Learning To Go Mr. Avery's Class on the Web 

Students were treated to lessons in fire safety and prevention last week! Shrewsbury firefighters were on hand, engaging kids through video and equipment demonstrations. We learned what to do and what not to do in various situations involving fire at home. Besides monitoring smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, one of the best ways to improve safety for families is to have a plan in place that includes 2 ways out of the house and a meeting place where the family should gather in case anyone gets separated. This is a good time to start or review your plan! Our thanks go out to Shrewsbury’s finest for their work with the kids on Friday and everyday. Did you know: Kids are welcome at the firehouse anytime! Firefighters are happy to share with families your civic resources at work.

With just 8 weeks to go, students will learn to use technology to communicate and evidence their thinking through the use of student learning blogs. The will learn to navigate online environments, including posting, commenting, and replying; to create, find, and upload media such as images and audio files; and to collaborate with peers through reading and writing. This week, we will learn what it means to be part of an online community and how blogs are used. Then we will learn what a digital footprint means and how to create a safe one, as well as how to stay safe online. Next, we will learn the format and netiquette specific to online communication. A note on safety and privacy: Student blogs are created via Kidblog.org. They are only open to invited peers and teachers. Once up and running parents will be invited to view them as well with a private password. For more information, please visit their site. Lessons on privacy and more are taken from Common Sense Media.

All year, students have been taught elements of good poetry and how to apply their knowledge when analyzing poems. As our final Trimester of school begins, they will now be taught how to write meaningful poems of their own. They will learn how to choose topics that they feel strongly about; how to write with a mix of thoughts, feelings, and carefully chosen words; how to replace uninteresting text with better words and similes; and how to edit the structure (lines, repetition, etc.) of their poems until it looks and sounds right. Here is a very cool site for you and your child to view at home, where children’s poetry is read aloud and you can learn more about poets and their craft! http://childrenspoetryarchive.org/?_ga=1.112867396.1951796194.1461419863

This week we begin Chapter 14, which teaches kids to tell time to the 5 minutes on an analog clock; write the time in numbers or words; correctly identify AM and PM; and solve problems involving elapsed time (minutes or hours later/before). Check out the graphic above: students are being taught to identify time using the hour and minute hands; to tell minutes of any hour by counting “5s” around the clock; and to use those skills to calculate time elapsed. Here is a link to a great online clock from ABCya.com that kids can manipulate to read the time in analog and digital format, and to use it to play games. Try it out! Just navigate to this page, select “Practice,” and click “GO”: http://www.abcya.com/telling_time.htm

Having learned to identify a variety of liquids based on observable properties, this week kids will work to design an experiment to try to prove the idea that liquids spread out to fill the container they are in. Students will be tasked with asking a question that can be tested; designing, re-designing, and collaborating; testing and collecting evidence; and drawing conclusions. Smart! Below are some pictures of liquid observations in action.

Also included below are some shots of the fourth grade gymnastics show to which we were treated before vacation. As part of PE curriculum every year, students learn a variety of positions and work together to create student-designed routines for presentation. Cool!

What a blast! Literacy Night was an engaging, noisy, joyful celebration. Kudos to our class authors who read their work to an audience. And thank you to volunteers who made the night a success!

 This week we revisit Author’s Message with the purpose of developing critical thinking skills at a deeper level. We will learn common Themes from children’s literature (lessons like Believe in yourself; Always tell the truth; etc.) and apply them using fiction texts. Then we will learn to read closely and find evidence from the text to support our claims, and compare themes within and among texts. When your child uses a piece of fiction for reading homework, ask him/her to think about the themes that emerge over several pages or chapters of a book. And Scholastic has some great ideas on finding themes in books, movies, and songs at home:http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/top_teaching/2011/02/helping-students-grasp-themes-in-literature

What great progress the kids have made with narrative writing since the beginning! Their pieces show great evidence of stretching out the moments with details, and many are developing a true author’s voice that makes their writing unique. Check these out from 1. Rose: With great difficulty I grabbed my dangling kite. I t was very hard to do but I achieved my task.  2. Hassan: Finally, I put a break on my feet and quickly turned. I was relieved that I didn’t bump into the hay! We’re also making strides at wrapping up our stories with extended endings that are much more satisfying than just saying “The End”! 1. Carley: I’ll never forget the time the whole class went out on the soccer field. Next time, I hope my kite won’t get tangled with someone else’s kite. I was so disappointed when the bell rang! 2. Courtney: I will never forget the time we were out on the soccer field flying kites. At that moment I decided: I could fly a kite at home! 3. Anna: I’ll never forget the time all the kites were in the sky. It was so much fun running with my kite. I hope I can go kite flying again! Super!

In math this week, students will further their understanding of measurement by learning to develop a sense of how big inches are and applying that knowledge through estimating and actual measuring. Consider the picture above from the student eBook: notice how it pushes kids to understand how big inches are; how many inches long common objects are; and to apply those ideas by comparing lengths. The last big idea is to solve real word problems involving length, height, and distance. Having collected data on the same by measuring objects in feet, students will create and solve each other’s problems this week! At this time of year, kids should be able to model such problems through bar models and parts-and-total frames. You will see practice on these in this week’s homework. As always, let me know if I can clarify if needed!

Having learned a great many map skills this year (orientation, scale, symbols, map keys, natural and cultural features, and more), students are learning geography related to the 7 continents by evaluating a variety of maps and creating an atlas that employs skills learned. In addition, while researching the continent of Asia this week, we will learn about Japan’s tradition of celebrating spring with cherry blossom festivals!

In science, students will engage in hands-on activities to learn about properties of liquids. Using a variety of materials in bottles, they will look, listen, spin, roll, tip, and otherwise manipulate these systems to discover the similarities and differences in the viscosity, amount of bubbles and foam, color, and transparency of common liquids around us. They will also explore water in different containers to learn about prominent features of liquids: their levels remain parallel to the earth, and their molecular structure causes them to take the shape of the container they are in. Here are some pictures of us in action investigating the properties of solids last week, along with us leading the school in song at Friday’s school meeting!

The countdown is on: Just 10 weeks to go! We’ve come so far and grown so much. The race to the finish is on!

Photo Source: Autism Speaks

Light it Up Blue! This week marks Autism Awareness around the world. At Floral St. School, we are committed to serving the diverse needs of Shrewsbury’s ever-changing population, including students whose needs lie within the autistic spectrum. In class, we will learn to understand the unique learning and behavior styles that accompany autism, in an effort to strengthen our school community. We will also create a bulletin board for display in the lobby showcasing our cultural and educational diversity in advance of this Friday’s School Meeting, which is all about the same. Our class will even lead grades one and two in song and sign language to mark the occasion (see video below). Students are encouraged to wear blue that day in a show of unity! Autism Speaks is a great source for learning more about autism and the many events happening this week.

Source: Peter and Ellen Allard via Youtube.com

Students have done great work stretching out the main events of their kite-experience stories, with description and red flags! From Karina: Just then, I saw leaves flying across the March sky. Suddenly, my kite got tangled with two other kids’! From Martin: I quickly got to the top and grabbed my kite. I lifted my arm and threw it into the air. It flew around in small circles and every once in a while, flapped up, then back down to the ground. From Aamir: I was surprised to see the dark, brown muddy spots on the ground. I slowly unraveled my rough, white paper kite. And from Teo: Just then, the wind went super crazy, like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum. I had to hold it harder like it was flying titanium. Awesome!

Our next math topic for exploration involves standard units of measurement. Students will engage in hands-on activities to develop a sense of how big one foot and one inch are. They will learn to compare heights and lengths in standard units, and use their knowledge to solve real-world problems about measurement. Consider the picture above. Notice how it encompasses all three big ideas? Now think: how would you find the answers using bar models as well? There are vocabulary and picture resources added to math homework folders to help at home. If you’re following along with the eBook, this is Chapter 13, Lessons 1 & 2 this week.

In science, students will be introduced to the properties of solid objects. They will learn what makes a solid (molecules packed in regular arrangements; hold their shape) and scientific vocabulary of classification (rigid; flexible; pointed; opaque; translucent; etc.). They will apply these ideas as they explore and sort a variety of solid objects. Here are some pictures of our initial exploration on the properties of solids, liquids, and gels: