Unit 5 Week 2
In our Treasure Chest Curriculum

This week my Kindergarten students will read The Little Tree about Nick and Kim and what they did to grow a new tree.


We will  practice their new sight words
for
Unit 8
which are
said
little
I
Concepts taught this week will be position words middle and top and  the k and ck sound usually found at the end of a word.  We will also focus on good comprehension
and  identify the sequence of events in a game and stories.




First Grade will read the story Teddy Saves the Day.  It is a fantasy that discusses problems that toys have and what a Teddy Bear does to help them. We will use a Problems Solution Chart to retell the story and  evaluate the problems and solutions that were discussed in the story.
We will look at root words such as push and pull and add ed and ing to them.
We will also review long i sounds in words such as fly, child, and high. Then we will continue to discuss and understand when to use er and est to adjectives.  We will review that er is added to an adjective when we are comparing two things and est is used when we are comparing more than two things. Last our literacy activity this week will be to write our opinion and tell a friend whether they should read or not read Teddy Saves the Day.
Sight words are
ball
head
should
shout



Second Grade will read a play called Sky Colors. It takes place long ago (setting)  when the sky was either black or white.  The sky was envious of the blue jay, red squirrel, yellow lizard and orange frog and wanted to have some color too.
All the animals tried to help the sky but only the blue jay could fly high enough and spread its beautiful blue feathers across the sky. Then sky asked sun to help too and that is why the other colors shine on the sky. 
My students always enjoy have a part in the play. 
Our vocabulary skills this week will focus on root words and we will determine if the word endings to root words in sentences should be ed or ing. 
We also practiced saying and finding the diphthongs oi and oy in words.
Then we  will evaluate problems and solutions in the story. Next we will learn about pronouns and when we should use I, me, we and us.  Last we will make  a color word web. 
Sight words are
beautiful
for
have
try



Third Grade will learn about the  American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals when they read Henry Bergh and the ASPCA.
We will learn about the treatment of animals in the 1800's and how Henry Bergh becomes a leader in changing the deplorable conditions. He will learn that he started clinics and built shelters for animals.  He also helped form another organization called the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children which drew attention to the  children working in mines and factories at that time. Since he began his legacy now most children in the US can play, go to school and be treated well. 
Our vocabulary skills this week will be finding root words in word families and adding inflected endings like s, ed and ing to root words. 
We will then identify cause and effect in stories
 and write subject and object pronouns to replace nouns.
Last we will play a game and make as many compound words as possible.


Fourth Grade will also read a play called Hans and Greta.  This play always reminds me of Hansel and Gretle but it has a twist.  The play characters are a talking cat, a grandma in a gingerbread house and two children whose step-mother and father send them to visit their grandma.  We find the cat and the children playing  tricks on one another at Grandma's house while the unsuspecting Grandma makes plans for the day.  They all learn a lesson but later we see the children plotting another trick for when they will see the cat again! 
Antonyms will be our vocabulary lesson this week.  It is a word that is the opposite of another word.  We will review our antonym song and then we will  discuss judgments.  We will learn that a judgment is an opinion about a character, action or idea.  Last we will learn that there are special adjectives called articles.
a, the, an
We will learn when to use which article in a sentence.


Fifth Grade will read Food Fight. It is another fantasy story, only this time it involves a grocery store that comes to life after the owners close the doors to go home. The milk and dairy section are jealous of the produce (apples, carrots etc.)  in the front of the store and the milk tries to move up there only to find a problem in their thinking.  
Personification was the method used  to tell the story. All the groceries talk!
Ask your children what the other groceries' reactions are and the effect it has on the store.  Also ask them who they think will be blamed for the mess.

 Our phonics and vocabulary lessons will focus on word origins and homophones.
We will then discuss themes and analyze paragraph themes.
Last we will discuss articles in sentences and why we sometimes use
an
instead of
the or a.
We will learn that we use an before a noun if the noun begins with a vowel.
(a,e,i,o,u)
example: an octopus