Mystery Reader

Mystery Reader

Friday, December 23rd is a full day of school.  To kick start our winter vacation, we are going to be participating in a fun reading activity called, "Booked In."  We are going to spend a large part of that day reading some great books.  To add to the fun, I thought it would be great if we could host some MYSTERY READERS. 

We are looking for parents, grandparents, or siblings to volunteer to read a favorite picture book or poem to our class on that afternoon.  Please let me know (secretly!) if you are available and I will give you some open times to choose from.  Volunteers can either bring in a favorite book of their choice or I can provide one to you.

Time Capsules

While it isn't until the Spring, I will be sending home a notice tomorrow regarding the Time Capsule Closing Ceremony.  This is the event held for fourth graders leaving Farley on the last day of school.  During this event, students will be closing a Time Capsule of items they have collected from their years here at Farley.  I thought that if you had a copy of the suggested items now, you would appreciate having the time to start collecting.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

Immigration

We are starting our unit on immigration during Social Studies.  Students will be learning about immigration and the conditions that cause a family to immigrate.  They will also be learning about the experiences of immigrants at Ellis Island and the different nationalities that have populated the different regions of the United States.  An assignment went home today asking students to interview a family member regarding your own family's history.  Please look for the assignment in your child's homework folder.  It is due on Friday.  Thank you so much for your continued support.

Welcome Back!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Break.  We have a lot to be thankful for right here in our classroom.  We have been exploring our school landscape through science, having deeper conversations during reading, are feeling more confident with multiplication, and are strengthening our classroom community.  We are also so thankful for a wonderful field trip earlier this month and the chaperones that helped it go very smoothly.  I personally, am thankful for all of the support I have gotten from families so far this year.  Thank you!

Battle of the Books

Our class has been participating in a book competition where everyone reads the same 16 picture books and then votes, bracket style, for their favorite books.  The books are narrowed down until only two remain and then after a final vote, a champion is crowned!  It is the March Madness of the reading world!  While reading these books, students have been learning how good readers jot down their thinking in ways that make sense for them in their reader's notebook.  They are learning how to grow ideas about their reading and how to write about their thinking.  They have learned to push their thinking deeper and how to determine a character's traits by looking at what a character says, thinks, or does.  To say the least, the learning experiences coming out of these 16 books are amazing!  When talking with your child over the next few days, ask them which book they like the best so far and why.  Stay tuned for the winning book!

Fact Families


For the next two weeks, students should be studying their 2's - 9's.  Please let me know if your child is missing their cards.  We are getting into division in school and knowing these facts will really help your child focus on learning the process of division instead of having to spend a lot of time figuring out the multiplication.  The next test is scheduled for Friday 12/9.

Dress for Science


We have been going outside a lot for science.  My philosophy is to get students out into the real-world as much as possible to observe science in action instead of creating contrived experiences in the classroom.  Please make sure that your child has warm clothing to wear when we are outside.

Field Trip Info, Science & Social Studies

Field Trip

Have You Passed In Your Permission Slip Yet?

Our class will be going to the Action Science Discovery Museum on November 18th.  We will return to school in time for lunch, so students can pack their lunch as usual.  There are a large number of students who have not turned in their permission slips yet, please let me know if you need another copy.  We are excited and can't wait for an exciting day!

Social Studies

We just wrapped up our first round of Social Studies: learning about the Northeast.  We will learn about all the regions this year and really think about how diverse our country is.  We will also attempt to answer the question: How does where you live, affect how you live? 

In addition to learning about the Northeast, we began to learn about how to research and determine importance.  Students were asked to become an expert on one topic of the region and decide what the rest of the class should learn about that topic.  They created teaching posters and presented these to their classmates.  Below are some photos of our work.

Science

We recently launched our first unit in science.  We will be learning about erosion and weathering and attempting to answer the question: What causes changes in our landscape?  We are also learning to be good scientists by observing, taking good notes and asking questions.  We started science journals and will explore different ways to record our thinking in them this year. 

Below is a picture from one of our first experiments.  Students created sculptures out of play dough and then placed them outside.  We have been observing the effects of the weather on these sculptures and discussing how we can accurately capture our observations in our science journals.

How Effective is Our Effort?

Effective Effort

We have been learning about effective effort and how putting forth the right kind of effort will result in more confidence and success in school.  Below is a picture of some definition posters we have in our classroom.  Some of these we have already learned, some we will be learning in the coming days.

You Can Help!

 

When you're at home with your child, look for opportunities to praise your child's effort.  Breaking effort down into the six different elements helps children to see what effort looks like and it gives parents ways to be specific with their praise.  Don't just say, "Great job!  You worked hard."  Try saying something like, "I noticed that you put a lot of time into your homework and you didn't give up."  or "Great job using the help sheet Mrs. Leger sent home to help you finish your homework."  This will give students a clearer understanding of what effort really is.

Math

Last week during conferences, I sent home the first end of module assessment.  After looking it over, please let me know if you have any questions or would like some extra work to practice at home.

Students should be studying their fact family cards every night.  Our next assessment will be on November 3rd.  Please remember to have your child show you their MAH sheet which tracks this studying on Thursday.  Parents need to sign it so that it can be passed in on Friday.  A large number of students have been turning in their MAH sheets unsigned.

Reading

Students are still expected to read at home for 20 minutes each night.  Please let me know if your child is struggling with this. 

Writing

We have begun a literary essay unit.  In this unit, students will learn how to develop a thesis about a book they are reading and how to write convincingly about that thesis.  They will also learn how to add evidence to make their argument even more convincing. 

As with the last unit, there will be times when students will be working on their writing from home using Google Docs.  Many parents often feel the need to type for their children or to edit their child's work.  Please don't!  When students come to school with perfectly edited work, or work that has been written by parents, I am unable to see what the child can truly do.  This prevents me from giving them what they need to grow as a writer.  Thank you so much for your support in this.

Social Studies

Students have been working on research projects on various topics regarding the Northeast region of the United States.  We have integrated this project with reading instruction from the determining importance unit which focuses on non-fiction and how to decide what is most important to remember when reading books full of facts. 

Students have been excited about this project because students they have been charged with becoming the teachers for the rest of the class.  They get to decide what is important for everyone else in the class to learn and how they are going to teach it.  Stay tuned for pictures of final products soon!

October Already?

One Month Down....

Our first month of school has flown by!  Our class has really grown in the past few weeks.  We feel more comfortable working with each other and sharing our ideas.  We are learning to challenge ourselves and to not give up when things get tricky.  We are still working on following expectations and being responsible for ourselves but we are closer to this goal each day!

New Project - Character Trait Book

A new project was sent home today that we will work on in school and at home.  Students will often be introduced to a new character trait in school and we will have discussions about what this trait means.  At home, students will be required to complete a book page about that trait.  An explanation sheet was sent home today along with the booklet.  There was also a parent signature page that I am asking families to send back in.  This will help me to make sure that everyone is on the same page. We may not send this project home each day depending on our schedule and ability to introduce a new word in school.  I will be checking in with students frequently on how it is going to see if there is any further support that students need.  Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Red Homework & Communication Folder

Please keep in mind that students also bring home important notices in their red homework folder.  Many of these notices are time sensitive so don't forget to check your child's folder each day....or better yet, set up a routine where your child shows you what is in their folder each day.  Middle School will be here before you know it so any way that you can help them to build responsibility will only help them in the years to come!

MAH

Because of the short week, we will not be having a MAH sheet this week.  We will return to the tracking sheet for fact family cards next week.  In the meantime, please continue to have your child study their fact family cards.  We will send home the 4's and 5's tomorrow to begin studying.  Please let me know if your child has lost their cards.

Conferences

Conferences are next Wednesday and Thursday.  If you have not already signed up for a conference, please do so.  I really look forward to meeting with everyone and discussing your child's goals.  If you are unable to schedule a conference please let me know so that we can work something out.

Classroom Updates!

Google Docs

As many of you know from Open House, we will spend a lot of time using Google Docs this year.  It allows students to work on the same document from any computer as long as it has internet access.  Students will also be able to share these documents with me electronically and I will be able to give feedback immediately.  A letter is going home this explaining what this is.  Each student has a unique username and password.  This username/password information is also included in the letter coming home this week.  Please put these in a place where they won't be lost.  We are also attaching a copy in our homework planners.  

On Thursday, students will be asked to try to sign in to Google Docs and continue typing up a narrative that they are working on in class.  I will be eager to see how this goes, as it will be our first try working from home.  As with any technology, there can be issues to work out so please let me know if there are any issues.  Also please let me know if you have difficulty accessing a computer at home.

Reading At Home

I hope that everyone is finding time to read outside of school for at least 20 minutes every day.  Although there is no more tracking sheet, it is still expected.  Remember, students can sometimes have difficulty finding a solid 20 minutes for reading.  This is when Reading in the Edges can be helpful.  Please let me know if you need help assisting your child with their reading at home.

One thing that we have been discussing at school is that students should be reading one book at a time.  Please encourage your child to bring whatever they are reading at home to school so they can continue reading the same book in school.  I have been doing the same with the books that they are reading here.

Fact Family Cards

Yesterday, I sent home Fact Family Cards (green triangle cards) for the first time.  Students are expected to study these every night for five minutes.  Pleaset let me know if you are unsure how to use these cards with your child.  There will be a test on the 1-3 facts on October 12th.

There is also a Math at Home (MAH) sheet that students need to fill out regarding their studying.  It needs to be signed and sent back to school by Friday each week.

Struggles

Recently, we began talking about how struggle is part of being successful.  No athlete, successful business person, or adult has made it to where they are today without struggle.  Oftentimes, we do not see the struggle of a successful person, and children often think that people easily glide into these positions of success.  For example, many children think Tom Brady was born good at football and that becoming the quarterback of the Patriots came easily to him.  

It is important for us to teach children that sometimes it is okay to struggle and that we should persevere through these struggles.  I have shared stories of my own struggles as a learner and will also be inviting other administrators from the district into our morning meetings to share their struggles. I am now inviting families to join us for a ten minute morning meeting to share their own struggles as well.  Feel free to contact me a set up a time to join us for a morning meeting.

Below is a link to a video we watched in class about "famous failures."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dT4Fu-XDygw

Reading At Home

Thank You!

I cannot thank everyone enough for joining me for Open House recently.  It was so nice to meet so many of you and to begin our journey working together to help your child succeed in fourth grade.

Reading Expectations

As discussed at Open House, there will be no reading log this year.  My goal is to create life-long readers and I do not feel that this is something that is encouraging our students to read.  Students are still expected to read at least 20 minutes every day.  I will make sure to help students find books that are engaging and that they want to read.  I hope that families can support me by helping their children find times at home to read.  I will also be monitoring student progress at school and will contact you if anything comes up in hopes that we can both support our readers together.  Please let me know if you have any questions!

Homework Expectations

We have been working on becoming more independent with homework.  In the classroom, we copy down our homework each morning.  The due dates will always be listed on the planner.  If you ever have any questions about homework please let me know.  I will continue to email when assignments are not turned in on time to help everyone stay in the loop.  Right now, students are still working on turning in their work on time.  Please encourage them to keep track of due dates.

Growth Mindset

At Open House I mentioned Growth Mindset.  If your child shuts down or frustrates easily after making a mistake or chooses the easier option then this could be the gentle push your child needs.  In a nutshell, research shows that there are two types of learners.  The first has a growth mindset and believes that with practice and determination, they can get better at anything.  The second learner believes that they are only born with certain talents or smarts and there is nothing they can do to change it.  Research also shows that learners with a growth mindset are more successful than those who aren't.  Below is a video that can help you to understand it further.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh0OS4MrN3E&feature=share

Upcoming Events

9/21    Ice Cream Social - 6:00 - 8:00

9/23    School picture day

9/28    ½ Day PD - dismissal 11:40

Off To A Great Start!

We've had a great start to the school year!  We have been getting to know each other, getting to know the routines and expectations in the classroom, and have also been setting ourselves up to be successful academically.  It was wonderful meeting everyone during Open House.  We had a wonderful turn out and the students were very excited to show off what they have been learning about Google Docs.  If you have any questions now that the dust has settled, please let me know.

Supplies

I cannot thank everyone enough for all of the donations that came in the first day of school.  They were all very needed and will help to keep us running smoothly.  During Open House I completely forgot to share a few more items that are needed in our classroom.  If you are able to help out, it would be greatly appreciated.

                                                   5-subject notebooks  (urgent)

                                                   hand sanitizer 

                                                   exercise balls (for seating)

Book Orders

This is a wonderful way to get your reader motivated!  I cannot tell you how many times a week I get asked if our orders have arrived!  This month's order is due on Tuesday.  If you need an extra flyer, let me know.  Our class code is H3M9C if you would like to order online.

Storytelling

This past week we launched Writer's Workshop by telling stories around "the campfire."  Students made their own "campfires" and used flashlights to light up themselves in our darkened classroom.  We ate popcorn and thought about memories with family members, summertime stories, stories about times we felt intense emotions, and stories about favorite objects.  While students were enjoying their storytelling, and listening to others' stories they didn't even realize that they were generating many different ideas for Writer's Workshop this year!

Check out the video of our campfire stories:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1SAWe1eb4ZTSUQybXhjMlFVOFE/view?usp=sharing

Welcome!

Welcome To Fourth Grade!

I hope that by now everyone has gotten my newsletter and information about the start of the school year.  I am so excited to meet everyone next week.  The classroom is nearly ready and I have been busy planning many wonderful activities and lessons for us this year.

Summer Reading

In my down time I spent a lot of time reading this summer.  While I did read several adult books, I mainly read books that my fourth graders had recommended to me at the end of last school year.  I can't wait to share these books with all of you.  I've posted some of them below.  Have you ever read any of them?



I have to say that I really liked each of these books!  If you are interested in hearing a little bit about any of them feel free to ask me when you get to school next week.  I'd be happy to share them with you.

Sneak Peak

While the beginning of the school year is really exciting, I understand that it can also be nerve wracking.  This will be my 13th year of teaching but I still get butterflies driving into school on the first day!  To help make all of you feel better about coming into a new classroom, watch the video below.  You'll get a sneak peak at your new classroom and hear a little bit about what we'll have going on over the first few weeks.

• Sneak Peak Video

Special Events!

Field Trip

On Wednesday June 15th we will be walking to the Hudson Public Library to kick start summer reading and then to Wood Park for a picnic.  Permission slips are going home today so please be on the lookout.  We are looking for parent volunteers to join us, so please let me know if you are available. 

We are also providing an opportunity for each child to get their own library card if they don't already have one.  Please let me know if your child doesn't have a library card so we can get the paperwork done.

Time Capsule Closing Ceremony

On June 22 at 9:00 (the last day of school) we will be holding our Time Capsule Closing Ceremony.  Students should be collecting items for their time capsule and looking for a small bin or box to keep their items in.  The time capsules are due to school on June 16th.  This will give us time to add things that we have collected here at school.  Please let me know if you have any questions.

We also need donations of duct tape for the Closing Ceremony if anyone can send some in!


Thank you so much for your continued support!

Book Clubs & Research!

Book Clubs

The Book Clubs have been a huge success in the classroom so far!  Students are reading, talking, and tracking their thinking about books.  They are growing new ideas and thinking more deeply about characters and theme.  They are discussing issues that matter to them.  This could not have been as successful if it hadn't been for your support.  Thank you so much to all of the families who have reminded, read with, or discussed the books your children are reading.  We will continue the book clubs until the end of the school year. 

In the classroom we have been using a sentence starter resource to help guide our discussions.  We have also learned that the same sentence starters can be used when we are reading to help us guide the notes we take in our reader's notebook and the thoughts we are having.  I told our class that I would include a picture of the resource on here in case any of them wanted to refer to it while they are working from home.

Non-Fiction Research & Writing

Students have been researching their chosen region and have been learning a lot about how to take notes, research their questions, and organize their thinking.  Next week we will begin drafting our non-fiction books.  To do this we will use Google Docs.  There may be times when students will be asked to work on this at home as well.  If you are unable to access Google Docs from home for whatever reason, please feel free to have students email their work to me and we can add it to our documents here at school the next day.

Hand Sanitizer!!!

We are on our last drops of hand sanitizer!  If anyone has any bottles that they are willing to donate, it would be much appreciated!

MCAS

We have our math MCAS testing next week on Tuesday and Thursday.  Please make sure that your child comes to school on time.  A good night's sleep and a hearty breakfast always makes a difference as well!

Special Events & Dates

Important Dates

The end of the year is approaching and with it comes many special events and important dates.  A blue notice was sent home earlier explaining these.  If you haven't gotten a copy I am posting it below.  Please let me know if you have any questions about anything!

Time Capsule

The end of the year is also an especially important time for fourth graders in Hudson because they are getting ready to move on from Farley and enter middle school.  To commemorate this event, we hold a Time Capsule Closing Ceremony.  Students should begin creating a time capsule at home.  On June 16th, students should bring these capsules to school so that we can add more items to it from school.  We will then celebrate and close the time capsules at a ceremony on the last day of school.  I am posting a reminder below that includes ideas of what could go into the capsule.

My Man Blue

Students just completed a poetry comprehension unit.  They learned comprehension strategies for understanding poetry and reviewed internal and external character traits which they learned earlier in the year.  Our culminating project was for students to create life-sized pictures of the main character that included his internal traits.  I thought you might like to see pictures of some of the final products.

 

 

 

Hand Sanitizer

We are just about out of hand sanitizer!  If you are willing to donate any, could you please send it in?  Our immune systems thank you!

Reminders!

Conferences

Conferences are this Thursday and Friday with evening conferences on Thursday.  Please don't forget to sign up for one.  If you are having difficulties, please email me with some times and I can add you to my schedule.  I look forward to meeting with everyone!

Book Fair

Our class is going to the book fair tomorrow (Wednesday) and again on Friday.  Please help them to remember to bring in their money so they can buy a book.  They are excited to get their hands on some new books!

MCAS

If you could have seen how hard everyone worked on MCAS over the past three school days you would have been so proud!  Students used their strategies that they have learned, double checked their work, and persevered.  The ELA portion of MCAS is now over (yay!).  Our math MCAS is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17th and Thursday, May 19th.

Panoramic Photographs

Forms will be sent home tomorrow for panoramic group photographs.  A picture will be taken of the entire fourth grade and you will be able to order a copy using the form.  The picture will be taken on April 14th and forms must be in by that day.

Monday April 11th.........
Red Sox Day! - Students can wear Red Sox gear (including ball caps) or red, white, and blue clothing.

MCAS Crushers!

MCAS

On Friday we will begin our English Language Arts MCAS testing.  A letter was sent home on Friday explaining the different portions of the test and what students are expected to do.  The dates are also included at the end of this blog.  We have been preparing for the test by learning what the different parts consist of and what we will be expected to do on the day of the test.  We have been building up our confidence and learning ways that we can "beat the test."  In addition, we have been emphasizing that we can do our best by using the strategies we have learned and taking our time. 

We have really treated this test as though it is a game that we can beat.  I have acted as their coach and have tried to dispel any concerns or fears that students may have.  Please encourage your child to try their best and to use their "magic" (the strategies we have learned).  Let me know if you have any questions.

Conferences

Parent teacher conferences will be on Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8.  Please don't forget to sign up for a conference on PTC Fast.  I look forward to meeting with everyone!

Regions

Next week students will begin a new Social Studies, Reading, Writing and Technology project.  We will be integrating many of the fourth grade subjects by reading, researching, and writing about a chosen region of the United States.  There will be many student choices in the project and will be largely interest driven.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Prezi

We have been learning about reading non-fiction and how to determine what is important out of all of the information in a non-fiction reading selection.  We have also been learning how to identify the main idea and supporting details.  To help us learn this we read and took notes on a chosen non-fiction topic such as National Parks, polar bears, animal survival skills etc.  We then utilized Prezi which is similar to Power Point (but much more updated and motivating!) to create presentations that highlighted the main ideas and supporting details of what we had read.  The pictures below show students presenting their Prezi's to the class.  You can ask your child to present their Prezi to you by going online to www.prezi.com.

Upcoming Dates

4/1, 4/4, 4/5 - ELA MCAS TESTING
4/5 - 4/8 - Book Fair
4/7 & 4/8 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Spring Fun & Learning

Hello Spring!

It's almost here!  With Spring comes many exciting events, new learning opportunities, and some important dates. 

Non-Fiction

We have been learning how to determine the main topics of a non-fiction text by skimming and scanning the text features.  We are also learning how key details can support our understanding of the main topics in the text.  We will be starting a project in the classroom that will help solidify this concept and help us practice our newly learned skills.  Partnerships will read about a topic and determine the main topics and key details from the reading.  They will then create a presentation using Prezi present their topic to the rest of the class.  Prezi is similar to Power Point but more exciting!  When they are finished we will share!

Writing a Response to Literature

We are working on understanding questions so that we know what they are asking of us.  This will help us better think about and answer them.  We are also learning how we can categorize our evidence which helps us come up with answers or reasons. (Ask your child about my Grandmother's purse!)  Yesterday, students wrote some beautiful responses to a question about an excerpt from Because of Winn-Dixie.  I thought I would share one response below so you can see what fourth graders are expected to do (and are capable of!)

Number Lines

Today we will begin looking at fractions on number lines.  We have gotten very good at partitioning tape diagrams and area models into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths and sixths.  We have also learned what equivalence means.  Our next step is seeing this same concept on a number line.  We will then move on to using number lines to help us think about the sizes of different fractions and putting them in order.

Potential and Kinetic Energy

We are nearing the end of our unit on potential and kinetic energy and it has been a blast.  Yesterday, students made adjustments to an experiment we had done together to see if they could make their cars travel even further down the ramp.  They determined their own variable and designed their own experiments.  Some added height to the ramp, others added weight to the cars, some adjusted the tracks.  Today, students will present the results of their experiments.

Important Dates

March 25th - No School
March 30th - Report Cards Go Home
April 1st, 4th, 5th - MCAS ELA

Donations

We are looking for some things to replenish our supplies!  Anything you could send in would be greatly appreciated!

Pencils
Magnets for our whiteboard
Clorox Wipes

So Happy To Be Back!

I was so happy to come back to school today and see all of your children's smiling faces!  It will take a few days to get everyone back on track and in our routine again but today was a great start!  Thank you all for the support and understanding you have given me over the past couple of months.  I want to take some time and give some updates and let everyone know what we will be working on over the next few weeks.  

MAH - Math Vocabulary

A new list of math vocabulary words went home today to be studied during MAH.  Our quiz will be on Friday, March 4th.  Please let me know if you need any help with ideas for studying.

Math - Fractions

We will be starting a new unit on fractions in math this week.  A parent hand-out will be going home tomorrow to explain some of the concepts being taught.  The websites listed below may be helpful with any homework questions your child may have.

http://www.oakdale.k12.ca.us/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1391596408603

http://greatminds.net/support/parents

http://www.ojusd.org/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1391596408603

Reading - Non-fiction

During reading we will be reading non-fiction and learning how to determine which information is most important.  We will be thinking about main ideas, text structures, and text features.  Eventually we will use this learning to help us write our own non-fiction.  

Writing - Literary Essays & Open Response

We will be circling back to review our literary essay unit and connect this to open response which is a shorter version of literary essay where students respond to a specific question about the literature they are reading.  We will focus on learning how to cite evidence to support our thinking and connecting all of our ideas together to create cohesive writing.

Science - Energy

We launched a new science unit today on different forms of energy.  The first two we are focusing on are potential and kinetic energy.  Over the summer I applied for some materials from Hot Wheels (the toy car company) and they came in!  Students began experimenting with energy today using car tracks and Hot Wheels cars.  They made many observations and came up with many ideas about energy which we will continue to explore over the coming weeks.  Here are a few pictures of our exploration today.  To me, this is the definition of engagement!