Reading With Our Buddies

Week of December 14, 2018

During the past week students have been working on articles for the class blog.  Today, one student said they really enjoyed writing for the blog and hoped they could do it again. I hope you enjoying hearing from the kids.

Read Aloud

By Aiden and Aaron

We have just finished Ban This Book.  We read this book because it was this month’s book club book.  It is about censorship, banning books and how parents should be the only ones who can decide what you can read. In book club, we made fake covers for books.  This is something the kids did in Ban This Book.  There were also very good snacks in book club. Some examples of book covers were called “Purple Lemon” and “Pie.”  We both really liked this book.

Art

Article by Madalyn and Rilynn

 In Art we have been doing a lot of things including one point perspective. Also, we have made light up cards that have skulls on them and we have learned how to draw them. One day, we looked at a cat picture and looked for shapes in the cat. This helped us draw cats using the shapes.  

Our class has an art store in the art room. It has all the things we need like glue sticks, paper, markers, colored pencils, and more.

This past two weeks, we have been doing landscape and finishing stuff we have not finished. Some of the things we like to do are drawing and watercolors. We are hoping to have more fun projects.

P.E.

By Kobe and Mollie  

So far this year we have been working on

Football - In football, we have been working on rushing that means you can run at the quarterback on the other team to make them throw the ball. That makes them not throw as good to their teammates.

Volleyball - In volleyball, we have been working on sky lights and been practicing bumps. Sky lights is a technique you use to hit the ball over the net using three fingers on each hand. Bumps is a way to hit the ball where you wrap one hand around the other fist.  You need to have your thumbs parallel when doing this.

In volleyball, we have been playing a game called Royal Court. This is a game where one side  of the court is the royalty and one side is the peasants. If the peasants hit the ball over the net and the royalty don't hit the ball, the peasants become royalty.  

In volleyball, we've also been playing a game called Blob Ball. This is a game that is just like volleyball with a softer ball. If you don't hit the ball over the net, you have to lay down and become a blob.

Tag games - We have learned games like Chicken Ball,and Pumpkin Patch. Chicken Ball is Capture the Flag and Dodgeball combined. You try to steal foam pieces and try to get people out from the other team. To get people out, you have to throw a ball at them.   

Pumpkin patch is a game where one person starts out as a farmer.  They kick a foam ball/pumpkin at the monsters in the middle. You, the monsters,  dodge the ball.  If you get hit, you are a farmer too.  You join the farmer trying to get others out.

That is all we have learned this year.  We love PE class and look forward to Tuesdays and Fridays.  We do all this stuff because we have an awesome school!

Band

By Ben and Ellery

Recently in band, we have been working on the band pieces Sweet Georgia Brown, Popcorn Prelude, Star Wars and When the Band Goes Marching In. We’re also working on this piece for an assessment called Alouette but we have to practice that at home.

 There have also been changes to the schedule recently. Now, instead of 5th grade band on Thursdays and 5th and 6th grade band on Fridays, it is 5th grade band on Thursdays and 5th and 6th grade is right after.

Writing

 Slade, and Gavin

In the past three weeks, we have been working on narratives.  The last piece we completed was our post narrative assessment. We also have been working on leads such as snapshot leads, and action leads.

A snapshot lead is when the author makes a picture with the words.  This is done using the five senses.  An action lead is when the author makes the beginning to the  book exciting and pulls the reader into the book.  Those are only some of the leads that we have learned lately.

We have finished narrative pieces, but we are still learning leads. We are now working on leads for informational writing.  We have also been writing information pieces.  We picked a topic, got a book about the subject and read it. After, we made question boxes and took notes answering from the information in the books.   

4th Grade Math

By Delaney and Charlee

In the first and second quarter we are learning about prime, composite, multiples, and factors. We are reviewing addition, subtraction, are getting better at multiplication, and are currently learning division. That is what we are learning with facts in math class. Give your child a quiz.

We are doing a packet almost everyday that is math menu. In math menu we are learning many things. We are doing games with partners, and working hard on lots of things.  Some are new concepts and some are review.  One example of a menu item that is something new is  the one that is called problem solving.  We have to really work through problems to get them done. Ask your child to show it to you.

One of the programs we are using on the computer is Mobymax. You can do math, reading, writing, spelling, and any types of tests. We have only been working on Moby Max in math class. You can use this at your house for your kid to do on their free time. They should know their code.

5th Grade Math

By Katrina

In math class we have learned about perimeter, area, volume, and surface area. During this unit my favorite part was making a 3d robot out of centimeter paper and calculating the volume of each part. It was hard, but I learned a lot about volume.  We also played several games to learn about volume.

Now, we have just started learning about decimals. Reading, writing, and adding decimals to the thousandths is what we are working on now.  

I have always liked math class.  I even like math homework!  The games in class are my favorite part.  They are fun and help me learn.

Explorer Simulation

By Hazel and Maxwell

We are starting to learn about early explorers of North America and doing a simulation. Our siblings were in Mrs. Shedd's class and they told us a lot about the simulation because they did it. We all have our own journals we write in as our character and we make up a character.

During this simulation you get to roll the dice and this determines what happens.  You might get a disease like scurvy or any other disease.  If you die, your ghost will stay in the game and you get to do all the activities.   This might end up with you dying in the simulation like explorers did.  You might get lost at sea or other things the explorers experienced.  Your ship may get caught in a storm or other weather changes.  You might meet tribes and several things could happen.  We are looking forward to this simulation and learning more about exploration of N. America.

Blog Article Tech

By Adam and Tobias

In Technology we are learning about how to use Canva. We checked out a book that was over ten years old. Then we had to make a better jacket cover for whatever book you checked out.

Canva is a online resource that is used to make visual presentations by grouping images together to make one big image.

Here is how we did it:

1.     We analyzed the original cover to find pros and cons.

2.     We came up with a mental image for our cover.

3.     We put our ideas into Canva.

And presto, it was done!

A little while ago we used Edmodo, a social media platform for kids, we discussed whether or not some parts of the internet should be blocked.

Our decision was that most should remain free, but some, like 3d printings of a plastic gun could be deleted by the government.

Library

John and Lexi

We are doing a book cover project in Canva during some of our library time. This project is to work on a book cover for an unpopular book. The book has to be at least 10 years or older, the cover has to be fun once they’re done! The thing is it has to be a hardcover book.

Many classes Arlyn does book talks for us.  New books come in every month, but if books don’t come that month Ms. Arlyn shares other books that are already in the library.

Our class is  also doing a thumbs up project for a book we love.  Starting with a specific word that describes the book, we do a mini summary on the book to make the readers want to read it.  At the same time we need to not giving away too much information.

We had to read a part of the book we are using for the book cover project and record ourselves on Wevideo. We will soon listen to the recording to check for fluency.

   

Our Buddies

By Morgan and Taylin

    In our class we do buddie time where we spend time with our little buddies.  Our buddies are the kindergarten students in Mrs. Gariboldi’s room.  We usually meet once a week on Friday afternoons.

Once in buddie time, we went to ECO with our little buddies where we did fun things.  One of those things was roasting apples over the fire that was tended in the woods.  We also got popcorn, and sat by the warm fire. Everyone made small posters that said things we were thankful for and the small posters are hanging in the woods.

There was a slackline people went across, that was tons of fun and you often fell off. At one station you got to string cranberries then hang them for the birds in the winter.  This gave them food since the snow makes it hard for them to get and find the food. These are some things we did with our little buddies at Eco.

We also made Thanksgiving crafts with our little buddies.  We made foot and hand turkeys, colored a turkey puzzle and each child created a turkey out of their hand.  This was put on a Thanksgiving poem to give to their families.  We do fun things with our little buddies and we always enjoy spending time with them.  

Week of Oct. 29th

           Mrs. Shedd’s Newsletter

Week of Oct. 29, 2018

          Thanks to all the families that returned the conference letter with times that work for you.  Please look in this week’s Friday folder for a confirmation of time for the November conferences.  I am looking forward to sharing your child’s progress this year.  If your schedule has changed and the time indicated no longer works, please let me know.

          We have been bringing our unit on personal narratives to a close this week.  Most students have now completed a post assessment piece.  I look forward to reading these this weekend.

          We have continued our work with maps this week.  One activity involved using a Vermont road map to learn about a map’s index and coordinate system.  We also reviewed using intermediate directions.  Please check out the class blog for photos of this activity.

          In our literacy block we have been working on theme this week.  Students have learned that a theme is an underlying meaning, idea or message in a story.  Earlier this week, we read the book Owl Moon by Jane Yolen.  Students then selected a possible theme from the book and explained how the story supports this theme.  We will continue to work with theme in the next few weeks.

          During our library and technology blocks we have started a couple of new projects.  In library, we will be learning more about oral reading fluency and the district expectations for fourth and fifth graders.  This week, students selected a passage from a book they are reading.  They then recorded themselves with the  WeVideo app.  Next week, students will learn more about the components that they are formally assessed on throughout the year.  Students will use their recording to self-assess and then set goals to work on.  I will share more of this with you during conferences.  In technology, students will continue work with the Canva app, creating new book covers for some of the older books in our school library.  Be sure to ask your child about this project!

          Our all school Wednesday morning meeting focus this week was on collaboration.  The children selected one of two challenges and began planning collaboratively on this “pumpkin” themed challenge.  They will complete these next Wednesday.

            Have a wonderful weekend!                                                   

Learning About Maps

We have continued our work with maps this week.  One activity involved using a Vermont road map to learn about a map’s index and coordinate system.  Here are a few photos of this activity.