Gombert Project Arrow

Week of December 8th

This week, students will continue to work on annotations for "The Ugly Duckling." A combination of teacher modeling and whole-class collaboration will be used to complete this task. Students will also be given an opportunity to work with a partner to complete their annotations. The latter will be dependent upon student understanding. Afterward, students will engage in a literary discussion about the text. I was very impressed with our last discussion, and I am looking forward to observing students' insights about our focus text. Students will then be assessed through the use of an exit ticket. Have a great weekend!

Week of December 1st

I hope that each student had a relaxing Thanksgiving break. I am excited to see the students and look forward to continuing the learning process. Before break, the decision was made to begin our close reading of "The Ugly Duckling" once we returned. Having the time to examine this text without interruption will help students to have a consistent flow of thinking and will allow students ample opportunity to analyze the text. Please see below to learn about what students learning will entail. Have a great week!

Week of November 17th

During the upcoming week, we will review vocabulary and complete a cold read of the story entitled "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen. Each learner will engage in a close reading of the text. Students will focus on the following skills during the annotation process: characterization (internal and external), inferring, generalizations of change, and symbolism. We will end our week with a fun game day.

Finally, I would like to express my gratitude to you for entrusting your child's education to me. I am extremely lucky to be able to work with such wonderful and supportive parents. It's an absolute honor to work with your children. I hope that everyone has a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving Break!

Week of November 10th

Last week, I decided to give students additional time to work on their narratives. Writing is a higher-level task, and I wanted to ensure they had the opportunity to be thoughtful, reflective practitioners. We will continue developing our pieces during the upcoming week. Once students have completed their writing, our goal will be to transition into learning about characterization. For more information about what this will entail, please refer to the previous update.

Week of November 3rd

During the upcoming week, students will spend a short time writing a narrative detailing a time that they came out of their shell. Then, each learner will begin to learn about characterization. They will begin to understand that readers can use the feelings, actions, thoughts, and dialogue of a character in order to infer traits. We will also be examining external traits. Specifically, students will be considering their personal opinions about what beauty is. They will be identifying and examining their own external traits. The aforementioned learning tasks will serve as background building for our next literary piece, "The Ugly Duckling" by Hans Christian Andersen. If time permits, we will review vocabulary and complete a cold read of the story.

Week of October 27th

I am relieved that we will have a pretty normal week in PA. We will wrap up all learning tasks that are related to the story "Shells" by Cynthia Rylant. In addition, students will participate in a literary discussion about the text. Higher- level questions will be posed, and the students will be expected to use critical thinking skills to respond appropriately. Students will also be completing an exit slip that will assess their knowledge of the text as well as their interpretive skills. If time permits, each learner will begin writing a narrative about a time they came out of their shell. This task will serve as a culminating task for the text.

Week of October 20th

During the upcoming week, we will be wrapping up our annotations for the story "Shells" by Cynthia Rylant. Students will continue their study of change and will complete an organizer that will call for each individual to consider the changes that occurred in a character from the beginning to the end of the story. They will also engage in some thoughtful conversations about the text. We have a short week, so I hope that we can fit in as much as possible. Please be aware that students will only be attending PA on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Anything we don't get to, we will have to complete the following week.

Week of October 13th

During the upcoming week, students will begin annotating "Shells" by Cynthia Rylant. They will also engage in some thoughtful conversations about the text. If time permits, students will continue their study of change and will complete an organizer that will call for each individual to consider the changes that occurred in a character from the beginning to the end of the story. Learners will also be responsible for identifying the big ideas that relate to the main character and gather evidence from the text to suport their thinking.

PA conferences will take place on Thursday, October 16th from 4:30-8:00 p.m. and Monday, October 20th from 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. and 4:30-8:00 p.m. If you have not signed up, you can find the links in a previous email that was sent last week. Please be sure to complete the "Parent Homework" questionnaire and have your child turn it in on Tuesday, October 14th. This will help to guide our discussions during the conference. Have a great week!

Week of October 6th

During the upcoming week, students will complete the first read of "Shells" by Cynthia Rylant. Then, they will then begin a close read of the text in order to gain a deeper understanding. During this time, each learner will be taught how to properly annotate and will be encouraged to jot down their thinking in the margins of the text. The use of modeling and think alouds will be used to support each learner. This initial annotation experience will be guided and the main focus will be on identifying how the generalizations of change relate to the text. Have a great week!

Week of September 29th

We are still in the process of brainstorming ideas about change. I've chosen to have students brainstorm as many ideas related to change as possible, in the time provided. Then, students will collaboratively determine categories based on patterns they notice in the ideas recorded. Students will then sort based upon their identified categories. This will provide opportunities for each learner to use higher level and critical thinking skills. Once this is complete, I will introduce the generalizations of change (listed below). As an entire class, we will sort their written ideas based on the new categories.

If time permits, students will begin the process of identifying generalizations of change when reading a text. To practice this skill, we will read a beautiful picture book entitled Time is a Flower. We will then transition to our first major text of the school year entitled "Shells" by Cynthia Rylant. Each learner will be exploring shells and identifying what they see, think, and wonder. This learning task will serve as a means of building background knowledge, prior to reading the text.

Week of September 22nd

This week, students will be wrapping up their learning about generalizations, and will be given an assessment to determine their current understandings. We will then transition to learning about the following generalizations of change: change happens over time, change can be predictable or unpredictable, change happens naturally or can be caused by people, change can be positive and/or negative, and change is everywhere. Afterward, students will be encouraged to work on their fluency and brainstorm multiple ideas that relate to change. They will then collaborate with their peers to sort each idea into an appropriate category of change. These concepts will eventually be integrated into our annotation process when completing close readings throughout the year. I'm looking forward to a wonderful week of learning!

Week of September 15th

During the upcoming week, a pre-assessment will be given to determine the students' current knowledge of change, theme, and their ability to interpret implicit meanings. They will also be introduced to generalizations and will learn that they are broad statements about a subject based on information, observations, and experiences. This is a major skill that students will be required to apply during future literary analyses. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me. Have a great week!

Week of September 8th

Students are making great progress on their creativity projects. It has been wonderful observing their workmanship. I recall one student saying, "This project is so fun!" Their creativity and indviduality are very apparent, and it's a joy to see. Our goal will be for students to complete their work by the end of the week. If time allows, each learner will share a portion of their project with their classmates. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact me via email. Have a great week!

Week of September 1st

During the upcoming week, we will continue to work on our introductory project. Students will be encouraged to consider their passions, desires, and interests. We have begun the process of brainstorming ideas. Each learner has been exposed to the components of creativity, and the hope is that they will consider these throughout the design process. Also, I would like to remind any students who have not yet turn in their supplies to bring them in as soon as possilble. Finally, I'd like to remind you about the parent survey. This will help me to learn more about your child. Click HERE if you still need to complete the questionniare. I am looking forward to another wonderful week with your children. Enjoy your weekend!

Week of August 25th

I am extremely excited to have a new crew of PA students, and I am confident we are going to have an awesome year! Students will begin Project Arrow on Monday, August 25th. This week, we will begin to create a community in our classroom through the use of team building activities. They will be encouraged to communicate and collaborate with one another to be successful.

Students will also begin a project that will help them to consider what their passions, interests, and desires are. They will be creating a pictorial representation of these ideas. They will be encouraged to integrate the components of creativity (fluency, flexiblity, originality, and elaboration) throughout the design process. Prior to beginning the project, we will be reading a book entitled Sarabella's Thinking Cap by Judith Byron Schachner. My hope is that this text will inspire thoughtful ideas for their project.

Please be aware that your child brought home a teacher bio, PA schedule, and a supply list last Friday. You can also find a digital copy of the supply list as well as the schedule on the homepage of the PA Google site. Please have your child bring in their supplies no later than Friday, August 29th. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

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