What an Amazing Week!

First of all...if you haven't seen the last post, make sure to scroll down...the kids' Chocolate Commercials are below and they are fantastic!

Speaking of fantastic...your kids are awesome. We have had such a great week....read on to find out more...

We started off on Monday participating in a major planting endeavor! We helped Mr. Esko's class plant 75 trees on our property...we planted half of them in the new Bioswale area near the firehall parking lot...and the other half we planted back behind the wetlands, near the wildflower meadow...there were two biologists, three teachers, a couple parents, and about 80 kids...it was a ton of fun, and the kids worked beautifully together in cooperative groups. I took a bunch of pictures that I will compile over the weekend into a slideshow...

The rest of this week has been just as good. We have been working with the Junior Great Books series...this series uses excellent literature to teach students to delve deep into the meaning of the stories...it uses the Shared Inquiry approach and the students are charged with answering questions using examples from the passage to support their thinking, and then we have in depth discussions where the kids can agree and disagree with each other in a very mature conversation...I have been BOWLED over by their ability to discuss literature. I have looked forward to every day and hearing their brilliant minds take apart the passages to make sense of them. We have also spent some time looking at stories told in third person vs. first person, and talked about the effects of the storytelling when either perspective is used. We took our own silent reading books and read passages from them to determine from which perspective their stories were being told.

In Writer's Workshop, I'm pleased to say, that I have conferenced with almost the ENTIRE class on their first published piece! Getting to the point of publishing is quite a process and most of the kids have done an outstanding job using the "pit stops" to help improve their writing. Each "pit stop" is designed to have them look at their piece from a "different set of eyes" to find new ways to enhance their writing. The published pieces are hanging in the classroom for the students to read whenever they choose.

We have started a new unit in Social Studies. Our unit focuses on Economics and is one of my very favorite units. More to come on that next week!

In Math we have been perfecting our multiplication, working with word problems, and delving into division...and then Wednesday, we did something I haven't done with my class before. I had given a quiz and was disappointed in the outcome...so I taught them how to make "test corrections"...every student who scored below a B was asked to complete test corrections to improve their grade. Those quizzes will come home today. Most of the kids made errors in following directions. In upper grades, your quiz score is usually your quiz score...but I feel like this is a transition year and it is important for the kids to 1. be able to show what they know, and 2. learn from their errors...the test corrections will be attached to the quizzes, so that you can review them together. The final grade is an average of the quiz score and the test corrections. We will spend next week solely on division and then be ready for the Quarter 1 post test (yes, I know, a little late...but in my world...better late than never!!)

NEXT WEEK IS AMERICAN EDUCATION WEEK...

WOULD YOU LIKE TO COME IN AND

READ YOUR FAVORITE STORY TO OUR CLASS!?!?

Our school is doing lots of really neat things next week to celebrate American Education Week...and one of the things I'd like to do is invite any and all parents (or grandparents!!) into the classroom next week to read a favorite story or chapter from the story. Kids love to be read to and this is a great opportunity to visit our classroom and share your love for literature! Please email me and let me know if you're interested...give me the day you'd like to visit, times that would work for you, and a book you'd like to share. I'll send a confirmation email to you to let you know we'll be expecting you!!

SPEAKING OF GRANDPARENTS...it was so fun meeting so many grandparents this week! And for the grandparents that came Friday...please forgive me for being in PJs!! But teachers NEVER pass up the opportunity to wear our PJs for the day!! ;-) If you weren't able to come in for the breakfast, but want to visit sometime, just throw me an email and we can make that happen.

Have a great weekend...I think Mr. Winter is on his way...

Worth waiting for...the Chocolate Commercials!!

TRIXY

MATTHEW

NIKITA

GABE

EMMA S.

NICHOLAS

HASITA

JACK

LUCY

VINCENT

HANNAH

JUDE H-S

SOPHIE

STEVE

MALIHA

MEHTA

JESSIE

SAI

MAEGAN

JERRY

ALLIE

EMMA L.

AJ

HELEN

"A Really Fun Day!" - October 28, 2011

Well...one big project down!!

Here is the slide show of pictures I've been promising!

Please click on the link below "A Really Fun Day!" - October 28, 2011 and enjoy!!

ALSO...make sure to scroll down and see the other post from yesterday...especially the part about planting trees on Monday...kids should wear shoes and clothes for the outdoors!!!

"A Really Fun Day!" - October 28, 2011

Short, but sweet...

PUN INTENDED..

...wait 'til you see how our chocolate math unit has turned out!

It is SWEET!

Let me break it all down into small "morsels" for you...

The steps that got us to today's candy commercials...

-we created candy companies

-we explored arrays

-we designed arrays for candy bar shape possibilities

-we calculated the area and perimeter of each array in square inches

-we chose a particular shape for our candy bar

-we created a wrapper using 1/4 inch graph paper

-we calculated square inches using 1/4 inch squares (this was NOT easy)

-we brainstormed great "chocolate" words

-we wrote product descriptions

-we turned the product descriptions into commercials

-we visited the computer lab to make final copies of our commercials

-we practiced volume, expression, and fluency with peer suggestions

-and finally...film production!!

I will spend a good part of tomorrow loading the commercials...just be warned...you may have a hard time viewing if your computer is old...I know this from FIRST HAND experience!!

CHOCOLATE is not the only thing we did this week...not even close. Here is a quick (since I'm using the 'short, but sweet' theme) list of our week's "doings"...

-Completed editing and revising daphnia paragraphs.

-Completed final drafts of daphnia paragraphs.

-Read short stories from the Junior Great Book Series and worked on finding evidence to support our thinking...choosing relevant information using sticky notes while reading.

-Practiced the cursive letters i, t, u, w, l, and e.

-Had two fantastic Writer's Workshop periods.

-Visited the computer lab twice...once to practice keyboarding and once to use our keyboarding skills to complete final drafts.

-Saw an informative United Streaming video on Food Chains and Food Webs.

-Took a short science assessment.

-Found estimates using rounding and front-end estimation in multiplication.

-Worked on the algorithm for multiplication of one digit times three or four digit #s.

-Wrote multiplication word problems and solved them.

NEEDS FOR THE CLASSROOM!!!
We have been asked to help plant trees next week with Mr. Esko's class. They are planting trees in the new Bioswail area and down in the wetlands. We need parent volunteers for this undertaking! We will be planting on Monday from 9:45-10:30am and 1-2:30pm...we need help during both times. Please email me at karen.wills@fcps.org if you are able to join us. The raindate for this fun endeavor is Thursday.

We are in need of hand sanitizer and clorox wipes for the classroom. If you can donate some to the classroom it would be very appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

p.s...I haven't forgotten all the fun Fall Festival pictures... I will be very busy tomorrow...

FANTASTIC FALL FRIDAY!

WHAT A WEEK!
And what an end to that week!! Read on to find out how we spent our time this week!

Math
We are finishing up our work with area and perimeter by writing product descriptions for our candy bar creations! We have also been discussing and working with this question..."Why is area measured in SQUARE units and perimeter measured in just plain ole UNITS?!" Kids are often puzzled by this even after multiple hands-on experiences, textbook definitions, and discussions. Just today (it's Monday) we went over a homework from last week and it was mind boggling to me how many kids reverse the two!! Makes me think its more developmental than anything. During this unit we have worked with rectangular arrays and irregular shapes, too. This concept will be reinforced throughout the school year so that the kids are sure to master it if they haven't all ready! Last week we dove into multiplication...since arrays lend itself so nicely to that concept. I have really been pushing the "study the facts at home" and I'm hoping some of the kids are coming home realizing its a daily practice need...until they have them memorized. It is plain to see that your kids understand the concept of multiplication...3x3 is 3 groups of 3 or 3+3+3...and they have many different strategies for solving multiplication equations...now its time to get down to the most efficient way of solving three digit times one digit multiplication...and that is where we're headed this week!

Language Arts
We have a lot going during our Language Arts block. We are peer conferencing and editing/revising our daphnia paragraphs. We are listening to different short stories and identifying characters, setting, problem, solution, and author's message. We are continuing our twice weekly Writer's Workshop time taking many different genres of writing through the writing process. The kids' WW pieces are hanging from hooks in the classroom so that they can read each other's stories, poems, advertisements, etc. during Silent Reading. This week we will be working in groups using short stories written at the kids' instructional levels and working with author's message, 1st person, 3rd person, and many other short story indicators!

Science
We had to send our critters back...but not before we discussed food chains!! And then we read from an upper level textbook about food webs. We intertwined many different food chains to create food webs. We discussed and drew producers, consumers, and decomposers...we read about carnivores, omnivores, herbivores, and insectivores. We will continue with our Aquariums unit for another week or two delving into other life science concepts!!

THE WEINBERG and a FANTASTIC FRIDAY
This past week we went to the Weinberg Theater to enjoy the theatrical production of Sylvester and the Magic Pebble. It was well done and the kids enjoyed it for the most part! The very next day the kids had QUITE A FRIDAY! We started with seven different parents volunteering to bring pumpkins and materials so that we could have a fantastic "Pumpkin Math" activity. Thanks to the number of volunteers, we got to work in groups of four or less!! The kids had SO much fun working with pumpkins and measuring circumference and diameter, predicting and verifying weight, height, and # of seeds. Right smack in the middle of our morning, we joined the entire school population and walked to benefit the homeless of Frederick County. It was a very powerful experience seeing the entire student body, all paired up with their "junior pals" walking together for a cause. Mrs. Moats kindergarten friends are our pals and we enjoyed chatting with them as we walked. As if that wasn't enough for one day...we ended the day with a FABULOUS fall festival party. Thanks again to the many volunteers...all of you...because even if you weren't here with us, I know so many of you donated money so that the room parents could plan and purchase everything needed for the event! Thanks to Mrs. Beers-Arthur and Mrs. Sweeney for their planning and execution of a great party! I'm pretty sure we may have broken records for parents on hand for the party...so thank you for that as well!

ELECTRONICS DAY!!
And in case you haven't heard (or been reminded a MILLION times)...tomorrow, Tuesday the 1st, we will celebrate reaching our "Soaring With Pride" goal for the SECOND time with ELECTRONICS DAY!!

Have a great week...I'll try to get the pictures up tonight...in between trick-or-treating and everything else going on!! I can't believe TOMORROW IS NOVEMBER!!

a wacky, wacky week...

First of all...my apologies for not blogging last weekend! Luckily for me, I have been able to sit and talk with MOST of you this week about your child...in saying that, I am continually impressed by your kids...their ability to persevere when encountering hurdles in math, or any other subject...their respectful behavior...their ability to communicate through writing and through discussions...they are just a FANTASTIC group of kids!

Over the past two weeks (this one being really wacky!) we have accomplished a lot...take a look...

LANGUAGE ARTS
We finished Frindle, wrote about how the author feels about particular characters, read an "A to Z" book titled All About Chocolate, sequenced events from that book about taking the cacao bean from the tree to chocolate, and answered higher level questions about that book.

In Writer's Workshop we have been focusing on organization...bold beginnings, excellent endings, facts with strong details...I can see the kids applying this outside of Writer's Workshop which is very exciting! This past week we wrote about daphnia. The kids have done so much work with daphnia that it was a great subject for them to write an expository piece (non-fiction). This assignment was not modeled at all, just a "cold write" and I was so pleased at the results! The kids will get these paragraphs back next week, we will pull out all the good, find things that are missing, and write final copies. This piece will go into their portfolio, so you will receive a copy, but not the original.

We have also been writing about chocolate! The kids are developing a product description of their candy bars...we are discussing word choice as they ponder words that will make others want to purchase their product. I am excited about the upcoming week where they will turn all of their hard work into a commercial ;-)!!

MATH
In our chocolate unit we have been working on many different math concepts...perimeter, area, arrays, multiplication, analyzing and constructing line graphs, and many difficult calculations! For one of the assignments, I gave the kids calculators...quite a few of them said that they're not allowed to use calculators at home...just a friendly reminder...if we're asking a third grader to analyze and calculate data that includes multiplying decimals, and they haven't had that instruction yet...calculators are a wonderful TOOL for that type of work. :-)

The kids created a candy bar using square inch paper and then calculated the perimeter and area of the bar. Then they created a wrapper using 1/4 inch square paper and calculated the perimeter and area of the wrapper. NEXT they had to figure out how many 1/4 inch squares were in a square inch because they were told their wrapper would cost their company 2 cents per square inch...you should have seen the brain work going on in this room...it was WONDERFUL!!

We are headed into a multiplication and division unit...I know many of the kids are having fun on the website "Carrotsticks" right now...a lot of them are working on addition and subtraction...and although important, I would like the focus to be multiplication facts now. Students should be studying math facts 10 minutes a night starting NOW. Thanks for your help with this!

NEXT THURSDAY AND FRIDAY
Next Thursday is our field trip to the Weinberg Theater to see the story, "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble"...thank you to the many parents that volunteered to join us. I am limited to three volunteers that day...but sent home a note yesterday that invites any and all parents to join us Friday am for a Pumpkin Math activity! I will need the slip signed so that I can prepare based on how many parents will attend, so please send that back if you are able. I am asking that parents help supply some of the necessary items for this fun morning. On the slip there is a place you can offer to bring a pumpkin and/or some other supplies. Even if you can't come that morning, but would like to donate a pumpkin or scale (the two things we're usually short), please let me know. Friday afternoon is our Fall Festival party...although the kids are allowed to wear costumes that day, this party focuses on the celebration of a wonderful season...my favorite actually...it is not a Halloween party. Ms. Beers-Arthur and Mrs. Sweeney have been busy planning a fun afternoon...thanks to all who have sent donations or are volunteering to help that day. I look forward to seeing all of you.

As always...if you have any questions...don't hesitate to email me. Have a great weekend!

Monday...where does the weekend go?

So...here's the thing...I know it's not an excuse, but just to give you a snapshot into my life...I had EIGHT games to attend or get kids to this weekend, a dance rehearsal, a baby shower, 2 religious ed classes (one of which I'm teaching), and then there's just regular old housework, my kids, my husband, and my dog...
I don't say any of this because I want you to feel sorry for me...just know that when I leave on Friday, I seriously think I'm going to blog...and then when I get to school on Monday, it's the very next time I've thought of the blog again!!
ANYWAY...we had a wonderful week...let me tell you about it!

Social Studies

This past week we were learning about Frederick County landmarks. Instead of ME teaching the class about the five important landmarks, we developed expert groups. These groups used different print resources (brochures, articles) and electronic resources to research the importance of their landmark. Each student did their own research and then the group got together to share what they found and decide what was most important to teach. THEN the groups had to decide HOW they would teach the rest of the class about their landmarks. They were given total control of the product, as long as it included the important information: the location, the year it was made/found/built, and most of all, the importance to Frederick County. We had posters, written reports, rap songs...and all of the groups made a visual for their presentation, too! Below are our five expert groups...we all learned a lot and had a lot of fun...take a look!

The Schifferstadt House

The Beatty-Craemer House

The Museum of Civil War Medicine


The Catoctin Furnace

The Community Bridge

Science

Well, as I asked the kids...would you like the good news or the bad news? They chose bad first, too! The bad news is...all of our daphnia and guppies died within a couple days of arriving at our school. This definitely made studying the population of minute organisms difficult!! The good news is that we were able to continue with another experiment we were working on while awaiting NEW organisms. One of the experiments we did was one involving evaporation. I had six aquariums filled with water and asked the kids if they thought putting one in the sunlight and one in the dark would create two different results. We discussed the possibilities at length and then decided to see for ourselves. We measured the depth of the water in centimeters to the tenths (a lesson in itself!) and then put three of our aquariums in the dark science closet and three of them outside. We waited three days and then measured (in tenths) again...and what do you know...we were able to verify our hypothesis...the water left in sunlight evaporated more than the water in the dark. We then followed up with a fun weather video clip done by the county that reinforces the concepts of the water cycle and helps the kids see that the amount of water on earth is actually always the same...over half our earth is water and the sun is the energy source that changes the state of the water...but not the amount. It was a great lesson with some awesome data to analyze...take a look!!

Math

We are going to leave operations of numbers for a little while and focus on area and perimeter...and we're going to do it in a unit we like to call, "Chocolate Creations"...and that's all I'm going to say, because I know some of the kids read the blog and I don't want to give away anything that we're doing. HOWEVER...make sure your child is working on basic math facts at home...they should know their addition and subtraction facts by heart...so if they don't...you have my permission to make them practice NIGHTLY!! And then once those are mastered, or possibly simultaneously, they should be working on multiplication and division facts...these should be memorized...no two ways about it! We can discuss this more at conferences if you'd like. Speaking of conferences...

Conferences

Next week is a CRAZY schedule due to conferences...please refer to the FCPS calendar and the UES News for details. I will be sending home a paper that I would appreciate you sending back ASAP...this paper allows you to jot down questions/topics that you'd like discussed during our very short 15 minute conference. This way I can plan our conference so that the time is used most efficiently. Thank you for your help with this!

Fall Festival Party

Hopefully by now you've seen an email from our home room parents by now...but I heard some of the email addresses didn't work and a few hard copies will need to be sent...I have copied the note into the text below so you can see it...

Dear Excellent Parents of the Wonderful Wills' Class Kids,

Maile Beers-Arthur here (Sophie's mom). I am sending this letter to you on behalf of Mrs. Wills. Our Fall Festival will be Friday, Oct. 28, 2011. The party will be from 1:15-2:20 p.m. If your student would like to wear a costume, they certainly may, but please make sure they can walk easily in it. Also, please – no masks, no elaborate hair spray or make-up and no weapons.

For safety reasons, it is a school policy that no younger siblings attend the party.

Kim Sweeney (Emma’s mom) and Maile Beers-Arthur are our Room Parents. Please direct communication to Maile.

I am collecting optional donations of $3.00 that I will pass along to Maile for the purchase of party materials, snacks, and supplies.

Please send in your donations by Monday, October 24th. You can put them in an envelope marked “Fall Festival Donations” on the front.

We also need about 5 parents total to help with the Festival. We’ll have crafts, decorate something to eat, and some games. Please let Maile know if your child has any food allergies.

If you would like to help, or have any questions, please contact Maile Beers-Arthur at 301-874-2558 or maile@apmediation.com.

Thanks for making this Fall Festival a success!

Sincerely,

Mrs. Wills