Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of November 14, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events

Monday, November 21 - reading logs due

Tuesday, November 22 - Home Link due

Wednesday, November 23-Sunday, November 27 Thanksgiving Break

Monday, November 28 -  reading logs due

Tuesday, November 29 - Home Link due

Wednesday, November 30 - early release / McFarlands swim

Thursday, December 1 - math journal pages catch-up is due

Friday, December 2 - Home Link due

General News and Announcements

Thank you to all those parents who set aside time in your schedules to meet with us for a parent/teacher conference to discuss your child’s fourth grade experience so far!  Our next formal check-in will be progress reports at the end of January; we’ll notify you of the specific bring-home date as it approaches.

Classroom climate updates:  Between parents’ support at home, in-class circle discussions about each student’s contributions to our daily experiences, and individual behavior plans at school, we are seeing an uptick in the productivity of our classrooms and an improvement in the overall climate.  It is sometimes shocking how several students’ changes impact an entire classroom!  We continue to work on listening to and following directions promptly and respectfully responding to teachers’ redirections, among other things.  We have much room for improvement, but we are happy to report right now that we are seeing growth!

Thank you to all who have donated or plan to donate to Native Americans here in Maine through Hayden’s family’s project!  The McFarland box was overflowing this morning!  The second and final pick-up date will be Friday, December 9th.

Our Donors Choose project is over half-way funded! If you would like to find out more about this project and how you can support us in obtaining a green screen with lighting please check out this link. The expiration date for our funding request is December 15th.

The Portland Science Center has a new exhibition, Dinosaurs Unearthed. I have a feeling this is going to be a very popular show. Here’s the link for more information. http://www.portlandsciencecenter.com/

Reading Workshop

We have finished Journey!  I’m thrilled with the level of discussion around the character’s change over time, the author’s crafty writing moves, and attention to details that indicate turning points and resolution scenes.  

    Check this out: I was reading aloud a scene in which main character, Journey, and his sister, Cat, are having a deep talk about their mother having left the family:

“‘You and I,’ I said, ‘we weren’t enough.’

“I ate a raspberry.  It was sour, and for a moment my tongue stung a little.”

I read on for another paragraph or two and said, “Wait.  Did anyone catch that?  What the author did back there, with the sour raspberry?”  

    I reread that tiny part, and I told the kids that this book is a level S (they know it!) and that in books at higher levels like this, yes, you might “get everything that’s going on, so I can totally read this book in class, right, Mrs. McFarland?”...But the author expects much more from us.  The author expects us to notice these little details and understand that it’s not just an action that the author chose to put in so we could envision Journey in our minds doing something.  

    The kids thought this over and talked about it and came to understand that Patricia MacLachlan was using the sour taste of the raspberry to reiterate the sourness of what he’d just said.  It wouldn’t do to have made that raspberry taste sweet; it wouldn’t have fit.  And -- this is the very best part -- one student said, “That must be the joy of writing...You get to put in the exact details you want.”  *mic drop*

Writing Workshop

We have made some significant progress on our essay work -- and this is mostly due to the improvement of some key behaviors!  We are writing a class essay just a couple steps ahead of kids writing their own essays.  We took some time to identify possible audiences for our writing, something I’ve been thinking a lot about.  They are motivated by the fact that their writing will likely be read by people outside of our school building.  

    They are chomping at the bit to conduct surveys and interviews to strengthen their evidence and to anticipate counterarguments.  Usually, I wait a lot longer before introducing these concepts, but their motivation is important, so I’m rearranging some of our plans to be able to get to that the week after Thanksgiving.  This week, we accomplished precisely articulating thesis statements (big ideas) and planning essays using a boxes and bullets structure.  That includes precisely articulating five-to-eight supporting ideas, grouping those ideas where there are natural connections to avoid repetition in the essay, and identifying the strongest three ideas to support the thesis statement, those that have earned a spot in our essays.  Yes, this is still 4th grade!

Math

In math we have jumped into the first of two fraction units. Students have been busy learning how to solve number stories using fractions, how to generate equivalent fractions and how to compare fraction values.

Theme/Content

In theme many students are almost done with their final geography project. Creating their own newly discovered island or continent has been a great way for students to apply their new map making skills and use their creativity as well.

    Our next unit will focus on the early settlements of America. Our primary focus will be on Jamestown, but we will also touch upon the lost colony of Roanoke, Plymouth, and Popham. This unit will include several STEM projects as students create their own water filtration system, look-out tower, and rock moving devices.

We are in need of items for these projects. Please see the list below, and if you have anything you can donate we certainly appreciate your support.

• Small yogurt containers
• Cardboard tubes
• Pipe cleaners
• Cotton balls
• Small plastic lids
• Straws - not bendy
• Small plastic cups
• Empty spools
• Plastic wrap