Word Choice and Plays

Hello parents!

One of my favorite times of the day is when my sons and I get home from school and I get to hear about their day. I often start with, “How was your day today?” The response I receive is, “Good!” Then I ask, “Can you tell me why it was so good?” I then get, “It was really fun!” 🙂

Of course, I love the fact that my kids think school was ‘good’ and ‘fun’ BUT these words are not descriptive of what they actually did or felt about the day. I’ve recently told them those two words are not allowed anymore and they must choose ways to tell me about their day with description…..  Now, I get “It was awesomely amazing because we played with shaving cream!” or “My lunch was delicious. I ate nachos and fruit for lunch.” I share this story because third graders are being encouraged to use stronger words in their writing. No more writing about a ‘fun trip’ or a ‘good party’–they must choose words that show the reader what was really happening. We are focusing on learning new words from our daily reading, using a thesaurus and digging deeper!

I hope to see you all at the play performance next Friday, February 3rd at 1:30. I expect the plays to last about 45 minutes. There will be light refreshments served.

**Reminder**  The overnight Atlanta field trip is on Tuesday, March 7-Wednesday, March 8. PLEASE let me know asap if your child will NOT join us for any reason. I am solidifying plans for the zoo, aquarium and Atlanta Jewish Academy!