End-of-Week Update, 10/24

Read about our Mix-It-Up Publishing Party below!

What we've been up to:

We laughed our pants off reading The Sisters Grimm this week as Sheriff Hamstead lost his pants on a barbed wire fence!  We've really been enjoying our read aloud and we've been working hard trying to identify the theme (important lesson, overall message) in both The Sisters Grimm and our own Readers Workshop books.  We've been trying to use characters, the problem and solution in the book, and other events in the plot as clues to help us determine the themes of the books we're reading.  We're even trying to think of themes as we watch movies!

In writing, we worked hard to finish revising and editing our second personal narratives!  We met with our writing partners and reflected on the goals we set at the beginning of these stories.  We re-read the advice we got from Mrs. Adams and from our families and made sure that these final copies were our very best!  The best part of the week, by far, was having a Mix-it-Up Publishing Party with our friends from Room 21 on Friday!  Check out the photos below.  First, we met in small mixed-up groups to share our stories aloud.  We made sure we read our stories with expression and pride (not like bored robots!) and we listened respectfully.  Then, we got to "pop" around from room to room and read all of the other personal narratives we didn't hear in our small groups.  We also left specific compliments for the authors of the stories we read.  Then, at the end, we enjoyed a page full of compliments for our own stories!  It was an awesome way to wrap up personal narratives.  Mrs. Adams and Miss Farrell told us that next week we're starting fiction - we're so excited!

In math this week, we wrapped up our study of place value, including rounding.  We took our Topic 3 quiz and already started in on Topic 4, which is all about addition and subtraction of BIG numbers!  We have been creating a "WATCH OUT" list of all of the common mistakes that fourth graders typically make when adding and subtracting including lining up the place values wrong, making fact errors, making regrouping (carrying) errors, doing the wrong operation, and making copying mistakes.  We didn't make the list to make ourselves feel badly, just so we can be on the look out for mistakes we can avoid!

In social studies this week, we learned about the 10 provinces and 3 territories in Canada as well as some important cities.  We saw photos of some cool places in Canada and are excited to learn more in the coming weeks!

In spite of some rainy weather this week, we've had some fun times during indoor recess!

Conor and Jeremiah with their mammoth creation!

Check out Joey's cartoon of everybody's favorite "pear shaped" sheriff - Sheriff Hamstead!

Tyler, Liam, and Cameron are aspiring cartoonists!

Check back in at the end of next week for some more fun (and spooky) updates!

What's coming up:

• Thursday and Friday (10/30 and 10/31) are half day for students due to parent / teacher conferences.  Please be in touch or check in Sign-Up Genius if you forgot your date / time.
• Topic 4 math test will be on Thursday.  Please see the purple study guide in your child's take home folder for more information on what will be covered!

Spotlight on Tyler

Congratulations to another Room 20 athlete - Tyler!  He also ran in the Run for Spud on Columbus Day weekend.  He continues to shine as a runner in PE class!  Go, Tyler - Room 20 is proud of you!

End-of-Week Update, 10/17

Check it out!  Another TWO students from Room 20 were chosen as celebrity singers this week!
Way to go Isabella and Joey!!

What we've been up to:
Last week was an action-packed week filled with mammoth amounts of writing, reading, math, and a new unit about Canada!  Check out the video we watched on Friday - it got us psyched up to learn about Canada (and visit someday, too!)

In writing, we have been working on continuing our second personal narrative drafts!  We continued to use the new dialogue strategies we learned last week.  This week, we learned about four awesome ways to end our stories - important dialogue, a feeling / emotion, a lesson learned, and a circular ending.  Circular endings are hard, but we really love them!  Sometimes good endings are "combo endings" which combine one or more of those types.  We also learned how to properly include a flash back or flash forward in our writing so it's not confusing to the readers.  We learned (from a "Harry Potter" movie clip) that playing around with time in our stories is tricky business, so we are careful when we include flash backs and flash forwards!  Finally, some of us have started (and will continue next week) completing a mega big revising and editing checklist that includes everything we've done so far in writing.  It's a lot!  More next week on final copies and a publishing party!  Stay tuned!

In math, we started learning about place value - how to read and write big numbers using place value words, how to compare numbers using <, >, and =, and how to round numbers to different place values.  We have a place value quiz on Topic 3 on Wednesday.  We think we'll be ready if we can focus on the place value chart, review the steps to rounding, and use our number sense with each problem we encounter!  We are still working on playing multiplication fact fluency games and getting our facts mastered!

In reading, we've been working on using all of the strategies we've learned so far - wondering, asking thick questions, and visualizing as we read and listen actively.  We've been focused on asking questions about the author's choices (especially since we're authors ourselves!)  In The Sisters Grimm, we've been very excited to make predictions based on the clues and cliffhangers Michael Buckley has been leaving us.  We've noticed his writing is very suspenseful!  We can't wait to read more next week.

In social studies, we've started a new unit about Canada!  We saw an awesome video (see above) of short clips that Canadians video taped of all sorts of fun things you can do in Canada.  We didn't realize how many outdoor activities you can do that aren't in the snow!  We met with "Mix-it-up" partners from Miss Farrell's class to start a KWL chart.  We listed what we already know and wrote a list of what we're wondering for future research as our unit continues.  We can't wait to complete a research project with our new Canada partners from Room 21!

Stay tuned for more excitement next week!

What's coming up:

• Topic 3 place value quiz will be Wednesday, 10/22
• Weather unit test will be Friday, 10/24
• Health class requires sneakers for the next few weeks (Tuesdays)
• Cold weather is expected!  Appropriate outdoor clothing is necessary to go out for recess and PE.
• Parent / teacher conferences will be 10/30 and 10/31.  Please sign up with the Sign-Up Genius link.

Spotlight on Emma & Ruth Ann!

A mammoth CONGRATULATIONS to our very own Emma and Ruth Ann for their recent participation in various races around the state!  Room 20 is proud of you girls!  Keep up the good work!

Ruth Ann participated in her very first 5k - the Run for Spud on Saturday, October 11th!  Go, Ruth Ann!

Emma also participated in the Run for Spud with her dad on Saturday.  Additionally, she ran in the children's race at the Tufts 10k for Women in Boston and was the first girl to cross the finish line!  Woo hoo!

End-of-Week Update, 10/10

Cameron and Shaw used teamwork to BOTH earn "celebrity singer" status this week!
We're so proud of their joint efforts to be outstanding - just keep swimming!

What we've been up to:
You'll be astounded at all Room 20 students have been doing in the past week leading up to our Columbus Day long weekend!

In writing, we started brand new personal narratives.  Before moving on, though, we met with buddies who gave us feedback using a personal narrative checklist of everything we've learned so far in writing.  Mrs. Adams gave us lots of advice about our writing, too!  We used all that advice to set an intention (make a goal) for our next story.  We have new writing partners and new stories going!  We learned how to avoid writing "Twinkie dialogue" by adding noisy / quiet tag lines, adding actions with our dialogue, and adding adverbs to show how the dialogue was spoken.  We started our new drafts (lots of us using dialogue leads) and are working on drafting and revising / editing next week!  Stay tuned for an upcoming writing "party" in the next week!

Shaw and Matt setting writing goals!

Isabella and Liam setting writing goals!

Audria and Destiny setting writing goals!

In math, we wrapped up our study of patterns, including geometric patterns.  Check out the photos of us building geometric patterns below!  We learned some new problem solving strategies, including making a table and using drawings to help us keep track of our thinking.  We took our Topic 2 test and tried our best to read / follow directions and check our work carefully before handing it in!  Next week we're starting a brand new topic!

In science, we learned a lot more about weather!  We learned about air masses - types of air masses, and how they are formed.  We also learned about fronts - cold, warm, stationary, and occluded.  We know the symbols and how they are formed!  We learned about the jet stream - a giant "river" of air that blows around the planet and affects our weather (and our flights!)  For "Mix-it-Up Day" with Room 21, we completed a fun activity with Skittles that helped us to see the difference between weather and climate.  Ask us about how Skittles taught us such a sophisticated concept!

In reading, we've been working on asking questions and thinking about what types of questions we're asking as we read.  We've been focusing on asking "thick" questions, but we know it's important to ask clarifying questions when something doesn't make sense.  Some "thick" questions we've been asking have been about characters and their decisions and relationships, the author's decisions, and the overall message of the book.  In The Sisters Grimm, we've been asking a LOT of questions because the plot is getting really complicated!  We can't wait to keep reading next week.

Next week may be a short week, but we have a lot planned!  Be sure to leave a comment for us below!

What's coming up:

• If you haven't signed up for a parent/teacher conference in October, please do so with the Sign-Up Genius link that was sent home.
• Students will need to wear sneakers for both PE and health for the next few weeks.  This is Monday and Tuesday for our class.

End-of-Week Update, 10/3

Room 20 had a blast learning about the Franklin Public Library on Friday!

What we've been up to:
What an amazing, busy, and remarkable week!  This week was full of fun projects, special events, and even a field trip.  Read on about what made this week so special!

On Tuesday, we were finally able to put our puff mobiles to the test!  The Puff Mobile Race was held on Tuesday afternoon and it was a thrilling time.  Our four puff mobiles (see team photos below!) performed well and our teams showed great sportsmanship, cooperation, and engineering enthusiasm!  We had fun, learned about engineering, and even learned about ourselves.  A great time was had by all!

This week was a special week in reading!  Destiny shared a book talk about Cam Jansen, we worked on visualizing plot and characters, and we had a special visitor from the Franklin Public Library come to speak to us on Wednesday.  Ms. Andrews, the assistant director of the FPL, taught us all about the awesome resources we can find online using our library cards.  We were so excited to use our cards at home (with our parents' supervision and permission) and, of course, to use them on our field trip to the library on Friday!

Our trip to the library was awsesome!  We took the bus with Mrs. Merten's class and arrived at the library around 9 AM.  First, Mrs. Rappa from the library taught us about the history of the library.  We learned all about the Ray sisters and how they built the library as a gift for their parents.  We also learned about the Greek architecture and designs that are found all over the library!  We had fun finding the three different types of columns (Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian) as well as the "egg and dart" design around doors, walls, and windows.  After we took a tour of the library, we created a door hanger craft with Miss Farrell's class and then it was time to use our library cards!  We had time to check out books, movies, magazines, and CDs.  Some of us used the "self check-out" counter!  We left with piles of treasures from the library.  Once we got back to our classroom, we had a chance to add to our "Someday" lists by looking at what our classmates checked out.  It was a great way to get psyched about reading!  Check out the photos below.

In science, we built our terrariums!  It was a rainy day, so we had to build them inside, but it was still lots of fun.  Our class and Miss Farrell's class built terrariums together.  We started with a scoop of gravel at the bottom for drainage.  Then we added just enough potting soil, planted plant clippings, and watered our terrariums for the one and only time before sealing the top with a lid or plastic wrap.  Mrs. Adams showed us this super old terrarium that hasn't been opened for 53 years!  Ask us how it's possible (due to the water cycle) for plants to survive in a sealed jar and never get watered.  Fascinating!  Check out the photos below!

This week in math, we worked on patterns - repeating number and shape patterns, tables, and finding the "rule" of different patterns using our math skills.  Our Topic 2 math test is next Thursday (10/9).  In writing, we've been working on finishing up our first personal narratives and we'll be starting new ones next week.  At chorus this week, Audria was named celebriary singer - we were so excited and proud of her!

Way to go, Audria, this week's celebrity singer!

If you weren't at Open House (or didn't see the sign), please subscribe to our blog!  You'll get emails when a new post is up and you'll be able to keep up with the latest Room 20 news.  See you next week!

What's coming up:

• Our Topic 2 math test is Thursday, 10/4.  Use the pink study guide to help your child in preparing for this test at home.
• We have no school on Monday, 10/13 for Columbus Day!
• If you have not yet scheduled a conference for October, please use the Sign-Up Genius link to do so.  Contact Mrs. Adams if you need help!