McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin
for the week of September 8th
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Open House
Thank you to those of you who could come to Open House this past Tuesday evening. As you likely noticed, we prepared much to share — maybe too much? — in a relatively short amount of time! We are considering doing the presentation all together next year, in hopes that we might avoid some repetition and be more efficient with our time, saving an opportunity for more of your questions. However, we have spent a great deal of energy of putting together the Team Handbook, which you all should have by now. Together we have about 400 years of teaching experience (or so it seems sometimes), and we know that there are always frequently-asked questions at Open House and throughout the school year. Please use this Handbook as a resource to help answer questions as to what we do and why we do it. Keep it in a safe place for the year; we will refer back to it time and again.
Thank you, also, for returning the Volunteer forms, Parents’ Homework, Internet Permission forms, and Information for our Class Directory. If you wish to have your students’ contact information included in the Class Directory, you must fill out and return the green Directory Info sheet from Open House. If you were unable to attend Open House, your child has all the forms in her/his planner.
Immediately, I am looking for a volunteer to help to type up a class directory and to attach the beautiful writing notebook cover collages to writing notebooks (this will take a few hours so best to split between several families). Sally Somes also needs a weekly parent volunteer for our Library class, which is on Fridays 10:31-11:21. If you can help with any of these jobs, please email me! dmcfarland@msad51.org
Reading Workshop
This week in Reading Workshop, we have finished our first read aloud, Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me? If there is talk at home about nose-picking…my apologies. I have used this text to demonstrate engagement, inferring, noticing writing structures (such as reasons for spaces in the text), understanding perspective — and for fun! We also used pages from a higher-level nonfiction text to demonstrate and practice strategies for tackling unknown words. Students each have a bookmark to remind them of those strategies, one of many gifts I’ll give them this year! :)
Writing Workshop
In Writing Workshop, students are working simultaneously on two narratives, trying out revision strategies on both. The major strategy we focused on this week is to underline with green colored pencil setting details. Then, we looked at where we used setting details and where they are needed in the story, and used a Post-it and number system to add more. I also showed students the 4th Grade Narrative Checklist, which I’ll be using to eventually assess students’ narratives. We are working to help kids understand the goals of each unit and then design mini-lessons to help all students further their work in achieving those goals. While conferring, I am noticing what kids have learned in previous years and where I see it currently in their writing, so as to celebrate the carry-over from their important work at MIW — and also set the expectation that they should always use everything they know as they write. Meanwhile, I am reading their prompts and in-class writing to determine individual needs and to plan future mini-lessons. We are off to a productive start!
Math
Students continued to work on geometry concepts this week They explored properties of shapes and discovered how to determine a shape by its properties. Try asking your child to describe one property of a trapezoid, rhombus and kite. They also learned to distinguish convex and concave polygons. We did some hands-on exploration with building polygons using straws and twist ties. The largest polygon we built was a dodecagon - 12 sides!
Several parents asked about IXL usage at our Open House earlier this week. First, when students are logged in to their accounts their name should be visible in the upper right hand corner of the screen. If their name is not there then they are not working in their account and will not get credit for their work. Also, IXL work does not count toward their fact practice requirement each week.
To practice math facts in order to meet the weekly requirement of 3x10 minutes per week there are many apps available. Here is a list of just a few available at the iTunes store:
PopMath
Math Bingo
Math Hunt
Sail Through Math
Also, here is a link to great no-frills site which is iPad friendly. http://www.thatquiz.org/tq-1/
This site is nice because students can set their time and select the operation that they need to practice. Students got a quick introduction to this site during math class this week.
Spelling
This week students explored several spelling patterns for long o and also for the /au/ sound. We also looked at words that have silent letters and identified what makes them tricky for spellers. I read the book Silent Letters Loud and Clear, which uses a lot of wordplay and clever tie-ins to silent letters.
Students also had their first week of spelling homework. This will feel very new to your child for the first few weeks until they get used to the activities and the expectations. I have given lots of written feedback on the homework to help kids improve. Some common themes this first week include using capital letters where they are not needed, misreading or misunderstanding directions, and not checking to make sure words match the vowel sound asked for. Please review the homework with your child and perhaps set a goal for something to pay attention to next week.
Finally, I spoke about Spelling City at open house. To access our lists, go to www.spellingcity.com, and then click on the “search” tab and select “teacher/parent” from the pull down menu. Search using my name, “Carrie Begley.” Our lists should pop right up and be accessible to you.
Theme
This week was all about minerals and crystals!! We learned what makes a mineral a mineral and how scientists can use different characteristics to identify minerals. Students completed a mineral identification lab, where they had to observe and record details about a mineral and then use a field guide to try and identify it. We read a National Geographic Explorer article about crystals, where we learned how crystals form and the difference between crystals and gems. We are also trying to grow simple halite and borax crystals in class. I am including links below to websites that give directions for making your own crystals, as I anticipate kids will want to try this at home. Next week we will learn about the 3 different kinds of rocks.
Due Dates / Upcoming Events:
Monday, September 15th - Reading logs due / sneakers for P.E.
Tuesday, September 16th - Study link due
Wednesday, September 17th - Math journal catch-up / Early Release
Thursday, September 18th - Spelling due
Friday, September 19th - Study link due
Lunch money
Please make sure your child’s first and last names are marked on the envelopes you send in for lunch money. This ensures that your child’s account will be credited.
Have a great weekend!
Dena
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