So many highlights this week! One of the best parts of the past 2 weeks has been meeting with all of you. I always feel I get the know the students a little better when I meet their parents! Thank you all for taking the time to meet with me -- we make a good team!
One of our big highlights this week was having VEEP (Vermont Energy Education Program) come into the classroom. The students were able to see how solar and wind can work to make electricity, and they got to experiment with variables such as turbine blade angle, solar panel angle, distance from the source, etc. They were all very involved and it was a fun and engaging way to start thinking about how we use natural resources to make electricity. Today we are having a celebration with the other 4th grade and watching The Lorax. As we learn about electricity, we will focus on how each of us can be a Lorax in our own lives. Next week, we will be finishing up our Vermont Geography unit and start learning about electricity.
Another highlight this week was using our brand new pizza oven to make pizza! The class got to work with Mr. Brezic's class to stretch pizza dough and spread sauce and cheese on it. Then we fired up the oven and baked the pizzas, and they were yummy! The students were proud of their creations and definitely enjoyed eating! This is a group that loves to eat.
A final highlight has been making bread. Many of the students have had an opportunity to make it, and I haven't had to help them at all! The bread has looked and smelled edible, and I'm assuming it's being enjoyed at home! I am already getting a little low on bread flour and eggs. Donations are always appreciated!
We DID manage to continue academics this week! We finished up our math units in both grades. We learned all about the different physiographic regions in Vermont. We continued reading our fiction books and looked at how we find evidence to back up our ideas. And we continue our writing pieces, working on ways to elaborate and make the details come to life.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, October 25, 2019
Friday, October 11, 2019
Another week coming to an end! This will be a short post since it feels like a short week, and I will be seeing all of you at conferences in the next 2 weeks. We had a lovely time at our school hike on Tuesday, and it was incredibly helpful to have some parent volunteers! Wednesdays's delay made for a short day, but wearing pajamas and having stuffed animals was special and reminded me, once again, how little the students really are! Today's tree study trip was wonderfully instructive (thank you Josh!) and we had a beautiful day for it. Again, thanks to the parents who make this kind of trip possible.
On to academics -- Math in 4th grade has switched to data and measurement, a short and fun unit all about making line plots and noticing the "shape of the data." 3rd graders are continuing to work on multiplication and division, using what they know to figure out what they don't know. I'll give more details of these units and concepts during conferences.
We are busily writing either small moment stories (3rd grade) or fiction stories (4th grade) and learning how to paint images with our words, how to think about beginning, middle and end, and how to make sure our characters seem real. This class loves to write, and I am enjoying reading their work and conferring with them individually.
They also love to read! Be sure to ask them about Rob and Sistine, the characters in our read-aloud, Tiger Rising. They are doing some heavy thinking about who they are more like. They are also learning that characters in books, like real humans, are complicated and don't just have one character trait.
Finally, we are learning a lot about Vermont and its geography. Today we examined population maps, precipitation maps, relief maps, and elevation maps. Next week we will get into the various "physiographic" regions of Vermont and think about what Vermont is famous for and why. We will end this unit by making fun candy maps of Vermont right around Halloween.
We start our bread making on Monday. A word of warning -- this bread is made by kids so it sometimes doesn't come out perfectly.... Please don't count on it as your main dinner! Most days it is perfect. but there are those times....
Next week's sharing theme is "something from another country."
Enjoy your weekend, and I will see you all soon!
On to academics -- Math in 4th grade has switched to data and measurement, a short and fun unit all about making line plots and noticing the "shape of the data." 3rd graders are continuing to work on multiplication and division, using what they know to figure out what they don't know. I'll give more details of these units and concepts during conferences.
We are busily writing either small moment stories (3rd grade) or fiction stories (4th grade) and learning how to paint images with our words, how to think about beginning, middle and end, and how to make sure our characters seem real. This class loves to write, and I am enjoying reading their work and conferring with them individually.
They also love to read! Be sure to ask them about Rob and Sistine, the characters in our read-aloud, Tiger Rising. They are doing some heavy thinking about who they are more like. They are also learning that characters in books, like real humans, are complicated and don't just have one character trait.
Finally, we are learning a lot about Vermont and its geography. Today we examined population maps, precipitation maps, relief maps, and elevation maps. Next week we will get into the various "physiographic" regions of Vermont and think about what Vermont is famous for and why. We will end this unit by making fun candy maps of Vermont right around Halloween.
We start our bread making on Monday. A word of warning -- this bread is made by kids so it sometimes doesn't come out perfectly.... Please don't count on it as your main dinner! Most days it is perfect. but there are those times....
Next week's sharing theme is "something from another country."
Enjoy your weekend, and I will see you all soon!
Friday, October 4, 2019
It was so lovely to see EVERY family here last night for Open House! The students were on fire, and so proud to show you around our classroom. I didn't even need to be here! Thank you all for coming out (and getting stuck in traffic!) to see our space.
Thank you also for sending in your conference sign-up sheets. Your confirmation will come home in Tuesday's homework folder. Keep your eye out!
Fourth grade mathematicians have finished their first multiplication unit. They reviewed what it means to multiply and they practiced using what they know to figure out what they don't know. Their final assessment was all about factors and multiples, and they all showed that they have a solid understanding of how we use these. The last few days, they have been involved in some "3-Act Problems," trying to figure out how many doughnuts were in a huge box, how long it took to fill a number of jars with water, etc. They have enjoyed the challenge! Finally, we have talked a lot about using multiples of ten, and what it means to "add a zero" when you are multiplying by 10. They now understand that they aren't actually adding a zero, but instead MOVING the number over in place value and placing a ten in the ones place! Monday we will start a short unit on measurement and data.
Third graders are still working on their multiplication unit and are busy making arrays to learn about dimensions and area. They are still working on understanding that multiplying means EQUAL GROUPS, and that skip counting is another way of getting at multiplication. We still have a few weeks to go in their unit, and then they will also move on to a measurement and data unit. We are taking our time to build this important foundation!
Literacy continues daily. Students are reading books at their levels and paying attention to character traits. We are tying to move away from retelling and into the realm of having thoughts and ideas about who are characters are, what they care about, etc. In writing, we have done a lot of work to come up with story ideas (true stories for 3rd graders and fiction stories for 4th) and have planned using a variety of strategies. Some have drawn pictures, others have used graphic organizers, and others have made story arcs. Today we started drafting, writing for as long as we could to get as much of our stories down as possible. Next week we will finish drafting and start the hard work of revising! We've also started our spelling program, which is a phonics based program this year. So far we are looking at beginning and ending consonant clusters and parts of words. Soon we will get into different kinds of syllabication.
We finished our first energy unit and have moved into Vermont Geography. This week we learned what a map is and what features it has. Then we examined a map of Vermont and added its most important features like the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain. We will move into more details about Vermont's regions next week.
Next week is a crazy one! We have our field trip on Tuesday (please let me know if you plan to join us and make sure you have completed all necessary paperwork.) Then we have a delay on Wednesday. Weather permitting, we will walk to the park for our tree study again on Friday from 9:00 until 11:00. I'd love to have volunteers to help with that trip! Please let me know if you can join us.
Finally, on to bread. We have eaten 3 kinds of bread this week, and the students are excited to start making it themselves and selling it to you! I will make a Sign-Up Genius this weekend and get the link to you soon so that you can pre-order either French, Cinnamon, or Dill bread. I'd love some help with ingredients! I need bread flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. If you can help, that would be great. Send the ingredients in any time!
Next week's sharing theme: Something purple!
Enjoy the weekend!
Thank you also for sending in your conference sign-up sheets. Your confirmation will come home in Tuesday's homework folder. Keep your eye out!
Fourth grade mathematicians have finished their first multiplication unit. They reviewed what it means to multiply and they practiced using what they know to figure out what they don't know. Their final assessment was all about factors and multiples, and they all showed that they have a solid understanding of how we use these. The last few days, they have been involved in some "3-Act Problems," trying to figure out how many doughnuts were in a huge box, how long it took to fill a number of jars with water, etc. They have enjoyed the challenge! Finally, we have talked a lot about using multiples of ten, and what it means to "add a zero" when you are multiplying by 10. They now understand that they aren't actually adding a zero, but instead MOVING the number over in place value and placing a ten in the ones place! Monday we will start a short unit on measurement and data.
Third graders are still working on their multiplication unit and are busy making arrays to learn about dimensions and area. They are still working on understanding that multiplying means EQUAL GROUPS, and that skip counting is another way of getting at multiplication. We still have a few weeks to go in their unit, and then they will also move on to a measurement and data unit. We are taking our time to build this important foundation!
Literacy continues daily. Students are reading books at their levels and paying attention to character traits. We are tying to move away from retelling and into the realm of having thoughts and ideas about who are characters are, what they care about, etc. In writing, we have done a lot of work to come up with story ideas (true stories for 3rd graders and fiction stories for 4th) and have planned using a variety of strategies. Some have drawn pictures, others have used graphic organizers, and others have made story arcs. Today we started drafting, writing for as long as we could to get as much of our stories down as possible. Next week we will finish drafting and start the hard work of revising! We've also started our spelling program, which is a phonics based program this year. So far we are looking at beginning and ending consonant clusters and parts of words. Soon we will get into different kinds of syllabication.
We finished our first energy unit and have moved into Vermont Geography. This week we learned what a map is and what features it has. Then we examined a map of Vermont and added its most important features like the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain. We will move into more details about Vermont's regions next week.
Next week is a crazy one! We have our field trip on Tuesday (please let me know if you plan to join us and make sure you have completed all necessary paperwork.) Then we have a delay on Wednesday. Weather permitting, we will walk to the park for our tree study again on Friday from 9:00 until 11:00. I'd love to have volunteers to help with that trip! Please let me know if you can join us.
Finally, on to bread. We have eaten 3 kinds of bread this week, and the students are excited to start making it themselves and selling it to you! I will make a Sign-Up Genius this weekend and get the link to you soon so that you can pre-order either French, Cinnamon, or Dill bread. I'd love some help with ingredients! I need bread flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. If you can help, that would be great. Send the ingredients in any time!
Next week's sharing theme: Something purple!
Enjoy the weekend!
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