This week's post will be a whole lot of pictures! As the week before winter break, it was full of excitement. My homeroom also earned a reward for topping off their Community Jar, which is a whole class method of positive reinforcement. I put marbles into the jar for things like compliments in the hallway, quick and quiet transitions, and positive reports from specialist teachers. When those marbles reach the top of the jar, the class votes on a reward of some kind. The vote resulted in the majority of students opting for board game time. We ended up spending 40 minutes on Wednesday playing various board games together, both ones I've collected over the years and ones students brought in from home. I'm not going to lie, I love when this is the chosen reward. Why? Because I love board games, particularly Scrabble. A crew of us spent the time playing it, and overall, it was a fun mid-week break from schoolwork.

On Friday, we had our holiday party, and it was a blast. We did holiday/winter trivia, and the only stipulation for teams was that each team needed to include at least one adult. It was a lot of fun getting the families involved, so thanks to everyone who joined us! And thank you so much for all of the generous and thoughtful gifts given to me--I am one spoiled teacher.

With the craziness of the party on Friday, I didn't pull names for Bucket Filler. That being said, this week definitely goes out to Lila. Friday was actually her last day at the Kennedy. At her request, we didn't make a big deal about it at the party, but her family is moving to Charleston, South Carolina within the next week or so. (Sidenote: I'm obsessed with Charleston! Two of my close friends moved there a few years ago, and after visiting them a few times, I completely understand why...). Honestly, I can't say enough wonderful things about Lila. She is incredibly sweet and thoughtful, and she is the epitome of our classroom motto: "Kindness Matters". She has a heart of gold, and I feel lucky I got to be her teacher these past few months. Her new school in Charleston just gained a truly special girl. <3 We'll certainly miss her around her!

I hope everyone has a wonderful break and enjoys the holidays with their loved ones. See you in 2020!

  

   

  

    

  

 

 

We had our winter concert this past week. As fourth graders this year, students are given the opportunity to play an instrument, which makes school concerts slightly different from those of previous years. Those students who play an instrument are on stage twice: during the grade level performance, as well as the band or orchestra portion of the concert. That means there are many logistical directions that need to be followed for the concert t o run smoothly, and the concert itself is longer. Not only can it be nerve-wracking to get up on stage in front of a cafeteria packed with people, but students need to be quietly seated, attentive audience members for over an hour. I was really proud of our crew for doing a great job during all of these aspects of the concert. And I was especially proud of them for the giant compliment we got from Mr. Marshall while we waited in the hallway before our grade level performance. These guys were told that they did the best job patiently waiting in line than any other grade...in any other year! They just stood in two lines in absolute silence, showing respect and consideration for the middle school chorus who was performing on stage. Yup, we've officially set the bar high for positive concert behavior.

In ELA/SS this week, we continued our focus on landmarks. We added to our research, and we decided how we wanted to organize that research into three overarching sections for our magazine. We then looked at those three topics and decided on a central idea that not only weaves them together, but also conveys what makes our landmark important and special. Ari was our Bucket Filler this week, and this was largely due to his effort on this assignment. Upon deciding his three section topics, he realized that he could use some more information about Mount Rushmore before drafting his magazine. So he showed responsibility and independence by going home that day and just about tripling his research. He didn't need to be instructed to do so; instead he recognized the shortcoming and did something about it. Way to go, Ari! Laura was our Bucket Filler for my homeroom, and I was shocked to hear that this was actually her first time winning. In reality, she's one of those kids whose name could get pulled every week, because she's constantly filling my bucket! She's kind, enthusiastic, hardworking, and receptive to feedback. She participates, she helps others, and she's consistently following my directions. I love having Laura in class, and I'm certain that she'll be Bucket Filler many more times this school year.

 

 

I'm not going to lie, Tuesday's snow day was a welcomed day off. Though we'd just come back from a four-day weekend--and you'd think that those extra days would've allowed for time to get caught up and prepared for the week--I left school Monday afternoon craving a snow day and vowing to myself that if we got one, I'd make it a day of epic productivity. And that it was! I finally feel (almost) back on track in the correcting department, and students will be reviewing my feedback in their writing notebooks this upcoming week.

In our integrated nonfiction reading and social studies unit, we've been using various texts on our assigned landmarks to apply strategies for finding the main idea of a text. Sometimes the main idea of a nonfiction passage is clearly stated, or evident from the title or heading(s). But other times, we need to infer the main idea by thinking about what the information and details in the text have in common. It's in times like these, when the main idea is implied, that it can be especially challenging for students to identify and word the text's main idea. But one strategy I've found super helpful for kids is first recognizing the text's primary structure, which is how the information in the text is organized. There are five main nonfiction text structures: chronological sequence, compare and contrast, description, cause and effect, and problem and solution. Figuring out how the author chose to organize the information in a text gives the reader clues about how it's intended to be read and what is most important in the text--it can lead the reader to the main idea! And we have some helpful sentence frames for each text structure that can scaffold our wording of that main idea so that it is clear and concise. We'll continue applying this strategy as we progress through this unit.

Usually when kids take the time to participate in optional assignments, I don't think I could be any more excited and impressed. But I'm quickly proven wrong when kids take the time to put in that extra effort over a holiday weekend, and that's exactly what happened this past week. I'd given kids the option of earning extra credit stickers for a turkey-themed persuasive writing. Participating students had to take on the role of "Tom the Turkey" and write a letter or speech to "Farmer Don" convincing the farmer that he should spare him this year as Thanksgiving dinner's main dish. Several kids opted to take part, and their creative reasons and convincing letters cracked me up. I had a few students even turn in the letters inside envelopes addressed to Farmer Don! It was super cute, and I snapped photos of some of those hardworking students sharing their writings with the class, so be sure to check them out below.

One of the participating students was Annabelle, who happened to be one of our Bucket Fillers this week. Annabelle is as thoughtful as they come. She is constantly helping out around the classroom, and her little gestures of kindness and notes of gratitude are always highlights of my week. For Mrs. O'Keefe's homeroom, Tesla was our Bucket Filler. One characteristic I really appreciate about Tesla is that he gets right to work as soon as he gets into the classroom at the start of our ELA block. When we have a Quick Write, he's often the first to start his writing and the last to finish. That kind of effort should be celebrated, and I'm pumped that his name was pulled as our Bucket Filler this week. It's well-deserved!

  

  

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! This week was a short one of course, just two and a half days. In that short time though, we managed to spend time with both 6th grade classes and Ms. Matteis's first grade class. On Tuesday, Ms. Ward brought her sixth graders in so that we could show them our social studies slides and related art projects. Each student’s presentation focused on a particular state in the U.S. and what can be learned about that state through five different maps: a political map, a physical map, and three different thematic maps (one historical map was required, along with two choice thematic maps). On each of the map slides, there were 2-3 bullets of information gathered about the state through that particular type of map. (For example, a state’s landforms might be mentioned next to a physical map of the state.) In addition, students used lines and patterns to create a visual of their state in art class, so the kids had those out next to their Chromebooks when Ms. Ward's class came in. We also thought it'd be fun to challenge the sixth graders to a little competition, so we came up with questions for a scavenger hunt that they worked on as they went around to each fourth grade project. It was a cool way to celebrate the hard work put into this assignment, and I hope the kids were proud of themselves.

Between Book Club, instruments, and the Turkey Bowl, Wednesday flew by. After instruments, we did a gratitude activity with the first graders. Each first grader was paired up with one or two fourth graders, who helped their younger peer make a "gratitude pie". It was a cute, simple craft, and it was nice to see our students being so kind and attentive to the first graders. They were great role models!

  

 

 

Gratitude and heritage…what a combination of topics to celebrate. And those were the themes of our most recent community week at the Kennedy. I love when students show gratitude, and a simple 'thank you' after an activity I put time into arranging really means a lot to me. One exercise we've done a few times this school year is one that has been encouraged over our school's morning announcements. It involves simply thinking about one positive thing that has happened over the last 24 hours. Regularly reflecting on and expressing gratitude for the positive aspects and experiences in our lives is surely a healthy habit, and it's something that often gets lost in the shuffle of our day-to-day lives. So it's a nice activity to do, and we even put those thoughts down on paper this week in our creation of "gratitude wheels". With Thanksgiving right around the corner, hopefully we'll get a chance over the next few days to do even more activities centered around gratitude.

This community week's theme also directed our attention to our own heritage. On Tuesday, we discussed what we know about our family's heritage as a class, using a globe to locate the various countries from which our ancestors came. We also had a Heritage Fair on Wednesday. Several parents from our school community kindly brought in various objects, games, and tokens from different countries around the world. In the gym, six stations representing the six inhabited continents were set up with items from that continent. The kids went around to the different stations to explore these items, while also trying to answer some related trivia questions. Make sure to check out the pictures below!

I'm excited about where we're going in ELA right now, because I've been working with Mrs. George (one of our district's ELA coaches) to integrate the 4th grade social studies standards with our nonfiction reading unit and expository writing unit. So for the next few weeks we'll be applying nonfiction reading strategies to informational texts on U.S. landmarks, and use the information we gather to create our own magazines on Book Creator that convey the importance of a particular national landmark. Weaving together all three of the subjects that I teach is something I'm really trying to focus on this year, and I'm hopeful that my students gain a lot from this integration of subjects.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Lila and Dylan. This is Lila's second time getting Bucket Filler, which isn't exactly surprising. She is very thoughtful and kind, and she's one of those kids who does regularly express gratitude for the things we do in class. So it's a fitting week for her name to get pulled! Dylan was absent on Friday, so the fact that he's Bucket Filler will be news to him on Monday! One characteristic I really like about Dylan is his natural tendency and desire to help others in need. For example, I'm often misplacing things throughout the day, and Dylan is always ready to help me locate what I've misplaced, often "on the hunt" to find it before I even finish my sentence stating what I'm missing! I love how eager he is to help those around him, and I'm looking forward to telling him that he won Bucket Filler!

 

 

I type this blog post from an airplane...on my way back to cold, wet Boston from the sunny, warm weathers of Florida. Yup, the kids had a substitute today (hopefully I'll get a good report...), as I booked this trip towards the beginning of the school year as a quick getaway to look forward to during the often-hectic months of September and October. I don't like being out, but taking a personal day once or twice a year is a necessity.

It was great getting the chance to check in with so many parents/guardians during round two of conferences on Thursday. Though the meetings are brief, their brevity allows for the opportunity to meet with more families, which is especially important as kids progress through the grade levels and have more than one teacher.

We started our nonfiction unit this week, and we kicked things off with a variety of activities to activate student's prior knowledge of this genre. We played Kahoot on our Chromebooks, did an online scavenger hunt, and explored the assortment of texts in the nonfiction section of our classroom library. While we will primarily focus our reading lessons on strategies for understanding nonfiction texts, I'll do my best to make sure we still find time for students to read their fiction independent reading books. We also started reading the book Wonder as a class, which I try to fit in most days, even if it's just for a few minutes. It's important that we're continuing to explore the elements of fiction, particularly when it comes to understanding characters in a fiction text.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Logan B. and Jack. Logan B. is one of those kids who can make you smile on the hardest of days. He is just so genuine and kind, and he really impressed me with his participation during our nonfiction lessons and discussions this week. And Jack's skills when it comes to all things technology? Also incredibly impressive. He is a computer whiz. Between his Youtube channel, knowledge of Scratch, use of QR Codes, and just overall natural understanding of how to navigate a Chromebook, he has become our classroom's go-to support when computer issues pop up. Not only is it helpful having a Chromebook expert in class, having an expert who's willing to help others is even better. Great job, boys!

Happy long weekend, folks. It's hard to believe that we're nearing Thanksgiving break, and then before we know it, it'll be 2020! It was great meeting so many families at our first day of parent/teacher conferences on Tuesday. On Thursday, I look forward to meeting with the remainder of the parents/guardians on my sign up sheet. We finished up our ELA test revisions and our personal narratives this week. Overall, I was super impressed with how well both classes did on our first test of the school year. The average was roughly 18/19 points out of 22 possible points, which is awesome. Our next unit (nonfiction) will start on Tuesday. We'll also begin our focus on expository writing.

This week, I did a compliment chain with both classes. The 15-minute activity goes like this: First we sit in a circle. Then we discuss the importance of kindness and compliments, and what makes a compliment genuine. This leads into my introduction of the compliment chain exercise. Students were asked to take one minute to think of something kind to say to the person to their left. They were asked to be specific, and go beyond things like, "I like your shoes" or "You're good at soccer". I started us off, and we went around the circle giving a compliment to the person to our left. THEN we repeated the same routine in the opposite direction. At the end, we reflected on how good it feels to not only receive compliments, but also how good it feels to give compliments. I love doing this activity with kids, and we'll continue to promote positivity and kindness as often as possible. 

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Makayla and Abdul. Makayla is the epitome of sweet. She continually shows patience and kindness to her classmates, and she's one of those kids I can count on to work well with anyone and everyone. Abdul blows me away with his creativity and artistic ability. He is so gifted at drawing! He also has worked hard recently to make good decisions in regards to where to work in the classroom and where to stand in line during transitions. I'm really proud of both Abdul and Makayla!

Our first ELA test of the school year? Check! We had our fiction test this week, which covered everything from fiction reading strategies and characteristics of fiction texts, to analyzing figurative language and writing a text-based essay about a character. Though only seven questions, this test wasn’t easy in that there were a lot of two-part questions. It ended up taking most of the kids a solid two class periods. Whenever we take a test, I always set aside a class period post-test that gives students time for revisions and reflection based on my feedback. It’s important that students view learning as a process, and that assessments don’t just receive a final grade without an opportunity to take my feedback into consideration and apply it to their work. Prior to revisions, I don't include any scores on their answers. Instead, I provide comments and questions in hopes of guiding them to make revisions that result in stronger, clearer responses. We discuss the questions as a class, talk about trends I noticed, and clear up any misunderstandings the kids may have. It isn't until after revisions that I attach a number to each question and grade the test. Students will bring those home this week to show parents, and we'll continue working one-on-one, in small groups, and as a class on various "trouble areas" that were revealed through this test.

As a result of the students having the day off on Tuesday, we didn't have a half day this week. Normally we do book club on half day Wednesdays, but rather than simply holding it on our full day Wednesday, Mrs. O'Keefe and I decided to push book club to Thursday morning. We figured kids would already be excited, it being Halloween and all... They also asked if we could make things extra comfy for book clubs and do a pajama day. So Thursday got off to a comfortable start! On Friday, many students reached the publishing stage of their personal narratives. Before typing though, we had to do some editing. As an introduction to the COPS editing strategy (capitalization, organization, punctuation, spelling), we "performed" a whole class skit. Our "officers" in each class were even lucky enough to lead us through a quality COPS rap. Let's just say, it was pretty amusing.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Romana and Alteo. Romana looooves reading, and I loooove that about her! She is also just so enthusiastic in general about learning, and it's incredibly enjoyable to have that positive energy during our classroom lessons and discussions. Alteo was one of a few kids in my homeroom who really impressed me on Friday. After a rough report from specialist on Thursday, a handful of students really turned things around during art class on Friday. Alteo and a few of his peers showed self reflection and responsibility by making the decision to stand out in a positive way during specialist, and Ms. DeAngelis gave me a list of several names of students who did an excellent job with listening and behavior during art class. Alteo was at the top of that last. Way to go, Alteo!