OSC Weekly Update

On Thursday, September 26th we will head to the Ice Age Trail located behind Lodi High School. We will go in two separate groups. During this time we will be working with Lodi Valley Chapter Volunteers to help build the new trail segment. Students will need water and a snack. Each group will be back to OSC for lunch. Dressing for trail work. We encourage students to dress for the weather. Working in long pants and shirts is helpful as we work to build trail. Students will have a safety chat about all the trail tools they will use while working on the trail.

Students will be taking the iReady diagnostic test starting on Monday, September 23. Ensure your child gets an adequate amount of rest the night before. Two important things we want to make sure our students have in order to help them be successful are headphones and snacks. We have a handful of extra headphones for students to borrow, but it is best if students have their own headphones that they are able to use throughout the year. The iReady diagnostic will have auditory elements that headphones would be super helpful with. Testing often makes kiddos very hungry, so please make sure your child is prepared with snacks during that time. Sometimes it is helpful to have hard candy like mints or jolly ranchers. We will chat with students about when an appropriate time would be to use those.

Your child should be bringing home a clear pouch with five items in it to start.

1. Overview of OSC Homework Resource Pouch

2. Weekly OSC Homework Log

3. OSC Home Fluency Daily Routine

4. Grade Level Reading Passage (for practicing fluency)

5. Power Words List and suggestions for practicing reading/spelling these words

This pouch is meant to be a tool that you can use to help support your child’s learning. We completely understand that all families are at different phases of life and have weeks where homework will not be a high priority. Our hope is that your family can do homework 4 of 7 days within a week. However, there will not be consequences at school for students who don’t complete their homework. There may be small celebrations or rewards for children who do complete their homework log.

We are once again working on daily math fact practice using the Spring Math program. Students are in a routine practicing and then taking an independent test. You may see some practice packets come home. Each grade level will work through different concepts. We move onto the next concept once a group target average is reached. CLICK HERE to take a peek at the sequence of concepts we will work our way through.

We are excited to continue our partnership with Mrs. Puls and her High School Health Classes. During the first semester we will have the opportunity to visit the HS as well as the HS students joining us here at OSC. Our first Blue Devil Buddy meeting with be on October 17 when we will ride up to the HS and join Ms. Puls for two of her health classes. OSC will be split into two different groups when we get together with her class. We are excited to have our HS Blue Devil Buddies as mentors to our students this year!

Math: Unit 1 focuses on reviewing previously learned skills. Our main focus so far has been on finding the difference using a number grid, telling time, and discussing 10/100 more or less than a number. Next week, a Unit 1 Family Letter will come home. Please keep this handy as it has the answers to Home Links for you to reference.

Reading: We kicked off our learning focusing on Asking and Answering Questions about Key Ideas. As a group we practiced building our stamina while reading from three different scientific articles about Prairie Dogs, Beaver Lodges, and Termite Mounds. We also discussed and practiced writing a response to question about the readings. We focused on writing a complete paragraph with the following parts: starter sentence, transition words, details from the passage, and a summary sentence. This will take multiple opportunities to practice before students are confident and independent with this skill.

Writing: We reviewed Common Nouns, Proper Nouns and Pronouns. In a few weeks we will begin our first writing piece. It will be an informational writing piece about Sacagawea. Any opportunity at home to build background knowledge with books, articles, documentaries, etc about Sacagawea will help lift confidence and excitement when we discuss in class.

Sonday: We have been working on building a phonics routine. The goal is to improve reading and spelling skills through consistent phonics, spelling, vocabulary and fluency practices. After our lesson, students have some time to work on an Independent Practice sheet. We don’t have enough time in our day to complete all parts of the page. When you see these come home, feel free to build this into your homework routine if you’d like. So far we’ve reviewed the following phonics sounds:

• Short vowels

• ay (day)

• ee (feet)

• sh (fish)

• ch (chick)

• th (thumb, that)

• qu (queen)

• ck (duck)

• ff, ss, zz, ll (doubled at the end of a word after a single vowel. Usually this vowel is short.)

Ask your third grader:

• “Why do we ask and answer questions while we read?” (to better understand the text we are reading.)

• “How do you Touch-Spell the word PRESS?” (students should touch one finger on their hand for each part of the word PR-E-SS)

• “Why do we double the S in PRESS?” (The SS follows one vowel and it’s a short vowel)

• What number is 10 more than ___? What number is 10 less? What number is 100 more? 100 less?

• Elapsed Time: If I wake you up at ____ and we have to leave for school at ___, how much time do we have at home to get ready? OR If you get home from school at ___ and you need to go to bed at ____, how much time will you be home before bed?

Reminder: Here are the links to the ELA Resources and Math Resources available to families.

4th Grade Update

Math: Unit 1 focuses on reviewing previously learned skills. Our main focus has been identifying place-value, determining the value of a digit, practicing rounding routines, and discussing multidigit addition/subtraction strategies. Next week, a Unit 1 Family Letter will come home. Please keep this handy as it has the answers to Home Links for you to reference.

Reading: We kicked off our learning focusing on finding main ideas and details. As a group we practiced building our stamina while reading from three different articles focused on people and their animals. The titles we read were about a snake charmer, a hearing dog, and tigers in zoos. We also discussed and practiced writing a response to questions about the readings. We focused on writing complete sentences when responding to questions about the main ideas and key details in our writing.

Our next set of lessons are about understanding cause and effect.

Writing: We have started our writing unit with some writing that helps us get to know your child. One thing they shared was information they wish their teacher knew about them. Another thing they wrote about related to their reading was an event that happened and what caused it to happen.

Sonday: We have been working on building a phonics routine. The goal is to improve reading and spelling skills through consistent phonics, spelling, vocabulary and fluency practices. After our lesson, students have some time to work on an Independent Practice sheet. We don’t have enough time in our day to complete all parts of the page. When you see these come home, feel free to build this into your homework routine if you’d like. So far we’ve reviewed the following phonics sounds:

Ask your fourth grader:

• “When working on a story problem in math, how do you know your answer is correct?” (Your answer is close to your estimate)

• Solve: 436 + 625=? and 923-676=? (ensure they carry, and borrow when necessary)

• “What caused that event to happen?” (Get them thinking about cause and effect) For example, “You caught a touchdown during your game. What caused that to happen?” (Answers will vary but will likely focus on practice and hard work) OR “We ended up being late for school this morning. What caused that to happen?”

Reminder: Here are the links to the ELA Resources and Math Resources available to families.

Math: Unit 1 Wrap-Up: Diving Deep into Dimensions

We've been on quite the journey through our first unit, exploring some fascinating concepts that are fundamental to understanding the world around us. Let's recap what we've covered:

🔷 Area of Rectangles with Fractional Side Lengths

- Unraveling the mystery of calculating areas when our measurements aren't whole numbers

- Applying fractional thinking to real-world scenarios📦 Volume Concepts and Formulas

- Discovering what volume really means and why it matters

- Developing and understanding volume formulas for various 3D shapes

🏗️ Volume Applications

- Putting our knowledge to the test with real-life volume problems

- Thinking critically about how volume applies in everyday situations🧮 Expressions and Grouping Symbols

- Decoding the language of mathematics

- Understanding how parentheses and other symbols can change the meaning of an expression

What's Next?📝 Unit 1 Test

We're gearing up for our Unit 1 test, where students will showcase their mastery of these concepts. Encourage your young mathematicians to review their notes and practice problems!

Reading:

Main Ideas and Key Details: The Building Blocks of Comprehension

This month, we've been diving deep into a crucial skill that will serve your children well throughout their academic careers and beyond: identifying main ideas and key details in texts. Here's what we've been working on:

🔍 Cracking the Code of Comprehension

- Learning to pinpoint the main idea in various types of texts

- Uncovering the supporting details that reinforce the main idea

- Practicing the art of distinguishing between essential and non-essential information

n📚 Tackling Informational Texts

We've specifically focused on:

- Identifying main ideas and key details in non-fiction materials

- Developing strategies to navigate through informational texts effectively

🗂️ Summarization Skills

Your young scholars have been honing their ability to:

- Distill complex information into concise summaries

- Communicate the essence of a text in their own words

Writing:

We've also delved into the fascinating world of subordinating conjunctions. These conjunctions help us create complex sentences by connecting dependent and independent clauses. Some examples we've explored include:

- Because

- Although

- Unless

- While

- Since

🏗️ Sentence Clauses: Building Blocks of Great Writing

- Independent clauses: Sentences that can stand alone

- Dependent clauses: Sentence fragments that need an independent clause to make sense

By combining these clauses with conjunctions, we're creating more sophisticated and varied sentence structures!

Sonday:

🔓 Open Syllables

- We've discovered that open syllables end with a long vowel sound

- Examples: me, hi, no

🔒 Closed Syllables

- We've learned that closed syllables end with a consonant and have a short vowel sound

- Examples: cat, hot, run

🤫 Silent E Syllables

- We've unmasked the sneaky silent E that makes the vowel say its name

- Examples: make, hide, cute

Vowel-Consonant and Consonant-Vowel Patterns

We've also been exploring how vowels and consonants team up in words:

- VC Pattern: When a vowel is followed by a consonant (at, in, up)

- CV Pattern: When a consonant is followed by a vowel (go, be, hi)

These patterns help us determine syllable breaks and vowel sounds in longer words!

Why This Matters

Understanding these syllable types and patterns helps your child:

- Read unfamiliar words more easily

- Improve spelling accuracy

- Boost overall reading fluency

Ask your fifth grader:

1. Ask your child to summarize their favorite TV show or book in a few sentences

2. Encourage reading of non-fiction materials like news articles or encyclopedias

3. Practice identifying the "big idea" in everyday situations or conversations

4. Ask your child to explain volume using objects around the house

5. Practice spotting rectangles with fractional dimensions in everyday life

Reminder: Here are the links to the ELA Resources and Math Resources available to families.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VKXtsY1nDVfPPXM89 (Ice Age Trail Walk 9/13)

Lodi Marsh IAT segment 09/13/2024

https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B1jG4TcsmGivEn9 (Ice Age Trail, 3rd Grade Math, Homan’s Homeroom at music

Next Week Lunch Menu

Mon, September 23 (Day 3 )

Tues, September 24 (Day 4 )

Wed, September 25 (Day 5 )

Thurs, September 26 (Day 6)

Fri, September 27 NO SCHOOL

After School Change of Plans

Please include the office staff on any after school change of plans to ensure we receive it. It is very likely that we won’t get to our email until after the students have left for the day.

Kathy Klinke klinkka@lodischoolswi.org

DeeAnn Kleinschmidt Kleinde@lodischoolswi.org

Thank you!

Jessica Homan homanje@lodischoolswi.org

Grace Schirra Schirgr@lodischoolswi.org

Allie Stone stoneal@lodischoolswi.org

Carly Zick zickca@lodischoolswi.org

Abbey Ballweg ballwab@lodischoolswi.org