Happy Friday! And happy vacation! We are all certainly ready for a little break. This class has worked hard all week, and they are ready to rest and play. Here's the rundown for the week:

Math: This week we continued practicing a variety of strategies for solving double digit multiplication problems. We added a new strategy, which the class named "landmarking." This means changing one number to an easier number before multiplying, then compensating by adding or subtracting. Here is an example:  22 X 18 can be changed to 20 X 1 8 (because we all know how to multiply by 10, and therefore by 20!) 20 X 18 = 360. Then we need to compensate by adding in the final two groups of 18, so 22 X 18= 396. This is tricky for some, but fortunately math is flexible and we all find the strategies that work best for us!  We also learned to solve 4-digit by 1-digit multiplication problems. For this, we simply use expanded notation and multiply each part separately. Ask your children to show you an example!

Reading: We finished up the week by reading our choice books and jotting ideas about our reading. This class really enjoys reading, and I can always count on them to be totally focused during reading time. I hope they will read over vacation!

Writing: We are still working on our literary essays. I was hoping to finish up this week, but I think we need one more week after vacation to get completely finished. This week, the class learned how to select the best quotes from their books to prove the points they are trying to make in their essays. Providing evidence for your thinking is a critical writing skill, and really a critical life skill as well!

Social Studies: We finished our very quick unit about Vermont's geography, and I am impressed with how much this class learned! They all know where the major mountains and rivers are located, and they can label many important landmarks on the Vermont map! 

Our new vocabulary words this week were ornate, jovial, jubilant, and versatile. Unfortunately, they didn't all make it into the visual dictionary, but that is okay! You can use them at home, and that will make a huge difference. I caught a few students using jovial in their essays, and I was jubilant!

I hope you all enjoy a wonderful week with your children. I will miss them!

 Hi Families,

What a gift of nice weather we have had the past few days! I have tried to get us outdoors as much as possible. Between all the supplies we need and all the insect life that scares some people, it has been a bit of a challenge, but we have persevered!

Here's the rundown on the week:

Math -- We are fully involved in our final  multiplication and division unit. In this unit, students learn a variety of strategies for double digit multiplication and division with larger numbers. Here is a chart that shows the strategies we have learned. so far. As you can see, we don't teach the standard algorithm that we all learned when we were in school. Instead, we teach the students to think about how to use their multiples of 10 to solve these equations. It seems like it's much harder, but it really gets at their understanding of place value. They are getting it!

Writing -- we have been working hard on our literary essays. This means we have discussed what that even means, seen a sample of one, and worked on coming up with a thesis to write about. Some students are writing about picture books (which I highly recommend because it's much easier to find quotes!) while others are writing about chapter books.  Their theses are mostly about character traits ("Sally is brave because she___________and because she _________________.") Some are writing about the theme of the book or how a character changes from the beginning to the end.  Although we spent a lot of time writing persuasive and opinion essays, this sort of literary analysis is different! We are working hard!

Reading -- we are still reading on our own and in small groups, remembering to jot our ideas about the characters, the setting, or anything else we think about. These kids love to read, and I am always thrilled to see them get lost in their books.

Social Studies -- we spent some time this week learning about maps in general, and the Vermont map specifically. We have learned what states (and country) surround us, what major rivers and mountain ranges exist in Vermont, and which counties surround Chittenden County. We have looked at a lot of different kinds of map (precipitation maps, population maps, topographical maps, etc.) and we are getting really familiar with our state.

New words this week were limber, cordial and abundant. Enjoy getting those into your daily conversations!

Thanks to those of you who have signed up for conferences. I look forward to talking to you about your child! These are not mandatory conferences, so just sign up if you feel the need.  If you need help with signing up, let me know.

We will have one more busy week next week before a well-deserved vacation! In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy a lovely weekend.

 Hi Families!

Last Friday, our day ended with a power outage, so I never got the opportunity to send a blog post. I meant to do it once I got home, but of course I got distracted... Sorry!

It's been a busy week here. I am so attached to this class and feel so much pride in all of the work they've done during this difficult year. They are resilient and flexible and earnest -- and they are learning so much in spite of the challenges of masks, desks in rows, etc. What a group!

Here's what's been going on:

Math: We are finished with our fraction unit! The final assessment was today, and I was pleased with the results. Yesterday we made a list of all we have learned, and it's a long list: equivalent fractions, placing fractions on a number line, adding and subtracting fractions and mixed numbers, multiplying fractions by whole numbers, and so much more!  Wow! They should all be very proud of all they have learned.  Next week, we will begin our final multiplication and division unit, learning long division and also double digit by double digit multiplication. Stay tuned!

Reading: We finished up our social issues book clubs last week. Once again, I am impressed with how much the class learned about ways to identify the issues in books, and at their desire for justice and equity in general. They expect the world to be a good place, and I love that about them! We have talked a lot about how so many fiction books have social issues in them -- they should be able to continue this work on their own. This week, and for the next 2 weeks, we are just free reading. I am reminding them of all the strategies I have taught them so far this year, and they are choosing to read whatever books they want. While they read, I am conferring with them individually and working with some students in small groups. In preparation for report cards, I assessed each reader and I feel like they have all made so much progress in their ability to read and comprehend!

Writing: I feel like I am beating a dead horse, but we are STILL working on our essays. We finished up our opinion essays, and everyone wrote a persuasive essay in two weeks. We printed those today and shared our favorite parts. For the next 2 weeks, we will write literary essays, using some of the same strategies to write about books. They are all getting SO good at finding a thesis and at using paragraphs.

Science: We did a very quick unit about natural resources and how humans use them to make electricity. Last week, the kids all researched one renewable and one nonrenewable resource, and they compared their pros and cons. This group is all set to save the planet!

Social Studies: Today we started a new unit about Vermont's geography. We discussed a variety of landforms and what they look like. Next week we will begin looking more closely at the map of Vermont.

Here are a few more important notes:

Report cards come home on Monday. Since we were in the middle of the fraction unit when the trimester ended, the scores for that part of the math section will be only a partial score -- you will see an updated score in the final report card.

Conferences: We are holding parent conferences at the end of April. These are optional, of course. I will be sending home more information about them and  how to sign up next week.

Masks: Please remember to pack extra masks for your children. We are going through them really fast here at school, and I notice the students needing new masks after every recess and PE class. Having a few extras in their backpacks would be wonderful.

4th Grade Celebration: Thank you to all of you who have reached out to Miss Fecura about the Memory Book. I think we have plenty of parents working on that, but we will reach out again as soon as we know more about how we plan to celebrate the 4th graders at the end of the year (COVID protocols permitting!)

I think that's everything. Please, as always, be in touch if you have questions about anything. We are a team!

 Happy sunny Friday!

Wow! We had SO much fun today! With my wig and my dark eyebrows, I became Ms. DuCharme. The students all had such interesting names, outfits, and backstories, and we all did our best to call each other by our new names all day. Despite the craziness, we actually got a lot of work done today! This class has learned how to have a blast and then get serious again quickly!

Here's a brief update on our academics this week:

Math: The fraction unit is HUGE and we are spending a lot of time on it. In this bend, we are focusing on adding and subtracting fractions. This is easy as long as they have common denominators, but it's a little harder when you have to consider equivalent fractions in order to get to an equation that has the same "units." We are practicing and practicing, and the equivalent fraction piece is coming together!

Reading: This week we have been working hard to deepen our book club conversations. It's easy to get together with your group and retell what has happened or make predictions about what will happen later, but it is much harder to share ideas and analyze the characters, the author's moves, and the themes. We watched 5th graders doing this beautifully on a video, and I think it was good for the students to see, specifically, what they did to have a successful and important conversation. We have another week of Social Issues reading, and I am hoping to hear a lot of fabulous conversations to finish it up!

Writing: After all of our build-up to writing today, we ended up not having time for any of it! We spent some time talking about current events instead, and then we shared, played a game, and had a little lighthearted fun. Who doesn't need some of that on a Friday? We will get right back to our persuasive writing on Monday!

Science: Today we learned the difference between renewable and nonrenewable natural resources (coal, solar, and wind specifically) and what those terms mean. We learned about how wind is made (by the sun heating the land and water) and how coal is filled with the sun's energy. Next week, we will learn more about other energy sources (hydro, natural gas, etc.) and the students will learn the pros and cons of each.

Thanks for sending in all of the chromebooks -- I think we are all set!

New words this week are: minute (as in tiny), initiate, and drawl. Try using all of those in the same sentence! I initiated a discussion with a lady who had a minute southern drawl....

I hope you all have a wonderful, warm weekend.

Hi Everyone. Happy sunny Friday! It feels and looks like spring, and the kids are feeling it too. Today was a fast and chaotic day! Here's the scoop:

Math: We are deep into our fractions unit, and this is hard work! We are spending a lot of time looking at fraction models and trying to decide which fractions are bigger and which are smaller. We are also trying to determine equivalent fractions. I've spent a lot of time teaching the students to understand that the denominator tells us how many pieces to break the whole into -- and we are getting much better at this! The students worked in groups to make decks of fraction cards this week. They played "Capture Fractions" (like War with fractions instead of whole numbers.) We also put a classroom deck onto a number line on the bulletin board, always comparing the fraction cards to landmark numbers like 0, 1/2, 1 and 2. This is a big unit so we will be spending at least 3 more weeks learning about fractions. Stay tuned!

Reading: We are still reading our social issues books and discussing important things like which character has more power and why. We have discussed what "categories" we belong to and the concept of intersectionality. This class is SO in tune with the issues in our world. I am constantly impressed by their thoughtfulness about social issues. They are going to change the world one day!

Writing: We are just finishing up our opinion pieces. We are not having a publishing party for these because they were just a foundational practice to get us ready for out next big writing piece -- a persuasive piece. We will start those on Tuesday. Feel free to talk with your kids about what topics they might want to address and who their audience might be. Every year, it ranges from letters to government officials to letters to Ms. Graf. Sometimes kids write to their parents, so don't be surprised if you get a letter trying to convince you to get a dog, build a pool, etc.  They can be very persuasive!

Word Study: This week we learned about suffixes and prefixes and base words. We learned that the spelling of the base word never changes when you add a prefix, but sometimes does when you add a suffix. So far we have only practiced with base words that don't need any changing, but we will do this same work for a few more sessions, and we will get to dropping silent e and changing an ending y to an i. 

Our new vocabulary words this week were gripe, fatigue, dormant, and frank. Enjoy using those in your conversations this weekend!

Science: We have just started our unit on natural resources. Once again, it amazes me how much this class knows about climate change, energy, and how we use Earth's resources. We will learn about renewable and nonrenewable resources and the pros and cons of each. This will be a quick unit since the students already have a lot or prior knowledge.

Chromebooks: As you know, JES is asking students to begin leaving their chromebooks at school. Thank you to those of you who have already sent in your chargers and chromebooks. Friday of next week is the deadline for students to begin leaving their chromebooks here. Many students have expressed frustration at not being able to connect with friends on their chromebooks anymore, and with the pandemic around us, I sympathize and understand it is hard to feel so isolated. They can certainly get on their gmail by visiting google on any device -- they just need their email addresses and their lunch number. Their password is JES followed by the lunch number. Let me know if you have questions about this.

Folders: Starting this week, I am sending home all completed work in the blue homeschool folder on Fridays. I have not had a good system for this so far this year, and I apologize! When I ask the students to take work home, I often find it in the recycling at the end of the day. I'm hoping the folder system will help get the work into your hands so you can see it and then YOU can decide whether to recycle it or not!  Please help your kids get into the habit of emptying the folder and getting it right back into their backpacks so they can bring it back on Monday empty. Thanks!

I'm off the get my vaccine -- I see happier days ahead! I hope you all enjoy your weekend.

 Happy Friday! I can't believe it is already February vacation. The time will tick by so quickly after we get back -- I'd like time to slow down a little!

The big news today was our auction. Thank you all SO much for sending in items. We had 70 fabulous items for bidding. We set it up like a real auction. The kids got to look at the items ahead of time, and they all had sticks with numbers on them. They had bidding sheets where they got to keep track of what items they had bid on. It was so much fun! We talked ahead of time  A LOT about how they would feel if they were outbid by a friend so that I could prepare them for that disappointment. There were a few sad kids, but mostly they were SO kind to each other, and some even bid on items to give to their less "rich" friends. In the end, I think everyone had fun and learned a lot of life skills through this entire project. They were my guinea pigs, and I will use their suggestions to make the checkbook/job/auction project more successful next year. Ask them to show you their checkbooks! They are cute, thanks to my husband who made them all for us. I wish I could have taken some photos of the auction in action, but I was too busy being the auctioneer! My throat is parched from all that auctioneering!

Aside from the auction, we had regular school this week as well. We continued working on finding equivalent fractions, and we even started learning about decimals. I think the decimal work actually created a lot of "aha" moments! We are learning a lot of math!  This unit will continue after vacation.

We are still reading our social issues books and thinking about power versus powerlessness, fairness, identity, and how social issues affect our lives. I love the conversations I am hearing in the book group discussions. These kids rock, and they are clearly interested in the world around them! 

Our opinion pieces are coming along. We are learning how to add mini-stories to each paragraph to really explain our opinions. I love the organization I am seeing -- the students are learning to use paragraphs! We will finish up these pieces shortly after vacation and then we will move into writing persuasive pieces. I can't wait to see what they come up with. They are a dedicated and passionate group of students! Have I told you I love this class?

Our new vocabulary words this week were fluctuate, deplete, and dilemma. I hope you can throw those words into your family conversations!

Enjoy the vacation! I hope you get to spend some quality time with your wonderful children. I will certainly miss them!

Happy Friday, Happy Chinese New Year, and Happy almost-Valentine's Day!  Despite all of those exciting things to celebrate, we have had a terrific week here in the classroom. Here's the rundown:

Math

We started off the week reviewing what a fraction is, how to recognize a few basic fractions, and how to put them on a number line. Then we moved into more complicated work, looking at fractional parts of a rectangle, and finding equivalent fractions. This is hard work, and I plan to move slowly so no one feels left behind. Here is the family letter explaining what I hope we will all learn during this unit.

Reading

The class has been reading books in their "Social Issues Book Clubs." They have learned how to identify the social issues based on when the character is struggling, when they, as readers, feel uncomfortable, and when the character feels powerless. They are reading, taking notes, and having conversations with each other on chat, in person, and on a shared slide presentation. Talking about books is so powerful, and I can tell how much they are enjoying this!

Writing

We have spent the week planning our opinion writing pieces. The planning involved coming up with an opinion and 3 ways to defend it (or 3 pieces of evidence.) Today the students started drafting. This is basically a 5 paragraph essay (or will be, once it is done.) It will have an introduction which ends with their thesis statement, 3 body paragraphs (1 for each of their 3 reasons), and then a conclusion. I love this writing unit because it helps so much with organizational skills and teaching young writers to use paragraphs. I can't wait to see the finished products! I will be sure to share them with you so you can enjoy them too.

Social Studies

We are finishing up our Civics and Government unit, and so many of the students want it to continue! I don't think I've ever had a class beg me to keep discussing government before! They are just so very committed to justice and they LOVE discussing controversial issues. Today we started our final project, which is all about finding a way to be an activist. Most students are making posters to hang around the school. Some are thinking about other ways, such as creating a public service announcement, starting a petition, etc.  I love seeing their passion. I hope they stay passionately involved in their communities forever!

Thank you to those of you who have sent in some items for our auction. There is still time if you would like to donate a few things. We will have our auction next Friday, right before vacation. This week, we learned about charitable giving and how it can give people a tax break, and a few generous students who have extra "money" in their accounts decided to donate so that I could level the playing field a little. I love our little classroom economy and will be sad to see it end.

Finally, our new vocabulary words this week are commotion, mediocre, eradicate, and competent. Enjoy using these words over the weekend!