Rough Monday

Hello,

We had a rough start.  Only ten reading logs came in this morning.  I don't mind if we forget one at home once in a while, but the number one excuse this morning was, "You didn't give me one."  Absolutely not true.  I passed one out to everyone.  I announced at least three times last week that I would no longer be responsible for giving out reading logs.  I have a stack next to their mailboxes where they can take as many as necessary. 

I realize that a lot of kids in the class have a slight allergy to reading.  We have to change that.  I say we because I definitely need your help.  Reading is by far the most important thing that we teach at this level.  Reading improvement will make every other academic area easier for your child.  Students who read are better writers, better spellers, have better vocabularies, have an easier time with math, and are simply more interesting.  All of those improvements that come from reading will make school easier and more enjoyable.  And when students do well in school, they have more opportunities later on in life.

Okay, there's at least part of the sales pitch.  Now the harder part: what do we do to make this happen.  I'll start out with what I aim to do.  I will get to know your child.  I will find out their likes and dislikes.  I pledge to hunt high and low to put the books that your child is interested in, in front of their face.  If you don't think your child is interested in any books, you are wrong.  Find a topic that they like, be it baseball, horses, insects, Star Wars, whatever, and I guarantee that they will be interested in a book on that same topic as long as it is:
            1) Written at a level that they can understand.
            2)  Attractive  (Most kids don't read beat up, old books)
I will spend what I have to to get these books.  I've been looking for dirt bike books this year.  I've found three.  I'll keep finding them and buying them.  Last year I bought a forty volume series on horses (on Ebay) to keep a girl reading.  I will do what it takes.

I will also work to destigmatize picture books.  Third grade is where many students make the jump from picture books to chapter books.  I'm here to tell you that picture books are not just for little kids.  I will reintroduce your kids to the world of picture books.  Nobody outgrows Dr. Seuss, Chris Van Allsburg, or Bill Peet.  Picture books are for all ages.  Noone should ever feel ashamed of carrying them around.  I believe some kids that aren't ready to tackle the thicker chapter books get caught in a no mans land of "Books they understand but are afraid to carry around" and "Books that make them look smart but they can't understand."  It is sad.  I think some teachers perpetuate this myth of growing too old for picture books, but it is wrong.  Worse than that, it is harmful to many kids.  I read a couple of picture books to the class last week to begin my war against the myth.  I was pleased to see those books being reread during our silent reading time, usually by reluctant readers. 

I will also relentlessly spew about all of the great things that I have learned or enjoyed because of reading.  Enthusiasm is contagious.  Reading is contagious.  That's why the beginning of the year can be so tough when the non-readers have so much company.  If only one person forgot a reading log this morning, you can bet that one person would have felt a lot worse.  One by one, I will convert them.

Here's where you come in.  Do you read?  Does your child ever see you reading for enjoyment?  Do you ever announce something that you just found out by reading the newspaper or magazine?  I encourage you to start a book.  You can even start the same book your child is reading in class.  I'll make sure to get an extra copy in your hands.  Children emulate.  I would love it if you started reading a few minutes a night.

Okay, request number two: Get the television out of your child's bedroom.  I know over half the kids in the class have a tv in their room.  They told me.  It is the easiest indicator I have on who will have the most trouble staying focused, getting proper sleep, and reading.  I'll send home a pamphlet by reading guru Jim Trelease.  He has done all of the studies.  I'll let him give you the numbers behind it.  This is also the hardest one for most parents.  They ask me, "What can I do?" but then balk at my answer.

Finally, please stay in contact with your child's teacher.  Many of these kids are very savvy in their ability to get out of doing work.  I will get each child in this class to write up their homework in their assignment books.  If for some odd reason that they don't get it down, check the blog.  If your child doesn't think you care about school, they won't either.  When your child knows that you are checking in and that we are on the same page, they will try harder.  And when they try harder, they have a great chance to succeed.  We both want that.

All for now.  Sorry so longwinded.

Thanks for reading,

Mr. Shea

Late again

Hello,

I met with a Bowdoin student after school.  She will be coming into our class once or twice a week starting next week.  I love what Bowdoin's education department has been doing these past few years.  They are putting Bowdoin students into the classroom and now even offer a free fifth year to Bowdoin students that want to go into education.  We need that caliber of student in the teaching profession, especially in the public schools.

The indoor recess days make it hard to catch our breath around here, but it went pretty well.  Nine of our students put on a mini Witches play.  I was impressed with the acting ability in the class.  Our Grand High Witches were powerful, and our ancient ones were perfectly feeble. 

My math class had a bit of trouble with our time telling lesson.  I had hoped that it would be a review, so I had them do a human clock.  Twelve students knelt in a big circle as the numbers on a clock and then two others were chosen to be the hands.  They lay in the proper position, with the taller of the two being the minute hand.  I don't know if it was the lack of knowledge or just energy bubbling over, but we didn't handle it well.  Only a couple groups got to go before we were back in the class doing a more traditional lesson.  Maybe some other day.

Students should be finishing Fortunately/Unfortunately stories in the next few days.  I would rather have them write what they want, but I think I'll be coming up with topic after topic for awhile.  Those ready to go off on their own just need to speak up.  I won't be holding anyone back.

Spelling test tomorrow.  The ten words on the back count six points each.  The twenty words on the front count only a point a piece.  Another point for correct capitalization on the front.  That equals one hundred.  Early on, I only take off a max of ten for misspelling in the front so that they realize that the back of the test is where I am most concerned.  They know what words will be on the back, so I expect that they should do well on those.  Words missed on the front will usually appear on the back the next week.  I hope this makes sense.  This is late already so I'm not proofreading tonight.

Good night,

Mr. Shea

One last thing...

Hello again,

I wanted to let you know that there is something going around causing flu-like symptoms.  We have had a lot of absences in two of our schools (not HBS) and we are hoping it doesn't spread here as well.  I will continue to remind your children to wash their hands before eating, but lunch happens immediately after recess, where many get caught up with the masses.  A small hand sanitizer or an extra reminder from home could go a long way.  I believe a letter will be on the school website and also be going home regarding this matter tomorrow.  I just wanted to give you a heads up.

Thanks,

Mr. Shea

Best day yet...

Hello,

The day went well.  I read Unfortunately by Remy Charlip to them this morning.  This version was written for me.  It is one of those books that you could send away for that personalizes the story.  I got the book on my eighth birthday (back in '78).  It is about a boy named Steven Shea, who fortunately gets a letter inviting him to a birthday party.  Unfortunately the party is in Mexico, and poor Steven lives in Wiscasset, Maine.  Fortunately Steven has a friend that loans him an airplane.  Unfortunately the engine blows up.  Fortunately Steven has a parachute...  You get the picture. 

The students' assignment was to write a Fortunately/Unfortunately story.  Most of them got right at it.  I gave them some additional time this afternoon to write or read and some of them even finished.  It doesn't have to be very long.  I was looking for at least ten fortunately/unfortunately sentences. 

We watched a couple of short videos from discoveryeducation.com on landforms and erosion.  Then we gathered around a tray of dirt and made predictions on what would happen when I poured a constant stream of water on the high end of the tray.  So far we have seen a lot of the smaller dirt particles get carried downstream.  A big hole has formed where the water is being poured.  A delta is beginning to form at the bottom of the tray where there was no dirt before.  We will continue our experiment tomorrow and see what transpires.  I'm also asking for alternative experiments that they would like to see involving trays of dirt and water.  All they have to do is write up what they would like to see and we'll do it. 

I was impressed with some of the questions today.  I love curious kids.  Curiosity begets curiosity.  We'll get everyone on board soon. 

Teachers discussed movement amongst the math classes.  We are waiting on one more class to finish their math testing before we move one or two from each class.  We are only moving students that we feel would benefit by being in a class where their abilities are a closer match.  I don't like to lose anyone, so it definitely isn't personal, but some moves make too much sense.

Thank you to all the parents for showing up last night.  I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to speak to all of you.  I did my best to make the rounds.

Have a great night.

Mr. Shea

Open House

Hello,

I hope you can make it to tonight's open house.  The school will be open from 6:00 to 7:30 and the entire staff will be available to talk to.  I hope to see you there.

All for now,

Mr. Shea

Off to Fenway

Hello,

Our school counselors came for an introductory visit this morning.  They did a stand up / sit down activity to find out some of the concerns of our class.  Mrs. Farrand is our full time counselor and Mrs. Powers will split time between here and the Jr. High.  They are welcoming kids to sign up to have lunch with them in the upcoming weeks. 

My math class finished their first test with mixed results.  We still need to realize that there are only three digits per family in place value.  Many were stumped by questions like: How much is 12 tens plus 12 ones.  We'll keep at it.  Math concepts build on each other, so we won't go on until we understand.

We reviewed the uses of there, their and they're.  Two, too and to were discussed as well.  Students were given placards with individual words on each one.  They attempted to hold up the correct placard after each sentence that I came up with.  It was a good start for our first go around.

I'm going to Fenway Park tonight to watch my favorite baseball team.  I don't usually sleep much anyway, so that shouldn't be an issue tomorrow.  I hope to see everyone at tomorrow's open house.  It starts at 6:00 and goes until 7:30. 

Our Mr. or Little Miss stories are due tomorrow.  Anyone who didn't finish today has that for added homework. 

Have a good night.  Go Sox!

Mr. Shea

NWEA testing today

Hello,

We had our first library class of the year today.  Hopefully you will see a different book or two make it home in the book bag tonight.  I noticed most of the kids are into activity books: origami, magic tricks, etc.  I like those too, but I'm going to try to sway them into taking books that require more (or at least some) reading as we move forward. 

We took the NWEA math test this afternoon as well.  I was impressed by the effort that most of the kids put into the test.  Hopefully it will give us an accurate reflection of what they know and don't know.  I was struck by the number of algebra problems that I saw.  They should get more comfortable with that as the year goes on.

Another day of indoor recess, so your child might come home with a little energy.  At least it cleared up so they can run around a bit.

First (counting) spelling test of the year tomorrow.  Your child should have ten words that they are working on.  Most of the words come from words that they missed last week, so a little practice is needed. 

I'm going to the Edward Hopper show at the Bowdoin Museum of Art tonight.  I'm looking out at my wife waiting in the parking lot as I type this.  I think I'll stop here.

Have a good night.

Mr. Shea