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

 

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Happy Halloween! In the classroom, students will have some fun making fall crafts, designing pumpkins to be used in descriptive writing lessons, and learning about Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), celebrated by many South American and Mexican American families. More at http://www.celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/day-of-the-dead-facts.html. Thanks to Trish Jonason, Leanne Rotolo, Suchitra Patil, and Ivana Gurrieri for coming in to lead each project!

Note: There is no assigned homework tonight! If you’re looking for ideas to keep busy, do math facts practice, optional challenge math page, and/or Raz-Kids reading!

In science this week we will learn about animal adaptations. In particular, we will be studying owl physiology and behavior as part of a research unit on nocturnal animals. We will be treated this Friday to a visit from local raptor rehabilitator Jim Parks, as part of his educational Wingmasters program. Jim brings several live specimens and engages kids in learning about adaptations, characteristics, and conservation. You can learn much more about the program and local raptors at: http://www.wingmasters.net/aboutus.htm. And here’s a great collection of age-appropriate informative text and media about owls that kids can read at home to learn more about owls: http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/season12/owls/facts.cfm

Detail and elaboration are what make good writing come to life! As part of our work with writing narratives, students will go on “sensory walk” on the Nature Trail this Wednesday. Please send outdoor shoes! (Sneakers are fine too.) We will learn to describe our experiences with carefully chosen words: brown wrinkled oak leaves; the gurgling sound of rushing water; spiky green moss smelling of fresh corn; etc. Students will then write their own descriptive paragraphs that put the reader in the picture instead of just naming objects seen and heard.

Our math work focuses on algebraic thinking and solving real world problems that involve regrouping with subtraction. Students have been introduced to frames that are extremely useful when making sense of mathematics at this level. This is a parts-and-total frame:

Always, when the two parts are known, we add them to get the total (e.g. 240 stickers and 30 more gives us 270 stickers). And always, when the total is known as well as one of the parts, we subtract to find the unknown part or count up from the known part to the total (e.g. 270 stickers, 240 sold, leaves 30 stickers). This frame is a powerful tool when kids are trying to make sense of problems, helping them see the numbers involved and the kind of calculations needed. It also provides an essential representational step in understanding algebra.

Consider this: There was a cupcake stand at the fun fair. They sold 240 cupcakes, and had 30 left at day’s end. How many were there at the start? Initially, this sounds to kids like a subtraction problem, and many students would solve it like this: 240-30=210. But by filling in the frame, students immediately see that to solve the problem, the parts have to be added to find the total:

The frame also works to understand algebraic equations, such as _____ + 30 = 270. If you fill in the boxes correctly, understanding where the parts and total go, then it becomes clear that subtraction is one obvious way to solve it:

See the math homework folder for more info!

The Harvest Hoedown was a big hit! The kids had a blast kicking up their heels to several square dances and country line dances. What a great way to celebrate the season!

Dust off those boots! The Floral St. Hoedown is returning this Friday morning, October 28th. To get in the spirit, all are invited to wear country/western gear to school that day. Reminder: no weapons, makeup that needs applying here, or clothing that needs to be changed into/out of at school. On the other hand, plaid, denim, boots, hats, vests, bandanas–they’re A-OK!

Another Floral tradition is Fall Festival, in which classrooms spend a morning having fun with crafts, stories, and music (think Halloween party, without the food). Our class will do all of the above on Monday, October 31, with the help of parent volunteers who signed up on Curriculum Night.

Our CAFE reading focus this week is on Fluency. Fluent reading means that the rate of reading aloud matches a person’s speaking or storytelling rate; that the reader uses long phrases instead of choppy short ones or word-by-word; and that key words in the sentence are accented. Think about this example: When an octopus loses an arm or leg, it can grow another one. Fluent readers (like you) would read to the comma, probably take a breath, and continue until reaching the period. This shows you know how to sound out, decode words, and anticipate the words coming up. In addition, you would accent the words octopus, arm or leg, and another. This shows you understand what you’re reading and what the author’s important points were. It’s because it encompasses so many fine points of reading, that students are graded on fluency at report card time. For more info, see Reading Rockets–a great source for everything reading!

This week in writing, students will learn about the qualities of good personal narratives. This is one of 4 genres that will be our focus this year, across Shrewsbury. Good personal narratives are about one moment in time, with the action stretched out and description thrown in to put readers in the picture. We will learn to generate topics to write about, and how to find the “story seed”–the small moment that should serve as the basis for the main event. As an analogy, we encourage students to think about a watermelon. The melon is your big idea, for example, My Vacation. A slice of the melon is your narrowed focus, for example, My Day at the Magic Kingdom. But the story seed, the one event that should comprise your story, would be one thing that you did there, for example, Going on Splash Mountain.

Students will continue to refine their small moment ideas this week, and delve into ways to start their stories with a bang. Here’s a handy at-home interactive personal narrative engine from Time for Kids, with kids and families in mind:

Our work with subtraction has involved checking our answers by reversing the process using addition. The reason for this is that the brain learns and holds onto the process of addition better than subtraction, so it’s a useful tool for checking. Practicing this process helps to strengthen those neurons in the brain and leads to a solid understanding. The Greg Tang Math game Missing Numbers is a great way to practice! Select “Subtraction”; then any of the strategies (difference, subtrahend, etc.); then  “Easy” or “Hard”. Your child can have fun while internalizing these skills! Click on the picture below to get started:

 

 

What a great time we had at OSV! Students were highly engaged in hands-on learning during workshops and interactive demonstrations by villagers all day, seeing economics and history in action. Thanks to our chaperones Tracy and Jamie Hutt; Jon Gunnip; Lauren Ellerbrook; Deb Lyons; and Leanne Rotolo. They kept our kids safe and on track all day!

Dust off those boots! The Floral St. Hoedown is returning on Friday, October 28th. Students will be square dancing in the gym as part of a week of Fall celebrations. Kids are invited to wear country/western gear (jeans/boots/hats/whatever).  Please no weapons (just a good rule in general at school, no?) and nothing kids have to change into/makeup to apply/etc. Our class will have our own celebration in the classroom on Monday the 31st–more to come on next week’s blog.

At math time this week, students will be learning the fine points of regrouping when subtracting, across the tens and hundreds (think 264-158). They will be working with base ten blocks to model the process and show understanding. They will be showing it another way by drawing base ten pictures (squares for hundreds, etc., like on homework). And they will finally learn to “cross out” the number in the tens and hundreds place to regroup–what we used to call “borrowing”. The difference between how we learned it years ago and how it’s taught today is that we’re making sure students have a real sense of the numbers involved and what the process of regrouping is really all about. In your homework packet in the center I have included a step by step picture guide so you can help your child at home if they need it. Whether they do or not, it’s always wise to ask them questions: How many hundreds/tens/ones are in that number? Will you need to regroup? How do you know? Does your answer make sense? Could you prove it another way?

Students will also be taught to use addition to check subtraction. This means to do the operation in reverse. For example, to check that 213-156=57, students must add 57 + 156 and do the math (e.g. not simply write 57 + 156 = 213). Since addition is always easier for us humans than subtraction, this is an effective means of checking accuracy. On the homework, it asks students to “Show how to check your work with addition.” They should be showing their regrouping when they add as they did all through chapter 2.

A great way to practice regrouping in the 10s and 1s is to play Funny Numbers at Greg Tang Math. Click on the picture above. Choose “Base 10” , then the operation “-“. Notice in the example above: you can regroup by taking 1 ten away from 3 tens and moving it into the 1s column. 3 tens and 4 ones is the same as 2 tens and 14 ones. Now the problem is easier understood and we’re not just crossing out the “3” and making it a “2”–which is too abstract a concept for most young kids to hold in their heads.

Our Field Trip to Old Sturbridge Village (OSV) is upon us! We leave Friday at 9:00. Please send in lunch with your child, in a completely disposable container (e.g. no metal silverware or Tupperware that you want returned). We will return at the end of the school day and eat snack then, so you can send that as usual. Also please dress your child comfortably in layers. In case of rain, raincoats=yes/ umbrellas=no. <“) If you drop your child off at school in the morning, please plan so that your child is here by 8:45. Thanks for helping with these details–it will help our day run smoothly so we can focus on the fun learning to be had there!

In particular, we’ll be observing and analyzing economics from a historical perspective. We’ll be learning in class what goods are, and to distinguish between want and needs, also the difference between goods and services, and where to find them in our community. We’ll bring this to bear during our walk through OSV, and introduce students to the importance of consumers and producers for the economy of a community. Students will then “produce” a “good” from long ago (toy; art; cookie) in activities led by OSV’s education staff. Try taking a virtual tour at home by using their interactive map with your child: https://www.osv.org/village-map

RAZ Kids is ready to go! Please see the note coming home on Tuesday. It provides information on the site and you’ll find your child’s password attached. Students may begin using it Tuesday night for homework or just because it’s fun and smart!

Reading The goal of reading at home is to instill a lifelong habit of reading for fun and for informative purposes outside of school or work. In addition, our young readers can benefit from practicing the reading skills and comprehension strategies taught at school. The amount of time spent on reading homework will vary depending on both the level and the length of the books. Students at levels below 18 may spend less than 20 minutes reading, while those at 20 and above may spend at least that long. Feel free to supplement books from school with books from home.

In any case, students will bring home one or more books, Monday-Thursday. Their job is to read; fill in the reading log each night (sent home each Monday); return the book(s) when done; and bring other books home. On the last day of the week, parents sign the bottom of the log and the student returns it for credit.

Some notes:

1. The log will come home each week in paper form. If your child loses the log, you can print a copy using the link under Parent Resources above. If that’s not an option for you, have your child write the books on any piece of paper, and sign it Thursday night.
2. It’s important that students read and record the book each night. One night of reading for 1 hour per week doesn’t help them meet the goal above. Please check that they’re following the expectation until they’re independent with this routine.
3. Although you don’t need to listen to him/her read, it’s a great idea to check in with your child by asking them to answer comprehension questions about what they’ve read (see Curriculum Night packet).
4. Students reading chapter books needn’t finish them in one night (think The Magic Treehouse series). Instead, they should write down chapters or pages read in 20 minutes. One chapter book may provide several night’s reading (which is authentically how adults read!).
5. If your child forgets or misplaces a reading book, simply have him/her read something from home or using online resources such as National Geographic for Kids.

Field Trip Resources The OSV website is fun and informative! Their videos page has some great starting points to explore economics at home with kids. Check out this example from the Tinsmith. What is the service he does for the community? What goods are produced there? Are they wants or needs? Where do we buy similar goods today?

Thanks to all who have offered to join us as chaperones on our field trip! There’s still room for one more: let me if you can help out! The permission slip is going home today. Please return it at your earliest convenience, but no later than this Friday. Checks should be made out to FSS Student Activity Fund. Chaperones who have already contacted me should send payment for both parent and child. No need to put contact info: we’ll take care of it the morning of the trip. I will send home information for chaperones next Monday in paper form.

Math facts practice begins this week! Our first quiz will be on Thursday, October 13. This gives students two weeks to get used to the routine. Quizzes will be on subsequent, Fridays, except Nov. 10 due to the Veteran’s Day holiday on the 11th.

Coming home today is 1) a cover letter with explanations and suggestions for nightly homework practice, along with your child’s level,  2) your child’s placement test(s), 3) math fact cards at your child’s level, and 4) two practice quizzes. I recommend at least 5 minutes per night for practice, since practicing for 20 minutes one night per week just won’t help kids retain the information. Quizzes are given on Fridays and returned on Mondays. The timed aspect of these quizzes tends to be the hardest thing to master. You can make additional quizzes by using the websites Math Fact Café (addition and subtraction) andMath Aids (multiplication and division). You can also make fancier flash cards at A+ Math Fact Flashcard Maker. All three websites can be found under the “Parent Resources” section above.

Students will be encouraged and praised for making progress toward the eventual goal of achieving math fact fluency to 10 by trimester one’s end; to 15 by the end of trimester 2; and to 20 by trimester 3 (report card expectations). Students who pass 20 will move on to multiplication, then division.

The website Xtramath.org has proven motivating and helpful for many students. Your child now has an account set up, and you can access it via the link under Student Resources above. It approaches math facts somewhat differently than our weekly leveled quizzes. Students are given a series of online placement quizzes on addition facts up to 10 to start (whereas most students in class have placed out on a level between 5 and 7), and students work with a variety of facts at a time. Still, it can be a fun supplement to weekly practice. The site sends me weekly reports on student progress. If your child has used it in the past, logging in with new credentials sent home today should reactivate their old account so they don’t need to start from scratch.

This week, students are being taught the ins-and-outs of Informative Writing. This genre of writing requires students to organize statements of fact around a main idea, to give examples to evidence their thinking, and to present their argument logically in order. As before, targeted writing lessons will be given to students to improve clarity; run on sentences; upper/lowercases; punctuation; and editing.

In Social Studies, students are learning the big ideas about maps, namely: maps show places; and maps use pictures, a compass rose, orientation, scale, labels, and symbols. We will build a 3-d model of our classroom to investigate orientation, scale, and a sense of space. Then we’ll move to the representational stage and create maps of our room and playground using photographs. There are lots of online learning games to help teach and practice these skills, like this one at National Geographic. In addition, we use Google Earth (requires download) all the time to match places relevant in our learning to our actual geographic location. I highly recommend it!