Thank you!

Dear Families of 3-509,

It has been a privilege to work with you this year and watch our amazing kids grow and blossom. I can't thank you enough for your support- from chaperoning trips to volunteering to guest lecture, our class community would not be the same without your ongoing presence. Your collaboration has been the key to our students' success, and their eagerness to learn.

Thank you to Colette and Amanda for being the most amazing classroom parents. Our community was always informed of events and important information because of your efforts, and your organization of special events (book fairs, mystery readers, etc) has given everyone opportunities to get involved. You're amazing.

I was incredibly touched and moved by your thoughtful end of the year class gift. We are excited to use it towards some additional things to prepare for our little girl's arrival! Dev and I thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Please know that you are all my inspiration to be an amazing parent. Every day I watch you make parenting in New York City look exciting and an adventure that I am ready to partake in. It's not an easy place to live, but you have shown me that the best kids come from our incredible city, and now our little girl can be part of this unique crowd of kids that are so open to the world.

Please keep in touch- I would love to continue to hear about what your families have been up to!

A few last updates regarding the end of the year before I embark on my next adventure...

• Ms. Lampf and Ms. Mackenzie will be coordinating with Ms. Penn (and reaching out to Colette and Amanda) to set up an end of the year picnic for the kids at the water park on the river near 23rd street for June 22nd. Please keep your eyes open for information about this.
• All report cards and portfolio contents will be sent home on Friday June 24th. PLEASE RETURN PORTFOLIOS TO MS. PENN by next week!
• Next Friday June 17th is Field Day.
• Meet your new teacher day is Tuesday June 21st.
• The last day of school is Tuesday June 28th. This is a half day. Dismissal will be at 11:50.
• If you have questions or concerns please forward them to Ms. Penn via a handwritten note directly delivered by the kids, or call the main office.

Have a wonderful summer with your families, and take care!

Much love,

Aimee Bouchard

Meet Ms. Penn :)

Meet Ms. Penn!

I am absolutely thrilled to introduce you to Ms. Penn, the fantastic teacher that will be with our kids for the last 10.5 days of school! She will take the helm of 3-509 starting this upcoming Monday, June 13th. I have known Ms. Penn for quite some time now, and not only is she a pleasure to work with- she has an amazing connection with the kids.

A little background information about Ms. Penn:

She has subbed at PS 11 for the past three years. She has two masters degrees in Social Studies Education and Special Education, and has worked with a wide range of students of all abilities. In her spare time she loves photography (especially photos of her son), and loves to scrapbook. She enjoys vegan cooking and is interested in writing literature for children.

She is so excited to work with our class these last few days, and will be joining us on Wednesday and Friday for an amazing transition. Welcome, Ms. Penn!

Weekly Updates 6/6-6/10

NEWS/EVENTS

Hi Everyone!

Today I met with the kids to share my end of the year plans with them. I'm sad to say that my last day with them will be this Friday, June 10th. It has been a great year, and I told them that although it makes me sad to good bye for now, I feel really good about the work we've done and the end of the year plan we have in place. They were overjoyed to learn that Ms. Penn is going to be with them for their last 10.5 days of school. She is one of the kindest, most hard working substitutes I have worked with, and the kids will have a great last few days with her. Shortly I will be posting an introduction! I will be reaching out to you again before the end of the week. Thanks for all of your ongoing support.

• Tomorrow we are harvesting some plants from the PS 11 Garden (little yard) at 10:30. Please come join us if you are free!
• Wednesday we are running the PS 11 Farm Stand from 9-10 am. Parents are welcome to join us if you'd like. The kids will drop off their things and then we will meet you in front of the school.
• There is no school this Thursday 6/9 or next Tuesday 6/14. These are staff clerical days.
• Field Day is next Friday June 17th!
• Meet your new teacher day is Tuesday 6/21
• The last day of school is 6/28, this is a half day
• All portfolio contents and report cards will most likely be sent home Friday 6/24. PLEASE RETURN PORTFOLIOS ASAP. 
• The end of the year potluck dinner and dance is Friday 6/24 after school

CURRICULUM

Reading- This week is Social Issue book clubs students are looking at specific moments (turning points) that teach us how our characters work through struggles and face different Social Issues. Throughout this unit we will refer to Each Kindness, The Can Man, and Junkyard Wonders as mentor texts to help guide these conversations.

Writing- Students have been working on drafting Fairy Tale Adaptations of Cinderella. The steps for doing this involve:

• Picking an element to change (character, setting, event)
• Plotting out the domino effect of that change
• Stitching scenes together with thoughtful narration

Later in the week students will have a chance to develop an adaptation of one of their own favorite Fairy Tales. They will select one of these tales to bring to their fourth grade teachers on "Meet your new teacher" day.

Math- This week in our Geometry unit we are going over the various attributes of shapes and broadening our descriptions with more sophisticated comparisons.

As always, email me with any questions!

Weekly Updates 5/23- 5/27

NEWS/EVENTS

• This Wednesday is Poetry night at PS 11! Our own Julia G. was nominated as our class poet and will be doing a reading. All other students will have a poem on display as part of a gallery to celebrate their work. 
• Family Friday is this Friday, and the theme is Enrichment activities! All parents will report directly to student enrichment locations for a presentation and celebration of the work over the last 10 weeks.
• Keep yours eyes open for a letter about third graders launching HOP- Homework Based Options. We will pilot this for our last units in June! The letter will be sent out at the end of the week.
• Portfolios will be send home on Friday!

HOMEWORK

Word Study Groups:

Humble: Sort 14

Determined: Sort 38

Ambitious: Sort 36

Monday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, use the Graphing and Data Review as a study guide to go over concepts on tomorrow's Post Assessment

Tuesday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, select a word study menu option

Wednesday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, complete practice pages in purple word study workbook

Thursday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, study for  spelling test

Friday: Have a wonderful 3 day weekend :)

CURRICULUM

Reading: This week we are launching the last unit of the year- Social Issue book clubs. In the first bend we will explore different Social Issues students face, and consider reading with the lens of Social Issues in club books.

Writing: This week we are finalizing the publishing of our "Countries Around the World" books. Students have thoughtfully selected paper choices to highlight text features and best capture ideas presented in their research.

Math: Tomorrow we are taking the "The Data Collection and Graphing Process" Post Assessment. Later in the week we will take the pre assessment for our next unit- Geometry.

Weekly Updates 5/16-5/20

NEWS/EVENTS

• Tonight is the PS 11 Gala at Hudson Terrace! I will be there from 6-9, and I will keep my eyes peeled for you!
• Next Tuesday May 24th our class is visiting the Scholastic Book Fair.
• Next Friday May 27th the theme of Family Friday is Enrichment classes! Parents will be invited to visit the enrichment group students have been visiting for the past 10 weeks. Families will report directly to enrichment groups- not regular classrooms.
• Next Friday May 27th portfolios will be sent home to families with updated work.

HOMEWORK

Word Sorts

Humble: Sort 13

Determined: Sort 37

Ambitious: Sort 35

Monday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, categorize words in word study notebook (if you haven't done so already), math group HW

Tuesday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, math group HW

Wednesday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, Word Study practice page that accompanies sort (in purple workbook), math group HW

Thursday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, glue and paste word into categories in purple workbook and study for spelling test, math group HW

Friday: Work on publishing country books for 30-45 minutes,  Data Review (end of unit test is next Tuesday)

CURRICULUM

Reading: This week we are wrapping up the final bend in our reading unit, Countries Around the World. We are reading Folk Tales from our countries with the lens of considering material from the perspective of culture, economy, history, land, power, and morals/lessons learned. We will start our next and final unit of the year on May 23rd (one of my favorites)- Social Issues Books Clubs.

Writing: This week we are revising our drafts and moving towards publishing our country books by next Wednesday. Our next unit will start on June 1st- Fairy Tale adaptations!

Math: This week all math groups are reviewing line plots and measurements to the nearest 1/2 and 1/4, and going through one more cycle of the data collection process. We will review next Friday and Monday, and take the Post Assessment on Tuesday 5/24.

Weekly Updates 5/9-5/13

NEWS/EVENTS

• Tomorrow students selected from the lottery will be participating in the track meet with Mr. Nichols.
• Next Monday 5/16 the annual PS 11 Gala is taking place at Hudson Terrace. I look forward to seeing many of you there!
• This month Family Friday is taking place May 27th- the theme is grades 3-5 Enrichment groups! Families will be visiting the enrichment groups of their students from 8:50-9:30.
• Portfolios will be sent home again on May 27th. If your family still has yours at home, please send it back to school!

Homework

This week's word sorts:
Humble: Sort 12
Determined: Sort 36
Ambitious: Sort 34

Monday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, Math Group HW, Sort Word Study Words into categories if you did not complete this in class

Tuesday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, Math Group HW

Wednesday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, Math Group HW, Word Study Practice Activity in Purple Workbook

Thursday: Read and jot for 30 minutes, Math Group HW, Glue words in word study workbook, study for spelling test

Friday: Reading Response

** A general note about reading responses going forward: I would love for the kids to complete one a week. It does not have to be on the weekend, if their schedules don't allow it.

CURRICULUM

Reading- Today many students brought in artifacts from the countries we have been learning about (a big thanks for help in gathering these items) and continued to compare and contrast their observations. The final bend of this unit involves learning about the countries we are studying through the lens of Folktales from these countries. We will consider what the folktale teaches us about the land, economy, culture, and history of a country. This unit will end by next Tuesday (5/17).

Writing- After creating a main table of contents and mini tables of contents for each chapter, students will embark on drafting their chapters, particularly focusing on elaboration. They will consider how to add facts, details, observations, and many other examples to strengthen their expertise. We will also start to think about the layout and structure of different chapters.

Math: We are repeating the data collection process of asking a question, collecting data, organizing and representing data, describing and summarizing data, and interpreting the data but this time pictographs. We are considering the process as a whole and are working to develop more sophisticated questions that have a meaningful purpose.

Social Studies: The work we have been doing around Folk Tales is now integrated into the reading workshop. 

Weekly Updates 4/18-4/22

NEWS/EVENTS

• This Friday is Family Friday! Our theme is countries around the world in reading and writing! Please look out for an email from me this evening about this event!
• Next week is April Vacation!
• The spring gala is Monday May 16th!

HOMEWORK

Word Sorts:

Humble: Sort 10

Determined: Sort 34

Ambitious: Sort 32

Monday: Finish Folk Tale Project For Ms. Wurman.

Tuesday: Read and Jot for 30 minutes, write words from sort into categories in word study notebooks, Math Group HW

Wednesday: Read and Jot for 30 minutes, Math Group HW

Thursday: Read and Jot for 30 minutes, glue word sorts into categories in purple workbook, study for spelling test, Math Group HW

Over break: TBD, email soon to follow (it will be minimal)

CURRICULUM

Reading: This week we are starting bend two of our "Reading in a Content Area" unit. This time around students will research a second country with their groups using everything they know to create meaningful jots and teach others about new ideas.

Writing: This week we are launching our next writing unit- Informational Writing in a Content Area, specifically focusing on a country from around the world. Students will collect research about a country of their choice and paraphrase notes into their own words. They will then start to develop a table of contents and plan a book focusing on many unique aspects of their chosen countries.

Math: This week we are launching our next math unit- The Data Collection Process and Graphing. In this unit students will develop questions, conduct surveys, display collected data, summarize it, and draw conclusions. We will conduct three cycles of this around bar graphs, picture graphs, and line plots.

Social Studies: As we learn more about specific countries researched, we will read folk tales from these countries to learn about the culture.