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