Translate

Monthly Newsletter

March 2016
I hope everyone had a relaxing February break. We are back at work in all of our subjects. In math we are adding and subtracting fractions, and will be focusing on fractions for the next few units. My fifth grade colleagues and I are always looking for ways to keep kids engaged in math , so we are trying a fun new idea. Every Friday for 30 minutes during math we have SUM Club (Students Understanding Math). This is a chance for kids to experience focused math instruction with a different teacher and in different groupings each week. The work done during SUM club is designed to help kids who need extra practice, as well as kids who need to explore beyond our core curriculum.
In ELA we celebrated African American History Month by reading the work of great poets like Eloise Greenfield and Langston Hughes. Students discussed themes and language and then worked on their own poems using the ones we shared as inspiration. Their work is very moving and genuine, and shows an understanding of the cruelty of segregation. As they work to revise and edit their poems I hope to share them on this blog. This month is Women's History Month so students will read a biography and create a "journal" sharing the life and contributions of a famous woman. The directions and rubric for this project, which is due March 31, are on the blog. 
In addition, this month we will begin to read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. This core book is always a favorite with students. In the book, 13-year-old Brian Robeson's plane crashes in the Canadian wilderness, beginning his harrowing survival experience. Survival is the central theme; students will explore the ways in which the human spirit survives, not only physically, but emotionally. There are sequels to this book, (The River, Brian's Winter, and Brian Returns) so I would encourage students to continue reading independently about Brian after we finish Hatchet.
ELA students did a great job writing informational pieces and presenting them to classmates. In this month's writing workshop we will focus on persuasive writing. We have already done some weekly essays in this genre, so I hope to use those pieces as a starting point for our instruction, building on what students can already do!
Social Studies classes are finishing the study of settlement and colonization of America, and will soon move on to the causes of the American Revolution- another favorite topic! As part of this work we will visit the Concord Museum in April. More information about that field trip will come home at the end of this month.
Members of the Student Council have been hard at work raising money and awareness! We had a very successful Yard Sale before February vacation and raised over 900 dollars for the World Wildlife Federation to help with efforts to save the Amur leopard from extinction. Thank you to parents who supported this cause with donations of items and money and time!
Fifth grade students are also hard at work being tutors to younger students in many grades and subject areas. We are very proud of these responsible volunteers who give their time to help others!
Finally, all fifth graders will have an opportunity to run our very popular Fox Hill Post Office. Thanks to Mrs. Jaffe's facilitation, this annual activity supports our writing goals as well as our strong Fox Hill community spirit. There are writing supplies and a mailbox in the lobby for parents who want to write to their children. If you are at Fox Hill in the next few weeks feel free to write a letter and participate in this fun activity!




February 2016
58 degrees!! in February!! Where are our snow days?  The weather is certainly up to its unpredictable tricks, and as I look at my students wearing shorts and T-shirts, I know that our New England weather may yet give us a dose of winter!

Inside, however our work remains focused and on target!  February is African American History Month, and we will be exploring and reflecting on the contributions of African Americans throughout the month. We begin with a poem written by an African American poet each day in our ELA class. The first poem is “On Liberty and Slavery” by George Moses Horton, born a slave on a tobacco farm in North Carolina. As students identify themes in these many diverse poems I am hoping they will see the unique voice each poet brings to his or her experience as a person of color in America.  Our Social Studies classes will also read articles and look at primary source documents that reveal the history of African Americans in colonial times and the Revolutionary War.  

Students are passionate about so many issues. They did a great job researching topics for their informational pieces in my ELA class.  We have learned about chocolate, leopards, different dog breeds, WWII, electricity, and the water cycle thanks to our class of writers. They used various formats to communicate information, including posters and digital books.  Next, we will look at writing as a way to persuade.  Of course, careful research and note taking are essential parts of this work, so we continue to hone those skills.   I am also hoping to have students contribute more guest posts to this blog. The more authentic writing kids can do the more invested they are in the process.  This, of course, makes the writing more purposeful and engaging!

In Math we have finished Topic 7 which was division of decimals.  We are onto fractions next after some pretesting to assess what students know and what they need.  One thing I noticed while we were working with decimals was that many students seem to lack experience with money.  In these days of gift cards and online shopping, children don’t always know what coins are worth, or how many nickels are in a dollar, (or even what a nickel is).  When was the last time you used coins?!  It may be helpful for kids to break open their piggy banks and count the coins, or help you go through your pockets and sofa cushions and roll those coins!

I am very proud of our fifth grade for stepping up to the many responsibilities they have.  We have noticed better behavior lining up in the morning, and afternoon, as well as at lunch. Many have volunteered to be tutors, and still others are committed to work on the Student Council’s Kindness Committee which is working to raise money to adopt an endangered animal.  You will be hearing more about that in days to come!

Happy February!



January 2016


Happy New Year!!

I hope you all enjoyed the break from school!  Now we are ready to jump into the new year, and some new learning, but first I'd like to mention the wonderful the winter concert performance.  I was moved to hear the amazing voices of our chorus, and delighted by all the wonderful songs and spirit they conveyed.  I know parents and the rest of the Fox Hill family thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  I can't wait for the spring concert!
December also had us working on explorer projects which are just about ready to be shared in Social Studies classes.  This week students are using the rubric to evaluate their own work, and make any revisions they see.  I am proud of how hard all my students have worked on these projects and I am excited to see the finished product!  As we move forward in Social Studies we will be looking at colonization as a result of European exploration. One of the unfortunate effects was the displacement and death of many Native Americans.  King Philip's War is one example of the conflict between Europeans and Native People, so we will be watching an American Experience program called "We Shall Remain; After the Mayflower."

We continue writing informational pieces in ELA.  Students had many lessons and conferences to help guide them through the explorer piece, so now they are going to try an informational piece on their own.  We have many varied interests in our ELA class, from octopus to geothermal energy! I am looking forward to learning about all these topics from my fellow writers! My own piece is about Iceland and how it is has become such a popular vacation destination.
To support this work in our writing class, now that we have finished Number the Stars, we will spend some time reading about and researching our topics in reading class. We will hone our note taking skills, and turn notes into running text. Each writer will also decide what form his or her writing will take.
Our next novel will be Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and I expect to start that by the end of January.  In the meantime please continue to encourage as much outside reading as possible.  Since we discussed theme, plot structure, setting, characters, mood, figurative language, and foreshadowing, I have asked students to read their independent books with some of these elements in mind.  As they read they should be jotting thinking on a post it, so they can write informed and thoughtful weekly reflections in their Reader's Notebook.  This is a major component of our reading work, and it gives me a clearer idea about what, how often, and how deeply students are reading on their own.

In Math we are finishing Topic 6, multiplying decimals, with a test on Friday, January 8.  Topic 7 is about dividing decimals.  Please take a look at the Home School Connection sheet that will come home at the start of the unit.  This resource can help explain the concepts and skills being taught in this topic.

As you know our student council Kindness Committee got things rolling in December with two successful fundraisers.  They are at it again and have some wonderful ideas.  I have also been impressed by the number of children willing to give of themselves in other ways.  Our tutoring program will begin soon.  Student council members are working on a survey that will help place fifth grade tutors with younger kids who need a little help in their schoolwork.  Other student council members are working on a poster to help make our Recess Rules clear, and still others are working to organize a Fox Hill clean up crew. We are working together at Fox Hill!



December 2015
I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebration with family and friends! As we move into the next term there are several exciting things to come.
As we move forward in Social Studies we are learning about early settlements: Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth. We will learn about the cooperation and conflict between Native people and English settlers. One focus will be King Philip's War. In addition, students have done their research and are beginning to write their explorer books. To support this effort, each teacher continues to conduct ELA lessons on research, note taking, turning notes into text, citing sources, etc. Mr. Murphy is supporting our work with lessons on how to use the i pad for research and to enhance our presentations.  
We had a great opportunity to see a master teacher, Kelly Boswell, teach a model lesson to my ELA students. Ms. Boswell complimented our Fox Hill students who were very cooperative and engaged during her writing lesson. I was extremely proud of my class! This month in ELA in addition to informational reading I am planning to begin our third core book, Number the Stars. Students will participate in literature circles to discuss this great WWII story.
In Math we continue with long division and as problems become more complex I encourage students to use the problem solving template and strategies we practice every day. Reflex Math is a great resource to help students practice math facts. They should be using Reflex for 10-15 minutes per day.
That's just the beginning! Winter is almost upon us, and our winter concert is right around the corner, so watch the blog for updates!

November 2015

The clocks have been turned back, the leaves have been blown from the trees and Halloween decorations have been put away (though the treats linger).  It’s November, and as our days shorten and weather cools we are gearing up for new learning in room 13!

We have begun using google classroom, an app designed to facilitate a more organized work flow.  I have given some assignments this way, and students seem to like the technology.  I hope you will ask your child about this and look at the platform yourself to familiarize yourself with it.  Students have been taught the basics, and we are learning this together.  


We are continuing our social studies unit on exploration and will be studying how settlement and colonization affected the people and environment of the Americas.  Included in this unit is a small research project on an explorer.  Directions will be given in class and will also be on this blog.  The bulk of the work will be done in Social Studies and ELA classes, but some research at home may be necessary, so your support will be appreciated. Further information about this is coming soon.

In ELA we have been busy reading both fiction and nonfiction.  We have explored themes and have created a class theme board so we can answer the essential question: “What are the common themes we encounter in literature?”  


We continue this search as we begin reading Michael Dorris’ Morning Girl a fifth grade core book.  This great story of native people’s response to Columbus landing on a Caribbean Island also affords us the opportunity to study point of view as well as figurative language and theme.  Students are encouraged to find “just-right” books to read independently.  A significant part of balanced literacy is independent reading.  Students reflect and write about their reading in weekly letters to me. This ongoing assessment gives me a clearer picture of students’ understanding of text and a very enjoyable glimpse into their thinking!


Students have completed a personal narrative about their camp adventures at Bournedale and are busy writing stories, poems, and informational pieces in Writer’s Workshop.  Typically we have a brief grammar or writing craft lesson, and then students get to work! I have also asked students to be guest bloggers, and  I am excited for you to see their growth as writers.

We had a very successful vocabulary parade and I am encouraging students to use the words they learned last week as much as they can.  Our vocabulary workbook is a good resource, but nothing replaces reading and speaking as ways to grow one’s vocabulary.  As the end of the first term approaches we are also ready to begin our word auctions, so ask your son or daughter about Word of the Day if he or she is in my ELA class.

Math classes are multiplying!  Topic 3 has students using properties of multiplication and estimation to solve problems.  There will be a test on Friday this week and then we are on to topic 4: Division!  It is essential that students know multiplication facts automatically, so please continue encouraging them to use Reflex and help students know their facts!

If you haven't made an appointment for the December 3 Conference Day, please contact the teacher you would like to meet with. You can meet with more than one of us, and we can try to coordinate appointments if you let us know when you want to meet.

Thank you!



October 2015


 September was a busy and productive month.  Of course the highlight for all of us was the trip to Camp Bournedale.  Students participated in a variety of experiences designed to peak their curiosity, tap into their problem solving abilities and utilize their teamwork.  Thank you to all our wonderful parent chaperones.  We couldn't have this trip without you!  Students have been talking about Camp Bournedale, and are turning their experiences into wonderful pieces of writing. Our writer's workshop buzzes with ideas as students talk and write about Project Adventure, shark dissection, and the lobster boat trip in Plymoth Harbor.  As they learn to revise and edit  they are finding the "hot spots" in their narratives and are "exploding the moments"  with sensory details.  During English Language Arts class time we read Gossamer by Lois Lowry and discussed its themes and vocabulary.  We used this novel to explore reading strategies, that is, the "moves" readers make, such as making connections, visualizing, asking questions, inferring, and synthesizing.  Going forward as students read independently they are expected to recognize how these strategies deepen their understanding. They will begin writing weekly letters to me in their reader's notebook.  We will also begin reading nonfiction, and look at text structure to help us take notes and determine important ideas.  Our next core book is Morning Girl by Michael Dorris, which dovetails with our unit on exploration in America.
  
In Social Studies we have studied and compared pre Columbian civilizations and next will learn about European exploration in the Americas and the profound effects of this historical encounter on Native American peoples. As part of this unit students will research and write about an explorer.  This project will be worked on in school and at home, and directions will be available on the blog.  
In Math we are moving from place value of whole numbers to decimal place value and addition and subtraction of decimals. Of course, problem solving is always something we stress.  One way to help your child is to encourage him or her to spend 10-20 minutes several times a week on Reflex Math.  Automaticity of facts is essential to developing more complex math skills and strategies.  Starting this week I will be available to help students with math on Thursday mornings.  You can drop your child off at 8:00.  If I am absent, or unable to meet I will post a message on my blog.

Parent Volunteer Needed:  Each classroom contributes a basket to one of the PTO socials. There are two ways that this is usually done. One way is for the parent volunteer to send out a letter requesting a donation from each student- usually $3-$5 and then they take the money and purchase the items for the basket. We have had other parents choose a theme and ask students to bring in at item to contribute. The PTO will take care of emailing parents in charge and helping them choose a theme and can walk them through it if they’ve never done it before.  We will need a parent to coordinate this effort, so if you can help with this please let me know and I will forward your name to the PTO rep in charge of this effort.

Finally, thank you for taking the time to meet with me in September. I know back-to-school is a busy time.  It has been a good transition for students and I look forward to a terrific school year!  Please feel free to contact me anytime with questions or concerns.  

No comments: