Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of December 4, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, December 11:  reading logs are due

Tuesday, December 12: Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E.: sneakers, please

Wednesday, December 13: early release day

Thursday, December 14: be caught up on math journal pages

Friday, December 15: Home Link due / SpellingCity activities due (save TestMe for in class on Friday)

Monday, December 18: reading logs due

Tuesday, December 19: ABL: sneakers are helpful

Wednesday, December 20: FULL DAY; 4th Grade Holiday Activity Swap

Thursday, December 21: Celebration of Reading Day (see details below)

Friday, December 22: classroom clean-up / holiday movie / assembly

General News and Announcements

SpellingCity

Please help me reinforce with students that SpellingCity is a weekly assignment for all Mayberry and McFarland writers (unless they participate in the resource room, in which case, they have their own spelling lists).  If there is a technical glitch at home, I would like an email from a parent to let me know what the issue is, so that I can help troubleshoot (before Thursday night, if possible).  Out of both classes, there is only one student who has a legitimate technical issue, according to her parents.  A number of students are coming in on Fridays saying they didn’t have time or they forgot to do their SpellingCity activities; in most cases, this is reflected in their test grades.  SpellingCity is not an optional homework assignment.  Students do have the opportunity to work on these activities at Quiet Snack Monday-Thursday, in advance of the Friday due date.  Ideally, students are working on the games and activities for a few minutes several times throughout the week; research shows that more learning takes place under those circumstances than by doing it in one shot, one time.  

    Next week (long o) is the last SpellingCity assignment before vacation, so let’s end 2017 with 100% homework participation and solid test scores!  Thank you for your support at home.

Penny Drive until December 15th

Mrs. Thomas’s fifth grade class is collecting pennies (and nickels, dimes, quarters, dollars...).  Donations will go the Bruce Roberts Toy Fund.  Our goal is at least the equivalent of 10,000 pennies!

4th Grade Holiday Activity Swap: Wednesday, December 20

Fourth-grade teachers have organized a fun afternoon of holiday-related activities.  Students will choose three sessions to attend and will rotate through those.

Celebration of Reading: Thursday, December 21

Mrs. Mayberry and Mrs. McFarland have declared this a day to celebrate reading!  We will be reading for most of the day!  Make sure to bring lots to read: chapter books, picture books, comic books, magazines, word search books, Sudoku books, newspapers, you name it!  We will read independently, we will read with partners, and we will enjoy read aloud!  

    To ensure your comfort, we invite you to bring a blanket, pillow, stuffed animal, etc.!  Please note that everything you bring in must be brought home on that day.

Towel for lockers

Students will be storing boots, snowpants, and other snow gear in their lockers this winter season.  A hand towel spread out at the bottom of the locker is ideal for absorbing melting snow and drying out quickly overnight.  Please send one in with your child as soon as you can; winter weather is apparently upon us.

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

Students are in the process of choosing ideas for their own essays.  Each writer has at least one other writer in the class who is working on the same or a similar topic, and they’ll be able to do some thinking and writing together, leaning on each other throughout the unit, as needed.

Reading Workshop

We are working on some pretty sophisticated concepts and strategies in reading workshop!  This week, we focused on how knowing the text structure of a nonfiction text can help a reader to identify the most important ideas of a text.  And, knowing the text structure can influence how we take notes about the important ideas.  Below is a chart showing transition words that are often used in certain kinds of text structures; noticing when those words are used can serve as clues to help identify the kind of text structure.

text structure chronological problem/solution cause and effect compare/contrast

transition words first, then, next, after that, finally, before, after a problem is, a solution is, if . . . then . . . , so that because, since, reasons, then, therefore, so, in order different, same, alike, similar, although, but, yet, or

    

Math

In math this week students learned to convert fractions to decimals using fraction circles and base ten blocks. They discovered that decimal values like 0.5 can represent more than one fraction and that every fraction has a decimal equivalent. You can support your child’s learning by pointing out ways you use decimals and fractions. Since fourth-graders are just learning to understand decimal concepts we read them with value names attached. For example: 0.3 is read as “ zero and three tenths.” 0.43 is read as “zero and forty-three hundredths.” At this developmental stage we ask students to say the zero in front of the decimal and use the word and when reading the decimal point.

    Knowing multiplication facts with relative ease is making math easier for many students. At this point students will get credit for practicing multiplication facts only for their at-home practice. Until the end of vacation I will have a site linked on my page for practicing multiplication facts. It is called Christmas Lights Match. This is a fun site where students earn lights to decorate the outside of a house by correctly answering the facts (multiplication only please). Students also learned how to play Multiplication War with dominoes this week. If you have a set of dominoes, ask your child to show you how this is played. Playing this game and using the site both count toward at-home multiplication fact practice.