Omega Update January 14, 2008

Reading
We are beginning new literature circles on Monday. Last week, the kids previewed a pile of books and selected their top three. Then we had a class meeting and sorted kids into book groups. Not all kids got one of their top three choices. However, those that did not agreed to read a different book. I will make sure those kids get on of their top picks next time, for sure. You can support what your child will be doing in literature circles by talking about the book s/he is reading and about his/her jobs (they change week to week).

Your child should be filling out his/her reading calendar each night s/he reads.


Spelling
It's life a normal in the world of spelling.


Writing
Students have been learning about contractions as part of morning meeting. Lst week, students brainstormed a huge list of contractions and came up with almost all of them! This week they will be sorting those contractions by common ending.

In conjunction with the play we saw at the Flynn, "Me, Me, Me," students have completed (or almost completed) a writing project that shows how the main character's problem could be solved. This project came about in a discussion after the performance in which students voiced their displeasure with the ending of the play. They felt that the ending was "abrupt" (an actual word used by an Omega 2) and didn't really end the story. They felt that they were left hanging. So two project choices emerged. One was writing a new ending. The other was interviewing a character. Look for these finished pieces in the hallway.


Word Work
I introduced the word boxes to students in a mini-lesson last week. We made a poster that shows the types of words kids can collect (spelling, words they like, and vocabulary words). I modeled how to fill out a word card and put those examples on the poster also. Then we set up the boxes. Students will begin collecting words this week. I'd like to start with the goal of three words/week for Omega 1s, 4 words/week for Omega 2s, and 5 words/week for Sages and Sagers.


Friendship
We are focusing on communication. Last week, students played a game in which they drew a simple geometric design and had to describe it to his/her partner in a detailed manner while the partner drew the design. Then they compared to see how much alike the two pictures looked. We did this once in the morning, talked about it, and wrote about it. The we tried it again in the afternoon. If you look on the bulletin board above the counter enxt to the sink, you can see the students' drawings.

This week we will focus on communication through body language. We will play a charade type game to practice using and interpreting body language.


Short Courses
We begin new rounds of short courses on Tuesday.


Announcements
*There is no school next Monday, January 21, as it is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
*Kyla, a Tau in Joni's room, will be joining the Omegas for literacy.
*I know everyone is gearing up to be busy for the play, but I could still use about an hour of help once a week doing things like cutting out spelling words. If you are available anytime, please let me know, otherwise I'll sweet-talk Anu.