Upcoming Events
Friday
April 23, 2019
- April 24
Secretaries Day
- April 22-May 17
- ILEARN Testing 3rd and 4th grade
April 30, 2019
2:30 PM - 3:00 PM Student Council MeetsMay 3, 2019
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- May 9, 2019
- Last Day of High Ability
High Ability Summer School!
Check it out!
Check it out!
Don't forget about High Ability Summer School
The 15-day session will begin on Monday, June 3rd and end on Friday, June 21st. Each school day will begin at 7:45 a.m. and end at 12:20 p.m. Sign up early to reserve a place! Students must be registered by Monday, April 29, 2019.
Thank you!
Fourth Grade Language Arts
Themes for Westing Game:
* Appearances: People aren't what they appear to be
*Wealth: Wealth can make people act funny and it is a cautionary tale
*Family: There are two types of families: One you are born into and one you choose
*Identity: The characters are establishing who they are and redefining themselves through the game
*Patriotism: This book was written during the Bicentennial and there are many immigrants represented in the story. Mr. Westing is big on American ideals throughout the story
* Lies and Deceit: The characters will lie and use deceit to protect their identities
*Society and Class: The characters status often poses problems
*Language and communication: The reader has to do some close reading for clues and look at the language in the will
Everyone is finishing the novel. We are tying up loose ends, discussing themes and the changes in the characters. My plan was to show the movie, but from what I understand, it isn't that good, so I am trying to find an alternate, school appropriate mystery to share with the kids. I will keep you posted!
Themes for Westing Game:
* Appearances: People aren't what they appear to be
*Wealth: Wealth can make people act funny and it is a cautionary tale
*Family: There are two types of families: One you are born into and one you choose
*Identity: The characters are establishing who they are and redefining themselves through the game
*Patriotism: This book was written during the Bicentennial and there are many immigrants represented in the story. Mr. Westing is big on American ideals throughout the story
* Lies and Deceit: The characters will lie and use deceit to protect their identities
*Society and Class: The characters status often poses problems
*Language and communication: The reader has to do some close reading for clues and look at the language in the will
Everyone is finishing the novel. We are tying up loose ends, discussing themes and the changes in the characters. My plan was to show the movie, but from what I understand, it isn't that good, so I am trying to find an alternate, school appropriate mystery to share with the kids. I will keep you posted!
Fourth Grade Math
Math vocabulary:
addend, algorithm, denominator, difference, like-fractions, numerator, sum unlike denominator and unlike fractions
On Wednesday, the kids had to triple Grandpa's gingersnap cookie recipe. Once they tripled his recipe using algorithms, they had to show this using a number line. After tripling the gingersnap recipe, the kids had to complete a chart for making Grandma's lemonade to go with the cookies. This required them to both multiply fraction to scale up the amount of lemonade made and divide fractions to scale down the recipe.
Math vocabulary:
addend, algorithm, denominator, difference, like-fractions, numerator, sum unlike denominator and unlike fractions
On Wednesday, the kids had to triple Grandpa's gingersnap cookie recipe. Once they tripled his recipe using algorithms, they had to show this using a number line. After tripling the gingersnap recipe, the kids had to complete a chart for making Grandma's lemonade to go with the cookies. This required them to both multiply fraction to scale up the amount of lemonade made and divide fractions to scale down the recipe.
On Thursday, we completed the lemonade chart and then we made trail mix following the recipe on the Think Deeply. Zareen, the person making the trail mix on the Think Deeply, had a recipe that called for peanuts, pretzels, banana chips and raisins. To avoid any peanut allergies, we quickly choose the unhealthy route of making our trail mix with popcorn, chocolate chips, raisins and pretzels! The Think Deeply asked us to take the original recipe and to increase each item 2 1/2 times. Lots of work went into multiplying the original amounts. Fun AND delicious activity.
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| Master Chefs' in the house! |
Second Grade Language Arts
Themes in The Tale of Despereaux:
Light vs. Dark
Individuality/Differences
Taking Risks
Making the impossible...possible
Themes in The Tale of Despereaux:
Light vs. Dark
Individuality/Differences
Taking Risks
Making the impossible...possible
We are spending time reading aloud and discussing chapters in Book 3. I am also giving the boys time in class to read and catch up. There is a lot to get through with limited time. I appreciate each of you helping your son read make time to read the novel and/or read it together. I want them to enjoy the book without feeling pressure to finish lots of written work that could go with the text. Sometimes reading to enjoy is just as important as dissecting each meaning the author is trying to convey (although we have done that as well). I would like to have one more Socratic Seminar before HA ends, so...that will happen in the next week.
Breakdown for reading the book for the end of the year:
April 15 and 16 Finish Book 3 (checked/complete)
April 22 and 23: Read pages 175-221(please work with your child on reading these pages)
April 29 and 30: Read pages 223-End
May 5 and 6: Movie!
Breakdown for reading the book for the end of the year:
April 15 and 16 Finish Book 3 (checked/complete)
April 22 and 23: Read pages 175-221(please work with your child on reading these pages)
April 29 and 30: Read pages 223-End
May 5 and 6: Movie!
Second Grade Math
This week the children completed a Chapter Check Up! This check up required the kids to estimate real life items using different units of measurement such as centimeters, inches, feet, yards and miles. They also had to determine the area of predetermined shapes and then put them in order from smallest to largest. The most challenging part of the the Chapter check up was a real life situation where they have to determine how many note cards (3 in x 5 in) will fit on a board hung in a kitchen that measures 6 inches by 10 inches. Not only do they have to figure it out mathematically but explain why they came up with their response.
On Thursday, we began our foray into capacity. We used fun colored water to measure 1 cup, 1/2 cup and 1/4 cup. We then marked a beaker at the appropriate places. Today was demonstration, next week the kids can do it on their own! I was SO involved in demonstrating the lesson that I forgot to take pictures! Next week, when they are working independently I will add some photos.
Third Grade Language Arts
Theme: Interactions
Themes in Black Beauty
*The ethical and humane treatment of horses/animals
*Coming of Age: Trials will test characters and these trials will lead to maturation
*Lifelong Friendships: Black Beauty spans birth through old age and two horses remain friends for the long haul.
*Rewards of Doing Good: When a person chooses to do something good, it will be rewarded
On Monday, we completed our final lesson on interactions for third grade. We discussed Golden interactions. Golden interactions reveal much about a person or character. I read the book: Do Unto Otters, by Laurie Keller. The big lesson of the story is the Golden Rule.
After completing the picture book, we reviewed the stories we read all year.
We talked about the golden interactions in these stories: Girl with the Wild Horses, the Jane Goodall books and of course, Black Beauty. It felt good to go back and touch base with the stories we loved and shared throughout the year.
Side note: For us to finish Black Beauty by May 6, I am assigning an aggressive reading schedule. The girls will have time during HA to read so that will take some of the pressure off. They are determined to finish the book. I am right there with them. Thanks for helping me at home so they can finish this classic tale that will stay with them forever.
Reading for the remainder of the year:
April 15 and 16: Chapters 26-36 (check/completed)
April 29 and 30: Chapters 37-47; Catch up
May 5 and 6: Movie!
Theme: Interactions
Themes in Black Beauty
*The ethical and humane treatment of horses/animals
*Coming of Age: Trials will test characters and these trials will lead to maturation
*Lifelong Friendships: Black Beauty spans birth through old age and two horses remain friends for the long haul.
*Rewards of Doing Good: When a person chooses to do something good, it will be rewarded
After completing the picture book, we reviewed the stories we read all year.
We talked about the golden interactions in these stories: Girl with the Wild Horses, the Jane Goodall books and of course, Black Beauty. It felt good to go back and touch base with the stories we loved and shared throughout the year.
Side note: For us to finish Black Beauty by May 6, I am assigning an aggressive reading schedule. The girls will have time during HA to read so that will take some of the pressure off. They are determined to finish the book. I am right there with them. Thanks for helping me at home so they can finish this classic tale that will stay with them forever.
April 15 and 16: Chapters 26-36 (check/completed)
April 29 and 30: Chapters 37-47; Catch up
May 5 and 6: Movie!
Third Grade Math
Math vocabulary
Area
Perimeter
Rectangle
Square
Dimension
Our big math idea this week is exploring the effect of doubling the dimensions of a rectangle on its area. The activities we will be completing explore changing the dimensions on each side and then predicting what will happen as both dimensions are doubled. This is a challenging concept to visualize, and creating physical models helps the kids visualize them better.
On Wednesday, we learned the Yeti wants to come to school! But do we have enough room for all of the students, a teacher and a YETI??! Building inspectors say that each person in a classroom has to have at least 20 square feet.
Our mathematicians got straight to work in teams to determine what 20 square feet might look like. Their job was to move square foot papers (20 of them) around on the floor to create rectangles with different dimensions. Once the kids explored the different ways to fit the requirements, we had a full group discussion about which rectangle should be used to find how much space the Yeti would occupy in the classroom.
I had the kids extend their arms to our sides to see about how much space one person would need without touching another classmate. The children were able to ascertain that a rectangle that is 4 x 5 is the best for a person (1x20 & 2x10 don't really accommodate a person). Some of the children are getting this mathematical computation very quickly. What they don't realize yet is that they will be changing the dimensions and will have to extend their thinking in lessons that follow.
Our Kindness Corner
Love our Earth!
Kindness to all living creatures.
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