Quick updates on each grade level... first up language arts/creativity... 5th grade has begun a unit on poetry. We learned about some famous poets and their lives. Then the kids began a refresher on figurative language (similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and more.) They also had to pick two poems this week and do some analysis (mood, rhyming pattern, language usage.) When we return from Thanksgiving break, we'll begin writing some poetry of our own. 4th grade language arts just wrapped up our second four-week session today. This last month, the students have been reading Bud, Not Buddy. They began working on projects related to the book in the last week. Their projects are due when we return to our time together on January 4. Check-in with your child and see what projects they have chosen to complete. 3rd grade language arts will begin again November 30 after Thanksgiving break. On that day, students will be presenting their book projects from our study of The Green Book. I'll be working with the kids in December to understand how literature circles work in my class and reading some short novels to practice. Please make sure your third grader has their book projects ready to bring to school on the 30th. And now what's up in math... 5th grade completed their first Math Olympiad contest this last week. The kids did a GREAT job! We are still working on graphing. Our test for this unit will be shortly after our return from Thanksgiving break. 4th grade has spent the last week learning about decimals and operations with decimals - helpful skills to have to deal with money in the future. As part of this unit, we'll also be looking at measurement and conversions of measurement. This group will also have a test over this unit shortly after we get back from break. 3rd grade math students have been practicing their measurement skills and using those skills to answer perimeter and area problems. We also spent this week exploring the connection between diameter of circles and their circumference. The pictures below are from their charting and measuring of cylinder surfaces to determine the formula for determining circumference. I love it when the kids can make discoveries like this! Just in case you need a suggestion or two for a learning gift for Christmas. Here are a few of the games that my students love to play with when they have a free moment. And the answer to last week's Math Olympiad practice problem is...
654-123 = 531
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Next week is the first Math Olympiad contest for 4th and 5th grade math students. Tuesday, November 17, the students will get five problems and 25 minutes to solve them. This is a national competition that we participate in each year. There are five competitions - one each month November through March. My goal with our participation is to work on our problem solving skills and perseverance since these problems are not easy. Our school district sponsors an end-of-year, team competition for students too. Fifth graders will be able to join me on May 4 to test their math smarts - and have some fun! Here is an example of the type of problems students must answer (stay tuned next week for the answer!) Juan uses the digits 1,2,3,4,5 and 6 to make two 3-digit numbers. Each digit is used once. The numbers are subtracted. What is the greatest possible difference? Fifth grade math students have begun a new unit on graphing, data collection, and measures of central tendency. The last couple of days they have been surveying classmates, collecting data, and creating dot plots. In the next couple of weeks we will move on from line graphs and bar graphs to analyzing and creating histograms, stem-and-leaf plots, pie graphs, and also looking at how graphs can be created that persuade people. Here are a couple of shots of the students both creating and analyzing our dot plots this week. Forgive me, but I just have to make this a week all about 5th grade because not only did we do interesting graphing work in math, but the kids in language arts/creativity were sharing their deserted places descriptive writing. The assignment was to expand a moment that might be in a story where you (as the author) would slow down and explain to the reader the setting of the story. They had to pick one of the deserted places from the YouTube video (I shared it last week but posted it again here.) It was so fun to combine some Halloween spookiness, a tad of creativity, and their awesome writing abilities. And to top it off, as each student shared their work, they gave each other "glows and grows" feedback. They were so insightful with their praise and suggestions, and the writers were so willing to listen to the feedback without embarrassment or taking offense. We talked about how good writers are able to take good editor's advice - and they all did just that. Read a couple examples below and watch the video. See if you can pick out the scene that these two students were writing about. It was an old, old castle that you almost couldn’t see, because the trees had wrapped around the building for decades. There was no paint on the house at all. It was made completely of wood and brick. I heard leaves crunching, and looked everywhere for the thing that was making the noise. I quickly realized that it was my own, terrified feet. I tried not to pay any attention to the sound of an owl hooting in the distance, but in these woods, I was aware of everything. All of a sudden the air became thick with the scent of wildflowers and fresh leaves. I stared, and stared at the windows, but the ancient wood’s color made them unusual. The sunlight let in by a few gaps in the trees was beating down on my back, and making me feel weak. I tried to look away from the mansion, but my eyes were glued like magnets. Suddenly I felt my legs moving. Before I knew it, I was right in front of the wooden door. My hands slid easily across the smooth wood, but there was something odd about it. I felt for the doorknob, but there wasn’t one. Instead there was a small piece of wood to slip out. I slipped it out. I tried to stop myself, but it was no use. I took a deep breath. opened the door, and walked inside.
Last week I shared all math updates so this week I'll share language arts/creativity updates. The only quick reminder is that Tuesday, November 17, is the first Math Olympiad of the year. Please try to make sure 4th and 5th grade students are not absent that day as they cannot make it up. Fifth grade language arts/creativity has been working on a couple of different learning opportunities. The students have been reading a mystery novel for literature circles - either The Westing Game or The Graveyard Book. Those literature circles were completed this week so they all know "whodunit" now. We'll begin a unit on poetry next week. We have also been working a brief creative writing project. In order to help the kids understand how to "explode the moment" and work on "showing not telling" in their writing, I showed them a YouTube video of the most beautiful abandoned places. The kids had to pick one and use their senses to write about setting. Their final work is due on Monday, and I can't wait to read their deserted descriptive writing. I do try to keep the schedule consistent for them and so that you know, here is how our weeks usually play out: Mondays - Work day to prep for literature circles Tuesdays - Greek & Latin root word work Wednesday - Literature Circles Thursdays - Creativity or Additional reading lessons or Mrs. Bean's choice Last week began another four-week session with fourth grade language arts/creative students. We began reading Bud, Not Buddy. We spent some time setting up the background of the story's timeframe. It takes place in the 30's during the depression. A big piece of the story is jazz music and Hoovervilles (shanty towns set up near large cities where people were forced to live during the Depression.) The video below is one that we watched showing pictures from this time. We'll be doing projects related to this book on Thursdays beginning next week. This group follows the same schedule as 5th grade (see above,) and we have just begun also looking at the roots of English through Greek/Latin word work. I'll continue with this group and this book until Thanksgiving break when we will take time off until after Christmas. While third grade language arts/creativity kids are not currently working with me in class, I did send them with a project based on The Green Book that hopefully they are all working on in the evenings though. Their project is due on November 30 when we come back together. Below is a copy of their menu of options. They only need to complete one choice, but can do two if they choose (NO more than 2 though - this shouldn't become stressful, extra work but is hopefully fun.) We'll then meet for the month of December ending another four-week session before Christmas break. Happy Halloween - well almost! Here are some quick math updates for Knowledge Peak students... Third grade math has begun our unit on measurement. This week we have been making sure our measurement skills are secure to the 1/4 of an inch and to 1/2 of a centimeter. the students also looked at conversions of unit from bigger to smaller in both the metric and the U.S. systems of measurement. We'll be exploring perimeter, area, and circumference in the next couple of weeks with more application and problem solving involved. Fourth grade math students took some time last week to create some Halloween math. They had to think creatively to make a geometric math monster and label the elements of geometry. To add an extra element of fun, students were asked to imagine that the monster had invaded our school and create "wanted" posters, including rewards, names and descriptions if they wanted. Below are some examples of their creations. Otherwise in math, we have been working on our unit covering multiplication and division concepts and some basic algebra understanding. We have been working on understanding order of operations, inequalities, factors & multiples, and prime & composite. We'll continue that work through next week. Fifth grade has begun the Stock Market Game. We have spent a week learning about what the stock market is, how to research a stock, and how to make a trade within the website for our "game." Students are paired up with another 5th grader. Trading officially begins today and will continue until April 15. Here are the rules of the game:
I have finished up students' ALP's. They will be coming your way in Friday Folders either this week or next (5th grade should receive them this week & everyone else next week.) Within the stapled packet look for:
I don't have much to report on what went on in my classroom this week because I was only there on Wednesday. It was a less than ideal week from that standpoint, but they were in great hands with Mrs. Beck as the sub all week. On Monday, the math kids all worked in their TenMarks accounts. This is an online practice tool that is good for math review and practice. The environment is formatted similar to PARCC testing. It has not only multiple choice but fill-in the blank, drag and drop, number lines, true/false, and more. TenMarks is completely free and lessons are tied directly to the math standards. I like it because I make the assignments for kids to work on so I am able to tailor it to what we are working on in class. If the students get less than 75% of the questions correct, I can also reassign so they get more practice. There are videos and hints that can help kids too. The kids like it a little more than other online learning programs because for every assignment they complete, they earn points which they can spend in the "store" for games. If you would like to check it out, ask your child for their login (or email me and I will provide it.) The program is district approved and has no personal information about the kids except their first name and last initial. It randomly generates a username and password for them. If you want to see what the 3rd grade looks like, login as me and feel free to click on an assignment and try it out (they are actually rather hard!): User Name: traceb42621 Password: bus340jar This week I was gone because I was at the Colorado Gifted Conference on Monday and Tuesday. I had a chance to attend some great sessions. One of those was parenting advice that I thought I would pass on to you. Lisa Van Gemert (GT teacher/administrator) and Dr. Dan Peters (psychologist) shared "The Delicate Balance of Boundaries with the Gifted." They shared the challenges of setting rules in a house with GT kids, and then suggested using the metaphor of fences to negotiate rules with your child/children. First the challenges (stereotypically):
Van Gemert and Dr. Peters suggest sitting down to talk to your GT child/children to make sure that they know that the rules in your house are based on what your family values. GT kids also love to learn something new all the time so you could even share with them information about their brain: that their pre-frontal cortex is still developing and that is the part of the brain that can look ahead and see consequences. Therefore, tell them they will need to outsource some of their decision making - to you, of course! - until their brains are done growing. :) Then sit down and talk fence rules (you should actually share the metaphors and refer to them later as you have to set new rules or adjust old ones): Prison Fences - These are the rules that children CANNOT ARGUE with. These are the rules that affect life and safety. DON'T set a lot of these rules. For example, no friends at the house when an adult isn't home. Privacy Fences - These are rules dealing with technology in your house (texting rules, etc.) Example of this might be determining appropriate social media they can use and mom/dad having access to all passwords. Chainlink Fences - General rules of your house that can have exceptions within reason. This fence "gives" slightly when you lean on it - small things can get through occasionally. That way you won't look like a "liar" when you change the rule. Screen time might be a chainlink discussion - set a reasonable time for school days but adjust on weekends or if students have a project on the computer. This is where you can allow your GT kid's negotiation skills to play out. Ranch Fence - These rules allow you to build a relationship with your child and nothing critical is at stake if these rules get broken. Yet these rules allow life to flow. (Think expansive, wooden fences that keep the cows in, but might need occasional repair and upkeep.) Examples of these might be how you establish chores getting done in your house. Van Gemert and Peter suggest that by having your child join in the conversation with rule setting, they can feel like they have some control, and they begin to gain the independence that they value. And I would add this makes it so that when they fail (and they will!) they will still be within the safe boundaries of those combined fences to pick up and try again. Quick note on conferences... If you did not get a chance to meet with me, I am still happy to set up a time for us to chat. I can also email thoughts about your child's progress in my class. Let me know if you are curious. I am headed out of town this afternoon for the rest of the week/weekend (my grandmother died last weekend - not unexpected, but still sad.) Then I am out of the building on Monday and Tuesday for the Colorado Gifted conference and gone on Thursday for a Math Textbook Adoption meeting all day. So if you would like to meet, please let me know a day before school after October 27 that might work for you. Let me provide a quick update on where each class is in terms of our curriculum plan for the year: 5th grade Math - We are just finishing up our unit on decimals (mostly on addition, subtracting, multiplying and dividing decimals.) Our test will probably be on Thursday of next week. We'll then learn about the Stock Market for about a week so we can begin the Stock Market game which will be ongoing for the rest of the year. 4th grade Math - We just took a test on our review unit for place value, addition, subtraction, and data collection. Our next unit is a quick one to review the basics of multiplication and division, as well as order of operations and solving inequalities. 3rd grade Math - This group will take their test over the review unit on place value, addition, and subtraction on Tuesday. Our next unit will be looking at measurement (linear, perimeter, area, etc.) 5th grade Language Arts/Creativity - We are continuing our work on Greek & Latin roots for the year. The kids are also reading mystery novels for literature circles. I thought that seemed fun for the Halloween season! 4th grade Language Arts/Creativity - They will be returning to their time with me on October 26. 3rd grade Language Arts/Creativity - Students will be spending one more week with me where we will be finishing our reading of The Green Book. We'll read and discuss to close our time together until we meet again on November 30. I try to make math learning more fun than just dry, boring worksheets of problems all the time. There is a time and place for that in math to simply practice, but in both 4th and 5th grade math lately I have used a sharing strategy called graffiti wall. I just wanted to show you a few examples of their creativity when reconstructing a problem that has lots of different answers. Also this week, 4th grade math students got to have some fun with data collection (and then mean, median, and mode based on that data collection.) They tried to stack a pile of Smarties as tall as they could. After six attempts, they recorded their tries and got to work tabulating the math. Why not have do math and eat it too? (More pictures on the photos page.) This week on Tuesday, I met with all 3rd - 5th grade GT students to discuss and set their affective goals which will appear on their ALP (Advanced Learning Plan) for the year. We talked about how affective goals relate to being a better student and/or being a better you. It is a Colorado state requirement that all GT students have not only academic goals but also a social-emotional goal. It is a requirement I am happy to fulfill because at Werner we are always concerned with the whole child and their growth in ALL aspects of their lives. Here is a quick explanation for each grade-level's focus this year. Lessons and discussions in homeroom, with the counselor, and with me will be going on all year to support these goals. Expect to see your child's checklist and personal goal in the coming months as I communicate their ALP. (Each of the thumbnails will link you to the complete blank document.) Fifth Grade - Healthy risk taking is the 5th grade goal for the year. We talked on Tuesday about four types of risk: intellectual, social, emotional, and physical. Students worked with me to brainstorm healthy risks that they could take at school during this school year. They also completed a quick survey about their attitudes towards risk taking. Students have to pick two (one for each semester) that they are willing to take. Risks range from trying the spelling bee, speaking in front of the class, running for Wildcat leader, and many more. Students will reflect at the end of each semester on their activity. The focus is not on being 100% successful but instead focus on being willing to try something new. Attached here you will find the survey and the brainstorming sheet we used to guide our goal setting this week. Fourth Grade - The fourth grade goal is related to organization and study skills. Since this is the first year the kids get a planner, this seemed like a logical year to spend discussing how that can help students be better learners. Categories on the checklist for organization/study skills are time management, study skills, managing materials, homework, and using their planner. Students could choose any one of these 5 categories to write their specific goal after they reflected on their own greatest area of need. Cleaning out backpacks and desks seemed to be a popular need - and maybe you parents agree! Fourth graders will be hearing about these topics all year as our Werner staff works to reinforce good study habits. Students will reflect again at the end of the year on the checklist and answer questions that ask them to think about how their work in this area might continue to help them in the future. Below is the blank form the students completed this week. Third Grade - The third graders' goals relate to peer relationships. The overall categories within peer relationships are large group interactions, small group interactions, conflict resolution, and communication. Students completed a checklist to self-evaluate as a pre-assessment on Tuesday. They then took a look at an area they marked as a 1 or 2 and set their personal goal on that specific area. In addition, students had to brainstorm what they might need to help them be successful. Ideas ranged from help from Mrs. Flemister (our counselor) to more patience to suggestions from a teacher about new strategies. We will complete the checklist at the end of the year again and students will reflect on their progress with a form I will provide them. See the form below for the checklist example. How in the world is it October already? While I am ready for cooler weather (a tiny classroom with no outside windows and 20+ kids in it – well you can see why!) I am not quite ready for it to get too cold yet. With October now, it is time for conferences. If you desire a conference with me, please just zip me an email. I am happy to try and join your conference with homeroom teachers if the timing works or set up one of our own. Email me at [email protected] if you would like to plan a fall conference. Now here is a quick update on the happenings in Knowledge Peak this last week of September/beginning of October… All three math classes have recently completed their first math test on Unit 1 in my class. All of the students got their tests back early this week. And with the return of those tests comes time to own their learning. I give students two options: I am happy with my learning and my grade OR I want to fix my thinking and in turn fix my grade. If students are willing to take the time to fix ALL the problems they missed and analyze their mistakes, I give them back half the points they missed. In my class and in elementary school, I think it is important that the focus be on learning concepts to mastery as much as possible and yet also learning about yourself and learning how to reflect on how you learn. I applaud mistakes when students take the time to fix their mistakes. I like to reward students for the effort and energy that comes with that work. With that in mind, you may have seen your child with a yellow (3rd grade,) green (4th grade,) or blue (5th grade) copy of the “fix-it” sheet (also see copy below and click on the image for a larger version.) They have a week to re-solve the problems they missed, tell me why they think they missed it, and turn in their test again with this sheet in order to be graded again. Watch Friday Folders this week and next to see how your child did on their test. Third and fourth grade language arts are on a four-week rotation so this was my first week to work with the students in GT 3rd grade language arts. We are going to be looking at how the theme of change plays into literature. Our study will especially focus on reading a book called The Green Book, a story where a group of people has to leave Earth to inhabit a new planet (so you can imagine how change is important in that story!) One of our activities was to think about how our lives include constant change. The kids took some time to brainstorm things that change and then categorize those changes. Below are some pictures of the work they did trying to determine how to group different types of change. After our vocab work this week too, we are ready to start reading the book next week. (See more pictures on the photo page of the website.) All of my math classes are looking ahead to units on basic algorithms necessary to master at each grade level. Third grade and fourth grade are reviewing addition and subtraction concepts. Fifth grade is reviewing multiplication and division. I know sometimes parents are driven crazy with the “strange” algorithms we allow kids to use in elementary school (lattice, partial sums, partial products, column subtraction to name a few.) Many times these alternative algorithms are explored because they lead students to a conceptual understanding of why the math works instead of just memorizing steps for an algorithm. Most of these non-standard ways of teaching involve students using their knowledge of place value and composing/decomposing numbers to solve. Those are skills we want them to have in math. However, ultimately the standard algorithm does win when it comes to being efficient for most students so kids do have to learn those too. In last week's blog, I shared a video link that explains some of this through showing the different multiplication methods. This week I just want to make sure parents know when they should expect students to be able to use the traditional/standard algorithm for each operation. Please keep in mind that because my 5th graders are completing 5th and 6th grade math standards, they need to master both multiplication and division this year. For many of the 5th graders this week, they have been struggling with mastering both of these before we move on to completing these operations with decimals too. Nonetheless, here is what our expectations are for mastery of traditional math operations: 4th grade – Standard algorithm for addition and subtraction (using regrouping) 5th grade – Standard algorithm for multiplication 6th grade – Standard algorithm for division Thank you so much to those of you who were able to attend GT Back-to-School night this last Tuesday. I love having the chance to try and convey my passion for working with your children. Anyone who was not able to make it, please email me and let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Below is the Power Point presentation and links to the couple of handouts that I provided. One handout shares with you what makes gifted students different from high achievers and also what makes both of those groups different from creative students. Sometimes this helps parents understand why their child qualified for my class. The other handout is a website permission form. (If you did not attend, there should have been a copy of this in your child's Friday Folder on lime green paper.) Third grade math has officially begun as of this week. Third grade language arts will begin next week. To kick off my time with third grade math students we spent some time going over expectations in Mrs. Bean's room, taking a test and pretest, creating our first entry in our math notebooks, and having some problem solving fun. That problem solving came in the form of "Saving Fred." It has become an annual event in my class for third graders to begin their time with me learning how to work cooperatively with a partner to save Fred, the gummy worm, who had a "terribly boating accident" where he lost his life preserver. Students must help Fred get his life preserver (gummy life saver!) around his little body - without touching it directly with their fingers. Here are a few shots of the fun (more pictures on the photos page): Lastly, when I find articles or videos that I feel could be helpful for families and are relevant to what goes on in my classroom, I like to share resources with parents. The first link is both an article and a video explaining why our methods of teaching standard algorithms (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) have changed since you and I were in school. Don't get me wrong - by the time students leave my 5th grade class, they need to know how to perform the standard/traditional algorithm. But many times we start with a different method that allows students to see the "why" behind the math. This link explains the different ways you may see your third or fourth grader performing multiplication before we focus on the "normal" way in 5th grade. Take a minute to watch this gentleman's explanation: http://www.mathplusacademy.com/heres-why-math-is-taught-differently-now/ And one last article from Dr. Jo Boaler from Stanford (you may remember me mentioning that we used her "Week of Inspiration" math in my 4th and 5th grade math classes at the beginning of the year.) Dr. Boaler discusses the important role that parents' attitudes about math have on their children's success (or lack of success) in math class. There is valuable information for all parents in this short article: https://www.youcubed.org/think-it-up/parents-beliefs-math-change-childrens-achievement/ That is plenty of information for parents this week. I leave you with the finished product of our "I AM" window now that we have 3rd grade's ideas. I love all that we are!!
One last reminder that next week on Tuesday, September 22, at 6:30 pm I will be holding our GT Back-to-School Night at Werner in the media center. I hope to see many of you to share information about the gifted program here at Werner. If you cannot make it, my Power Point presentation for the evening is on the GT Information page of this website. Feel free to take a peek at it and email me or call with questions. Students in my math classes are responsible for learning the Colorado Academic standards. Tied within Colorado's standards are the Common Core standards. But in addition to these standards that are based on the academic expectations for each grade level, there are also Mathematical Practice Standards which are the skills that teachers want students to also have to help them be critical thinkers and problem solvers in the math classroom. Here is a quick graphic glimpse of those standards: During lessons, I try to make sure that I am using at least one of these practice standards as part of the day's instruction, in addition to the learning target based on the academic standard that we are covering. Just this last week, the 4th grade math students were looking at how to identify different types of triangles. They were given a triangle that they had to identify with two names (one based on side lengths and one based on angle measures.) Students had to partner up and argue their findings. Their partner was expected to critique their reasoning. I have spent time teaching the kids how to question a partner and push their thinking (not just nod in agreement) - really make them justify what they know and use precise math language and vocabulary. The pictures below are some of the partners helping each other get smarter... Lastly for this week, unfortunately I had to be gone from Werner for the last two days. Fortunately, I had a good reason. I am representing the gifted students' needs in Poudre on the district's Math Adoption committee. It has been about 12+ years since we have adopted new curriculum in Fort Collins, so it is time. The last two days we have been looking at 12+ different publishers' materials to see how it meets the standards and needs of our students here. We worked to narrow the choices down to three and will be having opportunities for teachers on the committee to try them in their classrooms and also put materials out for the community to see and provide feedback. If you would like to see what goes into this process or are interested in the district's choices so far, PSD has set up a website to keep the community informed. https://sites.google.com/a/psdschools.org/psd-mathematics/elementary-school/e-artifacts |
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May 2018
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