McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

for the week of May 23, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 30th - No School

Tuesday, May 31st - Author Tamra Wright visits

Wednesday, June 1st- Full Day / Monthly reading calendars due (May)

Thursday, June 2nd -  ABL Culminating Event (see details below for what to wear/bring)

Friday, June 3rd - Final Science Quiz (Skeletal System) / Senior Walk

• June 2nd - ABL Celebration Day (outside: sneakers, water, sunscreen)
• June 7th - 4th Grade Field Trip to Strawbery Banke
• June 15th - Book Swap: Please send in donations!
• June 16th - Team Celebration of Reading Day
• June 17th - Last Day of School

Thank you to all who attended the 4th Grade musical.  The kids did a phenomenal job!  Many thanks to Barry Saunders, our fearless music teacher!

Academic Updates:

Reading Workshop

This week, while continuing with reading assessments and our mentor text for social issues (Just Juice), we started working on bookmarks for incoming 4th grade readers.  The kids have had fun creating their own slogans or borrowing slogans from the internet that relate to reading.  They are working to compile a list of their five favorite books from 4th grade.  These bookmarks will be part of a 4th Grade Survival Pack that we’ll hand out to incoming 4th graders on Step-Up Day, June 8th.

Writing Workshop

We’ve had great fun this week, using a poetry project idea from Mrs. Overton, the 4th grade teacher in the book, The Candy Smash (#3 in the The Lemonade War series).  A writer starts by writing six words, one word on each Post-it.  Anyone can write six words, right?  Then, we add more Post-its, using specific, precise words to describe and say things about the topic.  We move the Post-its around, grouping them by sounds (alliteration, assonance) and/or by meaning.  The result is usually a poem that is free of a formatted structure and that contains only words who have earned a spot in the poem.  Our writers are so proud of their work; often these poems sound quite different than any they’ve written before.  And it’s a completely different way to use our brains and bodies together -- the very act of moving words around, of “building” a poem in this way, is a unique experience!  The main character in The Candy Smash, Evan, is a boy who has to work very hard in school, and yet he has found confidence and strength in his writing by working like this.  And it doesn’t hurt that he has discovered a way to express his feelings for Megan Moriarty, his love interest!  We love a good love story!

This week's Rock-n-Roll Friday song: "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight and the Pips.  Had my older son been a girl, we would have named him Georgia because I love this song so much!  The kids analyzed the story behind the lyrics...and we all tried out the Pips' move of tooting the train's sound effects (woo-woo!).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v78-ftcqpNw

Math

In math this week students have been reviewing concepts from the beginning of the year in anticipation of a final assessment for the end of the year. It has been good to take students back through concepts taught earlier in the year, it certainly shows us how much learning has taken place in 4thh grade!

Theme

This week students learned a little about the muscular system and how it works in conjunction with the skeletal system.  Students watched a short informational video, read a book, and participated in a muscle lab.  We also had a game day to play Whack a Bone (and other review games) and a day to make study cards for next week’s quiz, which will be on Friday, June 3rd.  Your child should have brought home their cards and study guide (photo below) on Thursday.  Please check in with them and make sure they are studying for next week’s quiz.

McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

for the week of May 16, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 23rd - Weekly reading logs due / 4th grade Friendship Musical 6pm (kids need to arrive at 5:50pm)

Tuesday, May 24th - Home link due

Wednesday, May 25th - McFarland book orders are due / Early Release

Thursday, May 26th -  Spelling due

Friday, May 27th - Home link due / Project ACES

• May 23rd - 4th Grade Musical (have your child here at 5:50, white top/dark bottoms)
• May 27th - Project ACES - 1-3pm (outside: sneakers, water, sunscreen)
• June 2nd - ABL Celebration Day (outside: sneakers, water, sunscreen)
• June 7th - 4th Grade Field Trip to Strawbery Banke
• June 15th - Book Swap
• June 17th - Last Day of School

GMS ⅘ will hold an end-of-year book swap in the GMS lobby for all ⅘ students on Wednesday, June 15th!  As a way to build excitement for summer reading, we are encouraging all students to participate by bringing in two (or more) gently used, grade-appropriate, relevant books to donate.  High-interest nonfiction, “can’t-put-it-down” series, and unforgettable chapter books will be appreciated!  Children, please bring your donations of books to your classroom by Friday, June 10th, so our generous volunteers have some time to organize them.

Academic Updates:

Reading Workshop

We continue to grow ideas with our mentor text (read aloud), Just Juice.  In addition to poverty and illiteracy, the family also grapples with a lack of healthcare -- Ma is pregnant with a sixth child and is showing signs of possible gestational diabetes.  So, yes, we’ve had some interesting conversations around all this.  You might have some new questions to answer at home…:)

Writing Workshop

We are forging ahead with lots of poetry, trying to find a balance of reading some inspirational pieces and writing our own.  This week, the kids wrote poems about everyday objects, helping readers to see those objects in a new way.  We studied a couple poems like this by Valerie Worth, author of an anthology, All the Small Poems and Fourteen More.  Then, we started writing poems about color.  So far, we are working on a class color poem (McFarlands: brown; Mayberrys: yellow), and next week the kids will draft independently, choosing their own colors.  I have several other poem projects in mind, as we barrel our way through the month of May and into June.

    This week’s Rock-n-Roll Friday feature: “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson.  1987!  Lots of rich discussion about the meaning behind the lyrics (even the seemingly random MJ shouts at the end), and connections to Ghandi (“Be the change you want to see in the world.”) and to a previous read aloud, Each Kindness: http://www.amazon.com/Each-Kindness-Addams-Award-Awards/dp/0399246525/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463756800&sr=8-1&keywords=each+kindness

The room was silent when we watched the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTTgxq1JTqw.

Math

This week students took the end of unit assessment for unit 7. We spent time reviewing concepts prior to the assessment. We also worked on finding the perimeter and area of a rectangle using fraction measurements. So much of what we are now doing in math is applying the skills that they have been learning throughout the year.

Theme

This week the McFarland and Begley classes had an opportunity to dissect their owl pellets.  We also learned about the structure of bones and what joints are.  Students participated in a joint lab where they had their opposable thumb immobilized and had to perform a variety of tasks without it.  A copy of a labeled skeleton was sent home with all students at the beginning of the week.  Our bone quiz will be Friday, June 3rd.  Please make sure your child is studying a little bit each week.  My website has several games that students can play for practice.

    We had also had our first expert visit the McFarland class!  Dr. Barr spoke on Tuesday about his job as an orthopedic surgeon and brought several fascinating bones to show us.  We were able to answer a lot of our questions on the Wonder Wall and it inspired even more curiosity about our complex skeletons.

McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

For the week of May 9, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 16th - Weekly reading logs due

Tuesday, May 17th - Home link due

Wednesday, May 18th - Early Release

Thursday, May 19th -  Spelling due

Friday, May 20th - Home link due

Attention chaperones for Strawbery Banke!  Please make sure you find the slip that went home last week, describing to you the opportunity to purchase an $8 entrance fee by sending $8 in to your child’s teacher ASAP!  If you pay when you arrive, the fee is $20.00.

• May 18th - Poetry Jam (5:30pm)
• May 23rd - 4th Grade Musical (Please have your child here at 5:50, white top/dark bottoms)
• May 27th - Project ACES - 1-3pm (outside: sneakers, water, sunscreen)
• June 2nd - ABL Celebration Day (outside: sneakers, water, sunscreen)
• June 7th - 4th Grade Field Trip to Strawbery Banke
• June 15th - Book Swap
• June 17th - Last Day of School

Alex Nason, a former student and senior at Cheverus is volunteering at GMS as part of his senior project.  He is running a drive to benefit HART animal shelter.  Students may bring in cat food (dry food must be Science Diet; canned food can be any brand), cat toys, food and water dishes, cat litter, and cat bedding.  HART only accepts new products for donation.  The deadline for donations is May 23rd.

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

This week we focused on looking at everyday objects using a poet’s mind.  We read a poem by Valerie Worth called “Pumpkin.”  She wrote a whole anthology about seemingly random objects, and she uses original ideas and specific, descriptive words to help readers think about those objects in a different way.  (Have you ever thought of a jack-o-lantern as a “vegetable skull”?)  We also defined and practiced specific strategies for revising, because some of us are still responding to the suggestion of revision by saying, “I did. I looked it over.”  (When I hear that, I just close my eyes gently and breath…)  Really, the willingness and the know-how to revise separates those writers who genuinely improve from those who don’t.  So, I’m trying hard to give as much “know-how,” and I’m trying hard to inspire as much “willingness” as is humanly possible!  Here’s the chart we’re looking to for specific actions to take when we’re “done.”  

    This week’s Rock-n-Roll Thursday’s featured song: “That Wasn’t Me,” by Brandi Carlile.  I’m sure your child can fill you in on how I feel about her; I may have mentioned that I think she is SO cool and that I think Brandi and I would be really good friends.  Anyway, to get to the message of this song, I proposed a sentence-starter:

“This song is about a person who…”

The kids came up with such thoughtful sentence-finishers, such as:

“...has done some bad things in her life.”

“...has made some bad choices.”

“...is apologizing.”

“...wasn’t herself in the beginning, but now she wants to be herself.”

“...is changing.”

    Then, in preparation for watching the song’s video, I told them about what MTV was like in its early days.  We talked about how the video director and the musician may have different ideas about the story to tell with their song, and that often it’s a sort of compromise.  That was the case with “That Wasn’t Me.”  Before we watched the video, I asked the kids to watch the video’s main character’s experiences and see if it matched with our comments about Brandi’s main character.  Here’s a link to Brandi singing it at what I imagine is the bestest venue ever (Bucket List!), Red Rocks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUFgGP8A6xI

And here’s the music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNmo8I4dEQE

And, if you’re interested, below is a link, also, to my favorite Brandi song, as performed at Red Rocks, “The Story.”  She is SO cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvhyyuUx0Do

If you’re becoming a Brandi fan, she’s playing at Thompson’s Point on June 4th.  I don’t understand why, but I believe there are still tickets available.  See you there!

Math

This week has been all about application of skills with number stories. Students have done a wonderful job working with a partner(s) to solve multistep problems. These problems are truly challenging at times as they can require students to work with whole numbers, fractions, decimals and/or units of measure (both U.S. customary and metric). Also, students are having to sift through the problem to determine which strategy to use, be it: addition, subtraction, multiplication or division. Phew! It has been rewarding to watch and listen to their conversations. I love it when students challenge each other’s thinking and listen to the reasoning of their partner(s). These are true mathematicians at work!

Spelling

This week students learned how to use apostrophes to show possession.  They also participated in a word building activity to practice certain blends.

Theme

This week teams presented their traps to Frank Von Holzhausen, our expert from Group 4 Research and Design firm.  A big thanks to Ingrid Vanni for hooking us up for this project.  The kids have learned so many important critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative skills.  They are also more confident public speakers.

    In between putting the finishing touches on our traps, we have been exploring the human skeleton.  The Mayberry class dissected owl pellets on Tuesday and the Begleys and McFarlands will follow suit on Monday.  Students used an app called Whack a Bone to practice the names and locations of 24 bones.  I will be sending home labeled skeletons with the required bones early next week - please be on the lookout for it.  We will also learn about the structure of bones and joints next week.

    Are you a doctor?  We are looking for guest speakers who can come in and talk about bones and/or muscles.  Since I know it’s a challenge to stay for a long stint to speak to all three classes, I’m looking for 1-2 people in each class who might come in sometime in the coming weeks.  Please email me (Carrie), if interested.

McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

For the week of May 2, 2016

Thank you all very much for your generous tokens of appreciation and thoughtful, kind words this past week!  PTO, parents, and students do a wonderful job in remembering all of the school staff, and I can honestly say that the energy around the building this week has been joyful -- smiles everywhere!  Thank you!

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 9th - Weekly reading logs due / 4-5 STEM Night 5:30-7pm

Tuesday, May 10th - Home link due

Wednesday, May 11th - Early Release

Thursday, May 12th -  Spelling due

Friday, May 13th - Home link due / Mousetrap Presentations / Strawbery Banke $ due

Notices for Strawbery Banke went home this week.  Money is due next Friday ($10).  If you are interested in chaperoning, please fill out the form that was sent home TODAY (note the change in cost details for chap’s on today’s notice) and return with an additional $8 for your admission.

• May 9th - STEM night (5:30-7:00pm)

The STEM Night Committee still needs more items for Monday’s event.  We are looking for: empty boxes, pizza boxes, egg cartons, empty & clean plastic containers, as well as toilet paper and paper towel tubes.  If you are able to help, please send these items to school Monday.  Thanks!

• May 18th - Poetry Jam (5:30pm)
• May 23rd - 4th Grade Musical (have your child here at 5:50)
• June 2nd - ABL Celebration Day (outside: sneakers, water, sunscreen)
• June 7th - 4th Grade Field Trip to Strawbery Banke
• June 17th - Last Day of School

Academic Updates:

Reading Workshop

This week was a continuation in re-establishing workshop habits in the classroom, with many readers choosing books from our stacks of NEW books!  

    Also, I have started assessing readers with the Teachers College Reading Assessments.  These assessments are the ones that help me identify a Guided Reading Level (GRL) for each child.  The assessments focus on accuracy, fluency, retelling, and answering literal and inferential questions about a short realistic fiction passage.  If one wanted to help a child with any of these skills, one’s teacher might recommend that the child read aloud a few times per week to one’s parent for a half-page or so.  The parent might provide a compliment regarding what the child is doing well: paying attention to punctuation, using expression when reading dialogue, self-correcting when noticing an error, etc.  Something that would be very helpful would be to encourage a reader to notice when reading inaccurately and to encourage the reader to take the time to fix errors in order to read accurately.  Little things like word substitutions, changing suffixes, and omitting small words have an impact on accuracy, and research shows that eventually those kinds of errors have an impact on comprehension.  In terms of comprehension through retelling, kids are asked to:

• Talk about characters by name
• Tell about major events in order
• Tell how characters felt
• Tell why characters act the way they do

Writing Workshop

“Poetry: Yay or nay?”  That has been the question of the week!  Right now, our focus is to understand what makes a strong poem.  That means we are studying the Poetry Writing Checklist, and we are reading some GOOD poetry!  Ask your child about Don Graves’ poem, “Summer Squash.”  Ask your child what s/he noticed about Judith Viorst’s poem, “If I Were In Charge of the World.”  And, if you talk about nothing else school-related this weekend, ask your child about Rock’n’Roll Friday!  This week's feature song: “Cat’s in the Cradle” -- yup, that one…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etundhQa724

Math

Students continued their work with fractions this week, learning to multiply a whole number by a mixed number and applying these skills to challenging word problems. In addition, they reviewed long division with a very demanding set of story problems.

    Please take a few minutes to review basic multiplication facts with your child, even if you think your child has mastered them. I have begun to notice some slipping of fact fluency over the last few weeks. Thanks!

Spelling

This week students took part in a word building activity focusing on adding suffixes to base words.  We also reviewed the long vowel sounds that y makes when it comes at the end of a word.

Theme

This week teams finished their mousetraps and advertising.  Students learned about the components of an effective presentation and worked with their team to write and practice their presentations.  Next Friday, students will present to Mr. Von, who will provide them with feedback on their designs.

    We also started our human body unit.  Students observed bodies in motion and answered questions designed to elicit their prior knowledge about the skeletal system.  We read Bones: Skeletons and How They Work  by Steve Jenkins.  Next week we will participate in several labs to learn about the skeletal system.

McFarland-Mayberry-Begley Bulletin

for the week of April 25th

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 2nd - Monthly reading calendars due/weekly reading logs due / HF stories for McFarland and Mayberry writers who chose to finish them at home are due

Tuesday, May 3rd - Home link due

Wednesday, May 4th - Early Release - Project ACES

Thursday, May 5th -  Spelling due / ABL

Friday, May 6th - Home link due

Brace yourselves!  We’re entering the busiest time of the year!  To help you get organized, we are starting a list of upcoming events that you’ll want to put on your calendars at home.  More information has been or will be communicated; be on the look-out for paper notices in backpacks on Fridays and emails.  We will continue to add to the list, as more events are added.

• Week of May 2nd - Staff Appreciation Week (THANK YOU for participating!)
• May 4th - Project ACES (“All Students Exercising Simultaneously”: wear sneakers, a white shirt for our team color, and bring a water bottle & snack)
• May 9th - STEM night (5:30-7:00pm)
• May 18th - Poetry Jam (5:30pm)
• May 23rd - 4th Grade Musical (have your child here at 5:50)
• June 2nd - ABL Celebration Day (outside: sneakers, water, sunscreen)
• June 7th - 4th Grade Field Trip to Strawbery Banke
• June 17th - Last Day of School

Academic Updates:

Reading Workshop

We define “social issues” as topics, often problems and often controversial, that affect many people in a community.  This is the focus of our new reading unit.  First lesson: “Social issues” is not a genre, like historical fiction or poetry.  Second lesson: There are no “social issues books,” but many books have characters who are dealing with social issues in them.  We discussed several books we’ve all read and to what extent social issues impacted the characters and the stories.  Some examples of social issues are: friendship, pollution, honesty, poverty, divorce, education, and bullying.  We’ve started reading Just Juice by Karen Hesse, a book about a girl and her family who, as you might imagine, are dealing with several social issues.  The students are using their readers notebooks to keep track of ideas about the characters.  We’re often leaning on the boxes and bullets format to organize our ideas and evidence from the text that supports that idea.  Check out these photos from Jackson’s notebook to see what I mean:

Writing Workshop

This week we focused completely on reviewing what makes a strong essay, in preparation for today’s essay writing prompt.  The kids identified areas on the Opinion Writing Checklist that they wanted some review on, and we dug out the old charts from the initial instruction early this winter.  We used most of Thursday’s period to plan their essays, and I am impressed by their plans!  My fingers are crossed that they pull it off on the prompts, and I’ll know soon as next Thursday is the scoring day.  As I type this, the McFarland writers are 100% focused on their work.  The room is silent except for the sound of pencil on paper: music to my ears!  The Mayberrys are up next...  

Math

This week in math students jumped into unit 7. We worked on multiplying a fraction by a whole number using real world applications with recipes. This unit is focused primarily on fractions and problem solving. Students also had an introduction to US liquid measurement conversions.

Spelling

This week we worked on adding prefixes and suffixes to words and knowing when to use -ise vs. -ize at the ends of words.

Theme

This week we’re back to our STEM project, Building a Better Mousetrap.  We learned how to make scale drawings in preparation for making blueprints of our trap.  Students reviewed the information they know about mice and researched additional information.  Each child had a chance to prepare a design, which they shared with the group.  Each group decided on one plan to execute.  They are now building their models, creating advertisements (ad, jingle, commercial), and preparing a presentation to make to Mr. Von when he returns in May.  I anticipate that next week we will wrap up the project and be able to begin our study of the skeletal system.