Hello,
There was a lot of excitement today. I didn't give them any homework. I don't think the excitement was school related. I hope they have a great night tonight. Please don't send them in with mounds of candy unless they are donating it to our Sweets for Soldiers program. Ms. Smith, fourth grade teacher, got Coffin School involved with this program last year. Any unwanted or excess candy can be brought in and will be sent to our overseas troops. I think it is a great idea and am glad she shared it with us. A orange note went home with the details.
During writing time, we focused on what makes a story scary. The class came up with: suspense, a problem, stretching out the scary parts, strange noises, paranormal activity and caring about the characters. They practically ran back to their desks to start their stories. Most of them were including their classmates in their stories. We only had time to share brief plot lines. I'm hoping some will get read aloud as they get finished later on in the week.
Spelling words are back! After a hiatus, our Sitton Spelling Program is back. Students have ten words written in their assignment books that they will be tested on at the end of the week.
I just got an email letting us know that fourth graders will not be receiving letter grades until the end of the second quarter. We have new report cards and now we need to make grades consistent across grade levels. An A in my class has to mean the same as an A in another fourth grade class. The first quarter report card will have 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s on specific skills to indicate whether or not a child is proficient in those skills. All teachers will grade the exact same skills. If a teacher has covered a skill that others in the grade have not, they are not allowed to fill in a ranking for that skill. Every teacher at every grade level must fill in grades for the same skills. We can talk about this during conferences. I'll be sending out possible times this week.
Happy Halloween.
Mr. Shea
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Really late
Hello,
Sorry so late. The big event of the day happened when we were sorting cuisenaire rods (colored blocks). This turned into a real learning experience. One person did things differently and was not treated very well by their classmates. I felt like the task was a good reflection of most workplaces: there was a common goal, but many people had different ideas on how to get there. We need to use our words to communicate our ideas before things escalate out of control. There was a bit of escalation today.
We finished The City of Ember. It is a fantastic book. Ask your child about the ending, and why they are or aren't interested in the sequel.
I have been spending half the night sending apology emails to people who sent me emails earlier in the year that I never received. I discovered a junk mailbox file this morning while trying to change my email settings. I had over 20 emails in my junk box, and many of them were not junk. I immediately notified the principal who then emailed the staff that we have a third folder that incoming emails can go into. It is upsetting, and at the same time, ridiculous. Three of the emails were from my home address. I would send myself a link to my school email so I could use it on the interactive board, but then think that I had to wait for the blocked email update before I could get it. By the time the updates came, I would forget what I had sent. Now I know where they went. AAAUUUGGH!
Picture day tomorrow. Harry Potter Club is staying after school. Ms. Thayer and I are putting together a memo for an upcoming Chess Club. Details coming soon.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Sorry so late. The big event of the day happened when we were sorting cuisenaire rods (colored blocks). This turned into a real learning experience. One person did things differently and was not treated very well by their classmates. I felt like the task was a good reflection of most workplaces: there was a common goal, but many people had different ideas on how to get there. We need to use our words to communicate our ideas before things escalate out of control. There was a bit of escalation today.
We finished The City of Ember. It is a fantastic book. Ask your child about the ending, and why they are or aren't interested in the sequel.
I have been spending half the night sending apology emails to people who sent me emails earlier in the year that I never received. I discovered a junk mailbox file this morning while trying to change my email settings. I had over 20 emails in my junk box, and many of them were not junk. I immediately notified the principal who then emailed the staff that we have a third folder that incoming emails can go into. It is upsetting, and at the same time, ridiculous. Three of the emails were from my home address. I would send myself a link to my school email so I could use it on the interactive board, but then think that I had to wait for the blocked email update before I could get it. By the time the updates came, I would forget what I had sent. Now I know where they went. AAAUUUGGH!
Picture day tomorrow. Harry Potter Club is staying after school. Ms. Thayer and I are putting together a memo for an upcoming Chess Club. Details coming soon.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Good day
Hello,
I think we had one of our better days. We wrote some very entertaining book commercials. Students were trying to "sell" their favorite picture books. We heard some very energetic rants about how terrific some books were. It was very funny and we had some great energy in the classroom.
I think some of that energy came out of another successful Harry Potter Club meeting. The club decided to have to say a password to be granted entry to the classroom during meetings. I can't tell you what the password is, but I can tell you that you'd never guess it in a million years. The club discussed our after school meeting on Friday. Twenty-one members have already turned in signed permission slips to stay after to create Hogwarts banners. I am providing juice, fruit, and crackers, and two students have volunteered to make some special treats from the Harry Potter cookbook.
My math class is rolling along with multiplication. I am excited about how far this group should be able to go. We have a great energy in the class. Some may say a little rambunctious, but I say, "Give me the energy, I'll channel it." We were joined by Pete from Bowdoin College. He will be helping out once or twice a week.
In our continuing study of parts of speech, we took on the verb, be. We focused on am, is and are. These come very natural to a classroom of talkers. Tonight's homework is about past tense. I didn't get much of a chance to introduce the homework, (3:25 snuck up on me again), but I don't think it is too difficult. Either way, we'll go over it tomorrow.
I introduced our rocks and minerals unit. Full speed ahead tomorrow.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
I think we had one of our better days. We wrote some very entertaining book commercials. Students were trying to "sell" their favorite picture books. We heard some very energetic rants about how terrific some books were. It was very funny and we had some great energy in the classroom.
I think some of that energy came out of another successful Harry Potter Club meeting. The club decided to have to say a password to be granted entry to the classroom during meetings. I can't tell you what the password is, but I can tell you that you'd never guess it in a million years. The club discussed our after school meeting on Friday. Twenty-one members have already turned in signed permission slips to stay after to create Hogwarts banners. I am providing juice, fruit, and crackers, and two students have volunteered to make some special treats from the Harry Potter cookbook.
My math class is rolling along with multiplication. I am excited about how far this group should be able to go. We have a great energy in the class. Some may say a little rambunctious, but I say, "Give me the energy, I'll channel it." We were joined by Pete from Bowdoin College. He will be helping out once or twice a week.
In our continuing study of parts of speech, we took on the verb, be. We focused on am, is and are. These come very natural to a classroom of talkers. Tonight's homework is about past tense. I didn't get much of a chance to introduce the homework, (3:25 snuck up on me again), but I don't think it is too difficult. Either way, we'll go over it tomorrow.
I introduced our rocks and minerals unit. Full speed ahead tomorrow.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Let's go back to rewards
Hello,
Reading log participation was underwhelming. Everyone who passed in a reading log on time and fulfilled the minimum requirements (20 min per night for five nights) is getting some potting soil, a pot, and seeds. They will get to grow some vegetables or flowers on their desk. And hopefully motivate some others in the process. I made this announcement this afternoon and immediately two more reading logs were found. Thirteen is not an impressive total. I'm not a huge proponent of getting kids to read based on rewards, but at this point I've got to get them reading and will do whatever it takes.
We are nearing the end of The City of Ember, our class read aloud. Doon and Lina are trying to find a way out of the city. It is exciting and most of the class isn't happy when I stop reading. Ask your child to make a prediction or two on what they think will happen or what they would like to see happen. I have multiple copies of the sequel. I'm hoping for a lot of interest.
Picture notices went home last night. Picture day is Friday. I'll try not to make them cry before our picture time. That was supposed to be a joke. Probably not a good one. Let me know if you need a new notice. It looks like three students haven't emptied their mailboxes this week. The packages aren't cheap, but I heard that the school gets a cut. I think that's a bright side.
A bunch of book order forms went home. Our online code is J36TM if you would like to order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Thank you to those of you ordering books. They make great gifts as well. If you want a book to be a secret, let me know and I'll hold it back when it comes in.
Many students completed a poster-sized map today. We are winding down map skills and should start Rocks and Minerals tomorrow or Thursday. We will finish up our geography unit tomorrow playing around with google earth. We talked about the international date line today. Ask your child if they can go back in time. Hopefully it will jog their memory to talk about the bizarre phenomenon of crossing the date line.
Have a good night,
Mr. Shea
Reading log participation was underwhelming. Everyone who passed in a reading log on time and fulfilled the minimum requirements (20 min per night for five nights) is getting some potting soil, a pot, and seeds. They will get to grow some vegetables or flowers on their desk. And hopefully motivate some others in the process. I made this announcement this afternoon and immediately two more reading logs were found. Thirteen is not an impressive total. I'm not a huge proponent of getting kids to read based on rewards, but at this point I've got to get them reading and will do whatever it takes.
We are nearing the end of The City of Ember, our class read aloud. Doon and Lina are trying to find a way out of the city. It is exciting and most of the class isn't happy when I stop reading. Ask your child to make a prediction or two on what they think will happen or what they would like to see happen. I have multiple copies of the sequel. I'm hoping for a lot of interest.
Picture notices went home last night. Picture day is Friday. I'll try not to make them cry before our picture time. That was supposed to be a joke. Probably not a good one. Let me know if you need a new notice. It looks like three students haven't emptied their mailboxes this week. The packages aren't cheap, but I heard that the school gets a cut. I think that's a bright side.
A bunch of book order forms went home. Our online code is J36TM if you would like to order online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs Thank you to those of you ordering books. They make great gifts as well. If you want a book to be a secret, let me know and I'll hold it back when it comes in.
Many students completed a poster-sized map today. We are winding down map skills and should start Rocks and Minerals tomorrow or Thursday. We will finish up our geography unit tomorrow playing around with google earth. We talked about the international date line today. Ask your child if they can go back in time. Hopefully it will jog their memory to talk about the bizarre phenomenon of crossing the date line.
Have a good night,
Mr. Shea
Monday, October 24, 2011
Multiplication
Hello,
I was pleased with the last math quiz on addition, subtraction, place value and rounding, so we are moving ahead to multiplication a week earlier than I had planned. The math time has become the brightest spot of the day recently. The class is energetic and ready to think. The weekly challenge this week is to plan out the menu for a weekend getaway at Moosehead Lake. Students have Shaw's Supermarket circulars and a pretend $250 gift card. Unfortunately for them, they also have to write out the receipt. They were excited to get to work on it when they left this afternoon, but it is a lot of work so I hope they get started before Thursday night.
We had a fire alarm with bus evacuation drill this morning. Students boarded buses as they would if we had an actual emergency that required them to be taken offsite. Today the buses never left the parking lot, but the bus drivers discussed various emergency procedures with them.
In art, the class started a mini unit on Monet. They painted today and I hear they will be using clay next week. The class started the year doing artwork in the style of Van Gogh. This is my first year sending kids to Ms. Moll, but she seems to be getting them to do some excellent work.
In our parts of speech review, we watched a little School House Rock. Nouns and verbs should be a breeze by fourth grade, so we should fly through those. We will spend more time on the adjectives and adverbs this year.
Islands are mostly graded. I was disappointed not to get to more today. It involves a one-on-one conversation with the island creator, so I can ask questions like, "Which way does the river flow?" Unfortunately the class wasn't overly cooperative in giving me that one-on-one time with their classmates. I would definitely put TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY as one of our class goals. I don't like to be a taskmaster.
The total count for picture books read last week is still a big question mark. Many logs were left at home. Let's get those in tomorrow!
Have a good night.
Steve
I was pleased with the last math quiz on addition, subtraction, place value and rounding, so we are moving ahead to multiplication a week earlier than I had planned. The math time has become the brightest spot of the day recently. The class is energetic and ready to think. The weekly challenge this week is to plan out the menu for a weekend getaway at Moosehead Lake. Students have Shaw's Supermarket circulars and a pretend $250 gift card. Unfortunately for them, they also have to write out the receipt. They were excited to get to work on it when they left this afternoon, but it is a lot of work so I hope they get started before Thursday night.
We had a fire alarm with bus evacuation drill this morning. Students boarded buses as they would if we had an actual emergency that required them to be taken offsite. Today the buses never left the parking lot, but the bus drivers discussed various emergency procedures with them.
In art, the class started a mini unit on Monet. They painted today and I hear they will be using clay next week. The class started the year doing artwork in the style of Van Gogh. This is my first year sending kids to Ms. Moll, but she seems to be getting them to do some excellent work.
In our parts of speech review, we watched a little School House Rock. Nouns and verbs should be a breeze by fourth grade, so we should fly through those. We will spend more time on the adjectives and adverbs this year.
Islands are mostly graded. I was disappointed not to get to more today. It involves a one-on-one conversation with the island creator, so I can ask questions like, "Which way does the river flow?" Unfortunately the class wasn't overly cooperative in giving me that one-on-one time with their classmates. I would definitely put TO WORK INDEPENDENTLY as one of our class goals. I don't like to be a taskmaster.
The total count for picture books read last week is still a big question mark. Many logs were left at home. Let's get those in tomorrow!
Have a good night.
Steve
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Late
Hello,
I'm really late with this so I'm going to make this quick. We had a math curriculum meeting and it went really well. Then I had to chat with old colleagues that now work at different schools.
We made our play dough islands this afternoon. Thank you to Mr. Davis for coming in and helping out. Thank you to all of you for coming through on the play dough making. We had some extra that children were able to take home. Tomorrow the class will work on their compass roses, keys, symbols and labels. We will be using water color paints. Even though I have a great set of aprons donated by Wild Oats, I still would recommend wearing something that wouldn't break anyone's heart if it turned rainbow colored.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we had a visit by the school counselor, Mrs. Farrand. She came in and talked to us about the dangers of smoking. It went well and the kids were engaged. You might ask them to tell you a bit about it.
Picture book totals are at 364. Other than math, reading is the only thing on tonight's homework docket.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
I'm really late with this so I'm going to make this quick. We had a math curriculum meeting and it went really well. Then I had to chat with old colleagues that now work at different schools.
We made our play dough islands this afternoon. Thank you to Mr. Davis for coming in and helping out. Thank you to all of you for coming through on the play dough making. We had some extra that children were able to take home. Tomorrow the class will work on their compass roses, keys, symbols and labels. We will be using water color paints. Even though I have a great set of aprons donated by Wild Oats, I still would recommend wearing something that wouldn't break anyone's heart if it turned rainbow colored.
I forgot to mention yesterday that we had a visit by the school counselor, Mrs. Farrand. She came in and talked to us about the dangers of smoking. It went well and the kids were engaged. You might ask them to tell you a bit about it.
Picture book totals are at 364. Other than math, reading is the only thing on tonight's homework docket.
All for now. Have a good night.
Mr. Shea
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Islands tomorrow
Hello,
We did a little antonym activity. Please ask your child to give you a few examples of antonyms.
Island making is tomorrow. We reviewed the land forms today in a jeopardy like game. Tomorrow is the "test." If they only give me a couple mountains and a volcano, I'll be sorely disappointed. Thank you for those of you who have made play dough or plan on it. I will take some volunteers tomorrow after lunch if anyone would like to come in and help assist with the island making. We should get started around 12:30.
My math class has a quiz tomorrow. Subtraction and rounding will be the meat of the quiz, but I will throw in some addition and place value. A couple questions will feature a number line where they need to estimate where certain numbers would be placed on it. For example I may label the ends of a number line 0 and 100, and then ask them to approximate where 5, 75, and 90 would go. A few are still struggling a little with this, but if they use their strategies and think a bit, they should do well.
Our picture book week continues. We have read 277 books as a class. Our goal of 750 may be tough to do, especially with other pesky homework getting in the way. I still have faith. Achieving difficult goals is a lot more rewarding. Please ask your child about some of the books that they have read.
Hoop night tonight for me. I'll be making play dough with the rest of you after that.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
We did a little antonym activity. Please ask your child to give you a few examples of antonyms.
Island making is tomorrow. We reviewed the land forms today in a jeopardy like game. Tomorrow is the "test." If they only give me a couple mountains and a volcano, I'll be sorely disappointed. Thank you for those of you who have made play dough or plan on it. I will take some volunteers tomorrow after lunch if anyone would like to come in and help assist with the island making. We should get started around 12:30.
My math class has a quiz tomorrow. Subtraction and rounding will be the meat of the quiz, but I will throw in some addition and place value. A couple questions will feature a number line where they need to estimate where certain numbers would be placed on it. For example I may label the ends of a number line 0 and 100, and then ask them to approximate where 5, 75, and 90 would go. A few are still struggling a little with this, but if they use their strategies and think a bit, they should do well.
Our picture book week continues. We have read 277 books as a class. Our goal of 750 may be tough to do, especially with other pesky homework getting in the way. I still have faith. Achieving difficult goals is a lot more rewarding. Please ask your child about some of the books that they have read.
Hoop night tonight for me. I'll be making play dough with the rest of you after that.
Have a great night.
Mr. Shea
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