December 18, 2009

Calliope Weekly Update
December 14-18, 2009
Week Sixteen
Literacy: In Mr. Bolger’s Reading, four book groups are approaching the ends of their books this week. Ask your child about his or her book. Ms. Schoolcraft’s readers read a book entitled Fortunately, by Remy Charlip, and then published their own class book modeled after the pattern…fortunately/unfortunately. Ask your child what his or her “event” was! Students also continued to examine fiction and nonfiction text.

Math: Mr. Bolger’s math class was visited again by Master Math Teacher Claire Earley. She and Mr. Bolger taught the class together, and ten ABS and WCS teachers sat in and listened intently as our students grappled with the problems and explained their thinking. The class received a number of compliments for how earnestly they worked and how willing they were to take risks. A central question they debated was “What does subtraction mean?” (Hint: it doesn’t always mean taking away.) Third grade mathematicians wrapped up their unit of multi-digit addition and subtraction with an assessment on Thursday (with some very high scores!) and will round out the days before vacation with work on portfolio problems.

Writing: Two big things happened in Mr. Bolger’s Writing class this week. First, in the middle of a talk about what makes a good story, Mr. Bolger ripped off his shoe right in the middle of class, yelled, and hurled it across the room at a spider. Then he charged over, scooped up the shoe, dropped to his knees and hammered on the floor with it. The second big thing was that students got Pocket Pads – little flip pads to carry around with them for jotting down funny, sad, or interesting things they notice and might want to write about. Ms. Schoolcraft’s class did some creative writing for a treasured friend who will be leaving to student teach next semester…Ms. Landrigan.

Word Study: In Bolger spelling, the spelling bee concluded on Tuesday with Julia Neeld emerging as the winner! Beyond that, students studied high-frequency words this week. We will do the same for next week’s short week, and we’ll return to our regular sorting when we get back. Ms. Schoolcraft’s spelling group reviewed 1-1-1 words and v-e words with vowel and consonant suffixes, and did a Unit 4 assessment “retake” on Friday.

Social Studies: Students in both classes worked on independence, problem solving skills, and collaboration as they completed a map scale packet this week.

Responsive Classroom: In Mr. B’s class this week students shared “What color I am most like – and why.” Students in Ms. S’s class celebrated “tell someone they’re doing a good job week” by complimenting others.

Ask me about:
• H1N1 shots
• Crystals: In Mr. Bolger’s class, Jordan kindly shared her crystal-growing kit with the class. Everyone carefully mixed up the solution, and now they are watching anxiously as the crystals begin to form on the dangling yarn.
• Junior Great Books presentation

Other: Wow…what a whirlwind week! Just 3 more days until winter break! We will have our house cookie swap on Monday, December 21st. Please be sure to bring in 2 dozen cookies to share with the team. There will be no weekly update next week due to the short week and holiday. Have a restful, joyous, and safe winter break with family and friends. See you next year!

Mr. Bolger and Ms. Schoolcraft