Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of October 16, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, October 23:  reading logs are due

Tuesday, October 24: Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E. (wear sneakers; we start swimming Oct. 31) / ABL (sneakers are helpful)

Wednesday, October 25: Mayberrys have P.E.: come prepared for swimming

Thursday, October 26: be caught up on math journal pages

Friday, October 27: Home Link due

Monday, October 28:  reading logs due

General News and Announcements

Recorder Orders: McFarland students got their order forms today -- and today was the due date!  Ooops, my mistake!  Please try your best to have your child return the form on Monday, even if s/he does not need to purchase a recorder.

Swimming in PE starts soon!

Mayberrys: Oct. 25

McFarlands: Oct. 31

Please see the notice in your child’s planner for details.

Thank you!

Thank you for the donations to our subscription to SpellingCity!  You can expect to see SpellingCity activities come home in the next couple of weeks as a regular homework assignment.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

Please check your email for the parent/teacher conference sign-ups.  We have most of you scheduled and look forward to taking some time to talk about your child’s growth and goals for the year!

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

Over the past couple of weeks, students have made good progress on writing their narratives.  We are working on revising to make sure we have a variety of details; to make sure we have combined dialogue with actions, setting details, and thoughts/feelings; and to make sure we have a strong lead and a meaningful ending.  Next week, we will focus on revising the heart of the story.

Reading Workshop

We hit the gas this week on reading our mentor text, Journey.  One lesson we did this week focused on how to figure out unfamiliar words.  The strategy is to read on for another sentence or two to look for key words (or clues) that can help us make a good guess as to what the unfamiliar word is.  A second strategy, often used in tandem with the first, is to read “backwards,” to back up a couple of sentences to find key words to help us figure out what that unfamiliar word means.  We practiced this with several words in Journey: peonies (key words: pink and white armfuls, pitchers, smell, blooms), haughtily (key words: ran out of patience, insulted, then he brightened), and banished (key words: lost her patience, go away).  The kids have been practicing with their own independent books.  

    This is an important skill, especially when students read “above their levels” and begin to read faster (not necessarily a good thing) and more fluently.  We can become rather passive and simply move on, missing opportunities to get smarter.

    

Math

This week we kicked off the second unit in Everyday Math. Students learned how to calculate area of a rectangle or square using the formula: A=LxW. Part of this learning included playing Rugs and Fences on ConnectEd. Ask your child to login to their ConnectEd account (login and passwords are in their planner) and challenge them to a fun game. The time spent can count toward their weekly math fact practice minutes.

    In addition to learning how to determine area of a rectangle students also learned about square numbers, how to find all the factors for a given number and how to list multiples of a number. All of this work depends on strong multiplication fact fluency. So…. please continue to support your 4th grader in learning their multiplication facts by making sure they are practicing a minimum of three times a week for ten minutes each time.

Theme

In science this week we spent time reviewing concepts from our Birth of Rocks unit by answering questions on a site called Kahoot. This was a great way to review for the unit test they took on Tuesday.

    We will be leaving science behind for a bit while we cycle back for some geography. Students are creating a ‘cartography flipbook’ which defines various landforms and bodies of water. This project will roll into their final cartography project, to be revealed in a few weeks.

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of October 2, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, October 9: Columbus Day - no school

Tuesday, October 10: McFarlands have P.E. (wear sneakers) / reading logs are due

Wednesday, October 11: full day / Mayberrys  have P.E. (wear sneakers)

Thursday, October 12: be caught up on math journal pages

Friday, October 13: homelink due

Monday, October 16:  reading logs due

General News and Announcements

Planned Absences

Please be sure to fill out a planned absence form if your child will be absent for a few days for a family event/vacation.

MUG Shots (Mechanics, Usage, Grammar)

Check out the MUG Shots your child does on Wednesdays in Writing Workshop!  This is a quick, easy, fun (in my opinion :) way to get in some age-appropriate grammar and mechanics instruction.  The kids have their hands up the entire time and are highly engaged.  It’s also a good way for them to experience getting “grades” on relatively concrete work, prompting them to think: “What did I do well on?  What could I have done better?  What will I pay attention to next time?”

SpellingCity

We have received a few of donations to help us fund SpellingCity for both classes -- thank you!  If you’d care to donate, we’d be happy to put your money toward the cause.  The cost is $60 per class.  Feel free to send in a few dollars.  https://www.spellingcity.com/

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

Almost all students have completed a detailed timeline as a plan for their narratives.  Today, we studied the Narrative Writing Checklist, which details all of the concepts and strategies that we’ll focus on throughout the rest of this unit.  

    All students logged on to SpellingCity this week as well.  As with any online program, there are some glitches, and I’m confident that we will work through them!  The main issue is that students who used SpellingCity last year were brought to their last year’s teachers’ groups.  I’ll work on that…  We will spend some time in class here and there for a couple of weeks getting to know the site and program and activities.  Before the end of October, SpellingCity activities will become a regular homework assignment.

Reading Workshop

We did a lot of independent reading this week. During this time, students are logging their reading, and many are pretty impressed with themselves and their accomplishments so far this year, in terms of how many books they’ve been able to finish!  They are also making connections from our minilessons to their own books and characters.  During this time, I ma meeting with readers one-on-one.  Together, we are noting strengths and setting informal reading goals for the fall.

    One opportunity we have all together as a team is a daily Read Aloud.  We meet in Mrs. Mayberry’s classroom after lunch and enjoy some quiet time as Mrs. Mayberry or I read to the kids.  Mrs. Mayberry started off the year with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  I followed with Marvin Redpost: Why Pick on Me? and am now reading Granny Torrelli Makes Soup.  This time is special because, while our first priority is to enjoy a good book together, we take time to teach and reinforce the author’s writing moves and to connect to concepts we’re working on in Reading Workshop.  We choose books carefully and for a variety of reasons: to give kids experiences with more challenging texts than what they can access on their own; to expose them to the first book in a series in hopes they’ll continue with the series; to demonstrate higher level thinking with lower-level books; to share our favorites…  Despite the demands on our time and on our students’ time, we’ve prioritized this part of the day because it’s simply good stuff!

    

Math

This week students learned to identify types of angles and to differentiate quadrangles according to the number of parallel sides. We also worked on how to determine the perimeter of a polygon. On Thursday students took the end of unit assessment. I will have assessment packets ready to send home by the end of next week.

    Please continue to support your 4th grader with fact fluency. Our next math unit involves a lot of multiplication and knowing the basic facts will help your child successfully meet the standards in unit two.

Theme

In science students completed an activity that explored the answer to this question; Does a mountain last forever? They learned about the two forces that break apart rock, root wedging and ice wedging.  Below is a short video of our scientists hard at work conducting an experiment with sugar cubes and a tumbler.

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of September 25, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, October 2: reading logs due

Tuesday, October 3: Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E. (wear sneakers) / Picture Day: send in form on or before that day (forms went home with students Thursday) / first Adventure-Based Learning session!

Wednesday, October 4: full day

Thursday, October 5: be caught up on math journal pages

Friday, October 6: Teacher Inservice Day: no school for students

Monday, October 9: Columbus Day: no school

Tuesday, October 10: reading logs due

General News and Announcements

Adventure-Based Learning (ABL)

This coming Tuesday is our first ABL session!  It’s an active, challenging program that will guide your child to make growth in leadership, listening, compromising, and persevering through frustrations.

• designed to support students in creating a sense of community and teamwork in order to meet physical, social, emotional challenges
• develop skills such as compromise, listening, risk-taking, sharing, leadership
• twelve sessions, including a winter Iditarod simulation and an outside culminating event in May
• Teachers work to embed concepts into the classroom experience.
• 21st Century Learning: Teachers integrate essential skills (communication, creativity & innovation, critical thinking/problem solving, citizenship)

Tardiness

If you drop off your child at school after 8:35, s/he is considered tardy.  Please come into school with your child and sign her/him in.  Otherwise, it’s considered an “unexcused” tardy.  I’ve had a few students coming to the classroom with passes that say “unexcused.”

Looking for: yarn!

If you have yarn just taking up space and would like donate some to our classroom we will gladly take it off your hands.

SpellingCity

We have received one donation to help us fund SpellingCity for both classes -- thank you!  If you’d care to donate, we’d be happy to put your money toward the cause.  https://www.spellingcity.com/

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

This week, students determined the messages for several stories (Owl Moon, Come On, Rain!, and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day).  We differentiated between a “lesson” and the author’s message.  The message is what the author is really trying to show us.  So instead of giving us advice to improve our lives (a lesson), the author of Come On, Rain! is trying to show us that Tessie really wanted it to rain and that she was so happy when it finally did.  That’s it.  Then, we studied the text in Come On, Rain! and underlined specific words and phrases that showed the message.  The point is that writers use words deliberately to share a message.  

    The kids also chose a small moment idea about which to focus their narrative, which we will plan, draft, revise, and edit over the next few weeks.  This is a piece that I’ll score.  I’ll share the scoring rubric with the class to help them understand the goals of the unit, and I’ll design lessons to help them meet those goals.

Reading Workshop

We are paying very close attention to characters’ actions to determine their traits.  We are also paying close attention to how characters react to obstacles and then pushing ourselves to think, “What does this tell me about the character?”  A major understanding I want students to realize and to own is that reading is much, much more than following the plot.  There are so many opportunities to learn and grow when we read.  I want to make sure that each child is no longer satisfied with simply letting the plot wash over them, clap the dust off the hands, and that’s the end of the experience.  As we practice these strategies to deepen our thinking, your child will likely also deepen her/his joy of reading.

    

Math

This week our mathematicians learned how to draw, label and correctly name geometric figures. They also learned to differentiate between parallel, perpendicular and intersecting lines. In addition students continue to work on skills related to place value and problem solving.

Theme

This week students explored and discovered the two different types of volcanoes, shield and cone. Below are a few photos of students working with two types of simulated lava as they work to discover which type of lava produces which type of volcano.

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of September 18, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, September 25: reading logs due

Tuesday, September 26: Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E. (wear sneakers) Wednesday, September 27: early release

Thursday, September 28: be caught up on math journal pages

Friday, September 29: Home Link due

Monday, October (what?!) 2: reading logs due

General News and Announcements

*reminders for reading logs:

• The majority of kids are meeting those minimum expectations of reading and logging at least 4 days and for 25 minutes at a time.
• Please make sure that your kids are coming to you to have you sign the log before coming to school on Monday.  My message to the kids is, “It’s not your parents’ job to remember to sign the log; it’s your job to bring it to them with a pen or pencil and ask them to sign it.”  To help make this a habit, a parent might ask, “Is there something you need to ask me to sign before school tomorrow/Monday/today?”  After a few weeks, that should become more the child’s task to do the remembering and asking.

Looking for: yarn!

If you have yarn just taking up space and would like donate some to our classroom we will gladly take it off your hands.

Digital maker community celebrates

skill building and creativity for kids.

Does your child love to create, invent and innovate? Check out this awesome site!

https://diy.org/ This site is for the inventors, artists and creators of the future and is highly rated on Common Sense Media.https://www.commonsensemedia.org/website-reviews/diy

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

This past week, we have been doing more practice planning with timelines.  The kids also wrote a short silly scene based on an illustration.  Together we studied the picture, and then we created a very brief timeline.  From there, the kids were to use storytelling language to write the scene, focusing on setting details, small actions, and TFR (thoughts, feelings, and reactions).  Then, they color-coded their writing by underlining in certain colors each kind of detail.  They used this visual to determine what kinds of details need to be added and where.  We used Post-it notes and a number system to revise, in order to help create a balance of kinds of details.  

    Soon, they’ll apply all of this learning to a narrative of their own.  Next week, we’ll get deep with determining a message for a narrative (“What are you really trying to show?  What’s your point?”).

Reading Workshop

In Reading Workshop this week, we started reading a novel, Journey by Patricia MacLachlan.  I’m reading it aloud to students and am using it to teach strategies about reading deeply.  This book is a level S, and I’m showing them what the author of a higher level text expects them to do as readers, besides understand what’s going on (“Don’t worry, Mrs. McFarland, this book is a level X, but I understand everything that’s going on…”  :).

    The book starts with two quotes, plus a scene that is written before the start of chapter one.  So, we just skip those, right?, so we can get into the story?  No, silly!  The author put those there for us to think about, to come back to as we read the book, to connect to parts of the story or to the story as a whole!  Here are Layla’s notes from our discussion:

     In the handful of pages we’ve read so far, we’ve come across symbolism and alliteration, and the author is showing us the characters’ feelings through their actions.  Readers are expected to infer characters’ feelings by paying close attention to those actions.  We are also beginning to get picky about the differences between a character’s feelings and her/his personality traits.  Feelings are like the weather; they can and do change, often.  Traits are like the climate; they change slowly, if at all, over a long time or if something major happens.  I’ll teach them that if you can explain to your child the difference between weather and climate.  Deal?

Math

In math this week students started working with the traditional algorithms for both addition and subtraction of large numbers. This is the way you and I most likely learned when we were in elementary school! We also spent time playing several math games and one that really seems to have helped to solidify the concept of rounding large numbers is called Spin and Round. Below are some pictures of students engaged in this great skill building game.

Theme

Our North America maps are done and they look great. The cartographers worked hard to produce a map that showed quality work throughout.

    This week we started our first Mystery Science unit called The Birth of Rocks. In the first lesson students were asked to consider this question: Could a volcano pop up in your backyard?  The lesson had students plot the location of volcanoes on maps.  They discovered that volcanoes are typically located near the Pacific coast and when plotted on a map the volcanoes form a linear pattern known as The Ring of Fire.

Mayberry-McFarland Weekly News

for the week of September 11, 2017

Due Dates / Upcoming Events:

Monday, September 18: reading logs* due for those who participate in the regular classroom

Tuesday, September 19: Home Link due / McFarlands have P.E. (wear sneakers) Wednesday, September 20: early release

Thursday, September 21: be caught up on math journal pages

Friday, September 22: Home Link due

Monday, September 25: reading logs due

General News and Announcements

*reminders for reading logs:

• check out the feedback on last week’s log
• regular pencil only, please
• correct capitalization
• a chart for capitalization rules is in your child’s reading notebook, which is in the book bag
• 4th grader’s work only; parents should not be filling anything out on the log.
• There are several students who write large in order for their handwriting to stay neat.  If this is the case for your child, I can adjust the lines to make the title spaces bigger.  Let me know if you’d like me to make that accommodation for your child.  Or, your child can ask me about it.
• minimum expectations: 4 different days per week of reading at home (outside of school), for at least 25 minutes per session; additional logging is welcome and gives me a fuller picture of reading habits but is not required
• Before handing in logs Monday morning, please help your child add minutes; there’s a space for parents’ signatures at the bottom.

Newspaper Club Informational Meeting

Academic Updates:

Writing Workshop

This week we have been identifying different kinds of details writers use: setting details, small action, and TFR (thoughts, feelings, and reaction).  We color-coded those details in Salt Hands, a lovely small moment book.  Then, we studied a timeline and practiced using it by answering comprehension questions about it.  Students examined a timeline that I created about a time when I hit my poor friend, Melanie, with a rock (it was an accident!).  Today, our writers started their own timelines of “a time when…”  Next week, we’ll use the timelines to plan their own details for a small moment story.

Reading Workshop

Reading workshop has taken a backseat to some of our i-Ready testing.  However, we were able to get in a reading survey, so I can get to know the kids’ feelings about reading; favorite books, series, and authors; and past experiences and goals around their reading.  The kids also took a pre-assessment for our first reading unit, Interpreting Characters: The Heart of the Story.  Teachers are examining those to determine students’ strengths and needs for this first unit.  I am also making a small dent in one-on-one reading assessments to confirm or adjust end-of-third grade reading levels.  I really appreciate how much I learn about each reader during this one-on-one time!

Math

This week we continued to work on reading/writing large numbers and rounding numbers to the hundred thousands place. Students also worked in both their IXL and ConnectEd accounts. All students can now log into both sites and should also be able to access these sites at home. Login and passwords have been taped into each student’s planner for easy access.

Each time a homelink is assigned as homework I will post a tutorial on my site to help support students at home. Below is a picture of where that link is located on my site. I encourage students who may be having trouble with their homework to watch the tutorial as they will hear my voice which will serve as a reminder of how concepts have been taught in class.

In addition to assigned math homework students should be practicing their subtraction and/or multiplication facts three times a week for a minimum of 10 minutes each time. Students have been introduced to a great site they can use for this exact purpose. Below you will find the steps to accessing the site. I recommend students set the length to open and the timer to ten minutes. Of course, there are other ways to practice basic math facts, this is one option your child may like to use at home.

Theme

Our 4th grade cartographers continued to work on their North America maps this week. The maps are looking wonderful and will be completed soon. Below are pictures of some of our many talented cartographers at work.

Did you know that your 4th grader can get a free pass to our national parks? The pass is good for all the children in your family and up to three adults. Check it out!

https://goo.gl/Pxdi5B