Dear Parents,

 In the Bush reading group, we have started our Wordmasters Challenge!    Wordmasters is a vocabulary contest done three times during the year.  Our first contest date is in December.

 We just received our first set of 25 words.  Students brought home a long yellow sheet with the words listed and an explanation of how the contest works.  We have been working hard in class to get the words on the cards and get the definitions glued on the back.  After punching the cards and putting them on the rings, I showed them how to hook the ring in their binders.  They can then look at them at home and at school.   

There is a thick, 13 page packet with interesting lines on it.  That is a packet we will be using in class to learn about the many ways our words might be related to one another.  The Wordmasters Contest is all done in analogies.  Since this is new to the students, I was not expecting them to do anything with them at home yet.  They are also learning lessons about the different ways words can be related: synonyms, antonyms, parts to wholes, wholes to parts, etc.  It is a whole new way for them to think about words. 

 The contests happen three times each year, so the card information will be on three different colors so they can see when new groups of words have been added.

Sincerely,

Nancy Bush