Saturday, September 24, 2011
Where to find our Tuck blog posts:
We are using the Kidblog set up by the classroom with whom we are communicating in Cupertino, California - a 4th grade classroom taught by Miss Weiss at Stevens Creek Elementary. To view our postings go to www.kidblog.org/MissWeiss. Then click 'log in' in the upper right hand corner, select Ms_Hannam and type in the password: tuck Click on 'Tuck Everlasting Discussion and read our posts!
9/23/2011 Weekly Update
Hello to our 4H families!
This past week held several 'firsts' for us in Room 117. We had completed Everyday Math Unit 1 - Geometry, and after two class periods spent reviewing and giving ourselves more practice on all that new vocabulary, students took their first unit test. Most everyone said they felt prepared, and results reflected that - yay! After checking the tests, I made time for every student to review their test answers with me by having a brief one on one conference to celebrate their strengths and understand where and how improvements could be made for next time. This proved to be a valuable learning opportunity - these assessments are another important way to reinforce their learning. Next week we will take a pretest for Unit 2 to see how much we might already know about the new concepts coming up, and then begin the new set of lessons. All three 4th grade teachers will be meeting early in the week to look at pretest results to decide how we can organize our students into groups that reflect the different levels of background knowledge needed for this unit. Therefore, your student may be receiving their math lessons and assignments from any one of the three of us (Mrs. Bertz, Mrs. Zeitlin, or myself) for Unit 2. If this proves effective in helping us meet everyone's learning needs more thoroughly, we will follow the same process for each unit. We will keep you informed.
You should have seen a two sided blue sheet come home today in your student's take home folder. It gives you directions on how to access the Everyday Math material, activities, and GAMES online for each unit. The small white slip attached to this sheet gives your child his/her login name and password - I have established an account for each of our students. I tried it out, and it appears to be user friendly. It could be a great way to get extra math practice in a fun way. Let me know what you think!
This past Monday was a wonderful opportunity for me to become much more familiar with each of my student's reading abilities. While a substitute teacher conducted lessons in the classroom, I was across the hall meeting with each student one at a time, listening to them read aloud, answer some comprehension questions, and conference about their preferences and any difficulties with reading. These conferences and the assessments have given me valuable information and direction for their reading instruction this year.
Speaking of reading, we began "Tuck Everlasting" this week! We have read aloud together the first 6 chapters by week's end, and it has given us much food for thought and lively discussion! Not only that, we posted our first blog entries, communicating with another 4th grade class at Stevens Creek Elementary School in Cupertino, California. They have established a Kidblog, where it has proven to be easier to post all our comments back and forth than if we were to use my classroom blog site (so this is a change from what I first intended to do). Our class first wrote out their responses to the prompt: "If I were Winnie (the main character) and I had the freedom, where would I go and what would I do?" After editing, we all got into the computer lab, and entered our first posts to the other classroom. It was quite exciting to see our writing get posted. It will be even more exciting to see what our new friends will post in return! Parents, this book is filled with thought provoking ideas and situations - maybe you'd like to read it yourself! Don't give away any secrets, though! Here are the directions to the Kidblog, if you would like to keep up with all the writing and commenting: www.kidblog.org/MissWeiss Then you must click on 'log in' (upper right hand corner) and select: Ms_Hannam and the password: tuck . Go to the page titled "Tuck Everlasting Discussion" - and you should see what we wrote today. (What motivation I witnessed today to make sure spelling and punctuation were all correct - another bonus to this whole process of communicating with new friends!)
This past week also included the chance for our students to write their first journal entries. The composition books you purchased from the supply list are being used for this purpose. These journals will never be shared with other students - this will be a place for each student and me to write back and forth. Sometimes they will receive a writing prompt about which to express their ideas, and they also have the opportunity to free write anything else on their minds, and to make up stories in here as well. I have written each student back in their journals twice already, and this has really been fun for all of us. I have a feeling this journal could be one of those things they may want to save as a keepsake to read later in their lives.
In social studies we continue to explore Wisconsin agriculture - it has given us some very interesting class discussions this week! Next week on Wednesday, Vivian's mom, Renee, is coming with cheese samples and some information about different kinds of cheese! Today we talked about how much milk it takes to make a gallon of ice cream, and there is a strong suspicion that Mrs. Hannam is just going to have to work in some sampling of that delicious Wisconsin dairy product sometime soon! :)
Due to the math test, homework has been minimal this week -hence, no new entries on the homework page of our classroom website this week as I'd promised! Time (20 minutes minimum) to read each evening is a standing 'assignment' as always. The assignment notebook should also come home containing other miscellaneous reminders about materials and papers that need returning, etc. Be sure to take a look at papers coming home almost every day in the take home folder. It seems that every time I check my office mailbox, there is another page that needs to go home with students. I have kept our blog calendar up to date with upcoming events, so check it out. This coming week includes Friday's Hawaiian Back-To-School dance party in the school gym from 6 to 8:00 (Sept. 30). October 4th is fast approaching for our first field trip of the year, and it would be great if we could have at least two more chaperones to go with us. We have three so far, and groups of about 4 students per adult would be ideal! So let me know if you can come - our bus will leave at 11:20 that day (we'll eat our lunch before leaving school), and come back by 2:30 or so. Parents can carpool from the WM parking lot, and follow the bus to the Alliant Energy grounds. Thank you!
Our days are so full of activity and learning - they are just flying by! We are all enjoying each other's company in room 117 - and it gets more fun and interesting every day as we get to know each other better. With great pleasure, Melanie Hannam
This past week held several 'firsts' for us in Room 117. We had completed Everyday Math Unit 1 - Geometry, and after two class periods spent reviewing and giving ourselves more practice on all that new vocabulary, students took their first unit test. Most everyone said they felt prepared, and results reflected that - yay! After checking the tests, I made time for every student to review their test answers with me by having a brief one on one conference to celebrate their strengths and understand where and how improvements could be made for next time. This proved to be a valuable learning opportunity - these assessments are another important way to reinforce their learning. Next week we will take a pretest for Unit 2 to see how much we might already know about the new concepts coming up, and then begin the new set of lessons. All three 4th grade teachers will be meeting early in the week to look at pretest results to decide how we can organize our students into groups that reflect the different levels of background knowledge needed for this unit. Therefore, your student may be receiving their math lessons and assignments from any one of the three of us (Mrs. Bertz, Mrs. Zeitlin, or myself) for Unit 2. If this proves effective in helping us meet everyone's learning needs more thoroughly, we will follow the same process for each unit. We will keep you informed.
You should have seen a two sided blue sheet come home today in your student's take home folder. It gives you directions on how to access the Everyday Math material, activities, and GAMES online for each unit. The small white slip attached to this sheet gives your child his/her login name and password - I have established an account for each of our students. I tried it out, and it appears to be user friendly. It could be a great way to get extra math practice in a fun way. Let me know what you think!
This past Monday was a wonderful opportunity for me to become much more familiar with each of my student's reading abilities. While a substitute teacher conducted lessons in the classroom, I was across the hall meeting with each student one at a time, listening to them read aloud, answer some comprehension questions, and conference about their preferences and any difficulties with reading. These conferences and the assessments have given me valuable information and direction for their reading instruction this year.
Speaking of reading, we began "Tuck Everlasting" this week! We have read aloud together the first 6 chapters by week's end, and it has given us much food for thought and lively discussion! Not only that, we posted our first blog entries, communicating with another 4th grade class at Stevens Creek Elementary School in Cupertino, California. They have established a Kidblog, where it has proven to be easier to post all our comments back and forth than if we were to use my classroom blog site (so this is a change from what I first intended to do). Our class first wrote out their responses to the prompt: "If I were Winnie (the main character) and I had the freedom, where would I go and what would I do?" After editing, we all got into the computer lab, and entered our first posts to the other classroom. It was quite exciting to see our writing get posted. It will be even more exciting to see what our new friends will post in return! Parents, this book is filled with thought provoking ideas and situations - maybe you'd like to read it yourself! Don't give away any secrets, though! Here are the directions to the Kidblog, if you would like to keep up with all the writing and commenting: www.kidblog.org/MissWeiss Then you must click on 'log in' (upper right hand corner) and select: Ms_Hannam and the password: tuck . Go to the page titled "Tuck Everlasting Discussion" - and you should see what we wrote today. (What motivation I witnessed today to make sure spelling and punctuation were all correct - another bonus to this whole process of communicating with new friends!)
This past week also included the chance for our students to write their first journal entries. The composition books you purchased from the supply list are being used for this purpose. These journals will never be shared with other students - this will be a place for each student and me to write back and forth. Sometimes they will receive a writing prompt about which to express their ideas, and they also have the opportunity to free write anything else on their minds, and to make up stories in here as well. I have written each student back in their journals twice already, and this has really been fun for all of us. I have a feeling this journal could be one of those things they may want to save as a keepsake to read later in their lives.
In social studies we continue to explore Wisconsin agriculture - it has given us some very interesting class discussions this week! Next week on Wednesday, Vivian's mom, Renee, is coming with cheese samples and some information about different kinds of cheese! Today we talked about how much milk it takes to make a gallon of ice cream, and there is a strong suspicion that Mrs. Hannam is just going to have to work in some sampling of that delicious Wisconsin dairy product sometime soon! :)
Due to the math test, homework has been minimal this week -hence, no new entries on the homework page of our classroom website this week as I'd promised! Time (20 minutes minimum) to read each evening is a standing 'assignment' as always. The assignment notebook should also come home containing other miscellaneous reminders about materials and papers that need returning, etc. Be sure to take a look at papers coming home almost every day in the take home folder. It seems that every time I check my office mailbox, there is another page that needs to go home with students. I have kept our blog calendar up to date with upcoming events, so check it out. This coming week includes Friday's Hawaiian Back-To-School dance party in the school gym from 6 to 8:00 (Sept. 30). October 4th is fast approaching for our first field trip of the year, and it would be great if we could have at least two more chaperones to go with us. We have three so far, and groups of about 4 students per adult would be ideal! So let me know if you can come - our bus will leave at 11:20 that day (we'll eat our lunch before leaving school), and come back by 2:30 or so. Parents can carpool from the WM parking lot, and follow the bus to the Alliant Energy grounds. Thank you!
Our days are so full of activity and learning - they are just flying by! We are all enjoying each other's company in room 117 - and it gets more fun and interesting every day as we get to know each other better. With great pleasure, Melanie Hannam
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Dear Families: The students all wrote in their journals yesterday about "what makes a good friend". I collected the different observations onto a list, and thought you'd like a peek into the thinking of 4th graders. I am impressed~~ (Mrs. H.)
Good Friends...
~~can tell each other everything
~~are honest, kind, and funny
~~have lots in common
~~know each other for a long time
~~spend a lot of time together
~~help me with homework and games
~~do not bully
~~are nice to me
~~like me!
~~are fun to play with
~~can email each other
~~are good to talk to
~~laugh when I say something funny
~~like to play the same games
~~help me ‘stay on track’
~~make me laugh!
~~like to talk
~~care about me
~~trust me
~~never exclude me
~~never tell my secrets
~~let me play
~~don’t cheat or complain
~~like what I like
~~laugh at the same things
~~never pick me last for games
~~can count on each other!
Good Friends...
~~can tell each other everything
~~are honest, kind, and funny
~~have lots in common
~~know each other for a long time
~~spend a lot of time together
~~help me with homework and games
~~do not bully
~~are nice to me
~~like me!
~~are fun to play with
~~can email each other
~~are good to talk to
~~laugh when I say something funny
~~like to play the same games
~~help me ‘stay on track’
~~make me laugh!
~~like to talk
~~care about me
~~trust me
~~never exclude me
~~never tell my secrets
~~let me play
~~don’t cheat or complain
~~like what I like
~~laugh at the same things
~~never pick me last for games
~~can count on each other!
Saturday, September 17, 2011
9/16/2011 Weekly Update
Dear 4th Grade Families,
We have completed our first 5 day week of school! We are all appreciating the extra 10 minutes we have added to our daily math hour - more time to work on assignments (meaning less homework!) and more time to practice and ask questions. We completed the first unit - Geometry - today, and next week we will spend some days reviewing the new concepts and vocabulary (we have collected 23 new geometric terms on our whiteboard!) before we take the unit test. The students are proud of their improving ability to manipulate a compass (but we also learned that it wasn't a good idea for Mrs. Hannam to buy the cheapest compasses from the school supply catalog!).
You missed out if your student didn't share with you a few new and kinda icky, yet amazing, facts about cows this week! This information provided an effective kickoff to our dairy unit - everyone dove enthusiastically into a little research project identifying the characteristics of 6 different kinds of cows. They should be well prepared to see the real thing up close when we go to the Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy grounds on October 4th. Remember to let me know if you would like to join us as a chaperone. Three parents from our room have volunteered already, and all are welcome (with carpooling, we have no limit on this trip). We will be expanding our dairy unit to include some delicious cheese tasting soon, and explore other Wisconsin agricultural products and practices in the coming two weeks. Our first science unit is starting soon - electricity and magnets. My homework is to test a couple dozen batteries and untangle yards of wire in preparation for our first experiments - aauughh!
There was excitement this week when I announced that our class will be taking part in the second annual Global Read Aloud. Starting next week, for four weeks, our class will be reading aloud together and discussing the award winning book, "Tuck Everlasting". We will be joining over 4,000 other 4th and 5th graders from around the WORLD who will be reading the same book and the same chapters in the same time frame! Not only that, I have made a connection with another 4th grade teacher and her class in Cupertino, California (just south of San Francisco), and our two classes will be 'discussing' their predictions, ideas, questions, and impressions of this thought-provoking book with each other. We will do this through our classroom blog. You will see that we have added a page to our blog just for this book, and you will be able to read the comments that our students will post as the weeks go on. Today we started with their predictions about what this book might be about, with just a very few hints to get their thoughts going. See the Tuck Everlasting page on our classroom blog, and read what our 4th graders predicted. There are several in our room who know the story, and they have been sworn to secrecy not to give away the surprises in this book. This is a first attempt to stretch our classroom walls outward into the world a little farther, and we will see how it enhances our 4th graders' thinking, reading, and writing skills. It has definitely already spurred their enthusiasm!
Today we had the honor of being the LAST class in the whole school to get our pictures taken, but shiny hair and colorful clothing survived the wait. If you want to order a package, you have one week to return your order form to school, and if you want to have pictures retaken, hang on to your proof envelope which came home today, and there will be a retake day in October.
Next week on Wednesday, we have our first CRT (collaborative release time) day. There will be 5 such days throughout the school year. Students will board buses for home again at 11:00 am. They have the option of ordering a sack lunch as their 'hot lunch' if they want, but must take it home and eat it there if they do (so our brief instructional time that day is not further reduced).
With the coming week, my goal is to post daily on the blog's HOMEWORK page, for parents' information and for students to double check their assignment notebook page. We have eased slowly into the serious responsibility of doing and returning homework on time. The students are learning that their assignment notebook is for THEM to use as an important tool for organization and memory. Just ask them about how Mrs. Hannam uses lists everywhere to stay on top of reminders, jobs, and assignments! This assignment notebook is their most important 'list'. In addition to a longer math class, we are making good use of our 'resource time' at the end of the day to get caught up on unfinished work as well as take time to ask questions and practice new concepts again. If students make good use of this time, the homework load will stay minimal. This will give students time to READ each evening, which appears to be a great pleasure for most everyone in our book loving class! At this time, the expectation is to read at least 20 minutes at home each day.
I will post news, events, and updates on the blog's appropriate pages (and the calendar) as they occur, while continuing to send out this weekly update by email (do let me know if any email addresses need to be adjusted or added). As always, I appreciate any contacts from you by email or phone (or a visit at school) whenever you need and want to keep me informed about anything at all. It is such a pleasure to come to school each day and learn together with this exceptional group of 4th graders. They are demonstrating daily kindnesses and helpfulness, offer some awesome thoughts and ideas in our discussions, and best of all, their enthusiasm for our work blows me away - and keeps me inspired!
Mrs. Hannam (my phone message system is now in working order!)
We have completed our first 5 day week of school! We are all appreciating the extra 10 minutes we have added to our daily math hour - more time to work on assignments (meaning less homework!) and more time to practice and ask questions. We completed the first unit - Geometry - today, and next week we will spend some days reviewing the new concepts and vocabulary (we have collected 23 new geometric terms on our whiteboard!) before we take the unit test. The students are proud of their improving ability to manipulate a compass (but we also learned that it wasn't a good idea for Mrs. Hannam to buy the cheapest compasses from the school supply catalog!).
You missed out if your student didn't share with you a few new and kinda icky, yet amazing, facts about cows this week! This information provided an effective kickoff to our dairy unit - everyone dove enthusiastically into a little research project identifying the characteristics of 6 different kinds of cows. They should be well prepared to see the real thing up close when we go to the Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy grounds on October 4th. Remember to let me know if you would like to join us as a chaperone. Three parents from our room have volunteered already, and all are welcome (with carpooling, we have no limit on this trip). We will be expanding our dairy unit to include some delicious cheese tasting soon, and explore other Wisconsin agricultural products and practices in the coming two weeks. Our first science unit is starting soon - electricity and magnets. My homework is to test a couple dozen batteries and untangle yards of wire in preparation for our first experiments - aauughh!
There was excitement this week when I announced that our class will be taking part in the second annual Global Read Aloud. Starting next week, for four weeks, our class will be reading aloud together and discussing the award winning book, "Tuck Everlasting". We will be joining over 4,000 other 4th and 5th graders from around the WORLD who will be reading the same book and the same chapters in the same time frame! Not only that, I have made a connection with another 4th grade teacher and her class in Cupertino, California (just south of San Francisco), and our two classes will be 'discussing' their predictions, ideas, questions, and impressions of this thought-provoking book with each other. We will do this through our classroom blog. You will see that we have added a page to our blog just for this book, and you will be able to read the comments that our students will post as the weeks go on. Today we started with their predictions about what this book might be about, with just a very few hints to get their thoughts going. See the Tuck Everlasting page on our classroom blog, and read what our 4th graders predicted. There are several in our room who know the story, and they have been sworn to secrecy not to give away the surprises in this book. This is a first attempt to stretch our classroom walls outward into the world a little farther, and we will see how it enhances our 4th graders' thinking, reading, and writing skills. It has definitely already spurred their enthusiasm!
Today we had the honor of being the LAST class in the whole school to get our pictures taken, but shiny hair and colorful clothing survived the wait. If you want to order a package, you have one week to return your order form to school, and if you want to have pictures retaken, hang on to your proof envelope which came home today, and there will be a retake day in October.
Next week on Wednesday, we have our first CRT (collaborative release time) day. There will be 5 such days throughout the school year. Students will board buses for home again at 11:00 am. They have the option of ordering a sack lunch as their 'hot lunch' if they want, but must take it home and eat it there if they do (so our brief instructional time that day is not further reduced).
With the coming week, my goal is to post daily on the blog's HOMEWORK page, for parents' information and for students to double check their assignment notebook page. We have eased slowly into the serious responsibility of doing and returning homework on time. The students are learning that their assignment notebook is for THEM to use as an important tool for organization and memory. Just ask them about how Mrs. Hannam uses lists everywhere to stay on top of reminders, jobs, and assignments! This assignment notebook is their most important 'list'. In addition to a longer math class, we are making good use of our 'resource time' at the end of the day to get caught up on unfinished work as well as take time to ask questions and practice new concepts again. If students make good use of this time, the homework load will stay minimal. This will give students time to READ each evening, which appears to be a great pleasure for most everyone in our book loving class! At this time, the expectation is to read at least 20 minutes at home each day.
I will post news, events, and updates on the blog's appropriate pages (and the calendar) as they occur, while continuing to send out this weekly update by email (do let me know if any email addresses need to be adjusted or added). As always, I appreciate any contacts from you by email or phone (or a visit at school) whenever you need and want to keep me informed about anything at all. It is such a pleasure to come to school each day and learn together with this exceptional group of 4th graders. They are demonstrating daily kindnesses and helpfulness, offer some awesome thoughts and ideas in our discussions, and best of all, their enthusiasm for our work blows me away - and keeps me inspired!
Mrs. Hannam (my phone message system is now in working order!)
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Daily Classroom Schedule (as of 9/09/2011)
Math Class: Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 9:40
Social Studies/Science: Monday through Friday, 9:40 to 11:00
Lunch Time: Monday through Friday, 11:10 to 11:40
Literacy Class: Monday through Friday, 1:00 to 2:20
Recess: Monday through Friday, 1:30 to 1:45
Resource Time: Monday through Friday, 2:20 to 2:45
Gym Classes: Monday,11:50 to 12:30 / Wednesday,12:20 to 12:40 / Friday,12:20 to 1:00
Music Classes: Tuesday, 12:20 to 1:00 / Thursday, 10:00 to 10:30
Art Class: Wednesday, 10:00 to 11:00
Library Class: Wednesday, 11:45 to 12:15
Computer Lab: Tuesday, 11:40 to 12:20 / Thursday, 12:30 to 1:00
Guidance Class: 2nd/4th Thursdays, 10:30 to 11:10
Orchestra Practice: Fridays, 7:30 (small group lessons: Fridays, 10:30 to 11:00)
**If any family would like a printed diagram (full week view) of our schedule, let Mrs. Hannam know.
Social Studies/Science: Monday through Friday, 9:40 to 11:00
Lunch Time: Monday through Friday, 11:10 to 11:40
Literacy Class: Monday through Friday, 1:00 to 2:20
Recess: Monday through Friday, 1:30 to 1:45
Resource Time: Monday through Friday, 2:20 to 2:45
Gym Classes: Monday,11:50 to 12:30 / Wednesday,12:20 to 12:40 / Friday,12:20 to 1:00
Music Classes: Tuesday, 12:20 to 1:00 / Thursday, 10:00 to 10:30
Art Class: Wednesday, 10:00 to 11:00
Library Class: Wednesday, 11:45 to 12:15
Computer Lab: Tuesday, 11:40 to 12:20 / Thursday, 12:30 to 1:00
Guidance Class: 2nd/4th Thursdays, 10:30 to 11:10
Orchestra Practice: Fridays, 7:30 (small group lessons: Fridays, 10:30 to 11:00)
**If any family would like a printed diagram (full week view) of our schedule, let Mrs. Hannam know.
Friday, September 2, 2011
First day of class!
Dear families!
What a very busy day we had for our first full day together in 4th grade! We had so much to tell each other - we got better acquainted, we learned some of the new routines, toured about HALF of our room, dug into some new books.... I am so pleased over how motivated our group is about their favorite books. They are already giving each other good ideas about what to read, and discovering new gems in our classroom library!
We all realized that except for one new friend who has recently moved here from China (!), everyone has been in each other's classrooms at some point since kindergarten! I saw some very heartwarming displays of friendship and caring and helpfulness throughout the day - what a special group of 4th graders I have the privilege to teach and learn with this year. I can't tell you how happy I am that we have all landed in Room 117 together for the next year.
Please check the homework page for a few reminders - and more reminders have been written on the first page of the assignment notebook. I will also be updating our blog's calendar. We start our first math class first thing Tuesday morning! In the meantime, may everyone enjoy a three day holiday weekend!
Your happy teacher, Mrs. Hannam
What a very busy day we had for our first full day together in 4th grade! We had so much to tell each other - we got better acquainted, we learned some of the new routines, toured about HALF of our room, dug into some new books.... I am so pleased over how motivated our group is about their favorite books. They are already giving each other good ideas about what to read, and discovering new gems in our classroom library!
We all realized that except for one new friend who has recently moved here from China (!), everyone has been in each other's classrooms at some point since kindergarten! I saw some very heartwarming displays of friendship and caring and helpfulness throughout the day - what a special group of 4th graders I have the privilege to teach and learn with this year. I can't tell you how happy I am that we have all landed in Room 117 together for the next year.
Please check the homework page for a few reminders - and more reminders have been written on the first page of the assignment notebook. I will also be updating our blog's calendar. We start our first math class first thing Tuesday morning! In the meantime, may everyone enjoy a three day holiday weekend!
Your happy teacher, Mrs. Hannam
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