Thursday, April 30th

We had a great day on the Ave!  Students worked this morning to respond to questions from read a-loud of Dumpling Days.  They then worked to complete questions about a TIME for Kids in Google Classroom.

We enjoyed a beautiful day learning about soil in our garden.  We even tasted lettuce straight from the garden!  Ask your child to tell you more!

 Our class will have MAP testing are May 12th, 13th, and 14th at 8:00 am.
Don't forget to send in your white shirt for field day and your transportation form.

Have a great evening!

MAP Testing

Our class will be completing MAP testing on May 12th, 13th, and 14th at 8:00.

Wednesday, April 29th

We had a busy day.

We continued exploring historical figures that made a difference during the women's suffrage movement.  Students completed a close read about Susan B. Anthony on their iPads.  They utilized the Good Reader app. to underline the main idea in each paragraph.  They then added their information to the chart in their journals.

We continued working with addition and subtraction of mixed units.  Today's focus was time.

Students were given a letter about a voluntary project that connects to our Unit of Inquiry.  The letter is also attached here.  It is my hope that this is a task you and your child will enjoy working on together.  Ask your child to tell you more!

We will have a learning celebration on Thursday, May 28th at 1:15 pm.  It will take place in our classroom.  We hope you will join us!!!

Don't forget to send in your white shirts for field day!!!

Please remind your child that we still have teaching and learning happening everyday, and they should maintain appropriate behaviors (such as listening and following directions) when at school.  Thank you for your help with this matter.
Have a great evening!

Tuesday, April 28th

What a great day on the Avenue!

We were back to our normal schedule today.  Students worked to write personal narratives about a time when they learned a lesson the hard way.  Students enjoyed adding sensory details, so that we could feel their pain or lesson that was learned.

Students were excited to go back to the media center today!  Our last day for book checkout will be May 15th, and all books are due to the media center May 22nd.

We continued to practice with adding and subtracting with mixed units.  Students are using a variety of simplifying and conversion techniques to assist them with solving their equations.

DON'T FORGET:
White t-shirts for field day should be sent in as soon as possible.
Sign and return the transportation forms that were in the communication folders yesterday.
Check the upcoming events. We have a lot going on this time of the year.

See you in the morning!

Monday, April 27th

Happy Monday!
We are happy to have completed our GMAS testing!  There will be a few make ups tomorrow.

We discussed Sojourned Truth today and examined one of her speeches, Ain't I a Woman.  Students looked to understand her powerful words and inferences.

We were able to enjoy some outside time and students went to PE this afternoon.

There is a Go-Bond meeting tonight at the Central Office.  If you need more information about this topics being discussed or if you have not yet taken the survey, please see the links below.

Master Plan Presentation
Survey

We return to our normal school day tomorrow!

Wednesday, April 22nd

We continued with testing today.  Please see the note from Mr. Roaden regarding the remaining days of testing:

We continue to monitor the testing schedule and make it more fitting for our students and staff.  This will be the Thurs. - Monday schedule. I do not anticipate any major changes.

Mr. Thomas will send an up-dated lunch schedule.  The lunch time order will remain the same.

8:05-11:05 4th grade

9:30-12:30 5th grade

Lunch:

11:05-12:05 - 4th 

12:30-1:30 - 5th

Students worked to add and subtract equations with mixed units of measurement involving feet, yards, and inches.  We discussed and analyzed Susan B. Anthony's speech On Women's Right to Suffrage, and we learned the story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. Ask your child to tell you more!

Don't forget to send in your field day t-shirts and money for movie night.

See you in the morning!

Tuesday, April 21st

A great day is in the books!

After our morning of GMAS testing, we enjoyed some down time, recess, and lunch.

Students worked to analyze a model for math.  They were to solve the equation that was presented by the model and then create a word problem to go with their model.  Students reviewed each others work.

We read the next chapter in The Hope Chest.  Students completed a summarizing activity in Google Classroom.

We are looking forward to another great day tomorrow.  Please be reminded that students will not be able to check out before 2:45 this week due to testing.

Monday, April 21st

Welcome back!  I hope you enjoyed a restful weekend.

We back reading The Hope Chest today.  This is a novel that takes us on a journey and through the challenges faced by suffragists in the early 1900s.  Students worked to complete a summarizing activity with response questions for chapter 1.

We also had a great discussion about the following question:  Is it ever okay to break the law?  Why or why not?  I love hearing the students' responses and great conversation about this.  Ask your child to tell you more!

OOOOPS!!!  In getting prepared for tomorrow's testing, we forgot to send home red communication folders today.  This means that we forgot to take our report cards home.  My apologies for the inconvenience.  Report cards and red folders will come home tomorrow.

We will begin GMAS testing tomorrow.  It will continue everyday this week and Monday of next week.  Please ensure that your child has a nutritious dinner and breakfast and goes to bed early.  They should also come prepared with two books to read.  They are going to do great!

There is no homework this week.  See you in the morning!

Friday, April 17th

It's Friday!!!!

We worked to add sensory details to our personal narratives.  These are words or phrases that make your reader use their senses when reading.

We worked to complete our core democratic value posters.  Students were made to sit on a certain side of the room based on the color of their shoes.  I then assigned them a task to complete.  This led to a great discussion about prejudice and discrimination.  Ask your child to tell you more!

We will have a normal school day Monday and will begin GMAS testing on Tuesday.  Please ensure that your child arrives to school on time every day.  Testing will last through the 27th.

Have a great weekend!

Thursday, April 16th

Happy Thursday!

Students worked to create the public service announcements.  I am excited to see their finished products!

As we continued working with our core democratic values, students began working in groups to create illustrations and rewrite their core value.  

We worked to solve word problems utilizing our standard conversions.  Students worked to read, write, and draw to solve their problems.

We also enjoyed a fun Village Gathering!

Don't forget to send in your permission forms for movie night and your white t-shirts for field day.

See you tomorrow!

Wednesday, April 15th

It was another busy day on the AVE.

Students continued to work on their research and drafting for their Public Service Announcements on voting.

We introduced some of the core democratic values in America.  Students are creating quick sketches of their meaning in their journals.

We are looking forward to our Village Gathering at 1:45 tomorrow.  We hope you can join us!
Information was sent home regarding the last FAVE film night, as well as volunteering to help with field day.
See you in the morning!

Tuesday, April 14th

What a busy and successful day!
Students began discussing PSA's as a way of expressing their opinions.  We began researching the topic of voting.  Students are utilizing articles to find information that supports their opinion.  They will continue to research tomorrow before writing their own PSAs.

We completed an activity about beliefs.  Students worked to write down things that they believe.  There were no guidelines, so they could have written anything that they believe.  From there students worked to determine common things that they and their table members believe.  Ask your child to tell you more!

We continued working with our standard unit conversions today.  Ask your child to tell you the story of The Land of Gallon.

Have a great evening!

Monday, April 13th

Welcome Back!!

I hope you enjoyed your week off!  I heard great stories of all of the traveling or staying home and having fun that was done.  I am so happy to be back at school.

We had a great first day back!  We did several thing to close out term 5, including reflecting on the goals that we set for the term back in February.  Students reread their goals and determined which they accomplished and which are still in progress.  We also set new goals for term 6 using Google Classroom.

We discussed or new UOI (Who We Are).  Students analyzed our central idea (Beliefs reflect culture, personal experiences, and societal influences) and created their own version of those words.  They asked great questions and added them to our wonder wall.

We began our work with standard conversions today.  We created input/output tables to convert pounds to ounces, yards to feet, and feet to inches.  Students completed metric conversions prior to this term.

Please note the important information listed below from Mr. Roaden regarding next week's GMAS assessment.  Thank you in advance for your support with this.

As I am sure you are all aware we begin GMAS (replaces CRCT) testing April 21 and continue testing through April 27. This is a vital time at F.AVE and requires great attention to testing protocols and the process. This year testing is in two sessions each day. 4th Grade students will test beginning at 7:45 and test until approximately noon. 5th graders will begin testing at noon and test until dismissal at 2:45. This will make movement in our building very sensitive for these four days. I am sure you will want to help us create the best testing environment possible for your student. Please make sure your student is here ready to learn at 7:45 am. No students will be dismissed before 2:45 pm. I hope you can respect our need to be as careful as we can during the testing window.

Our Village Gathering will be held on Thursday at 1:45pm in the multipurpose room.  We hope to see you there!

Have a great evening!

Friday, April 3rd

We had a wonderful day!
We began with a gallery walk where students were able to look at and read our published writing pieces from the term.

Our day continued by connecting our simple machines to make Rube Goldberg machines. Students were shown a couple of videos of Rube Goldberg machines and then played mouse trap.  Ask your child to tell you more!

We enjoyed a beautiful day outside!

And finally, we had an entertaining visit from Chris Grabenstein.  Our class had front row seats!!

I hope you have an amazing week off!  See back at school on April 13th.

Thursday, April 2nd

Today was productive day!  Students accomplished so much.  They were able to complete missing assignments, work to publish their papers, and completed end of the term assessments.

We are looking forward to our day tomorrow!  Don't forget to order your year book online.  Today is the last day for orders.

See you tomorrow!