It seemed like a crazy short week - in large part due to the Snow Day on Monday, I think. Amoung the week's highlights was the Winter Concert put on by the third and fourth grade chorus led by Ms. Trasciatti-Holmberg. We attended the concert on Wednesday afternoon. As you may know, it was also held on Wednesday evening. I was struck by the varied repertoire, the precision of pitch and of enunciation. The singers looked so joyful! It was thrilling to see and hear the performance.
We are honing in on our blog posts a bit, as I mentioned last week. Students did some revisions on old posts and posted them. This isn't exactly how blogging works-posting old news-but I'm hoping we can raise the standards for grammar, usage and mechanics even for unchecked work! Please encourage your children by reading their posts, noting when there is no new post and generally inquiring about their school lives with specific questions. Hopefully this blog gives you some starting points.
In other writing news we did some work with pronouns and plurals in our Daily Language Review and we took further steps in persuasive writing. We are looking at organization and author's craft in particular. Students are working on a persuasive essay about a favorite candy, game, book or TV show. This is a great way for me to connect with students about what is important to them. One favorite topic is Minecraft. It is helpful for me to read what they think about this game and why it is so important to them.
In fourth grade math we are revisiting place value, measurement and computation of multi digit numbers. The Bridges Math Program does take an innovative approach. I find that students are able to build a much stronger conceptual understanding through the work we are doing than I have seen with other programs. In third and fourth grade math both there is a need for more work on basic math fact practice. We do this at school with our work on the program Xtra Math. The problem is that it is a skill and drill kind of program that has lost some of its luster lately. It would be great if you could encourage your child to work toward mastery at home with flashcards or by him/her using Xtra Math for 5-10 minutes here or there. Actually, even just asking him or her where she is in the program would be helpful.
Yesterday we determined the kind party we will have on Friday to celebrate Valentine's Day. We will be having a card exchange and some special snacks. Students created a menu and signed up to bring in food items. They have access to this list in Google Drive so they can show it to you. The menu is Fruit Rainbow, Class Made Trail Mix, and a few other special snack items. If you would rather not supply what your child signed up for, that's fine. I'm sure we will have enough food items. We will build a fruit rainbow and the trail mix together. Our Stone Soup experience was very successful; we are eager to make and eat food together again! I have put a link to the sign up doc in the upper right hand corner of this blog. It is not a doc you can edit but you can see what your child signed up for. Please let me know if you have questions or concerns.
Other things to note:
We had the second of four science workshops this week focusing on the topic of matter.
On Thursday our school mascot, Einstein visited to invigorate our commitment to SMART behaviors.
NAEP testing was rescheduled for Tuesday, February 10. All fourth graders will participate.
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
Leaving January Behind
Last week was a great one. We did not have special events so we were able to hunker down in our subject areas and our science workshops, focusing on matter, began.
In math, fourth graders finished up Unit 3 with an assessment. The assessment revealed that all students made great progress in their learning about fractions and decimals. Students really applied themselves to the tasks, worked with a great deal of perseverance and experienced success! They had a second assessment on Friday which was cumulative - questions and problems relating to any concepts presented this year. We had less success on that one but still, students showed they are making steady progress. Unit Four has a focus on place value and multidigit computation.
In writing we continued our work on persuasive writing. You'll remember that students wrote their first pieces presenting a need for change. We are now working on making appreciative claims. Students have used the scoring rubric to look at a sample essay and are gathering topic ideas. We continue to practice work on grammar, syntax and semantics through our Daily Language Review. Students struggle to apply their learning from work on these isolated worksheets to their own authentic writing. Which reminds me, if you are not seeing blog posts regularly from your child, that means the basics have not been corrected (by your child) in his or her posts. What I mean by that is capital letters in titles, periods and sentences that make sense. I noticed this weekend that there are a lot of unpublished, uncorrected posts. I'll work on a system to support students in understanding this condition for posting and accepting the responsibility of correcting their work.
As I mentioned in the opening, we have begun our Wednesday science workshops. It is a series of four workshops regarding properties of matter and states of matter. We have combined the students from all core classrooms to create four new groups. These groups are cycling through the workshops. The workshops are Properties of Matter (Ms. Schoolcraft), Properties of Gas (Ms. Ward), Properties of Liquid (Ms. Weegar) and Conservation of Mass (Stewart). These workshops are designed to give hands on inquiry science experiences.
The snow day today will throw a bit of a wrench in the NAEP testing plans. NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) also known as The Nation's Report Card happens every year in a random sampling of schools across the country. The test is administered at the fourth and eighth grade levels. When a school is tested, the test is given by outside professionals and the school's teachers (i.e. your teachers on Equinox, except for support staff and special educators) have no part of it. Given the selection process it has, I'm not sure there will be a make up day. We'll keep you posted.
Coming up we have the chorus concert on Wednesday. We are very excited about that. We will talk about and decide what kind of party we will have on February 13th to celebrate Valentine's day. We may do another Stone Soup type of experience. Students are encouraged to bring cards with an emphasis on the message rather than on toys and candy. As always, the rule is if you bring a card for one person in our classroom, you must bring one for everyone in our classroom. Skiers will have an opportunity to give and receive cards but the actual party will be at the end of the day.
I hope you will enjoy the new slide show in the side bar. This highlights the work in our Science of Sound with the Create It Engineers.
In math, fourth graders finished up Unit 3 with an assessment. The assessment revealed that all students made great progress in their learning about fractions and decimals. Students really applied themselves to the tasks, worked with a great deal of perseverance and experienced success! They had a second assessment on Friday which was cumulative - questions and problems relating to any concepts presented this year. We had less success on that one but still, students showed they are making steady progress. Unit Four has a focus on place value and multidigit computation.
In writing we continued our work on persuasive writing. You'll remember that students wrote their first pieces presenting a need for change. We are now working on making appreciative claims. Students have used the scoring rubric to look at a sample essay and are gathering topic ideas. We continue to practice work on grammar, syntax and semantics through our Daily Language Review. Students struggle to apply their learning from work on these isolated worksheets to their own authentic writing. Which reminds me, if you are not seeing blog posts regularly from your child, that means the basics have not been corrected (by your child) in his or her posts. What I mean by that is capital letters in titles, periods and sentences that make sense. I noticed this weekend that there are a lot of unpublished, uncorrected posts. I'll work on a system to support students in understanding this condition for posting and accepting the responsibility of correcting their work.
As I mentioned in the opening, we have begun our Wednesday science workshops. It is a series of four workshops regarding properties of matter and states of matter. We have combined the students from all core classrooms to create four new groups. These groups are cycling through the workshops. The workshops are Properties of Matter (Ms. Schoolcraft), Properties of Gas (Ms. Ward), Properties of Liquid (Ms. Weegar) and Conservation of Mass (Stewart). These workshops are designed to give hands on inquiry science experiences.
The snow day today will throw a bit of a wrench in the NAEP testing plans. NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) also known as The Nation's Report Card happens every year in a random sampling of schools across the country. The test is administered at the fourth and eighth grade levels. When a school is tested, the test is given by outside professionals and the school's teachers (i.e. your teachers on Equinox, except for support staff and special educators) have no part of it. Given the selection process it has, I'm not sure there will be a make up day. We'll keep you posted.
Coming up we have the chorus concert on Wednesday. We are very excited about that. We will talk about and decide what kind of party we will have on February 13th to celebrate Valentine's day. We may do another Stone Soup type of experience. Students are encouraged to bring cards with an emphasis on the message rather than on toys and candy. As always, the rule is if you bring a card for one person in our classroom, you must bring one for everyone in our classroom. Skiers will have an opportunity to give and receive cards but the actual party will be at the end of the day.
I hope you will enjoy the new slide show in the side bar. This highlights the work in our Science of Sound with the Create It Engineers.
Monday, January 19, 2015
January 16th
This week I am relying on the updates of my colleagues and I must credit them! This is a compilation!
As unit 3 draws to a close for third grade students, we finally explicitly taught students the traditional algorithm (or “carrying”) for multi-digit addition problems. Much time was spent this week evaluating the reasonableness of an answer when comparing to an earlier estimate. Finally, third graders are getting lots of opportunities to practice telling time and determining elapsed time during number corner! Fourth graders have been looking at comparing and converting decimals and fractions. They have been focusing on constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others. To prove their thinking, they use base ten pieces or quick sketches. The base ten pieces are a powerful model for decimal numbers. By using them to model different numbers and justify comparisons of those numbers, students are developing a deep understanding of decimal numbers and our base ten number system. We have also checked in on their fact fluency with one minute benchmark assessments.
On Tuesday of this week, all students completed a pre-assessment for our newly launched persuasive writing unit. All students wrote a brief persuasive piece to support the claim: "WIN should be a Free Choice block." Well, almost all students wrote and delivered a persuasive speech on this topic. One student presented the opposite claim and arguments to support it!
Almost all students have had a recent BAS (Benchmark Assessment System) assessment this past week. Information about instructional text levels, fluency, comprehension and reading rate was collected, and is used to inform reading instruction. We are participating in the whole-school read of Rules by Cynthia Lord. We submitted our first blog posts, and we’re going to be exchanging our blog link with Swift house to encourage a cross-grade level discussion and writing quality blog comments to a wider audience.
As unit 3 draws to a close for third grade students, we finally explicitly taught students the traditional algorithm (or “carrying”) for multi-digit addition problems. Much time was spent this week evaluating the reasonableness of an answer when comparing to an earlier estimate. Finally, third graders are getting lots of opportunities to practice telling time and determining elapsed time during number corner! Fourth graders have been looking at comparing and converting decimals and fractions. They have been focusing on constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others. To prove their thinking, they use base ten pieces or quick sketches. The base ten pieces are a powerful model for decimal numbers. By using them to model different numbers and justify comparisons of those numbers, students are developing a deep understanding of decimal numbers and our base ten number system. We have also checked in on their fact fluency with one minute benchmark assessments.
On Tuesday of this week, all students completed a pre-assessment for our newly launched persuasive writing unit. All students wrote a brief persuasive piece to support the claim: "WIN should be a Free Choice block." Well, almost all students wrote and delivered a persuasive speech on this topic. One student presented the opposite claim and arguments to support it!
Engineering: This was our final week having a formal workshop with Mr. Harmon and Mr. White, the engineers in residence. We were able to learn about timbre - or the voice of an instrument - with some student demonstrations of musical instruments. We connected what we learned about the travel of sound waves to various solids and liquids - which will be the topic of our next theme study! Ask your child how his/her kalimba is coming! The culminating work in the Dining Room on Friday allowed students to experiment with many instruments and use iPads to display various frequencies. We are so grateful to the Create it Lab engineers, http://createitlab.org/ and to FAP for its support of this work.
Other: Report Cards will be sent home with students Friday, 1/23.
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Happy New Year!
I think January is my favorite month in the classroom! We all returned refreshed, eager and ready for new learning. It has been great. I was in a meeting for half the day on Thursday. Once again the guest teacher praised the class for their politeness and kindness. Their self assessment also indicated that they practiced their SMARTS. They actually like it better when they behave better. I'm glad they have figured that out. Their ability to reflect on their own performance is an important aspect of their learning profiles.
In writing students have done a couple of journal entries. One was a free write and one was a writing prompt. Until now, most of our writing has either been for the blog-with very little revision work or writing realistic nonfiction. We have neglected daily writing habits. We are working on focus, purpose and building stamina. We continue to struggle with what we call G.U.M., grammar, usage and mechanics. Specifically, students often forget to capitalize letters that require it. None the less, there is some great writing going on. You'll see examples on this week's blog updates.
We are also returning to daily quiet reading of fiction. We are starting up new reading groups, conducting reading assessments and enjoying our school wide read aloud book, Rules. This book is told from the point of view of a girl whose younger brother has autism. Themes of empathy, complex family dynamics, compassion and friendship are woven through the pages. We are enjoying the book.
The Create it Lab engineers continue to work with us on Tuesday. This project, by the way, has been funded by an FAP grant. Mr. Harmon, White and Griffin are volunteers but the Kalimbas that each student has made required some financial backing. That was funded by FAP and we are grateful! While the concepts are complex and somewhat difficult to grasp, the demonstrations are intriguing and entertaining. You might also read more about this on the student blog. In addition to talking about and seeing models of sound waves this week, we learned that light travels much faster than sound.
In other science news, students have become quite curious about the shocks they give and receive when touching each other or classroom objects in this winter season. We are conducting some inquiry experiences to figure out why this might be...Again, see the blog for student perspective!
From Ms. Ward: In third grade math students are just beginning unit 3 after a week of deep reflecting on their first semester learning. Ask your student about their successes with unit 2. Unit 3 involves exploring multiple strategies for adding & subtracting two and three-digit numbers. Students will work with four strategies (each involving the number line): removal (take away), differencing (count back), differencing (count up) and constant differences (change the problem). The third grade January calendar focuses on fractions, and number corner components include fact fluency - multiplication by 10 and 5, elapsed time and equivalent fractions.
In grade four we are working working working with fractions. We are manipulating fractions with similar and dissimilar denominators, representing them with money, on number lines, visual models and geoboards. We are also adding, subtracting and beginning to multiply fractions. Next week we work more with decimals. The class work in this rigorous math program really does give students multiple opportunities to grapple with and ultimately grasp new concepts.
Things are going well. If you'd like to join us at any time and see any of this in action, please let me know and we will arrange that.
In writing students have done a couple of journal entries. One was a free write and one was a writing prompt. Until now, most of our writing has either been for the blog-with very little revision work or writing realistic nonfiction. We have neglected daily writing habits. We are working on focus, purpose and building stamina. We continue to struggle with what we call G.U.M., grammar, usage and mechanics. Specifically, students often forget to capitalize letters that require it. None the less, there is some great writing going on. You'll see examples on this week's blog updates.
We are also returning to daily quiet reading of fiction. We are starting up new reading groups, conducting reading assessments and enjoying our school wide read aloud book, Rules. This book is told from the point of view of a girl whose younger brother has autism. Themes of empathy, complex family dynamics, compassion and friendship are woven through the pages. We are enjoying the book.
The Create it Lab engineers continue to work with us on Tuesday. This project, by the way, has been funded by an FAP grant. Mr. Harmon, White and Griffin are volunteers but the Kalimbas that each student has made required some financial backing. That was funded by FAP and we are grateful! While the concepts are complex and somewhat difficult to grasp, the demonstrations are intriguing and entertaining. You might also read more about this on the student blog. In addition to talking about and seeing models of sound waves this week, we learned that light travels much faster than sound.
In other science news, students have become quite curious about the shocks they give and receive when touching each other or classroom objects in this winter season. We are conducting some inquiry experiences to figure out why this might be...Again, see the blog for student perspective!
From Ms. Ward: In third grade math students are just beginning unit 3 after a week of deep reflecting on their first semester learning. Ask your student about their successes with unit 2. Unit 3 involves exploring multiple strategies for adding & subtracting two and three-digit numbers. Students will work with four strategies (each involving the number line): removal (take away), differencing (count back), differencing (count up) and constant differences (change the problem). The third grade January calendar focuses on fractions, and number corner components include fact fluency - multiplication by 10 and 5, elapsed time and equivalent fractions.
In grade four we are working working working with fractions. We are manipulating fractions with similar and dissimilar denominators, representing them with money, on number lines, visual models and geoboards. We are also adding, subtracting and beginning to multiply fractions. Next week we work more with decimals. The class work in this rigorous math program really does give students multiple opportunities to grapple with and ultimately grasp new concepts.
Things are going well. If you'd like to join us at any time and see any of this in action, please let me know and we will arrange that.
Friday, December 12, 2014
Snowy Week!
When I arrived through the side door late on Thursday due to trees fallen across a road on my commuting route through Hinesburg, one student greeted me with, "What? Are we in Buffalo or something?" It's been a fun and funny week. Apart from the Snow Day, we did a lot of science.
Science and Reading:
On Tuesday we had "The Engineers" working with us. These gentlemen are retired IBM employees who have been working this year on several projects with our new enrichment teacher. In preparation for their work with us they have collaborated with art teacher, MC Baker, music teacher, Danielle Trasciatti and the Equinox teachers. With them we are studying the science of sound: waves, frequencies, pitch and so on. They brought useful equipment for demonstrating the relationship between the length of an object and the speed of its vibration. We also noticed that a speaker converts electrical energy to vibrations and sound. We look forward to continuing this work that integrates the arts and science. Each student will ultimately build and learn to play an instrument called the Kalimba.
We continue to study animal adaptations and practice close reading of nonfiction texts.
On Thursday we learned about Conifers through a Four Winds interactive presentation. Thanks Shani! Students learned to identify tree species but the shapes and habits of its needles. We followed up a bit with a look at some interesting pine cones. Thanks Alex!
Writing:
Students have been busy finishing and typing the first drafts of their realistic stories. Next week we will revise them for sharing. Our goal is to finish final revisions by vacation.
Math:
In third grade math students continue to work on rounding three digit numbers, organization of data and using pictographs and ratio tables.
In fourth grade math we continue to work with fractions of wholes. The focus of the work is primarily on comparing fractions and finding equivalencies.
On Friday Ms. Fisher and Sage visited. It was a fine conclusion to a week full of special treats. We also had a presentation by a group of Voyager students about the benefits of using refillable water bottles. This group designed one (it's a beauty, high quality, camel) and is selling it here at school for $6.00. As you know that we have one week left until our holiday break. It promises to be another busy one.
Enjoy the weeknd!
Science and Reading:
On Tuesday we had "The Engineers" working with us. These gentlemen are retired IBM employees who have been working this year on several projects with our new enrichment teacher. In preparation for their work with us they have collaborated with art teacher, MC Baker, music teacher, Danielle Trasciatti and the Equinox teachers. With them we are studying the science of sound: waves, frequencies, pitch and so on. They brought useful equipment for demonstrating the relationship between the length of an object and the speed of its vibration. We also noticed that a speaker converts electrical energy to vibrations and sound. We look forward to continuing this work that integrates the arts and science. Each student will ultimately build and learn to play an instrument called the Kalimba.
One student demonstrates frequency.
This pole has a different frequency; why?
We continue to study animal adaptations and practice close reading of nonfiction texts.
On Thursday we learned about Conifers through a Four Winds interactive presentation. Thanks Shani! Students learned to identify tree species but the shapes and habits of its needles. We followed up a bit with a look at some interesting pine cones. Thanks Alex!
Writing:
Students have been busy finishing and typing the first drafts of their realistic stories. Next week we will revise them for sharing. Our goal is to finish final revisions by vacation.
Math:
In third grade math students continue to work on rounding three digit numbers, organization of data and using pictographs and ratio tables.
In fourth grade math we continue to work with fractions of wholes. The focus of the work is primarily on comparing fractions and finding equivalencies.
On Friday Ms. Fisher and Sage visited. It was a fine conclusion to a week full of special treats. We also had a presentation by a group of Voyager students about the benefits of using refillable water bottles. This group designed one (it's a beauty, high quality, camel) and is selling it here at school for $6.00. As you know that we have one week left until our holiday break. It promises to be another busy one.
Enjoy the weeknd!
Monday, December 8, 2014
Last Week in Review
Literacy & Science: This week was a busy one! We continue our science reading with nonfiction texts and strategies including making inferences and supporting claims with evidence, and identifying and using key vocabulary terms, including adaptations, genes and species Students practiced their comparison writing strategies describing similarities and differences between a set of identical twins.
Math: Third Grade mathematicians are tackling the multiplication chart. This activity helps everyone make sense of multiplication by looking at regularity and patterns. The December calendar focuses on fractions and this month’s Number Corner work involves creating a classroom collection of objects to accumulate a total mass of 1,000 g. Fourth grade mathematicians are also working on fractions! Students are making fraction tool-kits with various pieces.
In Fourth Grade math students took a pretest and reflected on it. They have begun a unit on fractions. There has been a lot of work with equivalent fractions as well as some work with the terms improper fraction, mixed number as well as a whole unit.
Writing: Authors are working hard to finish the first draft of their realistic fiction drafts. Next step is tying them into Google Drive. We reviewed the “checklist” that outlines the narrative standards for writing for both third and fourth graders. Students will use this tool to self-monitor and self-assess as they work to bring their story to a close. Later this week, students will use the collaborative nature of Google Docs to share their writing with a partner, and support each other in revising and editing using the comment feature.
Engineering, what?: For the next four weeks we’ll be working through an integrated science/art/engineering project with Ms. Rogers, Mrs. Baker and two engineers who are retired from IBM. These volunteers and colleagues have been working with Equinox teachers and Mrs. Trasciatti-Holmberg to design a unit of study on sound. Each student will end up building a Kalimba (thumb heart originally designed in Africa) and learning to play it. Our class will be working with these folks on Tuesdays only.
Notes:
- It’s that time of year...please make sure your child comes prepared for outdoor recess each day. As the temperature drops, it is imperative that all children have appropriate clothing and gear (coat, hat, gloves, snowpants, boots) for outdoor play. Tomorrow is supposed to be snowy! I hope everyone will bring snow pants.
- If your child did not bring home a class picture, please let me know.
- Pajama day was fun!
- We have a sound track for Wonder now, which we have finished reading. We have begun reading The BFG by Roald Dahl.
- Ask your child about claims and evidence regarding the shark, the dolphin and a tiger. A full account of this scientific discovery can be found on our Kidblog.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Wonder Links
Here are the links we looked at today in class at the end of our first read through of Wonder as a whole group.
The Annotations
Next we have a link to the trailer for a movie that doesn't exist...It's a trailer for the book entitled Wonder.
The Annotations
Next we have a link to the trailer for a movie that doesn't exist...It's a trailer for the book entitled Wonder.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)