Greetings to our families of Room 117! How did we get to the last week before our Winter Break already?! It has been important for us to keep very busy in class to stay focused on our work - we have been successful most of the time! This past week we have been wrapping up our Unit 4 in math, with the unit test on Monday. Please see the review sheets in Take Home Folders to go over some of the items later this weekend to refresh memories.
We will complete our latest Holiday Spelling List early in the week with our final test on Tuesday. The students got in a fun, extra writing project by putting those words into original stories, and all seemed to enjoy it, even our most reluctant writers. We are also completing our last lessons in Essay Writing. This emphasis is new ground for almost all 4th graders, and I feel good about our first experiences with thesis statements, topic sentences, and descriptive evidence and reasoning.
In Reader's Workshop, we have been digging into a very wide variety of books to identify the clever and different ways authors grab our attention with the 'leads' to their stories. This has led many of our kids to find new books they want to add to their book boxes. We have even written our own leads, and I have typed them all into a collection for each student to include in their writing folders. Now they will have some fun new ideas for more writing projects.
Social Studies has us researching the glacial landforms that shaped Wisconsin 10,000 years ago. We have found some awesome examples online, and we have spent a couple sessions huddled in front of our Smartboard, oohing and aahing over the pictures of glaciers, moraines, eskers, and drumlins still found in Wisconsin and around the world. The Ice Age Trail is right in our own backyards, and the Ice Age Trail Alliance has short videos about the Trail in Wisconsin that have been really interesting. There is an office right in Cross Plains!
Next week we are looking forward to some special events. On Monday we have a secret project planned - (you will see the results perhaps under the Christmas tree). On Tuesday, we will welcome Emma's 'editor' father to our classroom to speak with us about writing and editing. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge and first hand experience with us! On Friday afternoon we will wrap up our December in school with a Holiday celebration including some games and special treats.
I wish you all a warm and wonderful time with your family during our Break (we return to school on January 2nd). I am looking forward to having all three of our daughters home at the same time for a few days myself! Happy Holidays to you all. Melanie
Friday, December 14, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
December 7, 2012 Weekly Update
The first week of this busy month of December really flew by. Several special events this week added to the excitement of the coming holiday. Our annual Winter Tea on Wednesday was a highlight, and it was so much fun to have a quick visit with many of you. The PTO did an awesome job of decorating and organizing a beautiful setting and very yummy selection of treats for all of us. We have such dedicated and supportive parents at West Middleton! Today was another kind of celebration in our school - it was "Crazy Hair Day" in recognition of the remarkable improvement our hundreds of students have made with their hallway noise level and behavior. "Pride Paws" have been handed out by the dozens over the last weeks to emphasize and reward model behavior in our hallways, and our 'crazy hair' resulted from everyone's great efforts. We are very proud of how our crowded hallways look and sound these days.
Today was also a special day in Room 117, because we hosted Mike Welch, the owner and instructor at Infinity Martial Arts. He came for our last hour and taught us the first lessons of karate, which are very strong on teaching about self-respect and showing respect for others. Along with leading us all in some very cool karate moves, he also led a valuable discussion with our students about bullying and how to handle situations assertively but respectfully and responsibly as well. The kids were very attentive to his message and it was powerful.
We did also manage to make good progress with our reading and writing lessons this week. We are identifying different types of strong leads to stories, and then trying some of own - our students have made a truly attention-grabbing collection of leads. Now we are all tempted to turn those leads into new stories of our own! In Writer's Workshop we continue to expand our essay writing, making our stances more descriptive and convincing. I must say, and I did stop everything today to tell our kids, how sincerely impressed I am with the thoughts that have been coming out in their papers and journal writing as time goes on. I just wish I could take the time to get their descriptions and ideas and feelings typed out to save and highlight. It is precious work, and I am so proud of what I am seeing.
In math we are almost through with Unit 4 and our work with decimal numbers. The last three remaining lessons next week will have us practicing millimeters, centimeters, and meters, comparing and converting between these different measurements. We will make a decision on the date for the unit test early in the week, but we want to have most of the week to review and practice first. The test will probably happen no earlier than next Friday. One note for parents: You should find an updated Progress Report in your 4th grade math student's Take Home Folder today. It lists all the first trimester scores out of 100 problems done in 3 minutes' time for the basic facts in each of the four operations. Please examine these results with your student to decide how much time they still need to practice their basic facts each and every possible day! Many are definitely progressing, but many still need to put in more time and effort to become proficient. What a difference this skill alone will make with learning the new math concepts we cover in Everyday Math.
Monday morning is our West Middleton Spelling Bee among our 4th and 5th graders. We will all be there at 8:30 to support our brave spellers. Parents are invited to watch in the multipurpose room.
I want to send a quick reminder about our plans during the final week of school before Winter Break. On Monday, December 17th, at 2 pm, our class will be involved in a special (secret) project, and we have two moms coming to help. We could use one or two more, so if you like to do 'art' and have time, let me know! Also, on Friday, December 21st, also at 2 pm, we will be having a Holiday Class Party, and we have three moms who have let me know they can do some planning and helping. If you are interested in being a part of this, let me know as well, and I will put you all in touch with each other early next week. Thank you SO very much!
In the meantime, good luck to all of us as we juggle our work and school responsibilities along with hockey tournaments, other classes and practices, in addition to holiday shopping and planning - and still get enough time to read and sleep! Yikes! Stay healthy, please! More news soon from Room 117.
Melanie Hannam
4th Grade Teacher
West Middleton Elementary
608-829-9398
mrshannamsclass.blogspot.com
Today was also a special day in Room 117, because we hosted Mike Welch, the owner and instructor at Infinity Martial Arts. He came for our last hour and taught us the first lessons of karate, which are very strong on teaching about self-respect and showing respect for others. Along with leading us all in some very cool karate moves, he also led a valuable discussion with our students about bullying and how to handle situations assertively but respectfully and responsibly as well. The kids were very attentive to his message and it was powerful.
We did also manage to make good progress with our reading and writing lessons this week. We are identifying different types of strong leads to stories, and then trying some of own - our students have made a truly attention-grabbing collection of leads. Now we are all tempted to turn those leads into new stories of our own! In Writer's Workshop we continue to expand our essay writing, making our stances more descriptive and convincing. I must say, and I did stop everything today to tell our kids, how sincerely impressed I am with the thoughts that have been coming out in their papers and journal writing as time goes on. I just wish I could take the time to get their descriptions and ideas and feelings typed out to save and highlight. It is precious work, and I am so proud of what I am seeing.
In math we are almost through with Unit 4 and our work with decimal numbers. The last three remaining lessons next week will have us practicing millimeters, centimeters, and meters, comparing and converting between these different measurements. We will make a decision on the date for the unit test early in the week, but we want to have most of the week to review and practice first. The test will probably happen no earlier than next Friday. One note for parents: You should find an updated Progress Report in your 4th grade math student's Take Home Folder today. It lists all the first trimester scores out of 100 problems done in 3 minutes' time for the basic facts in each of the four operations. Please examine these results with your student to decide how much time they still need to practice their basic facts each and every possible day! Many are definitely progressing, but many still need to put in more time and effort to become proficient. What a difference this skill alone will make with learning the new math concepts we cover in Everyday Math.
Monday morning is our West Middleton Spelling Bee among our 4th and 5th graders. We will all be there at 8:30 to support our brave spellers. Parents are invited to watch in the multipurpose room.
I want to send a quick reminder about our plans during the final week of school before Winter Break. On Monday, December 17th, at 2 pm, our class will be involved in a special (secret) project, and we have two moms coming to help. We could use one or two more, so if you like to do 'art' and have time, let me know! Also, on Friday, December 21st, also at 2 pm, we will be having a Holiday Class Party, and we have three moms who have let me know they can do some planning and helping. If you are interested in being a part of this, let me know as well, and I will put you all in touch with each other early next week. Thank you SO very much!
In the meantime, good luck to all of us as we juggle our work and school responsibilities along with hockey tournaments, other classes and practices, in addition to holiday shopping and planning - and still get enough time to read and sleep! Yikes! Stay healthy, please! More news soon from Room 117.
Melanie Hannam
4th Grade Teacher
West Middleton Elementary
608-829-9398
mrshannamsclass.blogspot.com
Friday, November 30, 2012
November 30, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello again to all! I so enjoyed the opportunities to visit with all of our families during conferences over the past two weeks. Thank you for coming! It was wonderful to be able to sit around the table with you and your fourth grader and talk together. We can do that anytime - we don't have to wait till March to meet again! Emails and phone calls are also welcome at any time.
With four full weeks until our Winter Break, we have dug in to some very productive work this past week. We've been reading and writing with renewed effort. We finished our class read-aloud, The One And Only Ivan, and we miss him! We were able to watch an online interview with the author, Katherine Applegate, after we read the last page of the book. Everyone listened closely as she discussed how she gets her ideas for writing, and how 'writing is hard work' but so rewarding, and that she is always revising and editing her words. In our Writer's Workshop, we moved from writing thesis statements and supporting evidence as a whole class, to writing our first individual essays. These papers are a very good first attempt, and we will spend the next week expanding and explaining our reasoning with more detail. I am proud of our students for their good work on something entirely new to them. By the way, our December Scholastic Book Orders are due to be turned in by Monday, December 3rd. This will allow me to get the order sent out in time to get our new books back before we leave for Break.
We took another spelling test this past week, and on the same day, everyone received their new list of words. You will notice that we are stepping up our efforts here as well - with 20 words to practice now. We have until next week Friday, December 7th, to prepare for that spelling test. Speaking of spelling, the West Middleton Spelling Bee is taking place at 8:30 am on Monday, December 10th, and parents are welcome to attend. After five qualifying rounds in our classroom, we will be represented by Rose Giefer, Sydney Yosick, Zach Yosick, and Anezka Helmers.
We are almost halfway into Unit 4 in math class, and have been learning to read, write, and order decimal numbers so far. Our 4th graders are demonstrating an excellent understanding of the concept of what a decimal number represents - keep up the good work! Oh, and speaking of work --! After 'whomping' the kids with multiple pages of basic division facts during Thanksgiving week, we were all anxious to see if all that extra practice paid off on this week's timed test. Did it ever!! Wow. Out of the 17 students present to take the 3 minute timed test of 100 division problems yesterday, 14 students raised their scores - and by an average of 20 points!! Typical improvements in past weeks have averaged 5 point jumps. Two students reached their goal of 100%. This is quite impressive compared to past weeks - and of course, Mrs. Hannam didn't waste the opportunity to point out the value of hard work and diligent practice to make a difference - :)
Please take note of some special upcoming events: The annual West Middleton Winter Tea is Wednesday, December 5th. Our class is scheduled to attend at 12:05 to 12:30 that day. If you are able to join us there at that time, we will be happy to see you. We will be having lunch in our classroom at 11:10, and it sounds like we will be treated to the best pizza in town that day, in celebration of Luigi's birthday. Confirmation will come to you by email early in the week. Also, on Friday, December 7th, our classroom will host a special guest at 2:00. Mike Welch, owner and instructor of Infinity Martial Arts, has offered to come to our room to run a class for all of us! Along with karate moves, he teaches respect and self respect, self defense, and how to deal with bullies.
Looking ahead to the last week of school before break, I am in need of some help on a couple of different days. On Monday, Dec. 17, I have a special art project planned for our kids (sorry, I can't give away too many details to parents), and could use 2 or 3 other adults to help me from 2:00 to 2:45. If you think you'd like to assist with this project, let me know. Also, the last hour of our last day of school this month, on the 21st, we would like to continue our tradition of a holiday class party, and we will need some parents to help plan for a few treats and activities. Please email me if you would like to be on a team to organize for this - and thank you so much!!
I will keep you informed of any and all important reminders and special events as we speed through the busy month of December. Melanie Hannam
With four full weeks until our Winter Break, we have dug in to some very productive work this past week. We've been reading and writing with renewed effort. We finished our class read-aloud, The One And Only Ivan, and we miss him! We were able to watch an online interview with the author, Katherine Applegate, after we read the last page of the book. Everyone listened closely as she discussed how she gets her ideas for writing, and how 'writing is hard work' but so rewarding, and that she is always revising and editing her words. In our Writer's Workshop, we moved from writing thesis statements and supporting evidence as a whole class, to writing our first individual essays. These papers are a very good first attempt, and we will spend the next week expanding and explaining our reasoning with more detail. I am proud of our students for their good work on something entirely new to them. By the way, our December Scholastic Book Orders are due to be turned in by Monday, December 3rd. This will allow me to get the order sent out in time to get our new books back before we leave for Break.
We took another spelling test this past week, and on the same day, everyone received their new list of words. You will notice that we are stepping up our efforts here as well - with 20 words to practice now. We have until next week Friday, December 7th, to prepare for that spelling test. Speaking of spelling, the West Middleton Spelling Bee is taking place at 8:30 am on Monday, December 10th, and parents are welcome to attend. After five qualifying rounds in our classroom, we will be represented by Rose Giefer, Sydney Yosick, Zach Yosick, and Anezka Helmers.
We are almost halfway into Unit 4 in math class, and have been learning to read, write, and order decimal numbers so far. Our 4th graders are demonstrating an excellent understanding of the concept of what a decimal number represents - keep up the good work! Oh, and speaking of work --! After 'whomping' the kids with multiple pages of basic division facts during Thanksgiving week, we were all anxious to see if all that extra practice paid off on this week's timed test. Did it ever!! Wow. Out of the 17 students present to take the 3 minute timed test of 100 division problems yesterday, 14 students raised their scores - and by an average of 20 points!! Typical improvements in past weeks have averaged 5 point jumps. Two students reached their goal of 100%. This is quite impressive compared to past weeks - and of course, Mrs. Hannam didn't waste the opportunity to point out the value of hard work and diligent practice to make a difference - :)
Please take note of some special upcoming events: The annual West Middleton Winter Tea is Wednesday, December 5th. Our class is scheduled to attend at 12:05 to 12:30 that day. If you are able to join us there at that time, we will be happy to see you. We will be having lunch in our classroom at 11:10, and it sounds like we will be treated to the best pizza in town that day, in celebration of Luigi's birthday. Confirmation will come to you by email early in the week. Also, on Friday, December 7th, our classroom will host a special guest at 2:00. Mike Welch, owner and instructor of Infinity Martial Arts, has offered to come to our room to run a class for all of us! Along with karate moves, he teaches respect and self respect, self defense, and how to deal with bullies.
Looking ahead to the last week of school before break, I am in need of some help on a couple of different days. On Monday, Dec. 17, I have a special art project planned for our kids (sorry, I can't give away too many details to parents), and could use 2 or 3 other adults to help me from 2:00 to 2:45. If you think you'd like to assist with this project, let me know. Also, the last hour of our last day of school this month, on the 21st, we would like to continue our tradition of a holiday class party, and we will need some parents to help plan for a few treats and activities. Please email me if you would like to be on a team to organize for this - and thank you so much!!
I will keep you informed of any and all important reminders and special events as we speed through the busy month of December. Melanie Hannam
Friday, November 9, 2012
November 9, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello, families. It felt good this past week to get back into some regularly scheduled reading and writing classes. We continue to find all the moments we can to read both independently and aloud together, and analyze our characters. In Writer's Workshop, we have begun a new focus on essay writing. We are learning to "live wide-awake lives" as writers, noticing details around us that others often pass by. It has proven to be a new way of thinking for many of our kids, and we feel like writer/detectives, finding stories and ideas in small things that we haven't taken notice of before. We will soon turn these ideas into opinions, and practice backing up those opinions with evidence. Being able to defend a viewpoint on paper will most certainly be a necessary skill in future years in school.
This coming week we will be reviewing the content of Unit 3 in Math, and the final test will probably come next Thursday. Watch for review practice sheets to come home for homework next week. Our next Spelling Test is also scheduled for next Thursday.
Extra events continue to crowd our calendar and keep us motivated. This coming Monday on November 12th, it is "I Spy" Day at West Middleton. Our lunchroom will be turned into an art gallery, with projects and music created by all of our classes on display all day. That evening from 6:30 to 7:30, parents and families are invited to stop and in and take a good look at all the creations by our talented students.
Also next week, our WM Community Service Club is hosting a coin drive to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy. On Monday, students are encouraged to bring in all the pennies and nickels they can find, on Tuesday they bring in dimes, on Wednesday they bring in quarters, and on Thursday, they may bring in any coins, paper bills, or checks made out to the Red Cross. Thank you!
There will be no school on Friday, November 16th, since teachers will be holding parent teacher conferences on the evenings of November 15th and 20th. If you still need to double-check your conference time with me, just send me an email. Otherwise, I am assuming the time slot I sent you is going to work, and I will see you - AND your student - at that time. I am very much looking forward to visiting with you!
Each classroom will hold their own rounds to qualify for the WM Spelling Bee during the short week of school right before Thanksgiving break, narrowing ourselves down to the final four students to represent our class. The words to practice should be located in your student's Take Home Folder - we have several students who love this event and have been practicing. Remember, we will have full days of classes on the 19th and 20th, but on the 21st, the day before Thanksgiving, it is a CRT Day, and buses will be picking up students at 11:00 am.
This past week, as you know, was also our last week with Linley Carlson, our wonderful student teacher. We have all become such a team together in Room 117. We will all be missing her greatly, but we are also excited for her to get a new experience with first graders at Sunset Ridge. We held a little going away party for Miss Carlson on Thursday, her last day. She surprised us with specially made cupcakes ("Owl miss you" cupcakes) and personalized cards and notes for each of us. We surprised her with our tub of school and classroom supplies - and we did take her completely by surprise!! It was great! Thank you again to all of our families who joined us in this gift for Linley. We will all see her one more time because she is joining us for both conference days. She has written to our families with this note:
Dear 4th graders and parents,
I want to thank you for the lovely gifts that I received on my last day in Mrs. Hannam's class. I will cherish the past two months that I was able to spend with all of the talented boys and girls in Mrs. Hannam's class. I could not have asked for a more incredible experience and have been very fortunate to teach such amazing students! Thank you again! It was very hard leaving such an incredible class on Thursday. I look forward to seeing everyone at conferences.
Sincerely,
Linley Carlson
And with that -- see you all soon at Parent Conference time! Melanie
This coming week we will be reviewing the content of Unit 3 in Math, and the final test will probably come next Thursday. Watch for review practice sheets to come home for homework next week. Our next Spelling Test is also scheduled for next Thursday.
Extra events continue to crowd our calendar and keep us motivated. This coming Monday on November 12th, it is "I Spy" Day at West Middleton. Our lunchroom will be turned into an art gallery, with projects and music created by all of our classes on display all day. That evening from 6:30 to 7:30, parents and families are invited to stop and in and take a good look at all the creations by our talented students.
Also next week, our WM Community Service Club is hosting a coin drive to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy. On Monday, students are encouraged to bring in all the pennies and nickels they can find, on Tuesday they bring in dimes, on Wednesday they bring in quarters, and on Thursday, they may bring in any coins, paper bills, or checks made out to the Red Cross. Thank you!
There will be no school on Friday, November 16th, since teachers will be holding parent teacher conferences on the evenings of November 15th and 20th. If you still need to double-check your conference time with me, just send me an email. Otherwise, I am assuming the time slot I sent you is going to work, and I will see you - AND your student - at that time. I am very much looking forward to visiting with you!
Each classroom will hold their own rounds to qualify for the WM Spelling Bee during the short week of school right before Thanksgiving break, narrowing ourselves down to the final four students to represent our class. The words to practice should be located in your student's Take Home Folder - we have several students who love this event and have been practicing. Remember, we will have full days of classes on the 19th and 20th, but on the 21st, the day before Thanksgiving, it is a CRT Day, and buses will be picking up students at 11:00 am.
This past week, as you know, was also our last week with Linley Carlson, our wonderful student teacher. We have all become such a team together in Room 117. We will all be missing her greatly, but we are also excited for her to get a new experience with first graders at Sunset Ridge. We held a little going away party for Miss Carlson on Thursday, her last day. She surprised us with specially made cupcakes ("Owl miss you" cupcakes) and personalized cards and notes for each of us. We surprised her with our tub of school and classroom supplies - and we did take her completely by surprise!! It was great! Thank you again to all of our families who joined us in this gift for Linley. We will all see her one more time because she is joining us for both conference days. She has written to our families with this note:
Dear 4th graders and parents,
I want to thank you for the lovely gifts that I received on my last day in Mrs. Hannam's class. I will cherish the past two months that I was able to spend with all of the talented boys and girls in Mrs. Hannam's class. I could not have asked for a more incredible experience and have been very fortunate to teach such amazing students! Thank you again! It was very hard leaving such an incredible class on Thursday. I look forward to seeing everyone at conferences.
Sincerely,
Linley Carlson
And with that -- see you all soon at Parent Conference time! Melanie
Saturday, November 3, 2012
November 2, 2012 Weekly Update
Warm November greetings to our 4H families! We ended our October by finishing all of our exam sessions for the WKCE assessments, and began our November by celebrating all the progress we've made with our academics and classroom behavior over the first two full months of the school year. With the first full week of November we are looking forward to resuming our regular class schedule.
On Wednesday, upon completion of our testing, we were treated to one of the nicest "Harvest Party" hours we could have had. Thanks to the leadership of Mary Ozers and her creative team of Jean Yosick, Heather Bogner, Beth Hamilton, and Judy, McKenzie grandmother, we enjoyed some Halloween puzzles and games, a skeleton art project (you will see our wall of 'dancing skeletons' when you come in for conferences - so creepy cool!), and the most delicious treats, including the chance to decorate our own brownie square! The generosity and creativity of our moms has been just awesome, and THANK YOU! for all your efforts. It was so much fun having you with us, too!
We weren't done celebrating that day. Our class had been planning how to recognize the progress of our 4H class community, and on November 1st we put our plans into action. We came to class in comfy clothes, brought a blanket or pillow, found our specially prepared and loaded book boxes, and settled in to READ to our hearts' content - that is, whenever we didn't have a math or specials class to attend! The day flew by, the reading sessions went way too fast, and ahhh... it was so peaceful in our room! Lunch that day was an amazing treat. Luigi's dad, Vincenzo Pugliese, personally brought in a dozen of his luscious cheese pizzas from Cafe Porta Alba. Wow! Everyone just loved them! Thanks SO much for your generosity, Vincenzo and Stephanie! It was a memorable day. We ended our time together by discussing what we need to accomplish with our classroom behaviors and performance before we can have another celebration day.
In Reader's Workshop, we have been practicing how to analyze the connections the characters in our books make with each other, and how to put our interpretations of those connections into our own words in our Thoughtful Log journals. This is encouraging some deeper thinking, and is still a work in progress. Ivan and Stella are helping us, too (from our Class Read-Aloud book, "The One And Only Ivan"). We also wrote friendly ghost stories for Halloween, and are sharing them by flashlight. In science we have progressed from exploring magnetism to creating complete electrical circuits (we can now officially say that the light bulbs are coming on in Room 117!). In math class, we are more than halfway through Unit 3 - a big focus here is on gaining some substantial progress with multiplication facts. I want to encourage every family to create a routine for consistent, nightly practice for ready and quick, accurate recall of multiplication and division facts. This skill is essential to best success with our Everyday Math curriculum.
In other news, be aware that on Thursday, November 8th, West Middleton is hosting the Hot Lunch Program's harvest meal, where families can call in 'reservations' to eat with their child. Our 4th grade time is 11:00 on Thursday, and we will be eating in the gym that day. You may meet your student in the entryway of the school (we will be in Music class right up to 11:00).
On Friday, I gave every one of our students three different book order forms for the month of November - Arrow, Tab, and a 'Holiday' order form. If you choose to order any books for your child, the deadline for turning in orders and checks (made out to Scholastic Book Club) will be Friday, November 9th. If any family wants to secretly order any books for Christmas gifts (I will also give out the December order forms by Dec. 1st and should get them back before Winter Break), you can seal your order in an envelope and write me a note about it.
This coming week I will be sending out copies of the sign-up sheet many of you filled out on Orientation Day about a parent/teacher/student conference time. The two days (from 3:00 to 7:00pm) that our entire building will be holding conferences are November 15 and 20. If you still need to sign up for a time or want to change the time you'd written, just let me know once you see the list or make a trade with another family and just let me know. There are actually not quite enough time slots for our whole class during these two sessions, so if you'd like to arrange another day after school, I will be most happy to accommodate that! Remember, I want our 4th graders to be present for our conferences - you have important work to show your parents!
I want to remind everyone that also happening this coming Thursday on November 8th, we will be saying goodbye to our lovely and talented student teacher, Linley Carlson. Our class will take time at the end of the day to express our appreciation to her for all her dedication, hard work, and friendship, and send her off with our best wishes! Everyone will get one more chance to see Linley after that, since she is coming to our conferences on November 15 and 20! We will miss her SO much!
Whew - there is always so much going on! Thank you for all your communication about your 4th grader by phone or email or visits - it has really helped me get better in tune with your child, and what they most need from me for success in their academic and social goals. Melanie Hannam
On Wednesday, upon completion of our testing, we were treated to one of the nicest "Harvest Party" hours we could have had. Thanks to the leadership of Mary Ozers and her creative team of Jean Yosick, Heather Bogner, Beth Hamilton, and Judy, McKenzie grandmother, we enjoyed some Halloween puzzles and games, a skeleton art project (you will see our wall of 'dancing skeletons' when you come in for conferences - so creepy cool!), and the most delicious treats, including the chance to decorate our own brownie square! The generosity and creativity of our moms has been just awesome, and THANK YOU! for all your efforts. It was so much fun having you with us, too!
We weren't done celebrating that day. Our class had been planning how to recognize the progress of our 4H class community, and on November 1st we put our plans into action. We came to class in comfy clothes, brought a blanket or pillow, found our specially prepared and loaded book boxes, and settled in to READ to our hearts' content - that is, whenever we didn't have a math or specials class to attend! The day flew by, the reading sessions went way too fast, and ahhh... it was so peaceful in our room! Lunch that day was an amazing treat. Luigi's dad, Vincenzo Pugliese, personally brought in a dozen of his luscious cheese pizzas from Cafe Porta Alba. Wow! Everyone just loved them! Thanks SO much for your generosity, Vincenzo and Stephanie! It was a memorable day. We ended our time together by discussing what we need to accomplish with our classroom behaviors and performance before we can have another celebration day.
In Reader's Workshop, we have been practicing how to analyze the connections the characters in our books make with each other, and how to put our interpretations of those connections into our own words in our Thoughtful Log journals. This is encouraging some deeper thinking, and is still a work in progress. Ivan and Stella are helping us, too (from our Class Read-Aloud book, "The One And Only Ivan"). We also wrote friendly ghost stories for Halloween, and are sharing them by flashlight. In science we have progressed from exploring magnetism to creating complete electrical circuits (we can now officially say that the light bulbs are coming on in Room 117!). In math class, we are more than halfway through Unit 3 - a big focus here is on gaining some substantial progress with multiplication facts. I want to encourage every family to create a routine for consistent, nightly practice for ready and quick, accurate recall of multiplication and division facts. This skill is essential to best success with our Everyday Math curriculum.
In other news, be aware that on Thursday, November 8th, West Middleton is hosting the Hot Lunch Program's harvest meal, where families can call in 'reservations' to eat with their child. Our 4th grade time is 11:00 on Thursday, and we will be eating in the gym that day. You may meet your student in the entryway of the school (we will be in Music class right up to 11:00).
On Friday, I gave every one of our students three different book order forms for the month of November - Arrow, Tab, and a 'Holiday' order form. If you choose to order any books for your child, the deadline for turning in orders and checks (made out to Scholastic Book Club) will be Friday, November 9th. If any family wants to secretly order any books for Christmas gifts (I will also give out the December order forms by Dec. 1st and should get them back before Winter Break), you can seal your order in an envelope and write me a note about it.
This coming week I will be sending out copies of the sign-up sheet many of you filled out on Orientation Day about a parent/teacher/student conference time. The two days (from 3:00 to 7:00pm) that our entire building will be holding conferences are November 15 and 20. If you still need to sign up for a time or want to change the time you'd written, just let me know once you see the list or make a trade with another family and just let me know. There are actually not quite enough time slots for our whole class during these two sessions, so if you'd like to arrange another day after school, I will be most happy to accommodate that! Remember, I want our 4th graders to be present for our conferences - you have important work to show your parents!
I want to remind everyone that also happening this coming Thursday on November 8th, we will be saying goodbye to our lovely and talented student teacher, Linley Carlson. Our class will take time at the end of the day to express our appreciation to her for all her dedication, hard work, and friendship, and send her off with our best wishes! Everyone will get one more chance to see Linley after that, since she is coming to our conferences on November 15 and 20! We will miss her SO much!
Whew - there is always so much going on! Thank you for all your communication about your 4th grader by phone or email or visits - it has really helped me get better in tune with your child, and what they most need from me for success in their academic and social goals. Melanie Hannam
Saturday, October 20, 2012
October 19, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello, again, 4th grade families!
We have all kinds of news to share with you. The next two weeks in particular bring all kinds of changes to our routines. As you know, we have full days on Monday and Tuesday, and then on Wednesday it is a CRT (collaborative release time) and all elementary students will be dismissed at 11:00 am. Those who reserved the school (sack) lunch will be picking them up before leaving and taking them along home that day. On Thursday and Friday there is no school.
Also next week, we are beginning the first testing sessions of the WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination). For your own information, our class will not be holding regular math class on any of the three days of school next week. We will be taking the three 4th grade Math sessions during each of the regularly scheduled math times, first hour of the morning. Also on Monday and Tuesday, we will be taking a Reading session at 12:05 each day. That leaves, for the following week, one more Reading session, two Language Arts sessions, and one Science and one Social Studies session. These exams will be spread out across the first 3 days of the following week, October 29, 30, 31. You should have found a complete schedule on a white sheet in your student's Take Home Folder this past week. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to email me. I have encouraged our kids to make sure they get a good night's sleep each night, and eat a 'good' breakfast each morning.
This coming week is also a national recognition of Character Education. To emphasize that good "Character Counts!" West Middleton students can "Turn Your Back On Disrespect" on Monday by wearing a shirt backwards. On Tuesday, we can wear comfy PJ type clothing for "Follow Your Dreams Through Good Character" day, and on Wednesday, we are wearing a shirt with numbers or a numbered jersey for "Count On Character" day.
The week of October 29 through November 2 also has some special events in our own classroom. We will be having a "Harvest Party" in our room on October 31st beginning at 2:00 pm. Thanks to some creative moms who have volunteered, we will enjoy some spooky snacks, and have a game and activity to celebrate this festive time of year. Take note - West Middleton Elementary does not encourage the wearing of any kind of Halloween costume that day. In addition, our class is ready to celebrate ourselves, for our noticeable progress in following our behavior rules and to celebrate the hard work and progress we are making with our classwork. (Yes, Mrs. Hannam's head has 'exploded' with the collection of good reports and observations about our kids - you can ask your student about this!) As a result, we have all agreed that November 1st will be a good day to devote to some of our favorite things: We will have math class, music class, art class, lots of 'stamina' silent read time, "Ivan" readaloud time, and hopefully a pizza lunch in our room that special day.
This coming week marks the beginning of a new "BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION" contest at West Middleton. Our classroom envelope has already collected a nice pile of Box Tops, but we are greedy, and want LOTS more than 'nice'!! So parents, thank you in advance for your patience as our students scrounge in cupboards and pantries, and for keeping a lookout in the grocery aisles for Box Top products. Each Box Top is worth 10 cents! All proceeds from our classrooms will go to the PTO for equipment and items for our building and playground.
With so much going on, yes, we are still holding substantive academic sessions each and every day! :) The Unit 2 math tests showed excellent results for our group, and we dove right into Unit 3 this past week. Please look over with your student the Progress Report in their Take Home Folder which gives you a picture of their progress with automaticity in recalling their math facts. (5th grade math students practice these with their 5th grade teacher.) You will be able to see which operations your student needs more practice on. This coming unit dives deep into their understanding of multiplication factors.
In Literacy we are continuing our study of character traits and how that helps us comprehend more deeply, and our class reading and discussion of "The One And Only Ivan" is really enhancing those lessons! We also made time during one of our very last beautiful weather days to visit our school prairie last week, and with clipboards in every hand, we all wrote down what we experienced with our senses out there! Wow - the beautiful, almost poetic descriptions that came out of that exercise was so impressive. In fact, we all agreed we should take some of our sentences and highlight them in large print around our room - so we will! And in science class we have been experimenting with magnetism as a lead in to more experiments with electricity - very fun!
Whew, lots going on and lots to tell you. Thanks for reading! As always, check the classroom blog and the homework page for daily listings of homework assignments and other reminders and deadlines. After next week, I will be confirming with each of you about our parent/student/teacher conference times which happen in mid November. The first trimester ends November 30th, with report cards ready for viewing the next week. I'll keep you posted on everything!!
Melanie Hannam
We have all kinds of news to share with you. The next two weeks in particular bring all kinds of changes to our routines. As you know, we have full days on Monday and Tuesday, and then on Wednesday it is a CRT (collaborative release time) and all elementary students will be dismissed at 11:00 am. Those who reserved the school (sack) lunch will be picking them up before leaving and taking them along home that day. On Thursday and Friday there is no school.
Also next week, we are beginning the first testing sessions of the WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examination). For your own information, our class will not be holding regular math class on any of the three days of school next week. We will be taking the three 4th grade Math sessions during each of the regularly scheduled math times, first hour of the morning. Also on Monday and Tuesday, we will be taking a Reading session at 12:05 each day. That leaves, for the following week, one more Reading session, two Language Arts sessions, and one Science and one Social Studies session. These exams will be spread out across the first 3 days of the following week, October 29, 30, 31. You should have found a complete schedule on a white sheet in your student's Take Home Folder this past week. If you have any questions at all, do not hesitate to email me. I have encouraged our kids to make sure they get a good night's sleep each night, and eat a 'good' breakfast each morning.
This coming week is also a national recognition of Character Education. To emphasize that good "Character Counts!" West Middleton students can "Turn Your Back On Disrespect" on Monday by wearing a shirt backwards. On Tuesday, we can wear comfy PJ type clothing for "Follow Your Dreams Through Good Character" day, and on Wednesday, we are wearing a shirt with numbers or a numbered jersey for "Count On Character" day.
The week of October 29 through November 2 also has some special events in our own classroom. We will be having a "Harvest Party" in our room on October 31st beginning at 2:00 pm. Thanks to some creative moms who have volunteered, we will enjoy some spooky snacks, and have a game and activity to celebrate this festive time of year. Take note - West Middleton Elementary does not encourage the wearing of any kind of Halloween costume that day. In addition, our class is ready to celebrate ourselves, for our noticeable progress in following our behavior rules and to celebrate the hard work and progress we are making with our classwork. (Yes, Mrs. Hannam's head has 'exploded' with the collection of good reports and observations about our kids - you can ask your student about this!) As a result, we have all agreed that November 1st will be a good day to devote to some of our favorite things: We will have math class, music class, art class, lots of 'stamina' silent read time, "Ivan" readaloud time, and hopefully a pizza lunch in our room that special day.
This coming week marks the beginning of a new "BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION" contest at West Middleton. Our classroom envelope has already collected a nice pile of Box Tops, but we are greedy, and want LOTS more than 'nice'!! So parents, thank you in advance for your patience as our students scrounge in cupboards and pantries, and for keeping a lookout in the grocery aisles for Box Top products. Each Box Top is worth 10 cents! All proceeds from our classrooms will go to the PTO for equipment and items for our building and playground.
With so much going on, yes, we are still holding substantive academic sessions each and every day! :) The Unit 2 math tests showed excellent results for our group, and we dove right into Unit 3 this past week. Please look over with your student the Progress Report in their Take Home Folder which gives you a picture of their progress with automaticity in recalling their math facts. (5th grade math students practice these with their 5th grade teacher.) You will be able to see which operations your student needs more practice on. This coming unit dives deep into their understanding of multiplication factors.
In Literacy we are continuing our study of character traits and how that helps us comprehend more deeply, and our class reading and discussion of "The One And Only Ivan" is really enhancing those lessons! We also made time during one of our very last beautiful weather days to visit our school prairie last week, and with clipboards in every hand, we all wrote down what we experienced with our senses out there! Wow - the beautiful, almost poetic descriptions that came out of that exercise was so impressive. In fact, we all agreed we should take some of our sentences and highlight them in large print around our room - so we will! And in science class we have been experimenting with magnetism as a lead in to more experiments with electricity - very fun!
Whew, lots going on and lots to tell you. Thanks for reading! As always, check the classroom blog and the homework page for daily listings of homework assignments and other reminders and deadlines. After next week, I will be confirming with each of you about our parent/student/teacher conference times which happen in mid November. The first trimester ends November 30th, with report cards ready for viewing the next week. I'll keep you posted on everything!!
Melanie Hannam
Saturday, October 6, 2012
October 5, 2012 Weekly Update
Happy October to our 4H Families!
We began our second month of 4th grade with our first field trip of the year, and luckily picked perhaps the last beautiful summerlike day on Wednesday to tour the World Dairy Expo. It was such a fun day and our students were all swept into a new world for a couple of hours. We will never find another place in which to see such a collection of the most pampered and cleanly groomed cows in the world - they were clearly treated like princesses! We learned about milking machines, and showmanship, and the dairy industry. A highlight for everyone was the chance to pet fuzzy Holstein calves curled up in crisp, clean straw beds. We met Alice in Dairyland and had a lesson in nutrition as well. Our kids were very well behaved, listened with good focus, and asked (for the most part!) intelligent questions of the many guides we encountered. Linley and I want to thank Trisha Pinka, Heather Bogner, Shaney Andler, Stephanie Reinke, and Vincent Pugliese for joining our group and keeping us all together as we wound our way through barns, tents, and the coliseum. We will have many good pictures to add to our classroom photo album.
Meanwhile, back in the classroom, we have continued with our progress in math class with place value, analyzing and creating tally charts and graphs, using data to figure the maximum, minimum, mode, range, and median values, as well as some substantial practice with carrying in addition. Next week, prepare for substantial practice with borrowing in subtraction. In another week we will be coming to the end of Unit 2 already. Please continue to examine your child's math books and work, ask them about these skills, and set aside time to practice basic facts as consistently as possible. I just heard of another study which reports that ability to accurately recall basic facts is one of the highest indicators of success in math. Both the 4th and 5th grade curriculums expect proficiency here, and all lessons are based on this expectation.
In reading class, we are developing our awareness of character traits and the influence this has on the entire story and our comprehension of the story. Our class read-aloud of "The One And Only Ivan" has been a perfect example of this - the better we get to know Ivan, the more we understand his story, and every aspect becomes so much more meaningful. The kids are responding to this so well - it's been really fun to share with them! In writing class this week, we celebrated how much writing we have produced so far, spreading all our projects across our desks, and organizing them into folders. We are in the process now of choosing our favorite piece to bring through the editing and publishing phases. I can tell many of our students are proud of their work. They ask to share their writing with the class, and that is also a valuable experience for everyone. We could spend half of every day just reading and writing - and some days, we just about do that! Also, the October Scholastic Book Orders went home on Friday, and we have until Monday, October 15 to turn in orders. The annual Scholastic Book Fair takes place in the WM Library all this coming week - flyers about this went home as well. I look forward to seeing many of you as you come to browse with your student.
We did make time to dig into developing our mapping skills this week. Everyone had chances to spread out their own Wisconsin State Road Map across their desks, and we have taken several 'trips' around our state, following each other's directions to find cities, rivers and lakes, highways, campgrounds and other landmarks. This is a perfect lead-in to our first chapter in our social studies books as we become experts on our state this year.
One last note: I will be leaving our classroom in the very capable hands of Linley Carlson and Shaney Andler on Thursday and Friday of this coming week, the 11th and 12th. I grew up in southern California, and It's tough to admit, but my 40th high school reunion takes place next weekend in Encinitas, just north of San Diego. I really debated about going, knowing it meant I'd miss a couple school days, but I decided I can't pass up the chance to see so many of my childhood friends and some of my all-time favorite places, all in one visit. I am even going to see one particular high school English teacher who was such a huge influence on my own writing and teaching journey. I can't wait to tell her how important her work with me became in my life (oh, what a taskmaster she was!!). I will catch up with you again the following weekend with my newsletter, and bring you all up to date again.
Thank you once again for tuning in to my notes, and for the privilege of working with your children.
Melanie Hannam
We began our second month of 4th grade with our first field trip of the year, and luckily picked perhaps the last beautiful summerlike day on Wednesday to tour the World Dairy Expo. It was such a fun day and our students were all swept into a new world for a couple of hours. We will never find another place in which to see such a collection of the most pampered and cleanly groomed cows in the world - they were clearly treated like princesses! We learned about milking machines, and showmanship, and the dairy industry. A highlight for everyone was the chance to pet fuzzy Holstein calves curled up in crisp, clean straw beds. We met Alice in Dairyland and had a lesson in nutrition as well. Our kids were very well behaved, listened with good focus, and asked (for the most part!) intelligent questions of the many guides we encountered. Linley and I want to thank Trisha Pinka, Heather Bogner, Shaney Andler, Stephanie Reinke, and Vincent Pugliese for joining our group and keeping us all together as we wound our way through barns, tents, and the coliseum. We will have many good pictures to add to our classroom photo album.
Meanwhile, back in the classroom, we have continued with our progress in math class with place value, analyzing and creating tally charts and graphs, using data to figure the maximum, minimum, mode, range, and median values, as well as some substantial practice with carrying in addition. Next week, prepare for substantial practice with borrowing in subtraction. In another week we will be coming to the end of Unit 2 already. Please continue to examine your child's math books and work, ask them about these skills, and set aside time to practice basic facts as consistently as possible. I just heard of another study which reports that ability to accurately recall basic facts is one of the highest indicators of success in math. Both the 4th and 5th grade curriculums expect proficiency here, and all lessons are based on this expectation.
In reading class, we are developing our awareness of character traits and the influence this has on the entire story and our comprehension of the story. Our class read-aloud of "The One And Only Ivan" has been a perfect example of this - the better we get to know Ivan, the more we understand his story, and every aspect becomes so much more meaningful. The kids are responding to this so well - it's been really fun to share with them! In writing class this week, we celebrated how much writing we have produced so far, spreading all our projects across our desks, and organizing them into folders. We are in the process now of choosing our favorite piece to bring through the editing and publishing phases. I can tell many of our students are proud of their work. They ask to share their writing with the class, and that is also a valuable experience for everyone. We could spend half of every day just reading and writing - and some days, we just about do that! Also, the October Scholastic Book Orders went home on Friday, and we have until Monday, October 15 to turn in orders. The annual Scholastic Book Fair takes place in the WM Library all this coming week - flyers about this went home as well. I look forward to seeing many of you as you come to browse with your student.
We did make time to dig into developing our mapping skills this week. Everyone had chances to spread out their own Wisconsin State Road Map across their desks, and we have taken several 'trips' around our state, following each other's directions to find cities, rivers and lakes, highways, campgrounds and other landmarks. This is a perfect lead-in to our first chapter in our social studies books as we become experts on our state this year.
One last note: I will be leaving our classroom in the very capable hands of Linley Carlson and Shaney Andler on Thursday and Friday of this coming week, the 11th and 12th. I grew up in southern California, and It's tough to admit, but my 40th high school reunion takes place next weekend in Encinitas, just north of San Diego. I really debated about going, knowing it meant I'd miss a couple school days, but I decided I can't pass up the chance to see so many of my childhood friends and some of my all-time favorite places, all in one visit. I am even going to see one particular high school English teacher who was such a huge influence on my own writing and teaching journey. I can't wait to tell her how important her work with me became in my life (oh, what a taskmaster she was!!). I will catch up with you again the following weekend with my newsletter, and bring you all up to date again.
Thank you once again for tuning in to my notes, and for the privilege of working with your children.
Melanie Hannam
Saturday, September 29, 2012
September 28, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to our 4H families. We talked in class this week how we are amazed it is the end of September already. We feel like we have known each other longer than one month. Every day I see relationships among our group grow and develop a better understanding of each other. A big challenge for many in our class is that of being able to follow directions accurately and promptly, and meeting our expectations for respectful listening and working together. I am beginning to see some students realizing that they must step up their efforts now that they are fourth graders and becoming among the oldest students in their school. I believe we are going to see some real maturing this year.
Thank you for looking over those first math tests which came home Friday, and having your student return them Monday if possible with your signature. I have appreciated your feedback to my note about our scoring protocol. We have jumped right into Unit 2, which so far is building upon past lessons about place value. Please continue to place a high priority on time at home for your student to practice their basic math facts in all 4 operations. We are doing 3 minute trials every morning to answer 100 facts in each operation. The students are tracking their results, and it is evident when they have put in some extra time to practice. Knowing their basic facts is a huge factor in being able to master the new skills being taught in the 4th grade curriculum!
When we all shared our highlight of the week with each other, I told the class that one of my favorite times was when we were writing this week. Your students are developing new found stamina in time spent just writing! They actually surprised me! Even those who struggle to get their ideas down on paper are making amazing progress in the amount of writing they are able to produce. We are finding stories inside ourselves that just come bubbling out! This is going to give every student so much to work with as they improve their descriptive storytelling, along with sentence and paragraph structure, spelling, and punctuation.
In reading, we are shifting from recognition of effective story settings to memorable character development. This has been really fun, as we practice visualizing colorful character traits and finding good descriptions in our own reading books. We continue to find time most days to have silent reading time, still a favorite of everyone in class, and we have added one more experience - we have begun a class read-aloud book called "The One and Only Ivan", by Katherine Applegate. This 300 page book looks simple, with uncrowded pages of writing, but it invites some deep thinking and rich discussion. Like Ivan (a gorilla!) says in the first pages: "Humans waste too many words." Your child and I will keep you posted on other Ivan thoughts and what we think of Ivan!
The big event next week is our trip on Wednesday to the World Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy Center. So far we have 4 parents coming to chaperone, and with Linley and myself, this gives us each groups of 4 students to guide. This is easily doable, but it would be more fun to have more of you, so let me know if I can add you to our 'troop'. Our class does stay together with our own Dairy Guide, but it is crowded there, and it is so nice to have many adult eyes helping to keep track of our kids. Remember, our buses will leave school at 10:50 that day, carpools of parents can follow buses in their cars, and we will return to school by 2:30. I have copies of maps of the grounds for every chaperone as well. A note about LUNCH that day: Students need to bring in a sack lunch (and some ordered the school's sack lunch) to eat in the classroom at 10:30 on Wednesday. It is an early lunch for us, but we also get treated to milk and cheese during our tour, which will hopefully fuel us through the day.
Thanks for reading my notes, and for all of your support! Melanie
Melanie Hannam
4th Grade Teacher
West Middleton Elementary
608-829-9398
mrshannamsclass.blogspot.com
Thank you for looking over those first math tests which came home Friday, and having your student return them Monday if possible with your signature. I have appreciated your feedback to my note about our scoring protocol. We have jumped right into Unit 2, which so far is building upon past lessons about place value. Please continue to place a high priority on time at home for your student to practice their basic math facts in all 4 operations. We are doing 3 minute trials every morning to answer 100 facts in each operation. The students are tracking their results, and it is evident when they have put in some extra time to practice. Knowing their basic facts is a huge factor in being able to master the new skills being taught in the 4th grade curriculum!
When we all shared our highlight of the week with each other, I told the class that one of my favorite times was when we were writing this week. Your students are developing new found stamina in time spent just writing! They actually surprised me! Even those who struggle to get their ideas down on paper are making amazing progress in the amount of writing they are able to produce. We are finding stories inside ourselves that just come bubbling out! This is going to give every student so much to work with as they improve their descriptive storytelling, along with sentence and paragraph structure, spelling, and punctuation.
In reading, we are shifting from recognition of effective story settings to memorable character development. This has been really fun, as we practice visualizing colorful character traits and finding good descriptions in our own reading books. We continue to find time most days to have silent reading time, still a favorite of everyone in class, and we have added one more experience - we have begun a class read-aloud book called "The One and Only Ivan", by Katherine Applegate. This 300 page book looks simple, with uncrowded pages of writing, but it invites some deep thinking and rich discussion. Like Ivan (a gorilla!) says in the first pages: "Humans waste too many words." Your child and I will keep you posted on other Ivan thoughts and what we think of Ivan!
The big event next week is our trip on Wednesday to the World Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy Center. So far we have 4 parents coming to chaperone, and with Linley and myself, this gives us each groups of 4 students to guide. This is easily doable, but it would be more fun to have more of you, so let me know if I can add you to our 'troop'. Our class does stay together with our own Dairy Guide, but it is crowded there, and it is so nice to have many adult eyes helping to keep track of our kids. Remember, our buses will leave school at 10:50 that day, carpools of parents can follow buses in their cars, and we will return to school by 2:30. I have copies of maps of the grounds for every chaperone as well. A note about LUNCH that day: Students need to bring in a sack lunch (and some ordered the school's sack lunch) to eat in the classroom at 10:30 on Wednesday. It is an early lunch for us, but we also get treated to milk and cheese during our tour, which will hopefully fuel us through the day.
Thanks for reading my notes, and for all of your support! Melanie
Melanie Hannam
4th Grade Teacher
West Middleton Elementary
608-829-9398
mrshannamsclass.blogspot.com
Saturday, September 22, 2012
September 21, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to all of our 4H Families!
Friday afternoon we all packed up and organized our belongings a little earlier than usual, and our class took the time to gather on the carpet together. Everyone had a chance to tell what parts of the past week were highlights for them. As each student took their turn to share, Linley and I could see the variety of ways our students have found connections to their work, their play, and each other. The highlight for us has been the truly amazing insights our students have been sharing in our discussions about our reading and our writing. Their responses show that they are already reaching deeper in their understanding of stories that they both hear together and read on their own. We are also seeing questions and contributions during math class that show developing reasoning skills, and their growing comfort level with asking questions and sharing their discoveries is helping their classmates learn. It isn't all coming from me - so cool! Amid all the academic learning going on, we are also consistently training for better listening skills, efficient use of time, and being helpful and supportive of each other. A couple of indoor recesses this week demonstrated that our kids are able to enjoy games together with beautiful cooperation. This looked very different from our first days in school when we couldn't even all sit on the carpet together without some 'scrapping' going on!
In our constant planning to make every part of our days together meaningful, we feel like we've made some really gratifying progress. We are seeing our 4th graders continue to develop stamina - this week we easily reached our goal of pin drop silence for independent reading for 20 minutes (celebrating ourselves with chocolate chip cookies!). They are pleading for a 30 minute session! This stamina has begun to transfer to our writing block, where we are starting to conference with individual students as they write. The willingness of most of our students to hoist themselves up into our 'author's chair' to read their writing to the class has been another favorite activity. Again, this is proving to be a valuable chance to learn from each other.
Nuts and bolts information: The first unit math test for 5th grade math students is Monday, and for 4th grade math students it is on Tuesday. 4th grade students should have brought home both math journals as well as a set of review problems to complete. My hope is that these review sheets will be a good check of understanding of the main concepts, and the books might be helpful for any questions. Take time to look the review over with your student this weekend, and on Monday we will check these together in a final practice for the unit test. After I get the tests checked, they will come home for your signature on a cover sheet, and I would like the tests all returned to me. I like to keep all the unit tests together for each student so we can keep track of their mastery and look at all of them at conference time. Thank you for doing this.
Speaking of math, some of our district math specialists have shared a link to an online math practice website with games and activities that look quite helpful for a wide variety of basic skills. It is https://sites.google.com/a/mcpasd.k12.wi.us/math-fun/ .
As we get acquainted with our state of Wisconsin, and prepare for our field trip on October 3rd to the World Dairy Expo, we have been learning about the breeds and the anatomy of the dairy cow! Shifting into Agribusiness next week, and some map study of our state is on the agenda for next week. I still need a few trip permission slips and $1 from students. Parents, if you can come with us (carpools from school can follow our bus to the Alliant Energy Center), we would LOVE to have you come. I have a list started and there is room for whomever can clear their schedule from 10:45 to 2:30 on October 3rd. Just let me know!
Picture Day on Friday went smoothly, and you should find your child's proof envelope in their Take Home Folder. You may send back to school your order, or do your ordering online. The retake day for pictures is October 16th. Envelopes can come back that day, but are not necessary.
Over the last two Fridays, our class was able to take our Fall, 2012 MAPS Assessment for Reading and Math in the computer lab. The results give us a look into the specific skills in these subjects where this particular test determines the skills your child has mastered, skills they are in the process of learning, and skills they need yet to acquire. I can use these results to guide my planning for lessons. These assessments will be done again in winter, and in spring - and we will look for progress made. The kids did a great job staying focused and they hung in there, hopefully doing their best job.
September Scholastic Book Orders were sent in this week, and during the first week of October, you will receive the choices for that month's ordering, if you so choose.
I have so appreciated your feedback as well as your willingness to keep me informed about your child, as I get to know each one better with every passing day. We keep developing our trust level, and that makes all the difference with how well your student learns and enjoys school. I am grateful for the privilege of working with your children.
Melanie Hannam
Friday afternoon we all packed up and organized our belongings a little earlier than usual, and our class took the time to gather on the carpet together. Everyone had a chance to tell what parts of the past week were highlights for them. As each student took their turn to share, Linley and I could see the variety of ways our students have found connections to their work, their play, and each other. The highlight for us has been the truly amazing insights our students have been sharing in our discussions about our reading and our writing. Their responses show that they are already reaching deeper in their understanding of stories that they both hear together and read on their own. We are also seeing questions and contributions during math class that show developing reasoning skills, and their growing comfort level with asking questions and sharing their discoveries is helping their classmates learn. It isn't all coming from me - so cool! Amid all the academic learning going on, we are also consistently training for better listening skills, efficient use of time, and being helpful and supportive of each other. A couple of indoor recesses this week demonstrated that our kids are able to enjoy games together with beautiful cooperation. This looked very different from our first days in school when we couldn't even all sit on the carpet together without some 'scrapping' going on!
In our constant planning to make every part of our days together meaningful, we feel like we've made some really gratifying progress. We are seeing our 4th graders continue to develop stamina - this week we easily reached our goal of pin drop silence for independent reading for 20 minutes (celebrating ourselves with chocolate chip cookies!). They are pleading for a 30 minute session! This stamina has begun to transfer to our writing block, where we are starting to conference with individual students as they write. The willingness of most of our students to hoist themselves up into our 'author's chair' to read their writing to the class has been another favorite activity. Again, this is proving to be a valuable chance to learn from each other.
Nuts and bolts information: The first unit math test for 5th grade math students is Monday, and for 4th grade math students it is on Tuesday. 4th grade students should have brought home both math journals as well as a set of review problems to complete. My hope is that these review sheets will be a good check of understanding of the main concepts, and the books might be helpful for any questions. Take time to look the review over with your student this weekend, and on Monday we will check these together in a final practice for the unit test. After I get the tests checked, they will come home for your signature on a cover sheet, and I would like the tests all returned to me. I like to keep all the unit tests together for each student so we can keep track of their mastery and look at all of them at conference time. Thank you for doing this.
Speaking of math, some of our district math specialists have shared a link to an online math practice website with games and activities that look quite helpful for a wide variety of basic skills. It is https://sites.google.com/a/mcpasd.k12.wi.us/math-fun/ .
As we get acquainted with our state of Wisconsin, and prepare for our field trip on October 3rd to the World Dairy Expo, we have been learning about the breeds and the anatomy of the dairy cow! Shifting into Agribusiness next week, and some map study of our state is on the agenda for next week. I still need a few trip permission slips and $1 from students. Parents, if you can come with us (carpools from school can follow our bus to the Alliant Energy Center), we would LOVE to have you come. I have a list started and there is room for whomever can clear their schedule from 10:45 to 2:30 on October 3rd. Just let me know!
Picture Day on Friday went smoothly, and you should find your child's proof envelope in their Take Home Folder. You may send back to school your order, or do your ordering online. The retake day for pictures is October 16th. Envelopes can come back that day, but are not necessary.
Over the last two Fridays, our class was able to take our Fall, 2012 MAPS Assessment for Reading and Math in the computer lab. The results give us a look into the specific skills in these subjects where this particular test determines the skills your child has mastered, skills they are in the process of learning, and skills they need yet to acquire. I can use these results to guide my planning for lessons. These assessments will be done again in winter, and in spring - and we will look for progress made. The kids did a great job staying focused and they hung in there, hopefully doing their best job.
September Scholastic Book Orders were sent in this week, and during the first week of October, you will receive the choices for that month's ordering, if you so choose.
I have so appreciated your feedback as well as your willingness to keep me informed about your child, as I get to know each one better with every passing day. We keep developing our trust level, and that makes all the difference with how well your student learns and enjoys school. I am grateful for the privilege of working with your children.
Melanie Hannam
Saturday, September 15, 2012
September 14, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to our 4th grade families!
We filled our first full week of school with our first lessons in math, reading, writing, and social studies. We are getting closer each day to our prescribed schedule, but we are also still making time to continue practicing our routines and expectations. We are working the most on respectful listening to both each other and the teacher. We also fit in a few 'story times' where the students get the chance to share their experiences (and then we turn them into writing ideas! :) ). Our class is very proud of our rather effortless reach toward our goal of 20 minutes of reading 'stamina'. This has turned out to be a favorite part of the day for all of us - pindrop silent time to get lost in our reading books. We all want more - that's a great situation to have in our clasroom!
Math lessons have begun with geometry - segments, lines, rays, angles, polygons... I have been insisting that each student brings home the two math journal/studylinks each night (even if they feel they have completed the assignment), so that they will show you and can explain to you what they learned and practiced that day. Please ask your student to demonstrate to you what they did in math that day, and that will give you both a good idea if they are grasping the new concept. I tell the kids that if they are able to explain and demonstrate the concept to someone else, it helps them learn more deeply, and they prove to themselves that they understand it. There was so much new vocabulary to grasp this week, that on Friday we cut back and spent the class hour reviewing and giving more practice on all of the previous 4 lessons. We continue to review each day as we add new concepts, so if it appears uncertain after the first day, we have more chances to practice and ask questions.
We've tied our reading and writing lessons together as we examine what makes for an effective description of 'setting' in a story. We have also been practicing together how to write a "Thoughtful Log" entry after hearing/reading a story. We have turned our composition notebooks into these Thoughtful Logs, and have begun using them to respond in writing about our connections with the reading piece, as well as share our opinions and answer with some deeper thinking comprehension skills. Our first lessons have generated some valuable discussions with our class already, and I can't wait to see how this will translate into more reflective writing and the growth of comprehension skills.
Has your student come home with some 'udderly' amazing facts about dairy cows? (sorry, couldn't resist) We jumped into Wisconsin Agriculture with a study of the six major breeds of dairy cows and more crazy information about these unique animals than we ever knew existed! Some of the students even asked to have copies made of these facts to take home, and so I will do that for everyone. We received confirmation this week that we are approved for our trip to the 2012 World Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy grounds on Wednesday, October 3rd. All three 4th grade classes will leave on a bus at 10:50 am that day (we'll have an early 'lunch' at 10:30 in the room that morning), and will meet our tour guides at 11:30. We will leave the grounds by 2 pm so that we are back to school in time for buses home. Any and all parents that are interested in joining us - please know that you are welcome!! We'd love to have you tour around with us - the more the merrier - plus, the smaller our groups of kids among us, the easier it will be. We will see grooming, milking, judging, calves, and more. Last year, it worked well for parent chaperones to meet at school, carpool in a few cars, and follow the buses there. So let me know if I can put you on our parent chaperone list and I will keep everyone informed as we come closer to October 3rd.
Our September Scholastic Book Order forms went home last Monday. This Monday, the 17th, is the last day to send in your money and orders, and I will get them sent out. I want to thank the many parents who have volunteered to help with room celebrations and special events, and a big thank you to Stephanie Reinke for becoming our PTO Representative. Any news from the WM PTO will come to you through her. The new tie dye T-shirt project began on Thursday in art class, and next Thursday will be the big dye day! Thank you to Jean Yosick and Joyce Rolnick for coming in to help us there! Check the Google Calendar on our classroom website for upcoming school events, especially Picture Day on September 21, and the Back To School Night event on September 28.
As always, I invite you to email me any concerns, questions, and information you need to tell me regarding your student - I find them very helpful! Here's to a renewing weekend, and an energy filled week ahead! Melanie
We filled our first full week of school with our first lessons in math, reading, writing, and social studies. We are getting closer each day to our prescribed schedule, but we are also still making time to continue practicing our routines and expectations. We are working the most on respectful listening to both each other and the teacher. We also fit in a few 'story times' where the students get the chance to share their experiences (and then we turn them into writing ideas! :) ). Our class is very proud of our rather effortless reach toward our goal of 20 minutes of reading 'stamina'. This has turned out to be a favorite part of the day for all of us - pindrop silent time to get lost in our reading books. We all want more - that's a great situation to have in our clasroom!
Math lessons have begun with geometry - segments, lines, rays, angles, polygons... I have been insisting that each student brings home the two math journal/studylinks each night (even if they feel they have completed the assignment), so that they will show you and can explain to you what they learned and practiced that day. Please ask your student to demonstrate to you what they did in math that day, and that will give you both a good idea if they are grasping the new concept. I tell the kids that if they are able to explain and demonstrate the concept to someone else, it helps them learn more deeply, and they prove to themselves that they understand it. There was so much new vocabulary to grasp this week, that on Friday we cut back and spent the class hour reviewing and giving more practice on all of the previous 4 lessons. We continue to review each day as we add new concepts, so if it appears uncertain after the first day, we have more chances to practice and ask questions.
We've tied our reading and writing lessons together as we examine what makes for an effective description of 'setting' in a story. We have also been practicing together how to write a "Thoughtful Log" entry after hearing/reading a story. We have turned our composition notebooks into these Thoughtful Logs, and have begun using them to respond in writing about our connections with the reading piece, as well as share our opinions and answer with some deeper thinking comprehension skills. Our first lessons have generated some valuable discussions with our class already, and I can't wait to see how this will translate into more reflective writing and the growth of comprehension skills.
Has your student come home with some 'udderly' amazing facts about dairy cows? (sorry, couldn't resist) We jumped into Wisconsin Agriculture with a study of the six major breeds of dairy cows and more crazy information about these unique animals than we ever knew existed! Some of the students even asked to have copies made of these facts to take home, and so I will do that for everyone. We received confirmation this week that we are approved for our trip to the 2012 World Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy grounds on Wednesday, October 3rd. All three 4th grade classes will leave on a bus at 10:50 am that day (we'll have an early 'lunch' at 10:30 in the room that morning), and will meet our tour guides at 11:30. We will leave the grounds by 2 pm so that we are back to school in time for buses home. Any and all parents that are interested in joining us - please know that you are welcome!! We'd love to have you tour around with us - the more the merrier - plus, the smaller our groups of kids among us, the easier it will be. We will see grooming, milking, judging, calves, and more. Last year, it worked well for parent chaperones to meet at school, carpool in a few cars, and follow the buses there. So let me know if I can put you on our parent chaperone list and I will keep everyone informed as we come closer to October 3rd.
Our September Scholastic Book Order forms went home last Monday. This Monday, the 17th, is the last day to send in your money and orders, and I will get them sent out. I want to thank the many parents who have volunteered to help with room celebrations and special events, and a big thank you to Stephanie Reinke for becoming our PTO Representative. Any news from the WM PTO will come to you through her. The new tie dye T-shirt project began on Thursday in art class, and next Thursday will be the big dye day! Thank you to Jean Yosick and Joyce Rolnick for coming in to help us there! Check the Google Calendar on our classroom website for upcoming school events, especially Picture Day on September 21, and the Back To School Night event on September 28.
As always, I invite you to email me any concerns, questions, and information you need to tell me regarding your student - I find them very helpful! Here's to a renewing weekend, and an energy filled week ahead! Melanie
Saturday, September 8, 2012
September 7, 2012 Newsletter
Hello to all of our "4H" families after our first week of school!
What a full and busy week this has been! I so enjoyed meeting each of you on Orientation Day, and it was so helpful to be able to have our first conversations about your 4th grader. I feel like I had so much I wanted to share with you, and I appreciated having that chance to fill you in on so many details. These newsletters will give you all a chance to stay caught up on events and activities week by week. I will be emailing my notes to our classroom group - if you would prefer additional email destinations, or want to change where my notes go, feel free to email me your preferences, and I can adjust the list. I will also be copying my newsletters to our classroom blog each week.
With each of the past three days in our classroom, our group has become more and more of a community. We've had such a solid beginning to getting acquainted with each other. We have two students in our room who are new to West Middleton this year, and I am very pleased and proud to see how welcoming and helpful and friendly our classmates have been. It is a priority in our room to treat each other with respect and helpfulness, and I saw many examples of that each day already. Miss Carlson, our student teacher, and I have really enjoyed seeing how each of our students has opened up more each day, sharing their personalities and ideas and stories.
We have spent much of each day introducing our class to many of the expectations and routines we will be following throughout the year. We are already getting very efficient about transitioning quickly and quietly between our desks and carpet meeting area, and achieving "pencil" straight and quiet lines in the hallways and after recesses (a beautiful sight to behold!). We've been practicing quick responses to our classroom signal for attention (ask your student about "uno, dos, tres..."). Time spent perfecting these skills pays off all year in very few wasted minutes. With every year, I feel more and more the pressure to make every minute we are together more productive, because there is so very much to learn!
We also got an amazing start toward developing "stamina". We are all challenging ourselves to extend the number of minutes each day that we can ALL remain focused, without a single interruption, on our reading and writing. The kids are all motivated to see how long we can go, and we are loving the chances to read and get lost in our books in a pin-drop silent room (we could actually hear the pin drop - even with the ventilation system blowing!). I am very much enjoying the groans when the timer goes off after each reading session. I have found that the wonderful benefit of practicing the discipline it takes for this silent reading time transfers to our quiet work times in other subjects!
Thank you to all who indicated that you would be available at certain points to help us out with special events like field trips, classroom celebrations, and some classwork. Some of you expressed to me that you might be willing to be a PTO classroom representative and/or a room parent. If we have more than one doing this, you can work as a team, making it super easy. Would you please email me if you are willing to help out here, and then I will put you in touch with each other? Thanks so much! I can share my family email list with you so it will be easy to send out PTO news notes, or any other notes for our classroom families.
Please take note: After the first two days, we saw it became necessary to rearrange our Daily Schedule in several ways! Most notably, our lunch time is now 11:10 to 11:40. That change resulted in changes to our reading and writing blocks. I sent home a revised Daily Schedule grid, so hopefully you found it in your 4th grader's Take Home Folder. I have also made the changes to the Schedule Page on our classroom blog.
On Monday, we begin our first math lesson in our new journals. We will also take the next steps with our Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop, and begin getting acquainted with our beautiful state of Wisconsin. I will begin daily posts to our blog's Homework Page. Please always feel free to email me any of your questions or concerns, and any notes about your child that I should know - it's so helpful! If you call my classroom number, I will always return your call as soon as I possibly can.
I am so excited to have your children in my room this year, and I look forward to sharing all the challenges and triumphs of Fourth Grade with them and with you. Melanie
What a full and busy week this has been! I so enjoyed meeting each of you on Orientation Day, and it was so helpful to be able to have our first conversations about your 4th grader. I feel like I had so much I wanted to share with you, and I appreciated having that chance to fill you in on so many details. These newsletters will give you all a chance to stay caught up on events and activities week by week. I will be emailing my notes to our classroom group - if you would prefer additional email destinations, or want to change where my notes go, feel free to email me your preferences, and I can adjust the list. I will also be copying my newsletters to our classroom blog each week.
With each of the past three days in our classroom, our group has become more and more of a community. We've had such a solid beginning to getting acquainted with each other. We have two students in our room who are new to West Middleton this year, and I am very pleased and proud to see how welcoming and helpful and friendly our classmates have been. It is a priority in our room to treat each other with respect and helpfulness, and I saw many examples of that each day already. Miss Carlson, our student teacher, and I have really enjoyed seeing how each of our students has opened up more each day, sharing their personalities and ideas and stories.
We have spent much of each day introducing our class to many of the expectations and routines we will be following throughout the year. We are already getting very efficient about transitioning quickly and quietly between our desks and carpet meeting area, and achieving "pencil" straight and quiet lines in the hallways and after recesses (a beautiful sight to behold!). We've been practicing quick responses to our classroom signal for attention (ask your student about "uno, dos, tres..."). Time spent perfecting these skills pays off all year in very few wasted minutes. With every year, I feel more and more the pressure to make every minute we are together more productive, because there is so very much to learn!
We also got an amazing start toward developing "stamina". We are all challenging ourselves to extend the number of minutes each day that we can ALL remain focused, without a single interruption, on our reading and writing. The kids are all motivated to see how long we can go, and we are loving the chances to read and get lost in our books in a pin-drop silent room (we could actually hear the pin drop - even with the ventilation system blowing!). I am very much enjoying the groans when the timer goes off after each reading session. I have found that the wonderful benefit of practicing the discipline it takes for this silent reading time transfers to our quiet work times in other subjects!
Thank you to all who indicated that you would be available at certain points to help us out with special events like field trips, classroom celebrations, and some classwork. Some of you expressed to me that you might be willing to be a PTO classroom representative and/or a room parent. If we have more than one doing this, you can work as a team, making it super easy. Would you please email me if you are willing to help out here, and then I will put you in touch with each other? Thanks so much! I can share my family email list with you so it will be easy to send out PTO news notes, or any other notes for our classroom families.
Please take note: After the first two days, we saw it became necessary to rearrange our Daily Schedule in several ways! Most notably, our lunch time is now 11:10 to 11:40. That change resulted in changes to our reading and writing blocks. I sent home a revised Daily Schedule grid, so hopefully you found it in your 4th grader's Take Home Folder. I have also made the changes to the Schedule Page on our classroom blog.
On Monday, we begin our first math lesson in our new journals. We will also take the next steps with our Reader's Workshop and Writer's Workshop, and begin getting acquainted with our beautiful state of Wisconsin. I will begin daily posts to our blog's Homework Page. Please always feel free to email me any of your questions or concerns, and any notes about your child that I should know - it's so helpful! If you call my classroom number, I will always return your call as soon as I possibly can.
I am so excited to have your children in my room this year, and I look forward to sharing all the challenges and triumphs of Fourth Grade with them and with you. Melanie
Friday, August 31, 2012
Welcome to 4th grade: 2012-2013
Hello to all of my new fourth graders this year! I can't wait to meet each of you, and I look forward to seeing you and your family on Tuesday, September 4th. You have a choice to come at 8:00 am, 9:30 am, or 11:00 am to Room 117. Bring your supplies that day if you'd like, and pick a desk! We will figure out all the rest when we are together. Can't wait! Mrs. Hannam
Friday, June 1, 2012
June 1, 2012 Weekly Update
Dear Families,
We have reached the last week of school, and I can't believe it. We held our last all-school assembly this morning, using that chance to gather our West Middleton family together to honor Mr. Rykal as he begins his retirement with the end of the school year. Yearbooks will be given out during the coming week, and we will all write each other one last fourth grade note. You will see various folders and projects coming home throughout the week, so that by Friday June 8th, all gear, supplies, and papers should have found their way home. Report cards will come home Friday as well. Thankfully, the best thing of all won't end with that last class period on June 8th, and that will be all the hundreds of precious memories we have created together in our Room 117 Community. The friendships, the shared triumphs, the hard work, the laughs, the projects, the new knowledge and that joy of discovery... we will always have those. I know I will always remember this special group with great fondness, and what a most wonderful year it has been. Thank you for trusting me with your children - it has been my pleasure! Oh, I will surely miss them this summer!
We have been presenting our State Reports/Posters all week, and how we have all learned from each other. The students uncovered and displayed so many interesting facts about their states! I sat and learned right along with everyone else. To 'sweeten' the whole endeavor, several of our students brought along delicious 'props' to enhance their presentations - and wow! - we got spoiled this week! Thank you to the Lindbloms for Cecilie's New York Cheesecake (with three kinds of fresh berries), to the Lynch's for Buddy's Arizona Chocolate Chip Cookies, to the Deptula's for Cole's North Carolina Krispie Kreme Doughnuts (these were invented there, you know!), to Katie Joslyn for showering us with our own Mardi Gras beads from New Orleans, Louisiana, and finally, to the Hipwell's for Noah's Smith Island (Maryland) Seven Layer Cake! Oh, my! Our study of the United States has become quite fattening! We have more reports to share yet in the coming week.
We have just about completed the last unit of our Everyday Math curriculum, which has been all about rates and averages, and conversions between units of measure. We will spend several class periods during our last week reviewing the main concepts from the year, which we all hope no one EVER forgets! That review will take the form of a friendly multi-day contest, which makes it more fun. Also, remember that the yellow math folders coming home will contain every unit test from the year, and these provide a nice overview of the skills we covered, which would be good practice for warmups before starting 5th grade. I will also send home each student's set of two math journals, which give more examples for practice.
When you see your student's Language Binder come home next week with all their writing projects collected, take a look at the front pages. During the first week of school, they each filled out a couple of "time capsule" lists of their current preferences and opinions. They will get a chance to fill these out again in their last week, and have fun comparing where they have changed - or not! They haven't seen the September questionnaires since they filled them out. It will be interesting. Both sets of pages will be put into the front of their Binders.
We picked the chilliest day of this past week to go touring outside at Little Norway and the Cave of the Mounds, but we didn't get rained on, and we kept moving, so that helped. It was a great day. Little Norway is so beautifully landscaped, with buildings and artifacts so carefully preserved, and the guides explained the history of this settlement so clearly. The presentations of the guides at the Cave were also very thorough, and our students proudly proved themselves as they knew how to answer most every question about rocks and minerals. The hike through the amazing cave was the highlight of the day. This would surely be worth a family trip this summer. The guides were so full of information and there was just so much to take in, as I'm sure you heard, we ended up coming back a few minutes late to school, and EVERYONE had to wait for us! Yikes! (We tried a story about how a giant stalactite broke loose in front of the cave entrance, trapping us all inside, but that didn't fly, for some reason...) :) I want to send a very big THANK YOU to the parents who took the whole day to join us and help keep track of everyone: John Pertzborn-Jensen, Laura Lynch, Josephine, Renee Dahlk, Beth Graf, Tiffany Jones, and Tammy Bursac.
I hope I may have a chance to see some of you before we begin our summer vacations, and we can always email. I check email throughout the summer, so if anyone - parents and kids - want to write any notes, I will find them promptly and answer back. This will probably be my last weekly update, but if any other information needs to be shared, I will be in touch again. It's hard to say goodbye, but I expect to get many visitors from 5th grade next year - hint, hint! Best wishes for a wonderful summertime for all! Melanie
We have reached the last week of school, and I can't believe it. We held our last all-school assembly this morning, using that chance to gather our West Middleton family together to honor Mr. Rykal as he begins his retirement with the end of the school year. Yearbooks will be given out during the coming week, and we will all write each other one last fourth grade note. You will see various folders and projects coming home throughout the week, so that by Friday June 8th, all gear, supplies, and papers should have found their way home. Report cards will come home Friday as well. Thankfully, the best thing of all won't end with that last class period on June 8th, and that will be all the hundreds of precious memories we have created together in our Room 117 Community. The friendships, the shared triumphs, the hard work, the laughs, the projects, the new knowledge and that joy of discovery... we will always have those. I know I will always remember this special group with great fondness, and what a most wonderful year it has been. Thank you for trusting me with your children - it has been my pleasure! Oh, I will surely miss them this summer!
We have been presenting our State Reports/Posters all week, and how we have all learned from each other. The students uncovered and displayed so many interesting facts about their states! I sat and learned right along with everyone else. To 'sweeten' the whole endeavor, several of our students brought along delicious 'props' to enhance their presentations - and wow! - we got spoiled this week! Thank you to the Lindbloms for Cecilie's New York Cheesecake (with three kinds of fresh berries), to the Lynch's for Buddy's Arizona Chocolate Chip Cookies, to the Deptula's for Cole's North Carolina Krispie Kreme Doughnuts (these were invented there, you know!), to Katie Joslyn for showering us with our own Mardi Gras beads from New Orleans, Louisiana, and finally, to the Hipwell's for Noah's Smith Island (Maryland) Seven Layer Cake! Oh, my! Our study of the United States has become quite fattening! We have more reports to share yet in the coming week.
We have just about completed the last unit of our Everyday Math curriculum, which has been all about rates and averages, and conversions between units of measure. We will spend several class periods during our last week reviewing the main concepts from the year, which we all hope no one EVER forgets! That review will take the form of a friendly multi-day contest, which makes it more fun. Also, remember that the yellow math folders coming home will contain every unit test from the year, and these provide a nice overview of the skills we covered, which would be good practice for warmups before starting 5th grade. I will also send home each student's set of two math journals, which give more examples for practice.
When you see your student's Language Binder come home next week with all their writing projects collected, take a look at the front pages. During the first week of school, they each filled out a couple of "time capsule" lists of their current preferences and opinions. They will get a chance to fill these out again in their last week, and have fun comparing where they have changed - or not! They haven't seen the September questionnaires since they filled them out. It will be interesting. Both sets of pages will be put into the front of their Binders.
We picked the chilliest day of this past week to go touring outside at Little Norway and the Cave of the Mounds, but we didn't get rained on, and we kept moving, so that helped. It was a great day. Little Norway is so beautifully landscaped, with buildings and artifacts so carefully preserved, and the guides explained the history of this settlement so clearly. The presentations of the guides at the Cave were also very thorough, and our students proudly proved themselves as they knew how to answer most every question about rocks and minerals. The hike through the amazing cave was the highlight of the day. This would surely be worth a family trip this summer. The guides were so full of information and there was just so much to take in, as I'm sure you heard, we ended up coming back a few minutes late to school, and EVERYONE had to wait for us! Yikes! (We tried a story about how a giant stalactite broke loose in front of the cave entrance, trapping us all inside, but that didn't fly, for some reason...) :) I want to send a very big THANK YOU to the parents who took the whole day to join us and help keep track of everyone: John Pertzborn-Jensen, Laura Lynch, Josephine, Renee Dahlk, Beth Graf, Tiffany Jones, and Tammy Bursac.
I hope I may have a chance to see some of you before we begin our summer vacations, and we can always email. I check email throughout the summer, so if anyone - parents and kids - want to write any notes, I will find them promptly and answer back. This will probably be my last weekly update, but if any other information needs to be shared, I will be in touch again. It's hard to say goodbye, but I expect to get many visitors from 5th grade next year - hint, hint! Best wishes for a wonderful summertime for all! Melanie
Saturday, May 26, 2012
May 25, 2012 Weekly Update
Dear Families - Energy levels rose noticeably as this past week drew to a close! Even though just about every one of us seems to have so much to comment on throughout our days, and there are SO many stories to tell, happily we are still getting plenty of work done. That is a good thing, since we still have so much to do, even as our days together are rapidly dwindling -yikes! In Math, we completed Unit 11, and you should find your student's final test in the take home folder, waiting for you to look it over and sign. These tests should come back to school on Tuesday, so we may add them to our math folders. This yellow folder will come home to you the last week of school, and will contain an excellent summary of math skills covered in 4th grade (great for review over the summer :) ). We have just enough math periods left to cover the final few lessons in Unit 12 during our last days.
In Social Studies, our kids have not lost their enthusiam for their State research project. We do our best to make time each day to work on them, but for those who are not yet done, it will be important to put in some extra time at home to complete notes, pictures, and maps for the poster presentation. Everyone has signed up for a particular day over the next week or so in which to present their project to the rest of the class. Notes on the poster do not have to be typed - they may be handwritten. Also, on Tuesday, May 29th, when we return to school, we will take time to celebrate the anniversary of Wisconsin achieving statehood in 1848. (We will enjoy some of our state's favorite treats!) We are also squeezing in all the time we can find to explore the different regions of our country. Today we watched a breathtakingly beautiful National Geographic video presentation on the Appalachian Trail! Sorry, parents, if your student came home begging to go hiking there! Ha! It's only 2,175 miles stretching from Georgia to Maine!
Today we also shared with each other a story we had all written over the past week about our ideal way to spend a carefree Saturday if we could choose our favorite things to do. It was really fun to hear the variety of choices everyone came up with for their day! All the writing projects we have done in 4th grade will come home (including their writing journal) in a special Language Binder. This should be a fun keepsake to enjoy years from now for you and your student.
Other news includes the fact that we have one more week to collect Box Tops For Education. We aren't breaking any records this time, but we are up to 245 - and our entire school has collected enough for new swings and bars on the playground, which will get installed this summer. Also, would you remind your student that all school library books are expected to be returned during the coming week? Thank you! In addition, I learned today that school yearbooks will be distributed on June 1st. One more item is that there will be a West Middleton Family (bring your own) Picnic at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, June 5th, so that everyone may have a chance to wish our principal Mr. Rykal a most happy retirement.
Remember that next week on Thursday we will be taking our field trip to Little Norway and Cave of the Mounds. Watch the weather report, so that students can dress appropriately. Even if it is a hot day, the temperature in the Cave will only be in the 50's. We plan to board the bus and be on our way by 9:20 the morning of May 31st, and will get back in time to catch the usual buses (or rides) for home. For the parents who have planned to join us and chaperone, feel free to come on down to Room 117 soon after 9:00 am, and you can meet and decide how to carpool together. We have 4 students who have decided to buy the school sack lunch, and they will be ready for us that morning, and all other students (and parents!) should remember to bring a completely disposable lunch and drink, in a bag marked with their name. We will put them all together when we get to school that day. There are gift shops at both destinations, and students will get a brief time to make purchases at each place (completely optional!). Students are responsible for keeping their own money safe. If you have any other questions about that day, feel free to email me.
May you enjoy the longer holiday weekend! I will stay in touch as we approach our final week of 4th grade! Melanie
In Social Studies, our kids have not lost their enthusiam for their State research project. We do our best to make time each day to work on them, but for those who are not yet done, it will be important to put in some extra time at home to complete notes, pictures, and maps for the poster presentation. Everyone has signed up for a particular day over the next week or so in which to present their project to the rest of the class. Notes on the poster do not have to be typed - they may be handwritten. Also, on Tuesday, May 29th, when we return to school, we will take time to celebrate the anniversary of Wisconsin achieving statehood in 1848. (We will enjoy some of our state's favorite treats!) We are also squeezing in all the time we can find to explore the different regions of our country. Today we watched a breathtakingly beautiful National Geographic video presentation on the Appalachian Trail! Sorry, parents, if your student came home begging to go hiking there! Ha! It's only 2,175 miles stretching from Georgia to Maine!
Today we also shared with each other a story we had all written over the past week about our ideal way to spend a carefree Saturday if we could choose our favorite things to do. It was really fun to hear the variety of choices everyone came up with for their day! All the writing projects we have done in 4th grade will come home (including their writing journal) in a special Language Binder. This should be a fun keepsake to enjoy years from now for you and your student.
Other news includes the fact that we have one more week to collect Box Tops For Education. We aren't breaking any records this time, but we are up to 245 - and our entire school has collected enough for new swings and bars on the playground, which will get installed this summer. Also, would you remind your student that all school library books are expected to be returned during the coming week? Thank you! In addition, I learned today that school yearbooks will be distributed on June 1st. One more item is that there will be a West Middleton Family (bring your own) Picnic at 5:30 pm on Tuesday, June 5th, so that everyone may have a chance to wish our principal Mr. Rykal a most happy retirement.
Remember that next week on Thursday we will be taking our field trip to Little Norway and Cave of the Mounds. Watch the weather report, so that students can dress appropriately. Even if it is a hot day, the temperature in the Cave will only be in the 50's. We plan to board the bus and be on our way by 9:20 the morning of May 31st, and will get back in time to catch the usual buses (or rides) for home. For the parents who have planned to join us and chaperone, feel free to come on down to Room 117 soon after 9:00 am, and you can meet and decide how to carpool together. We have 4 students who have decided to buy the school sack lunch, and they will be ready for us that morning, and all other students (and parents!) should remember to bring a completely disposable lunch and drink, in a bag marked with their name. We will put them all together when we get to school that day. There are gift shops at both destinations, and students will get a brief time to make purchases at each place (completely optional!). Students are responsible for keeping their own money safe. If you have any other questions about that day, feel free to email me.
May you enjoy the longer holiday weekend! I will stay in touch as we approach our final week of 4th grade! Melanie
Saturday, May 19, 2012
May 18, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello, families. I am very proud of our 4th graders. They are hanging in beautifully and continuing to work hard and stay focused, even as the calendar on the wall clearly shows us the dwindling number of days left in our school year. Everyone has been trying their best to grasp addition and subtraction with negative numbers this past week, which has been quite challenging for all. We begin the mastery of these skills in 4th grade, aiming for secure status in 5th grade, but many in our class are approaching mastery this year! We have been reviewing and practicing the Unit 11 lessons this week, and will take the final test around the middle of next week. We have also been working on volume and capacity, using both the customary and metric measures. This is also quite challenging, and it has helped us to be able to experiment with measuring cups and containers, pouring water, comparing liters and quarts, etc.
Social Studies is the favorite subject these days, with each student well into their research for their State Presentation, drawing maps and collecting facts and pictures for their poster board. We have decided on a deadline of next week Friday to try to be done with the project. Even though we can devote at least one class period most days to working on this project, some students need to spend some time at home typing or printing their information and pictures. This group does so well with self-directed learning - their own motivation and excitement over discovering new information is the driving force, which is so exciting to witness. In Science, we have been examining very cool samples of a wide selection (5 tubs!) of rocks and minerals. We will wind up our study this coming week with some teamwork research on facts about igneous, sedimentary, and igneous rocks and their origins.
This week on May 17, which is the Norwegian holiday of Syttende Mai, we were surprised with a very special treat from Cecilie and her family to celebrate this day commemorating independence for Norway in 1814. We extended our afternoon recess outside to eat vanilla ice cream topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries - wow! Thank you so very much!
We still have at least one spelling list to master, as well as another writing assignment or two! As we approach the last two weeks of school, we have been making plans to fit in some special activities, like some Mad Libs stories (great for reinforcing parts of speech), some breathtaking National Geographic videos of our national parks, our field trip day on May 31st, some extra outdoor games, a walk in our prairie... We will come to our last days together with a flourish! We will keep you informed! Melanie
Social Studies is the favorite subject these days, with each student well into their research for their State Presentation, drawing maps and collecting facts and pictures for their poster board. We have decided on a deadline of next week Friday to try to be done with the project. Even though we can devote at least one class period most days to working on this project, some students need to spend some time at home typing or printing their information and pictures. This group does so well with self-directed learning - their own motivation and excitement over discovering new information is the driving force, which is so exciting to witness. In Science, we have been examining very cool samples of a wide selection (5 tubs!) of rocks and minerals. We will wind up our study this coming week with some teamwork research on facts about igneous, sedimentary, and igneous rocks and their origins.
This week on May 17, which is the Norwegian holiday of Syttende Mai, we were surprised with a very special treat from Cecilie and her family to celebrate this day commemorating independence for Norway in 1814. We extended our afternoon recess outside to eat vanilla ice cream topped with fresh strawberries and blueberries - wow! Thank you so very much!
We still have at least one spelling list to master, as well as another writing assignment or two! As we approach the last two weeks of school, we have been making plans to fit in some special activities, like some Mad Libs stories (great for reinforcing parts of speech), some breathtaking National Geographic videos of our national parks, our field trip day on May 31st, some extra outdoor games, a walk in our prairie... We will come to our last days together with a flourish! We will keep you informed! Melanie
Friday, May 11, 2012
May 11, 2012 Weekly Update
Thank you! Thank you! I felt like a most cherished teacher all week long! I was presented with thoughtful, generous gifts each and every day - Wow! Our classroom and my desk are now decorated with a gorgeous big flower pot, handmade bookmarks, a vase filled with chocolate, beautifully framed poems and words of appreciation (one in the form of a green 'thumbprint' tree made with the special prints of each student), a poster message covered in candy (the kids have been eyeing that one every hour!), and two gift cards for books and tea! You are all so giving, and I am honored to know each and every one of you. I am most especially honored to be entrusted with the friendship and trust of your children this past school year. My first year back in the general education classroom with this group of precious fourth graders is most definitely a highlight of my entire career. I will certainly always treasure the wonderful memories we have created together this year. I want to send a special thank you to Sharon Pertzborn-Jensen, who was the organizer behind all these delights I received all week.
It hit me today in one sudden moment as we looked at the calendar, that we really don't have many days left until June 8th. We have a field trip on May 31st to look forward to first. Within the next week, we would like to collect the last of the admission money we need for our visit to Little Norway and Cave of the Mounds. The PTO is covering all of our costs except for $5 for Little Norway. Also, all parents who would enjoy spending this fun day with us are welcome, if you don't mind driving your own cars (you can carpool and follow the buses) and paying in advance the $21 total for admissions to both locations. You can send it all in this coming week. The more the merrier, and it will be a great day. We will board our bus at school at 9:20 am, we will tour Little Norway first, and then we will all be able to eat our lunches (totally disposable, please) at a picnic area at Cave of the Mounds right before we take our cave tours.
Back in the classroom, this past week every student happily dug into a research project highlighting their chosen state of the United States. This group sure does love a project, and again are proving themselves to be motivated researchers. They are using books from the library as well as information from internet searches. Maps will be drawn by hand, pictures will be printed, notes will be typed (or carefully written), and all will be displayed on both sides of a poster board. Interesting facts have been positively flying around our room each day - so exciting. Again, they all seem to be teaching each other - and me! I love that!
Math class has us examining and constructing geometric solids, figuring volume, trying to experience just how much grams and kilograms weigh... it's different! It's been fun, because we are using lots of manipulatives (pan balances, measured weights, geometric blocks, straws and twist ties) to experience what we are learning. We wrapped up our science experiments with rocks and minerals, but we still have material to cover (like sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks!). We will still have a couple more spelling lists to practice, and more writing projects to add to our language binders. The next four weeks will be full!
Thank you again for a most special "Teacher Appreciation Week". Enjoy a good weather weekend. Melanie Hannam
It hit me today in one sudden moment as we looked at the calendar, that we really don't have many days left until June 8th. We have a field trip on May 31st to look forward to first. Within the next week, we would like to collect the last of the admission money we need for our visit to Little Norway and Cave of the Mounds. The PTO is covering all of our costs except for $5 for Little Norway. Also, all parents who would enjoy spending this fun day with us are welcome, if you don't mind driving your own cars (you can carpool and follow the buses) and paying in advance the $21 total for admissions to both locations. You can send it all in this coming week. The more the merrier, and it will be a great day. We will board our bus at school at 9:20 am, we will tour Little Norway first, and then we will all be able to eat our lunches (totally disposable, please) at a picnic area at Cave of the Mounds right before we take our cave tours.
Back in the classroom, this past week every student happily dug into a research project highlighting their chosen state of the United States. This group sure does love a project, and again are proving themselves to be motivated researchers. They are using books from the library as well as information from internet searches. Maps will be drawn by hand, pictures will be printed, notes will be typed (or carefully written), and all will be displayed on both sides of a poster board. Interesting facts have been positively flying around our room each day - so exciting. Again, they all seem to be teaching each other - and me! I love that!
Math class has us examining and constructing geometric solids, figuring volume, trying to experience just how much grams and kilograms weigh... it's different! It's been fun, because we are using lots of manipulatives (pan balances, measured weights, geometric blocks, straws and twist ties) to experience what we are learning. We wrapped up our science experiments with rocks and minerals, but we still have material to cover (like sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks!). We will still have a couple more spelling lists to practice, and more writing projects to add to our language binders. The next four weeks will be full!
Thank you again for a most special "Teacher Appreciation Week". Enjoy a good weather weekend. Melanie Hannam
Saturday, May 5, 2012
May 4, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello! We have entered into our last full month of 4th grade, and I can't believe it. Many of our kids have been saying the same thing. Every subject area has lessons and projects we don't want to miss before our year comes to a close, so we are working hard to take advantage of every time period we have. In math, we took the Unit 10 test on Friday. Please take a look at this test when it comes home next week, and send it back with your signature. Thank you! We are saving all tests and reviews in our math folders, which will come home at year's end. These pages could provide a valuable resource for review before your student enters 5th grade. We will jump into Unit 11 on Monday, with content covering metric and traditional weights, geometric solids, formulas for volume and capacity, and more work with negative numbers. These final units in math have involved more practice with manipulative tools and it's been fun!
In Social Studies, we are into our study of 12 states of the United States that make up the Midwest Region. Our 4th graders are so anxious to begin their own research project about one particular state of their choice, so we are ready to begin that work on Monday. It is so rewarding for me as I see groups of our kids clustered around several large new U. S. maps I've mounted, studying and comparing features and details, and discussing where they have been and what they have seen. Science class has our room smelling strongly of vinegar these days, as we test various rocks for their mineral content. Making predictions of the outcomes of our various experiments has been a valuable exercise in reasoning for our students, and it is fun to see how they are improving their skills. Writing sessions have produced another story project to add to our Language Binders. Nonfiction reading is getting more attention these days, with reading about our country's regions, along with articles about our science topic. Everyone still loves time to 'get lost' in their chapter books as well, so we are always looking for time slots to enjoy them as well.
We will send in our final Scholastic Book Order next week. Also, thank you for your support and help as we embark on one final drive to collect Box Tops For Education during the month of May. The goal for each classroom is 750 Box Tops (and a delicious reward). Our first week netted 30 Box Tops - we have a way to go! The West Middleton Talent Show will take place next Friday afternoon, and every student and teacher will be taking buses to the High School Performing Arts Center to experience a real stage. Another highlight of 4th grade will happen on May 31st, when our three classrooms will take the annual field trip to Little Norway and Cave of the Mounds. A bright green information sheet all about that day hopefully made it home to you this week. Please let me know if you would like to chaperone - as you have read, there is no limit to how many parents join us, and it would be great fun to share this experience together. However, do keep in mind that parents do need to pay their admissions and drive themselves. Many parents meet at school (we will leave at 9:20 that morning), decide to carpool, and follow the buses to each destination. If you are going, we would like to collect your admission money ahead of time along with the $5 we need for our students (the PTO's generosity funds all other costs for our students).
Happy May to all, and I will continue to keep you updated throughout the month on the all the work and fun in Room 117! Melanie Hannam
In Social Studies, we are into our study of 12 states of the United States that make up the Midwest Region. Our 4th graders are so anxious to begin their own research project about one particular state of their choice, so we are ready to begin that work on Monday. It is so rewarding for me as I see groups of our kids clustered around several large new U. S. maps I've mounted, studying and comparing features and details, and discussing where they have been and what they have seen. Science class has our room smelling strongly of vinegar these days, as we test various rocks for their mineral content. Making predictions of the outcomes of our various experiments has been a valuable exercise in reasoning for our students, and it is fun to see how they are improving their skills. Writing sessions have produced another story project to add to our Language Binders. Nonfiction reading is getting more attention these days, with reading about our country's regions, along with articles about our science topic. Everyone still loves time to 'get lost' in their chapter books as well, so we are always looking for time slots to enjoy them as well.
We will send in our final Scholastic Book Order next week. Also, thank you for your support and help as we embark on one final drive to collect Box Tops For Education during the month of May. The goal for each classroom is 750 Box Tops (and a delicious reward). Our first week netted 30 Box Tops - we have a way to go! The West Middleton Talent Show will take place next Friday afternoon, and every student and teacher will be taking buses to the High School Performing Arts Center to experience a real stage. Another highlight of 4th grade will happen on May 31st, when our three classrooms will take the annual field trip to Little Norway and Cave of the Mounds. A bright green information sheet all about that day hopefully made it home to you this week. Please let me know if you would like to chaperone - as you have read, there is no limit to how many parents join us, and it would be great fun to share this experience together. However, do keep in mind that parents do need to pay their admissions and drive themselves. Many parents meet at school (we will leave at 9:20 that morning), decide to carpool, and follow the buses to each destination. If you are going, we would like to collect your admission money ahead of time along with the $5 we need for our students (the PTO's generosity funds all other costs for our students).
Happy May to all, and I will continue to keep you updated throughout the month on the all the work and fun in Room 117! Melanie Hannam
Friday, April 27, 2012
April 27, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to all of our 4H families. The past week went by so fast! We made science class a priority during the first half of the week, testing the properties of four minerals for clues to their identities (calcite, quartz, gypsum, fluorite). Our students proved to be very good geology detectives! During the second part of the week, we dove into a new writing project. We began sharing our stories today, and we all enjoyed hearing the many different directions each of our imaginations can take us. I am impressed by the descriptive writing being produced as well. New books have been circulating our classroom this week, with the arrival of our April Scholastic Book Order (including many new books for the classroom library from the bonus points our orders earn). We've had many requests for silent reading time, so we did our best to make time for this opportunity as well. Unit 10 in Math this week is very different from past units. Our daily class time has us drawing lines of symmetry, reflections, translations, and rotations - trying to picture (and sketch) shapes and objects moving into new positions has been a challenging brain exercise for all of us. We are close to agreeing upon a test date next week for our latest spelling list (science vocabulary). Yes, no wonder the week flew by... plenty of stimulating activities and subjects to keep us busy and learning.
In other news items: You may have seen PTO announcements about one more Box Tops For Education drive this year. During the month of May, any class that can reach 750 Box Tops collected will be rewarded with a special treat. So families, we have one more push to cut out and collect, beg and scrounge, for those little cardboard squares! It has actually been quite impressive this year: West Middleton has collected 20,000 Box Tops amounting to $2000 to spend on improving our playground equipment. Wow! Also, this coming Monday, April 30, is the deadline to send in $14 for your student's own copy of the West Middleton Elementary Yearbook. Another PTO announcement is that on June 5th there will be a family picnic event in honor of our principal, Mr. Rykal. More details will come in May.
If you have been keeping track of our 'adopted' bald eagle family in Decorah, Iowa through Ustream, you know those babies are getting bigger and hungrier everyday. Their fuzz is transforming into feathers, and the parents are leaving them alone more often, as they begin to also move about the nest more as well. The growth has been fascinating to witness. They should 'fledge' in late June or early July - that will really be something to watch. Today's Wisconsin State Journal featured another kind of bird family on its front page, and we tuned in at school today for another first hand peek into nature (see go.madison.com/hawkcam). Right on Dayton St. near the Kohl Center in our own Madison, WI. is a camera set up by university students to watch the adorable family of two beautiful red tailed hawks and their three fuzzy white babies, hatched within the past week. They are perched precariously on a narrow concrete ledge outside a window several stories up from the ground - yikes. Take a look for yourself!
Next week brings us all into May. We are going to fill our last full month to the brim with creative projects, ambitious lessons, and lively discussions - as always, we will keep you posted on the details from Room 117! Melanie Hannam
In other news items: You may have seen PTO announcements about one more Box Tops For Education drive this year. During the month of May, any class that can reach 750 Box Tops collected will be rewarded with a special treat. So families, we have one more push to cut out and collect, beg and scrounge, for those little cardboard squares! It has actually been quite impressive this year: West Middleton has collected 20,000 Box Tops amounting to $2000 to spend on improving our playground equipment. Wow! Also, this coming Monday, April 30, is the deadline to send in $14 for your student's own copy of the West Middleton Elementary Yearbook. Another PTO announcement is that on June 5th there will be a family picnic event in honor of our principal, Mr. Rykal. More details will come in May.
If you have been keeping track of our 'adopted' bald eagle family in Decorah, Iowa through Ustream, you know those babies are getting bigger and hungrier everyday. Their fuzz is transforming into feathers, and the parents are leaving them alone more often, as they begin to also move about the nest more as well. The growth has been fascinating to witness. They should 'fledge' in late June or early July - that will really be something to watch. Today's Wisconsin State Journal featured another kind of bird family on its front page, and we tuned in at school today for another first hand peek into nature (see go.madison.com/hawkcam). Right on Dayton St. near the Kohl Center in our own Madison, WI. is a camera set up by university students to watch the adorable family of two beautiful red tailed hawks and their three fuzzy white babies, hatched within the past week. They are perched precariously on a narrow concrete ledge outside a window several stories up from the ground - yikes. Take a look for yourself!
Next week brings us all into May. We are going to fill our last full month to the brim with creative projects, ambitious lessons, and lively discussions - as always, we will keep you posted on the details from Room 117! Melanie Hannam
Saturday, April 21, 2012
April 20, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to all! West Middleton Fourth Graders are the lunchroom champions! Our grade level survived the school wide challenge for neatness and manners in the lunchroom after a week's worth of inspections and an extra finalist rundown. When our students are motivated to do their best, they sure do shine! We enjoyed freeze pops as our reward on Friday. Our own class is also working on renewing our efforts to follow our classroom management system, especially respectful ways to share everyone's ideas and stories during class discussions. Everyone has so much to contribute, which is exciting, but waiting for our turn can often be difficult! :)
In other news items, the annual school yearbook can be ordered through the end of April. Your student should have brought home a form attached to an envelope, which you can return with a check for $14 made out to the West Middleton PTO. Another date to add to your calendar is May 31st. This past week we finalized plans for the final 4th grade field trip to take place that day. We will be touring Little Norway and the Cave of the Mounds. More details about that day will be coming in May.
This past week included some changes to our usual routine. Our school building held our yearly Tornado Drill on Thursday afternoon, coordinated with Dane County's practice drill. Mr. Rykal announced afterward that it was the most orderly drill ever! In our classroom, we rearranged some class periods so that we could dig into several science experiments for our Rocks and Minerals unit. The experiments have gone very well, and our students expressed and wrote out observations that were right on target. We have broken down "mock rocks" into their separate minerals, and further broken them down through dissolving and evaporation. Another change to our routine involves fitting in two sessions in the computer lab to take the Spring MAPS (Measures of Academic Progress) Assessments. We did these in January for the first time, and this is our pilot year throughout the district. As you probably heard from your student, this pilot year is not without its 'bugs and glitches' that have yet to be smoothed out, as we found out Friday afternoon as we attempted to take the Math Assessment. We were not successful in launching everyone's online test, so we will try again on Monday. I applaud our students for their patience and understanding - and even helpfulness - as we gave it a valiant effort in the computer lab. Sigh.
In Math class, we reviewed the concepts for Unit 9, took the unit test on Thursday, reviewed the items on Friday, and now the tests have come home with your student for your signature. We would like these tests returned to school on Monday, so we may add them to our math folders. The scores were overall much better than the previous unit - yay! This was a 'meaty' unit, too, with much conversion between fractions, percents, and decimals. I am very pleased with the progress shown by everyone! We began Unit 10 on Friday as well, and it is very different - involving symmetry, reflections, patterns, and some work with negative numbers. Ask your student about "transparent mirrors"!
I can see that keeping very busy and involved in projects and digging deep into lessons makes our days fly, and helps our students stay motivated, so that will be the name of our game as we approach the final month of this school year. This won't be a problem as I formulate our lesson plans, since there is SO much material I want to cover yet in all of our subjects. So much to learn, and so little time....! Melanie Hannam
In other news items, the annual school yearbook can be ordered through the end of April. Your student should have brought home a form attached to an envelope, which you can return with a check for $14 made out to the West Middleton PTO. Another date to add to your calendar is May 31st. This past week we finalized plans for the final 4th grade field trip to take place that day. We will be touring Little Norway and the Cave of the Mounds. More details about that day will be coming in May.
This past week included some changes to our usual routine. Our school building held our yearly Tornado Drill on Thursday afternoon, coordinated with Dane County's practice drill. Mr. Rykal announced afterward that it was the most orderly drill ever! In our classroom, we rearranged some class periods so that we could dig into several science experiments for our Rocks and Minerals unit. The experiments have gone very well, and our students expressed and wrote out observations that were right on target. We have broken down "mock rocks" into their separate minerals, and further broken them down through dissolving and evaporation. Another change to our routine involves fitting in two sessions in the computer lab to take the Spring MAPS (Measures of Academic Progress) Assessments. We did these in January for the first time, and this is our pilot year throughout the district. As you probably heard from your student, this pilot year is not without its 'bugs and glitches' that have yet to be smoothed out, as we found out Friday afternoon as we attempted to take the Math Assessment. We were not successful in launching everyone's online test, so we will try again on Monday. I applaud our students for their patience and understanding - and even helpfulness - as we gave it a valiant effort in the computer lab. Sigh.
In Math class, we reviewed the concepts for Unit 9, took the unit test on Thursday, reviewed the items on Friday, and now the tests have come home with your student for your signature. We would like these tests returned to school on Monday, so we may add them to our math folders. The scores were overall much better than the previous unit - yay! This was a 'meaty' unit, too, with much conversion between fractions, percents, and decimals. I am very pleased with the progress shown by everyone! We began Unit 10 on Friday as well, and it is very different - involving symmetry, reflections, patterns, and some work with negative numbers. Ask your student about "transparent mirrors"!
I can see that keeping very busy and involved in projects and digging deep into lessons makes our days fly, and helps our students stay motivated, so that will be the name of our game as we approach the final month of this school year. This won't be a problem as I formulate our lesson plans, since there is SO much material I want to cover yet in all of our subjects. So much to learn, and so little time....! Melanie Hannam
Saturday, April 14, 2012
April 13, 2012 Weekly Update
Greetings to our 4H families! This week we have added to our 'family' in room 117, with the arrival of a new student, Amarriana Holmes. Our classmates welcomed her with hello notes all over her desk (their wonderful idea!), and she has had more offers for tours and lunches and recess dates than she can handle! Welcome to our classroom, Amarriana - we are all so happy to have you with us! (And I am so proud of our thoughtful 4th grade friends!)
We have worked our way to the last lesson in Math Unit 9 this week, and next week we will wrap up instruction, take a couple of days to review all the skills, and then take the unit test. It has required some good hard work and concentration to grasp and practice the concepts of converting between fractions, decimals, and percents. These skills will continue to be presented and built upon next year in 5th grade. Also, at this point in the school year, we are down to about one third of our class members who have yet to reach their goal of correctly answering 100 basic facts within 3 minutes for addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. I want to encourage a renewed energy toward improving scores during these final two months of 4th grade. I am reminding our kids that limiting their efforts to practice to just 3 minutes per week (!) is NOT going to get the job done! It takes some daily practice on their own time to get better results. I was just talking to the 5th grade teachers again this week, and they are saying that any 5th graders who do not know their basic facts are really struggling with their math lessons. I see the same thing in 4th grade. Parents, if you could arrange a regular 10 to 15 minute practice session with flashcards and fact sheets with your student most evenings each week, we would see marked improvement. Thank you for teaming up on this!
In Social Studies class, we have taken a step into Wisconsin's history during the 1800's, and we have uncovered the difficult story of how the native American tribes were affected by the influx of the many Europeans who wanted to claim land and resources here. Our discussions and our research are bringing history alive to all of us, and it is eye opening. (I have been learning right along with our students, since I grew up studying about California missions and Spanish explorers!) Our new social studies textbook has been an excellent guide, and our students really seem to enjoy digging into their own research, so everyone is contributing very thoughtful questions and realizations. I love this!!
We got started on our new Science unit this week, which is Rocks and Minerals. We start off with a series of experiments, and there's no better way to grasp new vocabulary and concepts. We have a booklet of notes and observations we will fill out with information we are discovering, and soon all our spare counter space will be covered with rocks and lenses and evaporation trays. Also, our next spelling list will provide the perfect opportunity to practice some of the most useful new scientific terms we are using.
We continue to strive for daily silent reading time. Several students have discovered new authors and book series that they love, so they are glad when I can announce a reading session (and that sure makes me happy!). Our field trip to the Overture Center on Wednesday morning to see the African folktale "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" was a fun experience. The singing and dancing was so well done, and the story was beautifully told with just 6 core actors. Thank you again to Jennifer Deptula and John Maasch for coming along and helping to keep our group together in the crowd. I will be sending out our April Scholastic Book Orders on Monday. May will bring us one final chance to order books, and you will see the choices come home during the first week of that month.
April is flying by. There are so many projects and lessons we want to fit in yet before we get to June, so I am striving to take advantage of every minute we have left! Thank you for your support from home. Sincerely, Melanie Hannam
We have worked our way to the last lesson in Math Unit 9 this week, and next week we will wrap up instruction, take a couple of days to review all the skills, and then take the unit test. It has required some good hard work and concentration to grasp and practice the concepts of converting between fractions, decimals, and percents. These skills will continue to be presented and built upon next year in 5th grade. Also, at this point in the school year, we are down to about one third of our class members who have yet to reach their goal of correctly answering 100 basic facts within 3 minutes for addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division. I want to encourage a renewed energy toward improving scores during these final two months of 4th grade. I am reminding our kids that limiting their efforts to practice to just 3 minutes per week (!) is NOT going to get the job done! It takes some daily practice on their own time to get better results. I was just talking to the 5th grade teachers again this week, and they are saying that any 5th graders who do not know their basic facts are really struggling with their math lessons. I see the same thing in 4th grade. Parents, if you could arrange a regular 10 to 15 minute practice session with flashcards and fact sheets with your student most evenings each week, we would see marked improvement. Thank you for teaming up on this!
In Social Studies class, we have taken a step into Wisconsin's history during the 1800's, and we have uncovered the difficult story of how the native American tribes were affected by the influx of the many Europeans who wanted to claim land and resources here. Our discussions and our research are bringing history alive to all of us, and it is eye opening. (I have been learning right along with our students, since I grew up studying about California missions and Spanish explorers!) Our new social studies textbook has been an excellent guide, and our students really seem to enjoy digging into their own research, so everyone is contributing very thoughtful questions and realizations. I love this!!
We got started on our new Science unit this week, which is Rocks and Minerals. We start off with a series of experiments, and there's no better way to grasp new vocabulary and concepts. We have a booklet of notes and observations we will fill out with information we are discovering, and soon all our spare counter space will be covered with rocks and lenses and evaporation trays. Also, our next spelling list will provide the perfect opportunity to practice some of the most useful new scientific terms we are using.
We continue to strive for daily silent reading time. Several students have discovered new authors and book series that they love, so they are glad when I can announce a reading session (and that sure makes me happy!). Our field trip to the Overture Center on Wednesday morning to see the African folktale "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" was a fun experience. The singing and dancing was so well done, and the story was beautifully told with just 6 core actors. Thank you again to Jennifer Deptula and John Maasch for coming along and helping to keep our group together in the crowd. I will be sending out our April Scholastic Book Orders on Monday. May will bring us one final chance to order books, and you will see the choices come home during the first week of that month.
April is flying by. There are so many projects and lessons we want to fit in yet before we get to June, so I am striving to take advantage of every minute we have left! Thank you for your support from home. Sincerely, Melanie Hannam
Friday, April 6, 2012
April 6, 2012 Weekly Update
Happy April to all! After a week off last week, and only 4 days this week, I can report that we filled our short week with some solid hard work, and shared some fun stories, discussions, and activities as well. Everyone was anxious to share about their vacation weeks, and we couldn't wait to check in with our bald eagle family in Decorah, Iowa. We've continued to watch them all week, and those three fuzzy babies are getting hungrier and more active with each passing day! What a great experience for all of us to witness this real time event of nature at its best, with a camera that zooms in so close we feel like we are right in that nest with this precious family.
In between feeding sessions of raw fish and squirrel, we have managed to complete another chapter in Wisconsin history. I am so impressed with the thinking skills of our 4th graders, as we try to put ourselves in the place of the native Indian people who saw their world changed time and again by newcomers to our part of the country throughout the last several centuries. Our students are asking excellent questions, and bringing up ideas that show they are truly getting a glimpse of what life must have been like in those days. This study has been so enriching for all of us, me included. We are also going to make every attempt next week to begin our final unit in science this year, which is the study of rocks and minerals.
We are almost halfway through Unit 9 in math, which is providing more in-depth practice with converting fractions to decimals to percents. I have noticed lately that our students are staying well focused during our math hours each day, and I complimented them about this today, after a hardworking week. The Unit 8 tests results were a bit of a shock for many of our kids - Part A had fewer items than in previous tests, so unfortunately, this time even two careless errors brought score averages down a whole grade. I have attempted to reassure them that the concepts of area and perimeter for various geometric shapes will continue to be part of future assignments and test questions, and so our students will continue to get more practice and more chances to improve their competency as well as their scores.
In Literacy class, we are finishing up the final drafts and illustrations of our latest writing project, and we will be sharing these and adding them to our Language Binders. The students have also been given extra editing practice this week, with pages full of numerous "errors" written by Mrs. Hannam herself! It has become their turn to correct my "work" and while it was fun to fix my mistakes in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar, our students' detective work needed several attempts before all mistakes were remedied. It has proven to be a valuable exercise. The class had their spelling test today as well, and scores happily reflected some very good efforts in studying! Way to go! Also, next week the April edition of the Scholastic Book Orders will be coming home, and orders will be due by Friday, April 13th. We will send home one more chance to order books during the first week of May, and that will be the last one of the year. Wow.
Next week on Wednesday morning, all the 4th graders will board buses to the Overture Center to see a play called "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" which is an African Folktale. We read the award winning story by John Steptoe this week, so all can be familiar with the characters and plotline. It is a beautifully written story, with a positive message, and we are really looking forward to seeing it played out on a stage.
May you all enjoy the longer holiday weekend with your families, and I will see everyone back on Monday, ready for the last two months of 4th grade. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. Melanie Hannam
In between feeding sessions of raw fish and squirrel, we have managed to complete another chapter in Wisconsin history. I am so impressed with the thinking skills of our 4th graders, as we try to put ourselves in the place of the native Indian people who saw their world changed time and again by newcomers to our part of the country throughout the last several centuries. Our students are asking excellent questions, and bringing up ideas that show they are truly getting a glimpse of what life must have been like in those days. This study has been so enriching for all of us, me included. We are also going to make every attempt next week to begin our final unit in science this year, which is the study of rocks and minerals.
We are almost halfway through Unit 9 in math, which is providing more in-depth practice with converting fractions to decimals to percents. I have noticed lately that our students are staying well focused during our math hours each day, and I complimented them about this today, after a hardworking week. The Unit 8 tests results were a bit of a shock for many of our kids - Part A had fewer items than in previous tests, so unfortunately, this time even two careless errors brought score averages down a whole grade. I have attempted to reassure them that the concepts of area and perimeter for various geometric shapes will continue to be part of future assignments and test questions, and so our students will continue to get more practice and more chances to improve their competency as well as their scores.
In Literacy class, we are finishing up the final drafts and illustrations of our latest writing project, and we will be sharing these and adding them to our Language Binders. The students have also been given extra editing practice this week, with pages full of numerous "errors" written by Mrs. Hannam herself! It has become their turn to correct my "work" and while it was fun to fix my mistakes in spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar, our students' detective work needed several attempts before all mistakes were remedied. It has proven to be a valuable exercise. The class had their spelling test today as well, and scores happily reflected some very good efforts in studying! Way to go! Also, next week the April edition of the Scholastic Book Orders will be coming home, and orders will be due by Friday, April 13th. We will send home one more chance to order books during the first week of May, and that will be the last one of the year. Wow.
Next week on Wednesday morning, all the 4th graders will board buses to the Overture Center to see a play called "Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters" which is an African Folktale. We read the award winning story by John Steptoe this week, so all can be familiar with the characters and plotline. It is a beautifully written story, with a positive message, and we are really looking forward to seeing it played out on a stage.
May you all enjoy the longer holiday weekend with your families, and I will see everyone back on Monday, ready for the last two months of 4th grade. I can't believe how fast this year has gone. Melanie Hannam
Friday, March 16, 2012
March 16, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello! I so enjoyed the chances to meet with all of our families this past week at conferences! I am so glad you could attend, and having your son or daughter there made it even more meaningful for all of us, I do believe. Another event that touched the hearts of all who attended was on Monday night at the Middleton High School Performing Arts Center. Seeing our West Middleton families fill that big, beautiful theater to watch and listen to our students dance and sing always makes me smile from ear to ear with pride to be a part of this school community.
This week back in Room 117, we have been highly distracted by three eggs and the two magnificent bald eagle parents who both patiently take their turn day and night to sit on those eggs to keep them warm. There is a web cam mounted above a massive 6 foot wide nest, 80 feet high, in a tree over a trout stream in Decorah, Iowa, and we are using our Smartboard to see through the lens of that camera. If you want to get your own look (and beware, this IS addicting!), go to www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles . This has been so exciting and fascinating - we get to witness both eagles when they exchange their 'post' over the eggs, when they get up to turn the eggs and to spruce up their nesting material. The camera zooms in to give us a close up view of their sharp eyes and their even sharper beaks (and did you know they have a pink tongue inside that pointy beak?). The website tells us the eggs were laid on February 17, 20, and 24, and the first one is expected to hatch around March 23. You may want to keep a close watch over spring break, and your family will get to witness those fuzzy little eaglets emerge and visibly grow larger with each passing day. What a unique opportunity to witness Nature!
In between glances at our Smartboard screen, we have managed to get some work done! We have begun our new Math Unit 8, which gives us practice figuring out perimeters and areas of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles. It is a shorter unit this time, and we hope to fit in the unit test before the spring break week. The students are working hard to complete all the assigned pages, which continue to provide practice on fractions and decimals as well. Good stuff! We have begun writing a new story in Language class, in order to practice our logical storytelling and paragraphing skills. The students began with a 'story web' sheet, which contains their ideas and notes jotted down even before the rough draft is written - this seems to make getting started much easier for everyone, and helps with logical sequencing of events. We can't wait to share our ideas and stories with each other! We are also continuing with our class read-aloud, The Birchbark House. We are becoming more familiar with life as it could have been lived by the native Americans in our state before the first European fur traders made their presence known. This is also the subject of Chapter 4 in our Social Studies text, which we will begin next week. Oh, and thanks to Cecilie, we all had a chance to sample a spoonful of wild rice, which many of our classmates had never tried before. We were also able to give ourselves some requested extra time periods for independent, silent reading, which the kids actually cheer for, since many have recently found some really good books they want to get back to. Hooray for that!!
Our students got in some very productive work sessions this week, broke it up with rousing games of Lightning basketball outside in perfect 'summer' weather, took many side trips to see our eagles, and ended with well deserved root beer floats the last hour today, in celebration of my "29th" birthday tomorrow! I was showered with precious handmade cards of good wishes from everyone, and I treasure each one. Thank you, thank you! Enjoy the gorgeous weekend! Melanie Hannam
This week back in Room 117, we have been highly distracted by three eggs and the two magnificent bald eagle parents who both patiently take their turn day and night to sit on those eggs to keep them warm. There is a web cam mounted above a massive 6 foot wide nest, 80 feet high, in a tree over a trout stream in Decorah, Iowa, and we are using our Smartboard to see through the lens of that camera. If you want to get your own look (and beware, this IS addicting!), go to www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles . This has been so exciting and fascinating - we get to witness both eagles when they exchange their 'post' over the eggs, when they get up to turn the eggs and to spruce up their nesting material. The camera zooms in to give us a close up view of their sharp eyes and their even sharper beaks (and did you know they have a pink tongue inside that pointy beak?). The website tells us the eggs were laid on February 17, 20, and 24, and the first one is expected to hatch around March 23. You may want to keep a close watch over spring break, and your family will get to witness those fuzzy little eaglets emerge and visibly grow larger with each passing day. What a unique opportunity to witness Nature!
In between glances at our Smartboard screen, we have managed to get some work done! We have begun our new Math Unit 8, which gives us practice figuring out perimeters and areas of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles. It is a shorter unit this time, and we hope to fit in the unit test before the spring break week. The students are working hard to complete all the assigned pages, which continue to provide practice on fractions and decimals as well. Good stuff! We have begun writing a new story in Language class, in order to practice our logical storytelling and paragraphing skills. The students began with a 'story web' sheet, which contains their ideas and notes jotted down even before the rough draft is written - this seems to make getting started much easier for everyone, and helps with logical sequencing of events. We can't wait to share our ideas and stories with each other! We are also continuing with our class read-aloud, The Birchbark House. We are becoming more familiar with life as it could have been lived by the native Americans in our state before the first European fur traders made their presence known. This is also the subject of Chapter 4 in our Social Studies text, which we will begin next week. Oh, and thanks to Cecilie, we all had a chance to sample a spoonful of wild rice, which many of our classmates had never tried before. We were also able to give ourselves some requested extra time periods for independent, silent reading, which the kids actually cheer for, since many have recently found some really good books they want to get back to. Hooray for that!!
Our students got in some very productive work sessions this week, broke it up with rousing games of Lightning basketball outside in perfect 'summer' weather, took many side trips to see our eagles, and ended with well deserved root beer floats the last hour today, in celebration of my "29th" birthday tomorrow! I was showered with precious handmade cards of good wishes from everyone, and I treasure each one. Thank you, thank you! Enjoy the gorgeous weekend! Melanie Hannam
Friday, March 9, 2012
March 9, 2012 Weekly Update
Greetings to our 4H Families! I look forward to meeting with you and your student next week, as we look over together projects, papers, and progress during our conferences. In the meantime, it sounds like quite a number of you may be able to meet me at the UW Arboretum on Sunday afternoon from 1 to 3:00. I have as much to learn from the naturalists there about effigy mounds as the students do, so we will all learn together, and get in a beautiful walk as well. Remember that it looks like we are to meet at the Arboretum Visitor Center, 1207 Seminole Hwy. I have made my first sightings of robins this week! Here's hoping any rain holds off on Sunday.
The news of a major solar flare/storm this week was so well timed for the final week of our Space science unit. We viewed some more breathtaking video from the news online and from NASA. We are all keeping an eye out for any chances of seeing some Northern Lights as well. Our student teams gave their planet presentations this week, and we filled ourselves to the brim with amazing facts about our solar system. This unit has been so much fun for all of us - we kind of hate to see it end. But we must move on! Until we are ready to tackle our Rocks and Minerals unit, we are progresssing in social studies to the next stage of our Wisconsin history with the arrival of the first European explorers.
This coming Monday will be a very full day. Everyone will want to eat a healthy breakfast before coming to school. We start off our first hour math class with the Unit 7 Test on Fractions and Probability. After a short break for a snack, all the 4th graders will board buses around 10:15 for a trip to the MHS PAC where they will have their dress rehearsal with Mrs. Bodell and Mr. Rykal for that evening's choral concert. Just a reminder: Families can arrive around 6:15pm, the concert begins at 6:30, lasts for 30 to 45 minutes, and all students are to wear jeans, their WM Tie Dye T-shirt, and tennis shoes. This is always such a heartwarming show to watch for parents and teachers alike. An early "Bravo!" to Mrs. Bodell for making this all possible and memorable! When our students get back to school, it will be time for Gym Class, and then Lunch from 12:30 to 1:00! This is a big change from our usual schedule, with a later lunch by a good hour - hence the need for a good breakfast and a snack after math.
Speaking of 'breakfast' - today we had a pizza breakfast at 8:30 in math class! The kids have all worked hard the last three weeks to master several new and challenging skills with fractions, so we figured we deserved to 'practice' dividing several whole pizzas into halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, eighths, and even twelfths and sixteenths! It was fun and delicious - and even educational! :).
We can fill you in with more details of our work in 4th grade when we meet next week, so until then... Melanie Hannam
The news of a major solar flare/storm this week was so well timed for the final week of our Space science unit. We viewed some more breathtaking video from the news online and from NASA. We are all keeping an eye out for any chances of seeing some Northern Lights as well. Our student teams gave their planet presentations this week, and we filled ourselves to the brim with amazing facts about our solar system. This unit has been so much fun for all of us - we kind of hate to see it end. But we must move on! Until we are ready to tackle our Rocks and Minerals unit, we are progresssing in social studies to the next stage of our Wisconsin history with the arrival of the first European explorers.
This coming Monday will be a very full day. Everyone will want to eat a healthy breakfast before coming to school. We start off our first hour math class with the Unit 7 Test on Fractions and Probability. After a short break for a snack, all the 4th graders will board buses around 10:15 for a trip to the MHS PAC where they will have their dress rehearsal with Mrs. Bodell and Mr. Rykal for that evening's choral concert. Just a reminder: Families can arrive around 6:15pm, the concert begins at 6:30, lasts for 30 to 45 minutes, and all students are to wear jeans, their WM Tie Dye T-shirt, and tennis shoes. This is always such a heartwarming show to watch for parents and teachers alike. An early "Bravo!" to Mrs. Bodell for making this all possible and memorable! When our students get back to school, it will be time for Gym Class, and then Lunch from 12:30 to 1:00! This is a big change from our usual schedule, with a later lunch by a good hour - hence the need for a good breakfast and a snack after math.
Speaking of 'breakfast' - today we had a pizza breakfast at 8:30 in math class! The kids have all worked hard the last three weeks to master several new and challenging skills with fractions, so we figured we deserved to 'practice' dividing several whole pizzas into halves, thirds, fourths, sixths, eighths, and even twelfths and sixteenths! It was fun and delicious - and even educational! :).
We can fill you in with more details of our work in 4th grade when we meet next week, so until then... Melanie Hannam
Saturday, March 3, 2012
March 2, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello! Thank you for sending in your time preferences for our upcoming Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences on March 13, 14, 15th. This coming week I will send home the master schedule so you can confirm the date and time and get it on your calendar. I look forward to seeing you all again, and giving your 4th grader the chance to show you his/her work over the last months.
The second Box Tops Contest ended with this week, and we will see how it all turns out. Our class has ended up with 675 Box Tops collected over the last 5 weeks - a proud and healthy total (though a first grade and a second grade really walloped us this time, so we will be excited to hit a hopeful third place finish). The kids never lost their enthusiasm, and it has been so much fun to see their spirit. Thank you, families, for your patient support!
This past week, designated Literacy Week at West Middleton, ended with an exciting visit on Friday afternoon by three Badger football players and Bucky Badger himself, all there in support of the value of READING. It was quite the sight to see these 'tough' big football players sit in front of our kids reading Dr. Seuss out loud to all of us.
Back in Room 117, we kept ourselves very busy all week with teamwork on Planets Research. Our teams will be ready in the next week to present their posters and reports, and displays of their efforts should make it up on the hallway wall outside our door just in time for your conference visit. This project has proven to be an effective way for this group of students to learn. They are so motivated to dig into research and have done a wonderful job of working together.
In Social Studies class, shifting into the study of the early people of Wisconsin and how hard they worked to stay alive has provided all of us with some new perspectives. I think it has been an eye opener for our students to consider the comparative ease of our daily lives as we read and discuss what it took to live in the earliest days of the Paleo, Archaic, Mississipian, Woodland, Oneota, and Objibwe Native American tribes. Our class read-aloud, The Birchbark House, ties in so perfectly with the pages of our new social studies textbook. Yesterday, for instance, we marveled at what it took to 'tan' moose hide just to make a piece of soft leather for clothing, shoes, or their houses. Ask your student about that one!
Math class this past week has had us jumping into new territory for everyone as we practice computation with fractions with like and unlike denominators, finding equivalent fractions, reducing fractions, and comparing sizes of fractions. It takes several lessons to get these skills near the secure level, so I encourage everyone to hang in there and keep trying. The kids are discovering that what seems confusing the first day often becomes so much more clear the next day, and even better the third day. Those students who use their time well to work on lessons and come to me during resource time to ask for more practice are the ones who are finding the most success at mastery. Way to go!
Melanie Hannam
The second Box Tops Contest ended with this week, and we will see how it all turns out. Our class has ended up with 675 Box Tops collected over the last 5 weeks - a proud and healthy total (though a first grade and a second grade really walloped us this time, so we will be excited to hit a hopeful third place finish). The kids never lost their enthusiasm, and it has been so much fun to see their spirit. Thank you, families, for your patient support!
This past week, designated Literacy Week at West Middleton, ended with an exciting visit on Friday afternoon by three Badger football players and Bucky Badger himself, all there in support of the value of READING. It was quite the sight to see these 'tough' big football players sit in front of our kids reading Dr. Seuss out loud to all of us.
Back in Room 117, we kept ourselves very busy all week with teamwork on Planets Research. Our teams will be ready in the next week to present their posters and reports, and displays of their efforts should make it up on the hallway wall outside our door just in time for your conference visit. This project has proven to be an effective way for this group of students to learn. They are so motivated to dig into research and have done a wonderful job of working together.
In Social Studies class, shifting into the study of the early people of Wisconsin and how hard they worked to stay alive has provided all of us with some new perspectives. I think it has been an eye opener for our students to consider the comparative ease of our daily lives as we read and discuss what it took to live in the earliest days of the Paleo, Archaic, Mississipian, Woodland, Oneota, and Objibwe Native American tribes. Our class read-aloud, The Birchbark House, ties in so perfectly with the pages of our new social studies textbook. Yesterday, for instance, we marveled at what it took to 'tan' moose hide just to make a piece of soft leather for clothing, shoes, or their houses. Ask your student about that one!
Math class this past week has had us jumping into new territory for everyone as we practice computation with fractions with like and unlike denominators, finding equivalent fractions, reducing fractions, and comparing sizes of fractions. It takes several lessons to get these skills near the secure level, so I encourage everyone to hang in there and keep trying. The kids are discovering that what seems confusing the first day often becomes so much more clear the next day, and even better the third day. Those students who use their time well to work on lessons and come to me during resource time to ask for more practice are the ones who are finding the most success at mastery. Way to go!
Melanie Hannam
Saturday, February 25, 2012
February 24, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to all of our 4H families. Every week we try to make 'every minute count' because there is so much to do and learn in all our subjects, and I feel like this past week we especially packed our schedule as full as we ever have! This was mainly driven by our kids' enthusiasm for getting started on their team projects in researching the planets of the solar system. We have discovered so many mind-boggling facts in our study of space over the last weeks, that by this point they were actually pleading to get started on digging into their own planets and preparing posters and presentations. So we did! We fit in our first class periods given over entirely to research and teamwork, and I am so proud of how everyone is working together. They are planning out their roles on the team and uncovering so much information that the room is fairly humming!
We jumped in with both feet to our new unit in math - fractions! This week laid the groundwork for understanding the whole concept of what fractional parts of the whole actually mean and how we can compare seemingly different fractions. We've also worked on some lessons in chance and probability. We will be ready to add, subtract, and multiply fractions next, and many have already picked up on spotting equivalent fractions and reducing fractions. More than ever, we wish we had two hours a day to do math! It does help that the number one item on our 'To Do..." list for Resource Time at the end of day is usually Math Work, and many get much of their homework done during this time, working with me and in teams. I still tell the kids that they should take their two journal books home even if they think they are done, so they can show you their work and explain to you what they are learning. This reinforces their new learning, and may help keep motivation high for completing every item and doing their most careful job. Thank you for your support with this. Remember that every day after school, the classroom blog's Homework Page gets updated with assignments and reminders.
In Social Studies we are progressing through time in the years "BC" studying the earliest native people of our state. We have also begun a new classroom read aloud book, "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich. She based her story on research into her own native American ancestors who had settled on Madeleine Island in the Apostle Islands! She uses Objibwe words throughout the story, which has turned out to be fun for us to learn! I printed out a copy of the glossary of words we found at the end of her book for every student, and we refer to those whenever a new word comes up. Our new signal for attention in the classroom has become: "bekayaan" ( beh-KAH-yahn: be quiet) and the kids respond with: "ayah!" (ah-YAH!: yes!). It has been fun - and effective! :)
Next week is West Middleton's Literacy Week. Every day will hold a special event to do with reading and enjoying books. On Monday, the entire school will experience the same 15 minutes of DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read). On Tuesday, we will all wear some clothing with words on them! On Wednesday, there will be a time set aside for every student in the school to "swap teachers" - to hear a read aloud book in a different classroom by another staff member. Thursday is our "dress like a favorite book character" day, and in the morning we will parade around our halls and take some pictures. Friday will give us a special assembly in the afternoon with surprise guests - and we should all wear RED! Our classroom door has been wallpapered with titles of everyone's favorite books.
I have received many of the parent conference sign-up sheets back - thank you! If I haven't received yours yet, would you please send it back as soon as you can? Once I have all the time slots figured out, I will send out the master schedule to everyone to confirm our times. Other upcoming events include: The last day of the second trimester is March 6th, and on the evening of March 12th at 6:30pm, the West Middleton classes will all sing for their families at the Middleton High School Performing Arts Center. This annual program is always among the most heartwarming events of the school year. In the meantime, next week we experience "Leap Day" on Thursday, February 29th! Melanie Hannam (Oh, and next week is the LAST week to collect BOX TOPS for the school contest - hint, hint.)
We jumped in with both feet to our new unit in math - fractions! This week laid the groundwork for understanding the whole concept of what fractional parts of the whole actually mean and how we can compare seemingly different fractions. We've also worked on some lessons in chance and probability. We will be ready to add, subtract, and multiply fractions next, and many have already picked up on spotting equivalent fractions and reducing fractions. More than ever, we wish we had two hours a day to do math! It does help that the number one item on our 'To Do..." list for Resource Time at the end of day is usually Math Work, and many get much of their homework done during this time, working with me and in teams. I still tell the kids that they should take their two journal books home even if they think they are done, so they can show you their work and explain to you what they are learning. This reinforces their new learning, and may help keep motivation high for completing every item and doing their most careful job. Thank you for your support with this. Remember that every day after school, the classroom blog's Homework Page gets updated with assignments and reminders.
In Social Studies we are progressing through time in the years "BC" studying the earliest native people of our state. We have also begun a new classroom read aloud book, "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich. She based her story on research into her own native American ancestors who had settled on Madeleine Island in the Apostle Islands! She uses Objibwe words throughout the story, which has turned out to be fun for us to learn! I printed out a copy of the glossary of words we found at the end of her book for every student, and we refer to those whenever a new word comes up. Our new signal for attention in the classroom has become: "bekayaan" ( beh-KAH-yahn: be quiet) and the kids respond with: "ayah!" (ah-YAH!: yes!). It has been fun - and effective! :)
Next week is West Middleton's Literacy Week. Every day will hold a special event to do with reading and enjoying books. On Monday, the entire school will experience the same 15 minutes of DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read). On Tuesday, we will all wear some clothing with words on them! On Wednesday, there will be a time set aside for every student in the school to "swap teachers" - to hear a read aloud book in a different classroom by another staff member. Thursday is our "dress like a favorite book character" day, and in the morning we will parade around our halls and take some pictures. Friday will give us a special assembly in the afternoon with surprise guests - and we should all wear RED! Our classroom door has been wallpapered with titles of everyone's favorite books.
I have received many of the parent conference sign-up sheets back - thank you! If I haven't received yours yet, would you please send it back as soon as you can? Once I have all the time slots figured out, I will send out the master schedule to everyone to confirm our times. Other upcoming events include: The last day of the second trimester is March 6th, and on the evening of March 12th at 6:30pm, the West Middleton classes will all sing for their families at the Middleton High School Performing Arts Center. This annual program is always among the most heartwarming events of the school year. In the meantime, next week we experience "Leap Day" on Thursday, February 29th! Melanie Hannam (Oh, and next week is the LAST week to collect BOX TOPS for the school contest - hint, hint.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)