Friday 10/26/18

Here are a few highlights from the past week:

  • Click the link here for pictures from October.
  • This week in reading students continued using the Notice and Note close reading strategies in their own independent reading. They are looking for signposts while reading, then responding once a day to those signposts and answering questions about them. I also introduced one more signpost called the Memory Moment.
  • We continued math rotations this week and had a nice full week of learning! One rotation is small group work with me. One rotation is independent work at their seats. And one rotation is games and math work with Mr. K. The three different groups are working on the three following topics: Ratios, Decimal Patterns, and Area of polygons.
  • As a class, we began working on making some adjustments to the waste station (trash, recycling, compost, dishes, etc...) in the cafeteria to make it work better for everyone.
        • We are going through the Engineering Design Process to help guide the work. https://theworks.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EDP_The_Works_Museum_2016_web.jpg
        • As a class, students identified the big problem, as well as the smaller problems as well as some of the important things to remember about a new system.
        • They are now working on small groups on new designs.
        • Students will present these designs to each other and a few staff members as well as John from Central VT Solid Waste (he's been helping us with this process) next week and we will decide how to proceed from there.
  • In writing, we spent time writing in journals to build stamina and also began talking about strategies to come up with ideas, when you don't know what to write about.
  • On Monday, the 5/6er volunteered an hour of their afternoon to help Ms. Donahue and the K/1ers carve pumpkins in Art! They were very much appreciated.
  • On Wednesday we spent a chilly afternoon outside for Outdoor Learning. The first half was spent in the gardens doing some last potato digging and fall cleanup. The second half was spent in the woods observing late fall changes. We did a whole group activity and sit spot.
  • On Friday, we went out as a class and placed the pumpkins out on the trails for Friday night's Pumpkin Walk! This is always a fun time.
  • We continued with our map unit this week. Pairs rotated between 7 stations looking at different kinds of maps: exploring their features and potential uses. We came together as a group to talk about them all.
  • Green sheets came home this week for most students (a few were working in a small group outside the classroom when we did them).


Some upcoming dates, important notes, and things to look forward to in the coming weeks:

  • Pumpkin Walk this Friday 10/26/18!
  • No School- Inservice: Friday 11/9/18
  • *** Cold weather has arrived!!! Please be sure to start sending kids with warm gear for recess and other outdoor time like Outdoor Learning! This time of year they should at least have a coat, a hat, and gloves or mittens. Boots would be nice too (be sure they have indoor shoes for during the day). Snow pants will need to start coming in soon too. ***


  • We will be generating more ideas for writing in writing journals. Also we will likely do a poetry workshop and read and write another poem!
  • Students will have an opportunity to create a commercial for a book they've read during these first weeks of school during independent reading.
  • We will do a few more weeks of Outdoor Learning. We need to finish up late fall garden cleanup and head back into the woods to do some tree investigations.
  • We will spend time post-conference, looking closer at hopes and dreams and deciding on some areas for growth. Students will reflect on strengths and challenges and brainstorm ideas for goal setting.
  • We will continue with our cafeteria waste station redesign.
  • We will also be working on a series of lessons to share with the K/1 Little Buddies. We will use ideas we got from our Mastermind Mentor training in Greensboro!
  • We will continue with independent reading and students will begin doing some work with reading response, using these new reading strategies.
  • Book Clubs (Reading Groups or Literature Circles) start on Monday!
  • We will continue with our math units (Ratios, Decimals, and Area). I will continue to run 3 math groups on a rotation schedule. One rotation is a lesson with me. One rotation is work and games based on that lesson or current math topics. One rotation will vary depending on the day and may include: word work (vocab/spelling), writing, reading response, typing instruction, independent project work, etc...
  • We will continue with our map unit. We will review some geographic terms, identify parts of maps, and look more closely at and use some of the different types of maps we identified during the map station activity (topographical, road, physical, historical, political, informational, special interest/theme).