Good evening!
A short week, but one jam packed with lots of learning! We started the week with a wonderful community meeting led by our fourth graders. What a great job they did honoring the many veterans who were with us at Cole and those that couldn't be with us. Great job! This week was also the start of some spelling and vocabulary work. Students will now have weekly packets that will included some rule based spelling words, vocabulary builders as well as some academic vocabulary. It is important students begin to generalize many of the academic terms that are used throughout our content. For example, during math recently a question asked them to compute the answer of 54 x 6, students knew how to do the multiplication, but panicked when they saw the word compute. By exposing them to different academic vocabulary, I hope to take that anxiousness away! In writing we have been working really hard editing our stories. Our focus this week was on conclusions/endings. We spent a few days listening and discussing the endings to many different picture books. We talked about the many different ways authors can choose to end a narrative. Students were then asked to review their stories and see if they could come up with two new endings. We shared their creativity and then students decided if they wanted to use one of their new endings or stay with their original. Great job by all! We then did a wonderful activity called "Glow and Grow". I saw this tweeted by Ms. Keough at the Vinal School and LOVED the idea. Ask your child what Glow and Grow was and how their writing may have changed after this activity. You will see more about this at our writing celebration this WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 14th at 8:15AM. I also posted some pictures in our classroom photo gallery. We are looking forward to sharing our published pieces on Wednesday, but are especially proud to show you how far we have come! In Reading we continue our focus on theme. This week we used some music to help students make the connection. We listened and looked at the lyrics to "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman and also listened and looked at the lyric for the song "Brave". By really digging into the lyrics students realized quickly the message both songs were sending - this was a fun activity for all! We continue to read The Sign of the Beaver, with students typically asking me to read "one more chapter" as we find each chapter leading us deeper and deeper into a wonderful story of survival and friendship. In Social Studies we have started our work on our Flip Books on Native American Tribes. Students are using books from our library and online resources to take notes about the specific tribe they chose. We will then take those notes and start to compile paragraphs and then the flip book! I have been really impressed with their excitement and effort on this project so far! Can't wait to see the final products. As mentioned in my email earlier this week, we will do the majority of the research at school (a few students mentioned wanting to continue at home) and then next week you may see pieces coming home for them to work on paragraphs etc. If you have any questions on this project, please let me know. We are finishing up Matter and will have a test next THURSDAY. (I changed it from Wednesday due to the short week). Students have a study guide that you will see come home Tuesday and Wednesday. They have done a great job on all of the labs, now we need to see them connect all of this information! We plan to review with a game of Jeopardy on Wednesday and be ready to rock and roll with our test on Thursday! In Math - WOW! I was so impressed with the effort shown on the recent math test. They are in today's Friday folders for you to review. After review, please sign the post it and send it all back. I will keep in a portfolio for the year. I want to take a moment to congratulate all of the students who have been coming in for extra math help on Tuesday mornings. Their confidence is building and their mindsets are changing! They are not so afraid of math anymore and are using strategies to check their work - it is truly wonderful to see the growth and I thank all of the parents who make the effort to get them here on Tuesday mornings. All are welcome and we will still have our group Tuesday the 14th - we will be starting division next week so this session will be a little jump start! As you can see, never a dull moment in Room 15. This class is full of energy and enthusiasm for learn and I love being their teacher and watching the grow. Lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season! Have a great long weekend! Maura IMPORTANT DATES Friday, November 9th No School - Professional Development Day Monday, November 12th No School - Veteran's Day Observed Tuesday, November 13th Extra Math Help 8:15 - 8:45am - all are welcome . - it's also WORLD KINDNESS DAY! Wednesday, November 14th WRITING CELEBRATION! 8:15-8:45AM - Wear Blue for Diabetes Awareness Ambassadors Club will meet Wednesday at noon Thursday, November 15th National Parent Involvement Day Wednesday, November 21st Early Release - Thanksgiving Break Thursday, November 22nd Thanksgiving! Enjoy time with friends and family!!
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June 2019
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