Family celebration Wow! this morning was super amazing! The kids did a WONDERFUL job telling the story of their family. We all learned so much about each other. Thank you to everyone who attended. It was a fantastic experience for all, including the delicious food we had afterward. The students had a lot of fun presenting and were very glad to have so many adults in their audience, One student said, "It was really cool to have adults listen to me and ask me questions. They chose to come and learn about me and my family. That made me feel good." What a wonderful experience for them! A lot of our time this week was focused on preparing for today. We talked about how to be a good audience member and an effective presenter. They created outlines of their presentation and considered the aesthetics of their visual aid. They worked hard to communicate all that was important in their family's journey. Well done! Chinese New Year We also had a visit from teh Middle School this week. The mandarin class shared with us about Chinese New Year and we played a quiz game on Kahoot! Math Long division is about wrapped up and tests should be taken next week. LA We wrapped up verbs by talking about gerunds and participles, which was a great transition to reviewing nouns. They learned that ideas and feelings are ways to categorize nouns, along with persons, places and things. We will begin the Roots grade 5 book next week.
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Everyone had a great time visiting Middle School on Friday. They visited classes in the morning and then had lunch and recess with their 5th grade partners. Everyone is super excited for 5th grade at Roycemore next year.
LOWER SCHOOL CONFERENCES: Wednesday, February 10 and Thursday February 11. You should have received a link from me to sign up. Please contact me if you have any questions. LA We read about types of whales to build our background knowledge about these animals to help us understand Larry, as the villain, better. The concept of irony was introduced and we worked on using details from the story to create an image based on the description of the author. I have given the students the materials for a home project. They will watch a movie from the sci-fiction or fantasy genre. They will identify the character archetypes of the Hero's Journey and outline the structure, using events from the movie. You can watch this video or this one (with or without your child) to refresh yourself on the journey. Please see last weeks post for the links to the videos. Lots of stories are being written and read during Daily 5. Ask your student to share their work! We have completed the 4th grade Roots book and we will be beginning the 5th grade series next week. There is no Roots test this week. Next year the students will be given letter grades along with any percentage assigned to assignments. To begin getting them used to this system, I will assign them letter grades to accompany the percentage on the weekly Roots tests. There is no grade assigned to report cards and there is no more value put on these assessments. It is simply to reduce the grade shock of 5th grade. The scale is: 90-100 = A 80-89 = B 70-79 = C 60-69 = D Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Social Studies The family celebration is Friday. The presentation schedule is below. Flags are due tomorrow. It should be a creative interpretation of the Chicago flag that represents your family's culture and values. The students have complete freedom for this assignment. The food portion of the celebration is completely optional. Presentation Schedule 8:40 - Welcome 1st round of presentations - 8:40 am Jahnavi Macy Maddie Youngnim 2nd round- 8:55 am Simon Madeleine Mahir Ella 3rd round - 9:00 am Maya Daisy-may Daniel 9:10 am Presentation of food Talk with the presenters Wednesday is Preview Night & State of the School at 6:00pm. Please plan to attend. We cannot wait for you to visit the Middle School and meet the teachers. They are looking forward to meeting you.
4th grade will visiting the Middle School for Friday morning activities. They will talk with 5th graders and visit their classes. Super exciting! We will be visiting the Chicago History Museum on Thursday. Please send your child in their Roycemore 100 Years t-shirt and a lunch. No glass, please. LA Whales on Stilts is an instant favorite! The students already love this exaggerated and funny novel. We have talked about the mood and tone set by this author and the importance of imagery in this genre. I have given the students the materials for a home project. They will watch a movie from the sci-fiction or fantasy genre. They will identify the character archetypes of the Hero's Journey and outline the structure, using events from the movie. You can watch this video or this one (with or without your child) to refresh yourself on the journey. Please see last weeks post for the links to the videos. Lots of stories are being written and read during Daily 5. Ask your student to share their work! There is one more lesson left in the 4th grade Roots book and then we will be beginning the 5th grade series. Next year the students will be given letter grades along with any percentage assigned to assignments. To begin getting them used to this system, I will assign them letter grades to accompany the percentage on the weekly Roots tests. There is no grade assigned to report cards and there is no more value put on these assessments. It is simply to reduce the grade shock of 5th grade. The scale is: 90-100 = A 80-89 = B 70-79 = C 60-69 = D Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Math Work on long division continues. I have also been giving some skills check-ups to check retention of past math concepts. Social Studies Students identified one country of their heritage to research. They are so interested to find out more about themselves. Some students are using themselves as experts, as well as looking up information on valid web sites. We talked about how Wikipedia is structured as a resource and why sites like Answers.com may not be the voice of experts. They are also working on creating an artistic interpretation of the Chicago flag that represents your family. They can use any medium or materials. This is a purely creative part of the project. It can be completed at home or they can bring the materials in to school and work. They also have access to materials in the classroom. The flag is due January 25. The family celebration will be Friday, January 29. It will be from 8:45-10:00 am. It will be done conference style, where a group of students will present in one of three rounds. I will send your child's presentation time home. Feel free to stay for part or all, if you can make it. The presentations should be done around 9:40 and then we will have a sampling of foods from anyone who would like to bring in a food that is important to your family. It will be I am so excited to be back at school. There are so many fun and exciting things happening in our classroom. LA The Science Fiction & Fantasy unit is underway. The students have spent the week studying short stories to understand the characteristics of these genres. We also watched Rescue Bots and Miles From Tomorrowland, as examples. Star Wars was used to teach these concepts and the Hero's Journey. I will be sending home an assignment for the students to watch a movie from the sci-fiction or fantasy genre. They will identify the character archetypes of the Hero's Journey and outline the structure, using events from the movie. You can watch this video or this one (with or without your child) to refresh yourself on the journey. Math We worked on a little review and some assessments this week. The students also worked to together to put on short plays about what to do with the remainder in a real-world division situation. Social Studies The family history interview is due on Monday. We are also working on creating an artistic interpretation of the Chicago flag that represents your family. They can use any medium or materials. This is a purely creative part of the project. The flag is due by January 25. The family celebration will be Friday, January 29. It will be from 8:45-10:00 am. It will be done conference style, where a group of students will present in one of three rounds. I will send your child's presentation time home. Feel free to stay for part or all, if you can make it. The presentations should be done around 9:40 and then we will have a sampling of foods from anyone who would like to bring in a food that is important to your family. We talked about being an immigrant vs. a refugee. We read news articles about refugees from central America and Syria. The students then took a simulated journey as a Syrian refugee, and then wrote a diary entry from the perspective of a Syrian refugee. Try your own journey. RFA COFFEE: Tuesday January 14 in the foyer right after drop-off. MOVE UP NIGHT WEDNESDAY JANUARY 20: We hope to see everyone there to meet your children's next teacher. ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES: All activities are going this week except Chess. Chess will begin on January 21. Please check Melinda's blog for more information. MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY: January 18: To honor Dr. Martin Luther King, there is no school on Monday, January 18, but we are running an Extended Day camp for those of you who need childcare. Please check Melinda's blog for more information. |