This week flew by! I hope some families are able to make it out to spring fling on Friday and enjoyed the surprisingly awesome weather!
In Math we began the week with practicing identifying special quadrilaterals. The category of “special quadrilaterals” includes trapezoids, rhombuses, squares, rectangles, and parallelograms. They are special because they are quadrilaterals with specific attributes. We used our knowledge of rectangles and squares to solve word problems involving perimeter. We have also practiced finding unknown side lengths for irregular shapes. In reading we have been focusing on various fairytales and folktales. We discovered that fairy tales have certain story elements. For example, the main characters in fairy tales are usually good and then there is someone evil who causes a problem. Often there are magical creatures/magic involved in the plot. The main character often solves the problem by being tricky and clever, outsmarting the evil character. Students came up with these elements on their own after reading many different fairy tales. After familiarizing ourselves with the elements of a fairy tales we read Cinderella, we noticed that there are some essential elements to a Cinderella story. They included: not being treated kindly by siblings and stepparent, losing her shoe, getting help from a fairy godmother, and living happily ever after. As writer’s we can gain inspiration from these classic fairy tales to create tales of our own. Students started planning out their adaptations based on the elements of a classic tale of their choice. We discussed how author’s don’t simply change the name of the character and leave every other part of the story the same. Author’s make meaningful changes that impact the rest of the story; for example, changing the setting to outer space, making the main character the opposite gender, making the wishes of the main character different. As we continue on this week, students will begin writing out their rough drafts into their writer’s notebooks. In Math we will continue our work with perimeter, but will soon be returning to a review of essential concepts from our year in third grade. At home you can help your student by skip counting forwards and backwards (counting by 4s: 4,8,12,16, etc) with them and practicing multiplication facts. Upcoming Dates May 24th 10:00-12:00 Field Trip to Folino’s Pizza May 24th 1:30 pm Middle School Jazz Concert for students at Orchard May 27th No School→ Memorial Day May 29th Vermont Youth Dance Company visiting Orchard
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This week we completed our read aloud Because of Winn-Dixie. We took time during our read aloud to discuss how every book has a climax. The climax is when the character faces their biggest challenge. We discussed how during the climax Opal lost Winn-Dixie. This caused her to realize how lonely she was without her mom around. We also talked about how characters often resolve their problems using their inner strength. Opal used her courage to overcome her loneliness and forgive her mom for leaving her.
Today we read the folktale Half Chicken by Alma Flor Ada. We talked about how folktales are passed down from generation to generation through word of mouth. We also talked about how folktales explain how something came to be and/or teach the readers a lesson about life. As the weeks continue on we will be “traveling” around the world reading various folktales. In writing we talked about how in order to be successful writers, we must be avid readers of the genre we want to write. This week we read many fairy tale stories. Today we made note of the various patterns in plot (problem and solution), characters, and settings, in this genre of story writing. In the upcoming week we will continue reading various folktales and fairytales. Students will get to create a fairy tale of their own or adapt an existing fairy tale in the coming weeks. In math we have begun our geometry unit. This unit also reviews the concepts of area (the amount of space a shape takes up) and perimeter (the total length around the shape). Students should be able to explain to you the different attributes of the following polygons: quadrilaterals, rhombuses, squares, rectangles, trapezoids, and parallelograms. During morning meeting we have been talking about prefixes and suffixes. We have talked about how these word parts are added to the beginning and ending of words to make new words. By knowing the meaning of different prefixes and suffixes, we can more easily define and understand multisyllabic words. The students did great work at their concert this past Wednesday and it was so fun to watch them perform! Upcoming Dates Parent Input Forms are due→ you can access these from the attachments to the CORE, Orchard’s newsletter. I will be sending out some paper copies on Monday, May 17th 5:30-7:30 pm Spring Fling May 18th 9:00-12:00 Sprucing up the Orchard Gardens May 24th 10:00-12:00 Field Trip to Folino’s Pizza (be on the lookout for a permission slip and note about this trip on Monday) Orchard School is looking to create a Rock Garden during the 18th garden work day. Miss Susie (art teacher) will be having the students paint rocks. You can help by bringing in rocks to paint by MAY 17th. Students can bring a rock for themselves. We are looking for rocks that are smooth, round/oval, and the size of an egg. If the student wants to use a specific rock they have found, have them write their initials on the bottom of the rock. Extra rocks can be left unmarked. Thank you! The students in room 13 are extremely thoughtful and helpful students. We have been working on building our independence as a class and I have seen much growth in students using strategies to tackle situations on their own. We had a substitute in our classroom on Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. I received notes from both teachers letting me know that the class was helpful and knew exactly what needed to be completed.
This was the final week for students to complete their Literary Essays. This upcoming week we will be spending time focusing on prefixes and suffixes as well as other grammatical skills. We will be continuing to work through the book Because of Winn-Dixie. We are working on retelling the information from chapters we have read. We also have talked about how authors write not only because they like telling stories, but because they want us to learn something from the story. In Math we continued working with finding equivalent fractions and comparing fractions. We noticed that the smaller the denominator, the larger the size of the piece. We can compare the fractions 2/3 and 2/4 with our reasoning skills. The numerator is the same, but the denominators are different. The denominators being different sizes tells me that 2 pieces that are thirds are larger than 2 pieces that are fourths. We have also discovered that we can find equivalent fractions by breaking apart the equal parts equally. For example, if the fraction we have is fourths, we can break apart each fourth into two equal pieces to create eighths. We ended the week with a trip to the Fleming Museum of Art to look at the Native American collection. It was great to see students use the information from our read aloud The Birchbark House as well as the research they completed during our Research Unit to come up with questions for the tour guide. Ask the students about the moccasins and the pots they saw on their trip! Many students completed field drawings, writing down information in little booklets they had created during our art Activity Time. The Art piece they brought home relates to a pot brought by the Iroquois to the Abenaki. Many students mentioned they wished they could have more time at the Museum. Sadly, it closes this Friday May 10th for the season, but now students are aware of its location! Upcoming Dates May 8th 8:20 Spring Concert May 10th Parent Input Forms are Due May 10th Early Release at 12:30 May 17th 5:30-7:30 pm Spring Fling May 18th 9:00-12:00 Sprucing up the Orchard Gardens Orchard School is looking to create a Rock Garden during the 18th garden work day. Miss Susie (art teacher) will be having the students paint rocks. You can help by bringing in rocks to paint by MAY 17th. Students can bring a rock for themselves. We are looking for rocks that are smooth, round/oval, and the size of an egg. If the student wants to use a specific rock they have found, have them write their initials on the bottom of the rock. Extra rocks can be left unmarked. Thank you! Hello families! I hope everyone is enjoying a relaxing beginning of break. As I told our students, I always miss them when we are apart! I am excited for many stories when they return. I have been thankful for the nice weather so far! I’ve been spending time with a good book from the library!
These past two weeks students have worked diligently on their SBACs. I was amazed by their focus and their use of strategies that we have learned throughout the year. They really did their best on the test and need this well-deserved break. In reading we are continuing on with Because of Winn-Dixie. We are beginning to focus on how secondary characters help our main characters grow. Yes, there are main characters who face problems in stories, but they never face problems alone. This group has fallen in love with independent reading. Often they ask for more time and I always see students trying to finish that one last sentence before they have to move on to writing. In writing we are working on typing up our literary essays. Students should be able to explain the structure of an essay to you and how there are many parts: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. We have been using the PEEL strategy for writing convincing body paragraphs. This strategy states that you need to make a point that relates to your thesis, cite evidence to prove your point, explain the relevance of your evidence, and link your paragraph back to your thesis statement. In math we are continuing to work on the development of understanding of fractions. We have been working on skills such as comparing fractions, finding equivalent fractions,and placing fractions on the number line. When we return from break we will be finishing up our literary essays, continuing to work through Because of Winn-Dixie, and will be going on a field trip to the Fleming Museum! Upcoming Dates: April 30 Donations and Permission Slips for the Fleming Trip are due May 3 Trip to the Fleming Museum (we are looking for two chaperones to join us on this trip!) May 3-4 Orchard Tag Sale May 8 Third Grade Concert 8:20 This past week Room 13 has spent a lot of time preparing and getting acclimated to the format for the SBACs. Students really tried their best for the practice and were intently focused on their task.
Here is the following schedule for SBACS:
We did not have much time for Math this past week because of the two half days. We focused this week on noticing the pattern: as the denominator increases, the size of the pieces in the whole decreases. Many students enthusiastically nodded their heads in agreement when I mentioned, "I would prefer to half 1 half of a brownie than 1 fourth of a brownie, how about you?" We will continue our exploration of comparing fractions this upcoming week. In reading students continue to focus on character development. We talked about how each story, no matter how big or how small, follows a story mountain. Characters face problems again and again until they reach a turning point (the climax) and the problems begin to be resolved. In writing students continue to work on their literary essays. We have been focusing on our body paragraphs. We learned that our thesis statement/claim needs to be supported with points/ main ideas that come from the text. When we make a point, we need to be able to expand upon the point by showing evidence from the text and explaining that information. After we have provided evidence and explained said evidence, it is important for us to link our thoughts back to our thesis. Thank you to all of the families I was able to meet with on Thursday and Friday, and all of the families I will meet with in the near future. I sincerely enjoy talking to you about your student's progress and appreciate your enthusiasm to be an active participant in your child's learning. One thing that amazes me this time of year is how students begin to think deeply about their texts. In the beginning of the year many students would share an idea about their independent reading book or our read-aloud book and not back it up with evidence. Now, students are demonstrating that they have reasoning behind their thoughts. Students have been reading picture books of their choice and post-it noting sections of text that show something to them about a character; for example, if a character offers a pair of shoes to someone else, the character is showing generosity. Students are noticing things their characters say and do to come up with ideas about their character’s internal character traits in their independent reading books as well. We have been working on making thesis statements (claims) that need to be backed up with evidence in writing. Students use the post-it notes in their picture books to come up with one idea they want to prove about their character. We also talked about introductory paragraphs and how those introduce the rest of an essay. This has been great SBAC prep! As the week goes on we will be working on our body paragraphs for our essays using three pieces of evidence to support our claim. In math we have been working on representing fractions on a number line. We have also been exploring how fractions can also show more than one whole; for example, if there are 8 fourths, that is equivalent (the same as) 2 wholes. Fractions are a very challenging concept, especially the idea that a fraction is a part of a whole. If there is any opportunity outside of school where something needs to be broken into fractional pieces, talk to your child about how many pieces are in the whole and what fraction is represented. These upcoming few weeks will look different for students because of SBACs. On Monday and Tuesday students will be taking a training test and practice test for the Math portion of the SBAC. The training test will teach them how to use their chromebooks and the various tools available on the computer to help them do their best work. On Thursday and Friday, students will take a practice Reading/Writing Assessment. Again, our students are well prepared and I know they will do their best! Upcoming Dates April 1 and 2 SBAC Math training and practice tests April 4 and 5 Half Days (ending at 11:30) Parent Teacher Conferences SBAC Reading/Writing training and practice test April 9 Part 1 Math SBAC April 11 Part 2 Math SBAC April 16 Part 1 Reading/ Writing SBAC April 17 Part 2 Reading/ Writing SBAC This week marked the beginning of a few new units in our classroom. We completed our Native American Studies Projects and had a class museum walkthrough. We were able to learn about the different regions of the United States. We noticed how the region that we studied changed the way the people lived. Students didn’t bring their projects home today because of the weather. We have begun our weather unit in science. We have learned that meteorologists study patterns in the weather to give us a forecast. We also learned that meteorologists have certain tools they use to collect data. In math we have moved from learning the concepts of multiplication and division into fractions. As students bring corrected math worksheets home, keep an eye out for circled questions. These circles indicate that the student made a mistake. The best learning comes from being aware of our mistakes and correcting them! This past week we worked on the following concepts:
In writing, students have been writing character analyses which emphasize making a claim about a character, citing specific and detailed evidence from the text, and giving an explanation about the relevance of their evidence. This has been good preparation for the SBACs. The SBAC is coming up! It is a computerized standardized test students in grade 3-5 take. On April 1 and 2 students will do a training and practice math assessment. On April 4 and 5 students will take a training and practice Reading/Writing assessment. On April 9 students will take Part 1 of math and will complete Part 2 on April 11. On April 16 students will complete the Reading and writing Part 1 and will take Part 2 on April 17. We ask that students come well rested. We will ask parents to provide a healthy snack for their students so they stay well-fed and energized. Students should not be worried, as they are well prepared. Please do not hesitate to contact me with questions. Upcoming Dates Skate Night (Tonight! March 22) April 4 and 5 Parent Teacher Conferences (an e-mail was sent about sign-ups) This past week in math, students have been working on understanding the relationship of multiplication and division as inverse operations. Students should be able to draw an array and explain how this array can model both a multiplication problem and a division problem. If students know their multiplication facts, they will have an easier time with their division facts. We also learned about remainders and that when we divide, there may be some leftover amount that doesn’t fit equally into a group. This is a very challenging concept for third graders. Additional practice with this at home will further help them be prepared for division in fourth grade! In reading we are working our way through the chapter book The Birchbark House by Louise Edrich. It is about the everyday life of the Ojibwa/Anishinabe tribe which lived in the area around Michigan. The students have been enjoying this book and have been learning a lot about various cultural aspects of Native American life such as the role of medicine men and women, the presence of spirits, and the importance of oral storytelling traditions. In writing/social studies students continue to work on gathering notes on the life of the Native Americans in the region they chose. On Monday, Mrs. Courcelle, the technology integration teacher for elementary schools is coming to teach us about one of our options for our final project. The tool offered to the students is called Voicethread. It is a digital powerpoint presentation where they can record their voice/video to play along with images. We have also been working through a book about Waangari Maathai, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. She planted millions of trees in Kenya and started the Green Belt Movement. We are finding out that every effect has a cause and every choice leads who you become. In Wangari’s case her mother taught her that a “tree is worth more than its wood,” and because of this Wangari had a strong sense of the importance of maintaining the environment. After watching the theater performance at the Flynn on Friday we are going to work on comparing and contrasting the two Nobel Peace Prize winners of Maathai and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Upcoming Dates Students should have brought home report cards on Friday, please sign and return the folder they were delivered in. You may keep the report card itself. February 11th-15th I love to Read and Write Week Students will be celebrating Reading and Writing through various activities. Monday there will be a chance to share about their favorite book. Tuesday students may bring in a stuffie to read with during independent reading. Wednesday students may bring in a flashlight to read during independent reading. Thursday students will be receiving a special pen. Friday Pajama Day (students could bring pajamas to change into once we return from the performance at the Flynn) Orchard first grade teacher Abby Klein will read to the school from her published children’s book series: Ready Freddy. February 12th Field Trip Forms Due for the Flynn February 14th Friendship Day Celebration If students choose to bring in cards, they need to have a card for every student. February 15th Trip to the Flynn Theater in Burlington Third graders are continuing their hard work well into the month of February. They have been very busy and have completed a lot of work. In early January we began our subtraction and addition up to 1,000 unit. The students were taught the standard algorithm and how to use number lines to help them solve these problems. They had to be very precise in their mathematical language when describing their steps for the standard algorithm. For example, when the equation is 295 - 189 students know they can’t take away 9 ones from 5 ones, so they go next door to our tens place to borrow a ten. When we borrow a ten we are actually regrouping it to make 10 ones. We add these 10 ones to the ones that are already in our equation. Now, we can subtract 9 ones from 15 ones. Ask your student to guide you through this process. We have wrapped up that unit and have moved on to a review of multiplication and division. One of the most difficult mathematical concepts is determining what a number means in a word problem and what to do with that information. Students have been practicing writing word problems for multiplication and division. At home, whenever there is an opportunity, explain a situation that requires fair sharing or equal groups as a division word problem! You may have noticed some papers that say “Weekly Multiplication Games” going home. These are optional games you can play with your student to help them grow stronger in their multiplication facts. In reading students are practicing stopping and jotting as they read. This is one way they can keep track of what is going on in their story. Stop and jots help the students practice skills such as making predictions, making inferences, asking questions, and making connections. Especially as texts begin to become more complex with many characters, it is important to keep track of the character’s actions and what they say, as they will change in many ways throughout a text. In social studies we have rotated classrooms so that students are studying a Native American region of their choice. The goal of this unit of study is to gather notes on how where you live affects how you live. Students are gathering research on what the Native Americans of their region wear, what they eat, their shelter, and their traditions. This research will culminate in a final project. If you have any questions, or if I can do anything to help you and your student, please contact me. Upcoming Dates February 8th Half Day: Students are released at 12:30. Lunch will be provided. February 14th Friendship Day Celebration February 15th Trip to the Flynn Theater in Burlington The past couple weeks have been very full in room 13. I wanted to highlight some things we have been working on since Thanksgiving break. We have wrapped up our introductory multiplication unit and have moved on to three digit addition and subtraction. We began the unit focusing on rounding and how we can make estimations to determine how reasonable our answers are. We are working on making sure to double check our answers make sense before moving on to the next problem. In reading we have been working on understanding how to use context clues to find the meaning to a word we do not know. It doesn’t make sense for readers to skip unknown words and never try to determine a meaning because the purpose of reading is to understand. A reader can help themselves try to understand tricky words by reading the sentences around the word. Sometimes the author puts the definition before or after the word is used, sometimes they use a synonym or antonym next to the unknown word. We took a deeper look at making inferences. We learned that authors don’t always tell us everything about a character or a situation, so we have to make inferences to understand the text more deeply. I was amazed by how students used their background knowledge and the text to figure out deeper meanings. Here is an article of little activities you could do with your student to deepen their skill: http://www.readingrockets.org/article/making-inferences-and-drawing-conclusions. In writing we have been working on creating mystery stories. Ask your child what elements a story needs to make it entertaining to readers. They have grown in their ability to show what is happening rather than tell, and I am excited to work with them to complete the editing process this upcoming week! On Thursday we had the privilege of talking to David Kelly, author of the Baseball Mysteries Series. It was fun to see how a real author uses a very similar outline to what we use in the classroom to write his stories. The students were fascinated when he showed a picture of his book after his editor had written all over it. Being able to see that a real author has to fix their writing before it gets published boosted their confidence. Upcoming Dates: December 24- January 1 Winter Break January 4- Permission Slip due for trip to Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center January 8- Field Trip to Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center We have had a word of the week every week. This previous week's word was considerate. We talked about what it means to be considerate. We practiced "stepping into someone else's shoes" to think about how they feel before we say or do something. This picture comes from our Friday morning activity of creating compliment cards. Students went around to every seat and wrote a compliment to each of their classmates. Your student should have brought home this blue paper on Friday!
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December 2018
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