January 24, 2014 Weekly Update

Hello, dear families of 4H!  As we all struggle to get to our destinations of work and school each day in this terribly cold winter, we continue to be warm and productive at West Middleton and in our classroom.  We have all been working on completing our midyear assessments for reading and math and will have updated data to study on each student's progress after one more week.  In room 117, I have completed an evaluation of our last two big writing projects (our Essay writing and the Informational Booklets).  We are keeping the beautiful final drafts of both projects in each student's Writing Binder which goes home at year's end, but I did make a copy of their Essays to send home next week, so you will be able to read your child's efforts.  In many cases they are quite touching... enjoy.  Most of our Info Booklets turned out to be works of art!   We will be trying them out on one more audience next week - our first grade buddies!   We have now launched into writing Realistic Fiction!

Our 4th grade Math students have completed Unit 6 and will be taking the final unit test on Tuesday of next week. Please see the Review Sheets in your student's Take Home Folder for samples of the kinds of items which will be included on our test.  Any extra practice you can give with long division (and story problems using division) and measuring angles with a half circle protractor, will be helpful. On Monday, we will only have half of class time to do an additional practice and review of the material.  This is because staff members from Glacier Creek Middle School will be coming to visit both 4th and 5th grade classes that afternoon for a 45 minute info session to introduce "middle school" and answer some first questions from students.

I have also launched a new opportunity in our room for students to dig deeper into topics that spur their interest - and get extra credit for their efforts!  It is called "Gold Star Researchers".  During our discussions, readings, and lessons in every subject we cover, new questions from students come up, about which we all wonder and wish we knew more (including me!).  Since there isn't time to go exploring down every path our studies could lead us, I am giving extra credit to every student who chooses to take the time and effort to research more information, get it written (or typed) in their own words (or arranged on a poster, presented on a computer, made into a booklet - endless options....), and then presented to our class.  Their names get printed on a big "Gold Star" on our special "Star" wall in the classroom, and their work is saved and displayed in the room.  We want to see how many Gold Stars with which we can cover our walls!  There is no 'due date' for any project/presentation - whenever a student is ready to present their research, they can bring it in, and we will make special time for them to educate us all!  Thank you for your support and encouragement - and perhaps some extra computer time at home!

There are some events coming up that you will want to put on your calendar:  Next week Wednesday, January 29th, has been designated "Bright Color Day" at West Middleton - for a fun way to keep our spirits up during this difficult winter, we have all agreed to wear our brightest colors from head to toe!  On Thursday, we will have a guest teacher in our room, as I attend a conference on culturally responsive classrooms along with several other staff members.  On Friday, January 31st, remember that all of our 4th and 5th graders are attending a full day "Kindness Retreat" at the District Admin. Center's gymnasium, led by our counseling staff.  All students must either bring their own sack lunch, or have already reserved a school sack lunch for this day.  We will leave our building at 8:30 and be back to WM soon after 2:30 that day.

The next big event is our annual West Middleton Winter Carnival, set for Saturday, February 8th, from 2:00 to 4:30 pm at our school.  Ten dollars buys admission for each student and they earn tickets from the games and activities they enter to earn prizes, with refreshments included.  This is an important fundraiser for our PTO, which provides every classroom's field trip expenses each year along with many other helpful supports.  The PTO has asked staff to let all families know that they need more help with various stations at the carnival - so please look at the link in the PTO news you received earlier this week, and sign up, if you can!   (I will see you in the prize room!)  They also need more new or gently used items for the prize room.

Stay tuned for news about our February 26th Field Trip to the State Capitol and Wisconsin Historical Museum, and also parent/student/teacher conferences during the first two weeks of March.  If keeping busy is one way to beat the cold, then we've got that going on at our school, no doubt about that!  May you all stay cozy and healthy, and I will continue to keep you updated!    Melanie Hannam

January 10, 2014 Weekly Update

"Warm" greetings to all of our 4H Families! Ha, we got to experience the 'fun' of coming back to school after long breaks TWICE within a week! Augghh! But it was nice to be able to stay in on those coldest days - hope everyone survived the extra together time okay! We have made full use of our days back so far this new year - jumping right in to many new lessons and projects and events. It is time to update you....

In math classes, the 5th grade students have completed pretesting for the new unit and will begin the next unit promptly, while the 4th grade students have had their first days with learning how to do long division problems. I have tabled the next lessons in our unit to give everyone time to master the routine and steps with some extra practice sheets. Everyone is making progress, but at different rates, which is to be expected. Each day it gets surprisingly easier - I have reminded everyone to be patient with themselves and try to go as far on the problems as they can each day at home for 30 to 40 minutes at a time. No worries if they are not done or do not grasp it all right away, since the next day in school we go over it again and practice more - and it does become clearer. It's always fun for the kids to find out that what seemed so complicated the first day, seems so much simpler the next day or two later.

In Reader's Workshop we have begun a new focus on identifying themes and life lessons in stories we have already read and are currently reading. This has led to some really satisfying, deep discussion - wow! Our readers are coming up with lessons for life and common themes with great depth and thought, providing supporting evidence, and building off of each other's ideas... I would have loved to record a couple of the discussions we have had this week! We are building a list together as we analyze everything from novels to picture books to TV shows to our own written narratives and essays we have saved. All students will get copies of this list to put in their Writing Binders, so you will get to see their ideas - very impressive. Also, the Informational Booklets that we began in December will finally be due next week (Tuesday). I have encouraged those who are not yet done, to work on them at home to meet their deadline - so please ask your student what his/her status is on this project. Many of our classmates are putting in some really beautiful efforts which are turning this project into a keepsake! We will not only be sharing these 'how to' booklets with each other, but also presenting them to our 1st grade buddies, which will be very interesting!

Our class was able to take their final Rocks and Minerals test with Mrs. Bertz since coming back in January, and will begin Magnetism and Electricity with her next. In Social Studies class with me, we have begun a new unit as well, which has us investigating the history and ways of life for the first groups of people who lived in our area of the country, and how native Americans' lives were changed with the coming of new settlers as our country (and our state in particular) grew. This will prepare us perfectly for our visit late next month to the Wisconsin Historical Museum (all our 4th grade classes have a field trip planned for February 26 to our State Capitol Building and the Museum). Early in February we will take care of permission slips, chaperones, etc.

Speaking of events, an extra special event that our guidance counselor has been able to coordinate is the Kindness Retreat for our 4th and 5th graders all day on January 31st, at the District Administrative Center's gym on South Avenue in Middleton. You should have received the information and attached permission slip already, and we welcome those back as soon as you are able. I am sure this day will become one of this year's special memories, with trained counselors leading small groups in activities designed to develop compassion and understanding for each other. (Remember, sack lunches can be ordered through school, or students can bring their own sack lunch.)

Every year, all 4th graders in Dane County have the opportunity to enter an annual "Haiku" writing contest. We are beginning to introduce and develop the concept and skill of writing Haiku poems with our classes in this next week. This is an easy way to bring out each child's creativity, since these poems are only 3 lines long (5 syllables, 7 syllables, 5 syllables - bring back any memories for you?) and are used to describe subjects mostly about nature and relationships. We will all write many drafts and each end up with 2 or 3 of our best attempts to type up and send in to the contest, so stay tuned to see some beautiful writing - we'll keep you posted on what develops from our entries.

This week, we have also begun the second of three assessments for the school year, with MAPS testing in the computer lab for Reading and for Math, as well as an oral reading assessment for some of our readers, so we can evaluate progress with skills. The data we collect will help teachers further identify areas that need more practice.

I do believe the January calendar is filling up more than any other month so far! As more planning becomes clear with any event, project, or assignment, I will be sure to email you any updates to keep you in the loop. If anything puzzles you, don't hesitate to ask for more clarification! It is getting kind of crazy sometimes to keep up with everything - for all of us! We are certainly not letting this winter weather slow us down inside our cozy West Middleton home or in Room 117!   Sincerely, Melanie Hannam