Hello, everyone. I hope you are having a good week. Please read the following sections.

Parents: I am beginning to have a little trouble with students who don't want to take my class seriously. I will be contacting you by phone this week if your child is one of those. Please remind your child of the following:

* Behavior in class is linked to academic success. If you play in class, your grades will reflect it. Those who pay attention in class learn much more, and don't interrupt the learning of those around them with their off-task behavior.
* Your job right now in life is to be a good student. If you were employed by Mrs. Short, you could lose your job if you weren't on-task. Do your job right the first time, loud and proud.
* Your homework for Mrs. Short's class is thirty minutes of reading six days of the week. It must be recorded on your Homework Reading Log, which should be turned in on Mondays. Your grade will suffer if you do not do this.

Students:
Some of you have already turned in multiple book responses that will count toward your 25 Book goal. Remember, we have to have read seven books by the end of this nine weeks' grading period. My expectation is that everyone will do just that.

Contest for this week: The first person in each class that responds to this blog with the correct answer to this question will receive a prize.

Question: What goes in the thesis sentence of a five-paragraph essay?

Good luck!

Mrs. Short

Parents: I am already being asked by parents what you can do to help your child do well on Florida Writes! which we will take in February. The Department of Education (www.fldoe.org ) gives the following suggestions for parents:

• Discuss what your child is reading and writing at school with him or her.
• Have your child write letters to friends and relatives.
• Write your child notes about the chores you want him or her to do, and include instructions.
• Speak with me about your child's writing development.
• Display your child's writing on the refrigerator or a bulletin board in your home.
• Demonstrate how you yourself use writing daily (reports for your job, applications, letters to the editor, friends, family)

If you would like to discuss your child's writing level right now, I am able to do that at your convenience. Your child has completed a baseline sample of persuasive writing, as well as one of expository writing, and we can talk about the written pieces, and my strategies for helping your child to become a better writer. Feel free to call me (381-7440 x. 187) to set up a time when we can meet.

Parents and Students: When you visit this site, please leave a comment to let me know you have been here. I want this site to be an effective way to communicate with both my students and their parents, but I need to know who is reading my posts. Thanks for your help!

Students: Our contest for Friday is this: The first student in each class that comes to me with the answer to the following question will get extra credit on his grades.

Question: How many words will you be exposed to if you read 25 books this year?

Good Luck!

Mrs. Short

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

I am so disappointed! I have received no comments on my first three blogs. Nobody won the prizes on Tuesday. It is really important that my students (as well as their parents) read my blog, since I will be using it to pass on important information.

Parents, I want to commend your students for their good behavior the past couple of days. Today there have been a few glitches, however. Parents, if your child takes some kind of medication during the day, please be sure that you send it to school with your child, and a note explaining the dosage and time. If your child is not going to bed at a reasonable hour, please get him or her on a regular schedule. Some of your children are sleepy in class, and are missing what we are working on. Other students are not eating lunch. Please either send something with your child, or send money for lunch with him or her. If students don't eat, they get tired and sleepy after lunch, and we need them awake, alert, aware, and ready to learn!

Students, the contest for Thursday is: The first student in each class to come to me during that class and tell me the answer to this question will receive a prize.

What is our routine for walking on sidewalks?

Have a good day.

Mrs. Short

Hi, everybody - Hope your first day back was good. I think we have a real good team this year, and I can't wait to see what we can do together!

Don't forget to bring your supplies to class tomorrow. We will start to work hard on Tuesday. Also, don't forget your reading homework. Be sure to record what you read on your Homework Reading Log so you can get that first "A" for this year!

The first person in each class who comes on Tuesday to me to tell me the "secret phrase" will get a prize. The secret phrase is "LEAP to Success", which is our goal for this year. See you on Tuesday!

Mrs. Short

Hello, everyone:

I would like to take a minute to explain the new program that some of your children will be enrolled in. It is called "Read 180." The program is computer-driven for Skills Block time, and uses Independent Reading and Workperiods just as we are used to doing. The computer component of the course makes it very appealing to students, and makes it easy for me to see what progess my students are making as they work through the various exercises. I think it will help my students to make lots of progress toward reading on grade level this year.

The advanced students will be refining their writing skills, in addition to doing some research projects each nine weeks' grading period. I am looking forward to getting started with them.

Please make sure your child has his or her supplies for the class:

• A one inch three ring binder
• Notebook paper
• Pens and pencils (ink in any color but red)
• A highlighter of your child's choice

We will begin to work immediately on the first day of school, so please make sure your child brings these supplies with him or her on Monday.

If you have questions, please feel free to call me: 381-7440, x. 187

Thanks for your help.

Mrs. Short

Welcome Back to School!

I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome you all back to school! I am looking forward to a really good year this year.

Students:

You probably have been reading this summer. If you come to school with the following by Friday, August 24th, you'll get extra credit, as well as credit toward your 25 Book Goal:

On separate sheets of paper, answer the following questions about your books. Be sure you put the title of the book, the author's name, and the number of pages in the book on each sheet (remember, if you have forgotten any of this information, you can find it on Amazon.com). The questions are:

1. Summarize your book in one paragraph.
2. Tell me why you liked or disliked this book.
3. Make one connection with the book.

Good luck! Get started on your extra credit!

Parents:

Look for my letter to you to come home with your child on Monday, August 20th. Please read it, and discuss it with your child, then sign the Behavior Contract and have your child return it to me.

I plan to use this blogsite to communicate with you weekly, so please record the address somewhere so you can access the site regularly. I will include information about the class, as well as links to other sites that will help you help your child to be a better student. If there is anything you would like to see on this site, please email me and I'll add it in. My email address is

shortk@dreamsbeginhere.org

Feel free to use it, or to call me. This is going to be a great year!