Calliope Weekly Update
September 21-25, 2009
Week Four
Literacy: I have been taking turns reading with students to establish independent and instructional reading levels. We’ve also been practicing reading passages and answering both multiple-choice and short-answer questions as we polish our skills for the upcoming NECAP test in October.
We will use the “Burger” model to develop constructed response paragraphs next week. The buns represent the intro and the conclusion to your paragraph. The lettuce, the meat, and the cheese represent the three detail sentences to support the point you’re making.
Another way we’re practicing our writing is in our composing a song for our recent Stowe Pinnacle hike. Students have contributed many, many words and images over the last week, and today we thought about what kind of a melody would best fit the experience we had on that mountain. Hmmm: was it more “We Shall Overcome” ? Or was it more along the lines of “Running Down a Dream”? or Michael Jackson’s “ABC”?
We began Spelling this week. Students are in mixed groups with Mr. Bolger or Ms. Schoolcraft. We will be establishing spelling homework routines next week.
Finally, Professor Hardwigg and his nephew Harry, are about to sail for Iceland to find the volcano that will be their entry into the Earth’s crust in Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Math: Both third and fourth graders are hard at work in math. In addition to NECAP review, third grade mathematicians are reviewing time and money concepts, as well as, data collection. Fourth graders are exploring geometry and NECAP review.
Responsive Classroom: We finished up with the last of our Life Boxes this week. We are hanging pictures of each of our students around the classroom, and they will serve as the bases for activities across the year.
We watched the documentary “Paper Clips” to show that one classroom of kids truly can impact thousands of people.
“Ask Me About…” _
Spelling (if you’re with Mr. B): --- there are so many ways to make the /a/ sound in words! One is by using Magic e as in cane. As an intro to this year’s spelling, we looked at this and three other ways. What are the other ways?
Germ City. Yuck!
The Spanish we’re learning. “Buenos dias”, “Hola clase!” “Hola Senor Bolger!” , “Manos arriba, por favor. (= “hands up please.”)
Our new project cubbies.
Our paper chains that celebrate our progress with our At-Home Reading.
Over
Homework Routines: Thank you for helping your child establish and maintain homework routines. I know it’s a lot of signing and paper handling initially. We’ll scale back parent involvement in a few weeks. For now, thank you for keeping those signatures coming.
Dress in Layers: As the weather becomes increasingly cooler, please encourage your child to dress in layers to ensure comfort throughout the day.
Finally, We all look forward to seeing you on Wednesday night at 6:30 for Curriculum Night. Please remember that this is an “adults-only” evening. Thanks for your understanding.
Also, note that Tuesday is a half-day of school for students. Please mark your calendars!
Volunteers must attend a Confidentiality Training (short and well-presented!) If you are interested in volunteering this year, please plan to attend CONFIDENTIALITY for School Volunteers! This 10-15 minute MANDATORY presentation will take place on Tuesday, October 6th at 8:00 a.m. OR 2:20 p.m.
Enjoy the first weekend of autumn! And thank you for the gift of your children’s bright faces each morning when they bust through that door.
Mr. Bolger
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
September 11, 2009
Calliope Weekly Update
September 8-11, 2009
Week Two
Reading: We discussed our read-aloud book, Westlandia, a book that champions being different, being resourceful, and being imaginative. We explored and practiced making meaningful connections to text in our new read aloud, Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. Students have been working with Ms. Gail on beginning of the year Reading Benchmark assessments, which will be used for the planning of future instruction.
Math: Students in third grade completed a beginning of the year numeracy assessment this week in math. Students also learned the number-sense game Pico, Fermi, Bagel and routines and expectations for math class. Fourth graders have started working with geometry and logic problem-solving strategies.
Writing: Our writer’s notebooks are close to being done. We are very excited for you to see them when you next visit school. We will be beginning our Readers’ Response Notebooks next week. Also next week we will discuss what makes a good personal narrative.
Theme (Science): We “kicked-off” our study of Rocks and Minerals with a teacher game-show style skit in the kiva where Mrs. Dodge, Mrs. Powers, and Ms. Schoolcraft were sedimentary, igneous and metamporphic rocks! Students collected rocks as part of a homework assignment and did an observation activity in class on Friday.
Responsive Classroom: Our year is off to a great start. We thought hard about what we most enjoy and what we are most good at (ex: thinking quietly or thinking by talking with others/sports/board games/drama/dancing/ etc.) Howard Gardner talks about the 8 intelligences. We’re figuring out all the ways that we, uniquely, are intelligent. We also discussed some more how all the routines and expectations we have been practicing support us as we grow.
We discussed expected and unexpected behavior for kiva meetings and the cafeteria. We also explored our hopes & dreams for the year and will develop classroom rules next week. Finally, we played sharks & minnows, duck, duck, goose, and worked with the parachute as a 3/4 team this week. We have received several compliments on our line and hallway behavior. And we talked about how walking down the hall from, say, class to art, is a great time to just take a deep breath and breathe! We’re working hard to be the best we can be both inside the classroom and out!
Other: Thank you for your enthusiasm and support for our work together! Calliope 3/4 will be hiking Stowe Pinnacle on Wednesday, 9/16. This will be an all-day field trip…and a wonderful learning experience for all of us. Detailed information and a permission slip was sent home Thursday on bright yellow-orange paper. Please return the permission slip and payment ASAP. If this presents a financial burden for your family, please return the permission slip only. Finally, the Calliope House will host a parent open-house on Wednesday 9/30 from 6:30-7:30pm. This will be an opportunity for us to share our plans for the year ahead, as well as, specific classroom expectations, routines, and volunteer opportunities. We hope you can make it!
Sincerely,
Mr. Bolger
September 8-11, 2009
Week Two
Reading: We discussed our read-aloud book, Westlandia, a book that champions being different, being resourceful, and being imaginative. We explored and practiced making meaningful connections to text in our new read aloud, Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne. Students have been working with Ms. Gail on beginning of the year Reading Benchmark assessments, which will be used for the planning of future instruction.
Math: Students in third grade completed a beginning of the year numeracy assessment this week in math. Students also learned the number-sense game Pico, Fermi, Bagel and routines and expectations for math class. Fourth graders have started working with geometry and logic problem-solving strategies.
Writing: Our writer’s notebooks are close to being done. We are very excited for you to see them when you next visit school. We will be beginning our Readers’ Response Notebooks next week. Also next week we will discuss what makes a good personal narrative.
Theme (Science): We “kicked-off” our study of Rocks and Minerals with a teacher game-show style skit in the kiva where Mrs. Dodge, Mrs. Powers, and Ms. Schoolcraft were sedimentary, igneous and metamporphic rocks! Students collected rocks as part of a homework assignment and did an observation activity in class on Friday.
Responsive Classroom: Our year is off to a great start. We thought hard about what we most enjoy and what we are most good at (ex: thinking quietly or thinking by talking with others/sports/board games/drama/dancing/ etc.) Howard Gardner talks about the 8 intelligences. We’re figuring out all the ways that we, uniquely, are intelligent. We also discussed some more how all the routines and expectations we have been practicing support us as we grow.
We discussed expected and unexpected behavior for kiva meetings and the cafeteria. We also explored our hopes & dreams for the year and will develop classroom rules next week. Finally, we played sharks & minnows, duck, duck, goose, and worked with the parachute as a 3/4 team this week. We have received several compliments on our line and hallway behavior. And we talked about how walking down the hall from, say, class to art, is a great time to just take a deep breath and breathe! We’re working hard to be the best we can be both inside the classroom and out!
Other: Thank you for your enthusiasm and support for our work together! Calliope 3/4 will be hiking Stowe Pinnacle on Wednesday, 9/16. This will be an all-day field trip…and a wonderful learning experience for all of us. Detailed information and a permission slip was sent home Thursday on bright yellow-orange paper. Please return the permission slip and payment ASAP. If this presents a financial burden for your family, please return the permission slip only. Finally, the Calliope House will host a parent open-house on Wednesday 9/30 from 6:30-7:30pm. This will be an opportunity for us to share our plans for the year ahead, as well as, specific classroom expectations, routines, and volunteer opportunities. We hope you can make it!
Sincerely,
Mr. Bolger
September 4, 2009
September 4, 2009
Dear Families,
It’s been a great first week of school! We have already settled into a good routine and have practiced a lot of things so far. The focus this week has been on laying the foundation for a strong classroom community where everyone interacts with each other thoughtfully and takes on the many learning tasks they will face in a purposeful way.
Our morning meeting gives the kids a chance to begin the day by greeting each other, practicing our speaking and listening skills, working together successfully, and trusting each other to take all the risks you need to take around here to really learn.
We’re also working on our Hope and Dreams for the year and our class rules and routines: what does each of us really want to accomplish this year and what rules should we have as a community so that we can all best reach our goals? We thought about how a tomato plant or a pea plant grows best when it has stakes or fencing to lean on and grow against. Likewise, we humans often grow best when we have routines and expectations and rules that we can rely on. We will be investing time over these first few weeks on these rules and expectations so they are understood and automatic. Then we will really flourish!
We read Weslandia again this year because it does such a good job of depicting the challenges and the rewards in daring to be different.
Stowe Pinnacle Hike: Mrs. Schoolcraft’s class and my class are planning, tentatively, to do a Mountain Climb on Wednesday, Sept. 16th. As of today, we are planning to climb Stowe Pinnacle. For anyone who has been on one of our start-of-the-year hikes, there’s no doubt about what it does for leadership building among these 3rd and 4th graders – not to mention the team building it affords between Ms. Schoolcraft’s and my class, and finally, the good spirit it brings with parents, kids, and teachers beginning the year taking on this challenge together. We’re in need of chaperones. Please think about signing up when you receive your child’s permission slip next week. We’d love to have you join us.
Can you volunteer for our Four Winds program for Ms. Schoolcraft’s and my class this year? It was very successful last year. It’s a blast for the kids, and it’s run completely by volunteers who, by the way, get loads of support from an outstanding naturalist curriculum. The commitment for volunteers is to attend 1 training per month for all volunteers and then come into the classroom one time per month for about 2 hours to present the content and do the activities with the kids and the teachers. My understanding is that if you are unable to make the trainings, it is videotaped and is available for volunteers to borrow to prepare for that month’s lesson. If you are interested, please let Ms. Schoolcraft or me know ASAP.
Would you like to volunteer for to work in the classroom or to work at home gathering supplies or preparing projects? Please let me know. I love to have parents in the classroom.
Communication: I welcome your thoughts and questions about your child and about this class. Email and telephone have proven to be the most effective means of parent-teacher communication. Contact me at bolgerd@wsdvt.org and 878-2762 x 5775. I look forward to connecting with you and your child in the coming weeks and months and together, building a rich, successful 3rd/4th grade year.
As I do my beginning-of-the-year assessments in reading, spelling, and math, I’m reminded of how much these kids grew last year – and have grown over the summer. Thank you for the privilege of working with your child.
Mr. Bolger
Dear Families,
It’s been a great first week of school! We have already settled into a good routine and have practiced a lot of things so far. The focus this week has been on laying the foundation for a strong classroom community where everyone interacts with each other thoughtfully and takes on the many learning tasks they will face in a purposeful way.
Our morning meeting gives the kids a chance to begin the day by greeting each other, practicing our speaking and listening skills, working together successfully, and trusting each other to take all the risks you need to take around here to really learn.
We’re also working on our Hope and Dreams for the year and our class rules and routines: what does each of us really want to accomplish this year and what rules should we have as a community so that we can all best reach our goals? We thought about how a tomato plant or a pea plant grows best when it has stakes or fencing to lean on and grow against. Likewise, we humans often grow best when we have routines and expectations and rules that we can rely on. We will be investing time over these first few weeks on these rules and expectations so they are understood and automatic. Then we will really flourish!
We read Weslandia again this year because it does such a good job of depicting the challenges and the rewards in daring to be different.
Stowe Pinnacle Hike: Mrs. Schoolcraft’s class and my class are planning, tentatively, to do a Mountain Climb on Wednesday, Sept. 16th. As of today, we are planning to climb Stowe Pinnacle. For anyone who has been on one of our start-of-the-year hikes, there’s no doubt about what it does for leadership building among these 3rd and 4th graders – not to mention the team building it affords between Ms. Schoolcraft’s and my class, and finally, the good spirit it brings with parents, kids, and teachers beginning the year taking on this challenge together. We’re in need of chaperones. Please think about signing up when you receive your child’s permission slip next week. We’d love to have you join us.
Can you volunteer for our Four Winds program for Ms. Schoolcraft’s and my class this year? It was very successful last year. It’s a blast for the kids, and it’s run completely by volunteers who, by the way, get loads of support from an outstanding naturalist curriculum. The commitment for volunteers is to attend 1 training per month for all volunteers and then come into the classroom one time per month for about 2 hours to present the content and do the activities with the kids and the teachers. My understanding is that if you are unable to make the trainings, it is videotaped and is available for volunteers to borrow to prepare for that month’s lesson. If you are interested, please let Ms. Schoolcraft or me know ASAP.
Would you like to volunteer for to work in the classroom or to work at home gathering supplies or preparing projects? Please let me know. I love to have parents in the classroom.
Communication: I welcome your thoughts and questions about your child and about this class. Email and telephone have proven to be the most effective means of parent-teacher communication. Contact me at bolgerd@wsdvt.org and 878-2762 x 5775. I look forward to connecting with you and your child in the coming weeks and months and together, building a rich, successful 3rd/4th grade year.
As I do my beginning-of-the-year assessments in reading, spelling, and math, I’m reminded of how much these kids grew last year – and have grown over the summer. Thank you for the privilege of working with your child.
Mr. Bolger
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