Weekly Updates 3/9-3/13

NEWS/EVENTS

• Our Sign Up Genius link is now up and ready for Parent Teacher Conference sign ups! If you haven't had the chance to sign up, please do so by the end of the week. Visit: www.SignUpGenius.com/go/20F0F4BABAB2AA6FA7-march 
• Family Friday will actually be Family Thursday (March 26th) this month due to Peter Pan performances on Friday March 27th. Although it hasn't been officially decided, we will most likely use this time to share biography wax museum projects.
• Next week we are starting our "Marathon" themed test preparation unit. PS 11's philosophy is that the rich work we do throughout the year takes on a much more organic form of test preparation, and therefore we do not teach to the test. During this "marathon" we will be inspired by uplifting marathon music, we will create a "training plan," and will address stress coping skills. We are introducing kids to test format and question types, building stamina, and reviewing both content and test-taking strategies. We want our kids to feel calm and prepared, and if we all take on this attitude as a community I think our kids will feel great. The ELA state exam takes place on April 14th-16th, and the Math State exams will take place April 22-24th.

Homework this week:

**A few notes on homework: This week students will be given time in class to work on their biography projects during reading workshop. I asked students to spend 75 each week on their projects for homework as well throughout the week. I am fine with how they want to split this time. It could be 15 minutes a day, or one longer evening. It is really what is best for their schedule. I suggested that they spend this week collecting, sorting, and growing ideas about their research. Next week they can start to plan their poster.

Monday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, fraction HW, work on biography project for about 15-20 minutes

Tuesday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, work on biography project for about 15-20 minutes (no math tonight)

Wednesday: Reading response, read for 30 min, fraction numberline HW

Thursday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, fraction HW, work on biography project for about 15-20 minutes

Friday: Read for at least 30 minutes each day, work on biography project

CURRICULUM:

Reading: This week we are reflecting on lessons learned from our subjects, as well as why their stories are still shared. We are considering, what was their legacy? We are working on our biography wax museum projects.

Writing: Last week we launched poetry! After generating ideas and starting to draft some poems, this week we are taking a look at revision strategies, such as using line breaks, similes, and metaphors to emphasize more complex ideas in our poems.

Math: This week we are taking a close look at fractions along a number line- how to identify equivalent fractions, how to determine missing pieces, and how to partition a line into parts.

Social Studies: This week we are launching Nigeria centers. At these centers students will study photographs, artifacts, statistics, articles, music, and videos highlighting life in Nigeria.

Weekly Updates 3/2-3/6

News/Events

• Our students were amazing at last week's African Dance performance. If you have video clips or pictures please feel free to share them with our group.
• A big congrats to our third grade chess team members that came in 5th place at this weekend's tournament in Saratoga Springs! Amazing!
• Parent Teacher Conferences are coming up! Evening conferences will take place Wednesday March 18th and daytime conferences will take place the afternoon of Thursday March 19th. In addition to this, I will provide a handful of opportunities for families to meet mornings before the work day starts. I will email the sign up genius link this upcoming Friday afternoon March 6th.
• Family Friday will take place Friday March 27th.

Homework this week:

1) Monday- Read for 30 minutes and jot, equivalent fraction HW, study for spelling test (postponed from last Friday

2)  Tuesday- Read for 30 minutes and jot, equivalent fraction HW

3) Wednesday- Read for 30 minutes, reading response, equivalent fraction HW

4) Thursday- Read for 30 minutes and jot, fraction HW, work on Wax Museum project

5) Friday- Read for 30 minutes and jot, fraction HW, work on Wax Museum project

Curriculum

Reading: This week students are continuing to learn about various biography subjects, engaging in their third rotation of book centers (each bin has a theme- inventors, activists, artists, etc). This Wednesday students are selecting a subject they would like to continue researching, and will commit to creating a Wax Museum project and presentation due in a few weeks.

Writing: This week we launched poetry! We are starting to generate ideas for our own poems by immersing ourselves in poetry and studying the works of mentor authors, such as Shel Silverstein.

Math: Last week we launched our fourth unit of the year- fractions! We spent time last week learning about fractions of a set. This week we are taking a close look at comparing fractions to find sets that are equivalent.

Social Studies: This week we are launching Nigeria. Today we launched the unit with a mini-lecture giving a brief overview of the country, it's location, and some of the landmarks and resources available. Later this week we will Google Maps as a tool to study Lagos. By the end of the week we will start to visit centers.

Reading Responses

Hi Everyone,

For the very first time our students were assigned a reading response. On reading response days nightly jotting is not required.

We have been working hard this year to organically make the transition from jotting to creating a response. Now that our students have gone through the process of creating a big bold claim to support a baby literary essay and then come up with supporting reasons, they are ready to make this transition. They should reflect on a previous jot that represents a big idea, and then write long about this idea.

Please let students do this work independently, and I recommend that they take no more than a half hour to complete their response. Setting a timer might help pace them. I would also recommend encouraging the students to "lead a conference" with you after, so they can explain their thinking and review their work. I want students to feel empowered sharing their ideas!

Here is an example of an exemplary reading response. I am not expecting this quality work with their first attempt, and it does not have to be two pages. However, I am sharing this with you to give you an idea of what we are hoping to move towards.

Thanks for your ongoing support!

Introducing...Hannah Ticoll!!!!!

February 10, 2015

Dear Parents and Students of 3-509,

After four years of teaching, I'm very excited to be taking the year off to study at Teachers College. For the past four years, I was a classroom teacher in French Immersion schools in Toronto where I taught fourth grade, a combined class of first and second grade students, and most recently third grade. Before becoming a teacher, I spent several years volunteering at Frontier College, a national literacy organization that provides free tutoring and other literacy-related activities for at-risk communities. While working with elementary-school children at Frontier College, I became passionate about literacy and decided to pursue teaching as a career.

After teaching for a few years, I decided I wanted to improve my practice by pursuing a Masters Degree. I have always learned the most from watching other teachers and from co-teaching with colleagues so I only sought out programs with internship components. Last semester, I interned in a first grade classroom at P.S. 29 and it was an incredible learning experience. I’m happy to be teaching in 3-509 this semester and I feel extremely fortunate to have been placed with Aimee. 

I am thrilled to be living in New York City this year. I have never lived outside of Canada and I'm excited for all of the new experiences to come.  After living here for only a few months, I am already starting to feel at home and well acquainted with the city. In my free time, I enjoy walking around the city, running and spending time outdoors with friends. I also love reading cooking blogs and trying out new recipes!

            I’m so happy to be working with your children this semester and hopefully I will get a chance to meet some parents too!

Sincerely,

Hannah Ticoll

Weekly Updates 2/9-2/13

EVENTS/NEWS

• We have African Dance twice this week: Tuesday and Thursday.
• Our African Dance performance will be our family Friday event on February 27th!
• Next week is our winter recess- we are on break from 2/14-2/22.
• On Friday we will be exchanging valentines. If your child chooses to bring valentines in, please make sure that he/she has provided one for each student.
• Hannah Ticoll, our fabulous new intern from Teacher's College, will be posting on our blog a little later this week to introduce herself to our community.
• This week students will start to transition from jotting to reading responses. This is when they take a big idea or theory, and "write long" about that topic. I will post an example tomorrow to give everyone an idea. Students will also use a menu insert to guide their planning.
• PLEASE RETURN PORTFOLIOS BY FRIDAY FEBRUARY 13TH!

HOMEWORK

MONDAY: Read and Jot for 30 minutes, sort words into categories in word study notebook, perimeter and area word problem work.

TUESDAY: Read and Jot for 30 minutes, perimeter and area word problem work, OUR FIRST READING RESPONSE

WEDNESDAY: Read and Jot for 30 minutes, word study menu option, Module 3 Assessment Review (assessment is Thursday).

THURSDAY: Read and Jot for 30 minutes, glue words into purple word study workbook, study for spelling test

OVER VACATION: Read and Jot for 30 minutes each day, complete one reading response, work on fact fluency practice activity.

CURRICULUM

Reading: Today we did our final persona character share representing individuals from around the world. We learned a great deal from each other, and our research helped us better understand what life is like in a different country. Today we also launched our next reading unit- Biography Book clubs. Throughout this first bend we are using everything we know about narratives to follow a story telling sequence we often see in biographies. Students are reading in groups and will find that each week their group book bin will focus on a particular subject theme (inventors, activists, leaders, etc.)

Writing: This week we are selecting one of our Baby Literary Essay flash drafts and will revise, edit, and publish our work. In between, we will explore the different ways we can structure our essays, use transitional phrases to connect ideas, and build up reasons with different types of evidence.

Math: Today and tomorrow we are solving word problems that feature both area and perimeter problem solving. Later in the week we will review for the post-assessment, and will take the assessment on Thursday.

Social Studies: This is our last week learning about China. We will cycle through a few more centers, and will learn about Chinese New Year right before we head off to break!

See you soon!

Aimee Bouchard

Weekly Updates 2/2-2/6

Hi Families of 3-509!

I hope this note finds you well in the midst of all of these snowstorms! It was a pleasure seeing many of you Friday for our area "Dream Living Room" activity. This kids had a great time. Please read below for information pertaining to this week.

INFORMATION/EVENTS

• I am excited to announce that Hannah Ticoll is joining our class as an intern from Teacher's College this semester! She will formally introduce herself on the blog sometime in the upcoming week. We are so thrilled to have her!
• This Thursday we are going to the Town Hall Theater to see The Urban Bush Women perform. Please send back permission slips by Wednesday, and send me an email if you are interested in chaperoning.
• This month our Family Friday is taking place on February 27th. We are watching our third grade students perform their own African Dances with Adi, a teacher who has been working with us for the past 5 weeks.
• Please have students practice their African Dance song once each night. I have emailed the song to all families, and it can be played over a phone or computer for students to practice to.

PORTFOLIOS

Portfolios and report cards were sent home this past Friday. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. When assigning grades, I considered and averaged the following assessments:

Reading: Independent reading level, reading notebook

Writing: Published pieces, writing notebook

Math: Post Assessments, Most recent pre-assessment (Area), and other benchmark assessments

Social Studies: Performance tasks and notebook

Please return all Portfolios by February break, as Parent Teacher Conferences are right around the corner!

HOMEWORK THIS WEEK

Monday: Regular reading and jotting, math (adding and subtracting rectangles to find area)

Tuesday: Regular reading and jotting, math (perimeter), sort last week's word in purple word study workbook, study for spelling test

Wednesday: Regular reading and jotting, math (perimeter), work on new country menu option

Thursday: Regular reading and jotting, math (perimeter), work on new country menu option

Friday: Regular reading and jotting, math (perimeter), work on new country menu option

CURRICULUM

Reading: After researching Chinese persona characters for the past two weeks students had time to role play and represent their characters today. This week is the last week in our current unit, and we started bend 2 today. Now that students are experts at researching about what life is like in another country, they are now reading in new research teams based on other countries of interest. Students chose between Japan, Italy, France, Kenya, Australia, Egypt, and Mexico. Over the next 7 days they will experience the same researching process, but this time they are setting their own work plans and will create their own persona characters (instead of me assigning them).

Writing: Last week we launched our next writing unit- Baby Literary Essay. In this unit students are taking the same idea behind persuasive essay (coming up with a bold claim and supporting reasons), but this time they are focusing on lasting impressions and lessons left on them after reading a text. Throughout this unit we will read a variety of amazing read alouds (Those Shoes, The Paper Bag Princess, The Can Man, Spaghetti, The Pet, One Green Apple) and pull out the big ideas that left us thinking. We will rehearse our essays with partners, create many flashdrafts, and then pick our favorite essay to take through the writing process. This work mirrors our expectations of reading responses, which we hope to move the students into in the upcoming weeks as part of their jotting experience.

Math: After learning many ways to calculate area, this week we are shifting gear and examining calculating perimeter. We will look at attributes of shapes as a means to help us find missing sides.

Social Studies: Today we engaged in a minilesson on the Yangzte River, and throughout the rest of the week we will visit at least two more China Centers.

Thanks for your ongoing support!

Aimee Bouchard

Weekly Updates 1/12-1/16

NEWS/EVENTS

• 3-509 is going to Circle in the Square to watch their plays performed on Tuesday January 20th from 11:30-2 or so. All parents are invited to meet us at the theater to watch performances. If you are interested in joining us as a chaperone, please indicate this on the permission slip. I will announce chaperones on Wednesday.
• We are visiting the Rubin Museum on January 29th! Permission slips for this trip will be distributed Friday.
• Friday January 30th is family Friday.
• Alec is joining us Friday to guest speak!

Homework:

Monday: Read for 30 minutes and jot, Math group work (intro to area), sort words in word study notebook

Tuesday: Read for 30 minutes and jot, Math group work (Area- square units in inches and cm)

Wednesday: Read for 30 minutes and jot, Math group work (Area- square units in ft and m), Word Study menu option

Thursday: Read for 30 minutes and jot, Math group work (perimeter and area), glue word study words in purple workbook and study for spelling test

Friday: Read for 30 minutes and jot, Math HW (review of this week's work)

CURRICULUM

Reading: Today we started our next nonfiction reading unit, Countries Around the World. Students are working in small groups to learn about persona characters, realistic but fictitious student characters from China. During this unit they will learn how to consider what life is like in another place by stepping into their shoes. They will read with the lens of looking for information about their characters that might offer them insight about their lives.

Writing: After publishing their first persuasive essay students have a chance to use all that they know about opinion writing to craft a new persuasive essay, petition, or letter. We are practicing pacing and meeting a deadline, as all students are working through each step of the writing process by Friday.

Math: Today we officially launched our third math unit of the year Multiplication and Area. This week students are learning about square units and how they can be used to calculate area.

Social Studies: We are continuing to visit China centers to learn more about how the land, culture, economy, and history affects life in China. This week we will participate in a mini-lecture about the Yangtze River, and will learn some note-taking strategies to help absorb new information.

Have a great week!