I am already obsessed with our poetry unit...and we just started it on Monday! We had a special guest on Tuesday: my roommate Michelle. Michelle majored in English in college and loves writing poetry and short stories in her free time. A few months ago, we were sitting in our living room and Michelle read me a poem that she had written that day. At the time, I had no idea that she regularly wrote poetry. I was blown away by her talent! I said that when we kicked off our poetry unit, I'd love if she came in and read some of her poems to the kids. Well fast forward a few months, and we made it happen. Michelle took the day off from work and spent reading block with both homerooms. She read poems that she had written in fourth grade, seventh grade, college, and recently. It was sooo awesome to show the kids Michelle's enthusiasm for this genre. After analyzing one of Michelle's poems with strong imagery, the kids were given the opportunity to write a poem on any topic of their choice. Their goal was to include descriptive adjectives, vivid verbs, figurative language, and their senses. The poems they created in just twenty minutes were absolutely incredible. I couldn't believe it! Since then, many kids have been writing poems on their own. I ended up getting blank composition notebooks for students interested in compiling the poems that they write. The excitement the kids are showing for reading and writing poetry is every teacher's dream!!!

On Wednesday, students worked in groups on a STEAM activity. The activity revolved around making instruments out of recycled materials, and then using the sounds those instruments produced to play a message to the class. In order to communicate the message, each group developed their own morse code. It was a super cool activity and the kids did a great job with it. On Friday, we attended a performance called "Heroines on the Homefront". A talented historian and storyteller came in and talked about life during the Colonial times. The performance portrayed how Colonial women contributed to winning the war for Independence and how learning to spin created a new, independent, American textile economy that helped ensure the survival of the nation. It was neat!

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Nathan and Andrew. Both boys really blew me away this week with the poetry they wrote. They included impressive imagery and I loved seeing them showcase their creativity. I can't wait to see what else they come up with during this unit! 

What a week in ELA! After taking our nonfiction test the week prior, I had this week to reteach concepts the students needed more time on. I used Tuesday to work on analyzing text-based questions and developing a central idea based on each question. We used texts we've read this year to do so. We continued this focus on Wednesday, and the kids showed a lot of progress in both areas. Wednesday night's homework, Thursday's class period, and Thursday night's homework all had students preparing for a text-based debate on the advantages and disadvantages of technology in our world today. I gave students three kid-friendly articles that presented both sides of the overarching question, which was, "Do you think technology has impacted the world in a positive or negative way?" The purpose was for students to decide on a claim in response to the question and then find evidence in the articles to support their claim. I also encouraged students to use outside sources to strengthen their argument. Many students did so, and will receive extra homework credit for that additional effort. Friday was the debate. The kids got super into it and I loved it. Everyone had a chance to speak in both classes and they used debate sentence stems to agree, disagree, clarify, and add on to each other's points. They referred back to the sources from which they found their evidence throughout the debate. When the timer went off to signal its end, we were all disappointed! I can't wait to do more this school year.

Our Bucket Fillers were Tanner and Robert. This is Tanner's second week in a row! She definitely deserves it. She is an enthusiastic learner who consistently puts effort into her work. Robert blows me away on a daily basis. He is incredibly bright yet continues to seek out ways to challenge himself. He genuinely appreciates when I give him constructive feedback, which I love. Congrats you two!

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend, our second in a row. It's been a while since I've posted on the blog, and it's a been a while since we've had a full week of school! The kids were really good sports this week. We took the district test for our nonfiction unit, and it took a lonnnngggg time. The kids worked hard for three reading blocks over the course of three days. It was part on the computer and part on paper. I was very very pleased with how well they did. The snow days made me a little worried because we didn't have as much time to practice writing about nonfiction, which was definitely the most challenging part of this unit. But they surpassed my expectations. We went over the test on Friday and students were given the opportunity to revise the written portions. I'll regrade them tonight and they will be sent home for parents/guardians to see at some point this week.

We're still working on expository writing. During writing block, I gave the students an expository prompt and a checklist that incorporated some of our focuses for writing this school year, like catchy beginnings, showing not telling, and sentence structure. Based on how they did, I'm working with Mrs. George, our reading coach, to plan the next few lessons. We'll spend the next few weeks practicing analyzing prompts, planning our writing, and splitting our writing into paragraphs. In social studies, students have started researching states for our road trip project. I love the different landmarks they're discovering and how invested many of them already are in this project.

Our Bucket Fillers for the week were Tanner and Ava B. Tanner's writing is always a pleasure for me to read. She is a master at writing creative similes and incorporating feeling into what she writes. Ava is a positive, kind student who gets along with everyone. I'm looking forward to having lunch with both ladies this week!

Happy 2018! I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing break. It's hard to believe it's been a week and a half since our holiday party. I'm so glad that we had so many family members join us. Thanks to everyone who brought in treats. Also thank you for all the thoughtful gifts! It was great seeing the kids work together to make their marshmallow towers and I had a blast with the holiday trivia. I ended up testing out all the questions on my relatives on Christmas and they found them a lot more challenging than you lot. Maybe I'll have to compile some really tricky trivia for our end of the year party....

Make sure to check Friday Folders this weekend, because in them is some very important information...about our holiday party! We are celebrating a great school year so far and this wonderful time of year. Family members are welcome. It'll be quite the crowded classroom in room 210, but we'll make it work!

Our nonfiction focus continues during reading block. We're onto finding the main idea and supporting details of a nonfiction text. We're learning a variety of strategies, like using the text structure and headings, identifying the topic first, and working backwards from the supporting details. Finding the main idea is a big focus in 3rd grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade as the texts get more and more complex. Soon we'll transition into writing about nonfiction texts. Speaking of writing, I had Mrs. O'Keefe's homeroom for writing and social studies this week. The kids are really getting the hang of adding details to our sentences with appositives and prepositional phrases. Our next emphasis will be on avoiding run ons...something I'm eager to tackle!

April's mom came in to my homeroom today to share some background on Hanukkah. The kids played dreidel and enjoyed some tasty chocolate gelt. Mrs. O'Keefe's homeroom also had a fun afternoon playing bingo.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Jessica and Mckayla. Both ladies are working super hard during our nonfiction unit. They both are really improving in terms of finding the main idea. Most importantly though, Jessica and Mckayla are both kind, considerate, and positive students, and they are definitely deserving of the Bucket Filler title.

I hope everyone survived our first snow fall of the year! It blows my mind that we're just a few weeks away from holiday break. Our nonfiction unit is going well. We've talked about fun facts versus important information, and how to use context clues to determine the meaning of unknown words. On Friday we began exploring some of the different nonfiction text structures, and how we can use the organization of a text to help us figure out the main idea. In writing, we have moved onto an expository writing unit. After evaluating the students' personal narratives, I noticed we're having a hard time on sentence structure and sentence variety. As a result, I'm working with the ELA coach Mrs. George to develop a series of lessons that teach into the basics of a complete sentence (subject and verb) and how to write more sophisticated sentences (the inclusion of appositives and prepositional phrases). We also began a new social studies unit that centers around the geography of the United States and important national landmarks. The unit has us working on a multi-step project that incorporates research, creative writing, and important vocabulary. Students will be designing a road trip across the United States and will be writing fictional journal entries for the six states they choose to "visit". I'm so excited to see the kids get started on this project!

On Wednesday, we had a half day. On half days we always have Second Step and take part in a STEAM activity. This week, the kids were given a challenge of using the engineering and design process to "save" a gummy worm. They could only use paper clips to get a life saver out from underneath a cup and put the worm through the life saver. Most groups were successful! Check out some of the pictures below. 

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Jordyn and Aidan. Jordyn is the queen of extra homework. She is constantly coming up with creative bonus assignments that weave in what we're learning in school. I love the effort she puts into her work! Aidan is such a nice kid. He is always kind to his peers and teachers, and he is always working hard in class and on his homework. Awesome job Aidan!

Our nonfiction unit is underway. We kicked it off on Monday by discussing the differences between fiction and nonfiction. We then began practicing some nonfiction reading strategies, like previewing the text and asking questions before, during, and after we read. A giant difference between nonfiction and fiction is the fact that nonfiction has text features. We spent Wednesday and Thursday exploring various nonfiction books and magazines. We ended up using the magazines to make posters displaying several text features and their definitions. The kids worked in groups and did a fabulous job!

On Wednesday we spent our afternoon playing board games! This was the reward the students voted on for filling the Transition Jar. I put a marble in the Transition Jar every time students transition quietly and calmly in the hallway, as well as positive reports from specialist teachers. I honestly had so much fun playing games with the kids. Some of them joined me in playing one of my favorite games of all time: Scrabble. I may or may not have gotten pretty into it...

Wednesday was also parent/teacher conferences. Although it was quite a long day, all the parents I met with made it fly by. I really enjoyed getting the chance to chat with so many parents and share how the kiddos are doing. If any parents were unable to make conferences that night, feel free to get in touch with me and we can try to schedule a brief meeting before or after school.

Our Bucket Fillers this week were Marco and Andrew. It's crazy that this is only the first time Marco has gotten Bucket Filler this school year; he fills my bucket constantly! He works so hard in class, is kind to his classmates, and always has a smile on his face. Andrew had a great week, particularly on Friday. He did an awesome job on our nonfiction questioning exercise. I have a feeling he's going to rock this unit!