Animoto Book Reports

Jack C

Max

Bridget

Haylie

Ty

Micaela

Yuleydy

Lizzy

Nadia

Tatiana

Alyssa

Samantha

Leo

Margo

Ava

Dimitar

Reyad

Jack W

Pratham

Nate

Michelle

Field Trip Fun and Writing Cafe!

We had a great time on our field trip to Franklin Common. The students had a great time working on their "mission" in groups. When we returned to school the students created a map of the Common using the information they gathered. Here are some pictures from our trip...

The Writing Cafe was a huge hit! The kids worked so hard on their writing all year! Thank you for coming and for those who were not able to attend we took pictures for you to see too!

Guest Blogger and More!

Mrs.Consilvio has sent me to inform you that we are starting guest bloggers! The first blogger is, Jack C, me! Along with guest bloggers we have been doing non-fiction writing! Our non-fiction writing should be done by Friday!


Let me tell you some things about non-fiction, there are text features like maps, headings and fact boxes! There's also text structures like true or false, question and answer and description! In my non-fiction writing about baseball I use a lot of text sructures and text features. Some are, description, headings and maps! But lots of other people have different things. I can't wait to read the non-fiction writing my classmates wrote!

Kidblog

Recently our class have become bloggers! They each have a private account on Kidblog. It is a really neat site that allows teachers to create accounts for their students and monitor what is written. Currently we are working on reading responses/reviews that our peers can read and comment on. At first some of the students were skeptical, but now they seem to really enjoy it! I find it is an engaging way to get the students motivated to read and is also a great way to learn about new books. Ask your student to log in and show you! If you click this link it will direct you to the website.  Kidblog Site

Spring?

As we were walking in from our car the other day my two year old became very excited. I asked him what was going on and he said, "Mama, look. Grass!"

I found his comment to be very funny, yet telling of the long winter we have had. Hopefully we will be able to open the windows and let the fresh air in soon!

I am very proud of all of our students for how hard they worked on the PARCC math test! Way to go boys and girls!

On Monday, they will begin the PARCC ELA test. A good night sleep and a good breakfast are essential tools to help your student have the best testing experience possible for them. The ELA portion will continue through Wednesday.

Volunteers are needed for the book fair. If you are available please consider volunteering. Click Here to see what is needed. Book fair is a great way to get books into the students hands as well as make money for our school.

In our class we have been busy learning about weather. Check out the students as they measure the wind using an anemometer they made with their group.

 

Not only did we learn about measuring wind, we also learned about science experiments and how variables (both in and out of our control) can effect the out come of the experiment.

 

 

In social studies we are continuing our "trip" across the United States as we learn about the Midwest, Southwest and West regions.

 

Nonfiction is our focus in both reader's and writer's workshop. The students have made connections to our science and social studies readings as we learn about things such as primary and secondary sources and point of view. I love how they continue to discover that reading is not just a subject, but a part of everything we do!

 

In math we are continuing with fractions and decimals. We will be making our way into geometry and following up with measurement. As always, math facts are essential. Please encourage your student to practice at home. They all have an xtra math account. There are tons of other websites out there to help practice math facts as well. If the internet is not a way for your student to practice, I sent home flash cards with every student at the beginning of the year. If you need another set please ask.

 

As a part of our morning meetings, we have been discussing "Messed up Mondays". On Mondays, I include a picture from real life of a math mistake and their job is to figure out what has been messed up and how to fix it. We have great discussions about it.  Here is an example:

 

I have challenged the students to keep their eyes peeled as they are out and about and if they find one write it down or snap a picture of it. Its a great way to talk about math and also to realize how important it is to know math!:)

 

Another activity we have been working on in math are our fraction animals. Using only a 4 inch circle as their whole, the students are in the process of creating an animal. Throughout the process we have had discussions about different things that have come up for example; How trimming the circles changes the whole, how to write a fraction that has more than one whole (an improper fraction and a mixed number) and how cutting each piece in half makes the piece smaller but the denominator bigger to name a few. I love how this creative process is also getting the students to discuss math! Here are some pictures of them working hard.

 

 

 

As always, feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns! Hopefully Spring will really be here soon!

 

Winter Fun!

Wow! What a winter we have had! I wanted to share some pictures from our classroom...
The progression of the crazy snow we have being having!

Our window after the first big snow storm....

After the second snow storm...

Who knows what we will come back to after vacation!!

Other photos from our classroom

For our Winter Celebration we made snowmen ornaments

We read the book Polar Express and also watched the movie. We then discussed the similarities and differences between the two.

Having fun in room 14! 

After Vacation we got right back to work researching for our Northeast Region Lap Book. The students worked in pairs and used different types of media (Internet, a video, and text books) to find the information needed.

After vacation I also completed my Responsive Classroom training! I am very excited to use what I learned with our class. We have incorporated Morning Meeting and Morning Message into our daily routine. 

During one of our Morning Meetings the students are discussing what our classroom needs in order for them to meet their hopes and dreams for the year. We then went on to create new classroom rules based on our discussion. 

This is an example of our Morning Message

In science we are learning about weather. The students are using thermometers to measure the temperature in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.

Valentines Fun!

Please encourage your student to read, read, read at home! It is so important! 

They should also be practicing their math facts NIGHTLY. We are moving into fractions after break and knowing multiplication and division facts will only help your student with this difficult concept.

This is a great article with ideas about how to help your student at home: Click here for article

As always, feel free to contact me via e-mail or phone. Enjoy the rest of vacation!