*Words of the Week*

Hello families! I wanted to clarify how this week's Words of the Week (WOW) should be working. After giving a math assessment last week, I saw that many students had trouble spelling the names of shapes. As fascinating as "ploygons" and "circels" sound, I figured that would be a good place for us to start!

Here are this week's 10 words:

triangle
quadrangle
pentagon
hexagon
heptagon *note: heptagon - a seven-sided polygon (not a "septagon!")
octagon
polygon
square
circle
rectangle
(diamond and rhombus are bonus words).

I expect all students to copy the words down CORRECTLY, and after checking last night's homework, I see that I will need your help to make sure students are not rushing through and learning the words incorrectly, as many kids did on their first attempts at this weeks' homework. PLEASE look over your child's WOW homework each night and check in to be sure they know how to spell the word and what it means.

I did a Dictionary lesson so kids are highly encouraged to use dictionaries at home regularly! They may borrow one from the class if needed.

TIPS FOR WOW:

*Encourage your child to look for the ROOT word, and examine how SUFFIXES and PREFIXES change the meaning of the root word.

*Turn WOW homework into a game. Family spelling bees, Hangman, Boggle, etc... are fun ways to practice.

*Your child has a two-sided sheet entitled "Examples of Word Study Homework" in their Take Home Folders. Please read through this, as this paper serves as a guide for their WOW homework each week. It gives very specific examples of the activity choices they have for each night, and exactly how I expect it to be organized and labeled. Please use this guide when checking homework! The words on the sheet are only examples (cat and now are not 4th grade spelling words!!!).

*Online dictionaries: www.dictionary.com, www.wordcentral.com, www.factmonster.com

Please contact me if you have any questions. Thanks!

**Allisyn