newsletter

Peregrine Press
February 1-5

Schedule
Monday: Art
Tuesday: Out and About (Solar System activity)
Wednesday: Art and PE
Thursday: Music and Buddy Reading at the ELC
Friday: Fitness Friday

**Please bring in paper towel rolls if you have them. (Just the empty roll, I don't need the paper towels.)

Last Week
We wrapped up several activities last week. We finished the chemistry unit by having each student conduct their own experiment. This was a pretty crazy time, but all experiments were able to be completed which was a great success! Each student was then required to do a formal write up of their experiment explaining their hypothesis, the materials and methods they used, how they collected data, and analyzed that data to write a conclusion. Overall I was very impressed with how well everyone did with this activity.

Our Out and About with Erin was focused on the chemistry of rain where the students played a game to learn about how pollution effects rain, which in turn effects wildlife and nature. They then worked in groups to collect rain samples from puddles and then tested the pH to see if we had "acid rain" in our neighborhood. Some puddles did show some interesting pH levels!

Students all participated in another round of the practice writing test. I just finished scoring those and am pleased yet again! These students are really taking this seriously and want to improve as writers. Finally, students also worked on their literacy projects. They read their books and worked in their packets pretty diligently.

This Week
We are returning to a 5 day week again, which might be tough for some! We are going to start a new unit on the Solar System that should last about three weeks. Our Out and About will be focused on the Big Bang and how our Solar System works as a "system." If we have sun on Tuesday students will also be using solar viewers to try and measure how far away the sun really is from us. This will require paper towel rolls, so if you have some you can donate on Monday that would be great. Part of the Out and About will be to make the solar viewers-then we just need sun! Students will be doing a small group activity this week but it should be done at school, so don't expect homework on the solar system stuff, at least not for this week. I will email out though if that changes.

Students will be wrapping up their literacy projects this week which means that some students will be bringing their books home as homework if they were not able to manage their time the past two weeks. The book needs to be completed and the packet of activities needs to be completed and turned in on Friday the 5th by 1:05 If your child has already finished their book and packet, they are to complete an additional, more creative component that they can present to their peers or at least turn in to me. Some students are making 3-D creations, drawing book jackets, or writing poems etc. that connect to their book.

Important Upcoming Events:
February 8-11 State Writing Test for 4th graders

February 12th Body changes movie and question and answer session. The boys and girls will be separated. Boys will go to Charlie's classroom and girls will join Gretchen and I in Gretchen's classroom to view short videos on the changes that their bodies go through as they mature. This is a state standard that needs to be covered, however, if you do not want your child to participate please let me know asap. Girls will learn about girl changes and boys will learn about boy changes.

Treasure Books:
Many students have been asking about Treasure Books so here is the update. We are going to start working on them the week of February 16th. (However, if your child already has an idea, by all means they can be brainstorming at home.) For parents that do not know about them, Treasure Books are hard bound books that each child is allowed to create. They write a story, illustrate it and then it gets hard bound. One change though is that students no longer get one copy free, instead the first copy is $1.95 and then you can purchase more copies for about $15 each. I will have all the details very soon, but just wanted to give an update on that since I know many students are anxiously waiting to get started on these!

Newsletter

Peregrine Press
January 25-28

Schedule
Monday: Art
Tuesday: Out and About (Chemistry)
Wednesday: Art and PE
Thursday: Music
Friday: NO SCHOOL

Last Week:
We had a jam-packed 4 day week! We started out the week with making butter with our buddies at the ELC. It was really fun to see our students be such good helpers to their buddies. This activity reinforced the understanding of "changes of state" specifically, liquid to solid. We also started the Independent Literacy Projects. Each student chose a book at their independent reading level to start reading. They will also complete a packet of activities to review and teach story elements, parts of grammar and reading comprehension. The students all calculated roughly how many pages they will need to read each day so they can stay on track. There will be time in class to work on this but some students will probably bring home their books to read.
We also wrapped up our chemistry unit with two more experiments. We compared dish soap with laundry detergent and bar soap to see which would clean the best. Sadly, our results were inconclusive. On Friday we started our discussion of the scientific method and how we will use that this coming week to conduct our own experiments.

This Week:
This week is another 4 day week, however, this time we have Friday off for report card preparation. We will continue our work on the Independent Literacy Projects as well as do another round of the practice State Writing Test. The last round of essays were great, but many students did not finish in the time given. My goal this round is to have students finish their essays at school in the time given because that is the way it will be on the State Test. Students are not to receive parental help on this at all.
Another major focus this week will be each student conducting their own science experiment in class. They must come up with a question, do research, write a hypothesis, write the steps to the experiment, collect data and analyze the data all on their own. If your child has an idea about a project but you are unsure if it will work please email me. My goal is to have Tuesday and Wednesday be the experiment days and then Thursday and Friday they can be analyzing their data and doing the formal write up. These should be based on chemistry and must test a variable. Some ideas are: comparing how fast ice will melt in one container versus a container made of a different material, or comparing two different liquids and how fast they freeze. I have lots of materials like cornstarch, baking soda, vinegar and filters (among other things) but if the experiment your child wants to do requires an extensive list you might need to purchase those things on your own. Please email me ASAP with any questions about materials or experiment ideas so I will have time to check my materials. I hope this is not too confusing.

**Report cards will be sent home the first week of February.

Newsletter

Peregrine Press
January 19-22

Schedule
Tuesday: Out and About to ELC to make butter with our Buddies
Wednesday: Art and PE
Thursday: Music
Friday: Fitness Friday

Last Week
We had a very eventful week, filled with some very fun activities. Our Out and About for Chemistry cooking was quite memorable. The students worked in groups to make ice cream, bread, popcorn and a pH tester using boiled cabbage. It was a very action packed activity that taught a lot about states of matter, whether the students really realized that while they were participating or not. I would like to extend an extra big thank you to Erin for planning this activity and Amy for helping out with the execution of it all. We also did an experiment in class to test for chemical changes. This was a bit stressful for me because students were required to wear safety goggles and gloves, and unfortunately many students had a difficult time following the safety precautions. We had a strict talk about being safe, so hopefully students will follow the necessary precautions for future experiments.

We spent quite a bit of time working on the first round of the practice writing test. Each student chose a prompt (there were 3 options) and wrote an essay to fit the prompt. I finished scoring them this weekend and was very pleased with how well the class did. The biggest areas of struggle were spelling, and for students doing the imaginative prompt, the use of quotation marks was a bit off. I did not help them with these at all, so it is completely their writing. I am planning to keep these for their files, but if you are curious about how your child did, just email me and I can tell you there score. I will also be passing them back briefly tomorrow so they can look at my comments and how they were scored.

This Week
We will continue our study of chemistry this week. We will also look more closely at the scientific method because next week students will be conducting their own experiments in class. They will all need to come up with a simple experiment that they can conduct in class. One example would be to test how long it takes for water to evaporate under a heat lamp, versus in the dark. This "Scientific Inquiry" is a requirement by the state, so it is something each child will need to do, and it has to be all their own work. If you want to help them come up with a variable to test, that is fine, but they have to do the work themselves. I have asked that it be connected to chemistry because that is what we have been focusing on lately. I have materials like baking soda, corn starch, soda water, salt, and sugar. The students will only have 1 week to work on this, so please don't encourage an experiment that will take more than a week to see the desired results. Ideally it would be an experiment that can be done in the course of 1 or 2 days so the rest of the days the student can be working on the scientific write up and analyzing of data.

We will take a break from the practice writing test this week and resume that the last week of January. Instead, students will be spending a bit more time on reading. I would like to start another round of literacy circles soon, but I think with how hectic the schedule is for the next few weeks, I will probably have the students individually choose a book they want to read and then do a report on it. That way, each student will be reading everyday and working on certain skills, but they can go more at their own pace.

No School January 29th for Report Card Prep

Newsletter

Peregrine Press
January 11-15

Schedule
Monday: Art
Tuesday: Out and About to UCC Church
Wednesday: Art and PE
Thursday: Music and Buddy Reading at the ELC
Friday: Geography Bee at Grove Room (Central School)

Last Week
What a great first week back to school! I feel like we started off the new calendar year with some really fun activities. The chemistry experiments have been going well and for the most part, the class seems pretty interested in the unit. The experiment with cornstarch and water was quite entertaining to watch. I think they could have played with that mixture for hours and not gotten bored! They learned about solids, liquids and gases and examples of physical changes.
We also spent a great deal of time on writing. We really went back to the basics of writing paragraphs. There were a variety of writing activities that involved groups and individuals writing. There was room for creativity and also some very structured, outlined writing. For some I am sure it was a review, but for others I think it was a very important component of writing that I maybe had not focused on quite enough in the beginning of the year.
We almost completed the first round of the Geography Bee. We have a tie breaker on Monday to determine the final person that will join Mica at the school finals on Friday. The winner of the school competition will then take a written test in hopes of qualifying for the State level finals.
The rest of the week was pretty routine. We had a great music session where students learned about solphege and also practiced the 50 states and capitals song. We had running club on Friday and continued with word work and superstar.

This Week
We will continue with the Chemistry Unit this week with a focus on chemical changes. On Tuesday for our Out and About we will head to the UCC Church so we can use their commercial kitchen to make bread, ice cream and popcorn. This will be in connection to our physical and chemical changes unit. We will also have our first round of essay writing. The students will be given 3 prompts to choose from. They choose one of the prompts and will take their essay through the writing process with no direct help from me and turn in all their work. We will do this again the last week of January also. Then, the 2nd week of February the 4th graders will take the State Writing Test and the 5th and 6th graders will do one more round of essays in class. Typically we do not like to spend a lot of time on writing essays just for the sake of writing essays, because we like to integrate our subjects, but for a few weeks we do feel that we need the students to practice essay writing in this sort of setting. Friday is the Geography Bee Finals at the Grove Room at Central School. We might have Running Club one day this week but I am not sure at this point which day it will be.

No School Monday January 18th
No School Friday January 28th

Newsletter

Peregrine Press
January 4-8

Schedule
Monday: Art
Tuesday: Out and About (Chemistry Experiment)
Wednesday: Art and PE
Thursday: Music
Friday: Fitness Friday/Running Club

I hope that everyone had a restful and fun winter vacation. That one day of snow was pretty exciting! I am sorry for not writing this last night. I got a little out of the routine and remembered to write the newsletter once I had already gotten in to bed. Needless to say I figured you all wouldn't be too upset if you got this a day late.

This coming week and month we will be trying to get back to our usual schedule. The new unit we will be starting is on chemical and physical changes. This will be a three week, very hands on unit that I am sure will please at least MOST of the class. We will also be starting some essay writing to practice writing in the different genres. This is in part preparation for the 4th graders State Writing Test in February, but also just a necessary component of school. All students will write, write, write! The essay writing will take about 1 month and each week students will be choosing a different writing prompt to respond to. This will all happen in class so don't worry about homework unless I speak to you directly. (I may address 4th grade families separately if I feel the need for extra support from home in preparation for the test.) In the coming weeks I will also be conducting some reading assessments for students that had specific fluency goals. I will be working on report cards the final weeks of January so it is important that I get a few specific assessments completed.
We will also be participating in a Geography Bee. This is not required of students, but it is pretty fun. The top two students from each class will compete in front of the whole school in a few weeks. The winner of that will take a written test to hopefully pass and go on to the state level of the competition.

**Just a reminder that homework comes home on Monday and is returned on Friday unless otherwise specified (for example if it came from the different math teacher it may be due the next day). Remember that ALL students are to complete at least the log that shares what kinds of things they did during the week.

**Please don't send your children with lots of candy. I am fine with a cookie or fruit snacks after they finish their lunch, but if students try and sneak candy from Christmas in before lunch I will have to ban candy from the classroom.

**Please email me if you ever have any questions or concerns.

**As I continue in my pregnancy it is becoming more and more real that I will not be here for much longer which makes me very sad. (Although I can't be happier about becoming a mom!) Many of these students feel like my kids because I have known so many of them for so long now! I am trying to get everything in order for when I leave but please excuse me if I forget something every now and then. My plan is to work through the first week of March, but you never know when the baby will decide to come!

No School Monday January 18th for Martin Luther King Day
No School Friday January 29th for Report Card Prep