Monday, April 15, 2019

PTA Information
ADULT NIGHT OUT 
Please join us for NRE PTA’s Adults Night Out! Any adult - parents, grandparents, aunt/uncles, neighbors -  in the Northridge Elementary Community is invited. Come mingle with friends and meet some new ones!
Friday, May 3 from  6:00 - 10:00PM at Max Taps / County Line & University 
$10/ per person - Tickets For Sale starting April 15 at NRE Front Office
Cash or Check Only (Payable to NRE PTA) - Limited Quantities Available
Food Truck will be onsite
Silent Auction will also be happening onsite at the event - Gift Baskets / Hotel Vouchers / Restaurant Gift Cards / and much more! 

If you are looking for a FREE event for your kids that night, this may be a good resource: IMPACT TAEKWONDO Parents Night Out
Sign Up Here:  https://tkd.life/nre-pno
This PNO event is for Northridge Elementary Students only and is being run by IMPACT TAEKWONDO, not by NRE or NRE PTA. 

SILENT AUCTION
DONATIONS NEEDED! 
There will be a SILENT AUCTION during the Adults Night Out evening. Items including Gift Baskets, VIP Parking Spot, and Community Items in hopes to raise additional funds benefiting our students and classrooms at Northridge.
PTA is creating GIFT BASKETS to be auctioned off in the silent auction. PTA is asking families to help donate items for the gift baskets. Each grade level has a unique theme.
Kindergarten: Arts and Crafts
Grade 1: Outdoor Games in the Park
Grade 2: Summer Fun
Grade 3: For the Gardeners
Grade 4: Griller Delight
Grade 5: Fun at the Pool
Grade 6: Family Fitness

Item Wish List: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D4BABAE23AAFA7-nresilent
Where to drop off items: Front Office
Due Date: Friday April 26
Questions: Please contact PTA ptanorthridge@gmail.com

THANK YOU for helping Northridge!

Literacy
Patterns of Change
We have been exploring concept webs and using them to aid us in our analysis of the themes of various passages.
The Helpful Badger

• Concept Web on Generosity: How did the interactions among characters lead to examples of generosity?
• Concept Web on Gratitude: How was the theme of "gratitude" shown through the words and actions of the characters?

"On the Pulse of Morning"

• Concept Web on Hope: How did Maya Angelou show reasons for hope, images of hope, and the connection between hope and courage through her poem?
• Class Discussion: How do we know when someone is filled with hope?  Can we tell if someone is feeling hopeless?  What does it feel like to be hopeful?  Hopeless? 

Book from Novel Study

• Students created a concept web to show change throughout the story.  After a rich discussion on how change can be explored through characters' actions/words, protagonists, antagonists, setting, mood, story structure (home-away-home), perspective, feelings, and emotions, students built a web to show how their specific novel teachers readers about change.  

Grammar
Using Commas to Set Off Introductory Clauses and Phrases
Using Commas in Compound Sentences

Science
The Solar System
​Students worked in task groups to compare the relative size of the planets, the number of moons revolving around each planet, and the density of the planets.  They graphed the results, identifying the important parts of the graph (title, x axis, y axis, etc.).  Task groups then classified planets as rocky or gaseous and having rings or not having rings.  Students then returned to their collaborative groups (leader, reader, writer, manager) where the leaders facilitated a discussion on what was investigated in task groups.  

After exploring why Pluto is no longer classified as a planet, the class learned an old mnemonic used to memorize the order of the planets:
My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nice Pizza 
Groups were tasked with creating a new mnemonic that did not utilize the P for Pluto.  After each group presented their idea, the class voted on: 
Many Vikings Exhale Money Just So Unicorns Neigh​  

Friday, April 5th, 2019

Field Trip
It's come to my attention that I included the wrong date for our field trip in my email earlier.  Please note that our field trip is scheduled for Wednesday, April 10th, not the 8th.  My apologies!  If you haven't already signed your child up for the field trip on My School Bucks, please do so as soon as possible!

CMAS Information
Next week other grade levels will begin CMAS testing.  To accommodate testing blocks for their grade levels, our recess and lunch will be from 12:25-1:05.  Our specials will still begin at 10:25.  Mrs. K's class will be testing in the morning on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of next week.  In order to provide them with a quiet testing environment (for those of you who don't know, we share a mobile), we will relocate to the art room as soon as I take attendance and do lunch count.  On Wednesday we will prep to leave for our field trip from the art room.  On Tuesday and Thursday we will have our math block in the art room.  Please do your best to have your kiddos to school on time these days.  This will ensure that they can bring the appropriate materials from the classroom to the art room. 

Literacy
Writing
This week I began to hold 1-on-1 writing conferences to support students in revising and editing their persuasive letters.  We also  discussed persuasive strategies.  As a class, we reviewed how to identify the complete subject and complete predicate of a sentence and practiced editing passages for ending punctuation.  Students then applied these strategies while editing their own writing.

Reading
In addition to continuing work on independent novel studies, each novel group participated in student-led book talks.  The groups discussed cycles in the story pattern and cycles that related to the world around them by answering the following questions:

• Does the novel follow a home-away-home pattern?  Students went beyond the literal meaning of home-away-home to identify that "home" really is the feeling you have (maybe safety or comfort) when you are home.  They also discussed that "home" doesn't have to be an actual home.  It can be the time you spend with a parent or even at school.  
• Do any of the characters "come full circle" physically, emotionally, mentally, or in terms of setting?  The kiddos discussed that, although stories that have full-circle plots can be interesting and memorable, it's exciting to watch a character grow in a more linear way.  For example, a character may start out shy and reserved but learn to open up to new friendships.
• Is the order of events in the novel related to a cycle, such as the seasons or the days of the week?
• Did you notice any cycles in the world around you as you read this book?
• How has reading this novel helped you to understand cycles better?  One group shared with the rest of the class that cycles can be created and/or destroyed by humans.  This led to a rich discussion on the ways we affect the environment, especially deforestation and the impact we have on endangered or extinct species.     

Social-Emotional Learning
Ms. Nicole checked in with the class to see how they are feeling about CMAS testing.  Since the students aren't allowed to read after they complete the test, she introduced some quiet strategies the students can use to keep their minds and bodies occupied (without disrupting their peers).  I will continue to build on this bank of strategies next week!        

Friday, March 29th, 2019

CMAS Testing & Practice
As a reminder, CMAS testing will take place on Tuesday, April 16th-Thursday, April 18th.  CMAS testing includes three math sessions and three ELA sessions.  Students will take their math tests in the mornings and ELA tests in the afternoons (two tests per day).

Throughout the week, students were able to take practice CMAS tests.  The practice tests allowed students to explore the test format, practice using tools (highlighters, rulers, answer eliminator, etc.), and gain some insight into the types of questions they will see on the actual testing days.  We also held a Q&A session, as many students had questions about the test.  As many kiddos seem to be worried or anxious about the test, we are stressing to, "Do your best!  You are most than just one test!"  In the coming weeks we will also be reviewing and practicing some calming strategies and discussing how to prepare ourselves mentally for so many tests in one week.  

Colorado Play - Save the Date!
Our class will be performing the Colorado Play with Mrs. Dinkel's class on the evening of May 15th.  This week students read the script for the Colorado Play.  They filled out a Google Form to share the type of role they are interested in and how comfortable they are when speaking in front of an audience.  Students were assigned a part in the play and received a script.  Students are able to bring the script home, but it should come back to school each day, as we will be using the scripts during our school day.  On Friday afternoon, we were able to get together with Mrs. Dinkel's class to run through the script a couple of times.  The kiddos (and teachers) are very excited for this play!

If you have conflicts on the evening of May 15th and your child will not be able to attend/perform in the play, please let me know as soon as possible!   

Science
As part of our Solar System unit, students took a pretest, discussed the benefits of cooperative group work, and were assigned roles (leader, reader, writer, or manager).  The roles will change several times throughout the unit.  Students read about how our Solar System formed and summarized the main ideas.  Students also learned the real story about Pluto, read an article that defined the differences between planets and dwarf planets, and did a two-part button sorting activity to discover why classifying Pluto is such a challenge.

​Social Studies
​ Students learned the following about Explorers and Fur Traders:

• The Spanish were the first on-Native people to explore Colorado
• Early explorers told people about their travels
• European explorers brought change to Native Americans
• The Louisiana Purchase nearly doubled the size of the United States
• Early American explorers made maps and notes about the Louisiana Territory
• Southern and Western Colorado became part of the United States as a result of the Mexican American War

Literacy
Students presented persuasive ideas (see more from last week) to the class this week.  Their classmates then proposed possible counter arguments.  Students worked independently or in groups to research information needed to form rebuttals to potential counter arguments.  We started typing persuasive letters and will deliver them sometime next week!

Students are also continuing to work on their Novel Studies.  This is an in-class project.

Friday, March 8th, 2019

CMAS Testing 
Despite the recent cold weather, a clear sign of spring is preparation for CMAS assessments.  Northridge will be conducting CMAS testing April 8th-26th.  Fourth graders will be taking the tests the week of April 15th.  They will take math tests in the mornings and English/Language Arts tests in the afternoons of April 16th, 17th, & 18th.  There is no school on Friday, April 19th.  

During our testing days we ask that students do not bring electronic devices to school such as: smart watches, game devices, etc.  Any phones and/or devices will be collected during testing and returned afterwards.  Our lunch times will be later during these two weeks of testing.  If you would like additional information and details about CMAS testing, please visit our school website and click on the "State Mandated Testing" tab.  Here is a link to that page for your convenience: NRE State Mandated Testing Site

Social-Emotional Learning
Ms. Nicole read  the book What Happens Next by Susan Hughes.  The main character (the author never says if it's a boy or girl, so all kids can relate) is learning coping skills while being bullied.  The character's mom is patient, understanding, and observant.  She teaches her child about stress and how to manage it.  She also encourages her child to experience joy and express individuality.  The family dog, Sparky, never wavers in its love for the child, no matter how much sadness the child feels.  The story unfolds through a series of questions and answers.

Literacy
Students chose to work alone, in a partnership, or in a small group of three to create a topic for a persuasive paragraph.  Students are writing their persuasive piece to someone at our school.  For example, some students are trying to persuade Mrs. Lynch to add five minutes to lunch next year and some students are trying to persuade Mrs. Ivie to add Dodge Ball to PE.  In addition to selecting their topics, students worked on the rough draft of a Hamburger/Veggie Burger model for their paragraph.  Next week students will be presenting their ideas to the class and discussing potential counterarguments. 

Students are also continuing to work on their Novel Studies.  This is an in-class project.

Science
This week the students learned who they were in a science group with for our Solar System unit.  Students created folders, defined group roles (Leader, Reader, Writer, and Manager), and chose a group name.  

Friday, March 1st, 2019

Social Studies
Students analyzed how where historic tribes, like the Utes, Cheyennes, and Arapahos, lived affected how they lived.  The class broke into three groups, studied a tribe of choice, and then presented their findings to the class.  Groups organized their presentations by following the structure of the Colorado History textbook.  They identified the main ideas and details using headings and subheadings.    

Literacy
College of William and Mary's Patterns of Change
Students started reading the novel they chose for their novel study.  All students were assigned their first or second choice.  Throughout the novel study, students will complete Literature Webs for two different chapters of their choosing.  There is detailed information about these webs in last week's update.  They will also keep track of unfamiliar words and investigate/analyze two of those words through a Vocabulary Web.  Vocabulary Webs allow students to learn and apply the definitions of new words as well as locate synonyms and antonyms, the word's origin, word stems, and other words in the same family.

In addition to the Literature and Vocabulary Webs, students will be journaling three times as part of their novel study.  They will journal about the following:

• What is your reaction to what you read?  Describe how you feel and why you think you feel that way.
• Write about any experiences you have had that are similar to something that happens in the story, or about a time when you felt the way that one of the characters seems to feel.  
• Write or note an important or meaningful phrase, sentence, or passage from the reading.  Explain why it seems important or meaningful to you.

While students are working on their novel studies in class, we will also be practicing persuasive writing.  This week students learned about the Hamburger (or Veggie Burger) Model for organizing persuasive writing.  Students examined this model together and identified the important components: introduction, reasons, elaboration, and conclusion.  They completed a Hamburger Model with elements from a paragraph persuading students to visit Canada.  We also used the Hamburger Model to unscramble a jumbled paragraph about Paleontology!  

Science
Our Fudge Factory Interact wrapped up this week with a hands-on experiment and the students making recommendations to the factory owner!  

Each group built a circuit with a homemade switch.  An opening in the circuit was closed with nichrome wire, which acted as a fuse.  When the electricity began flowing, the nichrome wire tried to roll/jump out of the circuit.  

After the hands-on experiment, students analyzed their clues and notes.  They debated with their groups and wrote a persuasive paragraph for the factory owner to review.  They used the Hamburger Model mentioned above and submitted their recommendations via Google Forms.  I was completely impressed with their scientific knowledge, organized writing, and creativity.  This was such a fun Interact!

Next week we will celebrate their success in helping the factory owner to start producing chocolate again.  Part of our celebration will be a small piece of chocolate.  If your child has any food restrictions, please email me a suggestion or two of what they can have.  I will pick something up for them.

Project Lead the Way
Last Friday I was able to go to Think Tank with the class.  They were doing some impressive things from Project Lead the Way, which is facilitated by their amazing teacher, Mrs. Kast.  I asked her to send me some information about what they are doing so I could share it with you.  Below is what she sent.  Please take a look at the pictures of their vehicles as well! 

The fourth grade students have been working on the Energy:  Collisions PLTW module.  There are three activities, a project and problem that students worked through.  In Activity 1:  Energy, the students read an article on seatbelt safety and discussed the reading with a classmate.  In Activity 2:  Potential and Kinetic Energy, students observed real world applications of potential and kinetic energy and classified energy in a system as either potential or kinetic.  In Activity 3:  Speed and Energy, students explored the relationship between speed and energy of an object by assembling a simple model of a pendulum and vehicle and documented the changes to the system that can increase or decrease speed of the objects.  Changes to the system included varying the amount of potential energy by altering the mass or initial height of the objects.  In the Project:  Energy Transfers in Collisions, the students described elastic and inelastic collisions in systems they constructed using VEX IQ equipment.  Students also described how energy is conserved and transferred in a collision, including changes in motion and the production of heat and sound.  In the final Problem:  Vehicle Restraint Design, students designed a restraint system or altered the vehicle design to protect a passenger in a car during a collision.  Students prototyped their design using the VEX IQ vehicle that they constructed in Activity 3 and an egg as a passenger.  Their solutions were tested by rolling the vehicle down an inclined plane to evaluate the effectiveness of the design.  

Friday, February 22nd, 2019

Literacy
Reading 
College of William and Mary's Patterns of Change:
This week we read and discussed The Helpful Badger, a Japanese folktale, by Laurence Yep.  The students completed a Literature Web to help them explore the language and meaning of the story.  The Literature Web is a helpful tool in analyzing any story or part of a story.  Students will use these webs independently as they read novels beginning next week.  While using these webs, students explore:

• key words and phrases that were unfamiliar or interesting/exciting
• feelings that we had while reading and feelings the characters had
• the main idea of the story and other ideas the folktale showed
• images and symbols that came to mind while reading
• the structure of the story

Students participated in whole-group and small-group discussions about The Helpful Badger.  They answered literary analysis and interpretation questions, reasoning questions, and cyclic change questions.  Following the discussion they completed a Plot Map and then compared and contrasted it to the plot of another folktale, Lon Po Po.  Lon Po Po is a Red-Riding Hood story from China.

Novel Selection:    
Next week students will begin a novel study as part of our Patterns of Change unit.  They communicated their top two novel choices and the novel they are least interested in reading though a Google Form.  The novel choices are:

• Chasing Vermeer
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963
• A Wrinkle in Time
• A Single Shard
• The Mighty Miss Malone 

Writing
Throughout the week, students completed their first personal essay.  They edited their writing for correct punctuation and spacing, complete sentences, and proper capitalization.  We focused on elaboration and organization through the revision process.  These essays will come home in next weeks Thursday folders (March 1st).   

Math
On Tuesday, students took their February CML test.  These tests came home in Thursday folders.  The final CML test will take place in March.  

Social Studies
Students read the lessons Prehistoric Indians and Pueblo Farmers from the Colorado History textbook.  We focused on pre-reading strategies for nonfiction text.  Students completed an Anticipation-Reaction Guide in order to develop a purpose for reading.  During this activity, students predicted whether statements about Prehistoric Indians were true or false.  After reading the lesson, they revisited the Guide to check their predictions and discuss what they learned.  Before reading about ​Pueblo Farmers, students previewed the lesson.  They recorded what they previewed (nonfiction text features: pictures and captions, maps, diagrams, headings and subheadings, etc.) and the predictions they made.  After reading the lesson, students revisited their predictions and discussed what they learned.   

Social-Emotional Learning
Ms. Nicole facilitated a conversation about last week's bridge activity.  The class discussed what made them successful: being flexible, listening to others' ideas, and communicating ideas.  The class also played two rounds of The Number Game.  After finishing in 2.5 minutes during the first round, students discussed what helped and what hurt their efforts.  They played a second round and finished in 1.5 minutes! 

NRE Read-a-thon
Northridge PTA is excited to announce our upcoming Read-a-thon that will begin on Monday, February 25th and run through Sunday, March 3. Our school goal this year is PARTICIPATION - to get all students reading daily and excited about reading!
Help your child find an assortment of genres, choose a topic as a family to read about, create a cozy reading corner in your house, take a family trip to the library – so many ways to make reading fun!
The goal is to read at least 36 minutes a day for all 7 days. Challenge your child to increase their reading minutes each day!   Read any book or listen to an audio book on your way to and from school.
This year to celebrate our reading participation accomplishment, we are going to have a school wide parody. The Discovery and Non-Discovery class to read the most number of minutes will earn a kick ball game with the NRE admin team.  The student (both Discovery and Non-Discovery) with the most minutes read will also earn a prize.
Read-a-thon guidelines and pledge forms were sent home in Thursday folders on February 14th.

Thursday, February 14th, 2019
We had such a fantastic week in 4th Grade!  

Science:
This week students discovered various ways of building a switch for an electrical circuit.  Collaborative groups received cardboard, paperclips, brass fasteners, electrical tape and NO directions.  In the end, each group designed a different and functioning switch!  Please look through the pictures in the slideshow below.  Ask your kiddo how his or her group designed their switch!

Literacy:
Read Aloud
I recently read Roald Dahl's The Twits and Fantastic Mr. Fox to the class.  We just started my favorite childhood book, Bridge to Terabithia.

Reading
We are currently working in the Patterns of Change unit by The College of William and Mary.  This past week we revisited how to utilize vocabulary webs using literary terms such as protagonist, antagonist, denouement, and metaphor.  Within the vocabulary webs, students are asked to define the word, study the origin, locate synonyms/antonyms, and identify its part of speech.  These vocabulary words will be important in upcoming literary analysis and literary criticism lessons.  

Writing
Students are currently working on their first personal essay.  Students have completed the introductory paragraph and are currently working on the body of the essay.   Our focus has been on writing organized paragraphs using an outline and building strong sentences to write longer paragraphs.  In addition, students have been practicing proper mechanics.  

Social-Emotional Learning:
This week Ms. Nicole and I facilitated a STEM based activity.  Students collaborated in groups to design and build a bridge that would hold as many dried pinto beans as possible.  Each group received paperclips, index cards, masking tape, and string.  They had less than ten minutes to plan and construct their bridge.  We asked students to focus on positive leadership skills and inclusion throughout the lesson.  Following the construction, each group was able to test their bridge's strength in front of the class.  Ms. Nicole and I were beyond impressed by how much weight each bridge held.  Please see the pictures below!

Friday, February 8th, 2019

Social-Emotional Learning
This week we read The Lion Inside.  It's a story about a mouse that is often overlooked by the other animals.  To change this he wants to learn how to roar from the lion.  It turns out that the lion is actually afraid of mice!  The story highlights numerous themes, which the students identified and supported, but especially the importance of risk-taking.  The author states at the end of the story that everyone has a mouse and a lion inside.  

Science
​Last week students conducted an experiment to discover how semiconductor diodes affect a circuit.  Through trial and error, they learned that diodes only allow electricity to flow in one direction.  If the lightbulb in their circuit did not light with the diode as part of the circuit, they simply needed to turn the diode around.  Students concluded that diodes help make motors safer since electricity can't flow in the wrong direction, overheating a motor part.

This week students practiced building circuits with switches.  Next week they will apply what they learned to build homemade switches using materials from our classroom!

Literacy
Writing
Students reviewed how to write a friendly letter, including a greeting, body, and closing, through our school-wide Valentine Postal Service.  After writing letters, students have to write a "send to" address and a "return" address on their letter.  They also need to glue a stamp onto their letter.  Students then drop their letters into a dropbox and Student Council works to deliver mail to classroom mailboxes throughout the day.  Through our letter-writing, we have been practicing and reinforcing proper capitalization.  

Reading
Through the Junior Great Books story, On Sand Island, students practiced questioning the text and developing a theme supported by evidence from the text.  Students then debated the theme in our first Shared Inquiry Circle.  Students on the inside of the circle shared and defended their ideas on theme, as well as challenged the ideas of others.  The outside circle took notes and then held a question-answer session with the inside circle.  The following day, the students sat in the opposite circle.  This time the inside circle discussed and debated whether or not they would want the main character as a partner for a class science project.  They used the character's traits to defend their thinking.  The outside circle took notes and, at the end of the Shared Inquiry, held a question-answer session with the inside circle.

March Book Madness 
Please see the small, business-sized card I stapled into your child's planner.  Students can log on to the website provided to vote for the favorite books in a series of brackets.  Voting for the first bracket ends on February 22nd!  Each time students vote (once per bracket), their name is entered to win prizes!

Colorado Play
During music students learned all but one of the songs they will be singing in the upcoming Colorado Play!  Our class will be performing with Mrs. Dinkel's class on Wednesday, May 15th! 

Friday, February 1st, 2019

Wish Week:
Wish week is next week, 2-4-19 through 2-8-19.  Students are encouraged to participate in each day's theme.  Students pay $1/day to participate, or can bring in $5 for the entire week.  All of the money raised will go toward making Chad's wish come true!
​
Monday - hat day and/or wear a Be a Good Person shirt from a previous year
Tuesday - wear pajamas and/or bring a stuffed animal
Wednesday - wear pink or purple (pink is Chad's favorite color, purple is the color of his shirt)
Thursday - wear mismatched clothing
Friday -  wear this year's Be a Good Person shirt or purple (the color of the shirt)

Science:
STEM Fair
This week students created and assembled the pieced needed for their STEM Fair board.  They gave a presentation to parent volunteers, who in turn evaluated the class project based on students speaking knowledgeably about the project and students showing enthusiasm and interest in the project.  Our class exceeded in both areas, and we received the following feedback:

• entire class was engaged and worked together
• whole class showed they understood the project and had great participation
• students shared high-level thinking and deep understanding of the science and math behind the project

Star Lab
This week Mrs. Kast, our amazing Think Tank teacher, brought the Start Lab to our school.  Every student at NRE was able to enter the Star Lab and learn about stars, constellations, the stories behind several constellations, and the differences between the summer and winter skies.  I included a few pictures at the top.  Please ask your kiddo about his amazing experience!

Writing:
Students spent several days brainstorming ideas of personal essay topics.  They brainstormed people, places, objects, and pets that they could write about.  We also identified the difference between telling a story and supporting our thinking with reasons.  Students then created an outline for one of their ideas using Google Docs.  They were able to learn the auto-formatting and explain how creating and outline will support elaboration in our writing.  

Book Buddies:
We met with our 2nd grade Book Buddies on Friday to practice writing letters for our upcoming Valentine Postal Service.  The 4th graders and 2nd graders wrote letters to each other and the 4th graders were able to teach the 2nd graders how to address a letter and to use proper greetings and closings.   

Social-Emotional Learning:
This week Ms. Nicole led a group discussion on the "materials" needed to build friendships.  This was an extension of our lesson from last week.  Students identified the following as necessary "materials":

• people/social skills
• self-awareness - When have we reached our limits?
• knowing when we need to be active or passive
• controlling actions and reactions
• monitoring our own behavior to promote positive friendships with others

---

Friday, January 25th, 2019

​STEM Fair Project
​Students collaborated to design and build boats made from aluminum foil.  Each group's foil had the same mass, but the designs varied from group to group.  After learning how to find the volume of rectangular prisms and triangular prisms, each group found the volume of their boat.  This was a complicated process for many!  Next, groups competed to see whose boat could hold the most weight while floating in a large bowl of water.  To test the weight, students placed one dime (roughly 2.3 grams a piece) at a time into the boats until they sank.  When we ran out of dimes, some groups needed to add pennies (2.5 grams a piece) to their boats!  

Prior to the boat design and building process, students watched me place foil spheres of different sizes into a bowl of water.  We measured the diameter of each sphere and observed the percentage of the sphere that was below the surface of the water.  Students identified a pattern; as the diameter of the sphere decreased, the percentage of the sphere under the water increased.  The sphere sunk when the diameter reached 2 cm.  Students were able to take what they learned about volume, mass, density, and buoyant force and apply it to their own boat designs.  

Conclusions:

• the foil boat floated because its density was less than the density of the water
• as weight was added to the boat, the boat's density increased and it floated lower in the water
• the density of the boat was about equal to the density of the water right before the last coin was added
• when the boat sank, the density of the boat was greater than the density of the water
• two factors determined the amount of weight a boat could hold: volume and design

​
The STEM Fair Open House is from 5:30-7:30 next Thursday, January 31st.  
​Please check the home page of the NRE site for more information!

Team U.P.
Next Monday your child will have a Life Skills lesson around vaping, refusal skills and the effects on the lungs.  Your child will learn what vaping means and the harmful physical effects; how using confident body language and confident words help with refusal skills; and the effects on the lungs by participating in a pig lung demonstration.  Today we had a class discussion so the students would feel prepared for the content of Monday's lesson.  

Why this topic matters:
Helping young children to develop a strong understanding of the short and long term effects of vaping and other tobacco products. Practicing saying “no” using body language and words will help when faced with tricky situations:

• It helps build positive self esteem when making choices around vaping and other tobacco products
• ​It encourages children to make positive choices about their health
• It promotes good mental health
• ​It promotes good physical health
• It promotes positive self esteem and confidence

Social-Emotional Learning
This week students did a quick, interactive lesson to identify how our perspective may differ from the intentions of others.  We then discussed how to build a bridge, and used this as a metaphor for creating connections with peers outside of of our classroom.  Students identified "gathering materials" as one of the first steps in building a bridge.  The "materials" they felt are important to build friendships outside of our classroom were purpose, desire, courage, support, self-awareness, a destination, and a plan.  Ms. Nicole and I will use these "materials" to build our future lessons.  

Math
Because we had such a short week, there was no Friday Quick Check this week.  I am hoping to start these again next Friday!  In addition to the math groups' daily lessons, all students learned/reviewed several math skills related to our STEM Fair project.  These skills include:

• finding the volume of rectangular and triangular prisms
• finding the volume of irregular shapes
• measuring to the nearest half centimeter
• multiplying decimals   
• finding the median of a set of numbers 

​Students also took their iReady Math Progress Monitoring test this week. 

Read Aloud
This week we finished Because of Mr. Terupt.  This was a fabulous story about a class that adored their fifth-grade teacher.  We celebrated the end of this story by creating dollar words.  Please ask your kids about this; it's something fun you can try from home!

Writing
Today we began a unit on Personal and Persuasive Essays.  As we are beginning with Personal Essays, students were able to read a Personal Essay written by a 4th grader.  We then practiced creating an outline for a Personal Essay about ice cream.     

Thursday, January 17th, 2019

Social-Emotional Learning:
This week Ms. Nicole and I began a focus on building friendships outside of our classroom.  We plan to guide students in establishing the purpose of making friends in different classes as well as address the fears that many students have shared.  Throughout the process we will visit/revisit what it means to be identified as gifted and talented, how this impacts our friendships, and social/coping skills.  

Math:
This week students took their January CML test.  All groups also took a math test this week.  Look for both the CML tests and Math in Focus tests to come home in today's Thursday folder!

Fractions is a major focus for math this year.  All students have been successful with daily fraction work in the classroom, including multiplying and dividing fractions.  If you noticed that your child's fraction test score doesn't reflect their daily work, don't panic!  We will be revisiting fractions as a class in the spring.  We will be using an M3 Unit that focuses on generalizing and applying students' understanding of fractions to compare fractions, order fractions, and analyze the size of fractions.  Students will also revisit operations with fractions during this unit.    

Book Buddies:
Today we got to pair up with our Book Buddies to celebrate and reinforce their learning of force and motion by playing Tug-o-War!  The second graders from Ms. G's class and our class took turns playing with different combinations of students.  They played boys vs. girls, 2nd vs. 4th graders, etc.  The kids had a great time rooting each other on!

Team U.P.:
This week we focused on Resiliency with our Team U.P. instructor.  Please see the email I sent earlier in the week for more information regarding this lesson.

The next and final lesson will be an anti-vaping/anti-smoking lesson.  This lesson will take place in a couple weeks.  

​Friday, January 11th, 2019

Landscape Drawing/Painting
On Friday, students drew a mountain landscape and used q-tips/watercolors to paint the sky!  Students used lines to create depth and texture.  They also blended watercolors and learned how to create darker and lighter colors.  This would be a great art project to ask your child to teach you!  

Odd and Ends

• Wish Week Assembly
• Spelling Bee - We got to cheer on one of our classmates!
• Lockdown and Fire Drills
• Students cleaned and organized their materials  

Science
Using magnet wire, paperclips, a rubber band, a magnet, and a battery, students created a small, working motor.  

Literacy
Junior Great Books
This week we read Shrewd Todie and Lyzer the Miser, a Ukranian folktale.  We loved the humor in this meaningful story!  Students created a list of questions and journaled about a part of the story they wished they could change.

Writing
This week we focused on the mechanics of using quotations in our writing.  We focused on how to properly use quotation marks at the end of a sentence.    

Social-Emotional Learning
This week Ms. Nicole and I focused on how joking, teasing, and bullying impact people.  Through the book One (click the title to hear the story on YouTube), students learned about feelings of inadequacy, isolation, and the power of coming together as upstanders to find common ground.  The story centers around "red" mistreating "blue".  All of the characters in this story start as colors with different traits, but evolve into numbers as they find power in defending "blue" as a group.    

Thursday, December 20th, 2018

Sora - The student reading app
Please visit our school website and scroll to the bottom of the page for information about the Sora reading app.  The NRE website has information about how to log in!  Happy Reading!

Book Blizzard
This week we had the 1st Annual Book Blizzard!  It was so exciting to hear stories read by so many of you.  Mrs. Lynch, Mrs. Schmidt, and even my mom (who Skyped from Illinois) read to the kids!  The kiddos loved the stories and it was rewarding to see them laugh through some stories and connect with characters from other stories.  Some stories left the kids thinking and others created empathy throughout the classroom.  
The following books were read to students this week:
The Three Questions by Jon J. Muth (based on a story by Leo Tolstoy) 
The Story of Diva and Flea by Mo Willems and Tony Diterlizzi   
Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship by Isabella Hatkoff, Craig Hatkoff, and Paula Kahumbu
Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth
Zen Ties by Jon J. Muth
The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson
Love by Matt de la Pena​
Enemy Pie ​by Derek Munson
Oh, the Things You Can You Can Do that are Good for You by Dr. Suess
Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Pena
Four Feet, Two Sandals by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

1st Semester Reflection
On Tuesday, students filled out a Google form to reflect on our first semester together.  They answered questions about math and writing (skills they feel confident in and skills they'd like to improve on), who has had the biggest impact on them, their favorite science activity, what they would like to do for the STEM Fair next semester, their favorite novel from the first semester, something they taught someone else, and five words they'd use to describe the school year so far.  I can't wait to read their responses​!

Social-Emotional Learning
Ms. Nicole and I facilitated a game called "The Unfair Game".  I posted a picture of the rules.  Each kiddo began with the same amount/type of candy and there was a community pot of candy in the middle of their circle.  Students could choose to play with cards or the die.  Once they drew a card or rolled the die, they had to follow the posted directions.  By the end of the game, some kids had several new pieces of candy and a couple had none! The kids learned many valuable lessons, such as the power of giving vs. receiving.

Snowflake Bentley
On Thursday I read Snowflake Bentley to the students.  It's the story of Wilson Bentley, the first person to photograph an individual snowflake.  The process was grueling.  It took multiple winters full of attempts before he captured his first photograph.  Even then, most of his pictures were blurry or full of shadows.  He began etching the shadows away from the snowflakes in the pictures.  Each time he did this, it took several hours.  To emulate his hard work and dedication, the students then folded snowflake templates and had to cut the "shadows" out of the template.  Some of the snowflakes are coming home in Thursday folders and others will be hanging in our classroom!     

---

Friday, December 14th, 2018

South Metro Water Resource Authority Presentation
Through lots of games and activities that involved movement, students learned:

• the quote, "Water, water everywhere, nor a drop to drink." - Samuel Taylor Coleman
• where water is located in the world and the small amount of freshwater we have compared to salt water 
• that 80% of the water in Colorado falls on the west side of the Rockies, but 80% of the people in Colorado live on the east side of the Rockies
• the challenges of getting water to the Front Range while maintaining the water supply in the mountains
• about transmountain diversion (please ask your child about the very cool activity they did with plates to simulate the diversion process)

Math
​CML - Students took their second CML test of the school year.  Graded tests with the answer key came home in Thursday folders this week.
Quick Check - Be sure to look in your child's backpack for their weekly Quick Check.  This is a weekly assessment that will be used to drive instruction the following week.  It's also a great way for you to see what your kiddo has been working on in math throughout the week!
iReady Test - Students took their math iReady test this week.  Scores will be coming home in January!  

Social-Emotional Learning
This week, students finished their skits.  Students have been acting out problems and their win-win solutions.  Ms. Nicole led a discussion about how generating win-win solutions is a positive leadership skill.

 Students journaled about the meaning of, "There are two sides to every coin."  Student thoughts included:

• There are two sides to every story.
• There could be different perspectives of one situation.  Sometimes one person's perspective is right and the other person's perspective is wrong.  Both perspectives could be right and both could be wrong.   
• People might feel sad on the inside but act happy on the outside.
• Some people naturally view things positively and some people naturally view things negatively.  

We ended with a whole-class team building activity similar to Telephone.  Students learned the importance of synergy, or the ability to work as one.

Social Studies
This week students learned:

• The Gold Rush was a multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-religious event in our country's history.  
• That Chinese immigrants/miners and African-American miners were treated unfairly during this time.  Chinese miners were paid $25/month while other miners were paid more than $30/month and African-Americans were not allowed to testify in court.
• About the long-lasting Chinese Exclusion Act.
• About the differences between primary (artifacts, diaries, photographs, etc.) and secondary sources (stories passed down, our textbook, etc.)

Mining Artifact Kit from History Colorado
We were able to explore mining artifacts, photographs, and information cards this week!  Below are some examples of the artifacts students were able to hold and learn about:  
tintype (type of photography in which image was secured on a metal plate exposed in the camera)
scrip (paper currency used to pay miners, could only be used in the company store)
marbles (weren't precisely round due to the quick rolling and firing)
army uniform button (miners took them off of their army uniforms and used them for their mining clothes)
candle holder (miners could hammer one end into the rock and the other end held the candle)
blasting cap tin (inserted into the side of a stick of dynamite)
carbide lamp (utilized calcium carbide and water stored in different chambers)
wick cap lamp (lard-oil lamp) 

Literacy 
iReady Test - Students took their test today.  If your child was absent, they will make up the test next week.
Vocabulary - Students read a portion of Maya Angelou's "On the Pulse of Morning" this week.  In addition to analyzing the poem, we focused on how to make meaning of new vocabulary words.  The analysis of new words included the part of speech, origin, stem, and word families.  Students also used a dictionary to define the word, identified synonyms and antonyms, and wrote an original sentence using the new word.  

Team U.P. - Lesson on Being an Upstander
Lesson Objectives:

• Review the difference of bullying vs. normal conflict
• Have an understanding of what an Upstander is and how you can be an upstander 
• Know who to go to for help in bullying situations including safe-2-tell​

Why This Topic Matters:
Helping young children to develop a strong understanding of bullying vs. normal conflict will help students become more confident in themselves.  Bullying is defined as repeated and purposeful emotional/physical harm or the threat of emotional/physical harm.  Normal conflict is an isolated incident or happens occasionally.  It might be accidental.  There is no serious emotional harm, remorse is evident, and attempts have been made to resolve the issue.     

Our class watched the Safe 2 Tell video and discussed appropriate and inappropriate situations to report to Safe 2 Tell.  If you haven't watched this video with your child, please do so!  Here is the link: Safe 2 Tell

Friday, December 7th, 2018
Math:
This week I started a Friday Quick Check in math.  Every Friday students will complete a "quick check" of the skills covered throughout the week.  This will come home on Fridays, not in Thursday folders, so that the kiddos and their parents have timely feedback on their weekly progress.  Please look for this to come home in your child's backpack today!  

Literacy:
Starting on Monday, students began to generate generalizations about cyclic patterns of change.  Students then wrote a paragraph to defend the validity of one of the generalizations.  On Wednesday a grammar pre-assessment was given.  Since then, we've been working on sorting words based on parts of speech.  We are focusing on nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, conjunctions, interjections, and prepositions.  Students were challenged to use one word from each category to write sentences!

Students have also been working hard to complete their first draft of their realistic fiction story.  I began conferencing with students one-on-one and in small groups and will continue this process next week.   

Social Studies:
This week students read and took notes about the 1859 Colorado Gold Rush and the boom in silver mining shortly after.  We are using a variety of resources to explore and take a stand on the following focus questions:

• Was it right or wrong for miners and settlers to force the Utes off of their land?
• Was it right or wrong for mining companies to pay some groups of miners less money than other groups of miners?
• Was mining worth the pollution and destruction to land that it created? 
• Is modern day tourism good or bad for old mining towns and ghost towns?

After reading about gold and silver mining, students were asked to write a 1-page story about one of these lessons.  The stories needed to include important events, people, and places from the lesson. 

Science:
Students continued to work collaboratively to gather clues for our Fudge Factory Interact Unit.  As a reminder, this unit requires students to read, complete team activities, and perform hands-on experiments in order to discover why a Fudge Factory doesn't have working electricity.  

Friday, November 30th, 2018
Team U.P. - Lesson on Courage
Objectives:
Identify what happens to their brains when they feel afraid.
Recognize that they have choices about how to respond to fear.
Practice affirmations.
Identify situations where they feel fear.
​Recognize that acting courageously is a choice.
Activities:
We watched a video (click to watch) of a 4th grade girl giving herself a pep talk to go down a ski jump.  Someone in the background is also helping her to find courage.  This led to a discussion that sometimes courage means seeking support from others.  Students journaled about courage and created a "Courage Selfie".  The "Courage Selfie" is a drawing that students created of themselves doing something courageous.   

Math - "Becoming a Problem-Solving Genius"
This week we started a program called "Becoming a Problem-Solving Genius".  This program focuses on learning, practicing, and mastering problem-solving strategies needed for challenging math problems.  This week we are focusing on the Think 1 Strategy.  Please see materials in your child's orange math folder on the days it comes home.  There are explanations and sample problems.   

Literacy
Patterns of Change - A College of William and Mary Unit:
This week we started a new literacy unit on cyclic patterns of change.  Here is a quick overview of what we've covered so far:

• Students have taken a literature pre-assessment and a persuasive writing pre-assessment, both related to Emily Dickinson's "New feet within my garden go..."
• As a class, we analyzed the poem mentioned above through high-level questioning:
  • What is the identify of the speaker?  What evidence supports your response?
  • What can you infer about the mood of the speaker?  What evidence helps you draw this conclusion? 
  • How does the poet's imagery challenge common assumptions about the seasons?
• We shared collages and discussed how the seasons are an example of a cyclic pattern of change.  
• Students worked in collaborative groups to generate at least 25 examples of cyclic patterns of change, categorized those examples, and then created non-examples of cyclic patterns of change (student ex: bubble gum is a non-example because you chew it and throw it away).  All of these activities led to rich discussions about how cycles show change, how we know when a cycle is happening, and how we decide if something is an example or non-example of a cycle.  

Social-Emotional Learning
On Wednesday, students were paired up to act out a win-win solution a randomly selected problem.  Students spent most of our time with Ms. Nicole planning the win-win and how to act it out.  Several groups were able to perform.  The remaining groups will go next week!

Science
This week students discovered the differences between series circuits and parallel circuits.  Each science groups was able to work cooperatively in order to build each type of circuit.  Students concluded that parallel circuits were more practical than series circuits for two reasons.  One reason is that the bulbs are brighter and the other reason is that the bulbs don't go out when one light bulb is broken or missing.  

Community Groups
All 4th graders had their second round of community groups this week.  Students did the following with the teacher they were assigned to:
Dreyer - STEM Activity 
Casanova - Team Building Activities
Dinkel - Video and activities related to kindness
​Crawley - Lesson on how geese support each other and an activity to practice the skills learned from them

Friday, November 16th, 2018
Team U.P. - Kindness
Our Team U.P. facilitator worked to help students meet the following objectives:

• Have an Understanding of what Self-Esteem is
• Have an understanding of how we can help others with their Self-Esteem
• ​Have an understanding how Kindness can be contagious

Activities:

• We watched Dot (click to see the video), a quick video about an artist finding confidence in herself and then helping another artist find confidence in himself.
• Snowflakes are all unique.  Students identified ways they are similar to snowflakes.  They had time to determine what makes them unique and proud of who they are.    
• Students also created compliment sheets for their classmates.  Every student should have brought home a sheet with compliments from all 25 of their classmates in this week's Thursday folders.

​Practicing Kindness through Art
On Monday, the grandmother of one of our students came in to facilitate a special art project with the class.  Just like in the video, Dot, we practiced finding confidence in ourselves and in our work.  We also encouraged others to find confidence in themselves.

Literacy
Writing
Students are continuing to draft their first realistic fiction story.  Writing goals for all students include:

• telling the story bit by bit (elaboration)
• writing a beginning that shows where the story takes place and what is happening 
• transitions such as suddenly, after awhile, a little later
• writing an ending that connects to the beginning and middle - ending a story with action or emotion

We have also begun an Author's Chair.  This allows students to read part of their story to the class and hear positive feedback from their classmates.  All students are encouraged to read a piece of their story.

Jacob's Ladder
This week students facilitated their own Shared Inquiry Discussions related to The Blue Heron.  This story will come home in Thursday Folders after Thanksgiving break and is worth the read!  It was written by a middle school student!  During the Shared Inquiry Discussions, students were able to pose a question to their group and then facilitate the conversation that followed.  After, students reflected in writing about what they did well and what they could do better next time.  We also used The Blue Heron to practice (graded items in bold):  

• sequencing important events
• identifying cause and effect
• using the important events/cause and effect examples to draw conclusions about consequences of characters' actions
• finding details in the text to support ideas
• classifying details
• using the classified details to make and support generalizations

Social-Emotional Learning
This week Ms. Nicole led the class in identifying how effective leaders help to find win-win solutions to problems.  Positive leaders think about others and how solutions impact them as well as thinking about themselves.  After watching Story of the Zax (click to watch the quick video), students brainstormed ways to turn the lose-lose solution into a win-win. 

Science
We are continuing to help Ms. Faraday, the owner of a Fudge Factory, solve the mystery of why her factory has shut down.  The Interact is set up so that students read a description about each room before entering it.  As they read, they document potential clues as to why the factory isn't able to produce fudge.  After reading, students participate in Team Activities and hands-on experiments that reveal more clues.   After exploring complete and incomplete circuits last week, this week students explored why some materials are conductors of electricity and other materials are insulators.     

Friday, November 9th, 2018
Trapper Jonny 
Today students were able to listen to Trapper Jonny talk about how early trappers survived in the wilderness.  Trapper Jonny offered a wealth of knowledge on trapping and Colorado history.  He was truly fascinating to listen to (I may have been his most excited audience member)!  He brought in tools, clothing, furs, weapons, and traps for the students to view.    
Here are some of the highlights from our time with Trapper Jonny:

• Trapper Jonny collects many tools that early trappers used, like axes, cleavers, and skinning tools.  He has also makes some of his own.  Students learned how he makes his tools and how they are used.  
• Trappers found things in the wilderness to use as bowls.  Trapper Jonny himself eats out of a turtle shell or abelone shell while he is hunting!  
• Trapper Jonny brought several types of furs including coyote, fox, bear, elk, beaver, skunk, deer, and badger.  He was even wearing clothing made from elk skin and a raccoon hat!   
• We learned how early trappers made their own ammo and saw examples of the old guns and knives they used to hunt.  Trapper Jonny spent more than 200 hours making a replica of a trapper's knife.    
• Trapper Jonny showed several types of traps and taught about how they worked, while highlighting that trapping is no longer legal in our state.

Literacy
This week we started reading The Blue Heron, a Jacob's Ladder story written by a middle schooler.  Students examined the powerful word choices, complex sentence structure, and beautifully-developed plot through the lens of a reader.  We then discussed how we could apply what we learned as readers to our own craft as writers.  This was a helpful lesson, as students have been drafting their first realistic fiction story this week!

Earlier in the week we attended an assembly with local children's author, Justin Matott.  He is an energetic and engaging speaker who stresses the importance of making your stories come alive.  He told students that they don't have to wait to be a "grown up" to become an author and that they can use real-life experiences to create magical stories.  I think the most important thing he told our students was that he wrote 7-8 books before a publishing company finally picked one up.  Several students were surprised by this and took to heart the need for resiliency when crafting and publishing stories.       

During Book Buddies, the 4th graders worked with their 2nd grade buddies to draw a picture of a turkey on a piece of paper that was placed on top of their head!  The students had a blast and, needless to say, drew very entertaining pictures of turkeys!  We ended our time with 2nd graders choosing books to read to 4th graders.

Math
Students took their first CML test this week.  This is a national math contest.  Graded tests and answer keys came home in yesterday's Thursday folders.  

Science
This week students expanded on their knowledge of the scientific method when they learned how to perform a controlled experiment vs. an uncontrolled experiment.   Students discovered the harm that can come to results from uncontrolled experiments while determining why a seemingly complete circuit wasn't working properly.    

Friday, November 2nd, 2018
Odds and Ends

• We attended the 4th-6th Grade choir concert.  We were able to hear our choir sing three songs.  They did a fabulous job!
• 4th Grade Community Groups - Several times throughout the school year, the fourth grade students regroup for community-building activities.  This means that all four 4th grade teachers end up with about 1/4 of each 4th grade class.  To find out more, ask your kiddo which teacher they were with for our Community Group time:
  • Mrs. Casanova: team-building and "getting to know you" activities
  • Mrs. Crawley: learned about animal behavior and how it applies to being part of a team
  • Mrs. Dinkel: social-emotional lesson on initiating conversations with peers by giving thoughtful compliments
  • Ms. Dreyer: STEM activity (groups competed to build the tallest tower using uncooked spaghetti, string, tape, and a marshmallow) 

Science
Most students have shared their Electrified Invention with the class.  Each student shared the model of their invention and gave a presentation about the problem their invention solves, how it was built, how it utilizes electricity, and how it would work in the real world.  I was blown away by the inventions our class created.  This opportunity allowed students to be creative and think outside of the box in ways I couldn't even have imagined!  Students were allowed to ask questions of each inventor following the inventor's presentation.  I was so proud of and impressed by the conversations that took place.  Students politely challenged each other's thinking, offered ideas to improve inventions, asked thoughtful questions, and even asked when they'd be able to buy some of the inventions!  Please see some of the amazing inventions below!  

Friday, October 26th, 2018
CAGT Conference
On Monday and Tuesday I had the incredible opportunity to attend the Colorado Association for the Gifted and Talented Conference in Loveland, Colorado.  I was able to hear Temple Grandin, our Keynote speaker, speak about her thoughts on education, giftedness, inventions, and autism.  If you don't know who she is, I would highly recommend looking her up.  There is an HBO movie about her life and she has written some insightful books.  She is one of the first individuals with autism to speak publicly about her experiences; from her struggles in school and her ability to see in pictures (not words or numbers), to inventing the cattle chute and becoming an expert on animal behavior.

In addition to hearing Temple Grandin speak, I was able to attend breakout sessions throughout both days.  I learned about myths that may hold bright math students back, strategies for solving challenging math problems, the need to begin teaching students to think algebraically at an earlier age, and how to use picture books to meet the affective needs of gifted learners.  The CAGT conference was a fun and insightful experience.  Needless to say, I truly enjoyed being the student and continuing my own education for a couple of days!  

Literacy

• JGB - We finished Fresh, including our Shared Inquiry/Fishbowl Discussion.  Students discussed whether or not the main character actually wanted to release Fresh and why he waited until the last night to think about doing so.  
• Writing (Realistic Fiction) - Students continued developing their characters by writing lines and/or scenes for their story.  We discussed that writers don't always write their stories in order.  Sometimes they put scenes together like laying bricks to make a brick wall.  The class also listened to me read Fireflies aloud.  We are using this story to discuss story arcs (plot) and how to develop the plot in our own writing.  
• Mentor Sentence Week 2 - This week students studied the sentence, "Dad dished up three plates, side by side, with big pieces pie and giant scoops of ice cream."  In addition to identifying parts of speech, students learned that commas can be used to offset an appositive, or bonus piece of information.   

Trapper Jonnie
Trapper Jonnie, originally scheduled for a couple weeks ago, had to cancel due to a family emergency.  We have rescheduled him for Friday, November 9th at 12:30.  We will be in Mrs. Dinkel's classroom for the presentation.  If you haven't already, please be sure to pay for this field trip using My School Bucks.

Science
Students should be wrapping up their inventions to bring into the classroom on Monday, October 29th.  Students will be developing Step 8, their presentation, in class on Monday and Tuesday.  Invention presentations will begin on the 31st.  
*If your child did not bring their invention to school today (the 29th), they can bring it tomorrow.  

Friday, October 19th, 2018
Homework:
Please remember to check and initial your child's planner daily, Monday-Friday.  Students should continue working on their Electrified Invention project.  We changed the due date for steps 5-7.  These steps are now due on Monday, October 29th.  This allows students to work on building the model for a longer period of time.  Please be sure the models are being built/constructed in a way that students can bring them into the classroom!

​Math IXL - Our class has access to this helpful resource.  We will begin using it for homework soon!

Literacy Updates:

• Current Read Aloud: Because of Mr. Terupt
• We began a Mentor Sentences program:
  • Quick daily lessons that focus on grammar and sentence structure
  • Students study the craft of other authors in order to imitate their style in their own writing
• Junior Great Books: We finished The Crow Call and took part in a Shared Inquiry/Fish Bowl discussion.  During the discussion students listened to and challenged each other's thinking while building on our ideas of trust​.    
• Writing: Students have created a seed idea and story summary for their first realistic fiction story.  We spent several days developing our main character, including internal and external traits.

Social-Emotional Learning:
Ms. Nicole worked with the students on a team-building activity.  Students had to touch pieces of paper numbered 1-30 that were laid out in a rectangle on the ground.  One student could be in the rectangle at a time and students could not touch two consecutive numbers.  The challenge: No talking!  

​The purpose was to "begin with an end in mind".  The students had time to plan as a whole group, with no guidance from adults.  As this was a timed activity, the goal was to improve on the time each time the students completed the activity.  Students made progress each time and reflected on what works and what doesn't work when planning as a whole group.  The focus of the student-led conversation quickly became, "How can quieter leaders be heard?"

Friday, October 5th, 2018
Homework
This week students started bringing home their planners (assignment notebooks) and completing a minimal amount of homework.  As you may know, there is a great deal of research regarding whether or not homework is beneficial, especially before middle school.  I strongly believe that after school children should spend time playing or exploring outside, using their imaginations, eating dinner with their families, and/or participating in extracurricular activities.  These are some of the ways we encourage our kiddos to be well-rounded humans.  

With that being said, this year I would like to help students focus on developing good homework habits by:

• bringing planners and homework folders home and back to school each day
• copying homework down correctly
• completing homework on the days it's assigned
• track reading by pages read or minutes spent reading each night (there is a space for this in the planner at the bottom of each week)
• packing up backpacks (with planners and homework folders) the night before school
• developing a homework routine at home (this looks different for each kiddo)

Parents - Please initial your child's planner each day, Monday-Thursday.  Some days the planner will be empty or say "no homework".  There is a space to initial at the bottom of each day or column.  If you prefer you can initial the boxes that contain the specific homework assignments.  Please let me know if you have any questions! 

Social-Emotional Learning
Ms. Nicole, our school social worker, is using The Leader in Me program to facilitate lessons on positive leadership.  This program supports kids in the development of seven leadership habits, the first of which is being proactive.  Throughout the lessons on proactive behaviors, students have been exploring their own habits, identifying what they do and don't have control over (past mistakes, our mood, how we treat others, etc.), and how their brains process events that they view as exciting or scary differently.  

Reading 
As we continue to explore the theme of "trust", we began our next story from the Junior Great Books series.  This week we read The Crow Call by Lois Lowry.   Other books by this truly amazing author include Number the Stars and The Giver​.  Lois Lowry is truly a master of words and she has a special talent in stringing them together to create engaging and complex sentences.  We are studying her craft and discussing how we can mimic this in our own writing.  We will continue with this story after fall break.    

Science
Last week students discovered that electricity can create magnetism.  This week students explored whether or not the opposite is true.  Can magnetism create electricity?  Yes!  Students discovered that magnetism can actually cause electrons to move, therefore creating electricity.  In order to make this discovery, students created a small version of a generator.  They wrapped part of a wire around a magnet and another part of the same wire around a compass.  After attaching the two ends of the exposed wire, the students moved the magnet in and out of the coiled wire.  The faster the magnet moved, the faster the needle on the compass moved!

We also used iron filings to help us visualize a magnet's force field.  After laying a sheet of paper over a magnet, we poured iron filings on top of the paper.  The filings stood up near the poles, the strongest parts of the magnet.  We were also able to see lines of force (the iron filings being pulled toward the poles)!  Place your cursor over the pictures below to learn a bit more!  

Friday, September 28th, 2018
Reading:
This past week we wrapped up our first story in the Junior Great Books series, Thank You, M'am, by doing two engaging and exciting activities.  

On Monday we had our first Shared Inquiry discussion in a fishbowl setting.  The kids sat in two concentric circles.  The inside circle held a discussion to answer a student-created question about the text while the outside circle took notes on the parts of the conversation they agreed with and disagreed with.  They also wrote a question they had after listening to the discussion.  Afterward, the kids traded places and a new student-created question was answered.  We loved this activity!

On Tuesday students put themselves into Langston Hugh's shoes to write a sequel to the story with a couple of twists... The main character was a man instead of a woman and the story took place in 2018 instead of the 1950's.  Creativity filled the room as individual students began brainstorming ideas on how to connect the two stories!  

Writing:
Along with our Book Buddies, we wrote poems this week based off of the book, The Best Part of Me.  The original book is a collection of student poetry and black-and-white photographs of the poets' favorite part of themselves.  Our class wrote poems about knees, hands, feet, eyes, arms, etc.  We even had one student write about his face and another student write about her brain!  These poems are hanging in the hallway outside of the music room.  Please take a look when you stop by for conferences!

On Friday we were able to share our poems with our second-grade Book Buddies as well as listen to their poems.  Each partner listened closely in order to give positive feedback to other.

Science:
​This week we explored the question, "Can electricity create magnetism?"  In order to discover the answer, students wrapped a wire around a nail and attached each end to a battery to complete the circuit.  Then they moved the nail through a pile of iron filings and observed closely.  The nail attracted the iron filings!

Coming Up Next Week
iReady Progress Monitoring in both math and reading:

• Students will log into iReady and answer questions in order for me to monitor the progress they are making in both subject areas.
• This will be another data point for me to use when placing students into flexible groups and making instructional decisions. 

Parent-Teacher Conferences:

• Please check your conference time and arrive a few minutes early!  I have a pretty good record of running on time.  :)
• Please knock on my mobile door when you arrive to alert me that you are there.  Then, wait patiently for me to open the door.  I am likely wrapping up the conference before yours.
• During your conference time we will go over your child's ALP goals and iReady data.  

Thursday, September 20th, 2018
Reading
On Monday we wrapped up The Fox and the Cat.  Students explored the theme/concept of the fable and were surprised to find that they could draw such deep and meaningful information from such a small amount of text!  We also played Charades!  Students had to act out (with or without props) a creative way that the Fox could've escaped its enemies and the rest of the class had to guess the method of escape!  The fable should have come home in this week's Thursday folders if you'd like to read it.

On Wednesday we began our first story from the Junior Great Books series.  We have read Thank You, M'am by Langston Hughes twice and the students have prepared several questions for us to use as the foundation of our Shared Inquiry Discussion that will take place next week.  While reading, the students have written questions, identified places in the story that surprised them, and debated when the woman in the story was being hard on the boy or easy on him.
  
Math
This week students explored that there are multiple ways to solve problems through CML.  Students worked with their CML partners to persevere through several challenging problems.  As a whole group we explored two of those problems, and their various solution strategies, in depth.  A handful of kiddos were able to come to the board to model their mathematical approaches to the problems for the rest of the class.

Science
This week students explored electromagnetism through a hands-on experiment.  They wrapped a wire around a compass and connected the ends of the wire to a battery.  They observed the needle on the compass spin in circles when the circuit was complete.  During the experiment, I realized that very few students knew how a compass works and how to use it for navigation.  We spent our science block the next day using a compass to navigate through directions.  
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Fun Run Prize Day
Our Prize Day was a blast!  All students enjoyed a Kona Ice and were able to participate in the inflatables.  We also had a class foam party.  The students loved it!  We even had one student participate in the Money Machine!  

Friday, September 14th, 2018
Art:
This week in art, students used vegetables, herbs, and flowers to create paint!  They drew pictures of plants and then used the paint to make their pictures colorful.  I was fortunate enough to stop by art on this day to see the magic happen and snap some pictures!  Please click through the slideshow below to see some of the students' work.  

Math:
Students worked in small groups this week.  In their daily rotations, they played math games, completed lessons in a math domain of choice on Freckle, had small group instruction, and worked with their group to complete practice problems.  
We started CML (Continental Math League) today.  CML is a math program that challenges students' problem-solving skills.  We will be focusing on problem-solving strategies and CML problems every Friday.  Each student has a CML partner.  
Reading:
This week students read a short fable, The Fox and the Cat, from the Jacob's Ladder Reading Comprehension Program.  Students worked hard to climb the "ladder" of skills, from their basic understanding of the text to a critical analysis of the characters and theme.
Book Buddies:
Today we started meeting with our second grade Book Buddies!  Book Buddies is an exciting opportunity to practice reading skills and build community with students from another class and grade.  We will meet with Ms. Goldwasser's class every other Friday to support the instruction of good reading habits and participate in community-building activities.  Today the 4th graders interviewed the 2nd graders and then listened to the 2nd graders read!  
Science:
Students built models of a primitive battery using pennies, dimes, and wet paper towels.  They learned that the development of the earliest battery was made because of the research and hard work of two different scientists, one of which never saw the actual battery created.  We also watched a Brain Pop video and read a leveled article on Batteries.      

Friday, September 7th, 2018
Morning Work
Each morning students come into the classroom and participate in engaging activities to get their brains activated.  We have a different theme each day:

• Motivational Monday - Students choose a sticky note with someone else's name from the board.  They write a compliment, motivational quote, or friendly note to help start their classmate's week off in a positive way.  
• Typing Tuesday - On Tuesdays students will be practicing their typing skills using Typing Pal.  I am working on getting accounts for a few students and am hoping we can start this next week!
• Wonderworking Wednesday - Students collaborate to build and create.  We have two sets of Legos, gears, Play-doh, magnetic shapes, and Jenga.  
• Thankful Thursday - We have not started this just yet, but on Thursdays students will be engaged in activities that support an attitude of gratitude! 
• Freedom Friday - Students are able to choose a board game to play with friends or to work on a passion project independently, with a partner, or with a small group.  

Math
This week students went through a rotation of five stations.  Each math group was able to name their team and create a team logo, solve a challenging problem by creating an organized list, complete a lesson on Freckle, play Multiplication War, and meet with me in a small group to practice multi-digit multiplication and writing numbers up to the ten millions.
Reading
The class listened to Jumanji as a read aloud.  They recorded powerful verbs from the story as they listened.  Students then brainstormed the "boring" version of each verb and then heard a few pages read with the "boring verbs" instead of the powerful verbs.  What a difference!  Following the lesson on verbs, students were able to design their own magical game board and write the instructions for the game.
Science
We explored static electricity and even utilized it to make a paper spider "dance"!  Students watched a Brain Pop video on electricity and then read a related Newsela article at two different Lexile levels.  They emailed me to share new information they learned from the article as well as explain how the two articles were structured differently.   
Social-Emotional Learning
Ms. Nicole taught a lesson on the Happy Brain vs. the Stressed Brain.  Students learned how their brains react to happiness and stress differently.  
iReady Results
You should have received your child's math and reading iReady results in yesterday's Thursday folder.  iReady is new to all of us, as is the process of reading and interpreting the data.  My hope is that we will receive more training between now and our fall conferences so that I can help you to understand where your child stands compared to the national norms of this test.  It’s important to remember that this is one point of reading data and one point of math data.  iReady is a brand new test for students too, so for now the most important thing to look for is growth between this test and the next!

Friday, August 31st, 2018
Special Activities from the Week:

• Assessment Day - This day went well!  All of our students started their math iReady test.  Most finished on Assessment Day and others have been finishing throughout the week.  Look for iReady reports to come home in Thursday folders in the next couple of weeks. 
• Fun Run - Our class loved the Fun Run!  They loved being able to bond with their friends while exercising, raising money for our amazing school, and getting sprayed with water and color!  Everyone put in an amazing effort and I was so proud to watch the kiddos running hard, having fun, and supporting each other!
• PRIDE Assembly - We had our PRIDE Kick Off Assembly.  The PRIDE words are new this year.  PRIDE stands for Patient, Respectful, Involved, Determined, and Exhibits Safe Behavior.  During the assembly the students watched a video about PRIDE, saw teachers play Minute to Win It Games, and listened to a song that our music teacher and another teacher wrote and played together!
• Instrument Demonstration - All 4th graders were able to learn about, hear, and try several band instruments.  Band information came home in yesterday's Thursday folder. 
• First Library Visit - Our class visited the library, which is now called the Learning Resource Center.  Mrs. Peck is our new librarian.  She taught our class library expectations and students were able to check out their first library books for the year!

Math:
This week we started the Problem Solver program.  Problem Solver is a program that teaches several problem solving strategies.  The strategies will also be utilized in CML, which will start in our classroom in the next couple of weeks.  The strategies we focused on this week: Use or Make a Table and Make an Organized List  
Read Aloud:
We are halfway through the book Wish.  This is a very heartfelt and emotional story about a girl who is sent to live with family she hardly knows.  She struggles with anxiety and to control her anger, but finds a sweet friend that helps her learn to control both.  Throughout the story she is trying to catch a stray dog to keep and love.  
Reading:
Our Shiloh unit has helped us to practice compare/contrast and inferencing this week.  The students compared and contrasted how Marty and his family took care of Shiloh after he was attacked to how they could infer Judd would have taken care of him.  Students collaborated to create Venn Diagrams and then worked on their own to write a compare/contrast essay.  
Science:
This week we created science folders/journals to track what we learn about Magnetism and Electricity throughout the next several weeks.  We will be learning about these topics through an Interact unit that requires the students to solve a mystery!  Phase 1 will begin on Tuesday.  This phase is focused on background knowledge, the scientific method, and hands-on experiences.  
Writing:
Students took their writing baseline assessment.  Writing lessons focused on writing realistic fiction will begin next week!
Social-Emotional Learning:
Ms. Nicole continued to speak with kids 1-on-1 to learn more about them!
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Friday, August 24th, 2018
Assessment Day/Picture Day:
Assessment Day is next Tuesday, August 28th.  This date was chosen by the district.  Please see the 4th grade Sign-Up Genius Link (sent in a previous email) for your child's individual testing time.  There is no school this day, but please make sure to have your child to our classroom on time for their testing time slot!  Keep in mind that parking may delay you.  Students must have headphones for Assessment Day.  If you haven't already sent headphones in with your child, please do so by Monday!  Individual student pictures will also be taken on Assessment Day in the Gym.  Our class picture will be taken on the day designated for picture retakes later in the school year.  
Fun Run:
The NRE Fun Run is scheduled for Wednesday, August 29th.  Information came home in backpacks earlier in the week.  Our school goal is to raise $125 per student.  Online pledges can be made at run4fundscolorado.com/northridge.  If you are collecting donations, please be sure your child's name is on all donation envelopes.  Pledges are due Wednesday, September 5th.  Students will receive their Fun Run shirts next Tuesday.  4th grade runs from 10:25-11:05.  If you would like to watch your child run and cheer them on, please arrive to NRE a bit before 10:25, as parking may be a challenge! 
Snack and Water Bottle:
Please be sure your child has a healthy snack and water bottle each day!  Our classroom snack expectation is that each child may bring and eat 1 snack or 2 smaller snacks during snack time.  Water bottles should be filled with water only.  Please do not send any other type of drink for snack.  As you can imagine, we have lots of spills at school!
Math:
This week we finished A Week of Inspirational Math by exploring and looking for patterns in Pascal's Triangle.  Students also practiced visualizing math by explaining how given shapes grew.  This lesson was especially intriguing for me, as I was completely surprised by how many different ways students visualized the shapes growing (see the related sheet in yesterday's Thursday folder and pictures to the left).  The theme from Inspirational Math was making mistakes grows our brain and allows for future successes.  
New Math Games: Addition War, Multiplication War, Addition Snap, and Multiplication Snap
Reading:   
​We are continuing to read and enjoy Shiloh.  This week we explored how and why opinions of characters change throughout the story.  Students also closely examined the simile, "Having Shiloh a secret is like waiting for a bomb to go off."  After evaluating the meaning of the simile (one student shared that once a bomb is detonated the explosion is inevitable, just like once Marty told a lie it was inevitable that his parents would find out), students were challenged to rewrite the second half in a way that conveyed the same message.  Some examples were: "Having Shiloh a secret is like..."

• jumping out of a plane with no parachute.
• being in a room that's impossible to escape.
• standing on a sinking ship.
• a volcano just waiting to erupt.  

Social-Emotional Learning:
This week Ms. Nicole took the class outside for a team-building activity.  Students stood in a circle and tossed a ball of yarn to each other while sharing something about themselves.  The yarn eventually created a web.  The class worked on leadership skills, specifically identifying when to be the leader and when to let someone else lead.  They also worked on communication and group problem-solving skills.   

Friday, August 17th, 2018
Math:
We are starting the school year off with A Week of Inspirational Math.  This is an amazing program that teaches students (through a series of videos and interactive, challenging lessons) that all people are "math people", everyone can achieve the highest levels of math, and that parts of our brain actually grow and shrink depending on how and how often they are utilized.  The program also teaches kids that struggling with math concepts before learning them actually grows our brain and that speedy math often doesn't equate with a deep understanding of math.  If your child hasn't already shared the following activities with you, please ask them about 4 Fours, Visualizing Numbers (the corresponding sheet came home in Thursday folders), and Paper Folding (geometry and fractions).  We will continue this program on Monday!  

Math games will be used throughout the year to encourage math talk, develop leadership skills, and practice friendly competition.  This week students learned Roll to 100 and Roll from 100.  This game requires a 30-sided die, addition and subtraction strategies, and some luck!  

Reading:
We started our first novel study this week!  We are reading Shiloh.  This is one of my favorite books and I am so excited to be sharing it with my students!  Through our study of this novel, students have been building vocabulary, learning and practicing 4th grade expectations for written responses, locating similes, and taking part in student-directed literature circles to discuss important themes from the story.  I have been blown away by the students' interest in the book as well as their insightful written responses.  The biggest theme we explored this week: Is it ever acceptable or justifiable to tell a lie?

Writing:
In addition to written responses students have also been creating a poem about themselves.  The poem is called What am I Like?  Students were given a template to create a poem in which they had to compare themselves to four different things from our world.  Here are some examples of what students chose to compare themselves to: an orchid, the moon, winter, a roaring river, the ocean, a hot July night, a sleepy sloth, a peaceful piano, a sweet skittle, a watermelon, Colorado, a paintbrush, and a book mark.  The creativity in our classroom is both endless and impressive!  I will be hanging the poems in our classroom, but will send copies home in Thursday folders in the next couple of weeks.  

Social-Emotional Learning: 
Ms. Nicole, our school social worker, has been in to observe the learning taking place in our classroom as well as get to know the students.  She will be teaching lessons in our classroom about once a week!  Today Mrs. Hilton, our new school counselor, will be coming in to do a quick presentation to our class about her role in the school.  She is giving the presentation to all classes so students have a chance to meet her. 

See photos from last week's Wikki Stix creations below. 
Students created a piece of art that their classmates were then able to name.  This lesson taught us to honor others' perspectives and creative differences.  

Friday, August 10th, 2018
Please fill out the online survey regarding student photos in the email sent earlier this week.  The subject reads, "Welcome to 4th Grade!"  Each student should have the survey filled out one time by a parent.  

10-15 photographs and 1-2 child-friendly magazines are due by next Wednesday, August 15th.  These will be used to decorate writer's workshop journals.  The photographs will be cut and glued to the journals.  

I have truly enjoyed getting to know my students over the last two days!  Our classroom has been filled with questions, an eagerness to learn, and laughter.  We have used two read alouds, The Teacher from the Black Lagoon and Spaghetti in a Hot Dog Bun as lead ins to discuss what qualities students desire for their teacher and what concerns or expectations students may have for the school year.  Students have also completed a survey and created a personal Coat of Arms, both of which have helped me better understand who my students are as people in addition to learners.  

Yesterday small groups were formed to compete in the Paper Chain Challenge.  Each group was given an 11x17 piece of construction paper, scissors, and glue in order to make the longest paper chain possible.  They had five minutes to plan and thirty minutes to build.  Some of the chains stretched across the room and others weren't quite so long!  During our reflection the class analyzed why some chains were longer, why the shorter chains were more durable, and what they would do differently if given a second chance.  

This afternoon I will be reading Ish aloud to the class.  This story focuses on how to cope with mistakes as well as honoring others' perspectives.  Following the read aloud each student will be given a set number of Wikki Stix to create a sculpture or some type of artwork.  Students will then travel around the room with a pile of sticky notes to name everyone's artwork.  When each student returns to their seat they will have a pile of 25 sticky notes with ideas on how to name their art.  Our group reflection will address creative differences, honoring perspective, challenges faced, and how to fail forward when we feel like we've failed.     

​ Wish List Items: Expo markers (thin and thick), white board erasers, black sharpies

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