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

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of October 31, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events

Monday, November 7 - reading logs due

Tuesday, November 8 - Home Link due

Wednesday, November 9 - full day / McFarlands have PE (swimming!)

Thursday, November 10 -  ABL (sneakers are helpful) / math journal pages catch-up due / Book Fair Family Night until 7:45

Friday, November 11 - no school: Veterans Day

Monday, November 14 - reading logs due

General News and Announcements

We are finding ourselves getting serious (*insert stern teacher look*) about behavior expectations, as many of you have heard through recent parent-teacher conferences.  We believe that each day every child deserves to experience a classroom community that is safe, productive, and (hopefully) fun.  One specific behavior that is getting in the way is that a surprisingly large number of students are ignoring directions.  This has been highly unusual in past years, as we run a pretty tight ship, as needed.  

    When directions are followed effectively, the climate in the room is impacted in many positive ways:

• Students feel safe.
• Time is used effectively, which means students have more time for learning.

    When directions are not followed, the climate in the room is impacted in negative ways for all members of the classroom community:

• Students feel confused and anxious.
• Time and energy spent redirecting or repeating the directions takes time, energy, and fun away from learning.

    We need your support at home by talking with your child about her/his contributions to our classroom climate.  Of course, discussions will vary from family to family, especially since there are, thankfully, children who try hard to do the right thing on a consistent basis (and we show our appreciation for that in a number of ways).  We appreciate your time and attention to this at home, as we continue to strive for a positive, caring, productive classroom climate for all students.

Reading Workshop

We are anticipating the turning point of our mentor text, Journey.  We are looking for clues:  First, simply noticing where we are are in the book -- halfway -- tells us that we should be on the lookout for details that hint at change.  There’s also a brand new “character” in the book, Bloom, a cat, who is meeting some of the characters’ needs.  We are also noticing how other characters are reacting and dealing with the main problem in the story (that Journey’s mother has left the family).  And we are seeing certain “moments” that Journey is sharing with his grandfather, and that shows us that there is a change in their relationship.  

    We are also revising a big idea that we’ve been growing in our notebooks.  At first, our idea was, “Journey is an angry person,” and we have revised it to say, “Journey is blaming Grandfather for Mama leaving.”  It’s not a book for light-weights!

Writing Workshop

Essays, here we come!  This has been a most productive week in writing workshop.  I’ve shared samples of essays with both classes, so they can see how an essay is built and how it’s different from a narrative.  We also focused on creating strong thesis statements, and partners revised a number of so-so thesis statements.  Ask your child about “bus talk” and why we’re going to avoid using it in our essays.

    I shared the 4th Grade Opinion Writing Checklist, and we took notes on it to get to know what the qualities are of a good essay.  We will continue to refer to the checklist to help us revise our work throughout the unit, to determine teaching points for mini-lessons, and for the kids to ask me to teach certain skills.  Yes, sometimes I make them ask for it!  This can certainly be a time of significant growth for our 4th-grade writers!

Math

This week students took the end of unit assessment for the second Everyday Math Unit. This assessment encompassed being able to identify factors of a given number, multiples of a 1-digit number, extended multiplication with multiples of 10, area of a rectangle, and multiplication number stories. Your child’s unit assessment packet will be either shared at your conference or will be sent home next week.

    We also kicked off the third math unit this week. This next unit has a strong emphasis on fractions and decimals. Students will also continue to strengthen their multiplication skills in this unit.

Theme/Content

On Monday, students took a break from our social studies unit and enjoyed a STEM challenge. After learning how boats float and the concept of water displacement, they worked in small groups to create their own aluminum foil boats. Their challenge was to build a boat that held as many pieces of candy corn as possible. Below are a few snapshots from this challenge.

Students were also introduced to the final project in our cartography/geography unit.  If your fourth-grader starts talking about newly-discovered lands, just know they are getting excited about their project.  Stay tuned!

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of October 24, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events

Monday, October 31- reading logs due

Tuesday, November 1 - Home Link due

Wednesday, November 2 - early release day / McFarlands have PE (swimming!)

Thursday, November 3 -  math box pages catch-up due / McFarlands visit the Book Fair (If you would like your child to make a purchase, please send in cash on that day.  If you would prefer to supervise that, Family Night is going to be Thursday, 11/10 until 7:45)

Friday, November 3 - Home Link due

Monday, November 6 - reading logs due

General News and Announcements

Annnnnnnnd, the (co-)winner of the GMS Fall Door Decorating Contest is….

Lost on a Mountain in Maine!

Thank you very much to Mary Jane Call and Molly for their creativity and leadership in this project!  The other 4th grade winner is Mrs. Bradeen’s class with their book, There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom! Hope you can stop in and check out the creations soon (before they fall down). My favorite, besides ours, is Mr. Benoit's class's mosaic of the cover of the book, Wonder. Very impressive!

Students participated in a presentation by the Cromwell Center for Disabilities Awareness on Thursday.  Please read the yellow flier in your child’s mail for details.  At the end of the presentation, we received a copy of the chapter book, Hank Zipzer: Niagra Falls, or Does It?  It’s about a dynamic boy who happens to have ADHD.  The book has a Guided Reading Level of O.  Immediately, a student came to me and asked me about it to see if he could read it first (of course!).  I have other books in this series in our classroom library.  Our presenter then mentioned another book that kids might want to read: Fish in a Tree.  This one is most likely a higher level (it’s new and hasn’t been leveled yet), but I’ve heard great things about it, and I have a copy I’ve already shared with interested students earlier this year.  When one student asked me today if I have that book, I recommended reading it with a parent or in a book club so they have some support and can discuss it.  Boom: spontaneous book club formed!  I’ve already collected a few copies from generous staff members and printed off calendars so the kids can plan out their reading together.  Now, I’m working on a bookmark of things to talk about in a book club...

Please note that students should focus their math facts practice on subtraction and multiplication.  We are scratching out addition on the planner sheets, as almost everyone has mastered those.  Please see Mrs. Mayberry’s web page (https://sites.google.com/a/msad51.org/sheila_mayberry/) for a variety of ways to practice.  Students should mark what they practice on the weekly homework planner sheet, and parents should be initialing that each time.  Thanks to those of you who are doing that regularly!

Reading Workshop

The kids worked on retelling.  This still needs a lot more work, so I’ve created a graphic organizer to provide more direction and support for some students.  We will continue that work next week while also adding more ways to jot our thinking as we read.  Our focus continues to be The Character.

Writing Workshop

This week, we got back to basics with a packet of grammar worksheets.  Topics included homophones, synonyms, and antonyms, goals being bring awareness of these concepts and to build vocabulary.  Students also wrote two journal jots early in the week.  We will start essays on Monday!

Math

This week students worked on converting unit of time; hours to minutes and minutes to seconds. This presented them with another opportunity to use their multiplication skills! We also did some work with multiplicative comparison statements and multiplicative comparison number stories with an unknown variable. Wow! They got a little dose of algebra on those days. In addition we had a quick lesson on how to classify triangles according to the size of the angles.

Theme/Content

Students continued to work on their geography flipbooks.

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of October 17, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events

Monday, October 24- reading logs due

Tuesday, October 25 - Home Link due

Wednesday, October 26 - early release day / McFarlands have PE (swimming!)

Thursday, October 27 -  math box pages catch-up due

Friday, October 28 - Home Link due

Monday, October 31 - reading logs due

General News and Announcements

Please note that students should focus their math facts practice on subtraction and multiplication.  We are scratching out addition on the planner sheets, as almost everyone has mastered those.  Please see Mrs. Mayberry’s web page (https://sites.google.com/a/msad51.org/sheila_mayberry/) for a variety of ways to practice.  Students should mark what they practice on the weekly homework planner sheet, and parents should be initialing that each time.  Thanks to those of you who are doing that regularly!

Reading Workshop

Students took some time to reflect on their reading logs this week.  I made a packet of them (lots of minutes are logged in those stacks!), and I attached a sheet to summarize their at-home reading according to what each child has logged.  The kids studied their logs and made observations about their reading habits.  From there, each reader set a goal in order to become a stronger reader.  I’ll share those with you at our upcoming conference.

Writing Workshop

All writers finished the final drafts of their narratives this week!  It will take me awhile to score them, but we shared titles today, and they are really descriptive titles!  I’m excited to read these carefully and see how well each writer applied new concepts, such as paragraphing, using a balance of details (setting; action; TFR: thoughts, feelings, and reactions), and figurative language (similes and personification).  Next up: essays!

Math

This week students worked on converting unit of time; hours to minutes and minutes to seconds. This presented them with another opportunity to use their multiplication skills! We also did some work with multiplicative comparison statements and multiplicative comparison number stories with an unknown variable. Wow! They got a little dose of algebra on those days. In addition we had a quick lesson on how to classify triangles according to the size of the angles.

Theme/Content

Students continued to work on their geography flipbooks.

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the weeks of October 3 & 10, 2016

Due Dates / Upcoming Events

Monday, October 17- reading logs due (Almost everyone is now on board and meeting the minimum expectations of 4 x 25+ minutes.)

Tuesday, October 18 - Home Link due

Wednesday, October 19 - early release day / McFarlands have PE (swimming!)

Thursday, October 20 -  math box pages catch-up due

Friday, October 21 - Home Link due

Monday, October 24 - reading logs due

General News and Announcements

Please note that we start swimming in PE class this Wednesday!

I’m looking for sets of trivia cards, any topic -- general ones are even better!  We use them at dismissal time, and we’re getting too many repeat cards from the packs that I have.  If you have some in your basement or playroom that are collecting dust, please send them in.  I can return them if you want them back.

At the end of the summer I submitted a grant request to Donors Choose. This organization helps educators find funding for materials they would like to have in their classroom. If you would like to check on, and possible donate to my project, it is linked here.

Please note that students should focus their math facts practice on subtraction and multiplication.  We are scratching out addition on the planner sheets, as almost everyone has mastered those.  Please see Mrs. Mayberry’s web page (https://sites.google.com/a/msad51.org/sheila_mayberry/) for a variety of ways to practice.  Students should mark what they practice on the weekly homework planner sheet, and parents should be initialing that each time.  Thanks to those of you who are doing that regularly!

Students took the iReady math and reading tests this week.  This test replaces the STAR assessments we have used in previous years.  We are expecting the results, in conjunction with the results of classroom assessments, to help us form intervention groups based on students’ needs.  We will be analyzing the data in the coming weeks.

Thank you to those who have signed up for a parent/teacher conference to chat about your child’s start to the school year, progress so far, and goals for the remainder of the year.  You will meet with both Mrs. Mayberry and I, so we can share details from each academic subject area.  

Thank you so much to Mrs. Soucie, Mrs. Mohr, Mrs. Duina, and Mrs. MacArthur, who made the beautiful book bags for the McFarland and Mayberry readers!  The kids LOVE them, and it was the most exciting day of the year so far when they got to choose one for their own!

Reading Workshop

This week, our Reading Workshops took a hit due to a planned evacuation drill and the iReady testing.  Despite that, your child’s log will show that we did get some independent reading accomplished.  We’ll be back at it next week!

Writing Workshop

Students edited their narratives in “rounds” this week!  Of course, editing for a number of things in an entire writing piece all at once is tiring and overwhelming...exactly like a boxing match is tiring and overwhelming if fought all at one time.  So, we edited in rounds.  We put to use some of Mrs. Mayberry’s dictionary work from Theme last week, in addition to using other resources, such as class charts, our word wall, and Quickword Handbooks.  (I also added -- after the photo below was taken -- a Bonus Round 6: commas in a series [list] and commas in dialogue).  Students started writing their final drafts in class on Thursday.

Math

Last week we started the second unit in the Everyday Math program. This unit focuses primarily on multiplication facts and strategies to use when faced with an unknown multiplication fact. Students also have worked on identifying the factors for a given number less than 50 and determining the multiples for numbers 2-10.

This week students have learned how to find the area of a rectangle, which is yet another application for their multiplication skills. In addition, they learned about, and how to identify, prime and composite numbers.

Theme/Content

In social studies students completed their North America maps and have started in on a flip book project for landforms and bodies of water. This book will serve two purposes; first, as a study guide for an upcoming quiz and as a resource for the final cartography project in this unit.