Spelling City: Homophones

This week, we will be studying homophones for our spelling words. Homophones are words that sound the same, but have a different spelling and meaning. For example, the words "great" and "grate" are homophones. Although they sound the same, they have different meanings. "You look great!" is not the same meaning as "Where is the grate for the barbeque?" For a fun video about homophones with singer Brian McKnight, please follow the link below:

http://pbskids.org/lions/videos/?pid=jlxn0UPSPVhu8rltZelQOprWACkv_V5W

Need help studying your spelling words? We have the perfect site for you! VocabularySpellingCity is a website that helps students learn their weekly spelling and vocabulary words while having fun at the same time. The site will teach you the words and has many games that you can play to help you learn them. This week you will need to make sure to identify between the two meanings of the word. For the test, we will give you the word, and a sentence with the word in it. You will have to decide which spelling you will need to write down. Good luck, and have fun studying!

http://www.spellingcity.com/view-spelling-list.html?listId=8288521&x=47deb

What do we like to do during recess?

Hi! ReaganL. & SamanthaC. here! Have you ever wondered what goes on at the playground? we wanted to show you some reaserch we did on what we students like to do at recess. So we made our own text feature to go with this blog post, a graph! If you look down at the graph below you will see what O'Leary & Lipsky's class like to do at recess, for example, tag, soccer, talk with friends, slide & more!!!!!!! We were surprised to learn that most of the kids we interviewed like playing soccer the most at recess. And not many kids liked the slide, or just running around. So have we convinced you to look at our graph? if we did you can start looking at it NOW!!!!!!

So did you like our graph? if you do thank you! if you don't shame on you!!!!!!!!!

So...Who is this Kate Dicamillo?

Kate Dicamillo was born in Philadelphia,Pennsylvania. She was raised in Clemont,Flordia. She currently lives in Minneapolis,Minnisota. She is short,loud,hates to cook and loves to eat. She is childless and single. She has lots of friends. She has a book club for kids. She moved away in her twenties. Her birthday is March 25,1964 she was born in the north. She had poor health as a child. She is an aunt of three children. She is the author of 13 children books. She is the author of The Tale Of Despereaux. Her first book was Because Of Winn-Dixy. She is skiny.

by,

Guest Bloggers

Cullen and Emma

What have the READING Superheroes been up to?

This week in Reader's Workshop, we have been studying the MAIN idea of what we are reading. The Main Idea is what a passage or story is MOSTLY about. Being able to figure out the Main Idea of a story is a very important skill to have. It helps us to understand what we read and tell others about it!

To brush up on this important Reading Skill, check out this fun video about Main Idea.

http://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/mainidea/

Here are some other sites with games about MAIN IDEA:

1. http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/WebLessons/GetTheIdea/default.htm#page1

2. http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela4/h/mainideap2.cfm

3. http://www.fcatexplorer.com/parent/4gr/en/tipslister/question_tip_space.asp?src=tip105a.swf

Hope you enjoy checking out these sites!

Love Mrs.O'Leary and Ms.Lipsky

The Tiger Rising

In Reading class, our students are not just learning to read, they are READING to LEARN. As they transition into richer, more complex chapter books, making meaning from what they are reading becomes more difficult. There are no longer pictures to guide the thinking that they do while reading. That is why visualizing, or making a "mind movie" while we read is so important! It helps us to understand, enjoy the story, and keep our minds awake while reading.

This is why Mrs.Lipsky and Mrs.O'Leary chose The Tiger Rising, by Kate Dicamillo, as the first read aloud chapter book of the year. The author writes with so many vivid details that it is a perfect book to practice making movies in our minds about what we are reading.

Students- Which part of this book so far made the best mind movie in your head? Leave a comment on this blog post describing the part and recieve 2 behavior bucks.

To learn more about Kate Dicamillo and to check out more books by this superb author, click here!