Another week, another piece of writing.

This week we continued work on our writing, increasing our depth of knowledge in math, creating Google Earth tours, and working with squishy circuits.  Lately in writing the quality of work has been impressive.  All the authors in this class are working hard to create and craft narrative pieces of writing that really capture the reader.  This week our main focus has been on revision and character development.  Traditionally these are stumbling blocks as I ask students to revisit a final draft to identify areas that need improvement.  This year, however, everyone is very reflective and has taken great care to find areas that can be "fleshed out."

Many students have earned the "seal of approval," in math for their knowledge of subtraction and how it works!  We will be moving on to the concepts of fractions and multiplication in the coming weeks.  To earn these "seals" student must explain the concept of "borrowing" as it applies to subtraction.  This is a difficult concept to understand abstractly enough to explain, and students are really working hard to gain the abstract knowledge needed.

We have also been working on creating Google Earth tours about places in Vermont that are special to us.  This week students have been putting the finishing touches on these tours and adding narrations.  These are amazing!  I am working on a way to get these either out to you, or posted to our blog and will keep you updated about the situation.

Finally, parent-teacher conference days are scheduled for the afternoon (12:30-3:45) on the 10th and 11th of November.  I will be sending home a sign up sheet with times during those days, as well as alternate times in the morning before school starts (7:30-8:30).  Unfortunately I will only be able to meet outside of school hours in the mornings as I need to get home in the evenings to be with baby Rose.  When signing up, please choose two slots that would work for you, as this allows everyone to be accommodated.

As always I hope you have a restful and re-invigorating long weekend and if you have any questions please let me know.

Our fourth week already!

Wow, it is hard to believe that we are already into our fourth week of school.  The time seems to be moving so quickly.  Also, this class community is functioning as though it has been in place for years already, we are really settling in.  This week saw some fantastic work.  Students are working to complete a full first draft of a piece of writing, and as many of you know this can be a daunting task.  Related to this, we also saw some great success with homework this week.  For the first time ever (in my experience) all students took their writing home, and all students brought their work back the next day!  There are generally a few that forget, but this group is so "switched on" that everyone nailed it!

In math we have moved into a new area of review.  We are revisiting and working to master subtraction with large numbers.  We have been working on the pictoral level of understanding within this realm, and have been finding the differences between numbers using a blank number line.  Mastery of this tool is terribly important to the mastery of subtraction as it illuminates that the difference between numbers can be physical space, rather than a magical answer.

We have also begun work with Arlyn investigating electricity.  We are doing this using a power-source (batteries), some conducting and insulating dough, and some LEDs.  This investigation will focus on the properties of insulators and conductors in electric circuits, as well as the properties of polarity in the flow of electricity.

Also, coming home today will be hike assignments for this years all school hike.  If you have any questions about the hike your student is participating in, please contact me and I will find the answer for you.

As always, I hope you enjoy your weekend, and return to Monday refreshed and relaxed.

Incredible writers, mathematicians, and community members!

Over the course if this week, students have been showing off there powers if writing. Every student in this class is writing a detailed and powerful narrative. They are working hard to add motivation and struggle to their characters, as well as to set the scenes fir their stories to unfold. We have been working on "stepping into the world of our characters" to make our narratives even more detailed!

Speaking of details, many students are becoming masters at the art of community membership. Details makes me think of this because it is only when you observe and are aware of the details and nuances of the people surrounding you that you begin to show the subtle art of community. The students in this class are very thoughtful of one another, and are quickly becoming a caring and cohesive group.

And speaking of groups, we have been using the power of collective consciousness in math during group work. In grouos students are working to really master the abstract knowledge of math needed to understand all higher order math concepts. Just yesterday we had an investigation into how different numbers interact, as we discovered rules that will work for figuring out "+9" facts. Check in wth your student for more information about this.

Finally we ate beginning a new unit in discovery. This unit will focus on places that are special and important to our families. Our work in this area will result in a bit of family research, and a narrated Googke Earth Tour!

I hope you all have a relaxing and refreshing weekend, and if you need to contact me please feel free.

-Dave

What a great first week!

Throughout this first week, we have done so much. We have worked to establish our routines, reviewed school wide expectations, worked hard on math, identified strategies to use while reading, started pieces of writing, and so much more!

Every classroom has unique routines. We have worked together practicing ours and finding which ones work best for us. One of our most popular ones is standing. It seems so simple, but many students this year prefer to stand rather than sit while they are working. This is a small example of finding routines that work for everyone, why ask students to sit if they wish to stand? Another classroom routine we have been practicing is our "six time book." This is a reflection journal that students write in six time per day, and think about what went well for them in different areas, as well as what might need work in those areas, these reflections are very powerful and authentic. We have also been reviewing school wide expectations. Thus far our focus has been on voice level, as voice level is so often directly related to body language.

Ella's six-time book.

In math, we are getting back into the swing of things by practicing some sight facts. These are the facts that make up the 9 digits in our number system. For instance; 4 +5, or 1+3. We are working to automatize these as knowing these instantly is the key adding large numbers and mastering multiplication and division.

Henry's math notebook.

Throughout our time in literacy we have been working with CAFE strategies to use during reading. CAFE is an acronym, Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, and Expanding vocabulary. We have been using these different headings during our read aloud, and have "tuned into" some incredibly interesting words; origin, condescending, commissioned, and ennui.

Jack's reader's notebook.

 

-Dave

 

 

Welcome to a new year!

Tomorrow marks the start of a new school year, a new class configuration, and a new school building!  Woohoo!  I hope everyone is feeling refreshed after the summer, as  I know I am.  During this year, I will use this blog to communicate things that are happening in our classroom, and pass along information.  There will be posts that are all photographs, some that are all text, and a mix of both.  I look forward to getting to know all of you this year, and am excited for all the fun ahead!

-Dave

What a great year!

It pains me to make this post, as this is perhaps the last one for this school year.  Throughout the past two years, our class has become a strong and caring community.  I will miss every one of these students.  I am happy that I will still see them for the next two years, but am sad that they will be moving on to a different class.  Over these two years, we have gone from a caring group of groups, to a thoughtful and caring group.  These students really think about one another, and look out for each other.  I will miss them.

Dave

Our final full week.

This week has FLOWN past.  We continue to work on pieces of writing, CLOSE reading,  concepts in math, and are still finishing Little House on the Prairie.  The piece of writing that we are working on is a culminating piece that has an entry of all three genres that we have worked with this year.  For this piece students chose a topic to write about that interests them and are creating three pieces of writing focused on that topic.  The topics range from animal communication to skiing, what a variety.  The students are putting lots of effort into this writing, and they will be bringing home published pieces they will be proud of.

In CLOSE reading we continue to work with texts multiple times, and most recently we thought of questions as we read.  We then took these questions to craft search terms as to try to find answers for them.  We did research on "what role unicorns made in ancient China" and what we found was really neat.

We also are pushing forward in math, and we continue to work on building and solidifying the concepts of multiplication and division.  We are working in groups focusing on proficiency with large number division, as well as the use of partial products when multiplying.

I hope you all are geared up for a relaxing weekend, and remember that field day is Monday.  Please make sure your students are ready for a day of fun outside.