I know this is a tale tale because the things in the story are unrealistic and the person was a hero. 

One example of a hyperbole is "With two twenty-pound hammers in each hand, John Henry dug 15 feet in 35 minutes."

He is a larger-than-life hero becasue he made a pathway for a railroad that needed to pass through Big Bend Mountain. 

He did that to show how strong Jon Henry was compared to the machine.

Dear parents,

It was so nice to see your children today. We all had a wonderful discussion regarding their first week back to school.

They all participated very well in class and as always, they are such a joy to teach. They are such wonderful children and excellent students.

For today's lesson, we reviewed your children's anchor chart binders and we also covered Lesson 20 - Task 1 - U6L9 - In Class - The Drum.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: activating prior Poetry knowledge (reviewing Poetry anchor charts)

2) Reading strategies: rhythm, pace, intonation and inflection

3) Genre: Poetry (Lyric and Acrostic Poems)

4) Literary Elements of Poetry: stanza, lines, and rhyming schemes

5) Figurative Language: personification and hyperbole 

6) Types of Poems

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please independently complete the following:

Lesson 20 - Task 2 - U6L9 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing your children next Friday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

As always, it was very nice to see your children. They are such a great pair of intelligent boys and they try their very best throughout the lesson. They are both a true joy to teach.

For today's lesson, we covered Lesson 18 - Task 1 - U6L6 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1)) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

2) Reading strategies: fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

3) Genre: Narrative Nonfiction

4) Text Feature: Timeline

5) Main Idea and Key Details

6) Latin and Greek Roots

7) Greek Mythology: influence on the English language

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 18 - Task 2 - U6L6 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 271

Pages: 273-278

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful evening and I look forward to seeing your children in two weeks. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

Your children had another strong English language lesson today. They were happy, engaged, and motivated to succeed in their learning. They are such a joy to teach.

For today's lesson, we reviewed their anchor charts and we also covered Lesson 17 - Task 1 - U6L7 - In Class - The Big Picture of Economics.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: prediction, identification, text-to-self and text-to-world connections

2) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms (online research/dictionary.com)

3) Reading strategies: fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Expository Text

5) Text Features: illustrations, special print (bold, highlighted), graphics (bar graph), captions, titles, and subtitles

6) Proverbs and Adages

7) Main Idea and Key Details

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please independently complete the following:

Lesson 17 - Task 2 - U6L7 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

As always, it was a joy teaching your children today. They all worked hard and were fully engaged throughout the lesson.

For today's lesson, we reviewed your children's anchor charts and also covered Lesson 16 - Task 1 - U6L5 - In Class - Energy Island.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: prediction, identification, text-to-self and text-to-world connections

2) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

3) Reading strategies: pace, fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Narrative Nonfiction

5) Main Idea and Key Details Chart

6) Latin and Greek Roots

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please independently complete the following:

Lesson 16 - Task 2 - U6L5 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with all of your families, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

Your children were focused and engaged throughout today's lesson and they did a great job with their English language learning. They are such intelligent and sweet boys, and a true joy to teach.

For today's lesson, we reviewed your children's anchor charts as well as covered Lesson 15 - Task 1 - U6L4 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1)) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

2) Reading strategies: fluency, context clues, text features, and comprehension

3) Genre: Historical Fiction

4) Theme with Key Detail support

5) Narrator Point of View

6) Homophones

7) Latin Suffixes

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 15 - Task 2 - U6L4 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 261

Pages: 263-268

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with your entire families, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

As always, it was very nice to see your children. They all seem to be enjoying their Summer holidays, which is great!

For today's lesson, we reviewed their Anchor Chart binders and we also covered Lesson 14 - Task 1 - U6L4 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

2) Reading strategies: fluency, context clues, text features, and comprehension

3) Genre: Expository Text

4) Greek and Latin Roots

5) Suffixes

6) Story Topic

7) Main Idea and Key Details

8) Sentence Structures: simple, complex, and compound

9) Proverbs and Adages

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 14 - Task 2 - U6L3 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 281

Pages: 283-288

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with your entire families, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

It was so nice to see all your children today. They all seem to be enjoying their Summer holidays so far and that is great to hear.

For today's lesson, we covered Lesson 13 - Task 1 - U6L2 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

2) Reading strategies: fluency, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Historical Fiction

5) Literacy Elements

6) Connotation and Denotation

7) Words with /en/ sound: person, chicken, begin, etc.

8) Number Prefixes: uni-, bi-, tri-, etc.

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 13 - Task 2 - U6L2 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 251

Pages: 253-258

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with all of your families, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

It is always very nice to see your children. They are always in good spirits and engaging throughout the class, and they do work hard. Their reading fluency, decoding, and comprehension skills are improving so much. Keep up the great work, David and Jayden!

For today's lesson, we reviewed their Anchor Chart binders and we also covered Lesson 12 - Task 1 - U6L3 - In Class - Valley of the Moon.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: prediction, identification, and connections (text-to-self and text-to-world)

2) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms (online dictionary)

3) Reading strategies: pace, fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Historical Fiction

5) Theme

6) Homophones

7) Text Features: Map, Key, and Compass Rose.

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please independently complete the following:

Lesson 12 - Task 2 - U6L3 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

It was so nice to see your children again after my long vacation. They worked very hard throughout today's lesson even though they are now on their Summer holidays, lol! 

For today's lesson, we covered Lesson 11 - Task 1 - U5L10 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Key / New vocabulary: context clues, definitions, and synonyms

2) Reading strategies: fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

3) Genre: Informational Article (Text)

4) Text Features

5) Sequence in a Text

6) Proverbs and Adages

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 11 - Task 2 - U5L10 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 241

Pages: 243-248

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with your families, as always.

Mr. Grande

Dear parents,

For today's lesson, we covered Lesson 7 - Task 1 - U5L7 - In Class - A Drop of Water

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: predictions, identification, text-to-self and text-to-world connections

2) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms - (online dictionary)

3) Reading strategies: context clues, fluency, pronunciation, and comprehension

4) Sequence Chart - Water Cycle

5) Genre: Expository Text (Informational)

6) Text Features

_____________________________

There will be NO homework assigned from this lesson due to my being on holiday for 3 weeks.

Thank you.

______________________________

I wish all your children the very best outcomes for the remainder of the school year. Hopefully, I will see all your children for the Summer ANEE lessons. That would be wonderful.

I pass on my very best regards to all your families.

With much appreciation,

Mr. Grande.

Dear parents,

Your children had another excellent English language lesson today. When they are engaged in the lesson, their motivation to succeed is exceptional. They are is such a joy to teach.

For today's lesson, we reviewed their Anchor Chart knowledge. We also covered Lesson 6 - Task 1 - U5L6 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms (online dictionary)

3) Reading strategies: fluency, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Biography

5) Problem and Solution strategies

6) Text Features: photograph and caption

7) Sequence: order of events

8) Greek and Latin Roots = Affixes = Prefixes and Suffixes

9) Vowel Teams: digraphs, blends, pairs, and diphthongs

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 6 - Task 2 - U5L6 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 221

Pages: 223-228

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear parents,

For today's lesson, we reviewed your children's Anchor Chart binders and we also covered Lesson 5 - Task 1 - U5L5 - In Class - Story - Ben Franklin.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: prediction, identification, text-to-self and text-to-world connections

2) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms (dictionary.com)

3) Reading strategies: fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Tall Tale / Biography / Narrative Nonfiction

5) Greek Roots (Greek Affixes)

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please independently complete the following:

Lesson 5 - Task 2 - U5L5 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear parents,

Your children had another positive and fully engaged lesson today. As usual, they worked very hard and they completed all the lesson curriculum successfully. They are wonderful children to teach!

Please Note: I wish to thank you for the following: Anchor Charts are sent to support the lesson curriculum and they are important for helping your children reinforce the knowledge they learn in class and to successfully apply this learned knowledge into their homework and school work. I sincerely appreciate all your efforts in helping support these very effective instructional methods, for the success of your children's advanced academic learning achievements. Thank you.

For today's lesson, we reviewed your children's Anchor Chart binders and we also covered Lesson 4 - Task 1 - U5L4 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1)) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

2) Reading strategies: fluency, context clues, and comprehension

3) Genre: Folktale (Tall Tale)

4) Cause and Effect

5) Figurative Language: hyperbole

6) Open Syllables / Closed Syllables

7) Irregular Plurals

8) Homographs

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 4 - Task 2 - U5L4 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 211

Pages: 213-218

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear parents,

It is always a joy to teach your children. They are such hard working, intelligent students, and they very effectively and positively engage in our lessons, as they did for tonight's class.

For today's lesson, we reviewed your children's Anchor Chart binders and we also covered Lesson 3 - Task 1 - U5L3 - In Class - Apples to Oregon.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: prediction, identification, text-to-self and text-to-world connections

2) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

3) Reading strategies: articulation & enunciation, inflection, intonation, pace, fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Tall Tale (Folktale)

5) Text Feature: map (title, labels, diagram, key, compass rose, cardinal directions)

6) Cause and Effect

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please independently complete the following:

Lesson 3 - Task 2 - U5L3 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with all of your families, as always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear parents,

Once again, all your children worked very hard and remained fully engaged throughout today's lesson. They are a true pleasure to teach.

For today's lesson, we covered Lesson 2 - Task 1 - U5L2 - In Class - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

2) Reading strategies: fluency, context clues, text features, and comprehension

3) Genre: Realistic Fiction

4) Affixes (Greek & Latin Roots): prefixes and suffixes (un-comfort-able / im-pass-able)

5) Root Words / Base Words

6) Literary Devices: Foreshadowing and Imagery

7) Problem and Solution strategies

8) Similes and Metaphors

9) Closed Syllables

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please complete the following:

Lesson 2 - Task 2 - U5L2 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 201

Pages: 203-208

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with all of your families.

Mr. Grande.

Dear parents,

Once again, your children were engaged, active, and motivated to learn throughout today's English language lesson. They all worked very hard and I am very proud of them all. They are such wonderful children and great students. Thank you to you, their parents, for raising such wonderful children!

For today's lesson, we reviewed their Anchor Chart binders and we also covered Lesson 1 - Task 1 - U5L1 - In Class - Mama, I'll Give You the World.  

We covered the following literacy concepts and strategies:

1) Pre-reading strategies: prediction, identification, text-to-self and text-to-world connections

2) Key / New vocabulary: definitions and synonyms

3) Reading strategies: articulation & enunciation, inflection, intonation, pace, fluency, decoding, context clues, text features, and comprehension

4) Genre: Realistic Fiction

5) Figurative Language: Similes and Metaphors (identifying them in the text)

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can your children please independently complete the following:

Lesson 1 - Task 2 - U5L1 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful week and I look forward to seeing your children next Thursday. 

My very best regards are with all your families, as always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear Serena's parents,

Serena had another very positive and productive language class today. She is becoming quite knowledge and adept at communicating the specific poetry concepts she has been learning and doing so with confidence. Wonderful!

For today's lesson (her last G4 Wonders lesson!!! Yay!), we reviewed Serena's excellent weekly test submission as well as reviewing her 'very  heavy' Anchor Chart binder, lol! We also covered Lesson 20 - Task 1 - U6L10 - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts:

1) Key Vocabulary

2) Reading strategies for Poetry: intonation, inflection, 'musicality', line discipline (reading the 'line' not the 'sentence')

3) Free Verse Poem

4) Rhyming Scheme

5) Theme (Author's Point of View)

6) Narrator's Point of View (e.g.: First Person, etc.)

7) Elements of Poetry: Imagery and Personification

8) Figurative Language: Homonyms

9) Prefixes and Suffixes

10) Words from Around the World

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can Serena please complete the following:

Lesson 20 - Task 2 - U6L10 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 291

Pages: 293-296

Page: 298

Thank you.

_______________________________

Here is my proposed Lesson Plan for Fri.Dec.02nd:   **G5 U1 Wonders**

Lesson 1 - N/A - at this time

[HW - Lesson 1 - N/A - at this time]

Thank you once again.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend to the whole family and I look forward to seeing Serena next Friday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear Serena and Serena's parents,

Thank you all so very much for the wonderful Christmas package Hitomi and I received. It is absolutely lovely: so thoughtful and kind. It has made our day, our week, our month, our Christmas! Wonderful! Thank you.

For today's lesson, Serena and I reviewed her homework as well as her Anchor Chart binder. We also covered Lesson 19 - Task 1 - U6L9 - The Drum.  

We covered the following literacy concepts:

1) Pre-reading strategies: text-to-self and text-to-world connections

2) Key / New vocabulary

3) Reading strategies: Rhythm, Meter, Rhyme, Articulation, and Enunciation

4) Literary Elements for Poetry: Rhythm, Meter, Rhyme, Stanza, Imagery, Personification, and Metaphor

5) Figurative Language: Personification and Metaphor

6) Point of View: Author and Narrator

7) Genre: Poetry - Free Verse

8) Poetry Analysis strategies

p.s.: Serena said that she could not find some of the poetry related Anchor Charts in her binder. Can you please review that the Anchor Charts that were emailed to you, are in her binder? My apologies for the trouble this may cause.

Also, Serena's Anchor Chart binder is getting so thick and heavy for her. Maybe a second binder might be needed or remove older Anchor Charts that Serena no longer needs. It's a very good exercise work-out for her, lifting it during every lesson, my goodness, lol. Thank you.

_____________________________

For HOMEWORK, can Serena please independently complete the following:

Lesson 19 - Task 2 - U6L9 - Homework - Weekly Test

Thank you.

_______________________________

Here is my proposed Lesson Plan for Fri.Nov.25th:

Lesson 20 - Task 1 - U6L10 - Your Turn

[HW - Lesson 20 - Task 2 - U6L10 - Homework - Literacy]

Thank you once again.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend to the whole family and I look forward to seeing Serena next Friday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande.

Dear Serena's parents,

It is always very rewarding to teach Serena. She is an exceptional student and today's lesson was no different. She worked very hard to achieve understanding in the many areas of today's curriculum. She succeeded in doing so. Very well done, Serena!

For today's lesson, we reviewed Serena's homework plus covered, Lesson 18 - Task 1 - U6L8 - Your Turn.  

We covered the following literacy concepts:

1) Key Vocabulary

2) Reading strategies: Articulation & Enunciation, Decoding, and Comprehension

3) Main Idea and Key Details

4) Genre: Expository Text

5) Proverbs and Adages

6) Greek and Latin Roots

______________________________

For HOMEWORK, can Serena please complete the following:

Lesson 18 - Task 2 - U6L8 - Homework - Literacy

Page: 281

Pages: 283-286

Page: 288

Thank you.

_______________________________

Here is my proposed Lesson Plan for Fri.Nov.18th:

Lesson 19 - Task 1 - U6L9 - The Drum

[HW - Lesson 19 - Task 2 - U6L9 - Homework - Weekly Test]

Thank you once again.

_______________________________

Have a wonderful weekend to the whole family and I look forward to seeing Serena next Friday. 

My very best regards are with the entire family, as always.

Mr. Grande.