Hello! Our first day of the week on Monday ended with a flurry of hearts and treats. We had a really nice last hour exchanging valentines, playing games, and sharing some very delicious (both healthy and sweet!) food in celebration of our friendships. Thanks so very much to the 'moms' who were able to plan, to contribute, or to be there to help us and join in the fun: Tammy Bursac, Lori Anderson, Jennifer Deptula, Beth Graf, Anne Lindblom, and Laura Lynch.
Somehow between that event and the early release the following day (and maybe because of those), we dug in and managed to make some quite satisfying progress with our classwork during the rest of the week. We completed the rest of our Wisconsin Regions study, and the opportunity to pore over our Wisconsin road maps following major highways to find cities, rivers, lakes, and other landmarks all over our state has definitely helped our students become more familiar with Wisconsin. Travel ideas weaved through our discussions - from the Apostle Islands and Bayfield, to the St. Croix River Valley and the northern highland forests and waterfalls, from Timms Hill and and the Wolf River to Sister Bay of Door County, the Kickapoo River Road, the Dells and Lake Winnebago, along the Ice Age Trail through the Kettle Moraine Forests... you may find kids coming home with family trip ideas!
We spent extra time with our Sun, Moon, and Planets unit this week also. We did some exploration online with space.com and there is so much there! The concepts of our Sun's influence on our solar system, what makes day/night, years, seasons, aurora borealis, eclipses, tides, and our country's history with space exploration have all provided much exciting discussion and reading. Some further study with each of the planets comes next.
Math classes were packed this week with nailing down our skills with long division, measuring and creating angles with protractors, brushing up on rounding off large numbers, plotting coordinate points on a grid, and inserting parentheses in equations. Our Unit 6 Test was Friday, and we will jump into the world of fractions next week. Unit 7 begins our NEW student journals (for many, just in time before Journal One was going to fall apart!). The unit tests will come home for your signature this next week, and then students should bring them back to school to add to their math folders for conference time.
A new spelling list was introduced this week, and the test date will be agreed upon on Monday. It is a delicious list - all foods that many adults might even misspell! :) We will begin next week to prepare for a building-wide celebration of Literacy Week, which is officially from February 27 to March 2. Every day will feature a special activity to highlight the love of reading and the appreciation for good books. We will take more time to read in class during the next weeks, both independently (students must have a chapter book ready to dip into at any time both in school and at home every single day!), and we will also read aloud together. Our social studies topics are transitioning to the early native people of our state, and we will be reading together "The Birchbark House" an award winning book written by Louise Erdrich.
Before the end of the month, I plan to send home a list of possible parent/teacher/student conference times, where you may sign up for a time slot to come into the classroom with your fourth grader to see his/her work and progress. After-school times will be available on March 13th, 14th, 15th, and if those don't work, we can always arrange a special time on another day. The second trimester ends on March 6th, so you will be able to take home your child's report card when you come to our conference. See you all soon! Melanie Hannam
Friday, February 17, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
February 10, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to our 4H Families. I am pleased to say that we had a very satisfying week in Room 117. We continue to make good progress with our skills in long division, and we've added practice measuring angles with full- and half-circle protractors, and creating our own angles. The kids have gotten so much work done in their two math journals, their poor teacher has had trouble keeping up with them! :) I love our Resource Time at the end of our school days, where students can dig into their assignments and I am able to answer each of their specific questions. They are using their time well. Motivation levels remain high to master all 100 basic math facts in each operation within 3 minutes - it is obvious who is kicking in with some extra practice on their own.
Most of the final drafts for our Fantasy Island stories have now been completed as well. We will enjoy adding them to our Language Binders, and sharing them with you at conference time. The kids have been asking for daily uninterrupted "read time" and we will be making that a priority for the rest of this month in particular, since there are fun plans in place to celebrate Literacy Week during the last week of February. This past week 4th grade teachers met with our reading specialist, Mrs. Smith, to report updated reading levels for our students at the midyear point, and progress is evident. Yay!
We are still examining the different regions of Wisconsin in Social Studies, and in Science, we are daily uncovering amazing facts about our earth, the moon, the sun, and our solar system. It has been so much fun to hear our students say with wonder, "I never knew that before!" NASA has some cool interactive sites online, showing the revolving and rotating planets, as does "space.com". I am learning almost as much as the kids!
I am happy to share with you, as I do with our students, that our class has been receiving some lovely compliments from their other teachers recently. After Art Class this week, Mrs. Hyland told me that she just loves how positive and motivated our class has been. After gym class, Mrs. Odgren said that she has noticed how our class has become like a close, helpful community. These words warm my heart. In celebration of our wonderful class 'family' of friends, we will be enjoying a Valentine's Day party on Monday, the 13th, for the last class period of the day. We have some creative moms who have been planning, and we are grateful for them. We decorated some bags on Friday which will be used to collect Valentine cards. On Tuesday, we will hold math class, and social studies/science classes - and then pack up for home by 11:00 am! It is one of our 5 CRT Days. The following Saturday, February 18th, the West Middleton PTO is running the annual WM Carnival from 2:00 to 4:30 pm in the school gym.
We are still collecting Box Top for Education - through March 2nd! Thanks for your support! The February Book Order will be mailed out this coming week (I got talked into extending the deadline till Monday, in case you are still interested in ordering.) Stay tuned for more details about Literacy Week, and also coming soon will be a sign-up list for parent/student/teacher conferences to be held in mid-March. The second trimester ends during the first week of March. Wow - time flies when we're having fun learning! Melanie Hannam
Most of the final drafts for our Fantasy Island stories have now been completed as well. We will enjoy adding them to our Language Binders, and sharing them with you at conference time. The kids have been asking for daily uninterrupted "read time" and we will be making that a priority for the rest of this month in particular, since there are fun plans in place to celebrate Literacy Week during the last week of February. This past week 4th grade teachers met with our reading specialist, Mrs. Smith, to report updated reading levels for our students at the midyear point, and progress is evident. Yay!
We are still examining the different regions of Wisconsin in Social Studies, and in Science, we are daily uncovering amazing facts about our earth, the moon, the sun, and our solar system. It has been so much fun to hear our students say with wonder, "I never knew that before!" NASA has some cool interactive sites online, showing the revolving and rotating planets, as does "space.com". I am learning almost as much as the kids!
I am happy to share with you, as I do with our students, that our class has been receiving some lovely compliments from their other teachers recently. After Art Class this week, Mrs. Hyland told me that she just loves how positive and motivated our class has been. After gym class, Mrs. Odgren said that she has noticed how our class has become like a close, helpful community. These words warm my heart. In celebration of our wonderful class 'family' of friends, we will be enjoying a Valentine's Day party on Monday, the 13th, for the last class period of the day. We have some creative moms who have been planning, and we are grateful for them. We decorated some bags on Friday which will be used to collect Valentine cards. On Tuesday, we will hold math class, and social studies/science classes - and then pack up for home by 11:00 am! It is one of our 5 CRT Days. The following Saturday, February 18th, the West Middleton PTO is running the annual WM Carnival from 2:00 to 4:30 pm in the school gym.
We are still collecting Box Top for Education - through March 2nd! Thanks for your support! The February Book Order will be mailed out this coming week (I got talked into extending the deadline till Monday, in case you are still interested in ordering.) Stay tuned for more details about Literacy Week, and also coming soon will be a sign-up list for parent/student/teacher conferences to be held in mid-March. The second trimester ends during the first week of March. Wow - time flies when we're having fun learning! Melanie Hannam
Friday, February 3, 2012
February 3, 2012 Weekly Update
This week we had to get used to starting on Monday again! We jumped right in with beginning Unit 6 in math, a large part of which teaches us long division. Each 4th grade classroom is staying with their own teacher for this unit, so we have all been able to arrange our daily schedules to include some extra practice sessions throughout the week for this new skill. We have a solid start, and you will see the numbers and problems grow in size and complexity over the next week or two as students gain confidence and ability. It will really help your own student to give him/her a few extra problems to practice each evening if possible. Thank you for the extra help and support! Ready knowledge of basic facts is really proving to be necessary here as well. We are continuing to see renewed motivation to conquer the 100 facts within 3 minutes for all operations, which is fantastic!
Another area where our students have seriously 'dug in' to their work is with their latest writing project. At this point we are in the midst of editing and conferencing over their Fantasy Island Story, based on the maps they created last month for social studies, and then rewriting them into neat final draft copies. These will be beautiful additions to their Language Binders. Other Literacy news: January Scholastic Book Orders were received and sent home this week, and the February order forms came home today. We will give it a week to 'shop', and would like to have all orders in by next week Friday, February 10. In Spelling, we spent all week (hopefully) practicing the latest list of words, and the spelling test will be given this coming Monday.
We have finally jumped into our new Science Unit: Earth, Sun, Moon, and Stars. We find new information and amazing facts that we never knew before during each lesson, me included! Such discovery going on! There are many 'Gold Star Research" opportunities getting listed on our board. Any student who is motivated to dig deeper on any related topic that comes up during class, can research on the Internet at home (with your approval), and explore any reference books available. We look forward to all reports that come back to class, and make special time for our researchers to present and teach us more! The reports, posters, and pictures go up on the wall, and our classroom is becoming 'wallpapered' with new knowledge! (Don't let the fire inspectors see!) The kids are really proud of our growing collection. In Social Studies, our students have been partnered into teams to find the unique features of the 5 Regions of Wisconsin, and they are working together so well! It is so rewarding for me to overhear the inquiring conversations buzzing all around the room during these work sessions. Very cool!
Yes, we are deep into another round of collecting Box Tops For Education! We have a very healthy start (410!) as we complete the first week of collection today. The contest at West Middleton will continue through the month of February. Thanks for your patience and your help - the competitive spirit of our group is strong!
After next week, there are some special events occurring: On Monday, February 13, we will take our last class period beginning at 2pm to have a Valentine celebration. This week students brought home pink sheets listing classmates' names for use in labeling cards for exchange, if desired. We will distribute them during our party, and would like to also share a refreshment or two, play a game or two, or do a small craft project. If any parent would like to plan one of these and/or join us, we would love that! Let me or Sharon Pertzborn-Jensen know what you'd like to do. Thank you so very much! The kids are due for a little extra party fun. Then the following day, Tuesday, February 14th, we have class only until 11:00 am, when buses will come to take everyone home - it is our next CRT Day. One more event is the following Saturday, February 18, when the PTO is sponsoring our Winter Carnival from 2:00 to 4:30 at West Middleton. I hope to see you all there! In the meantime, let's help our kids keep reading and keep dividing! :) Melanie Hannam
Melanie Hannam
Another area where our students have seriously 'dug in' to their work is with their latest writing project. At this point we are in the midst of editing and conferencing over their Fantasy Island Story, based on the maps they created last month for social studies, and then rewriting them into neat final draft copies. These will be beautiful additions to their Language Binders. Other Literacy news: January Scholastic Book Orders were received and sent home this week, and the February order forms came home today. We will give it a week to 'shop', and would like to have all orders in by next week Friday, February 10. In Spelling, we spent all week (hopefully) practicing the latest list of words, and the spelling test will be given this coming Monday.
We have finally jumped into our new Science Unit: Earth, Sun, Moon, and Stars. We find new information and amazing facts that we never knew before during each lesson, me included! Such discovery going on! There are many 'Gold Star Research" opportunities getting listed on our board. Any student who is motivated to dig deeper on any related topic that comes up during class, can research on the Internet at home (with your approval), and explore any reference books available. We look forward to all reports that come back to class, and make special time for our researchers to present and teach us more! The reports, posters, and pictures go up on the wall, and our classroom is becoming 'wallpapered' with new knowledge! (Don't let the fire inspectors see!) The kids are really proud of our growing collection. In Social Studies, our students have been partnered into teams to find the unique features of the 5 Regions of Wisconsin, and they are working together so well! It is so rewarding for me to overhear the inquiring conversations buzzing all around the room during these work sessions. Very cool!
Yes, we are deep into another round of collecting Box Tops For Education! We have a very healthy start (410!) as we complete the first week of collection today. The contest at West Middleton will continue through the month of February. Thanks for your patience and your help - the competitive spirit of our group is strong!
After next week, there are some special events occurring: On Monday, February 13, we will take our last class period beginning at 2pm to have a Valentine celebration. This week students brought home pink sheets listing classmates' names for use in labeling cards for exchange, if desired. We will distribute them during our party, and would like to also share a refreshment or two, play a game or two, or do a small craft project. If any parent would like to plan one of these and/or join us, we would love that! Let me or Sharon Pertzborn-Jensen know what you'd like to do. Thank you so very much! The kids are due for a little extra party fun. Then the following day, Tuesday, February 14th, we have class only until 11:00 am, when buses will come to take everyone home - it is our next CRT Day. One more event is the following Saturday, February 18, when the PTO is sponsoring our Winter Carnival from 2:00 to 4:30 at West Middleton. I hope to see you all there! In the meantime, let's help our kids keep reading and keep dividing! :) Melanie Hannam
Melanie Hannam
Saturday, January 28, 2012
January 27, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello to all of our 4H families! We are looking at the last days of January already, and find ourselves immersed in such a wide variety of topics and activities. It surely does make our days fly by. In math, all 4th graders took the Unit 5 test by week's end. You should see the results coming home in the next week for your signature and return of the test papers back to school, so we may keep them organized in folders for conference time in March. Your support with extra practice on multi-digit multiplication has made a difference with this new skill, and if you could continue to throw some problems like these in front of your student regularly during the coming weeks, that will grow their comfort level and efficiency (as well as provide the needed extra practice with basic facts - still very important for most!). I have been thrilled with the renewed enthusiasm by many of our kids for reaching their goal of correctly answering 100 basic facts in each of the operations within 3 minutes. Bringing home their first semester statistics and seeing their numbers graphed out on a plot line made it very clear that some extra effort is needed by many. The payoff for those who did put in the extra practice was evident this week in a big way for several students - we had some exciting rises in scores! Woohoo! We can't emphasize enough how important proficiency in all the basic facts will smooth the way for success in math classes for the coming years in school. On one extra note, you should notice a new blue sheet of 100 division facts in your student's take home folder sent home Friday. We had been using a sheet with 80 division facts up to this point, and it always bothered me that we weren't using a full selection of facts like the other three operations. So I did raise the bar with use of the new sheet this week, and it did force many students who had proudly achieved their 'perfect 80' to adjust to a new goal (not without some groans and complaints). We discussed it together and ended up with mostly good natured resignation to Mrs. Hannam's 'adjustment' - and a few students found they were able to reach well over 80 facts in 3 minutes with the first try on Friday! A few more weeks, and I know many others will have reached their new goal level.
In social studies and science, the current news about a significant 'solar storm' on the sun and the resulting effect on earth with the aurora borealis gave us a chance to see some spectacular video and still shots through our computer and smartboard setup in the classroom (the perfect intro to our study of the solar system). Closer to home, we have been back to our maps of Wisconsin, now identifying five distinct regions of our state, comparing and contrasting their features, and learning more about the Great Lakes. We could spend all day on these topics and the related subjects and questions that come up in our study and discussions. We were still able to carve out quality time to write this week - each student has begun a writing project creating a family who 'lives' on the Fantasy Island they mapped out this past month, and the adventure this family experiences on their own island. Jotting down some notes and details before beginning the rough draft made it easier to get started on the story writing.
The results from this week's spelling test was a mixed bag. There are those in class who should be discovering that they are not spending enough time preparing and practicing their new words! Future lists will come with additional homework requirements to guide students' study! ;)
Art class is in our news this week! Mrs. Hyland taught our kids a Japanese artform involving handmade looms and yarns and a fancy way of braiding, and everyone just couldn't put these projects down once they started! To see what has our kids excited and to see some of our students being interviewed, please go to Mrs. Hyland's website: www.artsmarties.tumblr.com Also, in music, Ms. Bodell has brought in an artist-in-residence with expertise in drumming! The sounds coming from that classroom are amazing - ask your kids about that experience.
If you want to help our class with our next holiday celebration, we will be holding a Valentine's Party in our room on Monday, February 13th, from around 2:00pm till close that day. We have chosen this date because the following day on the 14th, we have a CRT Day, and students will be heading home by 11:00am already! Please let me or Sharon Pertzborn-Jensen know if you would like to contribute a snack, guide a game, or just come and hang with us and help out with serving. Students will be able to distribute valentine cards to each other during this time. I will send home with each student a class list of names - and please remember to include everyone if cards are given out.
One other news note: BOX TOPS are back!!!! The PTO is promoting one more collection contest for the entire month of February. It sounds like our class wants to hold on to our Championship status, soooo...... it is scrounging and begging time again! Thank you! The first contest netted $900 worth to go toward West Middleton's playground equipment goals.
I will be back in touch next week! Thanks for reading, and don't forget that the homework page on our classroom blog is updated every day right after school. Sincerely, Melanie Hannam
In social studies and science, the current news about a significant 'solar storm' on the sun and the resulting effect on earth with the aurora borealis gave us a chance to see some spectacular video and still shots through our computer and smartboard setup in the classroom (the perfect intro to our study of the solar system). Closer to home, we have been back to our maps of Wisconsin, now identifying five distinct regions of our state, comparing and contrasting their features, and learning more about the Great Lakes. We could spend all day on these topics and the related subjects and questions that come up in our study and discussions. We were still able to carve out quality time to write this week - each student has begun a writing project creating a family who 'lives' on the Fantasy Island they mapped out this past month, and the adventure this family experiences on their own island. Jotting down some notes and details before beginning the rough draft made it easier to get started on the story writing.
The results from this week's spelling test was a mixed bag. There are those in class who should be discovering that they are not spending enough time preparing and practicing their new words! Future lists will come with additional homework requirements to guide students' study! ;)
Art class is in our news this week! Mrs. Hyland taught our kids a Japanese artform involving handmade looms and yarns and a fancy way of braiding, and everyone just couldn't put these projects down once they started! To see what has our kids excited and to see some of our students being interviewed, please go to Mrs. Hyland's website: www.artsmarties.tumblr.com Also, in music, Ms. Bodell has brought in an artist-in-residence with expertise in drumming! The sounds coming from that classroom are amazing - ask your kids about that experience.
If you want to help our class with our next holiday celebration, we will be holding a Valentine's Party in our room on Monday, February 13th, from around 2:00pm till close that day. We have chosen this date because the following day on the 14th, we have a CRT Day, and students will be heading home by 11:00am already! Please let me or Sharon Pertzborn-Jensen know if you would like to contribute a snack, guide a game, or just come and hang with us and help out with serving. Students will be able to distribute valentine cards to each other during this time. I will send home with each student a class list of names - and please remember to include everyone if cards are given out.
One other news note: BOX TOPS are back!!!! The PTO is promoting one more collection contest for the entire month of February. It sounds like our class wants to hold on to our Championship status, soooo...... it is scrounging and begging time again! Thank you! The first contest netted $900 worth to go toward West Middleton's playground equipment goals.
I will be back in touch next week! Thanks for reading, and don't forget that the homework page on our classroom blog is updated every day right after school. Sincerely, Melanie Hannam
Friday, January 20, 2012
January 20, 2012 Weekly Update
Snowy, wintery greetings to you all! It was a very cold week with some indoor recesses, which the kids handled very well, but they were quite excited to get out into the new snow this afternoon for the last recess. On the first really cold day, we treated ourselves to some hot chocolate with marshmallows from my trusty old crockpot while we worked. Our Fantasy Island Maps are now laminated and will get displayed next week. We are now into tracing the path of the Ice Age Trail (did you know it crosses the whole state through 30 of Wisconsin's 72 counties!?), and digging deeper into glacial landforms. Wisconsin's neighbors, including the Great Lakes, are also on our agenda these days (some of us want to go kayaking along Lake Superior's gorgeous rocky shoreline! :) ).
Math classes forge ahead with Unit 5 and double digit multiplication and their first lesson in exponential notation. If you are able to give your student some extra problems with double digit numbers times two or three digit numbers, that would be a helpful boost. We expect to take the unit test by the end of next week. Most students can proudly say that this week saw many of their highest scores with their 3 minute timed basic facts practice. Please look with your student at the first semester's collection of facts sheets, along with the tally of their scores, and especially the graphs they made for each operation which reflects their progress most clearly. These papers all came home today, and they can remain at home. We will start a new collection for second semester beginning on Tuesday. Graphing their results quickly made it easy for them to see the rise and fall of their scores, and there was much excitement over some dramatically rising plot lines. Others saw some rather flat lines, which hopefully will prompt them to kick into some extra practice each day.
Over the last two weeks of shuffling descriptive words around and shaping them into lines of 5 and 7 syllables, our class produced dozens of Haiku poems! It was a very positive experience, as students found it easier with each session to write descriptive phrases and fit them into the Haiku format. I am so proud of the progress I witnessed toward more descriptive writing. I told the class that even if none of us ends up with a 'winning' Haiku in the Dane County contest, I definitely consider them all winners with the beautiful writing they have collected. Every poem, whether 'submitted' or not, is now typed and contained in a special section in their language binders to be saved.
With school back in session next Tuesday, January 24th, we welcome the second semester of 4th grade. Most of the kids say they can't believe we are halfway into the year already, and I agree! We have covered so many really interesting topics in all our various subject areas, and yet as we investigate new concepts and ideas, facts and places, each lesson leads us into numerous other avenues for new investigations and research. The joy of discovery and new knowledge is definitely alive in Room 117. So much to learn and so little time! Until next week, Melanie Hannam
Math classes forge ahead with Unit 5 and double digit multiplication and their first lesson in exponential notation. If you are able to give your student some extra problems with double digit numbers times two or three digit numbers, that would be a helpful boost. We expect to take the unit test by the end of next week. Most students can proudly say that this week saw many of their highest scores with their 3 minute timed basic facts practice. Please look with your student at the first semester's collection of facts sheets, along with the tally of their scores, and especially the graphs they made for each operation which reflects their progress most clearly. These papers all came home today, and they can remain at home. We will start a new collection for second semester beginning on Tuesday. Graphing their results quickly made it easy for them to see the rise and fall of their scores, and there was much excitement over some dramatically rising plot lines. Others saw some rather flat lines, which hopefully will prompt them to kick into some extra practice each day.
Over the last two weeks of shuffling descriptive words around and shaping them into lines of 5 and 7 syllables, our class produced dozens of Haiku poems! It was a very positive experience, as students found it easier with each session to write descriptive phrases and fit them into the Haiku format. I am so proud of the progress I witnessed toward more descriptive writing. I told the class that even if none of us ends up with a 'winning' Haiku in the Dane County contest, I definitely consider them all winners with the beautiful writing they have collected. Every poem, whether 'submitted' or not, is now typed and contained in a special section in their language binders to be saved.
With school back in session next Tuesday, January 24th, we welcome the second semester of 4th grade. Most of the kids say they can't believe we are halfway into the year already, and I agree! We have covered so many really interesting topics in all our various subject areas, and yet as we investigate new concepts and ideas, facts and places, each lesson leads us into numerous other avenues for new investigations and research. The joy of discovery and new knowledge is definitely alive in Room 117. So much to learn and so little time! Until next week, Melanie Hannam
Friday, January 13, 2012
January 13, 2012 Weekly Update
Hello again to all our 4H families. The kids were all very happy and excited to see that snow collect this week! Recess has become a whole new experience (and our hallway cubbies are stuffed with dripping snow clothes and boots). Many are finding out it is a good idea to pack some extra socks and an extra pair of shoes for back in the classroom, and extra dry gloves, a cap, a sweatshirt... This time of year also reveals some needs for students who do not have adequate gear for this weather. If you go through closets and storage containers and find outgrown winter coats, boots, snowpants, and any extra hats and mittens/gloves, our school could use these items to help some in need. Our social worker has discovered particular need for snowpants and coats in sizes 8, 10-12, 14-16. If you send any clothing in with your student, I will make sure it gets to the right place. Thank you so much!
Inside Room 117, we stay warm and busy as we spend our time investigating moraines, drumlins, eskers, and other glacial features in Wisconsin. We have been learning that we all happen to live in a unique and special area of Wisconsin, and we wish we could head out and follow the Ice Age Trail across our beautiful state. We have also spent our week during writing classes gathering up many long lists of descriptive words in nature, putting them together and gradually forming phrases into 3 lines of Haiku poetry. The first one took some real effort, but we noticed that each time we went back to our 'word-smithing' the ideas and words came together more easily, and by the end of the week, many students proudly had multiple poems printed out neatly on final draft paper. Next week we will get them typed up properly, and be able to submit our best ones in the Haiku contest being held for 4th graders in Dane County. Stay tuned. This week also saw very encouraging progress for a good number of our students in achieving their highest scores for 3 minutes of math basic facts testing - it is obvious some are kicking into extra practice time, and it is showing up already! We also took our next spelling test and we had the highest number of correct words we have had yet! Our Fantasy Island maps are turning out beautifully and most are now ready to be laminated and mounted in the hallway this coming week. It was an important week in math class as well, with our students learning and practicing double digit multiplication. We are giving them the opportunity to learn the partial products algorithm, as well as the lattice method, but we are expecting them to demonstrate their ability to use the traditional method on most assignments and the final unit test.
We spent an hour on Monday in the computer lab taking the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) Reading Assessment, and next week we will take the Mathematics Assessment. I am able to immediately receive a description of skills that each student has demonstrated are secure for him/her, skills that should currently be at their instructional level, and skills that are next to develop. There is much to analyze in these reports, and they will give me more direction for my instruction within these subjects.
We talked in class this week how amazing it is that next week's end will bring us to the halfway mark of our 4th grade year already! We can't believe it! Time surely does fly when we are having fun - and working hard! Thanks for all of your support from home with your student's efforts. It is such a joy to dig in to our work each and every day together. Till next week's note - (remember there is no school both of the next two Mondays, the 16th and the 23rd) - Sincerely, Melanie
Inside Room 117, we stay warm and busy as we spend our time investigating moraines, drumlins, eskers, and other glacial features in Wisconsin. We have been learning that we all happen to live in a unique and special area of Wisconsin, and we wish we could head out and follow the Ice Age Trail across our beautiful state. We have also spent our week during writing classes gathering up many long lists of descriptive words in nature, putting them together and gradually forming phrases into 3 lines of Haiku poetry. The first one took some real effort, but we noticed that each time we went back to our 'word-smithing' the ideas and words came together more easily, and by the end of the week, many students proudly had multiple poems printed out neatly on final draft paper. Next week we will get them typed up properly, and be able to submit our best ones in the Haiku contest being held for 4th graders in Dane County. Stay tuned. This week also saw very encouraging progress for a good number of our students in achieving their highest scores for 3 minutes of math basic facts testing - it is obvious some are kicking into extra practice time, and it is showing up already! We also took our next spelling test and we had the highest number of correct words we have had yet! Our Fantasy Island maps are turning out beautifully and most are now ready to be laminated and mounted in the hallway this coming week. It was an important week in math class as well, with our students learning and practicing double digit multiplication. We are giving them the opportunity to learn the partial products algorithm, as well as the lattice method, but we are expecting them to demonstrate their ability to use the traditional method on most assignments and the final unit test.
We spent an hour on Monday in the computer lab taking the MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) Reading Assessment, and next week we will take the Mathematics Assessment. I am able to immediately receive a description of skills that each student has demonstrated are secure for him/her, skills that should currently be at their instructional level, and skills that are next to develop. There is much to analyze in these reports, and they will give me more direction for my instruction within these subjects.
We talked in class this week how amazing it is that next week's end will bring us to the halfway mark of our 4th grade year already! We can't believe it! Time surely does fly when we are having fun - and working hard! Thanks for all of your support from home with your student's efforts. It is such a joy to dig in to our work each and every day together. Till next week's note - (remember there is no school both of the next two Mondays, the 16th and the 23rd) - Sincerely, Melanie
Saturday, January 7, 2012
January 6, 2012 Weekly Update
Happy New Year to all of you! I hope your holiday vacation time was a memorable one for your family. My family created some wonderful memories together by going to the Playa del Carmen area of Mexico, and the time we spent having fun with our daughters was precious. I was also very happy to get back together with my "4H" kids back at school on January 3rd! I missed them! We filled our first week back with lots of activity, that's for sure!
They are enjoying their 'Fantasy Island' map project, and final drafts are being perfected. We should be able to mount them on the hallway wall next week! It was actually suggested by some of the students that we should write a story about the communities they've created! Well, I jumped right onto that idea! What a great way to extend this map skills activity into a new writing experience! We are also transitioning to the study of how Wisconsin's landforms have been influenced by glaciers, and that leads us to comparing and contrasting the different regions of our state. Somewhere with all this investigation going on, we will also begin our new science unit centering on the planets, sun, moon, and stars. Hmm, maybe we need to add an extra hour to our school day!
It's been a week since we've begun practicing the current spelling list, and we are scheduled to take that test on Tuesday of next week. Many of our students could use some extra practice and quizzing at home to be better prepared for this. I have instructed them to keep the printed list of words in their Take Home Folder, so that it is always with them at home and at school. In math, we began Unit 5 upon returning from the Break, and so far students seem to be grasping the new concepts of extending large numbers in order to add and multiply them. This unit is where it will hit hard if students are still shaky on their basic multiplication facts. I have noticed some students have been putting in some extra effort to practice their basic facts, and it shows! Others need to kick into some extra practice as well, and it will make a very big difference with all their math work. If families could manage to set up a regular 10 to 15 minute time most evenings to use flashcards or the 100-Facts sheets that were sent home (you can ask for more from class if you need them), it would be SO helpful. This is the year to nail all basic facts skills down for quick recall.
The West Middleton Geography Bee will be held next Friday, January 13, at 8:40 am in the multipurpose room. Representatives from each of the upper grade rooms have been announced, and our representative is David Pertzborn-Jensen! Congratulations to him, and we will all be there to support him and cheer him on. Another academic contest is coming along, and that is one involving the writing of Haiku poetry. We have begun our preliminary introduction to this Japanese form of poetry, which involves descriptions of topics in nature! These are great poems with which to begin a study of poetry and writing in general, because skill with description is important, and these poems are only 3 lines long, with each line allowed only 5 syllables, then 7 syllables, and then 5 syllables again. So you may await some beautifully descriptive writing coming home during this month.
You should have found a letter from Mr. Rykal in Take Home Folders this past week describing the MAP Assessments (Measures of Academic Progress), which all district students in grades 2 through 5 will be participating in the next two weeks. We will be taking these assessments in the areas of Reading and Mathematics, with each test taking a maximum of one hour. Our class will go to the computer lab for each of these multiple choice tests, and each student chooses the correct answers by a click of the mouse. What makes these assessments unique and especially helpful is that they are adaptive - meaning that once students start answering, the computer adapts each subsequent question in response to how accurately the students answers the previous question. If they respond correctly, difficulty of questions eases upward. If they respond incorrectly, difficulty will ease down. Eventually a skill level is reached which is considered 'instructional' meaning they are at a level where they are likely to get about half the questions at this difficulty correct. As teachers, we are able to immediately receive a report that lists actual skills in reading and math which identifies what our students are secure with, which skills are currently appropriate to be teaching them, and which skills would be next to come. We can better target instruction for each child - since the test is customized (we have described it to the kids this way: "The computer builds the test just for you."), we can then design our instruction for the particular needs of each student. We really like how the results are immediate, so we can start with this information right away. The information is saved, so that when we do this again late in April/early May, we can track their growth, and on through the next years. If you have any further questions about MAP, just let me or Mr. Rykal know. The plan is to begin this winter, and by next school year, this assessment will take place three times per school year, able to track skill growth and progress over the years through middle school.
This past Friday, our classroom enjoyed a PIZZA lunch in our room, compliments of the WM PTO! We had earned this treat by winning the Box Tops contest, and I must say - pepperoni pizza tastes a lot better than soggy cream pie running down my face! :) We hear that another contest will take place later this year, so our students are excited to keep collecting. Keep your eyes open for Box Tops, and your scissors handy! (We have begun our new 'stash' in my desk drawer!)
A housekeeping note: Would you be so kind as to send in more Kleenex boxes and possibly, more Chlorox Wipes? We have run out of the supply with which we started our school year. Thank you for your donations to keeping our classroom as healthy as we can make it! Until next week - enjoy clear, dry roads like I am (though I know some kids with new snowboards and sleds aren't so happy!) Melanie Hannam
They are enjoying their 'Fantasy Island' map project, and final drafts are being perfected. We should be able to mount them on the hallway wall next week! It was actually suggested by some of the students that we should write a story about the communities they've created! Well, I jumped right onto that idea! What a great way to extend this map skills activity into a new writing experience! We are also transitioning to the study of how Wisconsin's landforms have been influenced by glaciers, and that leads us to comparing and contrasting the different regions of our state. Somewhere with all this investigation going on, we will also begin our new science unit centering on the planets, sun, moon, and stars. Hmm, maybe we need to add an extra hour to our school day!
It's been a week since we've begun practicing the current spelling list, and we are scheduled to take that test on Tuesday of next week. Many of our students could use some extra practice and quizzing at home to be better prepared for this. I have instructed them to keep the printed list of words in their Take Home Folder, so that it is always with them at home and at school. In math, we began Unit 5 upon returning from the Break, and so far students seem to be grasping the new concepts of extending large numbers in order to add and multiply them. This unit is where it will hit hard if students are still shaky on their basic multiplication facts. I have noticed some students have been putting in some extra effort to practice their basic facts, and it shows! Others need to kick into some extra practice as well, and it will make a very big difference with all their math work. If families could manage to set up a regular 10 to 15 minute time most evenings to use flashcards or the 100-Facts sheets that were sent home (you can ask for more from class if you need them), it would be SO helpful. This is the year to nail all basic facts skills down for quick recall.
The West Middleton Geography Bee will be held next Friday, January 13, at 8:40 am in the multipurpose room. Representatives from each of the upper grade rooms have been announced, and our representative is David Pertzborn-Jensen! Congratulations to him, and we will all be there to support him and cheer him on. Another academic contest is coming along, and that is one involving the writing of Haiku poetry. We have begun our preliminary introduction to this Japanese form of poetry, which involves descriptions of topics in nature! These are great poems with which to begin a study of poetry and writing in general, because skill with description is important, and these poems are only 3 lines long, with each line allowed only 5 syllables, then 7 syllables, and then 5 syllables again. So you may await some beautifully descriptive writing coming home during this month.
You should have found a letter from Mr. Rykal in Take Home Folders this past week describing the MAP Assessments (Measures of Academic Progress), which all district students in grades 2 through 5 will be participating in the next two weeks. We will be taking these assessments in the areas of Reading and Mathematics, with each test taking a maximum of one hour. Our class will go to the computer lab for each of these multiple choice tests, and each student chooses the correct answers by a click of the mouse. What makes these assessments unique and especially helpful is that they are adaptive - meaning that once students start answering, the computer adapts each subsequent question in response to how accurately the students answers the previous question. If they respond correctly, difficulty of questions eases upward. If they respond incorrectly, difficulty will ease down. Eventually a skill level is reached which is considered 'instructional' meaning they are at a level where they are likely to get about half the questions at this difficulty correct. As teachers, we are able to immediately receive a report that lists actual skills in reading and math which identifies what our students are secure with, which skills are currently appropriate to be teaching them, and which skills would be next to come. We can better target instruction for each child - since the test is customized (we have described it to the kids this way: "The computer builds the test just for you."), we can then design our instruction for the particular needs of each student. We really like how the results are immediate, so we can start with this information right away. The information is saved, so that when we do this again late in April/early May, we can track their growth, and on through the next years. If you have any further questions about MAP, just let me or Mr. Rykal know. The plan is to begin this winter, and by next school year, this assessment will take place three times per school year, able to track skill growth and progress over the years through middle school.
This past Friday, our classroom enjoyed a PIZZA lunch in our room, compliments of the WM PTO! We had earned this treat by winning the Box Tops contest, and I must say - pepperoni pizza tastes a lot better than soggy cream pie running down my face! :) We hear that another contest will take place later this year, so our students are excited to keep collecting. Keep your eyes open for Box Tops, and your scissors handy! (We have begun our new 'stash' in my desk drawer!)
A housekeeping note: Would you be so kind as to send in more Kleenex boxes and possibly, more Chlorox Wipes? We have run out of the supply with which we started our school year. Thank you for your donations to keeping our classroom as healthy as we can make it! Until next week - enjoy clear, dry roads like I am (though I know some kids with new snowboards and sleds aren't so happy!) Melanie Hannam
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