Wow, this month has flown by! We have been working a lot with fractions during math. We have learned about to compare fractions with like numerators and like denominators. We can draw fractions on a number line, with a bar model and using a circle model. This week, we will be covering mass, volume, line plots, and interpreting graphs. We will also be exploring 2-D shapes.
During Science, students applied what they’ve learned about magnets to design their own magnetic locks! Here’s something you can do to encourage your child’s curiosity at home: look for other products that use magnets! For example: * Do you have any bags, coin purses, or wallets that snap shut using magnets? * Do any of your drawers or cabinets stay closed using magnets? * Do you use magnets to hold things on your refrigerator?
To celebrate the Earth, we identified things that we know and want to know about the planet. Students were given time to investigate and then shared with each other what they learned. We will be watching Mystery Doug video to discover how old the Earth is!
We will be finishing up the American Revolution this week and will be moving on to the town of Upton! We will learn about the history, government, and economics in our community. We are looking forward to Friday's field trip!
The Week of 4/1
The students have been working VERY hard this week on the ELA MCAS during two days this week. In preparation, we have been practicing many skills! The parts of speech we've been working with are nouns, pronouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. We have also been working with contractions and possessions. One narrative piece of writing that we did was about our favorite thing to do. We got to type our writings and add photos as well! This week we have a fun lesson planned on Scratch (an upgrade from Scratch Jr.) with Mr. Tetreault. We will also be doing a fun Spanish writing with Dr. Maruszczak at the end of the week!
The Week of 3/25
During the past few weeks, we have been exploring fractions less than 1, equal to one, and greater than 1. For all fractions, we have learned that the numerator is the number of pieces that are shaded in and the denominator is how many pieces there are in each whole. We have been representing fractions using a drawing (either squares or circles) and a number line.
During Science, we have been learning about the force of magnetism. We got to spend time observing and discovering some of the basic properties of magnets! One fun thing you can do with your child is explore this printable chart featuring wonderful household uses for magnets. This reinforces this week’s learning and also models how engineers or inventors think.
We have been learning some test-taking strategies and also have been practicing our typing skills. We have been practicing using graphic organizers to plan out our writing as well as citing text evidence in our responses! We are practicing comparing and contrasting articles and writing explanatory pieces of writing.
During Social Studies we have been learning about the American Revolution and the events which lead up to it. We learned that the British were imposing taxes on the commonly used goods. The colonists revolted by throwing the tea into the harbor during the Boston Tea Party and the British punished the colonists by closing the harbor until they paid for all of the spoiled tea. This then lead to the battles at Lexington and Concord. The colonists used a different fighting tactic by hiding behind trees and were thus able to defeat the British.
The Week of 2/25
This week during Science we will complete a lesson that we started a few weeks ago to answer the mystery, "How can you slide faster down a slide?" The students will have the opportunity to explore with different materials to determine which one will be best to use to create a minimal amount of friction.
Our Wonders Essential Question this week is, "What choices are good for us?" We will also be finishing up with the exploration of myths, fables, folktales and legends.
We are continuing to discuss fractions this week. We will identify the difference between a numerator (the part we are counting/part shaded in) and the denominator (the total number of equal pieces that a shape is divided into).
During Social Studies, we are going to learn about the 8 following famous Patriots: Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Paul Revere, John Adams, John Hancock. Phillis Wheatley, Abigail Adams and Deborah Samson.
The Week of 2/11
We continued to focus on myths, legends, folktales and fables during reading time.
We started learning about fractions this week! We have identified that fractions are "parts of a whole." We learned the following denominators: halves (mitades), thirds (tercios), fourths (cuartos), sixths (sextos) and eighths (octavos).
During Social Studies, we have been reading about the events leading up to the American Revolution. So far we know what the British soldiers opened fire on the colonists during what is today called the Boston Massacre. We learned that the colonists revolted by dumping the tea in the harbor (but now the colonists have to pay for all of that wasted tea). We also talked about Paul Revere's famous ride to warn the community that, "The British are coming!" They should light one lantern if they come by land and two if they come by sea.
The Week of 2/4
This week’s lesson on forces is about the force of friction. Specifically we will consider friction in the context of solving the mystery, “How can you slide faster down a slide?” One fun thing you can do with your child to help support this week’s learning is to watch a video of this new invention, called “liquiglide.” This is a situation where removing friction would make your life easier. The grape jelly video is impressive: https://vimeo.com/89936192
Our reading last week and this week has been around myths, legends, and folktales. We will also be discussing fables next week. So far, we have learned that myths generally have Gods as characters and are intended to explain natural phenomena. Legends can be based on historical events but often are exaggerated.
During Math we will be taking and reviewing a test on division.
The Week of 1/28
This week our class will be learning all about new ideas. We will talk about the ideas we get from nature. Here are some activities you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we’ll be practicing. We even had the opportunity do so some reading with the fourth graders! Word Workout
Spelling/Phonics: prefixes pre-, dis-, mis- You will give your child the base word from the list (a word without a prefix). Your child has to add the correct prefix to the word and spell the word that is on the list.
During Math we are continuing with division and working on fact fluency for 0, 1 and 2 facts.
The Week of 1/14
This week our class will be focusing on leadership. We will talk about how one person’s thoughts or actions can make a difference for others. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we’ll be practicing.
Spelling/Phonics: r-controlled vowels You will help your child write the words from the list that have the same vowel sound heard in bark and in more. Then your child will underline the letters in each word that stand for the vowel sound.
During Social Studies we have been doing a review of all that we have learned so far (Wampanoags, Pilgrims, and Puritans).
We will continue our study of forces this week, this time by considering some of the forces involved in designing a bridge. As an activity your child will design and test their own bridge made of paper.
During Math we have been practicing drawing out models to represent division problems. The students are using the given factor as either the number of groups or the number in each group. For example, if the problem is 15 / 3 = ___, they will draw 3 groups and then put one dot in each group until they get to the total number. They then count how many dots are in each group to determine the answer. They could also use the number 3 as the number in each group. They will draw groups of three and count by three's until they get to 15, realizing that there are a total of 5 groups.
The Week of 1/7
This week our class will be focusing on the qualities that make animals unique. We will talk about what characteristics make animals different from each other. Here are some activities that you can do with your child to help reinforce the skills we’ll be practicing Word Workout
Spelling/Phonics: r-controlled vowels You will read the words to your child. Have your child identify the spelling of the /ur/ sound in each word (for example: ir, er, ur, and or).
This week in science we started our unit on forces, called “Invisible Forces.” Your child learned how almost any action one can imagine consists of a push or a pull, or as scientists call them: a force.
We began learning about division in Math this week. We started by using fact triangles to write 2 multiplication sentences and 3 division sentences. We talked about the concept that, with division, we always start with the biggest number.
The Week of 12/3
This week in Math we will be working on multiplying by 3, 7, and 8. and with the distributive property of multiplication. This property states that we can break numbers down into two smaller numbers in order to multiply. For example, instead of doing 7 x 4, we can break the 7 down into 2 + 5 and do (2 x 4) + (5 x 4) to find the product.
This week in Science, we will solve the Mystery, “How can you protect a house from blowing away in a windstorm?” Students will invent creative ways to protect their paper houses from the wind. You can encourage your child to make personal connections at home! Discuss any wind-related hazards that may happen near where you live: Are there any tornadoes, hurricanes, or dust storms? How do people prepare for them?
During our Wonders lessons, we will be focusing on how people figure things out. When we have to figure something out, what do we think of first? What do we do next? We will also be discussing similes and metaphors.
Word Workout
Spelling/Phonics: digraphs Help your child write the spelling words and additional words in columns labeled with the letters ch, tch, th, and sh.
The Week of 11/26
We began working on balancing equations during Math. We talked about how what is on one side of the equal sign MUST equate to what is on the other side. The students had to use addition, subtraction, and multiplication to find the missing value to balance the equation. For example: 3 x T = 6 therefore T = 2.
During our Wonders lessons, we focused on how people can help animals survive. The children learned about why some animals need to be protected and saved. We also worked on restating the questions while writing our answers. During Science, we began putting our written Scratch stories onto the app called Scratch Jr! Students worked together to write narrative stories and are now working to represent those stories through coding!
The Week of 11/19
We are spending this week learning more about the Pilgrims and Wampanoags and then are taking a position for a writing piece. We have four options: positive journal entry by Wampanoag about Pilgrims, negative journal entry by Wampanoag about Pilgrims, positive letter from Pilgrim to family in England encouraging them to come to the New World, negative letter from Pilgrim to family in England discouraging them from coming to the New World.
We are also diving into the perimeter this week. We have identified that the perimeter is the distance around a figure. We are also working on using the given side lengths find unknown side lengths prior to finding the perimeter. We will also be reviewing all of the first trimester math skills that we've covered: adding and subtracting three digit numbers, rounding to the nearest 10/100, solving two step word problems using addition and subtraction and mastery of 0, 1, 2, 5, 10 multiplication facts.
The Week of 11/12
The highlight of the week was when Mr. Tetreault came in and taught the kids how to do some coding on the iPads using Scratch Jr.! That was a blast. The students are working on creating narrative stories together that they will then get to represent through code on Scratch Jr. VERY exciting!
We also had some former SI students from the high school come in and teach a lesson about politics in Spain. It was very interesting and enlightening!
The Week of 11/5
Yet another fun and exciting week with the Veteran's Day concerts! This week we have been working on the mastery of 0, 1, 2, 5 and 10 multiplication facts as well as telling time. During Social Studies we got to watch a video that showed us what life was like during the early 1600's when the Wampanoags and Pilgrims were living here.
The Week of 10/29
What an exciting week it has been! We spent a week working on videos to show what "respect" looks like and our videos were showcased to ALL of the students in the school during our school-wide assembly on Thursday. We had so much fun celebrating Halloween and doing the STEM rotations. We also celebrated the Day of the Dead with the first grade Spanish Immersion class! We even had a Pilgrim come in and visit our class! She told us all about the trip on the Mayflower and about what life was like in the 1600s. All photos and videos from the week can be found in the Photos section under the Reminders/Resource tab!
The Week of 10/22
During Social Studies, we began reading about the Wampanoags. They are a Native American tribe who lived in Massachusetts before the colonists settled here. The Wampanoags had a great appreciation for the Earth and were very connected to it. During the spring and summer they lived by the sea and during the fall and winter in the forests.
During Math we have learned the strategies for multiplying by 2 and 4. To multiply by two, you have to double the number. To multiply by four, you have to double the number two times.
During reading, we worked to answer the essential question: Why is working together a good way to solve a problem? We discussed the importance of teamwork and cooperation. Students got to use their teamwork and cooperation skills to create a video demonstrating what respect looks like.
The Week of 10/15
This week was a review week during our Wonders lessons. We read a great fable about a girl names Juanita and an injured wolf. The fable's moral was: if you help others, they will help you.
During Social Studies, we have been learning about some European explorers who came to explore the New World when the Native Americans were living here. The explorers who we have learned about so far are: John Cabot (1497), Giovanni da Verrazono (1524) Bartholomew Gosnold (1602) and Samuel Champlain (1605).
During Math, we have mastered our three multiplication strategies: draw a picture, use a bar model, and use an array. The students are able to solve any multiplication problem using those three strategies. We are beginning with mastery of facts. This week we learned the rules for multiplying by 0 and 1. Any number times 0 is always 0. Any number times 1 is always itself.
During Science, we have been working on creating climate maps to identify the different climate zones around the world.
The Week of 10/8
This week our class will be focusing on how landmarks help tell the story of our nation’s history. We will read about and discuss some famous landmarks in the United States. - Spelling/Phonics: long o (spelled o, ow, o_e, oa, oe) You and your child will take turns spelling the words for this week. One person will read a word out loud, and the other will spell it
This week in science we will explore the mystery, “Why are some places always hot?” We will learn about the idea of ‘climate’--that in every place on earth, the weather tends to act a certain way over the year. Your child will how there are five basic climate zones: polar, temperate, mild, desert, and tropical. You can continue to support your child’s curiosity by talking about a friend or family member who lives in a different climate, and discussing how that climate affects their life. Or look for aspects of our local environment which show what kind of climate we live in.
This week in math we are starting to discuss multiplication! We will discuss the need to have EQUAL groups in order to multiply. We will work on problems with multiplying the number of groups by the number of items in each group to determine the total number of items. We will also do the opposite: the number of items in each group multiplied by the number of groups in order to determine to total.
We are discussing Deborah Samson in social studies as the state heroine of Massachusetts. She was not allowed to go to school nor join the army for being a woman. She disguised herself as a man and gave herself the name Robert Shirtliff in order to participate in the war.
The Week of 10/1
We watched a Mystery Doug video to answer the question, "Why do people from England sound different than people from America?" We took a test during math and worked on making corrections during the week. The test covered rounding to the nearest 10 and 100, adding and subtracting two digit numbers, balancing equations and solving word problems.
This week our class will be focusing on how problem solving can lead to new ideas and new products. We will be talking about people who came up with new inventions when investigating and trying to solve a problem.
The Week of 9/24
We have now mastered rounding to the nearest 10 and 100, balancing equations and adding/subtracting 3 digit numbers. Onto multiplication!
This week we read a story to answer the essential questions, "How do people from different cultures contribute to a community?" We read one story about Judy Baca, an artist from Los Angeles. The other story that we read was about a family who moved from the countryside into the city. Although it was a large adjustment, the family was able to teach their new community members about gardening and planting crops.
We finished the mystery, "How can we predict it is going to storm?" and you can continue to support your child’s curiosity by looking at clouds together and asking, “What kind of clouds do you think those are? I wonder if it will rain…” Ask your child if they’d like to show you their Storm Spotter’s Guide, a small book they made to help them remember how to use the clouds to predict the weather.
The Week of 9/17
This week we continued practicing rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. We are also learning different strategies to add numbers by breaking down the numbers and by changing the order in which we add them. We have been estimating the sum by rounding the numbers to the nearest 10/100 or by using compatible numbers (numbers that end in 0, 5 or 00) and then adding them together. When we solve for the actual answer, we can compare the actual answer to the estimation to make sure that we are getting the right answer.
During Science, we began the mystery, "How can we predict it is going to storm?" We learned about differences between fair weather clouds and storm clouds, and the role of wind direction in determining whether a rain cloud will pass overhead.
Our theme during reading this week was cultures and traditions. We spoke about what traditions are and shared some traditions that we practice. The students also completed a writing piece on what they want to be when they grow up. They came up with some creative responses!
The Week of 9/10
This week we read a few Spanish stories to answer the essential question, "What do stories teach us?" We practiced the week's vocabulary words using Quizlet Live. We also started using Think Bilingual, Lyriko and Lexia during reading/writing time. We wrote about what our super power would be if we could have one. Lastly, we started cursive!
During Math, we have been working with adding and subtracting three digit numbers and rounding to the nearest 10 and 100. We played Quizlet Live to review these vocabulary words as well! We also started practicing math facts on XtraMath! Lastly, we played a game called Number Bonds to practice adding numbers to 10!
In Science we explored the mystery, “Where do clouds come from?” We observed important clues, such as the fact that water changes from a liquid to a gas (even without boiling!). You can continue to support your child’s curiosity by pointing out water vapor whenever you see it rising off hot water in the kitchen or bath, or pointing out tiny droplets of water forming on a mirror, windows, or glasses. Engage their minds by asking, “Wow, why do you think this is happening?”
Back to School!
During the first few weeks of school we took some time getting to know each other, creating classroom rules, reviewing the school-wide rules: RISE (Respect, Safety, Safety, Empathy), starting Genius Hour, and learning the routines of reading and math groups! Off to a great start!