June 7, 2019
May 24, 2019
This week we embarked upon the final study of our unit on the west - the Gold Rush! We had special guest "Sam Brannon" come in and announce the discovery of gold. We learned that people from all over the world came to California. Students were mixed and split into Social Studies rooms. What location is your child traveling from? The most exciting part about this unit was when going over the details of what a trip from Rio to San Fran was like. "Wait....it's just like a whaling ship!" Next we talked about the details for travelers from New York and Missouri. "Wait....it's just like Little House!" "It's all of our social studies coming together!" This made my day! |
As a reminder, the last day of school for 4th grade is Tuesday, June 4th. On Monday and Tuesday, we have special activities planned for the rising 5th grade class!
Here is the plan, though some items might flip flop based upon the weather. Bolded items will happen on their designated days regardless of the weather.
On Monday, the day will start off with the 8th grade carnival. Regular specials (PE and Art/Music) will happen this day. As a grade, students will participate in a “How well do you know your teacher?” trivia game, create welcome gifts for the students new to FA, and write a letter to our future teacher. We are also asking that students bring in their favorite board game from home in case there is extra time in the day.
On Tuesday, we will still have our morning special of Music/Art. We will go on a hike to the stone bridge and play three outdoor whole-group games. We will enjoy ice cream after lunch from the Oxford Creamery Ox Cart truck and watch a movie. There is no pizza lunch that day, as it will have already concluded the previous week.
Here is the plan, though some items might flip flop based upon the weather. Bolded items will happen on their designated days regardless of the weather.
On Monday, the day will start off with the 8th grade carnival. Regular specials (PE and Art/Music) will happen this day. As a grade, students will participate in a “How well do you know your teacher?” trivia game, create welcome gifts for the students new to FA, and write a letter to our future teacher. We are also asking that students bring in their favorite board game from home in case there is extra time in the day.
On Tuesday, we will still have our morning special of Music/Art. We will go on a hike to the stone bridge and play three outdoor whole-group games. We will enjoy ice cream after lunch from the Oxford Creamery Ox Cart truck and watch a movie. There is no pizza lunch that day, as it will have already concluded the previous week.
Congratulations to Charlotte, who won the giant teddy bear in the spring swing raffle!
Have a great Memorial Day weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
Have a great Memorial Day weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
May 20, 2019
Thanks to those of you who came to Portfolio Day. We had samplings of different activities, some of which set our program apart. Some of you asked about the visual cluster cards that were used for our warm-up "Around the World" game. You can read more about them in the link below.
mathlanguage.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/sight-facts-vs-sight-words/ For even more information, you can read about Professor Mahesh Sharma from The Center for Teaching and Learning Mathematics. sites.google.com/site/4mathforall/readings/mahesh_sharma_bio |
Visualizing and Verbalizing
We revived an old favorite from the start of the year (using specific key words to help create a visual in our minds) when describing a picture. Tess described for her first time, using one of the pictures from the program. Charlotte had the opportunity to select a photo on her own. She went with a funny hippo character from a typing program we use occasionally when we need a break from our norm!
Reminders for Parent Events
Spring Concert
On Thursday, May 23rd at 6:00 p.m., we will be presenting our annual Spring Concert. Students should arrive at school by 5:45 and go directly to their classrooms. This is a "dress event" for students. Dress pants and shirts with collars (no coat and tie required), dresses, skirts, and blouses, or comparable dress attire are required for this special performance. All 4th graders will be sitting on the stage to play instruments and should wear slacks or leggings.
Sally Borden Culminating Ceremony
Please join us for our SBP Culminating Ceremony on May 31 at 8:30am in the Commons. The celebration honors our students and their year of learning and growth.
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
Spring Concert
On Thursday, May 23rd at 6:00 p.m., we will be presenting our annual Spring Concert. Students should arrive at school by 5:45 and go directly to their classrooms. This is a "dress event" for students. Dress pants and shirts with collars (no coat and tie required), dresses, skirts, and blouses, or comparable dress attire are required for this special performance. All 4th graders will be sitting on the stage to play instruments and should wear slacks or leggings.
Sally Borden Culminating Ceremony
Please join us for our SBP Culminating Ceremony on May 31 at 8:30am in the Commons. The celebration honors our students and their year of learning and growth.
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
May 12, 2019
Here are some updates from around the school as we get into the home stretch. Also, Blue and Grey (field) day is this coming Friday. Feel free to support your team by dressing in your team color and adding any accessories. Here is the breakdown in our room:
Blue
Charlotte
Emma
AJ
Matthew
Sofia
Grey
Tess
Cynthia
Dylan
Blue
Charlotte
Emma
AJ
Matthew
Sofia
Grey
Tess
Cynthia
Dylan
From the tech department:
Next week, I will begin printing t-shirts for the kids. Please share this information with parents. T-shirts can be new or used and of a light color (white or any soft tone). If new, the transfer will stick better to a pre-washed shirt. Once the transfer is applied, it would be a good idea to wash the shirt separately, inside out, as the ink may bleed. Over time, the print may crack. To preserve the quality of the print, I usually hang dry the shirts. I haven't done enough experimentation to say whether the transfer would stick better to one material over another.
From the library:
Next week will be the last week that students will be able to check out library materials. We will still have library classes, and students are welcome to look at books while they are here, but starting on Monday, May 20th, students will only be checking materials back in. As a bonus, I am offering a small "prize" (in addition to the satisfying feeling of responsible behavior) for students who return all of their library materials by the time that summer vacation starts! :)
If students or families need to know what is still checked out on a student's account, I will be very happy to print/send a list. I'm reminding Lower School students during classes and I'll plan to make an announcement at All School Meeting next week.
From the music department:
On Thursday, May 23rd at 6:00 p.m., we will be presenting our annual Spring Concert, featuring performances by students in early childhood through grade five, plus our Band of Friends. The concert should last for about an hour and a quarter.
Students should arrive at school by 5:45 and go directly to their classrooms. This is a "dress event" for students. Dress pants and shirts with collars (no coat and tie required), dresses, skirts, and blouses, or comparable dress attire are required for this special performance. Students who may be sitting on the stage to play instruments should wear slacks or leggings.
Next week, I will begin printing t-shirts for the kids. Please share this information with parents. T-shirts can be new or used and of a light color (white or any soft tone). If new, the transfer will stick better to a pre-washed shirt. Once the transfer is applied, it would be a good idea to wash the shirt separately, inside out, as the ink may bleed. Over time, the print may crack. To preserve the quality of the print, I usually hang dry the shirts. I haven't done enough experimentation to say whether the transfer would stick better to one material over another.
From the library:
Next week will be the last week that students will be able to check out library materials. We will still have library classes, and students are welcome to look at books while they are here, but starting on Monday, May 20th, students will only be checking materials back in. As a bonus, I am offering a small "prize" (in addition to the satisfying feeling of responsible behavior) for students who return all of their library materials by the time that summer vacation starts! :)
If students or families need to know what is still checked out on a student's account, I will be very happy to print/send a list. I'm reminding Lower School students during classes and I'll plan to make an announcement at All School Meeting next week.
From the music department:
On Thursday, May 23rd at 6:00 p.m., we will be presenting our annual Spring Concert, featuring performances by students in early childhood through grade five, plus our Band of Friends. The concert should last for about an hour and a quarter.
Students should arrive at school by 5:45 and go directly to their classrooms. This is a "dress event" for students. Dress pants and shirts with collars (no coat and tie required), dresses, skirts, and blouses, or comparable dress attire are required for this special performance. Students who may be sitting on the stage to play instruments should wear slacks or leggings.
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
May 3, 2019
We had a wonderful Grandfriends' Day! All visitors did well with our modern-day pop quiz (Kahoot!) about the National Parks. We are excited to welcome you to see these projects and more at Portfolio Day on Wednesday, May 15th. For now, can you take a peek at who studied what, and try to match them to their projects below. We will start right after All School Meeting, about 8:45, and go until 9:45. Have a great weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
April 28, 2019
Happy Sunday, everyone! We are all energized after some time off and in the home stretch for the end of the year. We are embracing new projects and and new book (both new to the students and to me) giving us some nice momentum going forward. Read on to see what is happening.
Math
Although we continue to plug away at basic fractional skills, moving in to equivalent fractions this coming week, we are starting each class with a random review problem. Students come up to the Smartboard, spin the spinner, and grab a corresponding problem with one of the 4 basic skills. I know that this summer there will be a math packet to work on, but even something as simple as a "problem of the day" will be both quick and beneficial.
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Take a peek at the pictures from a Fraction Pictionary game. Each student came up with an object to draw, yet it had to depict a fraction. The team had to guess both the object and the fraction before the time was up to earn a point. If not, the other team had a chance to steal. Here are few examples. How would you do?
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Language Arts
We recently started the book Fish in a Tree by author Lynda Mullaly Hunt. This book describes a middle school girl's journey with Dyslexia. It was recommended to our class during a book buzz from Ms. Conlon's 4th grade class. To introduce the book, we looked at a famous comic strip depicting how, at times, the traditional way of teaching and testing isn't fair for all learners. The class then took their hand at creating their own comic about this topic. |
Social Studies
We are getting ready for our Grandfriends' Day National Park project. Thank you for helping your child gather materials from home. We gathered and created supplies here at school, too. Ask your child about our experiments involving the creation of both kinetic sand and red sand. Which was more successful?
Our research came from two specific sites, the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. We are learning that true research takes a bit more effort and skill than simply asking Google "When did the Grand Canyon become a National Park?" We are doing a great job with this! Now that our research is almost complete, tomorrow we can start the week off with creating.
Please know that families will be able to see and learn about our projects at our May 15th portfolio day, which will happen immediately following All School Meeting.
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
Our research came from two specific sites, the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior. We are learning that true research takes a bit more effort and skill than simply asking Google "When did the Grand Canyon become a National Park?" We are doing a great job with this! Now that our research is almost complete, tomorrow we can start the week off with creating.
Please know that families will be able to see and learn about our projects at our May 15th portfolio day, which will happen immediately following All School Meeting.
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
April 14, 2019
Language Arts/Writing
This week we finished reading Little House. We discussed whose voices were missing from the text, and took a turn at writing a paragraph or creating a few slides from the Native American perspective. The specific task was to write what feelings the native people had when they saw the Ingalls family for the first time, and explain why they entered their house.
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Fraction Bracket!
This week we began our fraction unit by playing a dice cover-up game. Who will be the first to cover up their whole piece? This seemingly simple luck game can quickly turn into a puzzling challenge. Who needs the NCAA Basketball March Madness when you have an April 4th Grade Fraction Bracket? Congratulations to our champion! |
Celebration
This week we celebrated AJ and saying goodbye to his cast and/or boot! I knew the foot in the box of 101 cookie cutters would come in handy some day! Enjoy the week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
April 7, 2019
Apple Valley School Graduates
Our two weeks of prairie study have come to a finish. Luckily, all the students received enough points to graduate from the Apple Valley School. We look to finish up Little House on the Prairie, and are still actively keeping track of events/sayings that would not be considered okay in 2019. We move on to the west this coming week - it is hard to believe that this will be our final social studies unit for the school year!
Please remember to make note of all the important dates on the home page of the website. Thanks!
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
Please remember to make note of all the important dates on the home page of the website. Thanks!
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
March 29, 2019
Art and Poetry
If you are new to Friends Academy, you will soon be hearing about Arts and Poetry night, on April 25th. This is an event that is required for middle school students, as they read their poems aloud to an audience. Lower School has our own event, Spring Concert. Please know that when Arts and Poetry night comes around, you are welcome to tour the school at any time after dismissal to view amazing artwork from the entire school! You so not have to arrive at a specific time if you are not in middle school. The artwork remains up for a few weeks if you cannot make it that day. If you have any time available to help hang artwork on Thursday, April 18th between 8 and 5, please email [email protected] This week we had two visits from poet Lyn Hoopes. We used the wire sculptures of our future selves that were created during art class with Mrs. Cogliano for our inspiration. Take a look at our sculptures and see if you can guess which one our child made. If you need a hint, please read your child's poem below and try to match it to the sculpture! |
Social Studies
To coordinate with our final two weeks of Midwestern study, the grade will participate in a simulation of a one-room schoolhouse during social studies time. This week we transported ourselves back to the 1870's to the fictional town of Apple Valley. The above photo shows a visit from Susan Guiducci. She is a former FA parent, and is in charge of the educational program at the Dartmouth Historical Society. She talked to us about life back in the Dartmouth area during that time. Below, you can check out our new family groupings and identities within the town of Apple Valley.
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Have a great weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
March 8, 2019
Writing
Minor finishing touches still need to be placed on our books, but some students wanted to take them home for the break (with the promise that they will return them so we can let others read them!). There was talk of book buzzing each other, but what the class doesn't know is that I am going to book buzz all of their books as a surprise for them at an All School Meeting when we return! |
Language Arts
As I mentioned in a previous newsletter, I was excited to see what this group thinks of Little House on the Prairie. We are keen to pick up on the "old-fashioned" qualities that occur. When we read something that is "not okay today" in 2019, students grab a permanent marker and head to the chart. We will continue to read this book for the two remaining weeks of our Midwest study after the break.
Happy Spring Break! ~ Mrs. Lawless
March 3, 2019
Social Studies
Our maps are finished and on display in the classroom. I think they came out so cute! Emma (flowers and the Midwest) and Matthew (birds of the Midwest) are done, just not labeled yet.
This week we will learn about some National Parks in the Midwest, highlighting places like the shore of the Great Lakes, the Badlands, and Mount Rushmore. When we return from break we will learn about how schools developed on the prairie. Stay turned for information about a field trip to Russells Mills schoolhouse down the road - a former one room schoolhouse. |
Writing
It's great when students drive the projects with their ideas. After introducing the whole Mr. Men/Little Miss books to the class to work on story form and audiobooks, the class really got into it. While putting the finishing touches on their stories, I heard the following:
"Can you laminate them?"
"Can we publish them?"
"Can you bind them on the book binding machine?"
"Maybe we can make copies for the library!"
"Maybe we can book buzz our own books!"
And my personal favorite....
"I can't wait to take my book home and have my mom and dad read it!"
Look for these books to come home by Friday. I am hoping to have them come back to school so we can have a lending library of sorts.
"Can you laminate them?"
"Can we publish them?"
"Can you bind them on the book binding machine?"
"Maybe we can make copies for the library!"
"Maybe we can book buzz our own books!"
And my personal favorite....
"I can't wait to take my book home and have my mom and dad read it!"
Look for these books to come home by Friday. I am hoping to have them come back to school so we can have a lending library of sorts.
Math
On Thursday of this past week while working on long division, I thought to myself, "I know this is going to get better for these students. Every year it's the same thing. Relax. It's going to click." Of course, I didn't tell them my thoughts that day : )
Little did I know that it would only take one more day before things did start clicking! Friday was a great day for making connections to, what I told the class, is "the hardest math skill they have ever worked on." Think about it - relating multiplication to it's opposite and then throwing in subtraction AND recall of a sequence of steps. Way to persevere!
Little did I know that it would only take one more day before things did start clicking! Friday was a great day for making connections to, what I told the class, is "the hardest math skill they have ever worked on." Think about it - relating multiplication to it's opposite and then throwing in subtraction AND recall of a sequence of steps. Way to persevere!
February 22, 2019
Language Arts
We are embarking upon a new book across the grade. Little House on the Prairie (hold any notions you may have - I know that I myself book-judged when I found out this was part of the curriculum!) is starting up. Each year I am amazed at the interest level in this older book. Students get into the storyline's adventure, and typically are shocked with the old fashioned family dynamics and opinions towards native people. I am excited to see what this group thinks!
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Even with the Monday holiday, without half days, snow half days, and conferences we were able to get back into our routine. Read on to see what is happening!
Social Studies
As you can see, we are heading out to the (mid) west. This week we talked about states and capitals, and began a design project where we picked a symbol to research for each state. These collages of-sorts are off to a great start. Here is what each student picked:
Emma: flowers Charlotte: colleges Matthew: birds Cynthia: famous people Dylan: flags AJ: license plates Sofia: animals Yesterday during our earned Secret FA Bee free time, many students opted to try out an "old-fashioned" activity - the original Oregon Trail game! In addition to less-developed graphics, we discovered that there is a lot of reading involved in games from the 1980's. A perk, in my opinion! |
Math
It's the most wonderful time of the year - time for long division! I do have some strategies to make it less painful. The first is a slew of awkward math videos/songs that I like to use as a means to warm up our math brains at the start of class. You can ask your children what these are, but apologies in advance if the song "long division style" gets stuck in your head. The other strategy I have I took from my first year of teaching at the Lab School in Washington, DC. A co-worker came to us from Eagle Hill School in Connecticut. Both are K-12 schools entirely for students with learning differences. She brought an amazing program called S.L.A.M. (simple, lattice approach to mathematics). Check out below what makes it so helpful for students.
Enjoy the week ahead! ~ Mrs. Lawless
February 17, 2019
Thank you for taking the time to meet at our student-led conference! As a reminder, homework will change slightly next week, becoming more customized to what each student needs to work on. Sight word spelling tests will also start next week, as a way to learn study skills and get into the routine of quiz taking. Words will be taken from Lexia and they will increase in difficulty each week. Hope you are having a nice long weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless |
February 10, 2019
This week we spent time exploring a story map guide from Project Read's Story Form. This guide helps us to see the important components fiction stories typically share, and help to structure what to focus on when summarizing a story. Additionally, this guide will become essential when writing our own fiction stories.
To help practice this strategy, we used the Roger Hargreaves stories from the Mr. Men and Little Miss series. These are actually the stories that we listened to when we tried some audiobooks during lunch. Though you may think of these stories as intended for a younger audience, the reading/decoding difficulty level is actually 3rd/4th grade. We will practice reading one or two of these books on our own and completing story maps for homework during this short week. Eventually we will try to write our own version of a Mr. Men/Little Miss story. Below is a sample of a story we listened to and then broke apart with the story map. |
Setting: Somewhere in the world.
Characters: Mr. Small, Walter, Mr. Robinson, a mail man Problem (main point): Mr. Small did not have a job and he had a hard time finding the right one. Wish: To get a job that would be good for his size. Turning Point: Finding a job helping write children's books. Message: Keep trying. There's a job for everyone. Actions (help support the main point) : He is too small to reach a doorbell to ask a friend for help. He climbed a brick to reach a doorbell. He fell into a matchbox at one job interview. |
Looking forward to our conferences this week!
~ Mrs. Lawless |
February 3, 2019
Social Studies/Language Arts
We finished up our Civil Rights study this week, and read two "choose your own adventure" type books. When we came to a path, certain spots of the room were designated for the different options. Students moved to the spot that corresponded with their pick. Overall, the majority made decisions that were kind, yet cautious. For example, the majority of the class voted to support the Little Rock 9 students by volunteering behind the scenes vs. going down to the school to show support.
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History check! What do you know about the following pictures?
The bottom picture shows the 50-mile Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights. Students learned that even after the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, African Americans were not necessarily able to vote. Poll taxes or unfair tests were given throughout the south to prevent them from voting. We took a look at sample questions from the State of Louisiana Literacy Test and tried our best to answer them. 30 questions needed to be answered within ten minutes. Many questions were confusing, some could be figured out given extra time, and others could have more than one correct answer. If you didn't give the answer that the clerk wanted, you failed. This march was a protest to send a message to the Alabama state capital.
January 27, 2019
A Note About Reading
I will say that it often takes until 5th grade before our students are reading for enjoyment. Since the return from break, I have been trying to promote that. The class helped come up with ideas to help develop their silent reading stamina. We have a cozier reading space and cleaned out/organized the bookshelves. Students also brainstormed a list of topics that are interesting to them. I am requesting books from my library and highlighting new features each week. We are also listening to some read-alouds - one of my childhood favorites, Judy Blume's Superfudge. Mr. P also comes in to read once a week. He finished up The Strange Case of Origami Yoda and began Bunnicula last week.
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On the left, I attached a link describing the benefits of audio books. It is read by Jim Dale, the narrator for the Harry Potter series. I cannot say enough good things about listening to this series, especially during extended time in the car. My son had a play date over the break. I put it on with two loud, six year olds in the backseat, excited beyond belief. It immediately put them in a trance. Jim Dale also narrates other books. I plan to try some of them in the classroom - check in to see what your child thinks of them!
Synopsis of the PSA: Audiobooks are beneficial. They help children build vocabulary and improve reading skills. Being read to is an important step to becoming a good reader. It is one of the best ways to ensure a lifelong love of literature and reading. Happy reading and/or listening! ~ Mrs. Lawless |
January 21, 2019
Social Studies
We are on week two of our three week study of the Civil Rights movement. The New Bedford National Historical Site has a temporary display/program about Frederick Douglass. We were planning on participating and earning another Junior Ranger badge. However, due to the government shutdown, this is not possible. We do continue with our routine of examining pictures from history, making predictions with a partner, and then learning the facts. Do you know about these historical events? See if your child can help you out!
We are on week two of our three week study of the Civil Rights movement. The New Bedford National Historical Site has a temporary display/program about Frederick Douglass. We were planning on participating and earning another Junior Ranger badge. However, due to the government shutdown, this is not possible. We do continue with our routine of examining pictures from history, making predictions with a partner, and then learning the facts. Do you know about these historical events? See if your child can help you out!
Secret FA Bee time
As a reminder, on Fridays I pick a secret FA Bee (be kind, be generous, be inclusive, etc.). When a student is seen doing this behavior, a silver pom pom goes into a jar, but the class doesn't know exactly what for. "Who did something good?" "What just happened?" If we earn them all, we go outside for 20 minutes of extra recess. For the past two weeks we explored the vernal pool area (this is not deep mind you) to check on the ice. I did purchase 10 pairs of extra, brand-new socks in case of wet feet and no change of socks in our backpacks : )
As a reminder, on Fridays I pick a secret FA Bee (be kind, be generous, be inclusive, etc.). When a student is seen doing this behavior, a silver pom pom goes into a jar, but the class doesn't know exactly what for. "Who did something good?" "What just happened?" If we earn them all, we go outside for 20 minutes of extra recess. For the past two weeks we explored the vernal pool area (this is not deep mind you) to check on the ice. I did purchase 10 pairs of extra, brand-new socks in case of wet feet and no change of socks in our backpacks : )
Enjoy the week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
January 13, 2019
Welcome back! This week we regrouped, shared highlights of our vacation, and in many ways it was just like we never left! Please check to see that your child still has a change of clothes at school - extra socks are especially important.
Math
This past week we wrapped our minds back around multiplication in word problems before we dive in to 2-digit times 2-digit problems this upcoming week.
Visualizing and Verbalizing Things are headed in a new direction when describing our pictures. Students are going to select their own pictures to describe. This week I took a scene from a popular commercial, described it, and saw if what the students visualized matched my words. The class is excited for this change to the program! |
Writing
We tackled two new skills last week. The first was using commas when listing items. The second was contractions, how to use them, and why they are helpful (I am = I'm, etc.).
We tackled two new skills last week. The first was using commas when listing items. The second was contractions, how to use them, and why they are helpful (I am = I'm, etc.).
Social Studies
We continue with our study of the south, and are focusing on Civil Rights movement as the important historical event from that region. We had to go further back in time, to determine what events happened in America's history that led up to the Civil Rights movement. We were introduced to the terms slavery and segregation, and filled in a timeline of how long we thought those events happened for within the United States. Then, we made an answer key and checked our work.
We continue with our study of the south, and are focusing on Civil Rights movement as the important historical event from that region. We had to go further back in time, to determine what events happened in America's history that led up to the Civil Rights movement. We were introduced to the terms slavery and segregation, and filled in a timeline of how long we thought those events happened for within the United States. Then, we made an answer key and checked our work.
When asked the question, "Why might learning about this topic make you feel uncomfortable?", students gave some thoughtful responses. Charlotte said, "It feels strange to be talking about everyone's differences." Dylan said, "It's just...sad." Everyone agreed that it just doesn't seem right that things were not that same for everyone.
Over the next two weeks, our social studies classes (both in homeroom and in mixed groups) will follow a certain format. What can your child tell you about the following pictures?
Over the next two weeks, our social studies classes (both in homeroom and in mixed groups) will follow a certain format. What can your child tell you about the following pictures?
Thanks, and have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
December 16, 2018
Writing
This week we tested out a new writing program from the company, Nessy. This is the same company that made the "What's It Like Being Dyslexic?" video that I showed at the start of the year. I knew they made a reading program similar to Lexia. When I went to the IDA conference, I learned that they also make a writing program that helps reinforce the basics of punctuation and grammar. So far, we are enjoying it! Unlike Lexia, I want to keep everyone at the same level, so we can do whole-group lessons about the specific topics we are covering.
For more information you can go here www.nessy.com/us/parents/dyslexia-information/ - feel free to click around and check it out.
For a refresher on the "What's It Like Being Dyslexic?" video, you can click here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpBujdee8M
For more information you can go here www.nessy.com/us/parents/dyslexia-information/ - feel free to click around and check it out.
For a refresher on the "What's It Like Being Dyslexic?" video, you can click here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpBujdee8M
Social Studies
We had fun last week and this week working on our mystery states project. Each student selected a state from one of the 16 states in the southern region. We covered our books in brown paper so that when we did our research, classmates wouldn't know which state we had. On Thursday of this week, we compiled the seven mystery states and put together a packet for each other to solve. Check out our mystery state research on the blog tab. How did you do? Your child designed a postcard from their chosen state and mailed it home to you. That postcard will reveal their answer. If you want to make guesses for the other students, feel free to do so in the comments section of the blog posts. Have fun and good luck! |
Math
Visualizing and Verbalizing
This week's verbalizer was our own Emma! Thanks for your description, Emma! Tricky picture!
Secret Snowflake
December 7, 2018
Math
This week, we took a walk down to the 5th grade hallway to check out some 5th grade math. These brave students were game enough to pose for this picture after I told them we would be doing something similar in our room. They call it "visual representation of multiplication" but other terms are "partial product" or "break apart boxes". We explored a few problems on Friday and compared them with the traditional 2-digit times 1-digit algorithm and will further practice this coming week to see which style works better for us.
This week, we took a walk down to the 5th grade hallway to check out some 5th grade math. These brave students were game enough to pose for this picture after I told them we would be doing something similar in our room. They call it "visual representation of multiplication" but other terms are "partial product" or "break apart boxes". We explored a few problems on Friday and compared them with the traditional 2-digit times 1-digit algorithm and will further practice this coming week to see which style works better for us.
Visualizing and Verbalizing
Special thanks to Dylan for providing clear details for our class to accurately imagine this week's picture!
Special thanks to Dylan for providing clear details for our class to accurately imagine this week's picture!
Writing
Our youngest friends in the Farmhouse (preschool) shared information about their food drive project at All School Meeting this past week. They are hoping to get our support with it. Some students in our classroom wrote them "fan mail" letters to congratulate them on their hard work and show our support. We delivered the mail this past week. The Farmhouse is collecting the following items:
nutrient-rich hearty soups, beans, canned meat (ham, chicken), peanut butter, canned vegetables, tomatoes, and tuna. Boxes of pasta, rice, oatmeal and other cereal, crackers, instant mashed potatoes, meals in a box, nuts, and granola bars are also welcome.
nutrient-rich hearty soups, beans, canned meat (ham, chicken), peanut butter, canned vegetables, tomatoes, and tuna. Boxes of pasta, rice, oatmeal and other cereal, crackers, instant mashed potatoes, meals in a box, nuts, and granola bars are also welcome.
You can learn more about their project by clicking here www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLpWF_AOjOA&index=1&list=PLBeSLj9iuD4EcXaM3hX8JySwrQ8HqyaY_&fbclid=IwAR0gVPseENwcbVbCyjjh1-f3npVLBEf8FjqW-cR5lzSANQiP19nG68MEpwk
In addition, 4th and 5th graders in the Dogs Galore elective are collecting food, treats, and blankets for a local animal shelter. Donation boxes for both projects are located in front of the library and near the gym. Thank you!
Enjoy the week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
November 30, 2018
Playing a game found in a Cherokee research book. One person rolled a hoop and we tried to see how many points we could get by throwing a ball through it.
This week, one of our main goals was to write a paragraph to convince Andrew Jackson why Native American relocation was the wrong choice. Before we could build up to that, we practiced with a topic that was more close-to-home. Each student picked something that they want, and tried their best to convince their parents why they should get what they want. We learned the phrases that are important to use when doing some persuasive writing, and the overall form. Please check out these wants on our blog tab! The students did practice with one another, and the 'parent' told what they felt the best reason was...yet did not agree to the request in the end.
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Our next step was to locate information about the Trail of Tears, in addition to the Cree, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, and Cherokee tribes. We went on a mini scavenger hunt around the first floor hallway to locate the books, then find a piece of information. We wrote our reasons, but still need Monday to go over our final edits for punctuation before "Andrew Jackson" can come visit and listen.
Our verbalizer this week was Cynthia! Nice job helping us to visualize the following picture!
Enjoy the week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
November 18, 2018
This week we welcomed our first snowfall and finally were able to unlock one of our Morning Meeting greetings that the class kept asking about since they saw it on the list. It is the snowball greeting, where every class member has a paper 'snowball' with his or her name on it. We have 60 seconds to throw the snowballs around. When the time is up, one person at a time opens the snowball and greets the person who is listed on their snowball. Check out the official rules on the right. |
Thank you to Matthew this week for being our verbalizer during our visualizing activity this week. Great job describing using the twelve structure words what, size, color, number, shape, where, movement, mood, background, perspective, when, and sound. Also, great job to our visualizers who worked on strengthening their working memory skills! |
We started our new social studies unit and are heading down south. Like we did with the northeast, we are asking ourselves "Who lived in this region before it became the United States?" We started to learn about the Trail of Tears, and students were surprised to learn that the president in charge of this event is actually on our twenty-dollar bill. After the Thanksgiving holiday we will talk about persuasive writing and try our hand at writing from the perspective of a member of the Cherokee tribe.
Enjoy the week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
November 12, 2018
Our week was spent putting the finishing touches on our Whaling Day projects. Enjoy the pictures and be sure to check out the blog tab to read our whaling letters/journal entries!
November 2, 2018
Mystic Seaport, though chilly by the water, was a blast! I could tell our guide was impressed with our knowledge, and loved it when we spontaneously broke into some sea shanties while visiting the Cooperage. I did see tears in her eyes - not sure if it is because she was cold - but I knew she was being sincere with her compliments. I hope you were able to view the videos I sent attached to the weekly newsletter email.
These field trips and knowledge gained in the classroom are paving the way for a magnificent Whaling Day celebration. Game creation is under-way, and we started a new writing project where we adopted the persona of someone on a whaling ship. These letters are being drafted within our OG groups to help make the small group concept a really small group.
After introducing the concept in our classroom, we searched the Social Security database to find the most popular names during the 1800's. If you have never explored the link, you can copy and paste this site:
These field trips and knowledge gained in the classroom are paving the way for a magnificent Whaling Day celebration. Game creation is under-way, and we started a new writing project where we adopted the persona of someone on a whaling ship. These letters are being drafted within our OG groups to help make the small group concept a really small group.
After introducing the concept in our classroom, we searched the Social Security database to find the most popular names during the 1800's. If you have never explored the link, you can copy and paste this site:
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/decades/names1880s.html
We next decided on a ship name, using the official whaling logbook entries archived on the Providence Public Library website if we needed some inspiration. Lastly we picked a job on the ship and continued on with our brainstorming sheet. Be on the lookout for our completed letters next Friday.
October 25, 2018
We had a great week starting off with our field trip to Gillette Stadium for 4th Grade Fitness Day, and ending with student-led conferences. I was so proud of the students for sharing their learning, and so impressed with their ability to pick goals for themselves that mirrored what I would have picked for them. If you are new to Friends, reports go out around winter break. We officially don't meet again until February, but feel free to reach out for a check in before then if you wish.
This week in our mixed social studies groups, we starting preparing for our whaling game creation. The introductory lesson involved putting the students in groups, and giving each group the task of writing the directions for how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. This feel-good, fun activity showed the importance of not taking anything for granted when writing directions! Next week we will begin work on our whaling games.
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At All School Meeting, we listened to a presentation about Dia de Muertos. Some of the Spanish class students are going to be creating ofrendas (altars) to honor the life of someone who was important to them. This is not a mandatory activity, but I thought I would open it up to students in our class as well. Some seemed interested, so feel free to have your child participate if they wish. Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless |
October 21, 2018
Meet the newest batch of the National Park Service Junior Rangers!
Math
In addition to practicing multiplication concepts, we learned a new math warm-up game this week. According to a study from Framingham State University, "Number concept is the foundation of arithmetic. Ninety-percent of students who have difficulty in arithmetic have not conceptualized number concept." Using these visual cluster cards, we participate in a rapid-naming "around the world" challenge to be the first to get back to our desks.
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Language Arts/Writing This week we used our time to sort a variety of situations onto two different pieces of paper. The papers were labeled "easier for me" and "harder for me". The scenarios varied from "reading nonfiction" to "reading fiction". In addition to academic tasks, scenarios also included topics like "recognizing when I am distracted" to "recognizing when I am distracting others". We plan to use these as a springboard for our goals to be shared at student-led conferences.
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Social Studies We are in the beginning phases of our game creation for our Whaling Day event. Together, the grade brainstormed different types of games. They thought about if they would like to work with a partner or work independently. Lastly, they gained knowledge on our field trip to the Whaling Museum and National Historical Park in New Bedford. Thank you so much to our parent chaperones!
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Penny Experiment Update The Statue of Liberty copper experiment seems to be working. Upon return to school the vinegar, salt, and copper combined to turn the clear liquid into this blueish-greenish shade. Students described the pennies as looking "hairy" or "fuzzy". We will keep you posted on their progress! |
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless
October 14, 2018
This past week we finished up our state pamphlets and used our mixed social studies time to review each other's work and write down a fact we learned about each of the 9 states in the Northeast region. We learned some interesting ways to remember the states and capitals (some ways were better than others) and took our first states/capitals quiz of the year.
We also learned about one of the National Monuments in the Northeast region - the Statue of Liberty. We completed an experiment to see why the statue only had her original copper color for about twenty years before the copper oxidized. Thanks to all for volunteering your pre-1981 pennies. Be on the lookout for our experimental pennies next week! |
In math we discussed the tricky parts of subtraction with regrouping - namely remembering how/when to do so, and what to do with pesky problems involving zeros. Although we will be moving on to multiplication, you may notice subtraction review problems coming home. Being that all students are familiar with multiplication, we started timed drills to see if we can beat our scores. One trial was done online, and one was done with paper and pencil. Did your child score the same, or do better with one style vs. the other?
A chart like the one on the right can only mean one thing....the kick-off for the 3rd grade/4th grade Lexia challenge! Initials are posted on the board as the teachers log on to their Lexia accounts to see the total number of weekly minutes that each student completed.
We also began work with Read Live (also known as Read Naturally) to work on our reading fluency. Students read a story at their level and are timed for one minute at the start of a week for their cold read. By listening to the story and reading along three times, then practicing aloud three times before taking a quiz, students are then ready for their hot read. Visually they can see their progress on a graph, which we will share with you at conferences. The Read Live quiz with sometimes go home for homework, though the retell of the story component will typically be done at school. A shift from 3rd grade to 4th grade is that the students practice typing their own retells, instead of dictating them. |
Have a great week! ~ Mrs. Lawless |
October 5, 2018
Class Record Crushed!
With this being my 17th year of teaching, I am no stranger to having students surpass me in height. However, I can usually get by until at least April or May! The class record of surpassing my height was officially crushed this past Wednesday. Truth be told, it may have been sooner, we just didn't pose for this photo.
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In other news this week, we split up the three grade 4 homerooms and began "mix-it-up" Social Studies. All 27 students have been sorted into three groups of nine for the rest of our northeast unit. This week we began to study states and capitals. Each student selected one of the nine states in the region and is creating a travel pamphlet to correspond with their chosen state. How odd that three friends from our room were in three separate social studies rooms, and they all picked Maine? We had one friend absent when we started the pamphlet, but he has his factsheet for New Hampshire completed and ready to go.
Which teacher does your child have for social studies? What state are they studying?
Which teacher does your child have for social studies? What state are they studying?
In Math this week we explored calendar concepts, specifically elapsed time. We also did a quick inventory and review of addition and subtraction with regrouping, which may continue into next week. Our math journals are really coming along as a reference guide, and we will share them with you at conference time.
In Language Arts we met the famous Captain Ahab. Can your child tell you why he has a peg leg? Can they remember what the leg is made out of? We also challenged our friends in Mrs. Tavares's 3rd grade room to a good old-fashioned Lexia Reading Throwdown Challenge. Students compete to see who can complete the most Lexia minutes each week. If you are the winner for your grade, a raffle ticket gets entered into an envelope. On the last Friday of the school year, one name is picked to earn the coveted Lexia Cup. There are also smaller trophies for the participant who completed the most units and also the most minutes. Lexia is assigned twice a week for homework, and you can even get the app on your iPad or other device.
Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
In Language Arts we met the famous Captain Ahab. Can your child tell you why he has a peg leg? Can they remember what the leg is made out of? We also challenged our friends in Mrs. Tavares's 3rd grade room to a good old-fashioned Lexia Reading Throwdown Challenge. Students compete to see who can complete the most Lexia minutes each week. If you are the winner for your grade, a raffle ticket gets entered into an envelope. On the last Friday of the school year, one name is picked to earn the coveted Lexia Cup. There are also smaller trophies for the participant who completed the most units and also the most minutes. Lexia is assigned twice a week for homework, and you can even get the app on your iPad or other device.
Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
September 28, 2018
Be sure to check out the photos tab to see pictures from our field trip to the Mashpee Wampanoag museum the other day. The rain held off and we were able to gain a lot of information while sitting in an wetu.
In Language Arts this week we read more of Moby Dick. We made a character list to keep track of the many characters we are coming across. We practiced the details needed for writing a summary (who is in the chapter, where was the setting, and what happened). A very good question came up when Queequeg and Ishmael took a boat over to Nantucket: did the ferry ride used to take longer than it does today? Great question! If anyone knows the exact answer, let me know.
You can ask your child: What information does Peleg give Ishmael and Queequeg about Captain Ahab? |
In Math, in addition to place value practice, we learned a new game to stretch our cognitive thinking skills. The game is essentially UNO with shapes. A starter piece is placed in the middle of the players. Instead of changing color or number, students can only change one attribute about the piece. The attributes are:
Color (red, yellow, blue) Width (thick or thin) Size (big or small) |
In Social Studies we kicked off Google Classroom. Some students have familiarity with it, and are helping me to problem-solve. I shared an assignment that was a data-collecting sheet for four tribes native to the northeast. Each student selected one tribe to learn more about. They are, the Pequot, the Wampanoag, the Iroquois, and the Patuxet. Check them out in our portfolios when you come for parent conferences!
Next week we move on to states and capitals for the northeast region. Study guides will go home by next Tuesday and a quiz will happen on Thursday, 10/11.
Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless
September 21, 2018
Thank you so much for coming last night. As I mentioned, if you want to meet briefly before the parent conference time to give me an update on something, or to check in, just let me know.
Great job with your 50 states quiz! Below are some video links to help you practice : ) We voted which one we liked best - some Matthew and AJ decided it was a tie.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E2CNZIlVIg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3PMbThhsg
Great job with your 50 states quiz! Below are some video links to help you practice : ) We voted which one we liked best - some Matthew and AJ decided it was a tie.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E2CNZIlVIg
www.youtube.com/watch?v=se3PMbThhsg
Please be sure to check out the photos from outside the classroom day. The morning activities were:
Hog Call, Lily Pads, and Warped Juggle. Who was your child's partner for the Hog Call? What two words did they decide on for their call and response? What was challenging about the Lily Pads activity? You can see photos from the day on the photos tab.
Hog Call, Lily Pads, and Warped Juggle. Who was your child's partner for the Hog Call? What two words did they decide on for their call and response? What was challenging about the Lily Pads activity? You can see photos from the day on the photos tab.
In Math we did more activities based around place value. The goal is for students to be able to read and write numbers to the hundred thousands place. We reinforced this by taking turns being the teacher, creating a number on a place value board, then reading it aloud. The students then had to listen to the number, hold it in their working memory and write it on their place value chart. Last, the "teacher" would go around the room and give students a thumbs up or help them correct the mistake. We soon realized that even the "teacher" was working on his or her working memory, as they had to remember what the number looked like in order to check the work. We plan to move onto counting on/mental math by practicing with concepts such as "100 more than" or "2,000 less than" next week. |
In Social Studies we learned the 4 questions we will study for each region of the United States. We focused on who were the original inhabitants of our area, with a focus on the Wampanoag tribe. In Language Arts we began the book Moby Dick, and this will be a focus for the next few weeks
Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless |
September 14, 2018
During our mix it up grade-wide activity this week, we continued our discussion about learning differences. We watched an interview with Henry Winker about his journey with Dyslexia. We learned that another author, Dav Pikey, also incorporates his school journey with learning differences into his writing. On Thursday we split into groups and taught two multisensory games to our friends in Ms. Pindell and Ms. Conlon's rooms. One game was a reading game, involving decoding nonsense words that even challenged the teachers. The other was a place value game. Which game did your child like better? |
In Math we spent time learning new games and hands-on activities that tap into our senses with the premise that the concepts taught will stick in our brains better. The two games we learned were: Who's Greatest/Place Value War (reading numbers aloud to the millions place), and Bagel, Pico, Ferme (a mystery number game that also works on deductive reasoning skills). Which game did your child like the best? This coming week we will begin work in our Singapore Math, with the first chapter focusing on place value.
This week we had more practice with our whole-group Visualizing and Verbalizing class (also known as V&V). We talked about the importance of making pictures in our minds when people are describing something, or when you are reading. We also talked about the importance of structure words when you are describing something. Students will rotate through looking at a picture and being the verbalizer. The rest of the students will be the visualizers, and imagine what the picture looks like. These exercises help with description and comprehension. Also, they require us to hold details in our working memory as we need to listen to the entire description before starting to draw. Nice work on this!
We ended the week with my favorite component - "The Secret FA Bee". The FA Bee's are the core values that we try to uphold at Friends Academy. They are pictured below:
Once a week, typically Friday mornings, I pick secret FA Bee. 13 "be's" are written on 13 pieces of paper and are placed face down. I select one and write it on down in a notebook. Every time a student demonstrates that "be", a sparkly pom pom goes into a jar. There is a pom pom for each student present that day. At the end of the day, I reveal what the secret be was, and read all of the acknowledgements aloud. If the jar is filled up we enjoy 20 minutes of free time before the weekend begins. See if your child can remember what today's "secret be" was! Enjoy the weekend! ~ Mrs. Lawless |
September 7, 2018
Our week was productive and busy. We got to know each other better, and had one (of hopefully many) meaningful discussions about our learning differences.
The springboard for our learning differences discussion came from watching the short video "What's it like being DYSLEXIC?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpBujdee8M and listening to the wonderful Patricia Polacco story, Thank You, Mr. Falker. We compared the characters to our old summer-reading pal Hank from the Henry Winkler book Hank Zipzer: Niagara Falls, or Does It? We learned that both authors of the two different books (Winkler and Polacco) are in fact Dyslexic.
We talked a little about the various kinds of learning differences in a brief manner that (hopefully) made sense to your child and perhaps allowed for them to make some connections. Next week we will explore different scenarios that each character encountered (e.g., Trisha wrote 73 for 37) and will work as teams to try to decide why that may have happened. Dyslexia? Dyscalculia? Visual Processing? Stay tuned!
~ Mrs. Lawless
The springboard for our learning differences discussion came from watching the short video "What's it like being DYSLEXIC?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEpBujdee8M and listening to the wonderful Patricia Polacco story, Thank You, Mr. Falker. We compared the characters to our old summer-reading pal Hank from the Henry Winkler book Hank Zipzer: Niagara Falls, or Does It? We learned that both authors of the two different books (Winkler and Polacco) are in fact Dyslexic.
We talked a little about the various kinds of learning differences in a brief manner that (hopefully) made sense to your child and perhaps allowed for them to make some connections. Next week we will explore different scenarios that each character encountered (e.g., Trisha wrote 73 for 37) and will work as teams to try to decide why that may have happened. Dyslexia? Dyscalculia? Visual Processing? Stay tuned!
~ Mrs. Lawless
September 4, 2018