As we gear up for a new school year we are working hard to learn about remote teaching to make learning engaging, interesting and collaborative! We are excited to embark on this journey together and look forward to getting to know everyone. Our goals for the start of the year are to build community, help children feel comfortable with technology tools, and collaborate with each other. As we prepare for in-service days, please know we are working on building schedules, balancing screen time, and establishing remote learning norms and routines.
Monday, August 24, 2020
Friday, March 13, 2020
3/13
Happy Friday! Here are some questions you can ask your child to find out more about their week:
Have a great weekend!
- What primary sources did you read in inquiry?
- Whose perspectives did you read about?
- Whose perspectives are still missing?
- What ideas came up over and over again in your inquiry work?
- What is your overall understanding about your topic?
- How did you rate your choices for the small group inquiry starting next week?
- What did you think of the Front Desk read aloud?
- What unit are you starting in math?
- What chapter book are you reading?
- What piece of writing are you currently working on?
Have a great weekend!
Friday, March 6, 2020
Weekly News 3/6
Inquiry overview:
We had a great start to March and are diving into our next inquiry that encompasses social studies and literacy! Third and fourth grade are split for this initial immersion phase for a couple of weeks. The fourth graders are with Mrs. Wentworth and are learning about American Indian residential schools and the third graders are with Mrs. Ganier learning about immigration. With all students the focus is thinking critically about the past and exploring the power of a story. With each topic we are asking questions like: What are the stories here? Whose story is being told? Whose story are we missing? Through looking at data, watching videos, reading picture books and looking at primary sources we are modeling and practicing how to look at a resource and think critically about the information in front of us. After this immersion phase students will have the opportunity to keep studying these topics or make a different choice. From there, students will work in small groups to dive deep into a topic and to practice the skills from our immersion. Students will have text sets that include nonfiction, historical fiction, primary sources, data, maps and images to uncover the stories of the past.
Both topics are heavy and there has been a lot of discussion around how these events and stories make us feel and often it's not good! We want to stress the importance of continuing to talk about these topics at home and also discussing that even though many of these stories are sad, we can find stories of hope and resilience within those same stories. We are also discussing how that these stories are powerful because they help us feel connected to others and feel empathy. To give you an idea of some of the students' noticings and wonderings so far we are including some photos below.
Third grade math:
We are in the middle of our fraction unit and working on having a concrete understanding of fractions and comparing fractions. We've spent time representing fractions using number lines, bar models and circle models. We've noticed that as the denominator gets larger the pieces get smaller and we are able to compare fractions to a 1/2. We will continue to compare and order fractions using different models.
Fourth grade math:
As we finish up our self-paced unit, all students have a strategy they can use to multiply larger numbers. Some students feel confident with the area model, some are using the distributive property, while other have mastered traditional algorithm. This week we applied our strategies to solving real world problems. Up next....division!
Seesaw reflections:
This week you will see some reflections on Seesaw about student led conferences and learning showcases. We are doing a presentation next week for the SAU on these topics and we were looking for student feedback to share with other teachers in the district.
Coronavirus discussion:
There has been a lot of talk about Coronavirus! We talked about the importance of only getting information from trusted adults and we read this cartoon together.
Upcoming:
No school: Tuesday, March 10th for teacher inservice
Immigration day for third graders: Friday, March 13th- parent volunteers please plan on meeting in the cafeteria for 9:00
Fourth grade work with American Indian residential schools:
Third Grade work with immigration:
We had a great start to March and are diving into our next inquiry that encompasses social studies and literacy! Third and fourth grade are split for this initial immersion phase for a couple of weeks. The fourth graders are with Mrs. Wentworth and are learning about American Indian residential schools and the third graders are with Mrs. Ganier learning about immigration. With all students the focus is thinking critically about the past and exploring the power of a story. With each topic we are asking questions like: What are the stories here? Whose story is being told? Whose story are we missing? Through looking at data, watching videos, reading picture books and looking at primary sources we are modeling and practicing how to look at a resource and think critically about the information in front of us. After this immersion phase students will have the opportunity to keep studying these topics or make a different choice. From there, students will work in small groups to dive deep into a topic and to practice the skills from our immersion. Students will have text sets that include nonfiction, historical fiction, primary sources, data, maps and images to uncover the stories of the past.
Both topics are heavy and there has been a lot of discussion around how these events and stories make us feel and often it's not good! We want to stress the importance of continuing to talk about these topics at home and also discussing that even though many of these stories are sad, we can find stories of hope and resilience within those same stories. We are also discussing how that these stories are powerful because they help us feel connected to others and feel empathy. To give you an idea of some of the students' noticings and wonderings so far we are including some photos below.
Third grade math:
We are in the middle of our fraction unit and working on having a concrete understanding of fractions and comparing fractions. We've spent time representing fractions using number lines, bar models and circle models. We've noticed that as the denominator gets larger the pieces get smaller and we are able to compare fractions to a 1/2. We will continue to compare and order fractions using different models.
Fourth grade math:
As we finish up our self-paced unit, all students have a strategy they can use to multiply larger numbers. Some students feel confident with the area model, some are using the distributive property, while other have mastered traditional algorithm. This week we applied our strategies to solving real world problems. Up next....division!
Seesaw reflections:
This week you will see some reflections on Seesaw about student led conferences and learning showcases. We are doing a presentation next week for the SAU on these topics and we were looking for student feedback to share with other teachers in the district.
Coronavirus discussion:
There has been a lot of talk about Coronavirus! We talked about the importance of only getting information from trusted adults and we read this cartoon together.
Upcoming:
No school: Tuesday, March 10th for teacher inservice
Immigration day for third graders: Friday, March 13th- parent volunteers please plan on meeting in the cafeteria for 9:00
Fourth grade work with American Indian residential schools:
Friday, February 21, 2020
Weekly Update 2/21
It was so great to see so many families join us to celebrate all of the learning and hard work at our Learners' Showcase this morning. The children were so proud to share their achievements. We will be sending home their work today. If you were not able to make it this morning, ask your child to share their work with you at home!
Today the 3rd graders will be coming home with a sheet to prompt a conversation about your family's immigration story. Use these questions to get the conversation going...add as much information as you'd like! If you don't know much about your family's immigration story, that's okay! We will be exploring the topic the week we get back from break.
Today the 3rd graders will be coming home with a sheet to prompt a conversation about your family's immigration story. Use these questions to get the conversation going...add as much information as you'd like! If you don't know much about your family's immigration story, that's okay! We will be exploring the topic the week we get back from break.
- Do you know of anyone in your family who has immigrated?
- Where did they come from?
- Why did they immigrate?
- Where did the immigrate to?
- What do you think is interesting about their story?
We hope everyone has a relaxing and fun vacation week! See you in March!
Friday, February 14, 2020
Weekly Update 2/14
Happy Valentine's Day! The week was buzzing with excitement as the children are looking forward to giving and receiving Valentines!
Our systems inquiry is wrapping up. This week we talked about how to make your writing "audience ready." We made final edits by making sure our writing has punctuation, capital letters, correct spelling and organization. We also made detailed drawings of our systems, complete with labels. The writing and drawing are coming together, as everyone is creating a magazine page using Google slides. Students are enjoying choosing fonts, adjusting layout, and adding text features. We are excited to share our final product next Friday at our learning showcase!
In math both 3rd graders and 4th graders are setting daily goals and making choices to help reach those goals. The 4th graders are learning different strategies for multiplying large numbers. As they learn these strategies, they will be thinking about what strategy works best for them and then applying those strategies to solve real world problems. The third graders have just shifted from math fact boot camp to our unit on fractions. Please continue to encourage your kids to practice their facts at home!
Our next inquiry will explore the power of stories to connect us to historic time periods. The 3rd graders will spend the first week exploring immigration stories to connect us to the past and learn about ourselves. 4th graders will be doing the same thing, but with a different time period. Be on the lookout for Immigration Day information next week!
We decided to adjust the time for our learning showcase next week (Friday 2/21) from 8:30-9:15. That way you can bring your child to school and visit the classroom when you drop them off!
Our systems inquiry is wrapping up. This week we talked about how to make your writing "audience ready." We made final edits by making sure our writing has punctuation, capital letters, correct spelling and organization. We also made detailed drawings of our systems, complete with labels. The writing and drawing are coming together, as everyone is creating a magazine page using Google slides. Students are enjoying choosing fonts, adjusting layout, and adding text features. We are excited to share our final product next Friday at our learning showcase!
In math both 3rd graders and 4th graders are setting daily goals and making choices to help reach those goals. The 4th graders are learning different strategies for multiplying large numbers. As they learn these strategies, they will be thinking about what strategy works best for them and then applying those strategies to solve real world problems. The third graders have just shifted from math fact boot camp to our unit on fractions. Please continue to encourage your kids to practice their facts at home!
Our next inquiry will explore the power of stories to connect us to historic time periods. The 3rd graders will spend the first week exploring immigration stories to connect us to the past and learn about ourselves. 4th graders will be doing the same thing, but with a different time period. Be on the lookout for Immigration Day information next week!
We decided to adjust the time for our learning showcase next week (Friday 2/21) from 8:30-9:15. That way you can bring your child to school and visit the classroom when you drop them off!
Friday, February 7, 2020
Weekly News 2/7
Happy Friday! Here are some important reminders and a new field trip date!
Third grade immigration day:
Third grade parents mark your calendars for March 13th! Your child will be participating in an Ellis Island Immigration simulation on that day with the other third graders. This day will be part of a larger study in our classrooms on historical fiction, the power of story and history. We need some third grade parent volunteers for that day for the quarantine station! Please let us know if you'd like to help out.
It would be helpful at home to start talking about any immigration stories that you might have in your family. Where are your ancestors from? What are their stories? We will start sharing soon!
Learning Showcase:We are inviting parents in for a learning showcase on Friday, February 21st from 8:45 to 9:30. Feel free to drop in any time during that time and your child will be individually showing you some things that he or she is working on. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so- if you're able to drop in we'd love to see you!
Valentine's Day:
Students are welcome to bring in Valentines on February 14th for a Valentines exchange. We just ask that if students are bringing them in that they bring one for everyone!
Mount Major Field Trip:
It's officially happening! We are so excited to climb Mount Major with our classes. As many parents that would like to will be able to join us! We will give more details as it gets closer but wanted to give you these dates: May 29th will be the scheduled day and June 3 will be the rain date.
Here are some questions to ask your child:
Third grade immigration day:
Third grade parents mark your calendars for March 13th! Your child will be participating in an Ellis Island Immigration simulation on that day with the other third graders. This day will be part of a larger study in our classrooms on historical fiction, the power of story and history. We need some third grade parent volunteers for that day for the quarantine station! Please let us know if you'd like to help out.
It would be helpful at home to start talking about any immigration stories that you might have in your family. Where are your ancestors from? What are their stories? We will start sharing soon!
Learning Showcase:We are inviting parents in for a learning showcase on Friday, February 21st from 8:45 to 9:30. Feel free to drop in any time during that time and your child will be individually showing you some things that he or she is working on. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so- if you're able to drop in we'd love to see you!
Valentine's Day:
Students are welcome to bring in Valentines on February 14th for a Valentines exchange. We just ask that if students are bringing them in that they bring one for everyone!
Mount Major Field Trip:
It's officially happening! We are so excited to climb Mount Major with our classes. As many parents that would like to will be able to join us! We will give more details as it gets closer but wanted to give you these dates: May 29th will be the scheduled day and June 3 will be the rain date.
Here are some questions to ask your child:
- How are you making your nonfiction writing engaging for the reader?
- What techniques have you used?
- What do you think about the read aloud- Front Desk by Kelly Yang?
- What have you discussed during read aloud time?
- What are some of the conversations you've had around prejudice and stereotypes?
- How are your math facts going?
- What kinds of choices have you made in math?
- How have your math choices led you to your learning goals in math?
Have a wonderful weekend!
Friday, January 31, 2020
Weekly News 1/31
Our literacy and inquiry have blended together and we've been deeply immersed in our systems research and writing! We started by writing a flash draft trying to add detail about each of our subtopics. That helped students begin to see holes in their research and where they needed to find more information. From there we've been working on main idea sentences. We explored how authors make these main idea sentences engaging and then found some that we wanted to model our sentences after. Students have been writing furiously on their topics and are coming up with some creative and engaging pieces! We hope to have these completed in the next couple of weeks.
Third grade math:
It's math fact bootcamp time! Students self-assessed on math facts that they need to work on and are making daily choices in order to reach their math fact goals. Students have been playing games, making flashcards, quizzing each other and hopefully practicing at home, too! Please encourage your child to practice for a few minutes at home each night. They all have a specific goal they are working on!
Fourth grade math:
As we finished our unit reviewing multiplication vocabulary, it has become clear that the unit was a challenge for some because they don't have mastery of their multiplication facts. I stressed the importance of knowing their facts as we move into more complex concepts. It has been shown that students who have their facts mastered are more confident in tackling new mathematical challenges. I will send home Xtra math passwords again today. There are also lots of great suggestions to ways to practice here.
Third grade immigration day:
Third grade parents mark your calendars for March 13th! Your child will be participating in an Ellis Island Immigration simulation on that day with the other third graders. This day will be part of a larger study in our classrooms on historical fiction, the power of story, multiple perspectives and history. We need some third grade parent volunteers for that day for the quarantine station! Please let us know if you'd like to help out.
It would be helpful at home to start talking about any immigration stories that you might have in your family. Where are your ancestors from? What are their stories? We will start sharing soon!
Learning Showcase:
We are inviting parents in for a learning showcase on Friday, February 21st from 8:45 to 9:30. Feel free to drop in any time during that time and your child will be individually showing you some things that he or she is working on. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so- if you're able to drop in we'd love to see you!
Communication Assembly:
Our students helped plan and run a whole school assembly on communication! Students learned the sign language signs for see, say and brave and taught the whole school as we sang along to "Brave". It was awesome!
Valentine's Day:
Students are welcome to bring in Valentines on February 14th for a Valentines exchange. We just ask that if students are bringing them in that they bring one for everyone!
Fourth grade STEMbassadors:
Have a great weekend!
Third grade math:
It's math fact bootcamp time! Students self-assessed on math facts that they need to work on and are making daily choices in order to reach their math fact goals. Students have been playing games, making flashcards, quizzing each other and hopefully practicing at home, too! Please encourage your child to practice for a few minutes at home each night. They all have a specific goal they are working on!
Fourth grade math:
As we finished our unit reviewing multiplication vocabulary, it has become clear that the unit was a challenge for some because they don't have mastery of their multiplication facts. I stressed the importance of knowing their facts as we move into more complex concepts. It has been shown that students who have their facts mastered are more confident in tackling new mathematical challenges. I will send home Xtra math passwords again today. There are also lots of great suggestions to ways to practice here.
Third grade immigration day:
Third grade parents mark your calendars for March 13th! Your child will be participating in an Ellis Island Immigration simulation on that day with the other third graders. This day will be part of a larger study in our classrooms on historical fiction, the power of story, multiple perspectives and history. We need some third grade parent volunteers for that day for the quarantine station! Please let us know if you'd like to help out.
It would be helpful at home to start talking about any immigration stories that you might have in your family. Where are your ancestors from? What are their stories? We will start sharing soon!
Learning Showcase:
We are inviting parents in for a learning showcase on Friday, February 21st from 8:45 to 9:30. Feel free to drop in any time during that time and your child will be individually showing you some things that he or she is working on. It shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so- if you're able to drop in we'd love to see you!
Communication Assembly:
Our students helped plan and run a whole school assembly on communication! Students learned the sign language signs for see, say and brave and taught the whole school as we sang along to "Brave". It was awesome!
Valentine's Day:
Students are welcome to bring in Valentines on February 14th for a Valentines exchange. We just ask that if students are bringing them in that they bring one for everyone!
Fourth grade STEMbassadors:
Friday, January 24, 2020
Weekly News 1/24
Even though it was a 4 day school week, we managed to pack a lot into it! The students have been working hard to become experts on their systems for inquiry. We are reading a variety of texts and taking notes on the parts of our systems, how our systems interact with other systems, as well as finding some facts that are just plain cool! As we reach the end of the research phase of our inquiry students will be sharing what they learned by writing a nonfiction piece. Speaking of writing, this week we began to look closely at nonfiction texts to discover ways that writers make their texts interesting. Students noticed a variety of strategies such as detailed descriptions, use of vocabulary and different text structures. As we write our own nonfiction, these will become our mentor texts and criteria to know if we are on the right track.
In math both grade levels finished up their current multiplication units. Up next for 3rd grade is multiplication boot camp. And 4th graders will be working on multiplying large numbers.
Progress reports are going home on Tuesday, so be on the lookout!
Our Valentine's Day celebration will be simple--we will just be exchanging cards with our classes. If you child would like to make cards, please be sure there is one for each child in his or her class (not both classes).
In math both grade levels finished up their current multiplication units. Up next for 3rd grade is multiplication boot camp. And 4th graders will be working on multiplying large numbers.
Progress reports are going home on Tuesday, so be on the lookout!
Our Valentine's Day celebration will be simple--we will just be exchanging cards with our classes. If you child would like to make cards, please be sure there is one for each child in his or her class (not both classes).
Friday, January 17, 2020
Weekly News 1/17
Another week has flown by and we have been busy! Here's a quick snapshot of what we worked on:
-Identifying main idea and supporting details in non-fiction texts
-Researching our systems for inquiry
-Paraphrasing and note taking
-Organizing notes into categories
-A guidance lesson about making a plan and following through
-3rd grade math: understanding the difference between multiplication and division
-4th grade math: problem solving with area and perimeter
Upcoming dates:
-Monday, January 20- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
-Tuesday, January 28- Progress reports go home
We hope you enjoy your long weekend!
-Identifying main idea and supporting details in non-fiction texts
-Researching our systems for inquiry
-Paraphrasing and note taking
-Organizing notes into categories
-A guidance lesson about making a plan and following through
-3rd grade math: understanding the difference between multiplication and division
-4th grade math: problem solving with area and perimeter
Upcoming dates:
-Monday, January 20- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
-Tuesday, January 28- Progress reports go home
We hope you enjoy your long weekend!
Friday, January 10, 2020
Weekly News 1/10
Happy New Year! We are back into full swing and ready for the new year! We started the year off by looking back at our second quarter goals and deciding if we have met them or if we still need to work on them and how we can continue to work on them. Then, we decided on a word we wanted to focus on this year- hopefully you've seen them on Seesaw and you can check them out below.
Literacy and Inquiry:
This month literacy and inquiry will be fully integrated as students research and explore a system of their choice and then write to teach others about that system. We have spent a lot of time refining our system topic ideas and coming up with a focus question. The bulk of our literacy time has been about previewing a text before reading to predict the main idea and then working to find the main idea of a text. We will get into researching our topics next week!
Third Grade Math:
Third graders have been focusing on building their understanding of multiplication and division. We have been working on equal groups, arrays and story problems. Up next will be a "Multiplication Bootcamp" where we will focus heavily on math facts for a week or two. Any practice at home will be very beneficial!
Fourth Grade Math:
Fourth graders have been working on reviewing and applying multiplication vocabulary. We have explored the concepts of factors, multiples, and prime and composite numbers. This week we did a "multiplication reality check" to assess how well everyone has their math facts memorized. This was a wake up call for many that they need to be working more to get these facts down. If you need any suggestions on things you can do at home to help, please reach out to Mrs. Ganier!
Immigration Day:
Third grade parents mark your calendars for March 13th! Your child will be participating in an Ellis Island Immigration simulation on that day with the other third graders. This day will be part of a larger study in our classrooms on historical fiction, the power of story, multiple perspectives and history. Fourth grade students will have a choice of a few different time periods to immerse themselves in and third graders will be focused on the Ellis Island immigration time period.
Upcoming:
2nd quarter closes Friday, January 17th
Early release- Friday, January, 17th
No school- Monday, January 20th
Have a wonderful weekend!
Literacy and Inquiry:
This month literacy and inquiry will be fully integrated as students research and explore a system of their choice and then write to teach others about that system. We have spent a lot of time refining our system topic ideas and coming up with a focus question. The bulk of our literacy time has been about previewing a text before reading to predict the main idea and then working to find the main idea of a text. We will get into researching our topics next week!
Third Grade Math:
Third graders have been focusing on building their understanding of multiplication and division. We have been working on equal groups, arrays and story problems. Up next will be a "Multiplication Bootcamp" where we will focus heavily on math facts for a week or two. Any practice at home will be very beneficial!
Fourth Grade Math:
Fourth graders have been working on reviewing and applying multiplication vocabulary. We have explored the concepts of factors, multiples, and prime and composite numbers. This week we did a "multiplication reality check" to assess how well everyone has their math facts memorized. This was a wake up call for many that they need to be working more to get these facts down. If you need any suggestions on things you can do at home to help, please reach out to Mrs. Ganier!
Immigration Day:
Third grade parents mark your calendars for March 13th! Your child will be participating in an Ellis Island Immigration simulation on that day with the other third graders. This day will be part of a larger study in our classrooms on historical fiction, the power of story, multiple perspectives and history. Fourth grade students will have a choice of a few different time periods to immerse themselves in and third graders will be focused on the Ellis Island immigration time period.
Upcoming:
2nd quarter closes Friday, January 17th
Early release- Friday, January, 17th
No school- Monday, January 20th
Have a wonderful weekend!
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