Hi again. It's yet another freezing Friday, and the class has been stuck indoors a lot this week. I hope next week is better!

Here's a brief rundown:

In math, we finished up our measurement unit. This week we focused on strategies for finding the area of different shapes, and then of rectangles. We also reviewed perimeter. Today, as a fun bonus, we got to play with protractors and learned how to measure angles. Of course, we continued working in our checkbooks as well. Everyone got paid, everyone paid taxes, and everyone paid rent. They are enjoying this!

In reading, we really worked on how to have deeper book club conversations. We learned about the importance of pushing ourselves to have ideas, and also how important it is to be open to the ideas of your book club peers. Students are writing in their reading journals, and they are even working on collecting evidence from the text to back up their claims!

I am super impressed with the writing that everyone is doing. The opinion writing essay is very structured and forces the students to think about paragraphing. They are writing wonderful essays about sports teams, friendship, seasons, and so much more. Some are even using metaphors to make their writing more meaningful. By the middle of next week, we will be moving onto persuasive writing. Don't be surprised if you get a well-written 5 paragraph essay convincing you to paint a room of your house, get a new pet, or take a vacation. I've seen many essays like that in my years of teaching! This essay unit goes so well with our social issues book clubs and also with our civics unit.

Speaking of civics, this week the class learned about congress, what is meant by democrat and republican, and how a bill becomes a law (complete with "I'm Just a Bill" from Schoolhouse Rock!) Next week they will learn about Vermont's government and we will look at a few actual bills that our legislature is considering. Then we will choose one to debate and write to our congressman/woman about. These students are becoming young activists!

If you haven't already, please remember that I am hoping to collect some "garage sale" items that your children don't want anymore so that we can use the "money" left in our "accounts" for something real. Feel free to begin sending items in anytime!

Here are a few questions you can ask your children this week to spark conversation:

• Who are Ivan and Stella?
• What does it  mean when a bill dies in committee?
• What does the government use our tax money for?
• What is a right angle?
• What is your thesis in your opinion essay?
• What does Ms. Ehtesham take VERY SERIOUSLY?

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Remember, we have SNOW MOTION on Monday morning! Let's hope for some moderating temperatures!

Happy Friday!

Happy chilly Friday!

I hope you are all staying healthy and warm!  We have had a warm and cozy week here in the classroom. Here is the rundown:

We finished up the linear measurement part of our math unit. The class learned how to convert inches to feet and yards, and millimeters and centimeters to meters. More importantly, they learned about how to measure perimeter. They all understand how to do this!  We will keep practicing it throughout the year. We have moved on to learning about polygons and symmetry and measuring the area of odd shapes. This short unit is hands-on and fun for everyone!  

Of course, the most exciting part of our math work this week was our checkbooks. Everyone got paid and entered their paycheck amount into their check register. Then they wrote me a rent check and a tax check (along with a great discussion about why they all owed different amounts for taxes -- based on income) and subtracted those amounts in their check registers. It took a little time to refresh our understanding of the US algorithm, but we all got there! The students seem to LOVE this activity! Some of them are finding out it is hard to make so little money and manage their bills... they don't know this yet, but some of them will receive a "welfare check" later (following a discussion about how our government uses some of our tax money.) Such important life learning!

We continue reading our social issues books in clubs. This week, we focused a lot on figuring out the social issue, and on HOW to have a good, rich book discussion. This takes practice! They are already getting better at it!

In writing, we are still working on our opinion pieces. The students are writing about all sorts of things, ranging from sports teams to friendships to cats versus dogs. The topic is important because a good opinion essay needs 3 solid reasons. For example, I might write "I love ice cream because it is refreshing, it has lots of flavors, and there are so many yummy toppings." My next job would be to write a paragraph saying more about each of those 3 reasons. We are using colors to help us stay organized. Ask your child to explain more about this!

Our civics unit continued this week. After learning about our rights and responsibilities as citizens last week, we shifted into learning about how our government works. This week we learned about the 3 branches of government and what their responsibilities are. The class understands the need for checks and balances. They could all pass a citizenship test!

On Wednesday, February 9 (an early release date) we plan to have our "sale" to celebrate the ending of the checkbook activity. If you have any kid-friendly items that you were thinking of throwing away or donating to Good Will, please consider sending them in. The class will have a blast "buying" each others' stuff! Let me know if you have any questions about this. Thanks in advance!

That's all for this week. Stay warm!

 Happy 2022, everyone! It has been a really wonderful week here in the classroom, despite sickness and the usual interruptions. We are so happy to welcome our new student, Gabe. It feels like he has been here all year! He fits in beautifully, and the class has been wonderful in making sure he feels like he belongs.  

January is usually my favorite month of teaching. With the holidays behind us and spring fever not yet upon us, these 6 weeks are productive and calm, with lots of learning happening. This year looks to be no exception (assuming COVID doesn't disrupt us too much) and I am looking forward to some good weeks ahead.

Here's the rundown for this week:

In reading, we started our Social Issues book clubs. The students made a sad list of social issues that face us in today's world, and they are reading books in groups and identifying/discussing these issues with their peers. This sort of literary analysis combined with real-life issues is so good for them to tackle, and they are certainly mature enough for the conversations!

In writing, we have just started an opinion writing unit. The students are still picking their topics, but they will all write a 5 paragraph essay with a thesis that they have to support. They will be masters of paragraphing by the time this unit is over! The social issues they are reading about will help them come up with some strong opinions to write about!

We have started our civics unit in social studies. So far, we have learned what is meant by democracy, and we have learned what rights and responsibilities we  have as citizens of a democracy. We also learned about the Bill of Rights and the first 10 amendments. If you hear your child saying, "I plead the 5th," it is because they learned about our 5th amendment and the freedom to not incriminate yourself in court! We will go on to learn about our 3 branches of government, what is meant by Democrat and Republican, and how a bill becomes a law. They will be very informed citizens when this unit is over!

Finally, in math, we are doing a short unit on measurement. This week, we focused on linear measurement and perimeter. Next week we will get into symmetry and finding the area of unusual shapes. The students all received their "checkbooks" and we are starting our math simulation. Each student has a "job" and will get a paycheck weekly for 4 weeks. They will also get a tax bill and a rent bill. They will need to write 2 checks each week to pay their bills. Of course, they will  have to add and subtract their checks and payments in their check registers. This is a great way to practice the algorithm, and also a wonderful life skill to learn! Naturally, they love doing this... and the celebration at the end will be a sale where they can spend their "money" to buy a variety of stuff (that I might be asking you to donate -- garage sale items that you don't want anymore! One man's trash is another man's treasure, right?) Stay tuned!

That is all for this week. I hope you all have a restful and HEALTHY weekend!

 Hi Everyone,

This week went by so fast! At the end of the day, with a million holiday-related things on my mind, I walked out the door a little earlier than usual. I went off shopping, and about an hour ago, I realized I had never written my blog post for the week! I apologize for being so late, and for all of the typos I found (and then fixed) in last week's blog. I guess we are all a little busy right now!

It has certainly been a busy week. The classroom is abuzz with excitement, and it has been hard to get all 22 students to sit, listen, and stay engaged. I know their minds are elsewhere, so I have tried to keep the new learning to a minimum. Instead, we have done a lot of reviewing and finishing up.  We have completed our expert books! On Monday, we will have our on-demand assessment for nonfiction writing. I told the students this today because I like them to have some time to plan and pick a topic. If you have a moment, talk to your children about this and help them nail down a topic so they are ready for Monday. It should be a topic they know a lot about so they can write like experts! I am hoping to see some wonderful organization in their writing!

We are also more or less finished with our nonfiction writing unit. Today the students got together with their research groups and taught each other what they have learned about various extreme weather events. They learned a lot during their research -- and I don't mean just facts. They learned how to research across multiple texts, how to tackle the really hard parts of the books they were using, and how to come up with some ideas about their topics. I am impressed with them!

We took a brief dive into our energy unit this week during science. We played with "roller coasters" and marbles and learned about potential energy and hills. We will come back to this after break -- mostly learning about how humans use various natural resources to make energy in the form of electricity.

Math is the only subject that we kept on with this past week. After learning how to use the US algorithm for addition and subtraction with numbers up to 1,000, we were ready to move onto much larger numbers! We made a 10,000 chart in our classroom, and we learned a lot about place value and how to move around in our number system. These are BIG numbers and they are hard for many students to conceptualize, much less add and subtract! But that is exactly what we did this week. We practiced using the traditional algorithm to solve problems such as 23,145 - 16,848. We also learned to really think about every equation and to decide if the algorithm was the best strategy. We can solve 25,000 - 4,500 in our heads FAR more easily than with an algorithm, All those zeroes and all that regrouping (or borrowing) is a lot harder than using our knowledge of numbers and our mental math skills!  We will finish up this unit before the break, but of course we will keep adding and subtracting -- forever!

Thank you to all off you who have sent in crafting supplies. I know the students are looking forward to our Maker's Space next week. It will be nice to take a brief break from the usual academic pressure and have a little creative fun!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. Think SNOW!

Happy Friday! It is has been terrific to be back at school all day the past few days. The week went by quickly, but we made the best of it!

We definitely had to spend a bit of time this week reviewing classroom routines and expectations. This is normal after a week's vacation, but was particularly necessary since the class had a guest teacher for a week. Even though it took time away from our academics, it was necessary. I feel like today was a good day all around, and I feel like we are back on track (just in time for another vacation coming up....!)

Here's a quick review of our academics this week:

In reading and writing, we are still working with nonfiction texts. Students are working in research groups. Each group is researching a different kind of weather event. They are learning how to find what subtopics to research and how to make sure they are synthesizing across the books they read. In writing, they are working to finish up their expert books. They are adding pictures and other nonfiction features, and they are learning to say more!

In math, we finally learned the US algorithm for subtraction (what we used to call "borrowing.") Wow! They seem to love doing this! Here is a photo to show you our first method (which is a transitional method) and then the usual method:

As you can seen, in the transitional method, the top (or larger) number is expanded out by place value. The smaller number is as well. This way, students can better see exactly what is happening as they regroup from hundreds place to tens place, etc.  After all, 1,582 is the same as 1,000 + 400 + 170 + 12.  (I hope this makes sense! It does to your children -- ask them to show you!)

Once we start using the algorithm (some are already using it) we have to be very careful to LINE the numbers ups, and to always remember that we have to regroup any time the number on the top is smaller than the number we are subtracting. Phew! We will continue to practice this next week as we get into the 10,000's!

Here is some other important information:

Please be sure your children have snow pants, boots, coats, and gloves daily.  Many of them prefer to go outside to play in just their regular clothes and shoes, and then they are wet and uncomfortable all afternoon. If you put it in their backpack, I make them wear it!  

With the winter holidays upon us, I am thinking of doing a Secret Snowflake activity. Here is how it works. The students each pick a name (randomly) and then I create a Maker's Space here at school. I have a lot of craft materials! Each student will then make some sort of gift for the person they chose. I will give them 2 separate days to work on this since glue and paint need to dry. Then they will wrap these and give them to each other! This is ALL done at school so that everyone has access to the same materials and there is no burden on you. (Of course, I may send out a list of crafting things the students want if I don't have them, but that is up to you!) Please let me know if you don't want your child to participate in this. We plan to do it on Monday and Tuesday 12/20 and 12/21. A few kids have said they might not be here, so let me know that as well. Of course, reach out with questions or concerns.

I think that is all! Thank you again for all of your support during my sickness. Have a wonderful weekend!

 Hello Families,

It has been a while since I have blogged. I was out sick 3 days last week, so I feel a bit out of touch! Here is a brief rundown of what we are doing in 4th grade:

In Reading, we have transitioned to nonfiction texts. Most of the class truly prefers fiction, but they are working on trying to love nonfiction as well. They have learned about what structures authors use, how to commit to a book or topic, how to figure out the meanings of unknown words, and how to recognize a "hybrid" text.  After break, we will learn about summarizing and looking for main idea.

We are also writing nonfiction ("expert books") texts. This class really loves to write! They have all created a table of contents and chapter headings, and they are working hard to organize their writing into sections based on their headings. They are putting in expert words, pictures and captions, and a mix of facts and ideas. I am enjoying reading their writing!

In math, we have shifted from multiplication/division to adding and subtracting with large numbers. So far, the class has reviewed place value and learned how to add using the standard algorithm that all of us learned ("carrying" the one, which is actually called regrouping.) Many of them are so relieved to have learned this -- it is far more efficient than the strategies they are used to! We purposely wait until grade 4 to teach this so that we are certain that kids are solid in their understanding of place value. After break, we will learn how to subtract using the algorithm as well. This is far trickier, especially when "borrowing" across a zero! We will take our time and get lots of practice. 

In science, we spent this week learning all about the human eye. The students all made a model eye using a ping pong ball (the hot glue makes them look like they have cataracts...) and they all know how to identify and label the main parts of the eye.

Today was another Camp Swampy day! We decided not to try to get to the pine forest because we know there are a lot of ticks in the woods, and the trail is very tight and overgrown. We will try that in the winter on show shoes! You never know what you will find in the woods, and today we found a deer stand (on the ground) with a few cans of beer on it. Unfortunately, one of the cans exploded and we had a small beer fountain. If your child comes home smelling of a brewery, this is why! It gave us a perfect opportunity to talk about how humans effect the woods. After that bit of excitement, we went to our usual spot and the class spent the last hour simply playing and building their forts. I so enjoyed watching them have the chance to play in such a carefree environment!

Here are some new words for this week:  fatigue and defiant. I know we all feel some fatigue and are ready for a break. I hope none of you experience any defiance from your children!

I am thankful every day for this lovely class and all of their unique personalities. I am also thankful for all of your support. I hope that you all enjoy a lovely Thanksgiving with loved ones, and I look forward to seeing the students in a week.

 This was a "finishing-up" week! We worked so hard to get things done, and we did it! We finished our writing unit and had a fun tropical celebration. The writing is hanging on our bulletin board and the class is proud of their work. We finished up our narrative reading unit, and the students all made so much progress in the kinds of thoughts they jotted down in their Reader's Notebooks. Finally, we finished up our multiplication and division unit. The final assessment made me happy -- there are still a few tangled ideas about multiplying and dividing, but we have made HUGE progress since September.

Next week, we will begin reading and writing nonfiction units. Your children will all be writing "expert books" so this might be a good weekend to help them come up with some ideas.  We will be reading books about the weather, at least for a few weeks. Then they will get to choose other nonfiction books that are appealing to them.

We will also start our next math unit, Adding and Subtracting with Large Numbers. Although it starts out with some review, this unit teaches them all a lot of flexible strategies for adding and subtracting, really cements their understanding of place value, and teaches them how to add a subtract with what we used to call "borrowing and carrying" (which is really just regrouping.) They always love this unit and have a huge AHA moment when they begin to understand this!

Our new vocabulary words this week were elated and fragrant. Use those around your dinner table!

Ask your kids about:

• Empathy
• Day of the Dead
• Was Funny Once
• Algebra!

That is all for this week -- short and sweet, for a change!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. It looks like it is going to be abundantly sunny!