Mr. Skanes' Class -
Room 217
Even the highest towers begin from the ground.
In Room 217 we expect to act Respectfully, Responsibly and Independently.
We must be our own monitors. A good yardstick against which to measure our behaviour is this: Would we be proud to admit how we acted later or do we hope that no one finds out?
If we live up to these ideals, nothing can stop us.
Our Spelling Programme is made up of two components. The first component is the weekly spelling list and activities and the second component is the Master List programme.
For four weeks the students are assigned on Monday a spelling list with activities designed to have them practice the words and think about how they are constructed. They are given time that day to work on the activities and, usually, some time later in the week. This time is generally enough for some of the students to complete all activities, but others will find that they will have to apply themselves at home as well. These activities are required to be done by Friday, so the student is encouraged to complete a portion a day so as to ensure that all are done by Friday. (This is one of the ways in which independence and responsibility are encouraged in the classroom. Hopefully all students will learn to consider on a daily basis whether they need to work on their spelling that night.)
Please do not get into the habit of having the children simply memorize the spelling list words as the main part of their studying routine. The goal is that the students will learn to hear the sounds in each word and then figure out how each word is spelled. If the student has a parent dictate the words to them, listening to the word and spelling what they hear is more effective than trying to only memorize, as this memorization will not last for very long past the Friday dictation, if it even lasts that long. (For example, a child who spells the word "suit" as "sute" has made acceptable progress. They have identified three sounds in the word ("ssss", "oo", "t") and have given a valid choice for how to spell each sound. Knowing that the "oo" sound is spelled "ui" and not "u - silent e" will come from practicing the spelling words and from reading a lot so that they will see the word in use. Good readers / spellers do this naturally, without thinking about it, while the rest have to practice it.
On the fifth week the students are given activities which continue to focus on the concepts learned in the previous four weeks, but there is no list to dictate. On that Friday, the dictation will be from the Master List, as described below. So, whenever the Spelling Activities assigned is a multiple of 5 (5, 10, 15, etc), that week will be a Master List week.
The second component of our programme is a high-frequency list. The Sitton spelling programme has identified 1200 words which make up 89% of all student and adult writing. The first 100 of these words make up 50%! It makes sense that if we could master these words we will improve our daily writing. Our class will try to master these words in blocks of 100. Once they master the first list they will become 100 List Masters; by mastering the second list they become 200 List Masters and so on. Notice that simply spelling these words correctly on a spelling dictation is not sufficient (although it is the first step). If they do not spell these words correctly in their daily writing, they could lose their Masters designation and have to begin again.
Once a student has tried any list for the first time, their next try (or tries) will consist of 50 words only (assuming they have spelled less than 50 incorrectly). Since it would make no sense to dictate one word to someone who only misspelled one (anyone can memorize one word for long enough to hear a dictation), the student must spell 50 (or more than 50 if they have misspelled more than 50).
When the student has scored perfect on this dictation they will receive a certificate recognizing them as a Master of the next level. Hopefully parents will recognize this positively at home as well.
Every fifth week (when the students have a Spelling Activity division by 5 - 5, 10, 15, etc) the students will have a dictation of their Master List. Please note that the students are welcome and encouraged to ask for dictations between these times if they feel they have mastered their list.
Please enourage the children to study these words at home. Below are the 12 Master Lists in case the student cannot find his or hers.
1000 |
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1100 |
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900 |
1200 |
The following list shows the highest level that each student has reached. If a name is not on the list, she/he has not yet mastered the first 100 words.
Zaeem
Zaeem
Zaeem
Zaeem
Zaeem, David
Zaeem, David, Nicole
Zaeem, David, Ryan C
Zaeem, David, Nicole, Thushitha, Danae
Zaeem, Thushitha, David, Nicole, Alexandra, Ryan C., Danae
Zaeem, Nicole, Alexandra, David, Thushitha, Danae, Ryan C, Justice, Christina
Alexandra, Zaeem, Danae, David, Thushitha, Nicole, Justice, Christina, Ryan C, Kajanan, Natalie, Joey, Maddy, Kylah, Daniel, Shanuga, Mathew, Ethan
Joey, Nicole, Alexandra, Ryan C, Danae, Zaeem, Justice, Thushitha, Christina, David, Natalie, Kylah, Daniel, Kajanan, Shanuga, Avery, Alister, Jeremy, Madison, Ethan, Tre, Mathew, Ruth-Ann
Ryan H.
Parents, in order to ensure a consistent school-home communication, our class utilizes a few instruments to which it is vital that each parent pay close attention.
We will be having four class parties over the course of the year. In order to share this responsibility fairly, I am dividing the class into four groups, one of which will be responsible for bringing treats for each party. Remember not to send too many treats as 6 or 7 people will be bringing some each time. Also, remember to send things that can be individually portioned out. So a cake wouldn't be good, but treats individually packaged would be. DO NOT send anything that has nuts in it, since we have nut allergies in the room. In fact, purchased items with an ingredient list on the package are the best.
| Hallowe'en | Mathew |
| Christmas | Ryan C |
| Valentine's Day | Zaeem Thushitha Avery |
| End of School | Daniel Madison Evan |