Weekly Update February 21-25

Is March 1st already next week? Hopefully we'll see it come in like a lion and out like a lamb! Spring has got to be around the corner...

• The children enjoyed watching the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" today during our lunch hour. They made so many connections to the book, as we watched the story we shared together come to life in the "older" version of the movie! It was fun having lunch together in the classroom as well! There have already been suggestions of future "lunch-ins!"
• Thank you for encouraging your child to participate in the "Design the Rain Barrel" contest! We had 7 students design a drawing that would look great on our new Dryden rain barrel. The children voted, and Peter's drawing won! His picture will now be entered into the school-wide drawing, and he will be asked to help decorate the barrel with the school's winning design!
• I've added the link to the SUMMER U Brochure and a link to "Camp Invention" to the sidebar on the right. There are reinforcement as well as enrichment classes that will help keep your child thinking over the summer! Take a peak!
• The District's Cultural Arts Fair is coming up on April 6th at Thomas Middle School. (A link with more information has also been added to the sidebar on the right.) The children have a fun opportunity to create a project for the fair that tells their family story! It can be a story, a song, a poem, pictorial, interview, or any other creative/multimedia representation that you can think of that tells about your family heritage. The projects are due to the office here at school on March 18th. Click the link for more information!
• I received a bundle of fun books from the Scholastic book fair! Thank you for thinking of me- and our class- while you were at the book fair! I cannot wait to share these stories with the children. We've already read "Sloppy Joe" and "Library Mouse" this week at school, thanks to Lucas and Brooke! We are enjoying the new stories very much!

Spelling

The children practiced words with the /oo/ sound, spelled ‘ui,’ ‘u,’ and ‘ue.’ Next week, we will work on words with the /aw/ sound, spelled ‘aw’ and ‘au!’

Reading

Our theme this week was severe weather! Our main selection was called, “Super Storms.” Did you know that hail can be the size of a marble or a baseball? Or that a thunderstorm can drop millions of gallons of water in just one minute? The children learned many fascinating facts like these this week. Vocabulary words we focused on in our reading this week include: beware, destroy, grasslands, prevent, uprooted, and violent. We worked on the comprehension strategy of making and checking predictions while reading. Additional skills we covered over the course of the week were: compound words and identifying repetition and mood in poetry!

Grammar

The children continued to work on irregular verbs. They reviewed that irregular verbs are action words that do NOT end in ‘ed’ in the past tense! (ex: come/came, do/did, have/had)

Math

Over the course of the week, the children worked to find halves of even numbers. They solved “What’s My Rule?” problems involving doubling and halving. We practiced reading numbers on a scale. The children learned that there are 16 ounces in a pound and practiced estimating weights of different objects. Next week the children will have a “Data Day,” during which they will break into small groups and take turns taking standing jumps. We will be working on range, finding the median, and graphing data!

Next week the children will continue ordering and comparing numbers. They will work with frequency tables, and practice reading line plots and bar graphs! The end of Unit 7 is near!

Science

Our unit on Motion has begun! We kicked off the unit with a "Search for Motion." With their notebooks and clipboards, the children became motion detectives as we searched, identified, and described various examples of motion by watching a PE class in the gym! The children noticed jumping, rolling, scooting, running, even falling! We observed a garbage can roll across the floor and watched how two different types of doors required force to open (one was a push, the other was a pull.) The children are already building their knowledge as they think about the amount of force it takes to make something move, as well as how air, friction with another object, gravity, or even a collision with another obstacle can affect the outcome of the motion.

LMC

In honor of George Washington's birthday this week, and the recently celebrated Presidents' Day, the children chose to either watch a Brain Pop video on George Washington or Abraham Lincoln. With their pencil, paper, and clip boards, the children watched their little video and would press PAUSE when they heard an interesting fact they wanted to remember using bullet points. It was great review of the notetaking skills we learned during our habitat research! Once the children recorded their facts, we word processed them into a document under the picture of the president they studied. Finally, the children took a photo of themselves using the camera on their computers, and edited the photo using the drawing tools to make themselves look like their president! I will put these into a class book for you to view at conferences. I'll bet you won't be able to recognize your child underneath all of those powdered wigs and top hats!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Hello!

Happy Presidents’ Day Weekend! With our Valentine's Day party, the 100th day of school, and our Habitat presentations, the children had so many fun experiences this week! Speaking of Valentine's Day, I have to send out an additional THANK YOU for all of the wonderful flowers, mug/coffee, boxes of candy, cookies, trail mix, giant Hershey kisses, cute notepads, as well as the homemade cards and notes from the children! I was so amazed at the outpouring of love I received on Valentine's Day. You all truly made my day!

*An important reminder*: Please, please, please remember to send your child to school dressed for the weather. Like the children, I have also been excited about the sun shining and the temperatures being a bit warmer than usual. But keep in mind that the “High” temperature for the day is rarely reached by morning recess at 10:25. Per School Policy, we had to keep several students in for recess this week who came to school in “hoodie” sweatshirts, due to the morning (and some afternoon) temperatures showing only 38 and 40 degrees. We also had several students out sick this week, so we are disinfecting the classroom often to help fight those germs. We want everyone to be as healthy as possible so they can be with us at school. Sending homework home does not replace the learning we accomplish at school!

Highlights this week:

• We enjoyed watching our 4th graders perform in their musical on Wednesday afternoon.

• Conference times went home. Thank you for sending those green confirmation notes back so quickly! It can be very challenging to arrange the conferences, not only based on parent preference, but also aligning sibling conferences and incorporating additional support staff members’ schedules at the same time. I did my very best to accommodate everyone’s schedules. I look forward to meeting with all of you in the next few weeks!

* We finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! The children and I decided it would be fun to celebrate the completion of the story by watching the movie together next Friday, while we have our lunches in the classroom!

Spelling

The children practiced words with the /oo/ sound, spelled ‘oo’ and ‘ou’! Next week we will encounter more words with the /oo/ sound, spelled ‘ui,’ ‘u,’ and ‘ue.’

Reading

This week our focus was on the environment. The children expanded their oral vocabularies with the words: purpose, persuade, adjust, defeat and practical. We went on to read a nonfiction text called, “A Way to Help Planet Earth.” The children imagined what the Earth would be like if people didn’t recycle. We learned what happens to the items that we do recycle! The children now understand the concept of a landfill and how it holds the garbage we throw away for years to come. We focused on the comprehension strategy of creating a web to organize the key points of the text we have read. The children put the main idea in the middle, and then summarized the text by attaching key ideas they read in the circles that stem from it. We learned several new vocabulary words that tied in with our texts this week, including: conservation, extinct, hardest, remains, and trouble. The children identified nonfiction text features such as graphs, charts, and actual photographs. We also noticed that there are changes in print in nonfiction texts that catch our attention and give us more information. These features include the size, thickness, slant, and color of the letters. We realized that the author makes these changes to stress important details! We reviewed the idea of comparative and superlative words, noting that comparative words compare two things and end with ‘er’, while superlative words compare many and end in ‘est.’ Yet another skill the children practiced this week was identifying where to break words into syllables!

Grammar

The children worked on irregular verbs including see/saw, do/does, and say/said.

Writing

Our goal was to finish our "Friend" poems this week. Using an organizer, the children were asked to think about a favorite friend with regard to what they look like, sound like, things they do together, etc. The challenge was to take these ideas and think about them in a more figurative way. The children developed similes, bursts of alliteration, as well as onomatopeia and repeated phrases into their descriptions of their friend. I am so impressed with the clever way the children's writing developed in these writing projects! The children have become poets!

Math

We have begun Unit 7! The children brought home Math Journal 1 this week. Please know that while we work in our math journals each day, there still may be a page or two that is incomplete. That’s okay, the journal is a work in progress. Feel free to go through the math journal with your child and have them tell you about what they’ve learned throughout the first half of our school year. Encourage them to go back and complete any incomplete work for a review/reinforcement of learned skills. In Unit 7 the children will be working on patterns in counting. We will be extending this to counting by any number, also known as “n.” The children will be encouraged to describe patterns they see. We have also begun finding complements of 10, (1:9, 2:8, 3:7, 4:6, 5:5) and we realized that when adding numbers that make a ten, it makes adding large numbers really easy!

Science

All week the children worked with their small groups to complete their habitat research and work on their research reports. Together, they decided who would present each section. With the help of Mrs. Dufern, Mrs. Kenney, and Mr. Fijor, the children recorded their learning into a series of podcasts. Then they chose a picture from the internet that matched their research. Finally, we assembled these podcasts into Keynote Presentations! The children viewed each other’s final presentations at school on Friday and had the opportunity to add additional information for their classmates. I was so impressed to see the children take the reigns on their learning during the last two weeks. Their learning was apparent as they talked about all of the facts they’ve accumulated in their small groups and in their presentations. The children took their habitat assessment on Friday, and now we are ready to look ahead to our next Science unit, MOTION!

As always, thank you for reading!

Have a nice, long, President's Day weekend!

Weekly Update: February 7-11

Hello!

The children were busy as little bees this week! Read on to see what we've been up to!

* Thank you for sending in your conference notes so promptly! We have our building meeting to arrange conferences on Tuesday morning. Its nice having everyone's requested times handy so we can plan accordingly!

* The 4th grade musical is next week! The children will be watching our 4th graders perform on Wednesday afternoon.

* The book fair is coming to Dryden! You might have noticed there were no February Book Orders from our class. That is because the children will be able to choose their books LIVE this time! Our class will be visiting the book fair on Tuesday morning, February 22.

*Our Valentine Party will be taking place on Monday afternoon. Don't forget to include all of our classmates on your valentine list! (Scroll down to see the names of the children in our class, they were posted a week or two back.) Our goal is to provide the children with a healthy and a sweet treat, a drink, and an opportunity to exchange some sweet and caring notes with their classmates!

* THANK YOU to the Marx and the Ryan families for sending in some Clorox wipes! With two friends home sick today, its a constant reminder that its in our best interests to keep the classroom as free of germs as we possibly can. We had a really good cleaning again today! Thank you!!

Spelling

The children practiced words with r-controlled vowels this week- words that have /er/ sound, spelled ‘er,’ ‘ir,’ and ‘ur.’ Next week we will be looking at words with the /oo/ sound!

Reading

After building their listening comprehension with a story about a sneaky turtle and a curious fox, the children strengthened their oral vocabulary with the words: reluctant, pursue, vicinity, delay and camouflage. Our whole group story this week was called, “Goose’s Story.” It was about a young girl who sees the geese fly to her pond in the spring. She is very happy until she sees a goose who is injured, and eventually loses a foot. In this story, many things happen. Each event causes another event to happen. We were sad to see that the other geese would stay away from the injured goose because she appeared different. We talked about how unfair it was for the geese to treat her this way! We were relieved at the end of the story to find that she had found a great friend in another goose. She was no longer alone and we imagined how that must have made her feel. A comprehension strategy we reviewed the concept of cause and effect. The vocabulary words that went along with this story are: balance, deserted, freezes, imagine, saddest, and wider. This story really encouraged our class to think about people who are different than we are. The children could see first hand how important it is to be kind and considerate to all people no matter what differences they may have from us. Our small groups continue to meet where the children reinforce their decoding skills while building their comprehension skills simultaneously.

Grammar

The children worked with quotation marks this week! We noticed that there are certain words that are used when someone is “talking” in a sentence, including: said, shouted, whispered, asked, and exclaimed.

The children also learned about comparative and superlative words. They learned that comparative words compare two people or things, and end with “er.” Ex: My desk is wider than my paper. Superlative words compare three or more people or things, and end with “est.” Ex: I am the happiest student in my whole class!

Math

We have finished Unit 6!  The children brought home Math Journal 1 today. Please know that while we work in our math journals each day, there still may be a page or two that is incomplete. That’s okay, the journal is a work in progress. Feel free to go through the math journal with your child and have them tell you about what they’ve learned throughout the first half of our school year! Encourage them to go back and complete any incomplete work for a review/reinforcement of learned skills. Coming up in Unit 7 the children will be working on patterns in counting. We will be extending this to counting by any number, also known as “n.” The children will be encouraged to describe patterns they see. We have also begun finding complements of 10, (1:9, 2:8, 3:7, 4:6, 5:5) and we realized that when adding numbers that make a ten, it makes adding large numbers really easy! You will find the new math parent letter in your child's red home folder.

Science

Our habitat research is beginning to wind down. The children have begun creating a slideshow presentation in the LMC to showcase their learning. Each child is going to be responsible for dragging and dropping an appropriate photo, and then recording their facts in a garage band file which will be imported into the presentation. The children feel such ownership over their projects! It will be so much fun to watch the children learn from each other next week.

Coming Soon:

February 14:  Valentine's Celebration! 2:45-3:25

February 16:  4th grade Musical

February 21: No School, President's Day

 February 22-24th: PTA Book Fair

                                Thanks for reading! Enjoy the weekend!

Snowy Days...

Hi everyone!
It was a super short week, so here is a super short summary!

Extension of lessons
Can you believe all of the snow we are still digging our way out of? Due to the shortened week at school, I've decided to extend our reading, spelling, and grammar lessons through next week. So the children will be taking their assessments in these areas this week.

Reading
Our theme this week/next week is "Animal Needs." New vocabulary words we are practicing include: preen, nibbles, itches, puddles, beasts, and handy.  We are identifying words with inflected endings (in particular the words that end in s or es when they are made plural.) The children are also learning to identify linking verbs. These verbs are more difficult to locate because they don't show an action the same way regular verbs do. We focused on: am, are, was, and were. We read a new whole group story called "Splish Splash, Animal Baths." In this story we read about several different animals and the way they keep themselves clean. This allowed us to practice our comprehension strategy of the week, which was compare/contrast. The children did a terrific job of comparing the animals (the elephant and duck both use water to clean themselves) and contrast (the pig soothes its skin by rolling in the mud, while the grizzly bear will rub its back against a tree.) We have some really great thinkers in our class!

Math
The children continue to work their way through the solving of story problems. We have learned how to regroup with subtraction (borrow from the tens place first to share with the ones place.) We've practiced using a variety of organizers to help us solve problems including the Part-Part-Total, Start-Change-End, and more recently the Quantity-Quantity-Difference. This week the children worked to sort a set number of items into equal groups. An easy way to solve these problems is to create an array (an even number of items in each row and column- 4x2, 3x5, etc.) These are beginning multiplication problems, and the use of counters and drawing pictures is helpful as we familiarize ourselves with the concept!

The children DO have a math homelink due on Monday! Thank you for helping to remind them!

Science
Our little habitat researchers are hard at work. The children have been broken into small habitat research groups. They have the SAME graphic organizer that we used during our studies on the rainforest. In their groups, the children are working to learn facts about each of the categories on their organizer, including: what it looks like, its climate, animals, plants, human uses, and human impact. It is fascinating watching the children work together and take on this portion of their learning at a more independent level. They will be creating a keynote presentation to summarize their learning in a few short weeks.

Fighting Germs

The children and I frequently "debug" our classroom of pesky germs with the Clorox/antibacterial wipes you sent in at the beginning of the year with your child's school supplies. Unfortunately, we have run out of wipes before the end of the cold and flu season! If you happen to have some extra antibacterial wipes at home that you would like to contribute to our class, we would welcome them! Thank you for helping us keep our health and wellness a priority!

                                   I hope you are enjoying the weekend, and staying warm, too!