April 2, 2010

Calliope Weekly Update
March 29-April 2, 2010
Week Twenty-eight

Reading/Writing : As we continue our work with various texts in our reading groups and during read aloud, we had special visits from Mr. Terko, Ms. Carr and Mr. Nardelli this week, each sharing a Red Clover book with us. On Thursday, after Mr. Nardelli’s read aloud, students informally voted for their favorite: Finding Home By Sandra Markle, which was read by Ms. Trasciatti-Holmberg, our very own music teacher. On Thursday, Ms. S read Sadako by Eleanor Coerr, a story about a girl’s struggle with leukemia in the aftermath of World War II, as well as, origami cranes as symbols of hope. We have set a Calliope House goal to make 1,000 paper cranes for Dominic’s sister Maria.

Reading Link Frenzy: As we approach the end of the year, we are making a final push with reading and reading chains. We will take them down after our Reading Restaurant in May, we’ll attach them, and make a gigantic circular chain that we’ll take up onto the hill. We think it’s going to be the biggest Reading Chain ever. If you have any little toys or trinkets that your child has grown out of – that you’d like to donate to our Reading Chain grab bag, we’d be happy to have you offload them here .


Math: Fourth graders reviewed their Mid-Year Math Assessment. They also continue to work on gaining deeper understanding of the concepts of multiplication and division, as well as, the partial quotients algorithm. Mr. B is continually implementing strategies and teachings from the Best Practices in Teaching Mathematics course. Third graders started a unit on probability…making predictions and analyzing data from activities involving sampling with replacement.

Word Study: With so many students out this week, and with half-days interspersed across last week and this week, Mr. B’s spelling groups focused on grammar and punctuation as they read and commented on each others’ most-recent spelling stories on the blog. The stories aren’t just “silly” any more. They are quite inspired, and students are giving insightful feedback to their friends. Ms. S’s group is continuing to work with the consonant-le syllable type, including consonant-le syllable exceptions (bagel, camel, etc).

Science: We wrapped up our study of states of matter this week with a written assessment on Thursday. Students explored the “in between” state of oobleck…not quite a solid, not quite a liquid. Aside from making oobleck, we also made a HUGE mess! Students did a fantastic job working together to clean up tables, chairs, desks, and the rug afterward!

Responsive Classroom: We have made it to April…and the “spring jitters” are in full swing. Please remind your child to dress in layers and bring a water bottle to school for warmer weather!

Ask me about:
• Paper Cranes
• Mrs. Frisby’s daring challenge.
• How the Rats of Nimh got captured.
• Oobleck: solid or liquid?
• Grammar: does that period go inside or outside of the quotation marks?

Other: We’ve had several students out this week (including Ms. S on Friday with a sore throat)…please encourage your child to wash hands often and get good rest to stay healthy! With our origami project underway, we could use donations of origami paper—all sizes and colors—and thank you to the families who have sent in glue sticks…we will continue to accept donations!

David and Sarah