Dear families,
I apologize for the long pause in this newsletter update. I hope your children have been keeping you updated on our classroom learning and activities. Just in case they are not, here are a few highlights:
In Math we have continued learning about two-digit by two-digit multiplication and properties, creating tiled arrays, drawing quick sketches and solving by adding partial products. The students have also been working on a daily review that contains many of the topics that we have already practiced, so that we keep them fresh in our minds.
During Daily 5, our students have been learning to find evidence in the text to refer to those details when answering to open response questions. Students have followed a scaffolded method of answering questions where they Restate the question, Answer with their own words, Cite the evidence by quoting or paraphrasing, and Explain the quote or expand on the answer. Students have learned how to highlight the evidence in the text and link it to the number of the question. They have also learned to "reread" for close reading, by reading one first time and summarizing each paragraph with a short sentence, and reading a second time the specific paragraphs that the question refers to.  We have also worked hard on determining the theme of a story, by finding the topics or general ideas of the story, like friendship, family relations, courage, and then asking the question "what is the story or author trying to tell us about ...?". The students have found important themes in the stories that we have shared, and are getting used to find the themes in small groups as well. While working independently, students have continued practicing new vocabulary and reading their own personal choices of chapter books. It is such a joy to share these literary moments with my students and learn about their insights and deeper thinking about a story, finding the theme of stories as universal human experiences tells me a lot about the capacity of my students to use higher order thinking skills. 
For writing, I am in the process of finalizing the editing of my students' personal narratives. Some of my students have finished their stories, but others are still working on them... I think they are enjoying writing so much that they want to keep on going!
Also, during the magical time of our read aloud, we are so taken by the story of "The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart, that literally yesterday's chapter got a few of us teary eyed. It is such a heartwarming story, with important themes on the power of friendship to support each other during difficult times, and how family bonds can push us to do what is hard.
Finally in Science, our students are investigating the link between fossils of ancient rhinoceros and volcano eruptions, and how the majority of volcanoes are found in the Ring of Fire. 
As you can see, this fourth grade group has been doing a lot of thinking and learning!  
Have a great weekend!

Dear families,
A few weeks have gone by, and our students have been busy at work in the classroom. Here are a few highlights from the past three weeks:
In Math, we have started a new morning routine to review concepts of multiplication like finding factors and multiples, and solving three step word problems. The students have been collaborating while answering to 10 daily problems that range in difficulty. Our students are demonstrating pretty good acquisition of math concepts. We have also started practicing measurement using metric and standard systems.
During our Daily 5 block, students have finished their book report on character change, finding the major and minor characters in their books, and inferring character traits from dialogues, actions, feelings and thoughts narrated in the book. They have also found the major event that causes the characters to change, and the type of character conflict. Log into Seesaw to see their book reports. Additionally, we have been learning about the setting, and how the change in setting affects the characters, and we are currently learning about the different stages of plot development. 
In writing we continue working on our personal narrative, where students are learning to "show", not "tell" during the edit of their first draft. 
During Social Studies, our students continue learning about how maps give us information about land and people.
The mindful practices that we have recently incorporated into our self-regulation tool box are: body awareness, anchor spots and anchor words. Students have learned about three important parts of our brain, the prefrontal cortex, amygdala and hippocampus, that get affected by stress and anxiety, and how breathing exercises and using our anchor spots can help us calm down and return to a place where we are able to learn again.
We have also incorporated cursive handwriting as a calming mindful activity to do at the end of the day, when our brains are tired, and our bodies get fidgety. Students work at their leisure focusing on the repetitive movements of tracing and writing cursive letters. Eventually, students will practice writing in cursive those words that we will catch from their reports and personal narrative and that need to be spelled correctly :)
And we have also started our "Reading Buddies" activity with Mrs. Pilkington's kindergarten students. Our students have paired up with one or two little ones to help them with their reading. Our students were well prepared, and showed fantastic teaching and mentoring skills, being patient, cheerful and so caring. They read a book to the kindergarteners and asked comprehension questions. It was such a cute thing to witness!
As a final note, students have continued earning tickets for their fantastic participation and collaboration skills, and have exchanged them for rewards. Recently some students exchanged their tickets for songs, and we ended up the day with some karaoke and dancing!
It is my intention to move my blog to Seesaw in the near future to incorporate student pictures that will be password protected. I will let you know when it happens.
Have a fantastic weekend!

Dear families,
This is the learning that we have been working on in our classroom:
In Math, our fourth graders have been working on using multiplication strategies and mastering their multiplication facts. Students have been using quick arrays to aid their comprehension, finding hidden arrays and partial products. 
During Daily 5, students have continued working on their personal reading goals, and after finishing the lessons on how to describe a character in depth, students are working on finding the types of characters, and the character traits of the protagonist of the books that they are reading, as well as finding the main event in the story that helps the protagonist to change or learn a lesson, and the type of character conflict presented in their books. Students are writing a small report on the books that they are reading, and will be uploading that report to Seesaw once it is finalized and edited. Also during Daily 5, students have been building more vocabulary with their weekly words, by learning the spelling and definitions of those words while playing Pop with a partner, using the words in sentences and adding them to our Graffiti Wall, and completing the assigned paper to practice the words. During the mini-lesson part of Daily 5, students have learned about the description of characters while listening to and discussing the story of Verdi, by Janell Cannon. Together we have found character traits to describe our protagonist, using their lists of character traits. 
During Writing, our students have been planning and writing the first draft of a Personal Narrative story, introducing the setting and characters, and writing the sequence of events with important details to keep the readers engaged. 
During Social Studies, we have been noticing and wondering about different types of maps, and how maps tell us about people and land.
Additionally, the students have been completing the Math and Reading i-Ready tests, and working on STMath and XTra Math digital platforms.
And during our Thinking Journal time, the students have continued practicing daily personal writing, guided by simple prompts, like writing a list of things that you see through a window (Window Wednesday), writing a thank you note to a classroom friend, and to planet Earth (during Thankful Thursday), or writing about the plans for the weekend  (on Freedom Fridays). 
Finally, our students have continued earning tickets through participation, collaboration, and use of new vocabulary. Many students have traded their tickets for a lunch with me, sitting at my desk, chewing gum in the classroom, bringing a stuffed animal, or playing with one of the centers (fidgets, watercolors and playdough are the most popular). And, we are so close to get another extra recess, as the students have been amazing in the hall, using quiet voices and gentle feet when  transitioning to and from specials and recess, closing their locker doors with care, and taking good care of the school supplies. 
It is a total joy to work with this kind, gentle and respectful bunch of kids :)
​Have a fantastic weekend!

Another week is coming to an end, and these students haven't slowed down one bit. The learning that is being achieved in this classroom can be seen in the students' books and journals, and in how the walls are being filled up with anchor charts, student work and student goals.
This week in math, the students have continued learning about prime and composite numbers, and have been creating quick sketches to represent the arrays that they have been creating with tiles. On those sketches, the students have represented the factors and products of the equations. The students have also collaborated with partners through Work Places to play "Cover Up" and "Arrays to 100".
During our Literacy block, the students have been working on the i-Ready assessments for reading, and learning about Major and Minor Characters, Protagonist and Antagonist. Students have also learned about how character traits can be inferred from the dialogues, feelings, thoughts and actions of the characters. During independent reading, students have been practicing their words of the week if their choice was "Word Work", playing Pop with a partner to practice this week and last week's vocabulary, using those words in sentences to add to our Graffiti Wall, Reading to Someone and practicing check for understanding, Reading to Self and finding the protagonist and antagonist of their stories, Working on adding more ideas for their personal writing, or listening to some assigned articles on the Readworks platform.
This week we have added one more mindfulness practice to our thinking journal, the one called "heartfulness", where we think kind thoughts towards others, and they have been writing about moments or objects that they treasure, and places they are thankful for.
During science, the students have continued working and investigating using the eye models they created, and learning about how nocturnal animals can see in the dark.
We have also launched the Writing Workshop with lessons generating ideas for personal writing, zooming in just one moment, and making a plan for the first draft.
Have a fantastic weekend!

Dear Families,
This week our students have been building up their math, reading, writing and science skills, as well as their POL superpowers while working on the following tasks:
During Math, the students have been creating posters with all the possible arrays for numbers 1 to 36, and noticing patterns in the arrays. Students have found that some numbers only have one type of array, while others have a few more. Students have been introduced to the words prime and composite numbers,  and have practiced the previously learned vocabulary words, such as factor, factor pairs, dimensions, and product. While playing POP for math vocabulary, the students have been collaborating effectively, being patient with each other, finding strategies to give each other time to learn the spelling and definition of the words, and supporting each other with positive feedback.
During Daily 5, the students have been using their Mindful Learner superpowers to set, adjust, accomplish and reflect on personal goals for reading. Students have set goals like "read 3 chapters a day", "finish my book", or "read 5 pages a day". Other students have set goals related to sustaining focused attention during their independent reading, or practicing check for understanding during read to someone. We have added two more optional activities to our Word Work choice: Write a postcard to the teacher, with specific directions and models on what and how to do that, and our Graffiti Wall where students will use the new vocabulary words in sentences. Today we have been organizing some of the finished papers in our Literacy Folder.
During writing, the students have been writing letters to all of you for Open House, as a way to welcome you in our classroom.
For science, the students have been learning about how the human eye works, the different parts of the eye, and have created a model of the human eye using a lens as a model for a cornea lens, and one index card as a model for the retina. Students have observed that when the light enters the lens and touches the retina, the images that appear on the index card are upside down.
Our Mindfulness practice this week has been "Mindful Listening". The students have practiced sitting in their mindful bodies, breathing slowly in and out to send oxygen to their brains and to relax, and paying attention to the sounds of birds and a bell.
So much learning packed in just 5 days!

The first full week has come to an end, and our fourth graders have been really busy learning.
This week, during math, the students have been practicing multiplication and division strategies, while collaborating with partners and sharing with the whole classroom. The students have been solving word problems showing their understanding while using skip counting on the number line, and ratio tables, area models and tile arrays. The students have followed the guidelines that we agreed on to keep a safe and welcoming environment as a community of learners, using math vocabulary, negotiating disagreements, supporting each other and staying focused on the task at hand. The students have also practiced math vocabulary with our Math Pop game, and worked on addition, subtraction and multiplication during morning practice.
During Daily 5, this week we have introduced the choice called "Work on Writing" as independent practice, but connected to our Writing Workshop and our Thinking Journal routine. Students have been able to choose what to work on every round, either read to self, read to someone or work on writing. Setting weekly goals for reading has kept my students laser focused and committed to their reading, as they get to know themselves as learners. With guidance, some students are challenging themselves to read chapter books on topics of interest. We have also practiced a couple of strategies when reading with a partner, like "I read, you read", and "Coaching or time". Students are also tracking their Daily 5 choices on a chart.
On our 20 minute block between specials and recess, the students have learned one mindfulness practice called "mindful bodies", where they become aware of their body posture with straight but relaxed spine, relaxed shoulders, feet on the floor, and hands on their laps or heart or bellies. In that posture, students practice slow breathing exercises to check in with themselves, and help their nervous system to calm down. Just a few minutes helps us reset and get back to work. Students learn to be more in tune with their bodies. Throughout the week, we have also used this time to write on our Thinking Journal about the pets that we have or we would like to have, a skill that we would like to improve this year,  and one person that we are thankful for and why.
During Science, the students have been exploring their engineering skills through the construction of a robotic hand. Students have learned about bones, tendons and muscles and have followed a step by step process of inquiry and hands on activities. I am sure that you have seen this project already. It was so much fun to see their enthusiasm, and to hear the many questions that came up with this project. We have quite a group of scientists in this class!
Finally, the whole class has been able to enjoy an extra 20 minute recess because they earned 20 points through collaboration and excellent behavior in the hall and in transitions. 
Great job, class!

 "Dear families,
Welcome to our classroom blog!
This is the first post of our classroom adventures in learning. Every Friday (except for short weeks), I will be posting a few notes on what the students have been learning throughout the week, and about other activities and events happening in our school. Eventually, my students will be the ones posting! I really hope that this weekly newsletter serves you as a way of starting conversations about school with your child. 
What a fantastic beginning of the school year we've had. In just six days of school your children have already shown tremendous hard working skills and resilience. From the very beginning they have been engaged and collaborative, they have adapted quickly to the learning schedule, and have worked through hard conditions like the extreme heat we have experienced. They are fantastic listeners, and skillful collaborators. Here are some of the few things that we have learned this week:
In Math we kickstarted the week with a couple of activities to get our math muscles ready, and to understand that to learn math, our brains also work spatially and make connections. We have created a "community of learners" chart to talk about the things that we should see and hear in the classroom when we are working on math, with items like "students are encouraging each other with positive feedback", "students are using math vocabulary", "students help each other". We have also solved some multiplication story problems, using different strategies like repeated addition, skip counting on the number line, area models, and ratio tables. Students have shared the strategies with the whole class, and participation has been very high! Additionally, at arrival, students have been working independently on writing about math, using some problem strings and questions to guide their thinking.
For Language Arts, we have been launching our Reading Workshop routine called Daily 5, a model in which we gather at the assembly area, I teach a mini-lesson, we model and practice, and then students practice independently for a few minutes. After that, we gather again, check-in and start with another mini-lesson. This week, we have started with the first Daily 5 choice called "Read To Self", where students learn the behaviors that they have to show when they are reading by themselves. We have practiced transitioning to our reading spots, ways of reading a book, and checking for understanding. To make sure that they have a clear understanding of the expected behaviors, students also got a chance to play some charades, showing what not to do when reading independently, and then showing the right way again. We had a lot of fun with our little theater! The Daily 5 model, when developed fully, will allow me to work with small groups and individual students and that way get a more targeted instruction for each of my students. In the meantime, students that are working independently or with a partner, will be able to practice the skills that they have learned in the mini lesson or during group work. Your children were so amazing during their "read to self" independent practice, showing all the right behaviors and making perfect transitions, that during that time, I was able to confer with a few of my students to learn about their individual reading habits and likes.
During the 20 minutes that we have between specials and recess, we work on our "Thinking Journal". This writing activity is aimed at working with Social Emotional skills, with the purpose of helping your children appreciate and foster happy feelings throughout the week. We have a theme for each day, and I give them a prompt and model for them. This is like a personal journal where students are encouraged to write as little as one sentence, and more if they like. If they wish, students can share with the class what they wrote. These are the themes that we've been working on so far: Tickle Tuesday: write about a happy memory or something that made you feel happy lately; Wonder Wednesday: write about  what you wonder about; Thankful Thursday: write about something that you are thankful for and why (this week we wrote about an object that we were thankful for- it was so cute to have a few students share about their gratitude for their favorite blankie!), and today Friday the theme will be Freedom/Friendship Friday, where students will write about weekend plans or their friends. 
In the afternoon we have launched our Science block, were we are learning about the Human Machine, how the muscles control their bones to move their bodies. 
Students have also been working on ST Math at dismissal, and we have been trying to stay cool at the end of the day by going to the library or siting in the hall.
As you can see, your children have been really busy learning! 
Join us next Friday to read more about our learning adventures!
​Have a fantastic weekend!

 Dear families,
I can't believe it is already the end of the year. The past few weeks have been a blur of activity, and we've barely had any time to work on our blog. Here is a quick summary of past events:
In Language Arts the students have been working non stop on finishing up their book club books, reading with a partner, working independently or working with me on discussion questions, making connections, describing character traits and finding themes. We culminated the book club activity with a meeting where students reading the same book gathered with a couple of teachers or facilitators to discuss the highlights of the book. Ms. Griswold and I met with the students that had read "The One and Only Ivan" by Katherine Applegate, and I was blown away by the deep understanding and the insights that all the students shared. I love to talk about books, and sharing with the students how much each of us loved this book made our reading even more significant. This was an amazing 4th grade project that we could not have done without the guidance of our reading specialist Mrs. Zalusky, who organized it all, and the support of our principal Mrs. Garden and our Instructional Coach Mrs. Desruisseaux. We had six groups of students and twelve teachers, paras and administrator working with the fourth graders, and we all really enjoyed the collaboration. What a year for literacy this has been.
Additionally, our students have been working on their opinion pieces, giving very persuasive and valid arguments for the importance of having a pet, extending recess, reading books vs. playing video games, having popsicles with lunch on hot spring days, or being payed for doing chores at home.
During math, our students have been working on describing polygons using specific geometry vocabulary, finding the area and perimeter of rectangles and "hexarights", and measuring angles.
During science, we have finished the unit on waves and the properties of light, creating a laser circuit to explore reflection, and exploring transparent, translucent and opaque objects. 
Finally during social studies, students have been investigating the regions of the United States, and the states and abbreviations.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and communication this year. It has been fantastic to get to know and teach your children. I wish them all the best in Middle School and beyond. Have a fantastic summer :)
Take a look at the pictures!