Week of 10/25

Last week we kicked off our new science unit about forces. All Mosiac kids were split up into groups and will rotate through each teacher to learn about a new science topic: magnetism, forces in motion, electricity and light. So far the students seem to enjoy the science activities. Hike for Hunger was a great success. We had a beautiful day for hiking, had lots of parents join us and raised $1,013 to feed hungry kids in Vermont! This week we also start our folk tale unit in both reading and writing workshop.

Week of 10/18

This will be a short week due to teacher conventions and kids will end on Wednesday. I was very proud of the students last week when they got through their reading and math NECAP tests. It was a long test booklet and it required a great amount of focus, quiet and endurance. They all put a lot of effort toward the test. We are ending unit 2 in EveryDay math and will take a unit assessment. We are also starting our science forces unit (electricty, magnetism, light, and forces in motion). Each of the four teachers will specialize in one of the forces and students will participate in activities with each teacher until they rotate through all classrooms. We are also starting a literacy unit on folk tales from around the world. Kids will read a variety of books in the classroom as well as access books from an online website. This link is available on our blog. Have a great week.

Week of 10/4

If you have ever worried that your child has N.D.D (nature deficit disorder - and yes, it's a real thing). These last weeks we took care of that. We were amazed to all watch the Monarch butterfly emerge from its chrysalis. There were gasps of amazement, and then I held the butterfly for a half an hour while I did read aloud and we were able to watch it. We also observed a tiny, baby garter snake for 2 days and then saw a much larger snake when Ari brought in her boa constrictor, Mary. For academics, we did data collection with chocolate covered raisins, are working with numbers in the millions and practicing for the NECAP Tests next week. There will be no homework that week so kids can get outside, and get to bed early. Our Hike for Hunger is Friday the 15th for the last 2 hours of the day (rain date is the following Wed.) If you would like to hike with us we would love to have you! Email me if you need further details. We have also worked on RACE for constructed responses in writing: R-reword the question in your answer, A-Answer the question to show you understood the reading, C- cite examples from the text and E - extend your answer by making a connection, making an inference, or drawing a conclusion.

Week of 9/20/10

This week kids will make word clouds using the program Tagxedo. They will review parts of speech: nouns, verbs and adjectives about their lives and then make their word cloud. I can't wait to display them. Check out the link regarding Pinwheels for Peace. We made these pinwheels and then celebrated Peace Day (Sept. 21st) by eating "Imagine World Peace" ice cream! We are finishing unit 1 of EveryDay Math and will take a unit review.

Week of 9/13

Well, here comes our first 5 day week. I think we are ready. I am finalizing up spelling assessments before putting kids in spelling groups so that will probably start next weeks. We received our EveryDay math journals and are involved in a geometry unit. Students are finishing a writing activity/assessment called a 3-day write and are publishing that piece. We are off to a great start!

9/6

Our first 3 days back was hot, but great. I could tell I had a fourth grade this year based on the maturity and responsiblity compared to last year. We have most of our returning friends from last year as well as 4 new friends: Finn, Chandler, Zanna, and Hannah. This week will be cooler and we will do a few back to school assessments as well as make a "personality circle" to get to know each other better. I am so excited to have so many great parents and students this year!

2010-2011 School Year's Almost Here!

What a beautiful summer we have had in Vermont! I have been in our classroom a few times to clean and organize. We have a new SmartBoard in our room and the training class I took was pretty cool. The board can do some amazing things, but we still have a lot to learn together in order to use it to its fullest potential. I look forward to seeing all of your smiling, tan faces. Get some rest and make sure you do some reading!