Hello Families,

Here is a quick rundown of our week:

Math: We have finished up the multiplication bend of our unit, and have moved into division. Division is a much trickier operation for students to grasp, and we will need lots of practice. Stay tuned for a list of strategies that we will be using.  They will not learn the traditional algorithm for long division that we all use as adults -- that comes in middle school once we know for sure that they understand division conceptually. Mostly, we use what we know about multiplication in order to help us divide!

Reading: Most clubs have finished their historical fiction book clubs, but students are continuing to read historical fiction on their own. We have worked hard on determining themes and lessons from these books, and I see the students really stretching their thinking!

Writing: We are still plugging away at our literary essays. We are learning how to write even more complicated theses and to really analyze our books! This unit is a favorite of mine since it tackles both reading more intentionally AND writing!

Science: This week we learned about tectonic plates and we discovered that earthquakes mostly happen at the edges of these plates. Next week we will begin to learn about the theory of Pangea and about how glaciers and volcanoes form and what they do to the earth.

That's a wrap! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

 Happy Friday! It is hard to believe that it is already April  nd that our time together is going so fast! The last few months of school go by really quickly, and I am trying to hold onto my hat!

Here's a rundown of what we did this week:

In math, we are learning a variety of strategies for double digit multiplication. I sent home a family letter today, so be sure to check your child's backpack. Overall, what we want students to be able to do by the end of 4th grade is to break the numbers apart into tens and ones, and to use what they know about multiplying by 10 to multiply by 20, by 30, etc.  One of the strategies we use for this is called the "open area model." This is what it looks like:

Your children should all know how to do this, so ask them to explain it to you! It is not the algorithm that we all learned when we were in school, but it is a type of algorithm and is methodical and clear.  I am really proud to see these students begging for more multiplication problems. They know that practice makes perfect, and they are enjoying being successful! We move onto longer division next week, which will be a whole different ball of wax....

In reading, we are continuing to learn strategies to help us determine the themes and messages of our historical fiction books. The students are still reading in clubs, and they are discussing their books in order to push each other to think more deeply. This is hard -- they much prefer to simply retell what happened in the chapters. But they are beginning to have some deeper discussions! They are a work in progress.

Our literary essays are coming along. At this point, everyone has a thesis and they are working to find direct quotes from their books to use as evidence. This is another super important skill that is hard. You can't just use any old quote; it has to be one that helps you prove your point!  I hope to be finishing these essays up by the end of next week or early the week after. We will move onto a new unit after vacation.

We finished up our science unit this week. The students learned so much about how humans use natural resources to make electricity. They understand which resources are renewable and which are not, and they get that ALL methods of making electricity have some consequences for our planet. I'm thinking one (or  more) of them will grow up to save the world! Next week we will begin a unit on geology and tectonic plates.

Mr. Bouchard helped our class make a video about Green Up Day for Green Up Vermont's video competition. I have no idea if we have any chance of winning, but it was really fun to make this video! Enjoy: Green Up Video  Thank you, Mr. Bouchard!

Over the next few months, I am hoping to get parents involved in a variety of field trips, Camp Swampy, and some end-of-the-year festivities. If you are interested in being involved or chaperoning, please visit the MMU website, go to the Families tab, and click on Volunteering. You can complete the forms necessary for a background check so that we can ask you to help.  Thank you! I sure hope I can get you all involved in our class somehow!

I think that is everything for this week. Please be in touch if you have any questions or concerns. Happy weekend!

 Hello families,

It was lovely to meet with all of you over the past few weeks. I always enjoy conferences (especially when we can do it in person) because I feel like I get to know the students even better! Thank you all for taking the time to meet with me. We won't have any other scheduled conferences this year, but I am always available for a meeting if you feel the need.

I was out sick the past few days, and it sounds like the class had a tough time settling down and getting any meaningful work done. We took some time today to re-establish expectations and norms, and to discuss how to continue to be your best self even when routines are interrupted. This is a work in progress!

We have started out new  math unit on multiplication and division. This week we did a lot of prep work by talking about making a reasonable estimate. One of the ways to do this is to think about what we know about the multiples of 10. If we are multiplying 22 X 56, we can start by saying we know 10 X 56 = 560. That means 20 X 56 = 1,120 (or twice as much as 10 X 56). Once we have that established, we have a pretty good baseline or estimate. If we proceed with the problem but get a solution in the multi-thousands or below 1,000, we know our solution is not reasonable. Next week we will begin looking at various strategies for breaking the numbers apart when multiplying. I will send home a family letter about this unit on Monday. Stay tuned!

I will be brief about reading and writing because we have moved very slowly this week, particularly since those are harder lessons to have taught by a guest teacher. In the past few days, the students wrote and shared letters with me. They are still working on paragraphing and elaboration skills. They are also still working on reading their club books and writing about their reading.

The class has earned a celebration. This time, the "selection committee" chose bedtime day and flashlight reading. Please remind your kids that they can wear comfy clothes/pajamas on Monday. They can wear slippers, bring a blanket, and bring a stuffy. If possible, have the bring a flashlight so we can read in the dark -- just for something fun and different! They will still need to be prepared for PE and the outdoors.

That is all for this week. As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns.

Happy Friday!

Welcome to a Thursday blog! I am not going to be here tomorrow, so I thought I should check in briefly before I go out of town. It feels like it's been another short week, especially since Wednesday was an early dismissal day. But we have been busy!

In math this week, we tackled adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators. This was relatively easy! We also worked on regrouping fractions for subtraction, and that was hard! The objective here is for students to understand that they can turn a whole number into fractions with the same numerator and denominator -- that's a kind of regrouping!  The photo below shows what I mean.

This will take some practice, but I know we will all get there!  We also began adding decimals this week, and will do more of that next week before getting into multiplication with fractions and whole numbers.

In writing, we are starting the "idea gathering" for our literary essays. Students are reading a variety of high level picture books and coming up with ideas about the characters and the themes. Next week they will each craft a thesis and get busy writing their essays.

We have started our historical fiction book clubs. The class is learning about how to notice the mood of the books (there is always trouble brewing!) and how to tack the "who, what, when, and where" onto their mental bulletin boards. Next week we will learn about double timelines and how they help us with comprehension.

In science, we are learning about renewable and nonrenewable natural resources, fossil fuels, and  how humans use them for energy. We are learning about which things we use take the most electricity, and how each energy source has its pros and cons. 

Tomorrow is NAEP testing for most of my class. You all received a letter about this about a month ago, and I reminded the students about it yesterday. All I can ask is for them to do their best and not put any pressure on themselves. We don't get to choose whether or not JES gets tagged for NAEP testing.... so here we are!  Those students who aren't testing will spend time in the classroom with some  review work while their peers take the test in other parts of the school.  If you have questions about this, contact the office (since I will be away tomorrow.)

Thank you for signing up for conferences. I have sent out links for next week's conferences (if you didn't ask for an in-person conference.) If you did ask for in-person, you did not receive a link and you should assume that your in-person conference time is on my schedule. If you received a link from me for a virtual conference but would rather meet in-person, that is also fine. Just let me know!  I will send out links for the week off 3/21 sometime next week.

I look forward to Monday when masks become optional. We discussed this as a class, and I think we are all ready to respect each family's choice and to be kind and caring about masks/no masks. I know it will be an adjustment, but it is a happy one!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend. I hope NOT to be driving in the storm!  Stay safe, and happy snowstorm!

 Hello Families,

It has been a short week, but it has been nice to be together again! We spent some time re-establishing expectations for learning, and we also reviewed what it's like to be able to be in a circle on the rug (something we haven't done for a while!) This class adjusts so quickly to everything -- they have had a great week!

Academics have been a little slow this week since we needed some time to review. Math never stops... so we had 3 math lessons this week! We are now learning how to add fractions and how to decompose them. Today students were coming up with equations to equal 7/8  (like 1/2 + 2/8) and using models to show their thinking. Next week, we will get  into subtracting fractions as well.

We are about to start historical fiction book clubs, but I am waiting for a few books to arrive. This week we reviewed what is meant by historical fiction, and we practiced finding certain elements of the genre in small passages. Next week, our clubs will begin in earnest.

We also "flash drafted" opinion essays this week. Many of the students were able to start and finish an essay in 2 days! We chose engaging and controversial topics that they felt strongly about. Some of these topics were: Should kids have Smartphones? Should kids be on TikTok? Should teachers give homework?  They all had PLENTY of opinions about these topics!  Next week we will begin learning how to write literary essays. So much BIG work for these little people!

I was pleased to see the letter from Mr. Alberghini about masking becoming optional starting on March 14. I know there will be some excitement about this, and it will be an adjustment! Next week, we will brainstorm as a class how it will feel, how we can continue to feel safe without masks, and how important it will be to respect each others' choices. 

I wanted to mention 2 important things: First, the read-aloud book for our historical fiction unit is a book called Number the Stars that takes place during WWII. The book does not have any graphic descriptions of war or concentration camps, but instead focuses on the resistance movement in Denmark. I know that some of the students don't know much about the atrocities of WWII, and we aren't going to discuss them in class. But they may come home asking some questions about this era, and I wanted you to be prepared.

On a related note, the second thing is about the war in Ukraine. I have been hearing a lot of talk about it among the students, and I know some kids are scared or anxious. Today we had a class conversation about it. We looked at a map and located Ukraine, we discussed some of the reasons (in general) that wars begin, we looked at pictures of Ukraine (from before the war, of course!) and we talked about what sanctions are and what refugees are. It was a pretty surface conversation, but they asked a lot of questions that I couldn't answer (like, "Will there be a WWIII?") We stuck to the basic facts and I assured them that THEY are safe.  Let me know if you have any questions about this, or about anything else!

Finally, please don't forget to sign up for a parent conference. Here is the link.

Happy Friday!

Wow. I can't believe it is already February vacation. The time is flying by, and I am already starting to get sad about saying goodby to this class! I know that a little rest and relaxation is in order, and I think we will all come back ready to roll up our sleeves and work hard in early March.

This has been a finishing up week, so there is not much to tell you about. Math is the one subject area that had any new learning this week. After making decks of fraction cards, we compared them to landmarks (such a 1/2, 1 and 2) and then put them in order on a number line. We also learned a variety of strategies to determine which fraction is bigger. This is not easy! We ended the week making decks of decimal cards, and we will return to those right after the break.

We had a lovely time at Camp Swampy this morning, and I am so glad we went despite the cold. We tried to do some tracking, but only one group found a rabbit track. I guess we were there too early for the animals to be out and about! Instead, the students decided to organize a game of Hide and Seek (entirely on their own!) The got it going and had a blast. Mr. Bouchard and I were only there to make sure everyone was safe -- they didn't need or want our guidance. I loved seeing them take on leadership roles and make sure no one was excluded. I was smiling from ear to ear, and they were enjoying every minute.

I am sending home a sign-up sheet (in my email) for parent conferences. Please find a time that works for you, and let me know if you need a different time. Also, your children are always welcome to attend if that works for you!

Please also keep an eye out for a letter from Mr. Williams about NAEP testing. Students are chosen randomly to be given this test -- for some reason, my class got lucky (or unlucky, depending on your perspective) and 19 out of 23 of them were chosen! The letter tells more about the testing, which we are mostly uninvolved in.

I hope you all have an opportunity to take some time off to be with your children over the next 10 days. I will miss them, and look forward to seeing them in March! 

 Happy Friday! Another week down, and one to go before vacation.

Here is this week's rundown:

Math: Our main focus this week was on creating decks of fraction cards. The "wholes" were made up of blank squares or squares divided into thirds or fifths, and the students had to decide which whole to use to make 3/12, 2/10, etc. This was harder than I anticipated, but they worked in groups and helped each other. Today, each group spent some time comparing each card in their deck to landmark numbers like 0, 1/2, 1, and 2. They are getting better at noticing equivalent fractions and learning to put fractions in order!

Reading: This week, I continued assessments while the class had free reading time. We are working hard to build our stamina as readers, trying to really dig in to read for 30 to 45 minutes with no interruptions. This is harder in a classroom full of peers than it is at home, because there are clearly more distractions! But we keep working at it, and we will get there. The students also wrote letters to me about their reading this week -- telling me about the themes, the main ideas, the characters, etc. I have not read them all yet, but I look forward to it!

Writing: We are in the final days of our persuasive writing unit. The students are working on making sure they have an introduction with a hook, a thesis with 3 solid reasons, and body paragraphs with lots of good evidence for each reason. We've had a lot of practice with this format, so it is definitely getting easier, and I am excited to see them all understanding what a paragraph is!

We finished watching Cool Runnings today, and the class really seemed to love it. They are asking for another movie, but I think we will wait until after vacation. Now that we have been informed that they can talk without their masks on, I'd rather let lunch be a social time rather than a time to look at a screen. 

We have been cleared to go to Camp Swampy again next Friday! I will keep a careful eye on the weather and be in touch with  you again mid-week to verify, but we are all looking forward to seeing our forts and being in that special place again!

Please check backpacks today for notices from the library. Many students have overdue books!

That's all for this week! Enjoy your weekend.