January Update!

Happy 2019 Everyone!

Our New Year kicked off with the beginning of our Bridges program on Thursday, January 3rd.  The Bridges program is outlined in detail in a letter I sent home in late December.  Our first activity was to create Bridge Posters that show what each group of children has in common with their senior volunteer. Below is a picture of our first class.  Students are sharing what they have in common with each other and their senior volunteers.  Bridges occurs once a week for six weeks.  Our second class focused on Schools Then and Now.  Students gave their volunteers tours of the school and volunteers shared stories about what schools were like when they were children.  The children asked many thoughtful questions about what classrooms looked like and if they had technology back then.  This Thursday's class will focus on family traditions.

In math we are learning how to divide by 1 digit numbers.  An important concept is understanding how multiplication and division are related.  Children also need to understand what remainders are and how remainders factor into answers to division word problems.

The fourth grade has begun our Informational Writing Unit on Canada/Mexico.  Over the course of last week and this week each homeroom is being taught four specific research strategies (one by each fourth grade teacher).  After learning the four research strategies children return to their homerooms to complete their research and write their reports on either Canada or Mexico.

In reading we answered an essential question on the book Orphan of Ellis Island using two column notes.  "How does Dominic Cantori change from the beginning of the story?" The children answered this question in three paragraph essays using their two column notes as a guide.

In science we began a unit on Energy.  Our work focuses on understanding the energy story.  How is energy transferred and transformed as it moves from one object to the next? We just had an exciting class discovering how to fill a capacitor with electrical energy and using it to make a propeller spin!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone has a great New Year!  Teaching your children these past few months has been a wonderful experience.  I'm looking forward to our time together in 2019.  Last Friday Room 12 joined their kindergarten book buddies in Kristina Christie's room to make non-edible gingerbread men and houses.  Here are some pictures from the event!

In math, our focus this month has been on advanced multiplication.  The children have learned how to multiply using the array and partial products methods. They have also learned how to multiply using area models.  If you have not checked out Seesaw lately you will find some of their great work there!

In language arts we continue to practice using our Keys to Literacy strategies when generating questions about the literature we are reading. Mr. Murphy kicked off the MCBA program in the Learning Commons and each student is actively engaged in reading at least 5 MCBA books by April.  This allows students to officially vote for the book that they believe should win this school year's award.

In writing we are writing poetry.  Each student has created a poem that they have published in Seesaw.  Each poem is complete with the poet reading their work!   Please check out Seesaw if you haven't already.

We recently completed our study of maps with a special map activity in the cafeteria.  Below are some pictures of the children locating cities and states on a giant map!

Happy Thanksgiving and November Update!

I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday recess. It will soon be time for Parent-Teacher Conferences.  If you are unsure of your day and time please let me know and I will be in touch.

In math we are completing Topic 3 in our enVision program.  This unit covers the multiplication of 2, 3, and 4 digit numbers by a 1 digit number.  We began by applying the commutative, associative and distributive properties  of multiplication to equations.  We learned how to group numbers to estimate answers to problems in our heads before engaging in paper and pencil tasks. An important understanding in this unit is that the grouping of numbers by 10s makes them more manageable and easier to compute.  Being able to break numbers down by place value, multiply them and then add up the parts is a skill that helps children take ownership of mathematical tasks and to develop a deeper conceptual understanding of numbers. Example: 3x418= 3x8 + 3x10 + 3x400

Guided reading lessons have focused on theme and point of view.  We have learned to look at the elements of fiction (setting, plot, and character) to see what they reveal about theme. We also continue to work on building our vocabulary through research of unknown vocabulary words and  i-Ready instruction.

We have learned how to revise and edit our completed personal narratives. We have also continued to develop our writing fluency through the use of our writing journals.

We are nearing the end of our Immigration Unit in Social Studies. In this unit we have learned some basic note taking skills as we read about and took notes on various immigrant groups who came to the United States in the early 20th Century.  We also learned to interpret photographs based on the immigration experience.  We did an Immigration Webquest that through pictures, videos and audio allowed the children to take the perspective of an immigrant coming through Ellis Island in the early 20th Century.