Fourth Grade 3/30/18

3/30/18

Dear Families,
What a week!  The concert, math SBAC, and a full week of ELA.  Here is an update:

Humanities:  Students have been hard at work researching and drafting opinion pieces based on school related topics.  For example, we have students writing on chewing gum in schools, modifying the school calendar, wearing uniforms etc.  Students have been focusing on who their audience would be and adapting their arguments in order to best persuade that specific audience.

Our student teacher, Miss Morgan, has started a unit on character development with students.  They are reading The BFG.  Yesterday they charted their first impressions of characters.  They will then see how those impressions change based on evidence from the text.

Important Dates:

4/4-4/6      ELA SBAC
4/16-4/20  April Vacation

High/Low

High- we got to do sugaring this week, we got to do bowling in PE

Low- this is our last week of bowling

High- The snow is going away so I get to finally fish and ride horses

Low- we have to have indoor recess and no kickball inside

High- The jelly bean guess is today

Low- indoor recess today

High- The snow is going away, the concert went well

High- Indoor recess

Low- the snow is going away

High- the snow is finally gone and we watched, Annie

Low- I had to leave morning meeting in the middle

High- my tree made a whole bucket of sap, snow is melting

Low- I’m not outside

High- the snow is melting, watching, Annie, People have a chance to win a massive banana

High- we got to have maple candy in PE, during rehearsal we got to dance and check out instruments

Low- I forgot my violin

High- I got 3rd place with the jelly beans and there is still snow, going to acknowledgement

Low- no snow here

High- snow is disappearing

Low- indoor recess

High- Annie in music, I did everything right for the concert at band

Low- indoor recess

High- Annie in music class

High- It’s mud season, the concert, riding the bus to and from the concert

High- it’s Friday

Low- can’t go outside for recess

High- Rauli coming in 3rd for jelly beans, maple candy

High- I got student of the month

High- I got student of month

High- your opinion pieces

Low- third grade concert behavior

High- It’s Friday

Low- I missed the concert

High- I’m back!  I’m happy to be back

High- I get to keep reading BFG to you today

Low- it’s raining

High- opinion pieces

Low- third grade behavior at concert

High- My brother won the jelly bean contest

3/29/18 Third Grade

3/29/18

Dear Families,
We are so proud of the hard work and positive attitudes our third graders are exemplifying this week through SBAC.  Students are really demonstrating the ONSU Habits and Traits of all learners!  We will be finishing up math this week and will begin ELA next week.  Here's what we have been doing:

Reading:  Miss Morgan has started a unit on character development.  She started The BFG and students are recording their first impressions of characters.

Writing:  Students are finishing up typing the final drafts of their opinion pieces.  After SBAC next week we will begin our poetry unit!  This will culminate in our annual Third Grade Mother's Day Breakfast.  More information will follow regarding this event!

Upcoming Dates:

4/3-4/5      ELA SBAC
4/16-4/20  April Vacation
5/10          Mother's Day Breakfast 8am (more info to follow)

High/Low

High- Mad Money in PE

High- weather is getting warmer

High- the SBAC

High- SBAC

High- SBAC

Low- we don’t have much snow

High- Typing our opinion pieces

High- typing

High- typing our opinion pieces

High- SBAC

High- Typing our opinion pieces

High- Typing our opinion pieces

High- almost done with zebras

Low- done typing

High- Finishing SBAC

High- SBAC

High- my birthday is coming up

High- Mad Money in PE

High- SBAC

High- more outdoor recess

Low- No PE today

High- Mad Money in PE

Low- they moved the cone in kickball, I’m done SBAC and it was fun

High- SBAC

High- Music at the High School

Low- SBAC

High- Doing the Unified Games with Tanner, Mad Money, Music at the high school

High- SBAC, Getting enough stickers to go to VTC

High- SBAC

High- everything

High- everything

High- How well you listened when we set-up our Google Docs, I’m so excited to go to the High School to hear the songs

Low- the mud and muck from recess

High- how well you listened setting up our opinion pieces, the content of your pieces!

Fourth Grade 3/23/18

3/23/18

Dear Families,
We have been so busy in fourth grade since our last blog update!  We apologize for the length in between...

Humanities:  We have been working hard on developing opinion pieces.  Students will be choosing a school related issue to write about.  They will be trying to persuade their audience to have the same opinion as they do. We read the novel, Wringer and have had many deep discussions on peer pressure and standing up for what you believe in.  Students tracked how characters change over time.

Upcoming Dates:
4/2-4/6      ELA SBAC
4/16-4/20  April Vacation

High/Low

HIgh- We learned about mindful tasting and ate chocolate

Low- not enough time to play break the ice

High- getting to eat chocolate

High- we went with Mr. Josh to tap trees, starting book clubs

High- we got to do sugaring with Mr. Josh

Low- we had to eat unhealthy chocolate in Blue Devil Time

High- we got to tap maple trees

Low- I didn’t get to do Blue Devil Time

High- we got to learn how to identify maple trees

High- we got to eat a Hershey’s kiss, we got to identify different types of trees

High- we found a maple tree and tapped it, I ran down a steep hill

High- We got Hershey’s kisses, we started book clubs

High- we went to tap a tree

High- we get to learn about the Earth in science

High- ONSU concert is coming up

Low- We have to play Farm Out

High- We went tapping with Mr. Josh, ONSU concert is coming up

High- ONSU festival is next week, we started Book Clubs

Low- something about Book Clubs

High- Challenge by choice I’m doing, we got to tap maple trees

Low- falling in the snow with no boots

High- next Friday is VTC and I have stickers to go.

Low- a friendship disagreement

High- I already have $9 to go to VTC

Low- we had a lot of morning indoor recess

High- I have enough stickers to go to VTC, Challenge by choice

Low- ONSU concert

High- I am working on a book about Military Animals

Low-  I found a maple tree outside but it was a baby and we can’t tap it

High- getting to listen to Irish music

Low- ONSU festival’s choice wasn’t irish

High- my birthday is in three days

Low- eating chocolate

High- switching into ELA

Low- starting the week off sick

High- watching Debbie bake cookies

Low- that it’s still cold

High- Wringer and the conversations students are having about the book

3/22/2018 Third Grade

3/22/2018

Dear Families,
We have had a wonderful, FULL, week of learning!  This week we welcomed Norwich University senior, Miss Morgan.  Miss Morgan will be working in third grade for the last couple months finishing up her student teaching.  We are excited to work with her.  Here is an update:

Reading:  We continue to focus on Folk Tales and identifying the message or moral in each one.  Students are continuing their independent reading work and conferencing with teachers.

Writing:  We are working on our opinion writing project.  Students have learned to write a clear and concise opinion statement and have begun evaluating their evidence to make sure it is convincing.

SBAC:  Students in grades 3-5 will begin taking the state standardized test next week.  They will begin by taking the math test followed by English/Language Arts the following week. 

Upcoming Dates:

3/26-3/29  Math SBAC
4/2- 4/6     ELA SBAC
4/16-4/20  April Vacation

High/Low

High- writing my name in cursive

High- we are all done cursive

Low- ice outside

High- done with cursive, going to Earth Walk

Low- Girls on the Run

High- Mindfulness in Wellness

High- the snow outside, we are done with cursive

High- bowling in PE

Low- the bus

High- we are doing bowling in PE, done with cursive

High- done with cursive

High- everything

Low- the ice outside

High- learning to play recorders and I’m almost to the yellow belt in recorder karate

Low- done with cursive

High- bowling in PE, recorders in music

High- done with cursive

Low- no kickball

High- basketball in PE, basketball at recess

High- bowling in PE, PE today

Low- it was freezing outside

High- Running in PE

Low- crying in computers

High- bowling in PE

High- being done with cursive

High- being done with cursive

High- done with cursive, we learned how to write our names

High- I get to spend the whole day in 2nd grade today

High- It was sunny this week

High- we are done with cursive

High- meeting with parents and showing them all the great learning you’ve been doing, Miss Morgan has joined us

Low- I was out in the afternoon yesterday

High- our writing blocks

High- cursive

We had a special guest for our class pic today :)

3/15/2018 Third Grade

3/15/2018

Dear Families,
We hope you are all shoveled out from this last storm!  Sometimes it's hard to believe that spring is only a few weeks away.  Here is what we have been working on:

Reading:  We have been focusing on Folk Tales and identifying the message or moral in each one.  We have been identifying characteristics of the various fiction genres as well.

Writing:  We have started our opinion unit!  Students are learning how to form opinion statements and back it up with evidence.  We are also working on ways we can persuade others to agree with us.

Upcoming Events:
3/16          Noon Dismissal
3/26-4/9    SBAC testing window (more information to come)
4/16-4/20  April Vacation

High/Low

High- making a zebra in art

Low- we had a snowstorm and no school

High- finishing lowercase cursive

Low- the pacer test

High- the pacer test

High- art

High- science doing the fossil thing

Low- snow day

High- pacer test

Low- not having enough time in our writer’s notebooks

High- pacer

High- pacer

Low- pacer

High- snow day

High- snow day

High- snow day

High- pacer

High- snow day

High- snow day and 2 feet of snow

High- getting through all the lower letters in cursive

High- getting started on our opinion pieces

* Our group seems smaller today because we had our meeting during a different time