.

Science: This week, we learned about water in the sea, land, and sky. We learned about the water cycle and how water evaporates and condenses. We should all do our part in conserving water.

Next Week: We will learn about ways to conserve our resources. Some ways are reduce, reuse, and recycle.

Individual Student Comments:

No individual comments this week. Progress report cards will be sent home soon.

Homework:

Student Journal – Summary (8 to 10 sentences)

Copy week 17 vocabulary

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Alice

Group Games!

Dear Parents,

It’s the 15^th week of class. Everyone has done very well on the tests. However, only some of the students need to improve in reading. This week’s fun day is outdoor group games. It should be very fun as it always is when we go.

This week we completed:

Reading: We read Moses Goes to a Concert. It is a story about hearing impaired students that go to a concert. They learn that even if you are deaf, you can still become a musician. You can feel the vibrations of the instruments you use.

Science: This week, we learned about different kinds of soil such as clay, sandy, and loam. Different kinds of soil produce different kinds of plants. Plants grow better in topsoil, which has humus in it. We also learned about different fossils, molds, and casts. Fossil fuels, such as gasoline, coal, and natural gas are all very important to us.

Next Week: We will learn about the water cycle. We will learn about how water evaporates as it goes up into the sky, and then how it condenses into rain or other precipitation. Next week will be a busy week as everyone is occupied with the Christmas Show.

Individual Student Comments:

Arvin is working slowly this week as he recovers from being ill.

Chanel should work on paying more attention in class.

Chloe is doing well in class.

Lily is doing well in class.

Roy is doing well in class.

Sam has not finished his homework for last week yet.

Timmy is doing well in class.

Allen is doing well in class but needs to work on using proper grammar.

Edwin is doing well in class.

Gene is doing well in class.

Harris is doing well in class.

Joshua has not finished his homework for last week yet.

Samson is doing well in class.

Homework:

Student Journal – Summary (8-10 sentences)

Copy week 16 vocabulary

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Alice

Test Week!

Dear Parents,

It’s the 14^th week of class. I’m very proud of the improvements and developments that each of the students have made. They have made great effort to study for the tests, especially the big vocabulary tests. Congratulations to Chloe and Arvin for getting 100%!!! ^__^

This week we completed:

Reading: We took the Unit 1, Book 2 test. All of the students got a much better score than last time. Congratulations to Lily for getting the only 100% on this test! ^__^

Science: No science this week.

Next Week: We will learn about different kinds of soil (humus, topsoil, and bedrock) and also about fossils and fossil fuels (fossils, molds, casts).

Individual Student Comments:

Arvin is doing well in class. He has made so much progress since September.

Chanel is doing well in class. However, she has to study more than she does now.

Chloe is doing well in class. She is a star!

Lily is doing well in class. She is amazing!

Roy is doing well in class. His writing is getting better and better.

Sam is doing well in class. However, he needs to work a little harder.

Timmy is doing well in class. His writing is getting better and better.

Allen needs to practice reading more.

Edwin is doing well in class but needs to control his behavior more.

Gene is doing well in class but needs to study vocabulary more.

Harris is doing well in class. He has made a lot of progress since last month.

Joshua needs to work on his attention span and working faster.

Samson is doing well in class and has improved so much in reading comprehension.

Homework:

Student Journal – Summary (at least 8 sentences)

Copy week 15 vocabulary

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Alice

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Dear Parents,

It’s the 13^th week of class. This Thursday is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. It is a day of celebration and being thankful for everything you have. Usually on this day, families will gather and have a feast of delicious food. Turkey is the main course (served with stuffing), along with mashed potatoes, and candied yams.

This week we completed:

Reading: We read Web Wonders. It is a short article from Time for Kids about spider webs. We learned that spider web silk is super strong and it can even trap birds! One day, scientists hope to use spider silk in more things (jeans, car bumpers, etc.) to make them stronger.

Science: This week, we finished the Chapter 4 Test.

Next Week: We will learn about different kinds of rocks (sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous). We will also learn about different minerals in nature.

* It’s test week next week so we will be taking a reading test and also the “big big vocabulary test” (Weeks 1 to 13)!

Individual Student Comments:

Arvin is improving more in vocabulary. His writing is also becoming neater.

Chanel is doing better this week. She got 100% on her vocabulary test!

Chloe is doing fine in class. She got 100% on her vocabulary test!

Lily is doing well in class. She got 100% on her vocabulary test!

Roy is improving on his writing and being less lazy.

Sam needs to improve on being ready and studying more for vocabulary quizzes/tests.

Timmy is improving more and more in vocabulary and writing neatly.

Allen has improved so much. He got 97% on his vocabulary quiz.

Edwin is doing well in class. He still needs to work on writing smaller and neater.

Gene needs to work on studying more and being ready for vocabulary quizzes.

Harris is improving more and more. He got 95% on his vocabulary quiz.

Joshua needs to study more and be ready for vocabulary quizzes.

Samson needs to study more and be ready for vocabulary quizzes.

Homework:

Student Journal - Summary (at least 8 sentences)

Copy vocabulary for week 14

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Alice

Week 12

Dear Parents,

It’s the 12^th week of class. The weather had been dark and gloomy all week. It’s also starting to feel very chilly. But I’m glad because now I get to wear the sweaters that have been stored away!

This week we completed:

Reading: We read Spiders at Work. It is a story about many different types of spiders. We learned that black widow spiders are poisonous and can cause serious illness or death for humans. Tarantulas are big hairy spiders that may look dangerous but is not deadly.

Science: This week, we learned about adaptations that organisms have for survival. Some adaptations are for finding food or for reproducing. There are also a few kinds for defense, such as camouflage and mimicry. Animals can change their color or body shape for camouflage and they can also look like another animal for mimicry. We also learned about changing ecosystems. We learned that a big change in an ecosystem affects all the organisms that lived there. Some threats to organisms are hunting, pollution and natural disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, floods, droughts, and fires.

Next week: We will take the chapter 4 science test and a vocabulary quiz. We will also read more about spiders.

Individual Student Comments:

Arvin is improving in his reading in class but still works too slowly on class work.

Chanel is improving since 2 weeks ago but is still working too slowly on class work.

Chloe is doing well in class and reads loudly and fluently.

Lily is doing well in class but sometimes reads too softly.

Roy is improving on writing more clearly and neatly but can still improve more.

Sam is doing well in class but needs to improve the neatness of his writing.

Timmy is doing well in class and reads more loudly now.

Allen needs to improve on writing neatly and smaller.

Edwin is doing well in class but I hope he can improve his writing.

Gene is doing well in class.

Harris is still making improvements. His writing is much more neatly now!

Joshua is working on reading questions more carefully and writing neatly.

Samson is doing well in class.

Have a great weekend!

Teacher Alice