As promised...

Happy Beautiful Friday!

This is my kind of weather! I was really tired of the rain...although I love the green that it has created! We had a wonderful week, despite the rain...here is how it all went down...

On Monday we had a great time at Fountain Rock Nature Center! I am working on a photo story of the day, but until then...read your child's letter to a second grader that they wrote this week for homework. They did the best job retelling the trip. They got to become part of a food web...many food chains together, they got to watch a toad refuse to eat a worm, they got to pet a harmless snake, and they were involved in using/observing/discussing so many different vocabulary words: populations, omnivore, herbivore, carnivore, predator, prey, decomposer, producer, consumer...all of which will be part of our next science unit, Populations. The rain kept us from a park picnic, but it couldn't damper our spirits...we thoroughly enjoyed our trip. Make sure to come back to the blog this weekend to see the photo story!

In math this week we worked on collecting data and summarizing that data finding the mean, median, mode, and range. The kids used their paper airplane data from school and from home to work through all of the different statistics...funny thing...the data always seems to show that the students' planes flew further than their siblings' or parents' planes!! We finished up the week with each student compiling and summarizing their own data based on the groups' airplane flights. These papers will be returned next week...they did a nice job.


In language arts this week each child participated in multiple Junior Great Books Shared Inquiry discussions. I wish you all could have been flies on the wall...these kids are AMAZING! You should see them support their thinking by marking places in the stories and referring back to them. You should hear them agree and disagree with each other and then back up their thinking...I was floored and thoroughly enjoyed our "chairs in a circle" discussions. Each child had a book with multiple stickies hanging out of them, a clip board with a focus question sheet, a pencil, and their wiggly selves...all to be balanced in a lap while attempting to have a serious shared inquiry discussion...sounds like a set up for chaos, but it was wonderful...they're growing up too fast! :-) Next week we enter our unit on plays...one of my other favorites...I can't wait to see these kids in a dramatic role...who am I kidding...most days they're pretty dramatic without a play!


A ton of graded papers are coming home today...please take time to look over them with your child. One of the papers has a blue sticky note on it...that is to remind you and your child that your signature is required and that piece needs to be returned. I wanted you to see their grade, but it is a portfolio piece and I need it back. Thank you!

Last, but not least, today we celebrated another marble jar filled! We had "Game Day"...this is the first time we have not voted on the celebration. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been instructing the kids on how to write a persuasive essay. Grace Lee's persuasive essay was about having a Game Day celebration and it was extremely well written, so I named today, "Game Day"...soooo, after our writing lesson this morning, the kids got to play games in the computer lab after they worked on "Type to Learn", they got a free game time where they could play indoor recess games, and during Math they played math games. It was a fun day and a great end to a great week!

As always...if you have a question, comment, or concern...feel free to email me. I can't believe we're in the fourth quarter...the year is flying by...I wish it would all slow down a little...I love these kids. Have a good weekend.

"This is the best math class EVER!"

I can't tell you how many times today I heard..."This is the best math class ever!" Well...all you have to do is see the kids' faces with their hand made paper airplanes to know what kind of day they had! We spent the afternoon collecting data...we created the best paper airplanes ever, measured ten feet from the start line to the finish line, and then got to investigate whether or not their airplane could fly over ten feet...each student did ten different trials! Needless to say, it was a very fun afternoon. Tomorrow we will be summarizing our data using averages: mean, median, mode, and range. I'm not sure they'll be quite as "gung-ho" about the second part of this lesson, but I'll still have the memories of all the kids posing like super heroes with their airplanes! :-) Have a good rest of the week...I have a lot of photos from our field trip...I'll post them on Friday!

WOW...WOW...WOW...WOW...WOW...WOW...

What a week! By far one of my very favorite weeks ever! I hope the pictures do the Entrepreneur unit some justice, but you really had to see it to completely appreciate the hard work your kids put into this unit. This week included final production, Market Day(s), and the evaluation/writing piece of the unit...and your kids did an AMAZING job! Let me back track a little...four companies created four different products in each of the two magnet classrooms. They had a budget, used their limited resources, manufactured their products, paid high costs to advertise their products, watched as consumers purchased their products, went back into manufacturing due to high demand and low supply, and then continued to make a profit on day two as they sold out of their products! Each child got to be a consumer, too! They were given $5 Market Day gift cards (beautifully designed by Ms. Maenner) to shop for these exciting products! Today each student compiled their data onto a spreadsheet to identify what kind of profit their company made...and then wrote a paragraph about the Entrepreneur unit using all of the economy vocabulary. I am so sorry to leave this unit as it was a class favorite...and the learning that went on...unbelievable! Enjoy the pictures below this post!

Monday is our field trip to Fountain Rock Nature Center...please have your child dress appropriately for the weather...and wear comfortable shoes. And remember...your child needs a lunch (unless you signed up to purchase one!)

This week in language arts we have been reading from the Junior Great Books series...and introducing the kids to Shared Inquiry Discussion...an environment where all answers to interpretive questions are acceptable as long as the student can provide evidence to support their answers...they are encouraged to agree and disagree with each other while using details from the stories to prove their point. They must go deep into the story to answer these sometimes difficult questions...we will continue with this series next week. We are able to incorporate many of the fourth grade indicators into each lesson!

In math next week we will be delving into finding averages...the mean, mode, and median...as well as working with percentages. We will be looking at "batting averages"...it is baseball season, you know! We will play kickball, keep records, and analyze our data while discovering our own "batting averages" (really kicking averages!) I am looking forward to this unit...and I'm hoping for some decent weather...virtual kickball just isn't the same as the real kind! :-)

I hope you have a great weekend...my weekends from here until summer are spent on baseball fields...between the two boys, we have four teams...four games a weekend...thank goodness I love baseball! Enjoy your families!

FUNSPIRATION, INC.

FUNTASTICO, INC.

MPCK, INC.

KIDSPIRATION

An Event Invitation from the Maryland Coalition for Gifted &Talented Education

The MCGATE Annual Conference will be held on Saturday, April 25, 2009 at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt, MD. Our Keynote speaker will be Karen Yoho from the National Association for Gifted Children who will speak on the NAGC's new Mile Marker series, a valuable resource for both parents and schools. In addition, one of our speakers for the Break-out sessions will be Joyce Cooper-Kahn, Co-author of "Lost, Late and Unprepared: A Parent's Guide to Helping Children with Executive Functioning". If your child forgets to hand in homework, loses homework or doesn't even know it was assigned, this double session is for you. Problems with Executive Functioning in gifted children are frequently masked by their intellectual gifts and often don't become apparent till middle or high school. The issue is then frequently identified as behavioral. If you have students who are gifted but appear lazy or unmotivated, this double session is also for you. Please forward the attached Registration Form to others who you feel would be interested. The form is also available at: http://www.mcgate.org/PDFFiles/MCGATE_RegistrationForm2009.pdf

Thank you.
Laura Carriere
MCGATE President

FIELD TRIP ALERT!!

Hi, everyone...welcome back from Spring Break...I hope you all had a restful week...I sure did!

We have a field trip on April 20th to Fountain Rock Park...we will be leaving UES at 9am and returning around 12:15pm...I can take as many parents as I like...the trip pays for 1 parent and then it costs $5 for any extra parent over that one...so anyone who would like to come should check off the spot on the bottom of the permission slip. Then once I have heard from all interested parents, I will conduct a drawing and inform all of the other parents to send in $5...hope that's ok! So...please email me or send a note if you'd like to accompany us to Fountain Rock Park...we will be eating our lunch there that day before returning to school. That slip is coming home today...please return it by Thursday.


REMINDER...the students were assigned an extra credit project and if they have chosen to complete it, it is due this Friday, April 17th.

Also...just an FYI...last week the students were given their Independent Novel Projects to take home...some children were unhappy with one of the three grades they received...they have until Friday to redo one of those activities to improve the grade they received.

Last, but certainly not least...the kids are coming home with a poetry contest entry and entry form...we were all ready to submit them on line this morning until right before clicking submit, they had to verify that they had parental approval...and although most of you would probably say, "You would have my permission if Mrs. Wills' says it's ok", I couldn't make that assumption...SOOOOO...they have the form in their take home folders. They may do one of three things:
1. Fill out the form and return it to me for mailing.
2. Mail their entry from home.
3. Submit their entry on line from home...the link is on UES Learn.

I would love to see the kids enter this contest...we have some amazing poets!

I plan to blog Friday about our week...have a good one!

ENTREPRENEURS in the house!!

Have your kids told you about the Entrepreneur unit we're working on?!? They LOVE it! (and so do I!) It is such a perfect project for these kids...they have a lot of freedom in their decision making (which they crave), and are using all of the math and social studies skills we've been focusing on! We have four companies representing our classroom: Funspiration, MPCK, Inc., Funtastico, and Kidspiration! These companies have been working all week on developing a "good" using all of their resources...they started with a budget, narrowed down their product ideas to the "perfect product", planned out the materials they would need to manufacture the product, figured in the advertising cost, and came up with a total production cost. They then had to decide on a price to sell their product. Today the companies are breaking out into particular jobs and either designing posters, writing commercial scripts, or producing the good they've decided to sell. We will have a "market day" the week we come back from Spring Break where all of the students are given a salary for working and they will go shopping. It should be a ton of fun...and they are being so cooperative and doing such a great job!


In Language Arts we finished our novel activities and will spend some time after Spring Break reading some excellent literature out of the Junior Great Books series. During this time the students will engage in discourse about the story they have read. They will be asked to support their thinking using examples from the stories as they relate their thoughts aloud in a shared inquiry discussion...another wonderful venue for these very gifted students.


In Writing we are continuing our persuasive writing instruction and will be writing a persuasive essay using a position statement (the table), three reasons to support the position (the table legs), supporting details for each reason (the wheels), and a strong ending in support of the position. The persuasive essay will tie into our entrepreneur unit...and I'm anxious to see the results! The students have also been feverishly publishing a piece for our school publication "The Quill"...I am proud to say that each student in our class will have a piece (or three!) in this school magazine!


In response to a persuasive letter I received, I will be offering an extra credit project in Language Arts...it is completely optional, but will be handed out and explained on Monday. It is due on Friday, April 17th. I ask that you let the kids write this story independently. Feel free to help them edit, but let the story be theirs, please! Again, not a mandatory assignment, just optional extra credit.


We will continue our study of Word Parts until the end of the year...prefixes, suffixes, root words, and the students will be quizzed intermittedly. Today they took a prefix quiz.


As for me...I will not be blogging next week...it's a two day week and then we'll all get some needed rest and relaxation (who am I kidding, I'm a MOM!) :-) I hope you all enjoy your families and whatever you choose to do over the next week. I look forward to some much needed down time in Rehoboth Beach. I will post a picture upon my return...it is definitely my favorite place to be...and I'll be with my favorite people.

Happy Spring Break...take good care of those entrepreneurs...they hold a special place in my heart!