Frozen with Excitement!

This week was a busy one! (We always say that, don't we?)
 

To begin, everyone in Equinox has done such a beautiful job of listening to directions the first time, that we WON a contest that allowed for PaJaMaS in SchOOl All dAy!!!  We also had the very first visit from our school mascot the wildcat named Einstein.  It was exciting having the first visit EVER happen in Equinox.

Jammie Day in Equinox

We continued our science reading with nonfiction texts and strategies including making inferences and supporting claims with evidence, and identifying and using key vocabulary terms, including adaptations, variations, extinct, fossil and paleontologist.  Students practiced their comparison writing strategies and published a scientific piece comparing two animals we researched and their adaptations to avoid being eaten.   In addition, students engaged in a related science inquiry task where they visited each of four stations containing fossil replicas and made observations and inferences about each.  

Einstein our Williston mascot

In math, third graders launched Unit 3:  Multidigit Addition and Subtraction this week.  Our mathematicians completed a pre assessment, spent some time reflecting on the assessment and setting relevant goals for the unit, and reviewed and practiced rounding to the nearest ten and hundred through a variety of activities.  The December calendar focuses on fractions and this month’s number corner work involves creating a classroom collection of objects to accumulate a total mass of 1,000 g.  Fourth grade mathematicians are learning about fractions.  Students are learning about the area model of fractions and exploring lines of symmetry.  Students in Ms. Weegar’s math class had some special 6th grade math students read to them about math.  

Voyager student reading a math story she wrote!

Finally, the December grade 4 calendar is different shapes all with an area of 5 square units and a perimeter of 12.

In writing, authors are working hard to get their realistic fiction drafts typed in Google Drive.  We reviewed the “checklist” that outlines the narrative standards for writing for both third and fourth graders.  Students will use this tool to self-monitor and self-assess as they work to bring their story to a close.  Finally, next week, students will use the collaborative nature of Google Docs to share their writing with a partner, and support each other in revising and editing using the comment feature.

It’s that time of year...please make sure your child comes prepared for outdoor recess each day.  As the temperature drops, it is imperative that all children have appropriate clothing and gear (coat, hat, gloves, snowpants, boots) for outdoor play. 

We are planning on having a Crafter-morning on December 19th.  We would love to have volunteers run a craft, supply wrapping paper, or help at a craft or wrapping station.  Please stay tuned to your email for a sign-up and information letter.

Jeff Kinney Visits!

In Reading Workshop, strong connections between reading and writing were emphasized with the special visit of Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, on Wednesday.  WCS was very fortunate to welcome this accomplished author to speak to students in grades 3-6 and learn a bit about his journey to success in writing.  Ask your child what his/her favorite part of the presentation was.  Students continue to read independent reading books and some are working on group reading selections.  Students using Lexia are working to accomplish at least 80 minutes of engagement with the program each week - and several students have been inducted into the “100 minute club!”  

In math, Third graders spent this week wrapping up their November number corner work, as well as, finishing unit 2.  Students took an assessment to demonstrate their learning in this beginning multiplication unit.  Work with unit fractions, equivalent fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers was introduced through this month’s number corner, and students are becoming more comfortable solving multi-step story problems and using equations with variables to model their thinking. In fourth grade math, students have been discovering the connections between multiplication and division.  Students have worked hard to understand what it means when a quotient has a remainder.  We have read about this, built models of division problems and made conjectures about what exactly a remainder is.  Our current definition of a remainder is:  When the divisor is not a factor of the total, you will have a remainder.  Julia H. made this conjecture and it has been widely proven and accepted.  You can see there is great mathematical thinking going on!  We have also been studying the analogue clock and elapsed time.  On Friday, we had the Unit 2 Assessment.

This week, we moved into the “adaptations” part of our science unit.  Students read a nonfiction text, Mystery Mouths, which highlighted various adaptations that help animals survive.  Students played a “guessing game” with the text, and did an activity to practice making inferences with photographs of “mystery feet.”

 This week in writing, authors focused on identifying sequence for their realistic fiction pieces, and practiced writing effective leads.  Next week, we will focus on strong endings for stories.

Beginner Band Lessons begin next week.  If your fourth grader is participating, please remind him or her to check the schedule regularly and that it is their responsibility to attend their lesson at the correct time and make up any missed work.  Thanks for your support from home.  

A Productive Week

This week, some students started reading groups.  Students in Weegar/Schoolcraft cores will be in mixed groups for reading.  Some students will read primarily with Ms. Schoolcraft, while others will read primarily with Ms. Weegar.  Reading strategies continue to focus on vocabulary, comparing and contrasting, and nonfiction text features.  Students in groups are exploring a variety of authentic shorter texts - both fiction and nonfiction.

Students in third grade math are wrapping up their first study of multiplication.  Students have had much time to practice learned strategies during workplaces and by engaging in a variety of “problem strings” involving multiplication strategies.  This week fourth graders have continued to multiply two digit by two digit numbers.  Students are learning to use doubling and halving strategies in large arrays.  Students are also using what they know about single digit numbers and multiples of ten to calculate large products.  

In Science, students examined relatedness of identical twins, the differences between inherited and acquired characteristics, and learned that a scientific explanation actually is a claim that is supported by evidence.  A scaffolded compare-contrast scientific writing piece was completed by students, independently, as well.  Finally, students worked in pairs to make a claim and collect evidence to support whether a dolphin is more closely related to a tiger or a shark.  Our results, conclusion  and new learning were all pretty exciting and interesting! 

In writing, authors continue to “stretch out” the liveliness of their stories by writing scenes.  Students are focusing on character development and got tips from RJ Palacio, the author of Wonder, by reading her remarks on her website.  Morning work challenges (DLR - daily language review) included concepts of antonyms, “guide words” and alphabetical order and syllabication.  

In other news: Booster cells are still being awarded for students who follow adult directions the first time!  Coat Drive:  CVU is partnering with the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program in a coat drive - please bring in your gently used winter wear and leaving it in the box in the WCS lobby until 11/21/14.  Finally, FYI ¾ Chorus is cancelled for Wednesday, 11/19.

Harlie earned the Bucketfiller Award and John was voted SMART student of the week!  

Harvest Fest and More!

This week, both our reading and science work focused on the concept of compare and contrast.  As part of the GRA, we read Sky Color by Peter Reynolds and students were asked to choose a second Peter Reynolds book to explore similarities and differences with.  We also were inspired to write color poems which have been posted to our kidblogs.  In science this week, students explored nonfiction text features including captions, diagrams, headings and photographs.  Finally, we explored inferences.  Students practiced making and identifying inferences as ideas, which rely on both evidence and background knowledge (schema).  

In math, third graders continued to explore multiplication this week.  They created “multiples strips” which allowed students the opportunity to compare factors and multiples of numbers up to ten.  Third grade mathematicians also participated in several problem strings this week, reinforcing strategies for solving subtraction problems and learning new strategies for solving multiplication problems.  Finally, as the October number corner came to a close, students made final observations about the calendar, including identifying specific quadrilaterals by name. Fourth graders had an abbreviated math week, with the addition of the beginner band introduction!  We have been  using arrays to multiply two-digit numbers.  Number Corner has been the place for identifying multiples of  four and eight and calculating large sums and products.  We have had a Number Corner checkpoint assessment and work in Work Places, which is solidifying our basic multiplicative reasoning.

Our writing lessons this work focused on writing our story ideas using the frame of "Wants...But....So...."  Students were asked to come up with at least three story ideas.  Next week we will work on developing our plot.

Our Harvest Festival and afternoon of enjoying Stone Soup and pumpkin painting was a great success. Thank you to our two room parents, Pamela Nash and Cindy Roy.

 

Other:  

• Fourth Grade Band Sign Up is due
• Jessica Lamorey and Katie Cuttitta will return on Monday
• Stephanie Bliss will finish on Monday as a Substitute but will be our class substitute as I will be out.
• Monday will be an After-School Volleyball Demonstration by CVU - open to 3rd and 4th graders!
  
  This week's SMART Student of the Week was Wyatt!  This week's Bucketfiller Award goes to Wylie!  Congratulations!!!!

"Wonder"-ful and Awesome-"Ish" Week!

The kids arrived after a long weekend ready to go!  In reading, we continue to read Wonder and are closely examining character development, voice and perspective. Our Global Read Aloud (GRA) books for the past two weeks were I’m Here and Ish. Students have engaged in rich discussions in class about the author’s message and connections to other texts and have shared their insights via Kidblog. Breaking news this week included personal comments (by famous author Peter Reynolds) on Ms. Ward's student blog posts (Emily was first!!!), and Peter Reynolds’ favoriting and retweet of Ms. Schoolcraft’s “Pictionary-ish” tweet (also connected to GRA). We are loving being connected to the greater literary world!

In math, Third Graders launched unit 2 this week. This unit focuses on various models for multiplication. Students participated in two math forums this week: one involving arrays of stamps and the other examined proportional relationships using units of measure. Students worked in pairs to determine lengths of animals illustrated in a “seascape,” when the length of only one animal was known and the use of rulers and standard measuring tools was off limits! Our number corner work this week revealed a new work place, where hands-on measuring is key! Fourth Graders continue to build multiplicative reasoning as they work with multi-digit multiplication and early division. In Module 1, students use base ten area pieces to investigate place value patterns, as well as model and solve single- and double-digit multiplication problems. In Google Classroom, a Doc with support games for Unit 2 has been shared. They are welcome to use this valuable resource as their fact practice. 

We are well into our science investigation - Variations and Adaptations of Living Things. Students are really enjoying this science and literacy integrated unit, and are observing characteristics of living things that show relatedness and variation. Students are reading nonfiction text, observing animals in photographs, watching videos of animal movement and listening to bird calls to distinguish songbirds from non-songbirds.

In writing we are guiding students into what many fiction writers consider the heart of fiction: character struggle and motivation. We have created believable characters and now we will decide what this person wants or hopes for. In our next writing sessions we will try to balance a combination of hopes and obstacles. 

There will be a book order in the folder on Monday.   If you would like to order some items secretly for the holidays, send an email and I will hide the order when it arrives.  

Thank you all so much for visiting for conferences.   I really enjoy working with you as a team.   It is especially exciting when a child shows eagerness to show off some work!   If there are follow up questions you would like to review without your child present, get in touch so we can arrange a time to meet. 

On Friday, October 31, we will be having a Harvest Celebration.  As part of our celebration, we would like to make a community soup based on the story: Stone Soup.  You can help in two ways:

1.  Please send your child in with an old coffee mug.  We will use these in the garden to drink hot apple cider, and for our soup later in the day.
2.  Please send your child in with 1 cup of vegetables chopped up, and held in a plastic bag.  For example:   carrots, celery, potatoes, onions, sweet potatoes, peas, mushrooms, garlic, basil...  The soup will simmer in a crock pot until we dine in the afternoon.  
Thanks for the home support as always!

Lindsey got the SMART student of the week, as voted by her peers.  Sally chose Naysan for the Bucket Filler Award!  Congrats to you both!

#Choosekind

We officially launched the Global Read Aloud this week!  We, in collaboration with thousands of schools and students around the world, are exploring Peter Reynolds’ amazing books with an author study over the next five weeks.  Our first read was The North Star.  Students made connections to their own lives and to other texts they’ve read about journeys and being an individual.  Students are using their Kidblogs to communicate with a broader audience about their reading...all students wrote at least one blog post responding to the selected text, and wrote at least two high-quality comments to another blogger.  Ask your child how to score a “5” when commenting!  Please go to your child's blog and leave a comment.  Weekly Updates from your child will be blog posts as well.  Please remember that this is an example of authentic writing from your child.  We love seeing how much growth the blog shows over the course of the year! Also,
all of Equinox team is reading Wonder.  Today is Auggie's birthday and we are wearing green to celebrate!  It is also national Choose Kind Day.  If you go to Twitter and search #choosekind, you can find many awesome projects and experiences inspired by Auggie's character today!

In Math, Third graders finished their work in Unit One this week, capping off their hard work with a post assessment.  On Thursday, students were able to review their graded assessments, as well as their pre-assessments, and spent some time reflecting on their learning over the course of the unit.  Students are also exploring properties of polygons and liquid units of volume in Number Corner.

Fourth graders took their Unit One Assessment today.  There is another module featuring measurement that we will begin next week.  Students have access to a Google Document that lists many games that the Bridges math program recommends for skill practice associated with Unit One. Students may use these sites for their math fact minutes as well!

In Word Study this week, students in all groups are working to learn and internalize spelling rules and practice spelling and vocabulary with a variety of dictations.  Students may practice their words at home during the week with whatever modality works best for him or her.

 
We are LOVING writing!  We are in the early session of our Realistic Fiction unit.  Students are offered a repertoire of strategies for gathering entries that pertain to the genre.  We have learned that we observe the world or reread entries for story ideas.  We can also ask ourselves “What books do I wish existed in the world?” and let this question lead you to invent a character with traits, struggles and actions.

It was wonderful to see so many faces last night at our Equinox Potluck!  Thank you to everyone who came! If you were unable to make the potluck, I posted the video of our beginning of the year photos below...enjoy!  I look forward to seeing you all next week during our parent-teacher conferences.   



SMART Student of the Week is Maria!!!!

Loving Wonder!

Students continue to enjoy our reading of Wonder, and look forward to acknowledging Auggie’s birthday next week, 10/10.  We have done two response to text write-ups considering the perspective of different character's in Wonder. Next week, we will be working in collaboration with Ms. Schoolcrafts’ class to launch the Global Read Aloud with an author study of [the fabulous] Peter Reynolds!  We will use blogging to connect our thinking about reading Peter’s books as a way to connect beyond our classroom and Williston walls!  In Writing Workshop we began our fiction unit of study!  

In math this week, third graders participated in another math forum, and practiced strategies for adding and subtracting two-digit numbers.  Students have been reinforcing their strategies by playing a variety of games during "work places."  In grade 4 math, students have continued to work on multiplicative reasoning.  They have played a number of games that use a variety of multiplication strategies and are continuing to identify prime and composite numbers.  Fourth graders have also worked on distinguishing multiples from factors.  We also took a checkpoint assessment to help identify which concepts they have mastered and which are still unclear.  Each student write a goal for themselves to help focus their studies prior to the unit assessment next week. 

Students had their last day of this rotation for their Exploratory class.  Here are some of their favorite parts of this session!

Created with Padlet

Students completed their first full week of word study this week.  Ask your child about what rules and patterns s/he is learning about!  Spelling homework is optional.  Students in Ms. Weegar's Word Study group may use an online tool Spelling City.  Update - students in Ms. Schoolcraft’s word study group have a revised 80 minutes per week goal for Lexia.

Other: We have our annual Equinox Potluck Thursday, October 9th!   We hope to see you all there!  (Link to sign-up to bring a side dish/vegetable/salad)

Isabella got the Bucket Filler Award!  Naysan received the "Student of the Week" award as voted on by his peers!