December 18, 2015

Thank you to everyone who came to the Christmas concert last Sunday! All of the children performed beautifully.

Above, you can see photos from one of the final activities we did with this science unit on how the Earth is shaped. Students pretended to dig up fossils, and had to figure out how the pieces of the skeleton fit together and what animal it made. Though a few of them guessed it was a mammoth early on, they were all surprised at the end to see how it fit together! The activity was based on mammoth fossils that were actually found in Illinois, which led to a conversation about how Illinois used to be covered in ice. Don't forget, we have our test in science tomorrow.

I also wanted to share our finished Jesse Tree. I've been really impressed this year with how well the students summarized the Bible stories and the beautiful symbols they've drawn.

Students will receive work for over Christmas break tomorrow. This will consist of some math pages in their workbook that serve as a mid-year review, and to read a book and write a review about it persuading someone else to read it. The persuasive review can either be done on Kidblog or handed in on a sheet of paper.

Looking ahead to January, we'll be reading historical fiction books, studying fractions, measuring and describing matter, learning about the Northeast and learning even more about some of the Old Testament figures from the Jesse Tree! Before that, I hope everyone has a joyful and blessed Christmas.

December 9, 2015

I hope everyone is ready for the Christmas concert! Just as a reminder, it is this Sunday at 4:30. Students should be there by 4:15. They can leave their coats with you and then meet me at the front of the church. We will be sitting on the right hand side if you're facing the altar. Students should be practicing their songs at home, too. If they're not sure how to sing one of them, Ms. Fox has put recordings of all the songs on her music blog.

We have several tests that are coming up next week. In math, we will have a test on using tables and graphs on Tuesday. In science, we'll have a test on how the earth changes on Friday. That study guide will be sent home at the end of the week. As always, please remember that your child can show me their study guide early if you would like me to check it over to make sure it is correct. We will not have a spelling or times tables test next week.

In reading class, we just finished reading The Bad Beginning. We're going to spend the next few weeks talking about non-fiction books and how text features such as captions and maps can help us understand the text. We are continuing to use persuasive writing in writing class, with students writing letters to Santa from a villain, trying to convince Santa that they actually belong on the nice list! The students have been very creative with their reasoning, and I'm happy to see the strong topic sentences and organization they have in their letters. Students have been completing an inquiry project in social studies, where they use various online sources to research a question they have about the government. I created a Padlet wall of good non-fiction sources online. You can find it here.

During Advent, we complete one of my favorite activities: the Jesse Tree. Each student was assigned a person from Jesus' family tree to present to the class. We've been listening to one-two of those presentations each day and adding the symbols to our tree. There's also a great book we've been reading out loud to go along with this! There will be a quiz on the last day of school, where students need to fill in at least 10 names to the Jesse Tree story. We review the ones we've already covered every day, so as long as the students pay attention, they should have no problem with this. Many of the students in previous years have been able to fill in all 24 names!

Long Division and Two-Digit Multiplication Videos

I created some videos so you could see how I explain the steps to students, and so that students who are confused can review at home.

Long Division Video:

Multiplication Video:

November 13, 2015

The students have been hard at work on their popsicle stick bridges this week! We tested many of them on Tuesday, and then students were given time to make improvements. We'll do a second test today, and some groups may even be brave enough to see how many dictionaries it will hold before it breaks. Their boards are going to be due on Monday, when we'll set them up downstairs in the gym. We'll show our projects to the Junior High on Tuesday, and have a chance to see their projects, too, and then share with grades 1-3 on Wednesday. Wednesday evening from 5:30-7:30, all families are invited to come and see the students' work.

I've been happy with how well many of the students now grasp long division! We'll practice applying these skills to word problems next week, and then we'll test on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving on long division and two-digit multiplication. Since this can be a tough topic, I'll hold two review sessions for the students. One will be after school on Thursday, November 19, from 3:00-3:45. The other will be before school on Tuesday, November 24, from 7:30-8:00. Anyone who'd like to is welcome to attend.

November 5, 2015

I want to begin by reminding everyone about conferences this Sunday. I'm looking forward to discussing your child's progress this year and goals for going forward. It will be a busy day with conferences scheduled back-to-back in ten minute increments, so please make sure you are on time. Thanks!

We began building our popsicle stick bridges today after researching on Tuesday and planning on Wednesday. We'll finish building them tomorrow. It is interesting to see all the different designs students have! We'll have an initial test on Tuesday, time for students to modify their designs on Wednesday, and then retest and work on our presentations on Thursday and Friday. We'll share our projects with the school the following week.

In social studies, we're just finishing up our unit on the economy. Students should be working on their posters for the UIC poster contest, illustrating either "Choice and Opportunity Cost" or "Productive Resources." These will be due on Tuesday, which is also the day we have our test. I enjoyed reading and hearing about everyone's business plans today! There were lots of creative ideas, from house cleaning to chocolate stands.

We began reading one of my favorite books this week, The Bad Beginning. This is the first in a series of 13 books. Many of my former students have enjoyed reading the whole series, and if your child wishes, they can read ahead and then get the next book from me.

In math, we are beginning to learn long division. Please make sure your child has his or her notebook and notes out while working through these problems! It helps to be able to reference the steps until they become memorized. It's also still important to gain fluency in the times tables, so please keep on working on memorizing those facts!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone! Here are some pictures from our busy day: sharing our ofrendas, making masks with our preschool buddies, and visiting the Halloween Fun Fair.

October 16, 2015

Students had a great time dancing during our Hispanic Heritage celebration! We had an instructor come in to teach the students how to salsa. You can see photos of that above, as well as pictures of the students using the iPads to create US maps and doing a mystery Skype with a classroom in Texas.

We recently started reading Fish in a Tree as part of the Global Read Aloud project. Classrooms across the world are reading this book now and sharing their thoughts with each other through Twitter and other platforms. I set up an online discussion room for students so they can share their thoughts, too. You can access it here.

The last week of October is going to be a busy one for us! On Tuesday the 27th, we're going to have a religion test on the first three commandments. This will also be the day that we make our ofrendas in class and we go see Lyric Opera's performance of Second Nature. Students received booklets about the opera last week, and I'll send home permission slips for this on Monday. The end of that week is our Halloween celebration! We'll go to the Halloween Fun Fair, where each student gets 10 free tickets to use for games and crafts. If you'd like to send in additional money to buy tickets, they are 25 cents each. If you're able to, I know the school would really appreciate any donations of candy or prizes so that we can stock the Fun Fair. Students are welcome to bring treats to pass out to the class, and it might be a good idea to bring a treat bag to bring home all the goodies! We'll share our ofrendas with each other that Thursday and Friday, too.

Dancing the Bachata 2

Dancing the Bachata 1

October 6, 2015

I am sending home information today about our Day of the Dead project. This project has three parts to it. First, every student needs to select someone in their family who has passed away and that they would like to honor for this project. Then they need to interview two people about this honoree and collect some objects or pictures they would like to put in a shoebox ofrenda for that person. This is the only part that must be done at home! In school, we are going to turn these interviews into paragraphs and use the objects to create the ofrenda. If students like, they may work on their ofrenda at home, but it is not a requirement. We will share the ofrendas and paragraphs in class on October 29 and 30.

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage month, each grade in the school is learning a different dance! We practiced the bachata today, and I am going to tape the students doing this dance on Thursday. If they'd like to practice at home, here's the video we used.

I hope all the students are ready for their math test! It is this Thursday, and will cover rounding and finding multiples and factors of a number. We are not doing a times tables test this week because of the math test on Thursday.

Finally, our class will be featured in the bulletin this Sunday at St. Sylvester! Here's a transcript of the article:

Fourth Grade Bloggers

Fourth grade is embarking on an exciting new writing adventure this year by becoming bloggers! Our class has joined Kidblog, a site dedicated to allowing students to post in a way that's safe and monitored by the teacher. The students have written tons of great posts so far, with topics ranging from what it's like to be nine years old to ice skating and baseball games to pets. Students can also add pictures and comment on each other's writing, giving them an audience for their writing and feedback from other people. We even made our own avatars by drawing self-portraits on the school's iPads.

To help our writing reach an even bigger audience, we joined a blogging community with other fourth grade classrooms in Ohio, Indiana, and Texas. Over the next few weeks, we will take turns commenting on each other's blogs. The students are very excited about forming connections with fourth graders they've never met before and seeing the comments that are being left on their blogs! David B. said, "I like blogging because it's fun and I get to talk to my friends." Caitlyn R. added, "I love blogging because we get to meet new classes."

Geographic and Cultural Regions

Rain Shadows

Interdependence

Mountains

Lake Effect Snow

Tornado Alley

Hurricanes

Music Blog

Ms. Fox has a great blog about music class and choir! You can check it out to learn more about what the class is doing in music, and about upcoming musical events for the entire school. You can find it here: http://stsylvestermusic.blogspot.com

September 18, 2015

The students were really excited to meet their buddies in Mrs. Garza's class last Friday! You can see pictures of them below drawing portraits of each other.

Students did a great job on their times tables test test! Our next test will be on the 2s next Thursday (since we don't have school on Friday). We also have our spelling test on Thursday, this time on the word list that students will create themselves on Monday.

In science class, we have our chapter test on Wednesday. Study guides need to be filled out by Tuesday, when we'll play our review game. Remember, if you'd like me to check over your child's study guide earlier than that, I'm happy to do so!

In social studies next week, we'll be using the iPads and apps like SonicPics and Drawing Pad to help us review what we've learned about the United States and its landforms, regions, and climate. Our social studies test will be Tuesday, September 29. The study guide for that is actually on the back of the science study guide, so all the students already have it! That one will be due on Monday, September 28.

Students are almost done with their first writing piece. I've seen lots of topics, ranging from riding on the 606 to baseball games to hamsters. We discussed Wednesday how revising means making changes in your writing, like adding more details, taking out sentences that don't fit, and finding better words. Most students have already completed revising, but those that haven't will need to finish over the weekend.

Next week in reading, we're going to begin doing guided reading. I'll place the students into four groups based on reading ability, interests, and effort and give each group a different book. I'll meet with each group 2-3 times a week. If students don't finish reading the section assigned for them in the book during class, they will need to read it at home. They can read this book as part of their reading log so this shouldn't be extra homework.

September 10, 2015

We went to the computer lab today and many students finished publishing their first KidBlog posts! They're very excited about this, and anyone who'd like to log on at home and continue writing or commenting is welcome to. You can find our the site here. I did change the address to make it easier for students to type in, so if you bookmarked this before, please update it!

Don't forget we have a math test tomorrow on place value and comparing numbers. We're going to take the test in the morning right after computer class (and before we go to our first buddy activity). Here's a sample question: Using the digits   3   8    4   5    2   make the largest odd number possible. Next week, we're going to begin taking timed multiplication test on Fridays. The first one will be on the ten times table.

In science, we're studying animals and how they're classified. We talked yesterday about what a scientific argument was, and students debated about what made something an animal. Right now, it looks like our test on animals will be September 24. I'll pass out the study guide for this next week.

Students have been doing a great job writing in their notebooks. They've written lots of seed ideas in their notebooks, and we talked about how you can include pictures, too. We came up with a list of why we write stories and will begin taking our first set of stories through the writing process next week.

Thank you to everyone who came to Back to School Night last week! If you weren't able to come (or didn't see the list) and would like to have your phone number or email added to our family contact list, please let me know by Wednesday, September 16. After that, I'll copy the list and send it home.

Finally, if you'd like to order any books from Scholastic, the order forms are due this Monday. You can order books online, too, by clicking here and entering our code: GWZT3.

Kidblog

Hi, Parents! Thank you for everyone who came to Back to School Night tonight. You can find the link to the Kidblog page that I discussed here. We're going to learn how to use this tomorrow. If you weren't able to attend the Back to School Night and would like to get our join code so you can see the students' blogs, please just let me know!

Also, we will have our first test next week in math. It will be on Friday, September 11, and will be about place value, finding patterns, and comparing numbers.

August 31, 2015

I wanted to share some pictures from the first week of school! You can see each student holding the book from their favorite subjects, and pictures from two different science classes. In one, we timed the period of pendulums, and in the other, the students are making observations and inferences about earthworms.

Our normal homework routine started on Friday night. Students will have homework every night, and this will usually consist of math, reading, and spelling. Please help your child get into the routine of doing their homework in the same spot each night, crossing out each assignment in their notebook as they complete it, and then putting all the papers back into their bookbag before they go to bed.

August 24, 2015

Welcome to a new school year! I'm very excited to be here, and I can't wait to meet everyone. Just so you know a little bit about me, this is my tenth year teaching here at St. Sylvester School. My favorite subjects to teach are probably reading and science, though I have a hard time choosing. I love to learn, and have taken classes in previous years from the Museum of Science and Industry, Art Institute, and Nature Museum. This past summer, I also attended conferences on math and writing. I coach Girls on the Run after school in the fall, and enjoy running myself. I've done one marathon and several halves! I am an avid reader, usually reading 50 books a year. I've been married for six years. My husband is from Oklahoma, which causes some difficulty on football Saturdays if his Sooners play my Fighting Irish.

This week will mostly be spent getting to know each other and making sure the students know my routines and expectations. Though they will have some things to bring in, such as an empty cereal box that we can use to store library books in and pictures to decorate a notebook, they will not receive academic homework until Friday.

Specials classes begin on Thursday. We normally have gym on Thursdays and Fridays; however, due to a prayer service Thursday morning, we will just have gym on Friday this week. Students are still welcome to wear their gym uniform to school on Thursday if that is more comfortable for them.

I'll be sending a letter home tomorrow with more information in it about our year and my homework and discipline policies. I'll also be going over all that information in a lot more detail during Back to School Night on September 3.

Fantasy Summer Reading 2015

Welcome to our new fourth graders! This year for our summer reading, instead of doing a written report, you have the option of participating in a discussion online. I hope this will let us all see and respond to each other's thoughts about the book.

As a reminder, you need to begin each comment with the book you read, and should write your first name only under "Comment As." You should then write down the number of the questions you are answering, followed by your answer. Later on, you should check back and respond to another student's comment.

For your fantasy book, you need to answer two of the following questions:

1. Who is the main character and how would you describe them? Are they like you at all? Why or why not?

2. What do you think are the three most important things that happen in this book? Why are these the most important?

3. What in this book happens that makes it a fantasy? List at least two things, and be specific.

4. Is the "world" that the author created one that you would like to live in? Why or why not?

Realistic Fiction Summer Reading 2015

Welcome to our new fourth graders! This year for our summer reading, instead of doing a written report, you have the option of participating in a discussion online. I hope this will let us all see and respond to each other's thoughts about the book.

As a reminder, you need to begin each comment with the book you read, and should write your first name only under "Comment As." You should then write down the number of the questions you are answering, followed by your answer. Later on, you should check back and respond to another student's comment.

For your realistic fiction book by Beverly Cleary or Judy Blume, you need to answer two of the following questions:

1. Who is the main character and how would you describe them? Are they like you at all? Why or why not?

2. What do you think are the three most important things that happen in this book? Why are these the most important?

3. Do you think that this book could really happen in your school, family, or neighborhood? Why or why not?

4. If you could change something about the book, what would you change? (Do not write down "nothing" as your answer!)

Free Dress Down

Mr. Bennett just confirmed that there will be a free dress down day tomorrow, June 5, for all students.

Dexter the Tough

Dexter the Tough

June 4, 2015

Before we leave for the year, and all the fourth graders officially move onto middle school, I wanted to pause and thank everybody. Thank you for the students for all your hard work this year. I've really enjoyed learning together, and I will miss all of you! Thank you for the parents for working with your children. I appreciate the help they receive at home and your efforts to make sure the children do their best work.

One of the final things we did this week was create mind maps for each subject in school. Students took turning writing down everything they learned. As you can see from the very full pieces of paper below, they certainly learned a lot!

We've also had a lot of fun this week going on field trips to Humboldt Park and the Shedd Aquarium, and celebrating our ABC countdown with a water balloon toss.

Good luck to everyone next year, and please keep in touch! I'd love to know what new adventures you find.

The Bad Beginning

The One and Only Ivan Book Trailer

Edgar Allan's Official Crime Investigation Notebook

It Only Looks Easy Book Trailer

It Only Looks Easy Book Trailer

The One and Only Ivan

The One And Only Ivan

Flora and Ulysses Book Trailer

May 28, 2015

It's hard to believe we're almost done with the year! The fourth grade has continued to work hard on everything from research papers to geometry problems, but we're also having fun going on treasure hunts for "T" day and creating book trailers for our literature circle books.

The students are almost done with their research papers, and they've done outstanding work. Almost all of them have finished typing their papers in computer class, and they are currently working on adding a cover page, bibliography, and text features. These are due on Monday.

We had a special visitor today. Mr. Lindo came to the classroom to talk about engineering, and he brought a flame tube he built to show how sound travels in waves. Even though it was hot outside, it was fun to watch the flames dance to the music! Our science test on heat, light, and sound will be tomorrow.

Next week, we are going to Humboldt Park with the middle school on Monday and to the Shedd Aquarium on Wednesday. Students will receive their summer work in math and reading on Tuesday from their middle school teachers. Friday is our last day of school. That day ends at 1:00 and there will be not be extended care. Students also need to start returning anything they borrowed from the classroom next week, especially library books.

May 13, 2015

The students did a fantastic job on the science fair! I was very impressed with all their presentations and how much they had learned. We have our science fair Open House tonight, and everyone is welcome to come see the whole school's projects between 5:30 and 7:30.


We've been busy with a lot of great projects in school, too. Students are continuing to meet with their literature circle books and we've been discussing protagonists and antagonists, how to use quotes from the book to describe characters, and different points of view. Next week, we'll begin using the iPads to create movie trailers. In writing, students have been busy researching different types of animals. They're starting to put their notes together into outlines now, we'll start typing them in computer class next week, and then use different text features to help our readers understand our topic better.

We're continuing our study of geometry in math, looking at squares and rectangles and how to find the perimeter of figures made up of different rectangles. In science, we're studying heat, light, and sound. There are tons of hands-on activities we're doing with these, such as testing to see if a thermometer inside of a mitten will be warmer than one outside, using tuning forks and making our own instruments and telephones to explore sound, and using spectroscopes to see the different colors in light. We will have a test in math and science before the end of May. Math will most likely be on Wednesday, May 27, and science will be on Thursday, May 28.

There are many other fun activities coming up as we wrap up the year! These include our awards ceremony at 6:00 on Wednesday, May 28 (students can dress down the next day if they come to our evening event) and a field trip to the Shedd Aquarium on Wednesday, May 3.

May 1, 2015

We began the ABC countdown yesterday! It's hard to believe there's only 25 more days of school left, and they'll be busy ones.

We'll take our test today on electricity, and then begin studying heat, light, and sound next week. We'll also share our science fair projects next week. Students will have time in class on Monday to work on their presentations, and then the projects are due on Thursday, May 7 (this is pushed back one day from the original due date). We'll share them with our own class on Thursday and Friday, and with the rest of the school on May 11, 12, and 13. You can see the circuit rooms students made for the electricity unit below, along with an art project we've been working on.


 In math, we're learning about parallel, perpendicular, vertical, and horizontal lines. This unit and the next are both short, so we do already have a test coming up on lines. The test will be Thursday, May 14.

Students are reading their books in a new set of literature circles this week, and they are continuing to have great conversations about their books. After writing several poems, we're about to start working on research projects. I'm going to have lots of books about animals, but students are welcome to choose any subject they'd like to research. They just need to have three books about that topic by Thursday, May 14.

Finally, congratulations again to the winners of the UIC economic poster contest! There was an awards ceremony on Wednesday. (Not pictured is Angelis.)

April 22, 2015

As Mr. Bennett mentioned in yesterday's Tuesday letter, TerraNova scores are in and will be sent home on Friday. Please remember that the scores the students receive do not reflect a percentage of how many questions they got right (like our tests at school do), but how well they did compared to the rest of the students across the country who took this test. If you have questions about their results, please let me know and I'd be happy to set up a conference.

In science, our test will now be on Friday, May 1. I moved the date back since I gave students some extra time to work on their circuit rooms. Any students who aren't done with the project at this point will need to work on it either during recess or at home. They will be due on Monday, April 27, and we will share them with the class at this point. Don't forget that the science fair is coming up, too! Those projects are due on Wednesday, May 6.

April 17, 2015

Happy Easter! Even though many of us just celebrate Easter on Easter Sunday, it is actually a season that lasts for 50 days. Many students in the school today did something fun in recognition of this. We created poems and made pictures of animals with our buddies!

Students have been doing a great job on their literature circles, and I've enjoyed listening to their discussions, especially the follow-up questions they ask each other. In writing, we're almost done with our five paragraph essays about Chicago. We'll be writing a few poems in class next, since April is poetry month, before moving on to our final research paper.

In math, we'll be working on geometry until the end of the year. Right now, students are learning how to measure and draw angles. We did a fun scavenger hunt yesterday for angles, and next week we'll learn how to decompose angles before taking our test on Thursday. We also have a test coming up in science. It'll either by Tuesday, April 28 or Wednesday, April 29. The students in science have been engineers lately and are designing a circuit to go inside of a shoebox room. I've been emphasizing that many designs take a lot of trial and error before finding the one that works best, and students are doing a great job of being persistent.

We also have a field trip coming up! We'll be going to the Museum of Science and Industry on Monday, April 27. The permission slip for that is coming home today.

April 3, 2015

I hope everyone is having a blessed Holy Week! There were a few things I wanted to share. First, congratulations to all the students who participated in our Slice of Life challenge this month! I really enjoyed reading everyone's blog entries and commenting on them. We had 8 students in our class who posted at least 21 times, and we'll have a celebration once we return to school. If you'd like to see what the students wrote, you can go here.

Science fair is coming up, and I wanted to clarify a few things. First, the students do not need to do the experiment in class for the presentation. They only need to talk about how they conducted the experiment and what they learned. I was able to see or talk to almost all of the students about their questions before break, but as a reminder, the project needs to be an experiment. This means that there needs to be a variable that should get changed between trials. Also, as I told the students, this should not be an expensive project. There are many things students can do with the materials they have around the house, so please do not feel like you need to go out and buy something. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!

Finally, I wanted to share some pictures from Catholic Schools Week that I realized I never posted. You can see them below.

Go West! Pictures

We are really excited about performing our play tomorrow night! Students did a fantastic job during our dress rehearsal today, and all the other classes loved it. Don't forget that students should arrive tomorrow (Thursday) night between 5:30-6:00 and should come straight upstairs to get their costumes on. Here are some pictures from today's performance to whet your appetite.

March 22, 2015

We're excited that our play is just around the corner! The students have been practicing very hard and are doing a great job with their lines, songs, and dances. Thank you to all the parents who came to help us make costumes and sets on Thursday. Our dress rehearsal will be on Wednesday during the school day for the other grades to see, and the play will be on Thursday at 6:30. Please make sure your child brings his or her costume to school on Wednesday and wears it on Thursday night. All students should be here by 6:00 that evening. Tickets for Thursday's performance are on sale now!

In reading, we've started doing literature circles. Each student chose a book to read, and they're meeting weekly with others reading the same book to discuss, just like they would in a book club. There have been several great discussions about predictions, why characters behave in a certain way, and the morality of different decisions.

We've also been having some great discussions in science. We're exploring energy right now and began by trying to figure out how an energy ball works. Students drew models and then had a scientist meeting about what they observed and inferred. We're going to make circuits, explore positive and negative charges, and find out how electricity is created. We'll be doing a project later that involves a shoebox, so please save any that you have!

In writing, we're working on multiple paragraph essays and introductions that include a planning sentence. Right now, we're writing about Chicago. Students are also doing a great job of blogging, and we've been getting lots of comments from people! In math, we just finished our unit on decimals and will be doing geometry for the rest of the year. Our first unit will be about angles.

Students have been observing Lent through the practices of fasting, praying, and almsgiving. We came up with a calendar at the beginning of Lent with a different activity for each day, and many of the students have been completing these activities. We'll participate in a living Stations of the Cross next week.

Finally, thank you to everyone who came to conferences today. I appreciate having the chance to sit down and discuss your child's progress to far. It's always amazing to look back at my notes from the first quarter conferences and realize how far the students have come. Thank you for all the work you do at home with your child.

March 5, 2015

Thank you to all you've done to make sure your kids come to school rested and ready to do their best on their tests! Tomorrow will be our last day, and then we'll be back to our normal schedule.

Many of the students have been doing a great job of blogging! There are several who have blogged every day this month. It's been great to see so many comments on their writing, especially from people in other schools. If you'd like to see what they're writing, you can go here. Don't forget to leave comments!

We do have several tests coming up. On Thursday, March 12, we have a religion test, and a science test (I moved this back a day to give us an extra day to review in class) and on Friday, March 13 there will be a social studies test. Since it is time for third grade to start preparing for their First Communion, Ms. Jones and I will be begin switching classes next week. I will be teaching third grade religion, while she teaches the fourth graders social studies. Finally, there will be a math test on adding and subtracting decimals on March 20.

Below, you can see pictures from several activities we did in February: making pancakes to explore chemical and physical changes, mining for "coal" during social studies, and creating and testing water filters.

February 27, 2015

I'm really excited about something new we're going to try in March. There is a community of bloggers who write something called a "Slice of Life," where they tell a story about one small part of their life or something that happened to them. In March, they challenge bloggers to write an entry for every single day. We're going to be participating in this as a classroom! To get ready, we've been practicing what it means to write a slice of life story. I've made our blog public, so everyone can see the entries, but only the students may post and all comments must be approved by me before they appear. We also all changed our profile pictures into drawings, so the photos and names will not be linked. If students wish to participate, they should link their blog post in the comments section of the entry that I'll be writing each day. I'll then post this page to share with a community of bloggers, and I'll include the link for students to see other class's blogs. We'll have a celebration at the end of the month for anyone who has completed an entry for at least 21 of the days! Here's a link to our blog here.

TerraNova testing does begin next week. As a reminder, please make sure that students get a good night's sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and have 2 #2 pencils. I'll have some extra pencils at school, too, if students need them. We will be testing every morning, so it's important that students arrive on time. They may wear their gym uniform every day next week and bring a healthy snack.

Finally, we will have several tests the week after TerraNovas, in religion, science, and social studies. We will start studying for them in class next week.

February 18, 2015

We began the season of Lent today with an all school Mass. Yesterday, we created a calendar in class that tied the different activities we do during Lent with the Ten Commandments. For example, the class decided to wash the dishes one day, which connects with the fourth commandment: honor your mother and father.

We've been doing a lot of great writing activities lately! Students wrote about what their life will be like when they're 100, and we used an aging app to change their photos to make them look older. We just finished working on some special letters for people, and I'll be sending those home in the next week or two.

In reading, we finished reading our historical fiction books and are about to start a non-fiction unit. Quite a few students lately have not been doing the assigned reading and have come to our guided reading groups unprepared. I emphasized with them that they get graded on having their work completed, and the work I assign needs to come first during reading time. All the students have at least 45 minutes of class time in between meetings to get their work done, and I expect them to use that time wisely.

We're learning about physical and chemical changes in science, which includes one of my favorite lessons: making pancakes to observe physical and chemical changes! We'll do that this Friday.

Our current math unit is about decimals. We will have a test next week on Friday, February 27, about place value, rounding, and ordering decimals. Also coming up are the TerraNovas, which will take place the first week of March. Please make sure your child is well-rested and arrives on time to school. They are welcome to bring a healthy snack with them the first week of March, as we will be having snack time in between testing. This week students will be receiving their progress reports. If you'd like to meet to discuss anything, please let me know!

February 9, 2015: Inquiry Projects

Many of the students were finishing up their inquiry projects today, where they researched a question they had from what we learned about the Northeast. You can see the movies they made below, and I've also included some pictures from those students who chose to create a poster.

The Wampanoags

The Immigrants

Niagara Falls News Station

Winter Blizzards

Pocahontas's Tribe

January 29, 2014

We've had a very busy (but fun) week during Catholic Schools Week! You can see pictures below from the talent show and our visit with the illustrator and author Jan Spivey Gilchrist, as well as students using the iPads during our social studies lesson and making a density column for science. I especially loved the author visit since it's something we've never done before! Ms. Spivey Gilchrist shared a story she'd written and several poems she'd illustrated, while telling us what inspired her to create her books. She also signed lots of books afterwards.


Don't forget that tomorrow is the school Olympics, and students should wear their gym uniform. We'll also be showing the movie Frozen that night.

Looking ahead, we have two tests next week. Our math test is on Tuesday and will cover adding and subtracting fractions, changing a mixed number into an improper fraction and vice versa, and finding the fraction of a set. I'll have a study group after school on Monday from 3:00-3:45 for anyone who wants some extra practice. On Wednesday, we have a science test on the properties of matter.

Registration for the 2015-2016 school year went home this past Tuesday. As a reminder, current students are guaranteed spots if you register before February 3! After this, registration opens up to the public. Since we have a full class right now, please get your registrations in early for next year. We'll have an Open House on Monday, February 2. This will be a chance for you to visit the grade your student will be going into next year.

January 13, 2015

Welcome to a new year! I'm glad that the students seemed to have great breaks, and it sounds like many good books were read, too.

In writing, we're reflecting on 2014 by choosing three objects that symbolize the year (or that we'd put in a time capsule) and writing about them. We've also been blogging more often and discussing "Slice of Life" writing. Many bloggers and classroom students across the country participate in Slice of Life, which is a short story from your own life! I'm excited to see what the students write about.

We've started another cycle of guided reading groups. Students are either reading The Whipping Boy, The Secret School, or The Liberation of Gabriel King in small groups with me. We've already had some great discussions about the time periods these books take place in, since they're all historical fiction.

We're learning about fractions in math. When finding equivalent fractions and simplifying fractions, it seems like many of the students still struggle with division facts. I definitely encourage you to use flashcards and continue practicing these at home! If you're looking for some math games to play specifically about fractions, a good website to start at is here.

Ms. Perkins and I are working together to integrate more technology into our social studies classes. So far, I've created a website on schoology.com that has lessons, videos, and pictures posted to it that we've been using to supplement our textbook. Students can log into this site at home, too, if they'd like. They each have their own user name and password. The students also are working on creating product maps for the Northeast on their iPads. Eventually, students will have an opportunity to research their own topic about the Northeast, so we've been gathering ideas for topics that sound interesting.

Looking ahead, Catholic Schools Week is quickly coming up! It begins the week of January 25. I know Mr. Bennett sent home information today with the schedule. In case that gets misplaced, here's a run down of some of the important events for each day:

• Monday: Students may dress down with a crazy hat or crazy hair. This will also be the day of our student showcase.
• Tuesday: Students may wear pajamas and bring in a pillow or blanket. We will also hear a presentation from the author and illustrator Jan Spivey Gilchrist, and some of her books will be available for purchase.
• Wednesday: Students may dress down in green (the same color our preschool buddies will be wearing). We will have an awards ceremony at 8:30, and families are welcome to come and visit the classroom between 8:00-12:00. That evening will be Family Game Night.
• Thursday: Students may dress up in nice clothes. We will have an all school Mass that morning.
• Friday: Students should wear their gym uniform. The School Olympics will be that morning. We will have a movie night that evening, watching Frozen at 5:30.