OUR CLASSROOM NEWSLETTER
FEBRUARY 23, 2020
SO HERE WE ARE NEARING THE END OF FEBRUARY AND ABOUT TO CLOSE THE BOOKS ON OUR SECOND TRIMESTER. HOW CAN THAT BE?!? WEREN’T WE JUST WALKING THROUGH THE DOORS OF ROOM 132 FOR THE FIRST TIME A SHORT WHILE AGO? TIME IS CERTAINLY FLYING BY. AND, AS WE’VE SAID BEFORE, WE’VE DEFINITELY COME A LONG WAY SINCE THAT WARM AUGUST DAY! THERE’S STILL A LOT IN STORE FOR THIS AMAZING GROUP OF 4TH GRADERS THOUGH, AND THERE’S NO TIME TO LOOK IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR NOW. WE WILL BE FORGING AHEAD WITH PLENTY MORE LEARNING ADVENTURES IN THE DAYS AHEAD.
LET US BEGIN BY SAYING WE HAD A WONDERFUL VALENTINES PARTY ON FRIDAY THE 14TH. WE WERE ABLE TO EXCHANGE VALENTINES AND MAKE A COUPLE OF FUN CRAFTS. MANY THANKS GO OUT TO MRS. IZZI, MRS. FOURKAS, MRS. CULBERTSON, AND MRS. JANG FOR PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER AND MAKING IT THE SWEETEST CELEBRATION EVER!
A COUPLE OF THINGS TO MAKE NOTE OF:
FIRST OF ALL THE SIX FLAGS “READ TO SUCCEED” READING PROGRAM HAS EXTENDED THEIR DEADLINE. YOU MAY LOG READING MINUTES TO EARN A TICKET TO GREAT AMERICA UP UNTIL FRIDAY, APRIL 17TH. JUST AS A REMINDER, THERE ARE NO PAPER FORMS THIS YEAR. EVERYTHING IS TO BE DONE ONLINE YOU WILL NEED A CLASS/TEACHER CODE. HERE IS THAT INFORMATION:
OUR CODE IS TSFKU
website: sixflags.com/books
SECONDLY, IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NIGHT OF THE STARS TALENT SHOW. THAT DEADLINE IS SUNDAY, MARCH 1ST. JUST USE THE FOLLOWING GOOGLE FORM - ONE FORM PER GROUP NEEDS TO BE FILLED OUT. CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE NEEDED INFO AND RULES.
THAT’S IT FOR NOW. ENJOY THE REST OF THIS SPRING-LIKE WEEKEND!
MS. LAYTON AND MS. JONES
READING
WE ARE CONTINUING WITH OUR HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK CLUB UNIT. HISTORICAL FICTION ALLOWS US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW INDIVIDUALS MIGHT HAVE RESPONDED TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND HOW TIME PERIODS IMPACT ACTIONS. WE ARE ENJOYING THE READ ALOUD NUMBER THE STARS VERY MUCH. NUMBER THE STARS EXPLORES THE THEMES OF BRAVERY AND TRUE FRIENDSHIP. WE’RE NOTICING LOTS OF FORESHADOWING IN THIS WWII NOVEL (AND WE GET A LITTLE FRUSTRATED WHEN WE LEAVE OFF WITH A CLIFFHANGER!)
OUR DIFFERENT BOOK CLUB GROUPS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB WITH THEIR BOOKS, TOO. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY AMAZING DISCUSSIONS. WE’RE LEARNING LOTS OF NEW VOCABULARY, SUMMARIZING CHAPTERS, INVESTIGATING CHARACTER TRAITS, AND ANALYZING AUTHOR’S CRAFT AS TEAMS WORK THROUGH THEIR OWN HISTORICAL FICTION NOVEL.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE’VE BEEN SPENDING A GOOD DEAL OF TIME RESEARCHING AND WRITING OUR STATE REPORTS. AND, WE ARE HAPPY TO REPORT, THEY ARE COMING TOGETHER WELL. STUDENTS ARE PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON THEIR GEOGRAPHY SECTIONS. (THE GEOGRAPHY SECTION IS ACTUALLY DUE TOMORROW!) IT WILL THEN BE ON TO THE RESOURCES AND PRODUCTS SECTION. THAT SECTION IS DUE MARCH 9TH.
WE’LL ALSO BE ATTEMPTING A LITERARY ESSAY BASED ON SOME OF OUR HISTORICAL FICTION READING.
MATH
HAVING FINISHED UP DIVISION, FRACTIONS ARE THE FOCUS NOW FOR ONE AND ALL. WE WILL ADD AND SUBTRACT FRACTIONS, COMPARE FRACTIONS, FIND EQUIVALENT FRACTIONS, AND TALK ABOUT MULTIPLES, FACTORS, PRIME NUMBERS, AND COMPOSITE NUMBERS, TOO.
WE WILL ALSO BEGIN SOME IAR PRACTICE AND REVIEW OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS TO HELP US PREPARE FOR THOSE UPCOMING TESTS.
SCIENCE
WE’VE BEEN BUSY IN SCIENCE LOOKING AT HOW THE EARTH'S SURFACE CAN CHANGE. WE’VE DISCUSSED HOW WATER, WIND, AND OTHER LIVING THINGS CAN CHANGE THE SURFACE OF OUR EARTH. WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT SEDIMENT, DEPOSITION, WINDBREAKS, AND WEATHERING. WE EVEN DID AN EROSION EXPERIMENT. WE’LL ALSO BE DISCUSSING DIFFERENT TYPES OF VOLCANOES AND WILL LOOK AT EARTHQUAKES, TOO. WE’LL LEARN THAT EARTHQUAKES HAPPEN WHEN THE TECTONIC PLATES THAT MAKE UP OUR EARTH'S CRUST, SHIFT AND MOVE. WITH LUCK, WE MAY EVEN BE ABLE TO DO AN EARTHQUAKE EXPERIMENT.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE HAVE BEGUN OUR GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE ON TEETH (AFTER ALL, FEBRUARY IS DENTAL HEALTH MONTH!) WE HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEETH AND WE WILL FIND OUT TOO, ABOUT THE LAYERS OF OUR TEETH. BE SURE TO ASK US ABOUT THIS.
IN OUR SEL/ SECOND STEP LESSONS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING HOW TO MANAGE ANXIETY. THIS WEEK WE WILL TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN AVOID JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS.
FEBRUARY 9, 2020
PHEW! WE HOPE EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO RELAX AND CATCH THEIR BREATH THIS WEEKEND. THIS PAST WEEK WAS JAM PACKED WITH SOME AMAZING ACTIVITIES.
WE SURE HOPE ALL 4TH GRADERS WILL LONG REMEMBER THEIR ELLIS ISLAND DAY EXPERIENCE. IT TRULY WAS A DAY FULL OF INTENSE PERSONAL LEARNING. GRATEFULLY, ALL OF OUR IMMIGRANTS MADE IT THROUGH THE LEGAL, MEDICAL, AND MENTAL EXAMS. SOME STUDENTS HAD THEIR NAMES CHANGED AND SOME STUDENTS WERE EVEN DETAINED FOR FURTHER EVALUATION. WITH PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE HOWEVER, THEY ALL PASSED THE MANY QUESTIONS AND EXAMS GIVEN. WE CERTAINLY HAVE TO MENTION, THE OUTFITS AND PROPS THAT STUDENTS BROUGHT IN FOR OUR DAY WERE JUST PERFECT. ALL IN ALL, IT COULDN’T HAVE GONE BETTER. PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK OUT SOME PICTURES THAT ARE NOW POSTED UNDER “FABULOUS PHOTOS” HERE ON THIS WEBSITE.
OUR FIELD TRIP TO THE SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM IN CHICAGO WENT VERY WELL, TOO. STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO SEE FIRST HAND HOW IMPORTANT IMMIGRATION IS TO THE MAKEUP OF CHICAGO--SPECIFICALLY LEARNING ABOUT THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRANTS FROM SWEDEN. THE HIGHLIGHT, MOST DEFINITELY,
WAS BEING ABLE TO TIME TRAVEL BACK TO THE 1870’S AND VISIT A STOOGA! WITH LUCK, YOU’VE HEARD PLENTY ABOUT IT ALREADY!
THIS COMING WEEK, WE’LL HAVE OUR VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY. THE PARTY WILL BE ON FRIDAY, FROM 2:30-3:30. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE A CHANCE TO EXCHANGE VALENTINES AT THIS CELEBRATION. IF YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE PART IN THE EXCHANGE, YOU MUST BRING A VALENTINE FOR EVERYONE. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT VALENTINES CAN NOT INCLUDE ANY KIND OF CANDY OR FOOD.
IF YOU WANT TO PASS OUT SOME OTHER KIND OF PRIZE (LIKE A PENCIL OR STICKER), BY ALL MEANS, DO!!
OTHER DATES TO MAKE NOTE OF:
FEBRUARY 17TH, PRESIDENT’S DAY--NO CLASSES
FEBRUARY 19TH SIX FLAGS READ TO SUCCEED DEADLINE
FEBRUARY 20TH PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES 4PM-7PM
SPRING CONFERENCES ARE TEACHER REQUEST ONLY. IF YOU DO
NOT RECEIVE A CONFERENCE NOTICE, YOU CAN ASSUME THAT ALL IS GOING WELL! :O)
FEBRUARY 21ST SWEETHEART DANCE
THAT'S IT. SPRING TRAINING BEGINS SOON, SO THINGS ARE DEFINITELY LOOKING UP! :O)
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
HAVING NOW WRAPPED UP OUR NONFICTION WEATHER UNIT, WE ARE READY TO TACKLE THE NEXT UNIT: HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK CLUBS. IN THIS UNIT
● Students will build collective interpretations, listen closely to each other, and know how to carry ideas across time- both in book club discussions and across more than one text.
● Students will be able to compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g. chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of idea events, concept, or information in two or more texts and analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic on numerous texts of the same time period.
● Students will be able to determine the theme of a story from details in the text, including how characters in a story respond to challenges.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE HAVE SPENT A LARGE PORTION OF OUR LANGUAGE ARTS TIME OVER THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS WORKING ON OUR IMMIGRATION JOURNALS. NOW, THE PLAN IS TO SPEND SOME OF OUR LANGUAGE ARTS TIME WORKING ON STATE REPORTS. WE WILL SPEND A COUPLE OF DAYS EACH WEEK GATHERING INFORMATION AND PUTTING THAT INFORMATION INTO WELL-ORGANIZED PARAGRAPHS FOR OUR REPORT. IT WILL BE A NICE TIE-IN TO OUR RESEARCH WORK IN READING
WE WILL ALSO WORK ON A LITERARY ESSAY. A LITERARY ESSAY IS A PIECE OF WRITING IN WHICH THE AUTHOR IDENTIFIES A THEME, OR BIG IDEA, FROM A TEXT BY GENERATING A THESIS STATEMENT. AS WE DEVELOP THESE ESSAYS WE WILL USE SEVERAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT OUR THESIS.
WE WILL ALSO WORK ON OUR EDITING SKILLS WITH OUR DAILY EDITS.
MATH
SOME CLASSES ARE WORKING TO FINISH UP THE DIVISION CHAPTER WHILE OTHER CLASSES ARE BUSY WORKING WITH FRACTIONS. WITHOUT QUESTION, MASTERY OF THOSE BASIC FACTS IS ESSENTIAL FOR BOTH CONCEPTS.
WE ARE DOING SOME WORK TOO, ON WORD PROBLEMS—SPECIFICALLY ON ALGEBRAIC SENTENCES WITH VARIABLES.
SOCIAL STUDIES
WE’LL SELECT STATES FOR OUR STATE REPORT THIS WEEK! WE’LL THEN BEGIN OUR RESEARCH AND INFORMATION GATHERING FOR EACH OF THE REQUIRED SECTIONS---GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY AND FAMOUS PEOPLE, AND RESOURCES AND PRODUCTS.
A PACKET WILL BE SENT HOME WITH ALL THE DIRECTIONS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DUE DATES. PLEASE BE SURE TO LOOK OVER THE SPECIFIC DETAILS AND MAKE NOTE OF DUE DATES, TOO. LET ME KNOW SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.
SCIENCE/HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN SCIENCE WE ARE BEGINNING OUR UNIT CALLED EARTH’S CHANGING SURFACE. IN THIS UNIT WE WILL LEARN HOW TO IDENTIFY THE CHANGES THAT CAN HAPPEN IN THE EARTH’S SURFACE. WE WILL INVESTIGATE HOW WIND, WATER, AND OTHER LIVING THINGS CAN CHANGE THE SURFACE. WE WILL ALSO LOOK AT HOW FOSSILS FORM, AND WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO ABOUT NATURE HAZARDS (A BIT OF A CARRY OVER FROM OUR WEATHER READING UNIT! :O))
IIN HEALTH WE ARE FINISHING UP OUR GREAT BODY SHOP UNIT ON THE EAR. WE LOOKED AT THE OUTER EAR, THE MIDDLE EAR, AND THE INNER EAR. WE LEARNED ABOUT THE EUSTACHIAN TUBE AND TOOK A LOOK AT SOUNDS AND THEIR DECIBEL LEVELS. WE’LL ACTUALLY HAVE OUR QUIZ ON THE EAR THIS THURSDAY.
NEXT, IT’S ON TO TEETH!
SECOND STEP HAS US FOCUSING ON MANAGING STRONG FEELINGS. WE’LL LEARN THAT STAYING IN CONTROL OF OUR EMOTIONS AND ACTIONS WILL HELP US GET ALONG BETTER WITH OTHERS AND BE MORE SUCCESSFUL AT SCHOOL.
JANUARY 25, 2020
WE HOPE THIS NEWSLETTER FINDS YOU ALL WARM AND WELL AND ENJOYING THIS WINTERY WEEKEND. (WE KNEW THE SNOW HAD TO HAPPEN SOMETIME, RIGHT?!?!) WE CONTINUE TO WORK HARD IN ALL SUBJECT AREAS AND HAVE LOTS TO REPORT ABOUT OUR LEARNING ENDEAVORS.
THE READING SUPER BOWL IS WELL UNDER WAY! AT THE MOMENT, ROOM 132 IS IN THIRD PLACE, BUT WE'RE NOT BEHIND BY TOO MANY TOUCHDOWNS. CERTAINLY, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE PARTICIPATES AND BRINGS IN THOSE FOOTBALLS DURING THESE FINAL FEW "PLAYOFF" DAYS. ALL STUDENTS WILL NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 25 FOOTBALLS BY THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 3OTH IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR TAILGATE/LUNCHTIME PICNIC. WE WILL HAVE A LUNCHTIME CELEBRATION THIS WEEK ON THE 30TH. THERE WILL BE PRIZES AND TREATS. PERMISSION SLIPS WILL BE SENT HOME EARLY IN THE WEEK REGARDING THE TREATS PROVIDED.
THE SWEETHEART DANCE IS COMING UP ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST, FROM 6:30PM - 8:00PM. GIRLS CAN SHARE AN EVENING OF DANCING AND GAMES WITH THAT SPECIAL ADULT SOMEONE IN THEIR LIFE (DAD, GRANDPA, GUARDIAN, ETC.). TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW: PTA store
CALLING ALL DANCERS, SINGERS, MUSICIANS, COMEDIANS! REGISTRATION FOR OUR ANNUAL “NIGHT OF THE STARS” IS NOW OPEN. WE KNOW THERE’S A WEALTH OF TALENT RIGHT HERE IN ROOM 132. WHY NOT SHARE THOSE TALENTS WITH OTHERS IN OUR FRANKLIN FAMILY? INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE: CLICK HERE
·
INFORMATION WAS SENT HOME THIS PAST WEEK REGARDING THE SPECIFICS OF ELLIS ISLAND DAY. AS YOU KNOW IT IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 5TH. HOPEFULLY, PREPARATIONS ARE ALREADY BEING MADE. SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS LEARNING SIMULATION, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. IT'S ALSO CRITICAL THAT WE GET A COUNT OF PARENTS WHO ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND, SO PLEASE SEND ALONG YOUR RSVP REPLY.
ADDITIONALLY, WE’LL BE TAKING OUR FIRST FIELD TRIP ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH. WE WILL BE GOING TO THE SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM IN CHICAGO. DURING OUR TRIP WE’LL GET THE CHANCE TO HEAR ABOUT THE MANY SWEDISH IMMIGRANTS THAT MADE THEIR WAY TO CHICAGO IN THE LATE 1800’S. WE’LL EVEN GET THE CHANCE TO EXPLORE IN THE INTERACTIVE CHILDREN’S EXHIBIT. WE’LL SEE FIRST HAND WHAT LIVING IN A SMALL SWEDISH STUGA IS LIKE. WE’LL THEN GET OUR PASSPORTS AND TRAVEL IN THE STEERAGE SECTION OF A STEAMSHIP TO AMERICA. IT’LL BE THE PERFECT PREPARATION FOR OUR OWN ELLIS ISLAND EXPERIENCE THE FOLLOWING DAY. PLEASE REMEMBER TO PACK A BAG LUNCH WITH A DRINK THAT DAY. WE WILL BE LEAVING PROMPTLY AT 9:00 AM AND SHOULD BE BACK AT FRANKLIN BY 1:30 OR SO.
THAT’S IT!
STAY WARM!
MS. LAYTON AND MS. JONES
READING
OUR READING FOCUS CONTINUES TO BE IMMIGRATION AND ELLIS ISLAND AS WE WIND DOWN OUR UNIT 2 NONFICTION UNIT. AFTER FINISHING THE PAIRED TEXT NONFICTION SELECTION COMPARING ELLIS ISLAND AND ANGEL ISLAND, WE MOVED ON TO EXPLORING THE TEXT “IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND”. THIS COMING WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT THE TEXT “JOURNEY TO ELLIS ISLAND”WE'LL ENJOY A READER’S THEATRE SELECTION CALLED “FIRST STOP ELLIS ISLAND” AND WE’LL TAKE OUR UNIT 2 READING ASSESSMENT.
OUR NEXT UNITS OF STUDY UNIT WILL BE HISTORICAL FICTION. IN THIS UNIT WILL WORK IN SMALL GROUP “BOOK CLUBS”.
Part One: Tackling Complex Texts in the Company of Friends
Focuses on deep comprehension and synthesis of complex story elements as well as launching book clubs with high levels of engagement and independence.
Part Two: Interpreting Complex Texts
Focuses on interpretation, especially on paying attention to perspective and point of view and on carrying ideas across a text.
Part Three: Becoming More Complex because We Read
Helps readers move across texts, both fiction and nonfiction, developing readers’ thematic understanding.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE HAVE ALL BEEN BUSY WRITING THEIR IMMIGRATION JOURNAL ENTRIES. EVERYONE HAS COMPLETED JOURNAL ENTRY #1 ABOUT LEAVING HIS OR HER HOME COUNTRY. NOW WE ARE WRITING ENTRY #2 ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES ON THE STEAMSHIP TO AMERICA. AS WE WRITE, WE ARE WORKING TO INCLUDE INFORMATION WE HAVE READ ABOUT AND DISCUSSED. WE ARE ALSO WORKING ON MAKING OUR WRITING DESCRIPTIVE AND VARYING OUR SENTENCE STRUCTURE. I AM EVEN HOPING TO SEE SOME FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN THESE JOURNALS.
WE ARE ALSO PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR OPINION ESSAYS. WE HAVE MANY OPINIONS ABOUT RECESS, SCREEN TIME, TIK TOK, AND EVEN IMMIGRATION. STUDENTS HAVE WORKED TO INCLUDE DETAILS WITH STRONG EVIDENCE. THE NEXT UNIT WILL HAVE US WORKING ON HISTORICAL RESEARCH AS WE ALSO BEGIN TO WORK ON OUR STATE REPORTS.
MATH
WE FINISHED OUR MULTIPLICATION CHAPTER AND HAVE BEGUN WORKING DILIGENTLY ON DIVISION. OVER THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS WE’LL DISCOVER THAT IF WE REMEMBER THESE SIMPLE STEPS, THE PROCESS BECOMES MUCH EASIER: DADDY-DIVIDE, MOMMY-MULTIPLY, SISTER-SUBTRACT, BROTHER-BRING DOWN, AND ROVER-REMAINDER. WE’LL LATER FIND OUT THAT YOU CAN ALSO USE AREA MODELS TO DIVIDE.
SCIENCE/HEALTH/SECOND STEP
STILL NO SCIENCE. WE WILL RESUME SCIENCE AFTER OUR ELLIS ISLAND STUDIES ARE COMPLETED.
THIS WEEK WE BEGAN OUR GREAT BODY SHOP UNIT ON OUR AMAZING HEARING MACHINE. YEP. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ALL THINGS AUDITORY. WE HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE OUTER EAR AND MIDDLE EAR. FEEL FREE TO ASK US ABOUT THOSE TINY BONES IN THE MIDDLE EAR. THEY’RE SO SMALL THEY CAN FIT ON YOUR PINKY FINGER! AS WE MOVE FORWARD WE’LL DISCUSS THE INNER EAR AND EVEN WRITE SOME PARAGRAPHS ABOUT OUR FAVORITE SOUNDS AND OUR LEAST FAVORITE SOUNDS!
IN OUR SECOND STEP PROGRAM WE'RE BEGINNING A UNIT ON MANAGING STRONG EMOTIONS.
SOCIAL STUDIES
AS YOU CAN GUESS, WE ARE WORKING PRETTY INTENSELY TO GET READY FOR ELLIS ISLAND DAY. THIS WEEK WE WILL PUT TOGETHER OUR PASSPORTS. WE'LL ALSO SPEND SOME TIME LEARNING ABOUT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.
IT SHOULD BE MENTIONED THAT MR. VILLARREAL ALSO CAME INTO OUR CLASSROOM AND TOOK US ON A FIELD TRIP TO NEW YORK. WELL, NOT EXACTLY. HE HELPED US TAKE A GOOGLE VIRTUAL REALITY TRIP TO ELLIS ISLAND, GIVING US LOTS OF COOL INFORMATION. WE LOVED IT!
JANUARY 12, 2020
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We HOPE YOU ALL HAD AN ENJOYABLE AND RELAXING BREAK. WITH LUCK, SANTA WAS GOOD TO ALL OF YOU AND YOU MANAGED TO STAY WARM AND READ SOME GOOD BOOKS. WE HAVE DEFINITELY HIT THE GROUND RUNNING SINCE OUR RETURN. THERE ARE MANY IMPORTANT EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS IN THE NEXT MONTH, SO NO MORE VACATION MODE FOR ROOM 132 :O)
WE HAVE OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED OUR STUDIES OF IMMIGRATION AND ELLIS ISLAND. NOT ONLY WILL WE SPEND TIME READING AND DISCUSSING THIS TOPIC IN SOCIAL STUDIES, THERE WILL BE MANY CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES THAT WILL ENCOMPASS THIS IMPORTANT TOPIC. THEN OF COURSE, THERE WILL BE ELLIS ISLAND DAY AS THE BIG CULMINATING EVENT. THAT IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH. WE WILL BE SIMULATING WHAT IMMIGRANTS ACTUALLY MIGHT HAVE ENCOUNTERED COMING THROUGH ELLIS ISLAND. OUR HOPE IS TO MAKE IT AS REALISTIC AS POSSIBLE. A LETTER WILL BE SENT HOME BEFORE TOO LONG WITH SPECIFIC DETAILS. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE WILL ALSO BE TAKING A FIELD TRIP TO THE SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM IN THE ANDERSONVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD OF CHICAGO. THIS IS A VERY SMALL MUSEUM THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE MORE THAN 50 STUDENTS SO ROOM 132 AND MR. LOPRESTI’S ROOM WILL BE GOING ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH, WHILE MRS. KENNEDY’S ROOM AND MS. SWEENEY’S ROOM WILL BE GOING ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD. PERMISSION SLIPS WILL BE SENT HOME SOON FOR THIS WONDERFUL MUSEUM. FINALLY, IT OUGHT TO BE MENTIONED THAT PTA WILL ONCE AGAIN BE HOSTING INTERNATIONAL NIGHT ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH. WHAT A WEEK, (AND MONTH), IT WILL BE!
SO… WITH THE PACKERS STILL IN THE PLAYOFFS, IT’S THE PERFECT TIME TO KICK OFF THE 4TH GRADE READING SUPER BOWL. THAT’S RIGHT. ROOM 132 WILL NEED TO READ FURIOUSLY AS WE COMPETE AGAINST THE OTHER FOURTH GRADE CLASSROOMS TO EARN READING TOUCHDOWNS. I EXPECT TO SEE EVERYONE'S ACTIVE PARTICIPATION WITH AT LEAST THE DAILY 20-MINUTE EXPECTATION. WE WILL EVEN HAVE A TAILGATE PICNIC AND AWARD CEREMONY AT THE END OF THE MONTH, SO GET READY TO GET THOSE PAGES TURNING!
SPEAKING OF READING, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SIX FLAGS “READ TO SUCCEED” READING PROGRAM ONCE AGAIN. INFORMATION ABOUT THIS READING INCENTIVE WAS SENT HOME EARLIER THIS WEEK AND IT WILL RUN FROM JANUARY 10TH THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY. ALL STUDENTS NEED TO DO IS LOG SIX HOURS OF READING, AND THEY’LL EARN A FREE SIX FLAGS/GREAT AMERICA TICKET. HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?! BEST OF ALL, YOU CAN LOG READING MINUTES FOR OUR READING SUPER BOWL AT THE SAME TIME.
INFORMATION WAS ALSO SENT HOME BEFORE BREAK ABOUT THE YEARBOOK COVER CONTEST.
ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS COME UP WITH A COOL 8 1/2 X 11 DESIGN TO GO WITH THE THEME “LET YOUR DREAMS TAKE FLIGHT”. WE WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO USE THEIR CREATIVITY AND ENTER THIS
CONTEST!
THAT'S IT. STAY WARM AND DRY.
MS. LAYTON AND MS. JONES
READING
WE WILL BE CONTINUING WITH OUR “READ THE WEATHER, READ THE WORLD” UNIT. HAVING COMPLETED OUR WEATHER PRESENTATIONS WE ARE NOW ON TO RESEARCHING A SECOND TOPIC. AND…. SURPRISE, SURPRISE! THAT TOPIC IS IMMIGRATION!!! WE WILL READ ARTICLES ABOUT IMMIGRATION, ELLIS ISLAND, ANGEL ISLAND,THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, AND DIFFERENT IMMIGRANT GROUPS. WE WILL ALSO READ "IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND" AND "JOURNEY TO ELLIS ISLAND." WE’VE ALSO STARTED A SHORT READ ALOUD NOVEL FROM THE DEAR AMERICA SERIES. IT’S CALLED, “HOPE IN MY HEART.”. THIS, ALONG WITH A COUPLE OF OTHER FICTION STORIES, WILL CERTAINLY BUILD OUR UNDERSTANDING OF IMMIGRATION IN THE EARLY 1900’S AND STRENGTHEN OUR SKILLS WHEN READING NONFICTION.
LANGUAGE ARTS
AFTER SOME INITIAL READING AND RESEARCH, WE HAVE BEGUN WORKING ON OUR IMMIGRATION JOURNALS. WE WILL BEGIN WITH JOURNAL ENTRY #1. IN THIS JOURNAL ENTRY WE WILL WRITE AS AN IMMIGRANT LEAVING OUR HOME COUNTRY. WE WILL TALK ABOUT WHY WE ARE LEAVING AND HOW WE FEEL ABOUT COMING TO AMERICA. WE WILL EVEN START TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WE WILL PACK FOR OUR JOURNEY. THERE WILL BE TWO MORE JOURNAL ENTRIES AFTER WE COMPLETE OUR FIRST ENTRY. OUR SECOND ENTRY WILL BE ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCES ON THE BOAT TO AMERICA. WE'LL WRITE ABOUT OUR ACCOMMODATIONS, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME ON THE BOAT, AND WHAT OUR FEELINGS ARE AS WE APPROACH NEW YORK HARBOR. OUR LAST JOURNAL ENTRY WILL BE AFTER ELLIS ISLAND DAY. IT WILL BE THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO INCORPORATE ALL THAT WE ARE READING AND DISCUSSING INTO OUR WRITING.
ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE WORKING TO PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR OPINION/PERSUASIVE ESSAY. WE HAVE WORKED HARD TO WRITE STRONGER LEADS, INCLUDE SPECIFIC EVIDENCE, AND SUM THINGS UP WITH SUGGESTED ACTION FOR THE READER. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING OUR FINAL PRODUCT BEFORE TOO LONG.
MATH
MATH CLASSES ARE WRAPPING UP WORK IN CHAPTER 5 AND CHAPTER 6. WE WILL WORK ON DIVIDING BY ONE DIGIT AND TWO DIGIT DIVISORS. WE WILL ALL LEARN THE STEPS OF LONG DIVISION AND WORK ON PROBLEMS WITH REMAINDERS, TOO. CERTAINLY, A MASTERY OF THOSE BASIC MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION FACTS WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO OVERALL SUCCESS IN THESE CHAPTERS, SO KEEP PRACTICING. X-TRA MATH AND IXL IS ALWAYS ENCOURAGED.
WE WILL ALSO BE WORKING TO MAKE A FEW GRAPHS BASED ON SOME IMMIGRATION DATA.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE BEGAN THE GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE ON DIGESTION BEFORE BREAK. THIS WEEK WE CONTINUED TALKING ABOUT THIS ALL-IMPORTANT SYSTEM AND LEARNED ABOUT THE CRUCIAL ORGANS AND BODY PARTS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL FOR DIGESTION.
WE WILL ACTUALLY BE HAVING OUR QUIZ ON THIS UNIT THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 16TH.
IN OUR SECOND STEP/SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM, WE WILL CONTINUE DISCUSSING DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF BULLYING. THIS WEEK WE WILL BE LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT CYBER BULLYING..
SOCIAL STUDIES
AS EXPECTED, WE'RE GOING TO BE QUITE BUSY GETTING READY FOR OUR JOURNEY TO AMERICA. WE HAVE ALREADY MADE COUNTRY FLAGS OF OUR HOME (IMMIGRANT) COUNTRIES. LATER, WE'LL PUT OUR PASSPORTS TOGETHER. AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WE WILL DO LOTS OF READING, TOO. WE WILL LOOK AT BOTH “IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND” AND “JOURNEY TO ELLIS ISLAND”. THIS WEEK WE ALSO HAVE A GOOGLE VIRTUAL REALITY LESSON PLANNED. WITH THE HELP OF MR. VILLARREAL, WE’LL TAKE A TRIP TO NEW YORK AND GO INSIDE ELLIS ISLAND. IT WILL BE FUN!
DECEMBER 15, 2019
OKAY, SO THE BEARS/PACKER GAME MAY NOT HAVE TURNED OUT AS MANY OF YOU HAD HOPED, BUT IT SURE MADE FOR SOME EDGE OF YOUR SEAT EXCITEMENT. (FROM MY PERSPECTIVE IT WILL BE WORTH IT TO SEE MR. RASMUSSEN WEAR A PACKERS JERSEY TOMORROW--THE RESULT OF LOSING A BET!)
WITH LUCK, YOU'RE PLANNING TO ATTEND OUR BIG HOLIDAY SING PERFORMANCE THIS THURSDAY. THE 4TH GRADERS WILL BE SINGING IN THE GYMNASIUM BEGINNING AT 11:00. I PROMISE YOU’LL HEAR SOME FAMILIAR TUNES, AND YOU’LL EVEN GET TO SEE SOME VERY TALENTED UKULELE PLAYERS.
HAVE YOU HEARD THE BUZZ? YEP. THE DISTRICT 64 SPELLING BEE IS BACK! THE BEE IS OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-8. THIS YEAR FRANKLIN'S BEE WILL BE HELD AFTER SCHOOL ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 7TH AT 4:00 PM. THE TOP THREE SPELLERS FROM OUR SCHOOL WILL THEN GO TO THE DISTRICT BEE ON JANUARY 21ST RIGHT HERE AT FRANKLIN. I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL SPELLERS IN ROOM 132 TO GIVE IT A TRY. MORE INFORMATION, AS WELL AS SPELLING STUDY LISTS, CAN BE FOUND ON THE DISTRICT HOMEPAGE.
District 64 spelling Bee web page
Franklin Online Registration
AS YOU KNOW, WE TOOK OUR WINTER MAP TESTS THIS PAST WEEK. RESULTS FROM THESE TESTS WILL BE USED TO HELP US GUIDE INSTRUCTION IN THE DAYS AHEAD. AS MENTIONED BEFORE, WE WANT TO ENSURE STUDENTS ARE MOVING IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION WITH THEIR READING AND MATH SKILLS.
WITH ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT BEFORE WINTER BREAK, FRANKLIN WILL BE CELEBRATING THE COUNTDOWN WITH FIVE FESTIVE DAYS OF FUN.
Monday: Wear Holiday socks and holiday sweater
Tuesday: Dress like a candy cane in Red & White
Wednesday: Winter Wonderland - wear blue or white like
snowflakes
Thursday: Dress in your "Holiday Best" for our Holiday
Sing performance.
Friday: Wear Pajamas
FINALLY, THIS PAST WEEK, ROOM 132 TOOK PART IN THE NATION-WIDE “HOUR OF CODE”. THIS EVENT IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT BY COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION WEEK AND CODE.ORG. IT REACHES TENS OF MILLIONS OF STUDENTS IN 180+ COUNTRIES THROUGH A ONE HOUR INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE AND COMPUTER PROGRAMING. ROOM 132 LOVED THE ACTIVITIES AND DEMONSTRATED THEY’RE ALL REALLY QUITE TECH SAVVY.
THAT'S IT. IN CASE WE DON'T SEE YOU THIS WEEK OR GET THE CHANCE TO CHAT WITH YOU PERSONALLY, WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE A VERY JOYOUS HOLIDAY. BE SAFE AND ENJOY THE TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. AND, MAY 2020 BE A YEAR FILLED WITH GRAND SURPRISES AND PLENTY OF GOOD BOOKS.
CHEERS!
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
WE’RE MOVING RIGHT ALONG IN OUR NONFICTION UNIT “READ THE WEATHER, READ THE WORLD”. WE ARE NOW BUSY IN OUR RESEARCH TEAMS, RESEARCHING DIFFERENT EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS. TEAMS ARE WORKING ON SLIDESHOWS, VIDEOS, AND EXPERIMENTS TO SHARE. AS EXPERTS, THEY WILL PRESENT THEIR FINDINGS AND TEACH THEIR PEERS ALL ABOUT TORNADOES, HURRICANES, TSUNAMIS, EARTHQUAKES, BLIZZARDS, AND FLOODS.
IT SHOULD BE MENTIONED THAT WE WILL BEGIN TO READ ALOUD
THE NOVEL, “HOPE IN MY HEART.” THIS WONDERFUL NOVEL IS PART OF THE DEAR AMERICA SERIES AND WILL GIVE US A LOT OF GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT IMMIGRANTS WENT THROUGH AS THEY PASSED THROUGH ELLIS ISLAND IN THE EARLY 1900’S. .
LANGUAGE ARTS
HAVING SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED OUR FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW PIECE CALLED "IF I WERE A GIFT"WE'RE NOW PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR “THREE WISHES” ESSAY. WE’RE ALSO CONTINUING WITH OUR PERSUASIVE ESSAYS. MOST STUDENTS HAVE THEIR STRONG THESIS STATEMENT AND ARE APPROPRIATELY DEVELOPING REASONS AND EVIDENCE.
THIS WEEK WE’LL TACKLE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE FOUND IN “YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH” AND SOME OTHER HOLIDAY SONGS. SHOULD BE FUN.
MATH
WE'VE BEGUN WORKING DILIGENTLY ON MORE COMPLEX MULTIPLICATION IN CHAPTER 5 WHILE OTHER CLASSES ARE DIVING INTO LONG DIVISION IN CHAPTER 6. WE'LL TRY OUR HAND AT 2 DIGITS X 2 DIGIT, 3 DIGIT X 2 DIGIT, AND SOME OF US MAY EVEN TRY SOME MULTIPLICATION WITH DECIMALS.
PLEASE BE SURE TO SPEND SOME TIME OVER WINTER BREAK PRACTICING THOSE FACTS ON XTRAMATH AND REVIEWING THOSE SKILLS ON IXL.
SOCIAL STUDIES
WE’VE DONE SOME COUNTRY FACT FINDING AS WE BEGIN OUR IMMIGRATION/ELLIS ISLAND UNIT. STUDENTS ARE GATHERING INFORMATION ABOUT A COUNTRY OF THEIR ANCESTRY AND PUTTING TOGETHER COUNTRY FLAGS.
AFTER BREAK WE WILL READ IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND TO GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT IMMIGRATION IN THE LATE 1800’S, EARLY 1900’S. WE’LL ALSO DO SOME GRAPHING AND BEGIN TO WRITE AN IMMIGRATION JOURNAL, TOO!
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING OUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
DID YOU KNOW THAT IF YOUR SMALL INTESTINE WAS STRETCHED OUT, IT WOULD BE TALLER THAN A HOUSE? HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT WE FOUND OUT THAT’S TRUE! WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE DIFFERENT VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND FOOD CATEGORIES OUR BODIES NEED.
SECOND STEP HAS US TALKING ABOUT BULLYING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING, REPORTING, AND REFUSING BULLYING. WE ‘RE WORKING TO ALL BE UPSTANDERS!
SO HERE WE ARE NEARING THE END OF FEBRUARY AND ABOUT TO CLOSE THE BOOKS ON OUR SECOND TRIMESTER. HOW CAN THAT BE?!? WEREN’T WE JUST WALKING THROUGH THE DOORS OF ROOM 132 FOR THE FIRST TIME A SHORT WHILE AGO? TIME IS CERTAINLY FLYING BY. AND, AS WE’VE SAID BEFORE, WE’VE DEFINITELY COME A LONG WAY SINCE THAT WARM AUGUST DAY! THERE’S STILL A LOT IN STORE FOR THIS AMAZING GROUP OF 4TH GRADERS THOUGH, AND THERE’S NO TIME TO LOOK IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR NOW. WE WILL BE FORGING AHEAD WITH PLENTY MORE LEARNING ADVENTURES IN THE DAYS AHEAD.
LET US BEGIN BY SAYING WE HAD A WONDERFUL VALENTINES PARTY ON FRIDAY THE 14TH. WE WERE ABLE TO EXCHANGE VALENTINES AND MAKE A COUPLE OF FUN CRAFTS. MANY THANKS GO OUT TO MRS. IZZI, MRS. FOURKAS, MRS. CULBERTSON, AND MRS. JANG FOR PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER AND MAKING IT THE SWEETEST CELEBRATION EVER!
A COUPLE OF THINGS TO MAKE NOTE OF:
FIRST OF ALL THE SIX FLAGS “READ TO SUCCEED” READING PROGRAM HAS EXTENDED THEIR DEADLINE. YOU MAY LOG READING MINUTES TO EARN A TICKET TO GREAT AMERICA UP UNTIL FRIDAY, APRIL 17TH. JUST AS A REMINDER, THERE ARE NO PAPER FORMS THIS YEAR. EVERYTHING IS TO BE DONE ONLINE YOU WILL NEED A CLASS/TEACHER CODE. HERE IS THAT INFORMATION:
OUR CODE IS TSFKU
website: sixflags.com/books
SECONDLY, IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR NIGHT OF THE STARS TALENT SHOW. THAT DEADLINE IS SUNDAY, MARCH 1ST. JUST USE THE FOLLOWING GOOGLE FORM - ONE FORM PER GROUP NEEDS TO BE FILLED OUT. CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE NEEDED INFO AND RULES.
THAT’S IT FOR NOW. ENJOY THE REST OF THIS SPRING-LIKE WEEKEND!
MS. LAYTON AND MS. JONES
READING
WE ARE CONTINUING WITH OUR HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK CLUB UNIT. HISTORICAL FICTION ALLOWS US TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW INDIVIDUALS MIGHT HAVE RESPONDED TO THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND HOW TIME PERIODS IMPACT ACTIONS. WE ARE ENJOYING THE READ ALOUD NUMBER THE STARS VERY MUCH. NUMBER THE STARS EXPLORES THE THEMES OF BRAVERY AND TRUE FRIENDSHIP. WE’RE NOTICING LOTS OF FORESHADOWING IN THIS WWII NOVEL (AND WE GET A LITTLE FRUSTRATED WHEN WE LEAVE OFF WITH A CLIFFHANGER!)
OUR DIFFERENT BOOK CLUB GROUPS ARE DOING A GREAT JOB WITH THEIR BOOKS, TOO. THERE HAVE BEEN MANY AMAZING DISCUSSIONS. WE’RE LEARNING LOTS OF NEW VOCABULARY, SUMMARIZING CHAPTERS, INVESTIGATING CHARACTER TRAITS, AND ANALYZING AUTHOR’S CRAFT AS TEAMS WORK THROUGH THEIR OWN HISTORICAL FICTION NOVEL.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE’VE BEEN SPENDING A GOOD DEAL OF TIME RESEARCHING AND WRITING OUR STATE REPORTS. AND, WE ARE HAPPY TO REPORT, THEY ARE COMING TOGETHER WELL. STUDENTS ARE PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON THEIR GEOGRAPHY SECTIONS. (THE GEOGRAPHY SECTION IS ACTUALLY DUE TOMORROW!) IT WILL THEN BE ON TO THE RESOURCES AND PRODUCTS SECTION. THAT SECTION IS DUE MARCH 9TH.
WE’LL ALSO BE ATTEMPTING A LITERARY ESSAY BASED ON SOME OF OUR HISTORICAL FICTION READING.
MATH
HAVING FINISHED UP DIVISION, FRACTIONS ARE THE FOCUS NOW FOR ONE AND ALL. WE WILL ADD AND SUBTRACT FRACTIONS, COMPARE FRACTIONS, FIND EQUIVALENT FRACTIONS, AND TALK ABOUT MULTIPLES, FACTORS, PRIME NUMBERS, AND COMPOSITE NUMBERS, TOO.
WE WILL ALSO BEGIN SOME IAR PRACTICE AND REVIEW OVER THE NEXT FEW WEEKS TO HELP US PREPARE FOR THOSE UPCOMING TESTS.
SCIENCE
WE’VE BEEN BUSY IN SCIENCE LOOKING AT HOW THE EARTH'S SURFACE CAN CHANGE. WE’VE DISCUSSED HOW WATER, WIND, AND OTHER LIVING THINGS CAN CHANGE THE SURFACE OF OUR EARTH. WE’VE LEARNED ABOUT SEDIMENT, DEPOSITION, WINDBREAKS, AND WEATHERING. WE EVEN DID AN EROSION EXPERIMENT. WE’LL ALSO BE DISCUSSING DIFFERENT TYPES OF VOLCANOES AND WILL LOOK AT EARTHQUAKES, TOO. WE’LL LEARN THAT EARTHQUAKES HAPPEN WHEN THE TECTONIC PLATES THAT MAKE UP OUR EARTH'S CRUST, SHIFT AND MOVE. WITH LUCK, WE MAY EVEN BE ABLE TO DO AN EARTHQUAKE EXPERIMENT.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE HAVE BEGUN OUR GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE ON TEETH (AFTER ALL, FEBRUARY IS DENTAL HEALTH MONTH!) WE HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEETH AND WE WILL FIND OUT TOO, ABOUT THE LAYERS OF OUR TEETH. BE SURE TO ASK US ABOUT THIS.
IN OUR SEL/ SECOND STEP LESSONS WE HAVE BEEN WORKING HOW TO MANAGE ANXIETY. THIS WEEK WE WILL TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN AVOID JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS.
FEBRUARY 9, 2020
PHEW! WE HOPE EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO RELAX AND CATCH THEIR BREATH THIS WEEKEND. THIS PAST WEEK WAS JAM PACKED WITH SOME AMAZING ACTIVITIES.
WE SURE HOPE ALL 4TH GRADERS WILL LONG REMEMBER THEIR ELLIS ISLAND DAY EXPERIENCE. IT TRULY WAS A DAY FULL OF INTENSE PERSONAL LEARNING. GRATEFULLY, ALL OF OUR IMMIGRANTS MADE IT THROUGH THE LEGAL, MEDICAL, AND MENTAL EXAMS. SOME STUDENTS HAD THEIR NAMES CHANGED AND SOME STUDENTS WERE EVEN DETAINED FOR FURTHER EVALUATION. WITH PATIENCE AND PERSEVERANCE HOWEVER, THEY ALL PASSED THE MANY QUESTIONS AND EXAMS GIVEN. WE CERTAINLY HAVE TO MENTION, THE OUTFITS AND PROPS THAT STUDENTS BROUGHT IN FOR OUR DAY WERE JUST PERFECT. ALL IN ALL, IT COULDN’T HAVE GONE BETTER. PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK OUT SOME PICTURES THAT ARE NOW POSTED UNDER “FABULOUS PHOTOS” HERE ON THIS WEBSITE.
OUR FIELD TRIP TO THE SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM IN CHICAGO WENT VERY WELL, TOO. STUDENTS WERE ABLE TO SEE FIRST HAND HOW IMPORTANT IMMIGRATION IS TO THE MAKEUP OF CHICAGO--SPECIFICALLY LEARNING ABOUT THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRANTS FROM SWEDEN. THE HIGHLIGHT, MOST DEFINITELY,
WAS BEING ABLE TO TIME TRAVEL BACK TO THE 1870’S AND VISIT A STOOGA! WITH LUCK, YOU’VE HEARD PLENTY ABOUT IT ALREADY!
THIS COMING WEEK, WE’LL HAVE OUR VALENTINE’S DAY PARTY. THE PARTY WILL BE ON FRIDAY, FROM 2:30-3:30. PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE WILL BE A CHANCE TO EXCHANGE VALENTINES AT THIS CELEBRATION. IF YOU CHOOSE TO TAKE PART IN THE EXCHANGE, YOU MUST BRING A VALENTINE FOR EVERYONE. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT VALENTINES CAN NOT INCLUDE ANY KIND OF CANDY OR FOOD.
IF YOU WANT TO PASS OUT SOME OTHER KIND OF PRIZE (LIKE A PENCIL OR STICKER), BY ALL MEANS, DO!!
OTHER DATES TO MAKE NOTE OF:
FEBRUARY 17TH, PRESIDENT’S DAY--NO CLASSES
FEBRUARY 19TH SIX FLAGS READ TO SUCCEED DEADLINE
FEBRUARY 20TH PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES 4PM-7PM
SPRING CONFERENCES ARE TEACHER REQUEST ONLY. IF YOU DO
NOT RECEIVE A CONFERENCE NOTICE, YOU CAN ASSUME THAT ALL IS GOING WELL! :O)
FEBRUARY 21ST SWEETHEART DANCE
THAT'S IT. SPRING TRAINING BEGINS SOON, SO THINGS ARE DEFINITELY LOOKING UP! :O)
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
HAVING NOW WRAPPED UP OUR NONFICTION WEATHER UNIT, WE ARE READY TO TACKLE THE NEXT UNIT: HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK CLUBS. IN THIS UNIT
● Students will build collective interpretations, listen closely to each other, and know how to carry ideas across time- both in book club discussions and across more than one text.
● Students will be able to compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g. chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of idea events, concept, or information in two or more texts and analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic on numerous texts of the same time period.
● Students will be able to determine the theme of a story from details in the text, including how characters in a story respond to challenges.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE HAVE SPENT A LARGE PORTION OF OUR LANGUAGE ARTS TIME OVER THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS WORKING ON OUR IMMIGRATION JOURNALS. NOW, THE PLAN IS TO SPEND SOME OF OUR LANGUAGE ARTS TIME WORKING ON STATE REPORTS. WE WILL SPEND A COUPLE OF DAYS EACH WEEK GATHERING INFORMATION AND PUTTING THAT INFORMATION INTO WELL-ORGANIZED PARAGRAPHS FOR OUR REPORT. IT WILL BE A NICE TIE-IN TO OUR RESEARCH WORK IN READING
WE WILL ALSO WORK ON A LITERARY ESSAY. A LITERARY ESSAY IS A PIECE OF WRITING IN WHICH THE AUTHOR IDENTIFIES A THEME, OR BIG IDEA, FROM A TEXT BY GENERATING A THESIS STATEMENT. AS WE DEVELOP THESE ESSAYS WE WILL USE SEVERAL PIECES OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT OUR THESIS.
WE WILL ALSO WORK ON OUR EDITING SKILLS WITH OUR DAILY EDITS.
MATH
SOME CLASSES ARE WORKING TO FINISH UP THE DIVISION CHAPTER WHILE OTHER CLASSES ARE BUSY WORKING WITH FRACTIONS. WITHOUT QUESTION, MASTERY OF THOSE BASIC FACTS IS ESSENTIAL FOR BOTH CONCEPTS.
WE ARE DOING SOME WORK TOO, ON WORD PROBLEMS—SPECIFICALLY ON ALGEBRAIC SENTENCES WITH VARIABLES.
SOCIAL STUDIES
WE’LL SELECT STATES FOR OUR STATE REPORT THIS WEEK! WE’LL THEN BEGIN OUR RESEARCH AND INFORMATION GATHERING FOR EACH OF THE REQUIRED SECTIONS---GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY AND FAMOUS PEOPLE, AND RESOURCES AND PRODUCTS.
A PACKET WILL BE SENT HOME WITH ALL THE DIRECTIONS, REQUIREMENTS, AND DUE DATES. PLEASE BE SURE TO LOOK OVER THE SPECIFIC DETAILS AND MAKE NOTE OF DUE DATES, TOO. LET ME KNOW SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.
SCIENCE/HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN SCIENCE WE ARE BEGINNING OUR UNIT CALLED EARTH’S CHANGING SURFACE. IN THIS UNIT WE WILL LEARN HOW TO IDENTIFY THE CHANGES THAT CAN HAPPEN IN THE EARTH’S SURFACE. WE WILL INVESTIGATE HOW WIND, WATER, AND OTHER LIVING THINGS CAN CHANGE THE SURFACE. WE WILL ALSO LOOK AT HOW FOSSILS FORM, AND WHAT PEOPLE CAN DO ABOUT NATURE HAZARDS (A BIT OF A CARRY OVER FROM OUR WEATHER READING UNIT! :O))
IIN HEALTH WE ARE FINISHING UP OUR GREAT BODY SHOP UNIT ON THE EAR. WE LOOKED AT THE OUTER EAR, THE MIDDLE EAR, AND THE INNER EAR. WE LEARNED ABOUT THE EUSTACHIAN TUBE AND TOOK A LOOK AT SOUNDS AND THEIR DECIBEL LEVELS. WE’LL ACTUALLY HAVE OUR QUIZ ON THE EAR THIS THURSDAY.
NEXT, IT’S ON TO TEETH!
SECOND STEP HAS US FOCUSING ON MANAGING STRONG FEELINGS. WE’LL LEARN THAT STAYING IN CONTROL OF OUR EMOTIONS AND ACTIONS WILL HELP US GET ALONG BETTER WITH OTHERS AND BE MORE SUCCESSFUL AT SCHOOL.
JANUARY 25, 2020
WE HOPE THIS NEWSLETTER FINDS YOU ALL WARM AND WELL AND ENJOYING THIS WINTERY WEEKEND. (WE KNEW THE SNOW HAD TO HAPPEN SOMETIME, RIGHT?!?!) WE CONTINUE TO WORK HARD IN ALL SUBJECT AREAS AND HAVE LOTS TO REPORT ABOUT OUR LEARNING ENDEAVORS.
THE READING SUPER BOWL IS WELL UNDER WAY! AT THE MOMENT, ROOM 132 IS IN THIRD PLACE, BUT WE'RE NOT BEHIND BY TOO MANY TOUCHDOWNS. CERTAINLY, IT'S IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE PARTICIPATES AND BRINGS IN THOSE FOOTBALLS DURING THESE FINAL FEW "PLAYOFF" DAYS. ALL STUDENTS WILL NEED TO HAVE AT LEAST 25 FOOTBALLS BY THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 3OTH IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN OUR TAILGATE/LUNCHTIME PICNIC. WE WILL HAVE A LUNCHTIME CELEBRATION THIS WEEK ON THE 30TH. THERE WILL BE PRIZES AND TREATS. PERMISSION SLIPS WILL BE SENT HOME EARLY IN THE WEEK REGARDING THE TREATS PROVIDED.
THE SWEETHEART DANCE IS COMING UP ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST, FROM 6:30PM - 8:00PM. GIRLS CAN SHARE AN EVENING OF DANCING AND GAMES WITH THAT SPECIAL ADULT SOMEONE IN THEIR LIFE (DAD, GRANDPA, GUARDIAN, ETC.). TICKETS ARE ON SALE NOW: PTA store
CALLING ALL DANCERS, SINGERS, MUSICIANS, COMEDIANS! REGISTRATION FOR OUR ANNUAL “NIGHT OF THE STARS” IS NOW OPEN. WE KNOW THERE’S A WEALTH OF TALENT RIGHT HERE IN ROOM 132. WHY NOT SHARE THOSE TALENTS WITH OTHERS IN OUR FRANKLIN FAMILY? INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND HERE: CLICK HERE
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INFORMATION WAS SENT HOME THIS PAST WEEK REGARDING THE SPECIFICS OF ELLIS ISLAND DAY. AS YOU KNOW IT IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY MORNING, FEBRUARY 5TH. HOPEFULLY, PREPARATIONS ARE ALREADY BEING MADE. SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS LEARNING SIMULATION, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. IT'S ALSO CRITICAL THAT WE GET A COUNT OF PARENTS WHO ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND, SO PLEASE SEND ALONG YOUR RSVP REPLY.
ADDITIONALLY, WE’LL BE TAKING OUR FIRST FIELD TRIP ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH. WE WILL BE GOING TO THE SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM IN CHICAGO. DURING OUR TRIP WE’LL GET THE CHANCE TO HEAR ABOUT THE MANY SWEDISH IMMIGRANTS THAT MADE THEIR WAY TO CHICAGO IN THE LATE 1800’S. WE’LL EVEN GET THE CHANCE TO EXPLORE IN THE INTERACTIVE CHILDREN’S EXHIBIT. WE’LL SEE FIRST HAND WHAT LIVING IN A SMALL SWEDISH STUGA IS LIKE. WE’LL THEN GET OUR PASSPORTS AND TRAVEL IN THE STEERAGE SECTION OF A STEAMSHIP TO AMERICA. IT’LL BE THE PERFECT PREPARATION FOR OUR OWN ELLIS ISLAND EXPERIENCE THE FOLLOWING DAY. PLEASE REMEMBER TO PACK A BAG LUNCH WITH A DRINK THAT DAY. WE WILL BE LEAVING PROMPTLY AT 9:00 AM AND SHOULD BE BACK AT FRANKLIN BY 1:30 OR SO.
THAT’S IT!
STAY WARM!
MS. LAYTON AND MS. JONES
READING
OUR READING FOCUS CONTINUES TO BE IMMIGRATION AND ELLIS ISLAND AS WE WIND DOWN OUR UNIT 2 NONFICTION UNIT. AFTER FINISHING THE PAIRED TEXT NONFICTION SELECTION COMPARING ELLIS ISLAND AND ANGEL ISLAND, WE MOVED ON TO EXPLORING THE TEXT “IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND”. THIS COMING WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT THE TEXT “JOURNEY TO ELLIS ISLAND”WE'LL ENJOY A READER’S THEATRE SELECTION CALLED “FIRST STOP ELLIS ISLAND” AND WE’LL TAKE OUR UNIT 2 READING ASSESSMENT.
OUR NEXT UNITS OF STUDY UNIT WILL BE HISTORICAL FICTION. IN THIS UNIT WILL WORK IN SMALL GROUP “BOOK CLUBS”.
Part One: Tackling Complex Texts in the Company of Friends
Focuses on deep comprehension and synthesis of complex story elements as well as launching book clubs with high levels of engagement and independence.
Part Two: Interpreting Complex Texts
Focuses on interpretation, especially on paying attention to perspective and point of view and on carrying ideas across a text.
Part Three: Becoming More Complex because We Read
Helps readers move across texts, both fiction and nonfiction, developing readers’ thematic understanding.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE HAVE ALL BEEN BUSY WRITING THEIR IMMIGRATION JOURNAL ENTRIES. EVERYONE HAS COMPLETED JOURNAL ENTRY #1 ABOUT LEAVING HIS OR HER HOME COUNTRY. NOW WE ARE WRITING ENTRY #2 ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCES ON THE STEAMSHIP TO AMERICA. AS WE WRITE, WE ARE WORKING TO INCLUDE INFORMATION WE HAVE READ ABOUT AND DISCUSSED. WE ARE ALSO WORKING ON MAKING OUR WRITING DESCRIPTIVE AND VARYING OUR SENTENCE STRUCTURE. I AM EVEN HOPING TO SEE SOME FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN THESE JOURNALS.
WE ARE ALSO PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR OPINION ESSAYS. WE HAVE MANY OPINIONS ABOUT RECESS, SCREEN TIME, TIK TOK, AND EVEN IMMIGRATION. STUDENTS HAVE WORKED TO INCLUDE DETAILS WITH STRONG EVIDENCE. THE NEXT UNIT WILL HAVE US WORKING ON HISTORICAL RESEARCH AS WE ALSO BEGIN TO WORK ON OUR STATE REPORTS.
MATH
WE FINISHED OUR MULTIPLICATION CHAPTER AND HAVE BEGUN WORKING DILIGENTLY ON DIVISION. OVER THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS WE’LL DISCOVER THAT IF WE REMEMBER THESE SIMPLE STEPS, THE PROCESS BECOMES MUCH EASIER: DADDY-DIVIDE, MOMMY-MULTIPLY, SISTER-SUBTRACT, BROTHER-BRING DOWN, AND ROVER-REMAINDER. WE’LL LATER FIND OUT THAT YOU CAN ALSO USE AREA MODELS TO DIVIDE.
SCIENCE/HEALTH/SECOND STEP
STILL NO SCIENCE. WE WILL RESUME SCIENCE AFTER OUR ELLIS ISLAND STUDIES ARE COMPLETED.
THIS WEEK WE BEGAN OUR GREAT BODY SHOP UNIT ON OUR AMAZING HEARING MACHINE. YEP. WE’RE TALKING ABOUT ALL THINGS AUDITORY. WE HAVE ALREADY TALKED ABOUT THE OUTER EAR AND MIDDLE EAR. FEEL FREE TO ASK US ABOUT THOSE TINY BONES IN THE MIDDLE EAR. THEY’RE SO SMALL THEY CAN FIT ON YOUR PINKY FINGER! AS WE MOVE FORWARD WE’LL DISCUSS THE INNER EAR AND EVEN WRITE SOME PARAGRAPHS ABOUT OUR FAVORITE SOUNDS AND OUR LEAST FAVORITE SOUNDS!
IN OUR SECOND STEP PROGRAM WE'RE BEGINNING A UNIT ON MANAGING STRONG EMOTIONS.
SOCIAL STUDIES
AS YOU CAN GUESS, WE ARE WORKING PRETTY INTENSELY TO GET READY FOR ELLIS ISLAND DAY. THIS WEEK WE WILL PUT TOGETHER OUR PASSPORTS. WE'LL ALSO SPEND SOME TIME LEARNING ABOUT THE STATUE OF LIBERTY.
IT SHOULD BE MENTIONED THAT MR. VILLARREAL ALSO CAME INTO OUR CLASSROOM AND TOOK US ON A FIELD TRIP TO NEW YORK. WELL, NOT EXACTLY. HE HELPED US TAKE A GOOGLE VIRTUAL REALITY TRIP TO ELLIS ISLAND, GIVING US LOTS OF COOL INFORMATION. WE LOVED IT!
JANUARY 12, 2020
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
We HOPE YOU ALL HAD AN ENJOYABLE AND RELAXING BREAK. WITH LUCK, SANTA WAS GOOD TO ALL OF YOU AND YOU MANAGED TO STAY WARM AND READ SOME GOOD BOOKS. WE HAVE DEFINITELY HIT THE GROUND RUNNING SINCE OUR RETURN. THERE ARE MANY IMPORTANT EVENTS AND HAPPENINGS IN THE NEXT MONTH, SO NO MORE VACATION MODE FOR ROOM 132 :O)
WE HAVE OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED OUR STUDIES OF IMMIGRATION AND ELLIS ISLAND. NOT ONLY WILL WE SPEND TIME READING AND DISCUSSING THIS TOPIC IN SOCIAL STUDIES, THERE WILL BE MANY CROSS-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES THAT WILL ENCOMPASS THIS IMPORTANT TOPIC. THEN OF COURSE, THERE WILL BE ELLIS ISLAND DAY AS THE BIG CULMINATING EVENT. THAT IS SCHEDULED FOR WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH. WE WILL BE SIMULATING WHAT IMMIGRANTS ACTUALLY MIGHT HAVE ENCOUNTERED COMING THROUGH ELLIS ISLAND. OUR HOPE IS TO MAKE IT AS REALISTIC AS POSSIBLE. A LETTER WILL BE SENT HOME BEFORE TOO LONG WITH SPECIFIC DETAILS. IN ADDITION TO THAT, WE WILL ALSO BE TAKING A FIELD TRIP TO THE SWEDISH AMERICAN MUSEUM IN THE ANDERSONVILLE NEIGHBORHOOD OF CHICAGO. THIS IS A VERY SMALL MUSEUM THAT CANNOT ACCOMMODATE MORE THAN 50 STUDENTS SO ROOM 132 AND MR. LOPRESTI’S ROOM WILL BE GOING ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH, WHILE MRS. KENNEDY’S ROOM AND MS. SWEENEY’S ROOM WILL BE GOING ON MONDAY, FEBRUARY 3RD. PERMISSION SLIPS WILL BE SENT HOME SOON FOR THIS WONDERFUL MUSEUM. FINALLY, IT OUGHT TO BE MENTIONED THAT PTA WILL ONCE AGAIN BE HOSTING INTERNATIONAL NIGHT ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6TH. WHAT A WEEK, (AND MONTH), IT WILL BE!
SO… WITH THE PACKERS STILL IN THE PLAYOFFS, IT’S THE PERFECT TIME TO KICK OFF THE 4TH GRADE READING SUPER BOWL. THAT’S RIGHT. ROOM 132 WILL NEED TO READ FURIOUSLY AS WE COMPETE AGAINST THE OTHER FOURTH GRADE CLASSROOMS TO EARN READING TOUCHDOWNS. I EXPECT TO SEE EVERYONE'S ACTIVE PARTICIPATION WITH AT LEAST THE DAILY 20-MINUTE EXPECTATION. WE WILL EVEN HAVE A TAILGATE PICNIC AND AWARD CEREMONY AT THE END OF THE MONTH, SO GET READY TO GET THOSE PAGES TURNING!
SPEAKING OF READING, STUDENTS WILL BE ABLE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SIX FLAGS “READ TO SUCCEED” READING PROGRAM ONCE AGAIN. INFORMATION ABOUT THIS READING INCENTIVE WAS SENT HOME EARLIER THIS WEEK AND IT WILL RUN FROM JANUARY 10TH THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF FEBRUARY. ALL STUDENTS NEED TO DO IS LOG SIX HOURS OF READING, AND THEY’LL EARN A FREE SIX FLAGS/GREAT AMERICA TICKET. HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?! BEST OF ALL, YOU CAN LOG READING MINUTES FOR OUR READING SUPER BOWL AT THE SAME TIME.
INFORMATION WAS ALSO SENT HOME BEFORE BREAK ABOUT THE YEARBOOK COVER CONTEST.
ALL YOU NEED TO DO IS COME UP WITH A COOL 8 1/2 X 11 DESIGN TO GO WITH THE THEME “LET YOUR DREAMS TAKE FLIGHT”. WE WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO USE THEIR CREATIVITY AND ENTER THIS
CONTEST!
THAT'S IT. STAY WARM AND DRY.
MS. LAYTON AND MS. JONES
READING
WE WILL BE CONTINUING WITH OUR “READ THE WEATHER, READ THE WORLD” UNIT. HAVING COMPLETED OUR WEATHER PRESENTATIONS WE ARE NOW ON TO RESEARCHING A SECOND TOPIC. AND…. SURPRISE, SURPRISE! THAT TOPIC IS IMMIGRATION!!! WE WILL READ ARTICLES ABOUT IMMIGRATION, ELLIS ISLAND, ANGEL ISLAND,THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, AND DIFFERENT IMMIGRANT GROUPS. WE WILL ALSO READ "IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND" AND "JOURNEY TO ELLIS ISLAND." WE’VE ALSO STARTED A SHORT READ ALOUD NOVEL FROM THE DEAR AMERICA SERIES. IT’S CALLED, “HOPE IN MY HEART.”. THIS, ALONG WITH A COUPLE OF OTHER FICTION STORIES, WILL CERTAINLY BUILD OUR UNDERSTANDING OF IMMIGRATION IN THE EARLY 1900’S AND STRENGTHEN OUR SKILLS WHEN READING NONFICTION.
LANGUAGE ARTS
AFTER SOME INITIAL READING AND RESEARCH, WE HAVE BEGUN WORKING ON OUR IMMIGRATION JOURNALS. WE WILL BEGIN WITH JOURNAL ENTRY #1. IN THIS JOURNAL ENTRY WE WILL WRITE AS AN IMMIGRANT LEAVING OUR HOME COUNTRY. WE WILL TALK ABOUT WHY WE ARE LEAVING AND HOW WE FEEL ABOUT COMING TO AMERICA. WE WILL EVEN START TO THINK ABOUT WHAT WE WILL PACK FOR OUR JOURNEY. THERE WILL BE TWO MORE JOURNAL ENTRIES AFTER WE COMPLETE OUR FIRST ENTRY. OUR SECOND ENTRY WILL BE ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCES ON THE BOAT TO AMERICA. WE'LL WRITE ABOUT OUR ACCOMMODATIONS, HOW WE SPEND OUR TIME ON THE BOAT, AND WHAT OUR FEELINGS ARE AS WE APPROACH NEW YORK HARBOR. OUR LAST JOURNAL ENTRY WILL BE AFTER ELLIS ISLAND DAY. IT WILL BE THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO INCORPORATE ALL THAT WE ARE READING AND DISCUSSING INTO OUR WRITING.
ADDITIONALLY, WE ARE WORKING TO PUT THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR OPINION/PERSUASIVE ESSAY. WE HAVE WORKED HARD TO WRITE STRONGER LEADS, INCLUDE SPECIFIC EVIDENCE, AND SUM THINGS UP WITH SUGGESTED ACTION FOR THE READER. WE LOOK FORWARD TO SHARING OUR FINAL PRODUCT BEFORE TOO LONG.
MATH
MATH CLASSES ARE WRAPPING UP WORK IN CHAPTER 5 AND CHAPTER 6. WE WILL WORK ON DIVIDING BY ONE DIGIT AND TWO DIGIT DIVISORS. WE WILL ALL LEARN THE STEPS OF LONG DIVISION AND WORK ON PROBLEMS WITH REMAINDERS, TOO. CERTAINLY, A MASTERY OF THOSE BASIC MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION FACTS WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO OVERALL SUCCESS IN THESE CHAPTERS, SO KEEP PRACTICING. X-TRA MATH AND IXL IS ALWAYS ENCOURAGED.
WE WILL ALSO BE WORKING TO MAKE A FEW GRAPHS BASED ON SOME IMMIGRATION DATA.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE BEGAN THE GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE ON DIGESTION BEFORE BREAK. THIS WEEK WE CONTINUED TALKING ABOUT THIS ALL-IMPORTANT SYSTEM AND LEARNED ABOUT THE CRUCIAL ORGANS AND BODY PARTS THAT ARE ESSENTIAL FOR DIGESTION.
WE WILL ACTUALLY BE HAVING OUR QUIZ ON THIS UNIT THIS THURSDAY, JANUARY 16TH.
IN OUR SECOND STEP/SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM, WE WILL CONTINUE DISCUSSING DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF BULLYING. THIS WEEK WE WILL BE LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT CYBER BULLYING..
SOCIAL STUDIES
AS EXPECTED, WE'RE GOING TO BE QUITE BUSY GETTING READY FOR OUR JOURNEY TO AMERICA. WE HAVE ALREADY MADE COUNTRY FLAGS OF OUR HOME (IMMIGRANT) COUNTRIES. LATER, WE'LL PUT OUR PASSPORTS TOGETHER. AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, WE WILL DO LOTS OF READING, TOO. WE WILL LOOK AT BOTH “IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND” AND “JOURNEY TO ELLIS ISLAND”. THIS WEEK WE ALSO HAVE A GOOGLE VIRTUAL REALITY LESSON PLANNED. WITH THE HELP OF MR. VILLARREAL, WE’LL TAKE A TRIP TO NEW YORK AND GO INSIDE ELLIS ISLAND. IT WILL BE FUN!
DECEMBER 15, 2019
OKAY, SO THE BEARS/PACKER GAME MAY NOT HAVE TURNED OUT AS MANY OF YOU HAD HOPED, BUT IT SURE MADE FOR SOME EDGE OF YOUR SEAT EXCITEMENT. (FROM MY PERSPECTIVE IT WILL BE WORTH IT TO SEE MR. RASMUSSEN WEAR A PACKERS JERSEY TOMORROW--THE RESULT OF LOSING A BET!)
WITH LUCK, YOU'RE PLANNING TO ATTEND OUR BIG HOLIDAY SING PERFORMANCE THIS THURSDAY. THE 4TH GRADERS WILL BE SINGING IN THE GYMNASIUM BEGINNING AT 11:00. I PROMISE YOU’LL HEAR SOME FAMILIAR TUNES, AND YOU’LL EVEN GET TO SEE SOME VERY TALENTED UKULELE PLAYERS.
HAVE YOU HEARD THE BUZZ? YEP. THE DISTRICT 64 SPELLING BEE IS BACK! THE BEE IS OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-8. THIS YEAR FRANKLIN'S BEE WILL BE HELD AFTER SCHOOL ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 7TH AT 4:00 PM. THE TOP THREE SPELLERS FROM OUR SCHOOL WILL THEN GO TO THE DISTRICT BEE ON JANUARY 21ST RIGHT HERE AT FRANKLIN. I WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL SPELLERS IN ROOM 132 TO GIVE IT A TRY. MORE INFORMATION, AS WELL AS SPELLING STUDY LISTS, CAN BE FOUND ON THE DISTRICT HOMEPAGE.
District 64 spelling Bee web page
Franklin Online Registration
AS YOU KNOW, WE TOOK OUR WINTER MAP TESTS THIS PAST WEEK. RESULTS FROM THESE TESTS WILL BE USED TO HELP US GUIDE INSTRUCTION IN THE DAYS AHEAD. AS MENTIONED BEFORE, WE WANT TO ENSURE STUDENTS ARE MOVING IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION WITH THEIR READING AND MATH SKILLS.
WITH ONLY ONE WEEK LEFT BEFORE WINTER BREAK, FRANKLIN WILL BE CELEBRATING THE COUNTDOWN WITH FIVE FESTIVE DAYS OF FUN.
Monday: Wear Holiday socks and holiday sweater
Tuesday: Dress like a candy cane in Red & White
Wednesday: Winter Wonderland - wear blue or white like
snowflakes
Thursday: Dress in your "Holiday Best" for our Holiday
Sing performance.
Friday: Wear Pajamas
FINALLY, THIS PAST WEEK, ROOM 132 TOOK PART IN THE NATION-WIDE “HOUR OF CODE”. THIS EVENT IS A GLOBAL MOVEMENT BY COMPUTER SCIENCE EDUCATION WEEK AND CODE.ORG. IT REACHES TENS OF MILLIONS OF STUDENTS IN 180+ COUNTRIES THROUGH A ONE HOUR INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE AND COMPUTER PROGRAMING. ROOM 132 LOVED THE ACTIVITIES AND DEMONSTRATED THEY’RE ALL REALLY QUITE TECH SAVVY.
THAT'S IT. IN CASE WE DON'T SEE YOU THIS WEEK OR GET THE CHANCE TO CHAT WITH YOU PERSONALLY, WE WOULD LIKE TO WISH EVERYONE A VERY JOYOUS HOLIDAY. BE SAFE AND ENJOY THE TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. AND, MAY 2020 BE A YEAR FILLED WITH GRAND SURPRISES AND PLENTY OF GOOD BOOKS.
CHEERS!
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
WE’RE MOVING RIGHT ALONG IN OUR NONFICTION UNIT “READ THE WEATHER, READ THE WORLD”. WE ARE NOW BUSY IN OUR RESEARCH TEAMS, RESEARCHING DIFFERENT EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS. TEAMS ARE WORKING ON SLIDESHOWS, VIDEOS, AND EXPERIMENTS TO SHARE. AS EXPERTS, THEY WILL PRESENT THEIR FINDINGS AND TEACH THEIR PEERS ALL ABOUT TORNADOES, HURRICANES, TSUNAMIS, EARTHQUAKES, BLIZZARDS, AND FLOODS.
IT SHOULD BE MENTIONED THAT WE WILL BEGIN TO READ ALOUD
THE NOVEL, “HOPE IN MY HEART.” THIS WONDERFUL NOVEL IS PART OF THE DEAR AMERICA SERIES AND WILL GIVE US A LOT OF GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT IMMIGRANTS WENT THROUGH AS THEY PASSED THROUGH ELLIS ISLAND IN THE EARLY 1900’S. .
LANGUAGE ARTS
HAVING SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED OUR FIRST PERSON POINT OF VIEW PIECE CALLED "IF I WERE A GIFT"WE'RE NOW PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR “THREE WISHES” ESSAY. WE’RE ALSO CONTINUING WITH OUR PERSUASIVE ESSAYS. MOST STUDENTS HAVE THEIR STRONG THESIS STATEMENT AND ARE APPROPRIATELY DEVELOPING REASONS AND EVIDENCE.
THIS WEEK WE’LL TACKLE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE FOUND IN “YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH” AND SOME OTHER HOLIDAY SONGS. SHOULD BE FUN.
MATH
WE'VE BEGUN WORKING DILIGENTLY ON MORE COMPLEX MULTIPLICATION IN CHAPTER 5 WHILE OTHER CLASSES ARE DIVING INTO LONG DIVISION IN CHAPTER 6. WE'LL TRY OUR HAND AT 2 DIGITS X 2 DIGIT, 3 DIGIT X 2 DIGIT, AND SOME OF US MAY EVEN TRY SOME MULTIPLICATION WITH DECIMALS.
PLEASE BE SURE TO SPEND SOME TIME OVER WINTER BREAK PRACTICING THOSE FACTS ON XTRAMATH AND REVIEWING THOSE SKILLS ON IXL.
SOCIAL STUDIES
WE’VE DONE SOME COUNTRY FACT FINDING AS WE BEGIN OUR IMMIGRATION/ELLIS ISLAND UNIT. STUDENTS ARE GATHERING INFORMATION ABOUT A COUNTRY OF THEIR ANCESTRY AND PUTTING TOGETHER COUNTRY FLAGS.
AFTER BREAK WE WILL READ IF YOUR NAME WAS CHANGED AT ELLIS ISLAND TO GIVE US SOME BACKGROUND INFORMATION ABOUT IMMIGRATION IN THE LATE 1800’S, EARLY 1900’S. WE’LL ALSO DO SOME GRAPHING AND BEGIN TO WRITE AN IMMIGRATION JOURNAL, TOO!
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING OUR DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
DID YOU KNOW THAT IF YOUR SMALL INTESTINE WAS STRETCHED OUT, IT WOULD BE TALLER THAN A HOUSE? HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT WE FOUND OUT THAT’S TRUE! WE ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE DIFFERENT VITAMINS, MINERALS, AND FOOD CATEGORIES OUR BODIES NEED.
SECOND STEP HAS US TALKING ABOUT BULLYING AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING, REPORTING, AND REFUSING BULLYING. WE ‘RE WORKING TO ALL BE UPSTANDERS!
NOVEMBER 30, 2019
HAPPY LEFTOVERS TO ONE AND ALL! WE HOPE THAT EVERYONE HAD AN ENJOYABLE WEEK AND A DELICIOUS THANKSGIVING WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
CERTAINLY THIS BREAK HAS GIVEN US A CHANCE TO REFLECT ON HOW GRATEFUL WE ARE TO WORK WITH SUCH AMAZING 4TH GRADERS. IT’S BEEN A WHIRLWIND 1ST TRIMESTER WITH MANY ACCOMPLISHMENTS AND LOTS TO BE PROUD OF, AND WE CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.
WITHOUT A DOUBT, THERE’S CERTAIN ELECTRICITY IN THE AIR AS WE BEGIN THE MONTH OF DECEMBER. AND, AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, WE'VE ALREADY STARTED PRACTICING FOR FRANKLIN’S ANNUAL HOLIDAY SING. WITH LUCK, YOU'RE PLANNING TO ATTEND OUR BIG PERFORMANCE. THE 4TH GRADERS WILL BE SINGING IN THE GYMNASIUM BEGINNING AT 11:00 ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19TH. IT’S A PERFORMANCE THAT WE GUARANTEE WILL GET YOU IN THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT. IF YOU HAVEN’T PUT IT IN YOUR CALENDAR ALREADY, BY ALL MEANS, DO!!!
HAVE YOU HEARD THE BUZZ? YEP. THE DISTRICT 64 SPELLING BEE IS BACK! THE BEE IS OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-8. THIS YEAR FRANKLIN'S BEE WILL BE HELD AFTER SCHOOL ON TUESDAY, JANUARY 7TH AT 4:00 PM. THE TOP THREE SPELLERS FROM OUR SCHOOL WILL THEN TAKE PART IN THE DISTRICT BEE ON JANUARY 21ST RIGHT HERE AT FRANKLIN. WE WOULD ENCOURAGE ALL SPELLERS IN ROOM 132 TO GIVE IT A TRY. MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE DISTRICT BEE AND FRANKLIN BEE CAN BE FOUND HERE:
District 64 spelling Bee web page
Franklin Tuesday, January 7 4:00 p.m. Mrs. Kim Kaniecki/Mrs. Shirlee Pater
Franklin Online Registration
WE WILL BE TAKING OUR WINTER MAP TESTS THE WEEK OF DECEMBER 9TH IN BOTH READING AND MATH. RESULTS Of THESE WINTER MAP TESTS ARE USED AS A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL. WE WANT TO ENSURE STUDENTS ARE MOVING IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION WITH THEIR READING AND MATH SKILLS. PLEASE BE SURE TO COME TO SCHOOL WITH THOSE CHROMEBOOKS FULLY CHARGED.
SPEAKING OF MOVING IN A POSITIVE DIRECTION, THE END OF TRIMESTER ONE MEANS REPORT CARDS, OF COURSE. THEY WILL BE SENT HOME WITH STUDENTS ON FRIDAY, DECEMBER 6TH. HERE IN ROOM 132 WE WILL BE REFLECTING ON OUR WORK AND EFFORT SO FAR, AND WE’LL THEN SET SOME MEASURABLE GOALS FOR THE TRIMESTER AHEAD. PERHAPS SOME GOALS REGARDING STUDY HABITS AND INDEPENDENT READING CAN BE SET AT HOME, TOO!
MANY STUDENTS DID A FANTASTIC JOB TURNING IN THOSE GEOGRAPHY QUESTIONS DURING TRIMESTER 1. AS YOU KNOW, TURNING IN ANSWERS TO DAILY QUESTIONS IS NOT A REQUIREMENT, WE WOULD LIKE TO URGE EVERYONE TO MAKE THEM PART OF THE 4TH GRADE ROUTINE. WHO KNOWS?!? YOU MAY EVEN LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT SOME OF THE INCREDIBLE PLACES AROUND THE WORLD.
WELL… EVEN THOUGH DECEMBER 21ST IS THE OFFICIAL FIRST DAY OF WINTER, WE HAVE SEEN OUR SHARE OF COLD WEATHER AND SNOW ALREADY. AS ALWAYS, IT’S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER TO DRESS WARMLY AND APPROPRIATELY FOR THOSE WINTERY DAYS. SNOW PANTS AND BOOTS ARE REQUIRED IF YOU WANT TO PLAY IN THE SNOW. HATS AND MITTENS ARE OF COURSE ESSENTIAL, TOO. AND, GIVEN THAT CLOTHING CAN GET COLD AND WET, WE WOULD LIKE TO SUGGEST THAT ALL STUDENTS KEEP A SET OF DRY CLOTHING IN THEIR LOCKER. BEING PREPARED WILL MAKE EVERYONE A WHOLE LOT MORE COMFORTABLE.
THAT'S IT.
STAY WARM AND DRY!
MS. JONES AND MS. LAYTON
READING
WE ARE WELL INTO OUR NONFICTION UNIT, READING THE WEATHER, READING THE WORLD. WE’VE TALKED ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO PREVIEW NONFICTION TEXTS—PAYING PARTICULAR ATTENTION TO HEADINGS AND TOPIC SENTENCES. WE’VE ALSO BEGUN TO INVESTIGATE THE IMPORTANCE OF NOTICING HOW A TEXT IS STRUCTURED. WE’VE LEARNED THAT EXPOSITORY TEXTS HAVE COMMON STRUCTURES SUCH AS PROBLEM/SOLUTION, COMPARE/CONTRAST, CAUSE AND EFFECT, AND CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER.
WE HAVE NOW ACTUALLY FORMED SMALL RESEARCH TEAMS TO INVESTIGATE DIFFERENT EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS. WE ARE LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE HURRICANES, EARTHQUAKES, TORNADOES, BLIZZARDS, TSUNAMIS, AND FLOODS. GATHERING AND SYNTHESIZING INFORMATION IS AN ESSENTIAL SKILL AND ALL RESEARCH TEAMS WILL BE WORKING COOPERATIVELY TO PUT TOGETHER A FINAL PRESENTATION ABOUT THEIR EXTREME WEATHER TOPIC. PRESENTATIONS WILL THEN BE SHARED WITH CLASSMATES.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE’VE BEEN WORKING A LOT WITH THE BOXES AND BULLETS ORGANIZATION STRATEGY AS WE WORK TO PUT TOGETHER SOME MULTI-PARAGRAPH ESSAYS. BEFORE BREAK WE WROTE SOME ESSAYS ABOUT THANKSGIVING. SOME OF US EVEN STARTED A PERSUASIVE PAPER ABOUT THE USE OF THE TIKTOK APP. WE WILL CONTINUE TO PRACTICE AND DEVELOP SOME STRONG OPINION WRITING TECHNIQUES OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
IN PREPARATION FOR THE HOLIDAYS, WE’LL ALSO BE DOING SOME HOLIDAY WRITING. FIRST OF ALL, WE’LL BE WORKING ON AN ASSIGNMENT HAVING TO DO WITH WISHES. THIS LESSON WILL GIVE US GREAT PRACTICE IN SENTENCE VARIATION. WE’LL ALSO WRITE A STORY TITLED, "IF I WERE A GIFT". LATER, THE PLAN IS TO WORK ON A FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY ABOUT HOLIDAY TRADITIONS. WE’LL USE A GRAPHIC ORGANIZER TO HELP US ORGANIZE OUR THOUGHTS AND INCLUDE GOOD DETAILS. WE ‘LL ALSO BE WORKING ON WORD CHOICE. WHO KNOWS?!? WE MAY EVEN TRY TO INFUSE SOME FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE!
SPEAKING OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, DID YOU KNOW THE SONG “YOU’RE A MEAN ONE, MR. GRINCH” IS FULL OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE?!?! WE’LL TAKE A LOOK AT THIS WELL-KNOWN SONG ALONG WITH SOME OTHER HOLIDAY SONGS TO SEE JUST HOW AUTHOR’S CRAFT IMPACTS SONG WRITING, TOO!
MATH
4TH GRADERS ARE WORKING IN CHAPTERS 4 AND CHAPTER 5. (SOME CLASSES ARE EVEN READY FOR CHAPTER 6 AND LONG DIVISION!) IN CHAPTERS 4 AND 5 WE’RE MULTIPLYING TWO DIGIT NUMBERS BY TWO DIGIT NUMBERS. WE’LL LOOK AT HOW WE CAN DO THESE PROBLEMS USING THE DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY. WE WILL ALSO USE AREA MODELS TO HELP US UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS.
SOCIAL STUDIES/SCIENCE
WE WRAPPED UP OUR STUDY OF WAVES WITH AN INVESTIGATION OF SEISMIC WAVES. WE DISCUSSED PRIMARY WAVES, SECONDARY WAVES, AND SURFACE WAVES AND THEIR IMPACT ON OUR EARTH.
WE WILL NOW SWITCH BACK TO SOCIAL STUDIES. OUR NEXT UNIT OF STUDY WILL BE IMMIGRATION AND ELLIS ISLAND. AS YOU MAY WELL KNOW, THIS IS A BIG COMPREHENSIVE UNIT THAT ULTIMATELY ENDS WITH OUR ELLIS ISLAND SIMULATION/REENACTMENT. OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS WE WILL BE DOING MANY ACTIVITIES TO BUILD OUR UNDERSTANDING AND PREPARE US FOR THIS EVENT.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE HAVE WRAPPED UP OUR UNIT ON SMOKING. NEXT, WE’LL START A NEW UNIT ON THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. (PERFECT TIMING GIVEN THE CONSUMPTION OF GOODIES THIS TIME OF YEAR, RIGHT?!?)
DURING OUR SECOND STEP/SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING TIME, WE HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES. MS. COOLING HAS ALSO BEEN A PART OF SOME MEANINGFUL CLASSROOM MEETINGS. IN OUR LAST SESSION, WE DISCUSSED THE IMPORTANCE OF USING OUR SOCIAL FILTER.
AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE’LL DO SOME LESSONS THAT ADDRESS BULLYING. LATER THIS WEEK WE'RE ALSO GOING TO HAVE AN ASSEMBLY WITH MATT WILHELM. MATT IS A BMX FLATLAND RIDER AND MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER. HIS CAPTIVATING ANTI-BULLYING PROGRAM IS DESIGNED TO ENTERTAIN, EDUCATE AND EMPOWER. HIS PROGRAM AND IMPORTANT MESSAGE WILL HELP EMPOWER US TO STAND UP FOR OTHERS, STAND UP FOR OURSELVES, AND BECOME EVERYDAY HEROES.
NOVEMBER 10, 2019
AS YOU KNOW, TOMORROW IS VETERAN’S DAY. AND, IN HONOR OF VETERANS DAY, FRANKLIN SCHOOL WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO REMEMBER OUR VETERANS AND ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED OUR COUNTRY. THE DAY WILL BEGIN WITH A FLAG CEREMONY IN THE GYMNASIUM . THE ENTIRE STUDENT BODY WILL SING “GOD BLESS AMERICA” AND RECITE THE PLEDGE IN FRONT OF THE PARK RIDGE COLOR GUARD.
FESTIVITIES WILL THEN CONTINUE IN ROOM 132 AS WE LISTEN TO A PRESENTATION BY A VERY SPECIAL VETERAN. THAT’S RIGHT. BLAKE’S FATHER, MR. ROUZAN, WILL TALK TO OUR CLASS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES IN THE MILITARY. THANK YOU, MR. ROUZAN FOR YOUR SERVICE AND FOR SHARING THIS SPECIAL DAY WITH US.
FRANKLIN IS ONCE AGAIN TAKING PART IN A HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE FOR THE MAINE TOWNSHIP FOOD PANTRY. FOOD WILL BE COLLECTED BEGINNING TOMORROW AND CAN BE BROUGHT IN ANY TIME UP UNTIL DECEMBER 13TH. ANY AND ALL NONPERISHABLE DONATIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
NOVEMBER 20TH WILL MARK THE END OF TRIMESTER 1. (HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT TRUE!) REPORT CARDS WILL BE SENT HOME THE WEEK AFTER WE RETURN FROM THANKSGIVING BREAK.
BECAUSE THE NEXT NEWSLETTER WILL BE PUBLISHED OVER THE HOLIDAY BREAK, WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING. IF YOU’RE TRAVELING, TRAVEL SAFELY. RELAX, AND ENJOY THIS SPECIAL TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND A DELICIOUS HOLIDAY!
MS. JONES AND MS. LAYTON
READING
WE ARE A FEW LESSONS IN TO OUR SECOND READING UNIT, READING THE WEATHER, READING THE WORLD. IN THIS UNIT WE’LL FORM RESEARCH TEAMS TO DELVE INTO TOPICS ABOUT EXTREME WEATHER AND NATURAL DISASTERS. WE’LL DEVELOP OUR SKILLS IN CROSS TEXT SYNTHESIS, WE’LL PRACTICE CLOSE READING, WE’LL COMPARE AND CONTRAST, AND EVEN EVALUATE DIFFERENT SOURCES. THIS PAST WEEK WE EXAMINED HYBRID TEXTS AND DISCUSSED TEXT STRUCTURE. WHO KNOWS?!!? PERHAPS WE’LL END UP WITH SOME METEOROLOGISTS OR GEOLOGISTS BY THE END OF THIS EXCITING UNIT.
LANGUAGE ARTS
THIS PAST FRIDAY TO MARK THE OFFICIAL END OF OUR NARRATIVE UNIT, WE HAD A NARRATIVE CELEBRATION WITH MRS. DAVIS’ 5TH GRADE CLASS. YEP. THEY’VE BEEN WORKING ON NARRATIVES TOO! SO.. WE TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER UP AND SHARE OUR STORIES. IT WAS GREAT FUN AND IN SHARING, PROVIDED US WITH MANY WONDERFUL IDEAS AND LOTS OF CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK.
IN OUR NEXT UNIT, BOXES AND BULLETS: PERSONAL AND PERSUASIVE ESSAYS, STUDENTS WILL LEARN THE VALUE OF ORGANIZATION AND FORM AS WE GATHER EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT AND EXPRESS AN OPINION ON TOPICS THEY KNOW WELL. IT PROMISES TO BE A FUN AND ENGAGING UNIT.
BEFORE BEGINNING UNIT 2, WE WILL WORK TO COMPLETE A THANKSGIVING “THANKFUL” PROJECT. THIS WILL BE A CHALLENGING AND UNUSUAL WRITING ACTIVITY IN WHICH WE’LL WRITE ABOUT OUR GRATITUDE FOR SOME RATHER UNUSUAL ITEMS. AFTER ALL, SHOULDN’T WE BE THANKFUL FOR STAPLERS AND TISSUE?
MATH
CLASSES ARE WRAPPING UP CHAPTER 3 AND ARE NOW PLUGGING AWAY IN CHAPTERS 4 AND 5. CHAPTER 4 IS A MULTIPLICATION CHAPTER AND WE ARE LEARNING TO MULTIPLY BY MULTIPLES OF TEN. WE’LL ALSO WORK WITH AREA MODELS AS WELL AS THE DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY TO HELP US FIGURE OUT PRODUCTS. CHAPTER 5 COVERS 2-DIGIT TIMES 2 DIGIT AND 3 DIGIT NUMBERS, SO FACT MASTERY WILL BE ESSENTIAL.
IN ADDITION TO COMPLETING THE REGULAR HOMEWORK PAGES, STUDENTS SHOULD REGULARLY BE GOING ON SOME OF OUR MATH WEBSITES SUCH AS IXL OR XTRAMATH TO ENRICH THEIR MATH KNOWLEDGE
SCIENCE
WE ARE CONTINUING OUR STUDIES OF WAVES. WE HAVE LEARNED SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER WAVES, STRING WAVES, AND SOUND WAVES.
IN THE DAYS AHEAD WE WILL DISCUSS WHICH WAVES MOVE THROUGH THE EARTH AS WE DISCOVER THE THREE TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES THAT OCCUR DURING EARTHQUAKES. WE WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE HOW SOUND WAVES CAN BE USED TO SEND MESSAGES.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
WE DID TAKE OUR QUIZ ON "BUILDING ASSETS AND STAYING DRUG FREE." NOW WE HAVE MOVED ON TO THE “NO SMOKING” UNIT.
WITH OUR SECOND STEP/ SOCIAL- EMOTIONAL LEARNING CURRICULUM WE’RE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT HOW PEOPLE CAN HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND OPINIONS ABOUT THE SAME SITUATION. WE ALSO DISCUSSED GRATITUDE AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO BE THANKFUL FOR OUR MANY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS.
OCTOBER 27, 2018
LET US BEGIN BY SAYING HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATED THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH SO MANY OF YOU AT PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES THIS PAST WEEK. (AND WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING SOME OF YOU THIS TUESDAY!) YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT ARE INVALUABLE, AND WE’RE CONFIDENT AS THIS SCHOOL YEAR CONTINUES, WE’LL HAVE MANY SUCCESSES AND MUCH TO CELEBRATE. SHOULD YOU EVER HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ALONG THE WAY, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US.
THIS COMING WEEK IS HALLOWEEN!
FRANKLIN’S HALLOWEEN KICKOFF BEGINS TONIGHT WITH “TRUNK OR TREAT”. WHY NOT GO TRICK OR TREATING RIGHT HERE AT FRANKLIN? FESTIVITIES WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FRANKLIN PARKING LOT FROM 4:00-5:00. BRING YOUR FAMILY AND COME IN COSTUME FOR SOME TREATS, GAMES, AND FUN.
LATER IN THE WEEK, WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THIS SPOOKY HOLIDAY WITH CLASSROOM PARTIES AND A PARADE ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31ST. OUR CLASSROOM PARTY WILL BE FROM 1:45-2:45. STUDENTS WILL CHANGE INTO COSTUMES AFTER LUNCH AND BEFORE THE CLASSROOM PARTY. STUDENTS SHOULD NOT WEAR COSTUMES OR FACE MAKEUP TO SCHOOL. FOLLOWING OUR CLASSROOM PARTIES, WE WILL HAVE OUR HALLOWEEN PARADE. OUR PARADE ROUTE WILL HAVE STUDENTS EXITING THE BUILDING THROUGH THE KINDERGARTEN DOOR (DOOR 2). WE WILL THEN WALK ALONG THE SIDEWALK PAST THE CIRCLE DRIVE, CONTINuE ALONG THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING, AND WALK ACROSS THE BACK-PLAYGROUND AREA. WE WILL THEN RE-ENTER THE BUILDING THROUGH DOOR 9 BY THE FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOMS. PARENTS AND FAMILIES ARE ENCOURAGED TO COME AND WATCH THE PARADE. IT PROMISES TO BE A SPOOKTACULAR EVENT!***
***PLEASE REMEMBER TOO, THAT COSTUMES CAN NOT INCLUDE WEAPONS OF ANY SORT, AND NO MASKS OR HOODS THAT COVER THE FACE WILL BE ALLOWED. ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS SHOULD NOT BRING CANDY TO SCHOOL.
FINALLY, NEXT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH IS A TEACHER INSERVICE DAY. STUDENTS DO NOT COME TO SCHOOL THAT DAY.
THAT’S IT FOR NOW. HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK AND A SAFE HALLOWEEN.
GO PACKERS!
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
HIP, HIP, HOORAY! THIS PAST WEEK WE WRAPPED UP OUR WORK IN UNIT 1!!! WE TOOK OUR FINAL ASSESSMENT AND WE EVEN PLAYED A ROUND OF TIGER RISING, JEOPARDY AND KAHOOT. THROUGHOUT THIS UNIT WE REALLY DID WORK HARD TO PUSH OURSELVES AS READERS! WE WORKED TO HAVE DEEPER THOUGHTS AND BUILD INTERPRETATIONS ABOUT A STORY. WE MADE CONNECTIONS THROUGHOUT THE TEXT AND WE EXAMINED CHARACTERS IN GREAT DETAIL. IT’S REALLY EXCITING TO SEE OUR PROGRESS AND WE’RE CERTAINLY READY TO BEGIN THE CHALLENGES OF UNIT 2.
OUR NEXT UNIT IS A NONFICTION UNIT. IT’S CALLED, READING THE WEATHER, READING THE WORLD. IN THIS UNIT, STUDENTS WILL BE TAUGHT DIFFERENT STRATEGIES ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH NON-FICTION (INFORMATIONAL TEXT). STUDENTS WILL DETERMINE MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS BY THE TYPE OF STRUCTURE BEING USED, THEY’LL DETERMINE HOW A SMALL PART OF THE TEXT RELATES TO A LARGER, BROADER TOPIC, AND THEY’LL WORK TO DETERMINE THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE AND CRAFT FOR WRITING ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC. THIS UNIT WILL USE MULTIPLE TEXTS ABOUT THE SAME SUBJECT IN ORDER TO SYNTHESIZE THE INFORMATION .
THIS NEXT UNIT IS A COLLABORATIVE, RESEARCH BASED UNIT. STUDENTS WILL BE WORKING IN SMALL TEAMS TO RESEARCH A SPECIFIC TYPE OF EXTREME WEATHER. STUDENTS WILL LEARN HOW TO TAKE NOTES ABOUT THEIR TOPIC IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
IT SHOULD BE MENTIONED ALSO THAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THEME AND MAKING INFERENCES DURING OUR DAILY W.I.N. TIME. THIS COMING WEEK, IN KEEPING WITH THE HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES, WE WILL READ TWO PAIRED ARTICLES IN STORYWORKS CALLED, “HOW CANDY CONQUERED AMERICA”. WE’LL WORK TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST THESE ARTICLES AS WELL AS TO SUMMARIZE THE ARTICLES.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE ARE PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR NARRATIVES THIS WEEK. WE ARE USING OUR NARRATIVE CHECKLISTS TO SEE IF WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INCLUDED SOME OF THOSE KEY COMPONENTS WE’VE BEEN WORKING ON. DO WE HAVE A STRONG LEAD? HAVE WE INCLUDED DIALOGUE AND TRANSITIONS? HAVE WE ATTEMPTED TO INFUSE SOME FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE? DO WE HAVE A GOOD ENDING AND DOES OUR STORY MAKE SENSE? HOPEFULLY, THE ANSWER IS YES!
THEN THIS FRIDAY WE PLAN TO HAVE A NARRATIVE CELEBRATION. YEP. THE PLAN IS, TO PARTNER UP WITH THE 5TH GRADERS IN MRS. DAVIS’S CLASS AND SHARE OUR STORIES. (THEY’VE BEEN WORKING ON NARRATIVES, TOO!) IT SHOULD BE A GREAT CULMINATING EVENT.
ADDITIONALLY, AS WE BEGIN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER WE WILL WRITE A DIFFERENT KIND OF THANKFUL ESSAY. RATHER THAN THE TRADITIONAL WRITING OF BEING THANKFUL FOR FAMILY, FOOD, AND HOME, WE’LL CHALLENGE OUR THINKING AND WRITE ABOUT BEING THANKFUL FOR SOME NONTRADITIONAL THINGS. IT SHOULD BE FUN.
IN OUR BEING A WRITER SKILLS BOOK, WE’LL CONTINUE INVESTIGATING THE SENTENCE. WE’LL ALSO BEGIN LOOKING MORE CLOSELY AT NOUNS AND RUN-0N SENTENCES.
MATH
OUR MATH CLASSES ARE BUSY WORKING IN CHAPTER 3 AND CHAPTER 4. THESE CHAPTERS FOCUS ON MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION. AND, AS YOU CAN PROBABLY GUESS, FACT MASTERY IS ESSENTIAL. MY ADVICE….KEEP PRACTICING!! XTRAMATH IS A GREAT RESOURCE TO HELP US WITH OUR FACT FLUENCY. I WOULD ALSO SUGGEST THAT ALL MATHEMATICIANS WORK ON THE IXL WEBSITE, TOO. STUDENTS CAN GO TO “RECOMMENDATIONS” TO GET LESSONS THAT ARE INDIVIDUALLY TARGETED TO SPECIFIC SKILLS.
SCIENCE
OUR WORK WITH WAVES AND INFORMATION CONTINUES. WE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE WATER WAVES, STRING WAVES, AND SOUND WAVES. WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE PROPERTIES OF WAVES AND HAVE LEARNED SOME NEW WAVE RELATED VOCABULARY. (FEEL FREE TO ASK US WHAT THE CREST AND TROUGH OF A WAVE ARE!)
THIS WEEK WE WILL DO AN EXPERIMENT WITH WAVES AND LOOK AT AMPLITUDE AND WAVE LENGTH. WE WILL ALSO DISCUSS HOW WAVES AFFECT OBJECTS.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
WE’LL WRAP UP OUR UNIT ON BUILDING ASSETS AND STAYING DRUG FREE UNIT WITH A QUIZ THIS THURSDAY. WE HAVE DISCUSSED DIFFERENT KINDS OF DRUGS AND THE THREE MAIN DRUG CATEGORIES: STIMULANTS, DEPRESSANTS, AND HALLUCINOGENS.
UP NEXT: A CONTINUATION OF THE DRUG THEME AS WE INVESTIGATE THE DANGERS OF SMOKING.
OUR SECOND STEP LESSONS HAVE INVOLVED DISCUSSIONS OF OUR SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES. WE ALSO ARE LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ABOUT THE SAME SITUATION. WE ARE WORKING TO IDENTIFY VERBAL, PHYSICAL AND SITUATIONAL CUES THAT MAY INDICATE HOW OTHERS MAY FEEL. ULTIMATELY, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE THE EXPRESSED FEELINGS AND PERSPECTIVES OF OTHERS SO WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER. EMPATHY IS THE KEY!
OCTOBER 13, 2019
CHECKING THE CALENDAR, IT’S NOT WINTER YET. HOWEVER, THE CHILLY WIND, AND FREEZE WARNINGS SEEM TO SUGGEST WE’RE NOT THAT FAR AWAY. OH, WELL WE HOPE EVERYONE IS ENJOYING THIS COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND, EVEN IF IT IS WITH HATS AND MITTENS!
SO...WHAT'S THE SAYING? WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE LEMONADE? WELL THAT'S PRECISELY WHAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY AS OUR ANNUAL WALK-A-THON MAGICALLY TRANSFORMED INTO A DANCE-A-THON! AND, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE PICTURES POSTED ON THIS WEBPAGE, IT WAS LOTS OF FUN AND A HUGE SUCCESS. FRANKLIN ACTUALLY RAISED MORE THAN $35,000! CERTAINLY, THAT SPEAKS TO THE KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY OF FRANKLIN FAMILIES. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS. AND OF COURSE, THANKS TOO FOR ALL THOSE ACTS OF KINDNESS SEEN OVER THE LAST MONTH. FRANKLIN TRULY IS A SPECIAL PLACE AND WE HAVE LOTS TO BE PROUD OF!
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING WITH ALL OF YOU IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS AT PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES. (CONFERENCES SCHEDULED FOR OCT. 22ND, 24TH, AND 29TH) WITHOUT QUESTION, THESE MEETINGS ARE ENORMOUSLY VALUABLE AND HELPFUL AND WE SINCERELY ENJOY THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE, ASSESS, AND PLAN WITH YOU. TOGETHER WE CAN ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL YEAR FOR ALL.
IT'S TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT DISTRICT 64"S ANNUAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD. STUDENTS CAN WORK IN TEAMS AND TEST THEIR SCIENTIFIC SKILLS IN ONE OF FIVE DIFFERENT EVENTS:
AERODYNAMICS, EGG DROP, MYSTERY BOX, RUBBER BAND CATAPULT, OR STRUCTURES.
THE DEADLINE FOR SIGNING UP YOUR TEAM IS NEXT SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20TH, AND THE ACTUAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD IS SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST AT EMERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE: flyer
AND YOU CAN REGISTER HERE: REGISTER HERE.
DISTRICT 64’S ELEMENTARY LEARNING FOUNDATION (ELF) IS HOSTING ITS THIRD ANNUAL HALLOWEEN HUSTLE 5K ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 26. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, Here: Halloween Hustle
FRANKLIN HAS WON THE ELF TROPHY BEFORE, FOR HAVING THE MOST PARTICIPATION. WHY NOT WIN THAT TROPHY AGAIN?!?!
OTHER DATES TO MAKE NOTE OF:
BOX TOPS DUE: OCTOBER 16
LRC GREAT PUMPKIN DECORATING CONTEST: DROP OFF, MONDAY OCTOBER 21
TRUNK OR TREAT: OCTOBER 27TH 4:00-5:OO PM IN THE FRANKLIN PARKING LOT
THAT'S IT FOR NOW.
GO PACKERS!
MS JONES AND MS LAYTON
READING
IN OUR READING WORKSHOP WE CONTINUE TO "GROW IDEAS ABOUT CHARACTERS". WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE IMPORTANCE OF LOOKING AT PATTERNS IN A CHARACTER'S ACTIONS. WE'VE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO A CHARACTERS DESIRES AND HOW THEY ARE ACHIEVED. WE ARE NOTING WHEN AN AUTHOR REPEATS DETAILS (SUCH AS TRAITS, FEATURES, OR OBJECTS). WE ARE REALIZING THAT CHARACTERS CAN BE QUITE COMPLEX AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO USE PRECISE WORDS TO DESCRIBE SUCH COMPLEXITY. WE’RE ACTUALLY PLANNING TO FINISH THIS UNIT AT THE END OF THE WEEK.
IT OUGHT TO BE MENTIONED THAT EVERYONE IS DOING A GREAT JOB WITH OUR MENTOR TEXT, TIGER RISING. WE’VE USED THIS TEXT TO GROW OUR IDEAS AND HAVE HAD MANY THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSIONS. WE’RE ANXIOUS TO SEE HOW THIS BOOK ENDS!
LANGUAGE ARTS
OUR NARRATIVES ARE COMING ALONG BEAUTIFULLY! WE ARE WORKING TO DEVELOP STRONG LEADS, WE’RE INFUSING SOME RICH DESCRIPTION AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, AND WE’RE PUTTING IN SOME GOOD TRANSITIONS, TOO. ALL IN ALL, WE’VE GOT SOME GREAT STORIES!
THIS WEEK, WE ARE GOING TO TAKE A LITTLE BREAK FROM OUR NARRATIVES TO DO SOME HALLOWEEN RELATED WRITING. FIRST, WE WILL WORK ON SOME MOTHER GHOST POEMS. THEN WE WILL GRAB A THESAURUS AND REWRITE THE POEM/SONG "ITSY, BITSY SPIDER.” AFTER ALL, DOESN'T THE "SHRIMPY, MICROSCOPIC ARACHNID" SOUND JUST AS GOOD!? CERTAINLY, IT IS A GREAT LESSON ON WORD CHOICE.
IN OUR BUILDING VOCABULARY BOOK WE WILL WORK WITH THE PREFIX PRO. THE HOPE IS TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND MAKE GOOD PROGRESS. WE ALSO CONTINUE TO DO OUR DAILY EDITS. THESE ARE ALWAYS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE THOSE GRAMMAR, SPELLING, AND PUNCTUATION RULES.
MATH
WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS, ALL MATH CLASSES WILL BE FINISHING UP CHAPTER 2. WE WILL THEN GET UNDERWAY IN CHAPTER 3. THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES ON DIFFERENT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION PROPERTIES AND HAS US WORKING WITH FACTORS AND MULTIPLES, TOO. SEEING AS WE ALL WORKED PRETTY EXTENSIVELY ON MULTIPLICATION IN 3RD GRADE, WE ARE HOPING TO WORK THROUGH THIS CHAPTER FAIRLY QUICKLY. OF COURSE, WE'LL CONTINUE TO PRACTICE OUR FACT FLUENCY WITH THE ONLINE XTRAMATH PROGRAM, TOO. OBVIOUSLY, A SOLID MASTERY OF OUR BASIC FACTS WILL HELP ENSURE CONTINUED SUCCESS AS WE MOVE AHEAD WITH MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION.
SCIENCE
WE ARE GETTING READY TO BEGIN OUR FIRST SCIENCE UNIT: WAVES AND INFORMATION. IN THIS UNIT STUDENTS WILL EXPLORE WAVES, THEIR PROPERTIES, HOW THEY AFFECT PEOPLE, HOW THEY CAN BE USED TO SEND MESSAGES, AND MORE.
OUR UNIT LEARNING TARGETS WILL BE:
· How the matter moves in different types of waves.
· Waves are regular patterns of motion. Waves on a string, water waves, and sound waves are examples of different waves.
· The amplitude of a wave tells how large it is. The wavelength tells how long it is. The frequency tells how often a wave passes a certain point.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE, "BUILD YOUR ASSETS, STAY DRUG FREE." THIS COMING WEEK WE’LL DISCUSS DIFFERENT TYPES OF DRUGS AND LEARN THAT MOST DRUGS FIT INTO THREE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES: STIMULANTS, DEPRESSANTS, AND HALLUCINOGENS. LATER, AS A TIE-IN TO THE HALLOWEEN HOLIDAY COMING UP, WE WILL WRITE WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO SAY “BOO” TO DRUGS AS WE SYNTHESIZE SOME OF THE FACTS WE HAVE LEARNED.
IN SECOND STEP, WE HAD OUR VERY FIRST CLASS MEETING. WITH THE HELP OF MRS. COOLINGS, WE REFLECTED ON OUR FIRST MONTH OF SCHOOL AND WROTE DOWN SOME ROSES AND THORNS WE’VE EXPERIENCED SO FAR. IN THE DAYS AHEAD. WE WILL WORK TOGETHER TO PROBLEM SOLVE SOME OF THOSE THORNS. THIS COMING WEEK WE WILL FOCUS ON RESPECT/
SOCIAL STUDIES
WE'LL HAVE OUR BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT TEST THIS THURSDAY. WE’VE BEEN BUSY WORKING ON OUR BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT TREES, TOO.
AS YOU KNOW, TOMORROW IS VETERAN’S DAY. AND, IN HONOR OF VETERANS DAY, FRANKLIN SCHOOL WILL TAKE SOME TIME TO REMEMBER OUR VETERANS AND ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE SERVED OUR COUNTRY. THE DAY WILL BEGIN WITH A FLAG CEREMONY IN THE GYMNASIUM . THE ENTIRE STUDENT BODY WILL SING “GOD BLESS AMERICA” AND RECITE THE PLEDGE IN FRONT OF THE PARK RIDGE COLOR GUARD.
FESTIVITIES WILL THEN CONTINUE IN ROOM 132 AS WE LISTEN TO A PRESENTATION BY A VERY SPECIAL VETERAN. THAT’S RIGHT. BLAKE’S FATHER, MR. ROUZAN, WILL TALK TO OUR CLASS ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES IN THE MILITARY. THANK YOU, MR. ROUZAN FOR YOUR SERVICE AND FOR SHARING THIS SPECIAL DAY WITH US.
FRANKLIN IS ONCE AGAIN TAKING PART IN A HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE FOR THE MAINE TOWNSHIP FOOD PANTRY. FOOD WILL BE COLLECTED BEGINNING TOMORROW AND CAN BE BROUGHT IN ANY TIME UP UNTIL DECEMBER 13TH. ANY AND ALL NONPERISHABLE DONATIONS WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.
NOVEMBER 20TH WILL MARK THE END OF TRIMESTER 1. (HARD TO BELIEVE, BUT TRUE!) REPORT CARDS WILL BE SENT HOME THE WEEK AFTER WE RETURN FROM THANKSGIVING BREAK.
BECAUSE THE NEXT NEWSLETTER WILL BE PUBLISHED OVER THE HOLIDAY BREAK, WE WOULD LIKE TO TAKE A MOMENT TO WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING. IF YOU’RE TRAVELING, TRAVEL SAFELY. RELAX, AND ENJOY THIS SPECIAL TIME WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS.
HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND A DELICIOUS HOLIDAY!
MS. JONES AND MS. LAYTON
READING
WE ARE A FEW LESSONS IN TO OUR SECOND READING UNIT, READING THE WEATHER, READING THE WORLD. IN THIS UNIT WE’LL FORM RESEARCH TEAMS TO DELVE INTO TOPICS ABOUT EXTREME WEATHER AND NATURAL DISASTERS. WE’LL DEVELOP OUR SKILLS IN CROSS TEXT SYNTHESIS, WE’LL PRACTICE CLOSE READING, WE’LL COMPARE AND CONTRAST, AND EVEN EVALUATE DIFFERENT SOURCES. THIS PAST WEEK WE EXAMINED HYBRID TEXTS AND DISCUSSED TEXT STRUCTURE. WHO KNOWS?!!? PERHAPS WE’LL END UP WITH SOME METEOROLOGISTS OR GEOLOGISTS BY THE END OF THIS EXCITING UNIT.
LANGUAGE ARTS
THIS PAST FRIDAY TO MARK THE OFFICIAL END OF OUR NARRATIVE UNIT, WE HAD A NARRATIVE CELEBRATION WITH MRS. DAVIS’ 5TH GRADE CLASS. YEP. THEY’VE BEEN WORKING ON NARRATIVES TOO! SO.. WE TOOK THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTNER UP AND SHARE OUR STORIES. IT WAS GREAT FUN AND IN SHARING, PROVIDED US WITH MANY WONDERFUL IDEAS AND LOTS OF CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK.
IN OUR NEXT UNIT, BOXES AND BULLETS: PERSONAL AND PERSUASIVE ESSAYS, STUDENTS WILL LEARN THE VALUE OF ORGANIZATION AND FORM AS WE GATHER EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT AND EXPRESS AN OPINION ON TOPICS THEY KNOW WELL. IT PROMISES TO BE A FUN AND ENGAGING UNIT.
BEFORE BEGINNING UNIT 2, WE WILL WORK TO COMPLETE A THANKSGIVING “THANKFUL” PROJECT. THIS WILL BE A CHALLENGING AND UNUSUAL WRITING ACTIVITY IN WHICH WE’LL WRITE ABOUT OUR GRATITUDE FOR SOME RATHER UNUSUAL ITEMS. AFTER ALL, SHOULDN’T WE BE THANKFUL FOR STAPLERS AND TISSUE?
MATH
CLASSES ARE WRAPPING UP CHAPTER 3 AND ARE NOW PLUGGING AWAY IN CHAPTERS 4 AND 5. CHAPTER 4 IS A MULTIPLICATION CHAPTER AND WE ARE LEARNING TO MULTIPLY BY MULTIPLES OF TEN. WE’LL ALSO WORK WITH AREA MODELS AS WELL AS THE DISTRIBUTIVE PROPERTY TO HELP US FIGURE OUT PRODUCTS. CHAPTER 5 COVERS 2-DIGIT TIMES 2 DIGIT AND 3 DIGIT NUMBERS, SO FACT MASTERY WILL BE ESSENTIAL.
IN ADDITION TO COMPLETING THE REGULAR HOMEWORK PAGES, STUDENTS SHOULD REGULARLY BE GOING ON SOME OF OUR MATH WEBSITES SUCH AS IXL OR XTRAMATH TO ENRICH THEIR MATH KNOWLEDGE
SCIENCE
WE ARE CONTINUING OUR STUDIES OF WAVES. WE HAVE LEARNED SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF WATER WAVES, STRING WAVES, AND SOUND WAVES.
IN THE DAYS AHEAD WE WILL DISCUSS WHICH WAVES MOVE THROUGH THE EARTH AS WE DISCOVER THE THREE TYPES OF SEISMIC WAVES THAT OCCUR DURING EARTHQUAKES. WE WILL ALSO INVESTIGATE HOW SOUND WAVES CAN BE USED TO SEND MESSAGES.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
WE DID TAKE OUR QUIZ ON "BUILDING ASSETS AND STAYING DRUG FREE." NOW WE HAVE MOVED ON TO THE “NO SMOKING” UNIT.
WITH OUR SECOND STEP/ SOCIAL- EMOTIONAL LEARNING CURRICULUM WE’RE CONTINUING TO LOOK AT HOW PEOPLE CAN HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND OPINIONS ABOUT THE SAME SITUATION. WE ALSO DISCUSSED GRATITUDE AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO BE THANKFUL FOR OUR MANY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES AND RELATIONSHIPS.
OCTOBER 27, 2018
LET US BEGIN BY SAYING HOW MUCH WE APPRECIATED THE OPPORTUNITY TO MEET WITH SO MANY OF YOU AT PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES THIS PAST WEEK. (AND WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING SOME OF YOU THIS TUESDAY!) YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT ARE INVALUABLE, AND WE’RE CONFIDENT AS THIS SCHOOL YEAR CONTINUES, WE’LL HAVE MANY SUCCESSES AND MUCH TO CELEBRATE. SHOULD YOU EVER HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ALONG THE WAY, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO CONTACT US.
THIS COMING WEEK IS HALLOWEEN!
FRANKLIN’S HALLOWEEN KICKOFF BEGINS TONIGHT WITH “TRUNK OR TREAT”. WHY NOT GO TRICK OR TREATING RIGHT HERE AT FRANKLIN? FESTIVITIES WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FRANKLIN PARKING LOT FROM 4:00-5:00. BRING YOUR FAMILY AND COME IN COSTUME FOR SOME TREATS, GAMES, AND FUN.
LATER IN THE WEEK, WE WILL BE CELEBRATING THIS SPOOKY HOLIDAY WITH CLASSROOM PARTIES AND A PARADE ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31ST. OUR CLASSROOM PARTY WILL BE FROM 1:45-2:45. STUDENTS WILL CHANGE INTO COSTUMES AFTER LUNCH AND BEFORE THE CLASSROOM PARTY. STUDENTS SHOULD NOT WEAR COSTUMES OR FACE MAKEUP TO SCHOOL. FOLLOWING OUR CLASSROOM PARTIES, WE WILL HAVE OUR HALLOWEEN PARADE. OUR PARADE ROUTE WILL HAVE STUDENTS EXITING THE BUILDING THROUGH THE KINDERGARTEN DOOR (DOOR 2). WE WILL THEN WALK ALONG THE SIDEWALK PAST THE CIRCLE DRIVE, CONTINuE ALONG THE SIDE OF THE BUILDING, AND WALK ACROSS THE BACK-PLAYGROUND AREA. WE WILL THEN RE-ENTER THE BUILDING THROUGH DOOR 9 BY THE FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOMS. PARENTS AND FAMILIES ARE ENCOURAGED TO COME AND WATCH THE PARADE. IT PROMISES TO BE A SPOOKTACULAR EVENT!***
***PLEASE REMEMBER TOO, THAT COSTUMES CAN NOT INCLUDE WEAPONS OF ANY SORT, AND NO MASKS OR HOODS THAT COVER THE FACE WILL BE ALLOWED. ADDITIONALLY, STUDENTS SHOULD NOT BRING CANDY TO SCHOOL.
FINALLY, NEXT MONDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH IS A TEACHER INSERVICE DAY. STUDENTS DO NOT COME TO SCHOOL THAT DAY.
THAT’S IT FOR NOW. HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK AND A SAFE HALLOWEEN.
GO PACKERS!
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
HIP, HIP, HOORAY! THIS PAST WEEK WE WRAPPED UP OUR WORK IN UNIT 1!!! WE TOOK OUR FINAL ASSESSMENT AND WE EVEN PLAYED A ROUND OF TIGER RISING, JEOPARDY AND KAHOOT. THROUGHOUT THIS UNIT WE REALLY DID WORK HARD TO PUSH OURSELVES AS READERS! WE WORKED TO HAVE DEEPER THOUGHTS AND BUILD INTERPRETATIONS ABOUT A STORY. WE MADE CONNECTIONS THROUGHOUT THE TEXT AND WE EXAMINED CHARACTERS IN GREAT DETAIL. IT’S REALLY EXCITING TO SEE OUR PROGRESS AND WE’RE CERTAINLY READY TO BEGIN THE CHALLENGES OF UNIT 2.
OUR NEXT UNIT IS A NONFICTION UNIT. IT’S CALLED, READING THE WEATHER, READING THE WORLD. IN THIS UNIT, STUDENTS WILL BE TAUGHT DIFFERENT STRATEGIES ABOUT HOW TO APPROACH NON-FICTION (INFORMATIONAL TEXT). STUDENTS WILL DETERMINE MAIN IDEA AND DETAILS BY THE TYPE OF STRUCTURE BEING USED, THEY’LL DETERMINE HOW A SMALL PART OF THE TEXT RELATES TO A LARGER, BROADER TOPIC, AND THEY’LL WORK TO DETERMINE THE AUTHOR’S PURPOSE AND CRAFT FOR WRITING ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC. THIS UNIT WILL USE MULTIPLE TEXTS ABOUT THE SAME SUBJECT IN ORDER TO SYNTHESIZE THE INFORMATION .
THIS NEXT UNIT IS A COLLABORATIVE, RESEARCH BASED UNIT. STUDENTS WILL BE WORKING IN SMALL TEAMS TO RESEARCH A SPECIFIC TYPE OF EXTREME WEATHER. STUDENTS WILL LEARN HOW TO TAKE NOTES ABOUT THEIR TOPIC IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
IT SHOULD BE MENTIONED ALSO THAT WE HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THEME AND MAKING INFERENCES DURING OUR DAILY W.I.N. TIME. THIS COMING WEEK, IN KEEPING WITH THE HALLOWEEN FESTIVITIES, WE WILL READ TWO PAIRED ARTICLES IN STORYWORKS CALLED, “HOW CANDY CONQUERED AMERICA”. WE’LL WORK TO COMPARE AND CONTRAST THESE ARTICLES AS WELL AS TO SUMMARIZE THE ARTICLES.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE ARE PUTTING THE FINISHING TOUCHES ON OUR NARRATIVES THIS WEEK. WE ARE USING OUR NARRATIVE CHECKLISTS TO SEE IF WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY INCLUDED SOME OF THOSE KEY COMPONENTS WE’VE BEEN WORKING ON. DO WE HAVE A STRONG LEAD? HAVE WE INCLUDED DIALOGUE AND TRANSITIONS? HAVE WE ATTEMPTED TO INFUSE SOME FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE? DO WE HAVE A GOOD ENDING AND DOES OUR STORY MAKE SENSE? HOPEFULLY, THE ANSWER IS YES!
THEN THIS FRIDAY WE PLAN TO HAVE A NARRATIVE CELEBRATION. YEP. THE PLAN IS, TO PARTNER UP WITH THE 5TH GRADERS IN MRS. DAVIS’S CLASS AND SHARE OUR STORIES. (THEY’VE BEEN WORKING ON NARRATIVES, TOO!) IT SHOULD BE A GREAT CULMINATING EVENT.
ADDITIONALLY, AS WE BEGIN THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER WE WILL WRITE A DIFFERENT KIND OF THANKFUL ESSAY. RATHER THAN THE TRADITIONAL WRITING OF BEING THANKFUL FOR FAMILY, FOOD, AND HOME, WE’LL CHALLENGE OUR THINKING AND WRITE ABOUT BEING THANKFUL FOR SOME NONTRADITIONAL THINGS. IT SHOULD BE FUN.
IN OUR BEING A WRITER SKILLS BOOK, WE’LL CONTINUE INVESTIGATING THE SENTENCE. WE’LL ALSO BEGIN LOOKING MORE CLOSELY AT NOUNS AND RUN-0N SENTENCES.
MATH
OUR MATH CLASSES ARE BUSY WORKING IN CHAPTER 3 AND CHAPTER 4. THESE CHAPTERS FOCUS ON MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION. AND, AS YOU CAN PROBABLY GUESS, FACT MASTERY IS ESSENTIAL. MY ADVICE….KEEP PRACTICING!! XTRAMATH IS A GREAT RESOURCE TO HELP US WITH OUR FACT FLUENCY. I WOULD ALSO SUGGEST THAT ALL MATHEMATICIANS WORK ON THE IXL WEBSITE, TOO. STUDENTS CAN GO TO “RECOMMENDATIONS” TO GET LESSONS THAT ARE INDIVIDUALLY TARGETED TO SPECIFIC SKILLS.
SCIENCE
OUR WORK WITH WAVES AND INFORMATION CONTINUES. WE LEARNED THAT THERE ARE WATER WAVES, STRING WAVES, AND SOUND WAVES. WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT SOME OF THE PROPERTIES OF WAVES AND HAVE LEARNED SOME NEW WAVE RELATED VOCABULARY. (FEEL FREE TO ASK US WHAT THE CREST AND TROUGH OF A WAVE ARE!)
THIS WEEK WE WILL DO AN EXPERIMENT WITH WAVES AND LOOK AT AMPLITUDE AND WAVE LENGTH. WE WILL ALSO DISCUSS HOW WAVES AFFECT OBJECTS.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
WE’LL WRAP UP OUR UNIT ON BUILDING ASSETS AND STAYING DRUG FREE UNIT WITH A QUIZ THIS THURSDAY. WE HAVE DISCUSSED DIFFERENT KINDS OF DRUGS AND THE THREE MAIN DRUG CATEGORIES: STIMULANTS, DEPRESSANTS, AND HALLUCINOGENS.
UP NEXT: A CONTINUATION OF THE DRUG THEME AS WE INVESTIGATE THE DANGERS OF SMOKING.
OUR SECOND STEP LESSONS HAVE INVOLVED DISCUSSIONS OF OUR SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES. WE ALSO ARE LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN HAVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES ABOUT THE SAME SITUATION. WE ARE WORKING TO IDENTIFY VERBAL, PHYSICAL AND SITUATIONAL CUES THAT MAY INDICATE HOW OTHERS MAY FEEL. ULTIMATELY, WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO DESCRIBE THE EXPRESSED FEELINGS AND PERSPECTIVES OF OTHERS SO WE CAN BETTER UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER. EMPATHY IS THE KEY!
OCTOBER 13, 2019
CHECKING THE CALENDAR, IT’S NOT WINTER YET. HOWEVER, THE CHILLY WIND, AND FREEZE WARNINGS SEEM TO SUGGEST WE’RE NOT THAT FAR AWAY. OH, WELL WE HOPE EVERYONE IS ENJOYING THIS COLUMBUS DAY WEEKEND, EVEN IF IT IS WITH HATS AND MITTENS!
SO...WHAT'S THE SAYING? WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE LEMONADE? WELL THAT'S PRECISELY WHAT HAPPENED ON FRIDAY AS OUR ANNUAL WALK-A-THON MAGICALLY TRANSFORMED INTO A DANCE-A-THON! AND, AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE PICTURES POSTED ON THIS WEBPAGE, IT WAS LOTS OF FUN AND A HUGE SUCCESS. FRANKLIN ACTUALLY RAISED MORE THAN $35,000! CERTAINLY, THAT SPEAKS TO THE KINDNESS AND GENEROSITY OF FRANKLIN FAMILIES. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS. AND OF COURSE, THANKS TOO FOR ALL THOSE ACTS OF KINDNESS SEEN OVER THE LAST MONTH. FRANKLIN TRULY IS A SPECIAL PLACE AND WE HAVE LOTS TO BE PROUD OF!
WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING WITH ALL OF YOU IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS AT PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCES. (CONFERENCES SCHEDULED FOR OCT. 22ND, 24TH, AND 29TH) WITHOUT QUESTION, THESE MEETINGS ARE ENORMOUSLY VALUABLE AND HELPFUL AND WE SINCERELY ENJOY THE OPPORTUNITY TO EVALUATE, ASSESS, AND PLAN WITH YOU. TOGETHER WE CAN ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL SCHOOL YEAR FOR ALL.
IT'S TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT DISTRICT 64"S ANNUAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD. STUDENTS CAN WORK IN TEAMS AND TEST THEIR SCIENTIFIC SKILLS IN ONE OF FIVE DIFFERENT EVENTS:
AERODYNAMICS, EGG DROP, MYSTERY BOX, RUBBER BAND CATAPULT, OR STRUCTURES.
THE DEADLINE FOR SIGNING UP YOUR TEAM IS NEXT SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20TH, AND THE ACTUAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD IS SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1ST AT EMERSON MIDDLE SCHOOL. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CLICK HERE: flyer
AND YOU CAN REGISTER HERE: REGISTER HERE.
DISTRICT 64’S ELEMENTARY LEARNING FOUNDATION (ELF) IS HOSTING ITS THIRD ANNUAL HALLOWEEN HUSTLE 5K ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 26. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE, Here: Halloween Hustle
FRANKLIN HAS WON THE ELF TROPHY BEFORE, FOR HAVING THE MOST PARTICIPATION. WHY NOT WIN THAT TROPHY AGAIN?!?!
OTHER DATES TO MAKE NOTE OF:
BOX TOPS DUE: OCTOBER 16
LRC GREAT PUMPKIN DECORATING CONTEST: DROP OFF, MONDAY OCTOBER 21
TRUNK OR TREAT: OCTOBER 27TH 4:00-5:OO PM IN THE FRANKLIN PARKING LOT
THAT'S IT FOR NOW.
GO PACKERS!
MS JONES AND MS LAYTON
READING
IN OUR READING WORKSHOP WE CONTINUE TO "GROW IDEAS ABOUT CHARACTERS". WE HAVE DISCOVERED THE IMPORTANCE OF LOOKING AT PATTERNS IN A CHARACTER'S ACTIONS. WE'VE BEEN PAYING ATTENTION TO A CHARACTERS DESIRES AND HOW THEY ARE ACHIEVED. WE ARE NOTING WHEN AN AUTHOR REPEATS DETAILS (SUCH AS TRAITS, FEATURES, OR OBJECTS). WE ARE REALIZING THAT CHARACTERS CAN BE QUITE COMPLEX AND IT'S IMPORTANT TO USE PRECISE WORDS TO DESCRIBE SUCH COMPLEXITY. WE’RE ACTUALLY PLANNING TO FINISH THIS UNIT AT THE END OF THE WEEK.
IT OUGHT TO BE MENTIONED THAT EVERYONE IS DOING A GREAT JOB WITH OUR MENTOR TEXT, TIGER RISING. WE’VE USED THIS TEXT TO GROW OUR IDEAS AND HAVE HAD MANY THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSIONS. WE’RE ANXIOUS TO SEE HOW THIS BOOK ENDS!
LANGUAGE ARTS
OUR NARRATIVES ARE COMING ALONG BEAUTIFULLY! WE ARE WORKING TO DEVELOP STRONG LEADS, WE’RE INFUSING SOME RICH DESCRIPTION AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, AND WE’RE PUTTING IN SOME GOOD TRANSITIONS, TOO. ALL IN ALL, WE’VE GOT SOME GREAT STORIES!
THIS WEEK, WE ARE GOING TO TAKE A LITTLE BREAK FROM OUR NARRATIVES TO DO SOME HALLOWEEN RELATED WRITING. FIRST, WE WILL WORK ON SOME MOTHER GHOST POEMS. THEN WE WILL GRAB A THESAURUS AND REWRITE THE POEM/SONG "ITSY, BITSY SPIDER.” AFTER ALL, DOESN'T THE "SHRIMPY, MICROSCOPIC ARACHNID" SOUND JUST AS GOOD!? CERTAINLY, IT IS A GREAT LESSON ON WORD CHOICE.
IN OUR BUILDING VOCABULARY BOOK WE WILL WORK WITH THE PREFIX PRO. THE HOPE IS TO BE PRODUCTIVE AND MAKE GOOD PROGRESS. WE ALSO CONTINUE TO DO OUR DAILY EDITS. THESE ARE ALWAYS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO PRACTICE THOSE GRAMMAR, SPELLING, AND PUNCTUATION RULES.
MATH
WITHIN THE NEXT FEW DAYS, ALL MATH CLASSES WILL BE FINISHING UP CHAPTER 2. WE WILL THEN GET UNDERWAY IN CHAPTER 3. THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES ON DIFFERENT MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION PROPERTIES AND HAS US WORKING WITH FACTORS AND MULTIPLES, TOO. SEEING AS WE ALL WORKED PRETTY EXTENSIVELY ON MULTIPLICATION IN 3RD GRADE, WE ARE HOPING TO WORK THROUGH THIS CHAPTER FAIRLY QUICKLY. OF COURSE, WE'LL CONTINUE TO PRACTICE OUR FACT FLUENCY WITH THE ONLINE XTRAMATH PROGRAM, TOO. OBVIOUSLY, A SOLID MASTERY OF OUR BASIC FACTS WILL HELP ENSURE CONTINUED SUCCESS AS WE MOVE AHEAD WITH MULTIPLICATION AND DIVISION.
SCIENCE
WE ARE GETTING READY TO BEGIN OUR FIRST SCIENCE UNIT: WAVES AND INFORMATION. IN THIS UNIT STUDENTS WILL EXPLORE WAVES, THEIR PROPERTIES, HOW THEY AFFECT PEOPLE, HOW THEY CAN BE USED TO SEND MESSAGES, AND MORE.
OUR UNIT LEARNING TARGETS WILL BE:
· How the matter moves in different types of waves.
· Waves are regular patterns of motion. Waves on a string, water waves, and sound waves are examples of different waves.
· The amplitude of a wave tells how large it is. The wavelength tells how long it is. The frequency tells how often a wave passes a certain point.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE ARE WORKING WITH OUR GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE, "BUILD YOUR ASSETS, STAY DRUG FREE." THIS COMING WEEK WE’LL DISCUSS DIFFERENT TYPES OF DRUGS AND LEARN THAT MOST DRUGS FIT INTO THREE DIFFERENT CATEGORIES: STIMULANTS, DEPRESSANTS, AND HALLUCINOGENS. LATER, AS A TIE-IN TO THE HALLOWEEN HOLIDAY COMING UP, WE WILL WRITE WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO SAY “BOO” TO DRUGS AS WE SYNTHESIZE SOME OF THE FACTS WE HAVE LEARNED.
IN SECOND STEP, WE HAD OUR VERY FIRST CLASS MEETING. WITH THE HELP OF MRS. COOLINGS, WE REFLECTED ON OUR FIRST MONTH OF SCHOOL AND WROTE DOWN SOME ROSES AND THORNS WE’VE EXPERIENCED SO FAR. IN THE DAYS AHEAD. WE WILL WORK TOGETHER TO PROBLEM SOLVE SOME OF THOSE THORNS. THIS COMING WEEK WE WILL FOCUS ON RESPECT/
SOCIAL STUDIES
WE'LL HAVE OUR BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT TEST THIS THURSDAY. WE’VE BEEN BUSY WORKING ON OUR BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT TREES, TOO.
SEPTEMBER 29, 2019
DESPITE IT BEING A RATHER SOGGY WEEKEND, I DO HOPE EVERYONE’S SPIRITS ARE SUNNY AND BRIGHT AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK HARD AND MAKE GREAT PROGRESS HERE IN ROOM 132!
WE ARE ALL GETTING READY FOR FRANKLIN’S ANNUAL KINDNESS WALK ON OCTOBER 11TH. AS YOU KNOW, THE WALK HAS A “PAY IT FORWARD” THEME OF KINDNESS. PTA IS AIMING TO ELIMINATE SMALLER FUNDRAISERS, SO EVERYONE’S ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IS CRITICAL. MONIES RAISED FROM THIS EVENT WILL GO TO SUPPORT MANY IMPORTANT PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES HERE AT FRANKLIN. HOPEFULLY, EVERYONE HAS GOTTEN THE CHANCE TO REGISTER ALREADY. FRANKLIN SCHOOL WITH BE COLLECTING SACK LUNCHES FOR "PETE'S SACK LUNCH FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE." INFORMATION AND BAGS WILL BE SENT HOME SOON. LUNCH BAGS WILL BE COLLECTED BEFORE SCHOOL AND GIVEN TO THOSE IN NEED.
DONUTS WITH DAD WAS A GRAND SUCCESS, TOO. (AFTER ALL, A SUGARY TREAT WITH DAD, IS A GREAT WAY TO START THE DAY, RIGHT?!?!) BE SURE TO CHECK OUT SOME SWEET PICTURES HERE ON THIS WEBSITE.
WE ARE ALL WORKING ON BEING ORGANIZED HERE IN ROOM 132. MOST EVERYONE IS DOING A FINE JOB OF WRITING DOWN THEIR DAILY ASSIGNMENTS AND TURNING THEM IN WHEN DUE. TAKE HOME FOLDERS SHOULD BE CLEANED OUT REGULARLY. PAPERS THAT ARE GRADED, ARE PAPERS THAT SHOULD BE REVIEWED AND KEPT AT HOME. ALL TESTS NEED TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO ME THE NEXT DAY. ALL CORRECTIONS ON TESTS SHOULD BE MADE IN RED PEN BEFORE RETURNING.
FALL MAP SCORES WERE SENT HOME LAST WEEK ALONG WITH THE RESULTS FROM LAST SPRING’S IAR TESTS. SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT THIS DATA, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT US. CERTAINLY, WE CAN DISCUSS THINGS IN GREATER DETAIL AT CONFERENCE TIME. AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, RESULTS OF THESE FALL TESTS ARE USED TO ASSESS LEARNING LEVELS AS WELL AS TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION.
THAT'S IT FOR NOW. ENJOY THE REST OF THIS WEEKEND!
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
IN READING WORKSHOP WE HAVE BEEN FOCUSING ON CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER TRAITS. WE ARE LEARNING STRATEGIES THAT HELP US STEP INSIDE THE CHARACTER’S WORLD. WE ARE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO A CHARACTER’S WORDS AND ACTIONS AS WE GROW THEORIES AND GATHER EVIDENCE ABOUT WHY A CHARACTER IS ACTING A CERTAIN WAY. WE ARE LEARNING THAT CHARACTERS ARE COMPLEX AND CAN RESPOND DIFFERENTLY IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS. AS READERS WE ARE WORKING TO CONFIRM AND REVISE THEORIES, AS WELL AS UNDERSTAND THAT A CHARACTER CAN CHANGE. ULTIMATELY, WE HOPE TO SEE CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORIES AS EXPERIENCES TO LEARN FROM.
WE'VE ALSO READ SOME NONFICTION CURRENT EVENT STORIES WITH NEWSELA. DURING W.I.N. TIME (WHAT I NEED TIME) WE’LL BE USING SCHOLASTIC STORYWORKS TO HELP US WORK ON USING TEXT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT RESPONSES.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE CONTINUE TO WORK AND DEVELOP OUR NARRATIVE PIECES. WE WILL BE WORKING WITH WRITING PARTNERS TO ASSESS, EVALUATE AND REVISE THAT PIECE AS WE FOCUS ON DIFFERENT WRITING STRATEGIES. THIS COMING WEEK, FOR INSTANCE, WE ARE GOING TO TARGET HOW OUR STORY BEGINS. WE WILL LOOK AT SOME DIFFERENT WAYS TO WRITE A GOOD LEAD OR “HOOK”. PERHAPS A QUESTION OR SOME HYPERBOLE FOR INSTANCE. OUR GOAL IS TO GET THE READER INTERESTED IN THOSE FIRST FEW SENTENCES.
IN HONOR OF OCTOBER WE MAY ALSO TRY TO SQUEEZE IN A LITTLE HALLOWEEN RELATED WRITING. HOPEFULLY, WE WILL GET THE CHANCE TO WORK ON SOME MOTHER GHOST RHYMES. TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, WE WILL TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THOSE CLASSIC MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES AND FIGURE OUT SOME WAYS TO PUT A SPOOKY SPIN ON THEM. FOR INSTANCE, INSTEAD OF BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP, HOW ABOUT BAA BAA BLACK BAT!?!? CERTAINLY THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL CHALLENGE US CREATIVELY, BUT WE THINK WE'RE UP FOR THAT CHALLENGE. WE MAY ALSO TRY OUR HAND AT A REWRITE OF "THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER", USING DIFFERENT SYNONYMS.
WE'RE ALSO CONTINUING WITH OUR DAILY EDITS AND HAVE ALSO WORKED MORE ON SENTENCES. WE DISCUSSED SIMPLE SENTENCES AND COMPOUND SENTENCES. THIS COMING WEEK, WE MAY EVEN LEARN THE CONJUNCTION SONG!
MATH
ALL MATH CLASSES ARE WORKING IN CHAPTER 2. THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES ON ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION. WE DISCUSSED THREE DIFFERENT ADDITION PROPERTIES: THE COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY, THE ASSOCIATIVE PROPERTY, AND THE IDENTITY PROPERTY. PLEASE BE SURE TO ASK US ABOUT THESE PROPERTIES. WE'LL WORK DILIGENTLY WITH SUBTRACTION ACROSS ZEROS AND PROBLEM SOLVING TOO! WRITING EQUATIONS WITH VARIABLES IS ADDRESSED IN THIS CHAPTER AS WELL, AND YOU CAN BE SURE WE WILL PRACTICE THAT, TOO.
WE'RE ALSO CONTINUING TO WORK ON THOSE BASIC FACTS WITH OUR XTRAMATH PROGRAM. IXL IS HELPING US STRENGTHEN OUR SKILLS, AS WELL.
SCIENCE/HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE FINISHED UP OUR UNIT ON COMMUNITY SAFETY THIS TUESDAY WITH A UNIT QUIZ. NEXT, WE WILL BEGIN THE GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE CALLED “BUILDING ASSETS AND STAYING DRUG FREE.” IT WILL CERTAINLY GET US ALL READY FOR RED RIBBON WEEK LATER IN OCTOBER.
WITH OUR SECOND STEP CURRICULUM WE HAVE SOME GREAT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT LISTENING AND JUST HOW TO BE AN ACTIVELY ENGAGED LISTENER. WE'VE ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ASSERTIVE. WE HAVE DISCUSSED BODY LANGUAGE AND THE NEED TO BE RESPECTFUL OF OUR DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES. IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WE HOPE TO BEGIN SOME CLASSROOM MEETINGS. OUR HOPE IS TO INVOLVE EVERYONE IN CONSTRUCTIVE DECISION MAKING IN OUR CLASSROOM. WITHOUT QUESTION, WE WANT TO BUILD A CLIMATE OF TRUST AND RESPECT.
SCIENCE WILL BEGIN IN A FEW WEEKS.
SOCIAL STUDIES
IN SOCIAL STUDIES WE ARE INVESTIGATING THE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT. WE HAVE STARTED THIS UNIT BY LOOKING AT THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. WE HAVE DISCUSSED THE PRESIDENT, THE VICE PRESIDENT, AND THE CABINET MEMBERS. WE LEARNED ABOUT THE JOBS OF THE PRESIDENT AND EVEN TOOK A VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP TO THE WHITE HOUSE. IN THE NEXT WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT THE LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. WE WILL TALK ABOUT BILLS AND LAWS AND THE SUPREME COURT.
A FINAL PROJECT WILL BE TO MAKE A BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT “TREE”. STUDENTS WILL TYPE A PARAGRAPH ABOUT EACH OF THE THREE BRANCHES, AND WE WILL THEN PUT THOSE PARAGRAPHS ON A POSTERBOARD TREE. WITH LUCK, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE OUR FINISHED PRODUCT AT CONFERENCE TIME.
DESPITE IT BEING A RATHER SOGGY WEEKEND, I DO HOPE EVERYONE’S SPIRITS ARE SUNNY AND BRIGHT AS WE CONTINUE TO WORK HARD AND MAKE GREAT PROGRESS HERE IN ROOM 132!
WE ARE ALL GETTING READY FOR FRANKLIN’S ANNUAL KINDNESS WALK ON OCTOBER 11TH. AS YOU KNOW, THE WALK HAS A “PAY IT FORWARD” THEME OF KINDNESS. PTA IS AIMING TO ELIMINATE SMALLER FUNDRAISERS, SO EVERYONE’S ACTIVE PARTICIPATION IS CRITICAL. MONIES RAISED FROM THIS EVENT WILL GO TO SUPPORT MANY IMPORTANT PROGRAMS AND INITIATIVES HERE AT FRANKLIN. HOPEFULLY, EVERYONE HAS GOTTEN THE CHANCE TO REGISTER ALREADY. FRANKLIN SCHOOL WITH BE COLLECTING SACK LUNCHES FOR "PETE'S SACK LUNCH FOR THE LESS FORTUNATE." INFORMATION AND BAGS WILL BE SENT HOME SOON. LUNCH BAGS WILL BE COLLECTED BEFORE SCHOOL AND GIVEN TO THOSE IN NEED.
DONUTS WITH DAD WAS A GRAND SUCCESS, TOO. (AFTER ALL, A SUGARY TREAT WITH DAD, IS A GREAT WAY TO START THE DAY, RIGHT?!?!) BE SURE TO CHECK OUT SOME SWEET PICTURES HERE ON THIS WEBSITE.
WE ARE ALL WORKING ON BEING ORGANIZED HERE IN ROOM 132. MOST EVERYONE IS DOING A FINE JOB OF WRITING DOWN THEIR DAILY ASSIGNMENTS AND TURNING THEM IN WHEN DUE. TAKE HOME FOLDERS SHOULD BE CLEANED OUT REGULARLY. PAPERS THAT ARE GRADED, ARE PAPERS THAT SHOULD BE REVIEWED AND KEPT AT HOME. ALL TESTS NEED TO BE SIGNED AND RETURNED TO ME THE NEXT DAY. ALL CORRECTIONS ON TESTS SHOULD BE MADE IN RED PEN BEFORE RETURNING.
FALL MAP SCORES WERE SENT HOME LAST WEEK ALONG WITH THE RESULTS FROM LAST SPRING’S IAR TESTS. SHOULD YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT THIS DATA, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT US. CERTAINLY, WE CAN DISCUSS THINGS IN GREATER DETAIL AT CONFERENCE TIME. AS MENTIONED PREVIOUSLY, RESULTS OF THESE FALL TESTS ARE USED TO ASSESS LEARNING LEVELS AS WELL AS TO GUIDE INSTRUCTION.
THAT'S IT FOR NOW. ENJOY THE REST OF THIS WEEKEND!
MS LAYTON AND MS JONES
READING
IN READING WORKSHOP WE HAVE BEEN FOCUSING ON CHARACTERS AND CHARACTER TRAITS. WE ARE LEARNING STRATEGIES THAT HELP US STEP INSIDE THE CHARACTER’S WORLD. WE ARE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO A CHARACTER’S WORDS AND ACTIONS AS WE GROW THEORIES AND GATHER EVIDENCE ABOUT WHY A CHARACTER IS ACTING A CERTAIN WAY. WE ARE LEARNING THAT CHARACTERS ARE COMPLEX AND CAN RESPOND DIFFERENTLY IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS. AS READERS WE ARE WORKING TO CONFIRM AND REVISE THEORIES, AS WELL AS UNDERSTAND THAT A CHARACTER CAN CHANGE. ULTIMATELY, WE HOPE TO SEE CHARACTERS AND THEIR STORIES AS EXPERIENCES TO LEARN FROM.
WE'VE ALSO READ SOME NONFICTION CURRENT EVENT STORIES WITH NEWSELA. DURING W.I.N. TIME (WHAT I NEED TIME) WE’LL BE USING SCHOLASTIC STORYWORKS TO HELP US WORK ON USING TEXT EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT RESPONSES.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE CONTINUE TO WORK AND DEVELOP OUR NARRATIVE PIECES. WE WILL BE WORKING WITH WRITING PARTNERS TO ASSESS, EVALUATE AND REVISE THAT PIECE AS WE FOCUS ON DIFFERENT WRITING STRATEGIES. THIS COMING WEEK, FOR INSTANCE, WE ARE GOING TO TARGET HOW OUR STORY BEGINS. WE WILL LOOK AT SOME DIFFERENT WAYS TO WRITE A GOOD LEAD OR “HOOK”. PERHAPS A QUESTION OR SOME HYPERBOLE FOR INSTANCE. OUR GOAL IS TO GET THE READER INTERESTED IN THOSE FIRST FEW SENTENCES.
IN HONOR OF OCTOBER WE MAY ALSO TRY TO SQUEEZE IN A LITTLE HALLOWEEN RELATED WRITING. HOPEFULLY, WE WILL GET THE CHANCE TO WORK ON SOME MOTHER GHOST RHYMES. TO BE MORE SPECIFIC, WE WILL TAKE A LOOK AT SOME OF THOSE CLASSIC MOTHER GOOSE RHYMES AND FIGURE OUT SOME WAYS TO PUT A SPOOKY SPIN ON THEM. FOR INSTANCE, INSTEAD OF BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP, HOW ABOUT BAA BAA BLACK BAT!?!? CERTAINLY THIS ASSIGNMENT WILL CHALLENGE US CREATIVELY, BUT WE THINK WE'RE UP FOR THAT CHALLENGE. WE MAY ALSO TRY OUR HAND AT A REWRITE OF "THE ITSY BITSY SPIDER", USING DIFFERENT SYNONYMS.
WE'RE ALSO CONTINUING WITH OUR DAILY EDITS AND HAVE ALSO WORKED MORE ON SENTENCES. WE DISCUSSED SIMPLE SENTENCES AND COMPOUND SENTENCES. THIS COMING WEEK, WE MAY EVEN LEARN THE CONJUNCTION SONG!
MATH
ALL MATH CLASSES ARE WORKING IN CHAPTER 2. THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES ON ADDITION AND SUBTRACTION. WE DISCUSSED THREE DIFFERENT ADDITION PROPERTIES: THE COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY, THE ASSOCIATIVE PROPERTY, AND THE IDENTITY PROPERTY. PLEASE BE SURE TO ASK US ABOUT THESE PROPERTIES. WE'LL WORK DILIGENTLY WITH SUBTRACTION ACROSS ZEROS AND PROBLEM SOLVING TOO! WRITING EQUATIONS WITH VARIABLES IS ADDRESSED IN THIS CHAPTER AS WELL, AND YOU CAN BE SURE WE WILL PRACTICE THAT, TOO.
WE'RE ALSO CONTINUING TO WORK ON THOSE BASIC FACTS WITH OUR XTRAMATH PROGRAM. IXL IS HELPING US STRENGTHEN OUR SKILLS, AS WELL.
SCIENCE/HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE FINISHED UP OUR UNIT ON COMMUNITY SAFETY THIS TUESDAY WITH A UNIT QUIZ. NEXT, WE WILL BEGIN THE GREAT BODY SHOP ISSUE CALLED “BUILDING ASSETS AND STAYING DRUG FREE.” IT WILL CERTAINLY GET US ALL READY FOR RED RIBBON WEEK LATER IN OCTOBER.
WITH OUR SECOND STEP CURRICULUM WE HAVE SOME GREAT DISCUSSIONS ABOUT LISTENING AND JUST HOW TO BE AN ACTIVELY ENGAGED LISTENER. WE'VE ALSO TALKED ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING ASSERTIVE. WE HAVE DISCUSSED BODY LANGUAGE AND THE NEED TO BE RESPECTFUL OF OUR DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES. IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS, WE HOPE TO BEGIN SOME CLASSROOM MEETINGS. OUR HOPE IS TO INVOLVE EVERYONE IN CONSTRUCTIVE DECISION MAKING IN OUR CLASSROOM. WITHOUT QUESTION, WE WANT TO BUILD A CLIMATE OF TRUST AND RESPECT.
SCIENCE WILL BEGIN IN A FEW WEEKS.
SOCIAL STUDIES
IN SOCIAL STUDIES WE ARE INVESTIGATING THE BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT. WE HAVE STARTED THIS UNIT BY LOOKING AT THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. WE HAVE DISCUSSED THE PRESIDENT, THE VICE PRESIDENT, AND THE CABINET MEMBERS. WE LEARNED ABOUT THE JOBS OF THE PRESIDENT AND EVEN TOOK A VIRTUAL FIELD TRIP TO THE WHITE HOUSE. IN THE NEXT WEEK WE WILL LOOK AT THE LEGISLATIVE AND JUDICIAL BRANCHES OF OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. WE WILL TALK ABOUT BILLS AND LAWS AND THE SUPREME COURT.
A FINAL PROJECT WILL BE TO MAKE A BRANCHES OF GOVERNMENT “TREE”. STUDENTS WILL TYPE A PARAGRAPH ABOUT EACH OF THE THREE BRANCHES, AND WE WILL THEN PUT THOSE PARAGRAPHS ON A POSTERBOARD TREE. WITH LUCK, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO SEE OUR FINISHED PRODUCT AT CONFERENCE TIME.
SEPTEMBER 15, 2019
GOODNESS. 14 DAYS OF SCHOOL ALREADY!?! WE ARE WELL UNDERWAY, AND IT IS DEFINITELY TIME TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON ALL OF OUR WORK AND ACTIVITIES. WE REALLY HAVE BEEN BUSY IN THESE FIRST THREE WEEKS OF SCHOOL.
FIRST OF ALL, we NEED TO SAY HOW GREAT IT WAS TO MEET SO MANY OF YOU AT PARENTS' NIGHT. WITH LUCK, YOU WERE ABLE TO GET A PICTURE OF 4TH GRADE AND SEE A FEW OF THE THINGS IN STORE FOR US THIS YEAR. we WOULD LIKE TO SAY AGAIN, SHOULD YOU EVER HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT us. LET'S KEEP THOSE LINES OF COMMUNICATION OPEN SO WE CAN ENSURE A PRODUCTIVE AND SUCCESSFUL YEAR FOR EVERYONE.
IT WAS FUN TO SEE SO MANY STUDENTS AND FAMILIES AT THE BACK-TO-
SCHOOL PICNIC, too. THE RAIN HELD OFF AND THERE WAS PLENTY OF OPPORTUNITY TO EAT, DANCE, AND CHAT.
ALL STUDENTS HAVE NOW COMPLETED THEIR FALL MAP TESTING. THE MAP TESTING WAS GIVEN IN BOTH READING AND MATH. THESE TEST RESULTS WILL HELP GUIDE INSTRUCTION AND DEVELOP APPROPRIATE LESSONS FOR EACH AND EVERY STUDENT.
DONUTS WITH DAD IS coming up on Wednesday, September 25th, FROM 8:00-8:35 AM. we HOPE TO SEE MANY DADS IN ATTENDANCE. AFTER ALL, CAN YOU THINK OF A BETTER WAY TO START THE DAY??
This coming week is SAFETY WEEK. WE’ll HAve A TORNADO/DISASTER DRILL, A LOCKDOWN DRILL, a fire drill, AND EVEN A BUS EVACUATION DRILL. CERTAINLY, PRACTICING FOR POSSIBLE EMERGENCIES IS IMPORTANT, AND WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE ALL STUDENTS KNOW JUST WHAT TO DO FOR ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT SITUATIONS.
FINALLY, IF YOU HAVE NOT YET SIGNED UP FOR A FALL PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE, PLEASE BE SURE TO DO SO. CONFERENCES ARE SCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 22nd, 24TH, AND 29TH.
THAT'S IT FOR NOW. HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK.
GO CUBS!
Ms Layton and Ms JONES
READING
We are HAPPY TO REPORT THAT OUR READING WORKSHOP IS GOING QUITE WELL. ALL READERS ARE WORKING ON READING INTENSELY AND WE're WORKING TOO, ON JOTTING SOME OF OUR THOUGHTS AS WE READ. (IT'S A GREAT WAY TO FEEL LIKE WE'RE IN THE BOOK!) ONE SKILL WE'RE GOING TO WORK MORE ON THIS COMING WEEK IS SUMMARIZING AND SYNTHESIZING. WE'LL ALSO BEGIN TO LOOK MORE AT CHARACTERS.
We WILL SAY TOO, THAT WE'RE SINCERELY ENJOYING "THE TIGER RISING" READ ALOUD. WE'VE HAD MANY "AH HA" MOMENTS AND SOME VERY THOUGHTFUL DISCUSSIONS.
LANGUAGE ARTS
WE Have launched our units of study writing program. We have been doing a lot of brainstorming to generate some ideas for some “small moment” stories. This past week for instance, we thought about a person that is important to us and wrote about a time spent with that special person. we will work to develop some of these stories further as we investigate the important components of a good narrative.
WE'VE ALSO BEEN BUSY WORKING ON SOME EVERY DAY EDITS. IN THESE SHORT LITTLE PARAGRAPHS, WE WORK TO FIND CAPITALIZATION, PUNCTUATION, AND SPELLING ERRORS. We’ve even found some homophones. IT'S DEFINITELY GOOD PRACTICE.
THIS COMING WEEK WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE PREFIX DE. WE'LL ALSO CONTINUE OUR SKILL WORK ON SENTENCES--LOOKING SPECIFICALLY AT THE SUBJECT AND PREDICATE OF A SENTENCE.
FINALLY, WE will work on OUR KEYBOARDING SKILLS WITH THE PROGRAM TYPING CLUB. Hopefully, we’ll discover THE IMPORTANCE OF PROPER FINGER PLACEMENT. ULTIMATELY, WE WANT TO ELIMINATE THAT TWO FINGER HUNT AND PECK METHOD AND BECOME MORE ADEPT AND COMFORTABLE TYPING ON OUR COMPUTERS.
MATH
WE WILL BEGIN WORKING IN OUR DIFFERENT MATH CLASSES THIS WEEK. ALL CLASSES HAVE ALREADY STARTED WORK IN CHAPTER ONE OF OUR MY MATH BOOK. THIS CHAPTER FOCUSES ON PLACE VALUE, NUMBER ORDER AND COMPARISON, ROUNDING, AND THE 4 STEP PROBLEM SOLVING MODEL. ALL CLASSES WILL ALSO WORK ON OUR FACT FLUENCY WITH XTRAMATH. STUDENTS WILL START WITH EITHER ADDITION, SUBTRACTION, OR MULTIPLICATION FACTS. we WOULD ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO CONTINUE PRACTICING.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH WE ARE TALKING ABOUT COMMUNITY SAFETY. WE STARTED OUR HEALTH ISSUE BY IDENTIFYING THE MANY PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR SAFETY. WE WILL ALSO DISCUSS CONFLICT AND THE CONFLICT RESOLUTION STEPS. WE'LL TALK ABOUT HOW IMPORTANT negotiation and COMPROMISE are IN ANY TYPE OF COMMUNITY!
SECOND STEP IS OUR CURRICULUM TO HELP ALL STUDENTS STRENGTHEN THEIR SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL LEARNING. WE BEGAN OUR FIRST LESSON BY FIRST TALKING ABOUT empathy. We even listened to a catchy tune about putting ourselves in others’ shoes! WE'LL now talk more about the importance of LISTENing ATTENTIVELY.
SOCIAL STUDIES
WE BEGAN CHAPTER 1 AND AFTER LOOKING AT RELATIVE LOCATION, WE INVESTIGATED LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE AND ABSOLUTE LOCATION. THIS past WEEK WE looked AT some of the LANDFORMS found in THE UNITED STATES. we found THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS IN THE EAST, THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS in the west, AND even talked about some other landforms like plains, plateaus, canyons, and piedmonts.
later we PULLED OUT SOME RELIEF MAPS TO INVESTIGATE DIFFERENT ELEVATIONs ACROSS OUR COUNTRY. Now, after this short introductory unit, we’ll begin to look at Government. we will focus on the three branches of government: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch.
SCIENCE
SCIENCE HAS NOT YET BEGUN. WE ARE DOING AN ALTERNATING SCHEDULE WITH SOCIAL STUDIES, AND THAT WILL BE OUR FOCUS FOR THE FIRST MONTH OR SO. WE'LL KEEP YOU POSTED AND CERTAINLY LET YOU KNOW WHEN WE begin OUR FIRST SCIENCE UNIT.
September 1, 2019
WELCOME BACK
AND WELCOME TO THE FIRST NEWSLETTER OF THE YEAR!
Co-captains Jones and Layton are happy to report that we’ve had a successful take off and all of our 4th grade crew is beginning to settle in for our learning journey! Without question, seeing those smiling and enthusiastic faces last Monday, was very uplifting and made our hearts simply soar! We are quite confident our 4th grade adventures will reach new heights!
AS You KNOW, THIS COMING thursday EVENING IS CURRICULUM NIGHT. HOPEFULLY YOU ALL HAVE IT ON YOUR CALENDARS AND ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND. IT WILL BE THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY TO NOT ONLY MEET YOU, BUT SHARE LOTS OF IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE YEAR AHEAD. THE 4TH GRADE PRESENTATION WILL BE FROM 7:40- 8:00 PM here in room 132. OF COURSE, IF YOU HAVE ANY SPECIFIC QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS IN THE MEAN TIME, PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO CONTACT us.
On Thursday and Friday this week, STUDENTS WILL BE TAKING their FIRST ROUND OF MAP TESTS. 4TH GRADERS WILL BE TAKING BOTH THE READING AND MATH MAP TESTS. THE RESULTS OF THESE TWO TESTS WILL BE USED AS A diagnostic BENCHMARK FOR OUR YEAR. SCORES WILL GUIDE INSTRUCTION AND HELP us DETERMINE WHAT EACH AND EVERY STUDENT KNOWS AND IS READY TO LEARN NEXT. PLEASE BE SURE CHROMEBOOKS COME TO SCHOOL FULLY CHARGED AND READY TO GO.
Information was sent home regarding grade level Falcon t-shirts. If you could return those order forms, along with $5.00, we would greatly appreciate it. After all, it’s a great way to show school spirit!
finally, the franklin back-to-School picnic is this Friday, September 6th from 5-7 pm. We sure hope you’re able to be there!
THAT'S IT FOR NOW! Enjoy the rest of this
Holiday weekend!.
GO CUBS!
Ms. JONES and Ms. Layton
READING
WE’VE LAUNCHED OUR READER’S WORKSHOP, AND we are beginning TO ESTABLISH SOME READING ROUTINES. IN THE FIRST COUPLE OF LESSONS, WE’ll be WORKING ON READING INTENSELY. We’ll do OUR BEST TO FIND BOOKS WE WANT TO READ AND READ LIKE WE’RE IN THE BOOK. WE’ll be PRACTICING THESE STRATEGIES WITH OUR INDEPENDENT BOOK CHOICES AND with our READ ALOUD NOVEL, THE TIGER RISING, BY KATE DICAMILLO. WE’LL WORK more TO MAKE JUST RIGHT BOOK CHOICES—BOOKS WE CAN READ FLUENTLY, too.
LANGUAGE ARTS
AFTER WRITING an “All about Me” paper, WE launched our new Units of Study writing program. We are beginning by writing about “small Moments”. We discussed how writers often begin with small ideas. using the metaphor of a watermelon, we realized that it’s easier to simply begin our writing with small “Seeds” and moments. By starting small we can generate some great ideas and eventually work to develop some fantastic narratives.
THIS WEEK. we began our morning routine with SOME DAILY EDITS. These short paragraphs are loaded with mistakes and provide us with some editing practice. They help us review CAPITALIZATION AND PUNCTUATION, word choice, and standard grammar rules.
This coming week WE’LL HAVE OUR FIRST OFFICIAL VOCABULARY LESSON. We’ll look at the prefixes IN and IM.
MATH
THE FIRST CHAPTER IN 4TH GRADE MATH IS PLACE VALUE. AS WE WORK ON SOME OF THE LESSONS IN CHAPTER ONE, WE'LL INVESTIGATE STANDARD FORM, WORD FORM, AND EXPANDED FORM. WE’LL ALSO WORK TO COMPARE NUMBERS. This chapter will have us working on rounding, too. WE'LL EVEN PLAY SOME PLACE VALUE GAMES to reinforce some of these tricky concepts.
SOCIAL STUDIES
WHICH WAY FROM OMAHA? FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK. IN SOCIAL STUDIES THIS YEAR WE WILL BEGIN BY WORKING ON DIRECTIONS. WE’ll DISCUSS OUR GLOBAL LOCATION (NORTH OF THE EQUATOR AND WEST OF THE PRIME MERIDIAN.), WE will LOOK AT RELATIVE LOCATION AS WELL (PARK RIDGE IS WEST OF THE ATLANTIC OCEAN, FOR INSTANCE). IN THE COMING DAYS WE’LL TRY TO FIND OUR WAY TO VARIOUS CITIES AROUND THE U.S. WE WILL GET OUT our maps AND TRY TO FIND VARIOUS CITIES, STATES, COUNTRIES, BODIES OF WATER, AND ISLANDS AROUND THE WORLD. IT SHOULD BE A GOOD TIME GOING COAST TO COAST AND COUNTRY TO COUNTRY! BEFORE LONG, we WILL FOCUS ON LONGITUDE AND LATITUDE.
HEALTH/SECOND STEP
IN HEALTH, we began OUR FIRST UNIT ON COMMUNITY SAFETY. WE READ AND TALKed ABOUT THE MANY PEOPLE THAT CAN OFFER HELP TO A COMMUNITY. this week we will talk about conflicts thay may happen in a community and learn about the importance of compromise and negotiation. I'M CERTAINLY LOOKING FORWARD TO SOME LIVELY DISCUSSIONS.
OUR SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING PROGRAM, SECOND STEP, BEGINS BY TAKING AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT EMPATHY. WE’LL LEARN WHAT IT MEANS TO PUT YOURSELF IN SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES.
It’s also important to note, that Room 132 is Practicing some “Calm Classroom” Techniques each and every day. These short, 3 minute lessons, give us a chance to calm down, center ourselves, and reset our bodies and minds. They’re perfect for us right after lunch, but can be used any time of the day!