Nov. 21st Newsletter

It was great to meet with so many parents during our conferences this past week and a half.  I really enjoyed sharing students’ progress with you.  If you were unable to come to a conference and would like to meet with me, please drop me an email at eshedd@u32.org. 

In writing we are bringing our unit on the “small moment” personal narrative to a close.  Wednesday everyone completed a final piece.  Topics ranged from tales of Hampton Beach to microwaving a Capri Sun juice container! I look forward to reading these pieces this weekend.  Although our next genre will be writing information pieces, we will continue to practice writing narratives throughout the year.

Tuesday everyone enjoyed a wonderful turkey feast in our new cafeteria.  It was wonderful to see so many parents, grandparents, and special friends joining us for this meal.

Friday our class had our second “Nature Journal” class with Karen Liebermann.  I was disappointed that I was unable to join them.  Students are doing such a wonderful job with their nature journals.  I am looking forward to seeing what they learned about next week.

On Friday the students also attended the November RIF book giveaway.  The children always look forward to this event.  Thanks to PTNO for making this possible.

Beginning next week students will be getting the following regular homework assignments:

On Mondays and Wednesdays students will be given a writing assignment.  They will be expected to put at least 20 minutes into this assignment.  The assignments will be written in a black composition journal.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays students will be given a math homework assignment.

In addition to these assignments students should be reading each night and practicing their math facts.

Next week is a short week so I won’t be sending home a newsletter.  I hope everyone has a safe, healthy, and happy holiday!

Nov. 7th Newsletter

Last week our class met for the first time with our Buddy Class – Mrs. Giammusso’s 2^nd graders.  After selecting a partner the students played a math “money” game trading coins as they rolled to 50 cents.  The fifth graders enjoyed working with their buddies and said they can’t wait to get together again!

          In writing we continue our work with personal narratives.  One focus in mini lessons this past week has been learning about writing dialogue and how to punctuate direct quotations.  We went on a dialogue hunt in our independent reading books looking for the three forms of dialogue that use tags (tag at the beginning, tag in the middle, and tag at the end).  We have also continued work with transitions, writing successful beginnings and endings and using elaboration to help readers picture our stories.  In music class this week the children wrote “small moment” stories about an experience from music class, band, or chorus.  I will plan to share these pieces with you next week during conference time.

          Last week we also began using the Spectrum Word Study and Phonics workbook.  We learned about the hard and soft sounds of C and G.  This week’s focus was on the Sounds of S.  Be sure to ask your child what they have learned about these sounds.

          On Friday, we had a guest teacher visit us during math class.  Ellen Dorsey is a math coach that will be working this year with teachers in grades 5-8 throughout the district.  This is the second time that she has joined our classroom.

          I want to let you know about our fieldtrip plan for next spring.  Mrs. Gannon and I have decided to take the 5^th graders to Boston to the Museum of Science and the Tea Party Museum.  Both of these museums will connect with our science and social studies units of study this year.  I will provide more information on this in future newsletters.

          Students have focused on setting 2^nd quarter goals this week.  I will share some of this with you during conference time next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!  I look forward to our conference time next week.

Sept. 12th Newsletter

This week we finished creating our classroom expectations or our “Class Rules.”  We had several great discussions on what we all need to do in order for us to have a safe, respectful, and responsible year together.  These expectations are now posted in the front of our room.

          In Math class we have continued our review of place value, focusing on whole numbers through the millions.  The favorite activity was “Building Numbers with M & M’s.”  I assigned a value for each color of these yummy candies (i.e. red = thousands).  Students were given 10 M and M’s and asked to find the value of their candies.  They then practiced writing the number in standard form as well as expanded form.  We also reviewed >, <, and =.  Next week we will begin to explore decimals.

          In addition to the above skills, we have started the year with a focus on strengthening our math fact fluency.  “Knowing” math facts are an important foundation skill for students to have in order to improve their mathematical thinking. Math facts are similar to “sight words” in reading. When one is automatic with reading sight words, the focus can be on understanding what is read. When one is automatic with math facts, the focus can be on understanding math.  This means the student is able to give the answer in 2 seconds or less orally, or 3 seconds or less in writing.  We will spend ten minutes each day during math class working on becoming more fluent with the basic facts.  Students should also plan to spend at least five minutes each night at home working to improve these skills.   

          In our Reading block we will be working on a variety of meaningful tasks such as reading to self, reading to someone, working on writing, and word work.  Throughout the year you may hear your child refer to the acronym “CAFÉ.”  CAFÉ stands for

          C  -  Comprehension (understanding what you read)

          A -  Accuracy (reading the words correctly)

          F -   Fluency (reading accurately with expression)

          E -   Expand Vocabulary (knowing, finding, and using interesting

 words)

We will be using the CAFE menu to learn reading strategies based on the Common Core standards that will help us become better readers.  In addition to working on Check for Understanding this week we also began discussing Making Text to Self Connections.  On Wednesday,  students wrote a connection about something that scared them after reading a book about scary things. 

          Have a wonderful weekend!

Aug. 29th Newsletter

Mrs. Shedd’s Newsletter

Week of Aug. 29, 2014

Welcome to a new school year!  I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing summer.  Our class has had a great start to the school year.  This week we have been getting acquainted with our schedule, routines and  behavioral intervention and supports program – PBIS..  Be sure to ask your child about our school wide expectations (safe, responsible, and respectful), our school woodchip support system, and KHFOOTY.    Our specials schedule this year follows:

Monday -  P.E.

Tuesday-   Library/Technology

Wednesday -  Art

Thursday – Spanish and Music

Friday –Spanish and P.E.

Guidance will begin sometime in October.

Please remind your child to wear appropriate footwear and clothing on our P.E. days.  On days with good weather, P.E. class may be held outside.  Our class is at 10:00 and the grass may still be wet.  Students might want to bring in an extra pair of shoes.

In literacy we have learned about choosing “just right” books, explored our class library and worked on our stamina for reading to self.  Our first genre of writing this year will be narratives.  We began to brainstorm “small moments” (ideas for stories) this week.  We also started creating our “Hopes and Dreams” (goals) for this year.

This year our class will be participating in team-building activities.  These activities will help students develop the ability to collaborate and contribute within a team, practice positive attitudes and actions for learning in a team environment, and learn to foster mutual respect and trust, creating a successful team experience. 

During our first week together we have participated in a “Cup Pyramid” activity and practiced our communication skills with an activity, “Sneak Peek.”  Students worked in teams to recreate a pattern block design.  Be sure to ask your child about these activities.  I have been impressed with the encouragement, positive attitudes, teamwork, and perseverance I’ve observed this week.

In fifth grade we will be participating in nature journaling.  The students went outside this week, selected an object in nature to observe, sketch and describe.

Each Friday students will bring home a  Friday Folder.  It may contain my newsletter, papers from the office and completed work. Please send the folder back on Monday.  Soon I will be starting my blog.  I will let you know when it is up on our classroom tab on the school website.

Thanks to all of you who have sent back the forms for our front office.  If you have not done so, please send them back as soon as possible.

Please feel free to contact me at any time with questions or comments.  My number at school is 223-7936   (ext.317)   or my email is eshedd@u32.org.     

Have a great weekend.  I look forward to an exciting year together!