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
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