Letter to the Main Character

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Story Star

Board Games

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Buddy Study Spelling

Monday Buddy Study

1. Look, say, spell

2. Cover and write

3. Check and fix mistakes 3 times. Put a check if it was correct.

4. Do this for all 20 words

Tuesday & Wednesday Buddy Study

1. Give each other the practice test

2. Correct each other's test

3. Fix mistakes 3 times

Write About it Examples

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Labeled Picture Example

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Diorama Examples

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Regular Assignments

The following are assignments that students will complete on a weekly or monthly basis. Assignments are all due on different days, but to earn "Fun Friday," all work must be turned in before students leave on Thursday.

Book Reports: Due on or before the last day of each month.
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Spelling Sentences: Assigned Friday, Due Monday.
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Monday Folder & Weekly Report: Assigned Monday, due Tuesday.
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Buddy Study: Started in class, due the following day:
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Reading Seatwork Packet: Assigned Friday, due the following Thursday.
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Card Chart System

Students begin the day on a green card, and when they need consistent behavior reminders, they are asked to pull a card.

A pink card indicates a warning, and a yellow card indicates escalated behavior. A blue card is for a severe behavior problem, and students pulling a blue card are sent to the office for problem solving with the principal.

The number of cards your child pulled will be listed on the Weekly Report sent home Mondays.

Reading Seatwork Packet

Seatwork is a 4-page reading packet that applies to the spelling words and reading selection of the week. The packet is given to students on Friday and is due by the end of the day on Thursday. Students may take it home to work on it if they need extra time to finish, but it is not required as homework on any night.

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Weekly Report & Monday Folder

C-3 Weekly Report
Weekly reports will be sent home each Monday stapled to the work your child completed the previous week. The newsletter portion will contain a brief description of the week’s studies, a calendar, and student recognition features, such as perfect attendance and Howling Good News.

This packet will be included in your child’s Monday Folder. The weekly report will tell you some of the important scores from the previous week, as well as how many late assignments were turned in and how many cards your child pulled because of behavior problems. Occasionally a Notice of Concern will be attached to the weekly report. Weekly reports are due back to school on Tuesdays.

Monday Folder
Monday folders are sent home for parents to review each Monday night. They are due back to school, empty, on Tuesdays.

Spelling Sentences

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Use each of your 20 spelling words in sentences. As long as the sentences make sense, you can use several words per sentence or write a story using all of the words.

Expectations for Spelling Sentences:
1. Sentences need capitals and periods.
2. Always underline the spelling word.
3. Number every sentence.
4. Put punctuation (! . ?) at the end of sentences.
5. Sentences need to be 5 words or more.
6. Double-space your sentences.
7. The spelling words need to be spelled correctly.
8. Sentences need to be your own work.
9. Holes always go on the left of the page.
10. Write sentences on lined, full-sized paper only.

16 Ways to Study Spelling

16 Ways to Study Spelling is a way to practice spelling words. Sometimes it is homework, but it can be done for extra credit any other time. Write the name of the activity at the top of a sheet of paper. Do the activity on the paper with this week's spelling words.

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Base Words
Circle the base word in as many words on your list as possible. For example, the base word in spelling is spell, and the base word in laughed is laugh.

Rhyming Words
Write a rhyming word for each word on your list. For example, a rhyming word for riddle is middle.

Pluralize
Make as many words as possible into plurals. For example, the plural of dog is dogs, and the plural of woman is women.

Letter Mix Up
Choose 5 long words on your list. For each word, make as many new words as possible. For example, word alphabet can make the words pet, bet, pal, and more.

Mark the Vowels
Choose 8 words from your list and mark their short, long, and silent vowels. For example, the word paper has one long ( ˉ ) and one short ( ˘ ) vowel: pāpĕr.

Prefixes & Suffixes
Copy your words onto a sheet of paper. Draw a box around the prefixes and underline the suffixes. For example, in the word misunderstand, the prefix is mis-. In the word running, the suffix is –ing. Prefixes are added chunks that come at the beginning of a word. Suffixes are chunks added to the end of words.

Clues
Create clues for each of your words that would help someone guess the word. For example, a clue for swimmer is someone who swims.

Letter Switch
Choose 3 words from your list. Change at least one letter to make a new word. For example, the word water can be changed to warmer by changing the t to rm.

Add a Chunk
Add a prefix or suffix, when possible, to the words on your list. For example, order can be changed to ordering with a suffix and preorder with a prefix.

Categories
Find a way to put all of your words into 3 categories. Then see if you can split each category into another category! Some examples of categories are words that start with str-, squ-, and thr-.

First Vowel Sort
Separate your words into two lists, depending on whether the first vowel is long or short. For example, silly has a short first vowel, and mail has a long first vowel.

Syllable Sort
Sort your words into lists of 1, 2, 3, 4, and more syllable words. A word with 3 syllables is alph·a·bet, and a word with 5 is re·frig·er·a·tor.

Syllable Split
Copy your words with split syllables. For example, the word student has two syllables and would be split like this: stu·dent.

Accent Sort
Sort your words according to which syllable (first, second, third, etc.) is accented. The accented syllable is the one that gets an emphasis, such as in tel·e·phone (second syllable), prop-er-ty (first syllable), and com·pu·ter (second syllable).

Mark the Accent
Copy your words and underline which syllables are accented. For example, in the word imagination, the 4th syllable is accented: imagination (the a is underlined).

Test Me
Ask an adult to test you on your spelling words. The adult should read the words to you, out of order, and you need to spell them aloud. You can also write them on paper. The adult needs to sign the paper to show the activity was done.

Puppet Ideas

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Mobile Ideas

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Book Making Ideas

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Book Report Checklist

Turning in Your Project

You've finished your book report. Congratulations! Now turn it in for the credit you deserve!

1. Attach a green cover sheet to the project with a staple or tape. Write the book title, author, genre, activity, and month on the cover sheet.






2. Turn your project into the reading drawer. If it is too large to fit, put it on Ms. Hos's desk.

Glossary of Genre Project Words

Board game: A game on a board, like Monopoly or Sorry. Get a piece of cardboard or poster-board. Draw a path for the game pieces to follow and decorate them with things you imagine from the book. You can make a spinner, game pieces, game cards, etc., and you could include dice, playing cards, or other game items. Be sure to write a set of rules for playing the game.

Book review: Writing that tells your opinion of the book, including likes, dislikes, favorite parts, and who would like the book.

Cartoon strip: A comic like one found in the newspaper. Draw 4-6 connected boxes on a piece of white paper. In each box, draw a picture from the story with cartoon bubbles for speech.

Cause and effect organizer: An organizer that shows cause and effect. Make a T-chart. Write the effects on the right side and their causes on the left side.

Cause: The reason or why something happens.

Character: A person or animal in the story. The main character is the person or animal that is most important in the story.

Characters: The people or animals with personality that stories are about.

Chart: A picture that shows information, like a t-chart.

Clues: Small pieces of information or hints that help someone figure out a mystery or a problem.

Compare: To find similarities, the things that are the same, among two things.

Concept web: A diagram that organizes large ideas into smaller topics. Write your main idea in the middle of the page and circle it. For each sub-topic, draw a line out of the circle and write your sub-topic on or at the end of the line.

Conflict: A sharp disagreement.

Contrast: To find differences, the things that make things different, among two things.

Critique: An analysis or evaluation of the story.

Crossword Puzzle: A puzzle where clues are given about what words to write in boxes.

Defenses: The ways animals protect themselves from predators, the animals that would like to eat them.

Definitions: Words that tell the meaning of a word, such as the definitions on this page.

Diet: The things an animal eats.

Diorama: A 3-D picture. Get a shoe-box or similar sized box. Use paper, magazine scraps, glue, and coloring supplies to make a scene that stands up inside of the box.

Effect: Something that happens as a result of a cause. For example, rain caused the ground to get wet. The ground getting wet was the effect.

Event: One thing that happens in a story. A story is made up of many events.

Explain: Use words and details to tell all about something.

Fable: A fictitious story meant to teach a moral lesson. Fables usually contain talking animals as the main characters, and often contain legends or myths.

Fairy tale: A story containing fairies, giants, and magical deeds

Fantasy: A story written from imagination, not based on fact.

Folk tale: A story of legendary or mythical characters and events that was told by “common folks” and has been handed down through the generations.

Graph: A combination of pictures and numbers that tell information, such as a bar graph or pie graph.

Habitat: The place where an animal lives.

KWL chart: A chart with three columns: K- Know, W- Would like to know, and L- Learned. Before you read your book, write everything you already know about the topic in the Know column. Next, write things you would like to know in the W column. Finally, read the book and fill things in on the L (Learned) column to show what you learned while reading.

Labeled Picture: A drawing that has words telling about different parts of the picture.

Letter: A note to another person that contains a heading, body, and closing. The body of the letter is written in indented paragraphs, usually three to five.

Life span: The amount of time an animal usually lives.

Mini book: A small book. Get three white sheets of paper and cut them in half the hamburger way. Stack all the halves together and fold them in half again. Staple the folded edges to make a book, and turn your story into a picture book inside.

Mysterious: Something that makes you wonder or want to find an answer, or something that is strange or unusual.

Newspaper article: A short piece of writing that is published in a newspaper to give information about something important that has happened. It usually includes one or two pictures.

Outcome: The events that happen after the problem has been solved.

Play: A story that is acted out for an audience.

Plot: The action of the story.

Pop-up picture: A picture that pops up when opened. Fold a sheet of paper in half and cut two one-inch slits in the folded side, about one inch apart. Open it up, poke the one-inch tab you made through and to the other side, and fold it down. Draw a picture and tape it to the tab. When you close the folded paper, the picture will lie flat, but when opened, it will stand up.

Poster: A large, colorful drawing with some words that gives information about a topic, event, or something you could buy.

Problem: The main conflict, dilemma, or mystery to be solved in the story.

Puppet: A doll that can be made to move or talk, like

Realistic: Based on fact, not fantasy. Describes something that could really happen.

Running list: A list that is made while you read, not after reading.

Scene: A small part of a story or play.

Science fiction: A story set in the future

Script: A set of lines that actors read or memorize in a play.

Setting: The time and place in which a story occurs

Solution: The ending or last part of the story, often where the loose ends of the story are explained or tied up, or the problem is solved.

Story star: An organizer that tells the main information about a book in the shape of a star. Draw a star. Write information about your book on each of the five points of the star. The information you need to write is 1. characters, 2. setting, 3. problem, 4. solution, and 5.outcome. In complete sentences, write about these things on the points of the star.

Summary: A short re-telling of the main ideas, or most important ideas, of a story.

Timeline: A line on which major events are marked, in date order, from left to right. Draw a line and write year a person was born on the left, and the year the person died on the right. Write important events (with dates) in the life of that person along the line.

Topic: The main idea of something, or the big idea that is being discussed.
Unrealistic: Based on fantasy, not fact. Describes something that could not really happen.

Venn diagram: A diagram that compares and contrasts two things. Draw two circles that are slightly overlapped. Label the each circle with one of the two things you are comparing. In the overlapped area, write the similarities (compare). In the non-overlapped areas, write differences (contrast).

Young: An animal’s babies, or offspring.

Requirements to Get a 4 on Your Project

Your project will be scored on a 1-6 scale:
6- Exemplary 5- Advanced 4- Proficient 3-Developing 2-Emergent 1-Pre-Emergent

A passing paper (4) looks like this:
Write About it: 2-3 paragraphs in length with detailed, on-topic information and complete sentences.

Question it: Contains the correct amount of numbered questions, and the questions are answered

Diagram it: Neatly drawn, showing care, effort, and thoughtfulness

Re-create it: Neatly created, showing care, effort, creativity, and thoughtfulness

Information About Genres

Literature Genres
A genre is a type of story, such as science fiction or biography.


Non-Fiction Genres

Science: Books that tell of scientific discoveries, inventions, and nature, or give information about our bodies, the world, and space.

Biography: Biographies and autobiographies contain true stories about real people and factual information about famous people. These books help us learn about people’s lives.

Animals: Books about different species and families of animals.


Fiction Genres

Fantasy: A story that was written from imagination and is not based on facts.

Historical Fiction: Stories about real life in other times. These stories are set in time, places, and situations that are factual, but may contain made-up elements for the sake of having a good story.

Animal Fiction: Stories about talking animals, animals acting like people, and imaginary stories about kids and their pets.
Adventure: Stories about exciting journeys to interesting places.

Mystery: Mysteries are about crimes, questions to be answered, or an investigation. They contain a lot of suspense, and usually have an interesting twist at the climax.

Science Fiction: These books are about possible future events, traveling to other galaxies, and future inventions.

Our class does not do book reports on the sports, holiday, poetry, humor, or general fiction genres.

Finding a Book

Finding a book is easy if you plan ahead! Remember, book reports must be done on chapter books or AR picture books. There are three options for finding books:

1. Check out a book from the library. Books in each genre are marked with stickers on the binding. The only genre without stickers are non-fiction books. Animal Nonfiction and Science are in the 500's and Biographies are in the 921's.

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2. Borrow a book from the classroom library. Books in each genre are sorted into tubs with genre labels. Remember, picture books in our classroom library can not be used for book reports because they are not AR books. If you would like to take home your book, please ask Ms. Hos for permission.

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3. Use your own book that fits one of our genres. If you are not sure which genre your book fits in, you will need to ask a teacher, librarian, or trusted adult.

Remember: Our class does not do book reports on the sports, holiday, poetry, humor, or general fiction genres.

The Never Ending Genre Project

The Never Ending Genre Project is a book report project where you are in charge! You choose you genre, and you choose your project!

Book reports are due on the last calendar day of each month and must be completed at home or during free choice time at school.

Follow these steps to do your book report!

1. Find a book - click here
2. Learn about your book's genre - click here
3. Pick a project - click here
4. Read the requirements - click here
5. Look up confusing words - click here
6. Turn in your project- click here
7. Keep track of the year's book reports - click here