Newsletter Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of May 14, 2018

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, May 21: weekly reading logs due / i-Ready Reading testing

Tuesday, May 22: i-Ready Math testing / Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E. (wear sneakers)

Wednesday, May 23: early release day

Thursday, May 24: math journal pages due

Friday, May 25: no SpellingCity this week due to testing

Special Announcements:

Students playing the ukulele in the 4th grade musical: Mr. Saunders would like for you to come to practice before school Monday at 8:00 in the music room, if possible.

4th Grade Musical

Please save the date of Tuesday, May 22nd (6:00-6:30) when the entire fourth grade class performs for their first and only time on stage together until their Greely High School Graduation ceremony in 2026!

Students have been learning a variety of friendship-themed songs in their music classes this spring and will be ready to perform for families soon!  

Hard copy of notice came home Monday, May 7th.

Please have your child meet her/his classroom teacher in the cafeteria at 5:50 to warm up.  

Field Trip June 12

Please make sure you have read the notice about our field trip to Ferry Beach Science Center and State Park.  Permission slips are due Friday.

Congratulations, Margaret!

Margaret recently earned her black belt in Tae Kwon Do. She graciously agreed to demonstrate her moves for both classes. Very impressive!

Academic Updates

Writing Workshop

It’s a busy time of year for families, we know.  In the midst of the uptick in activity, I hope you set aside a few moments to ask your child about our poetry experience so far.  You might lead with:

• Why do people write poetry?
• What have you noticed about the poems your class has read so far?
• What makes a strong poem?
• What should one avoid when writing a poem?
• What is a couplet?
• What is a free-verse poem?
• What the heck is Rock-n-Roll Friday?

Poetry is the reason your child might know the lyrics to “Cat’s in the Cradle.”  Poetry is the reason your child might think Brandi Carlile is so cool (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNmo8I4dEQE and   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvhyyuUx0Do).  Poetry is the reason your child might suddenly love writing workshop!

Reading Workshop

Our final reading unit in fourth grade is focused on social issues.  Social issues are situations (often problems, but not always) that affect many people in a community.  The kids built on each other’s ideas to brainstorm a hefty list of social issues: disease, drug abuse, bullying, environmental activism (OK, I might have paraphrased that one), gun control, suicide, social media, natural disasters, divorce… This is the first year that vaping has been suggested as a social issue.  These are the times.

    “Social issues” is not a genre of literature; books often have social issues in them (as do movies, songs, poems, essays, articles).  We have all read books that focus on social issues, and students will begin to identify social issues discussed in their own independent reading.

Math

This week, for one of our lessons, students got to do a their math lesson outside. Working in pairs they hads multi-step number story problems to solve on the sidewalk using chalk! For every problem solved correctly students earned an extra minute of recess (motivation this time of year is critical:). Take a look below at our mathematicians hard at work.

Theme

This week capped off our Jamestown unit with several opportunities to play Kahoot. Kahoot is an interactive online site where students can answer questions in a format that is fun and a little competitive. At the end of the week students got to participate in a Jamestown escape activity. Working in groups of three they were tasked with solving five coded messages to then gain the combination to the lock which held their reward. They successfully escaped and earned yet another 15 minute recess.