OAAs are HISTORY! Students worked so hard to show their best work on the Reading and Math OAAs this week. I am so proud of how they gave their best efforts to focus, concentrate, and show what they know! Now, we can move ahead and continue the JOY of learning. Students worked on their portfolio boxes this week. They combed through images from the year, and got creative with personal logos, markers, and stickers. Students will bring boxes home at the end of the year filled with writing, projects, and other memorable work. Sneak peeks at Grand Affair! We made our fourth Place Project visit on Thursday. We gathered our quantitative and qualitative data, journaled, and explored. It has been so much fun to visit our special spots and see the changes throughout the year. Here are some thoughts, observations, and questions from students in 4W: It smells like a damp, muddy place. The water falls sound like when you put water in a water bottle. How old is the log I'm sitting on? I am sitting over a dam and I really,really hope that my log doesn't fall because falling into a deep, deep ditch will probably not be the most comfortable experience to be in. Why are there not a lot of animals? I can't wait to explore the depths of the creek! Here we come! It is different here now. There are bluebells and dandelions. Everything is beautiful. I have noticed a lot. My flower is back! I was expecting more water in the creek, but there isn't. There are leaves on the trees! Thank you! I see faces carved into trees and rocks. My branch isn't that sturdy and the log next to me has moved. How old is my tree? I found a leaf that looks like a frog. Here I am again on my princess throne! I noticed that there used to be a tree on the ground and it's gone now. There are flowers growing next to me! I'm with my fellow friends. I see blue, white, red, purple and yellow plants coming to life. The water is very cold, but there is not much of it. Most of the trees that have fallen have a flat side. It looks like they were cut by an ax. Who chopped the trees? How did that spot in the creek get so deep? Behind me is a tree that is green, but it used to be purple and white. Flowers are starting to bloom and it feels like spring. The creek is a little deeper now, maybe because it was raining. Oh my gosh! A chipmunk just ran down a tree, across the creek, and right past me! How do the leaves grow back? I see dirt that has washed away. Makes sense because it rained a lot recently and the water is running fast. The biggest thing I noticed was there are a lot more rocks than last time. It smells like rotten fish. How long is this creek and are there frogs in it? My spot looks awesome now that it's Spring! The smell and look of a small pile of sand reminds me of Long Beach Island, New Jersey. I see a stump that looks like a face. The creek is babbling again. On my right, the water made a cliff. It's awesome!
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So hard to believe that November is here! We have been very busy in our classroom with all of our reading, writing, thinking, discussing, creating, researching, and reflecting. Team 4W is off to a wonderful start this second quarter! More specifically: READING/WRITING: We continue to read Wonder. We have met so many interesting characters and have learned so much more about each of them as the perspective of the narrator continues to change in this book. Students are keeping a Wonder Journal and stop to write frequently. Ask your child to share this with you! One of my favorite discussion points throughout this novel is Auggie's teacher, Mr. Browne's, use of precepts. These are "rules about really important things." As students in the book discuss the meaning of each precept, we are doing the same in our classroom. Here are a few we have discussed: “If you have the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.” "Your deeds are your monuments." "Fortune favors the bold." Ask your child to share with you what he/she feels are the meanings behind these words. Next, ask them why this precept fits in or is important to the story. The topic of last week's Reader's Response was Character. Students were asked to choose a character from their independent reading books and describe the character in depth using character traits and justifying their opinions with examples from the text. Non-fiction reading was also a focus last week. As we studied our Constitution, students wrote summaries of their reading after first locating the main idea and supporting details. Additionally, students used two different iPad apps to research a president. Students gathered notes from both resources, and then used their information to make a fact poster. Our Internet Workshop time was used for exploring how a bill becomes a law. Again, students used a digital resource and practiced their note taking skills. SOCIAL STUDIES: We are in the midst of our Government Unit. What an exciting time to study this! In addition to what has been explained above, students have created flip books to show the responsibilities of each branch of government, learned what it takes to make it to the White House through an interactive bulletin board activity, and watched an interview with President Obama about the Constitution. Next week, we will be taking a closer look at the Bill of Rights and how they came to be. MATH: Unit 4 focuses on Decimals. Last week we reviewed place value and how to read and write decimals. Decimal place value can be very tricky. We will continue to practice, practice, practice! Just a reminder that the Everyday Math Family Letter can be very helpful for helping your child at home. If a copy of this did not make it home, click here. EVERYBODY COUNTS: We had our Everybody Counts Program last Monday! Thank you to the parents who took the time to bring this disability awareness program to our classroom. SELF ASSESSMENT: I am so proud of students in 4W for their thoughtful use of self-assessments. Students uses these weekly to reflect on three different learning targets across the curriculum. This is a time for them to show what they know and also be very clear about what they do not know or understand so we can work together to get them to a place of understanding. Students also self assess their collaborative group skills and set goals for how they can better work with others. In math, students use a self assessment tool to help them focus their study time prior to taking a test. Next week, the learners in 4W will use a tool to help them determine where they are in the Discovery Quest Project process. Students will use this tool to assist them in small group discussion on Thursday at our first Kids' Inquiry Conference. Teaching is the best. I love seeing students stretch their brains, share their ideas, get things right after getting things wrong, ask questions and pursue further understanding. I love to be a part of the process of growth. It's hard work and it's exciting work!
Throughout the learning process, students produce a large amount of work to show learning. Some of this you will see and some of this you will not. The majority of what we do in class is formative, which essentially means practice, and informs my next steps for instruction. Descriptive feedback is given to students for this work through private conversation, written comments, and group discussions. The idea is that this feedback will address individual student progress and clarify how a student may improve, extend, or enhance learning. For written feedback, students are given time in class to reflect on their work, ask questions, and assess their own learning. I do not assign grades to work that is formative. It is not a final judgment of student learning, and a grade does not do anything to move a student forward in his/her learning. It is part of the learning process. Once a grade is on the paper, students tend to shut down and disregard the feedback designed to help them achieve the specified learning targets. I work very hard to stress to students that learning, rather than "good grades," is my goal for each of them. I explain that I am not just in the business of collecting grades for my grade book. Of course, some work will be graded! Graded assignments/projects/tests will be used to hold students accountable for their learning and gauge where students are relative to our content standards. These summative assessments will be given after instruction and practice. Grades will be posted in Progress Book which I typically update weekly. Some students love to post graded work on their personal bulletin board, so check with your child if a test, project, or other graded assignment does not make its way home. Curious about your child's learning this week? Here are a few conversation starters! Tell me about your small group work about energy. For which part were you the "expert?" (Renewable energy/Nonrenewable energy/Saving energy/etc.) Where are you in the process of your "annoying" paragraph? What is your topic and your what are your supporting details? Tell me about the theme of Stone Fox. How do you determine the theme of a story? Why won't Mrs. Walther let you use texting language on your class blog? How close were you to hypothesizing the inner workings of Mrs. Walther's Magic tube? |
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