Highlights from Week 33!

Mrs. Froberg here again. The final week of May had us starting several new units and finishing up old ones. Some highlights included students researching and completing a PowerPoint Presentation on a business or attraction in Washington State. Some of the topics included the Space Needle, Microsoft, Pike Place Market and Macklemore. Students will be presenting their PowerPoints to the class throughout the next few weeks.

On Friday, a first grade student from our buddy class, Olivia, read a picture book to the class that she had been practicing reading. Ms. Chin’s class also made acrostic poems for each of their buddy's names and gave it to them. Students enjoyed reading the adjectives their Little Buddies chose for their poems.

Reminders: 
-All enrichment classes are over after next week (June 6th).
-An important email regarding summer workbooks was sent out this week, as well as a handout to be returned to Ms. Staab if families are interested in having a workbook.
-Wednesday, June 4th there is a 2 hour early dismissal.
-Our End of the Year Class Picnic will be on Thursday, June 12th at Pratt Park! Please return the form that went home this week regarding who will be joining the picnic and what you plan to bring.

Highlights:

Writing: This week students each chose a local business that they like and began drafting a letter explaining what aspects they like and why it is a great spot to visit. They will continue to edit and publish the letters next week and then we will mail them off to the businesses!

Math: We started a new math unit on measurement this week. We have covered customary units of measurement for length, capacity and weight. As part of the lesson on length, the whole class walked around the school yard until we had walked for one mile to help students understand how far a mile actually is! We will move onto metric units next week. The other two math groups completed their unit test this week and will be moving onto new units next week.

Science: This week students learned about how strings can make sounds and they made model harps and guitars using peg boards. Next week we will begin a project where each student will make their own instrument. If you have any extra shoe or cereal boxes lying around, we would love to use them for our upcoming project! 

Two of our very own musicians playing their instruments for us! Great job!

Reading: We finished up our art project for our historical fiction unit and began our new unit on Greek Mythology. We watched a video on Thursday that gave us an overview of the gods and goddesses as well as brainstormed questions that we have about Greek Mythology. On Friday, we read about King Midas and the Golden Touch. We will continue to read more myths in the upcoming weeks.

Highlights from Week 32!

Mrs. Froberg here! As we head into the long weekend, we had another jam packed week with several fun activities. Ms. Staab’s friend Jennie (who is in her 3rd year at UW Law School) conducted a mock voting session on Friday, which had the students learning about what it means to be a citizen, as well discussing several initiatives and propositions that have been proposed in Washington over the last few years. Students voted on each of the eight initiatives and were given the results of their votes. Jennie will be coming back to conduct a mock trial where students will take on the roles of judge, prosecutor, jury, etc. It should be fun!

We finished our last standardized test for the year with MAP Math and Reading tests this past week. Students have worked hard all year and it was great to finish those off! 

Next week students will be choosing a topic about Washington state and making a PowerPoint presentation to share with the class. Each student will be doing their own research and applying what they have learnt in PowerPoint this year. Next week we will also start charting the data on what foods they ate from their homework this past week. Then we will begin some fun nutrition games and lessons.

Lastly, there will be no homework for the month of June! Therefore, there will be no more homework club and students will be free to enjoy the sunny weather.

Highlights:

Writing: Students wrote book reviews on a book they’ve read and we will be publishing the reviews to put in the books soon. Also, students wrote letters as if they were one of their characters in their historical fiction book writing to another character. The letters were fabulous and on Tuesday, they will be sharing their letters with their book clubs.

Math: The 4th grade math group took their unit test on Thursday. We will start our new unit on Measurement next week. Those that did not take their math test last week will be taking their unit test on Thursday.

Science: We had an audiologist come and talk on Monday about how the human ears works. She brought an otoscope to look into students ears and showed it on a small TV. Students loved seeing the inside of their ears, including the ear wax and hairs! There were many squeals and some had to cover their eyes! 

Students also made a reed instrument out of a straws and experimented making different sounds.

Reading: We wrapped up our Historical Fiction unit with an artistic response. Each student is creating a 3D scene from their books, using a tunnel book. We will have a gallery walk next week to have students show off their work.

Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend!

Highlights from Week 31!

Mrs. Froberg guest posting again: this past week was our first full week without any testing and we got a lot accomplished! On Friday was our annual Jogathon and everyone came dressed up and they ran hard. The weather was perfect, not too hot or too cold, and we had 25 students run their hearts out for 20 minutes! There were a lot of exhausted students afterwards, but I think the popsicles made it all worth it! Please remember, if you haven’t already, to bring back your fundraising envelopes for any money they raised for the Jogathon.

Highlights:
Writing- We started a new unit this week on Persuasive Writing. This week students read some stories, including I Wanna New Room and The Day the Crayons Quit, in which the characters were trying to persuade someone to do something. They also wrote their first persuasive letter. Some of you may be receiving a letter soon!

Math- Last week was the last segment of our Decimals and Fractions Unit. We will be going over the study guide Monday and Tuesday and having the test on Thursday.

Science- This week the students made a slide whistle and experimented with the sound the whistle makes depending on the size of the air column. Next week they will be making their own reed instrument out of straws.

Reading- This past week we had our third book club meeting and we also finished our class read aloud, Number the Stars. Next week is our last week of Historical Fiction where students will be having their final meeting and creating their own 3D tunnel book as a final project for the unit. 

Reminders:

-Class pictures went home on Friday.

-MAP testing is next week. Math is on Wednesday from 10:30-11:30, Reading is on Friday from 10:30-11:30.

-Last HW club is Monday 5/19 (due to the holiday on 5/26). The last homework packet will be given on 5/21-5/28. We will be doing some nutrition lessons in the upcoming weeks, so part of the students homework will be to record everything they eat for two days. There will be a chart in their homework packet to help keep track.

-This upcoming Friday and the following Friday, Ms. Staab’s friend will be coming to teach the students and conducting a voting simulation and a mock trial scenario. These experiences will be very engaging and interactive and I am sure the students will go home with lots of questions about voting and how the court system works!

-As the end of the year approaches, we will be doing a lot more in class projects to celebrate. You’ll see some fun things come home in the next few weeks!

Highlights from Week 30!

Hi 307 Families, this is Mrs. Froberg writing the post for this week! We had a jam packed week and I am sure all your students will be wanting a much needed break. We celebrated on Friday the end of MSP testing after two weeks of hard, focused work. For our third graders, it was their first time taking the MSP Math and Reading tests and they worked so hard! Each student came to school rested, focused and ready for testing, so thank you families.

Now that testing is over, students will be having homework once again. On Friday each student took home a mini homework packet that focuses on their historical fiction book club novel. Each student has a specific page their group has decided to read to by the next book club meeting which is next Wednesday. In addition, they have several paragraphs to write about their book in the homework packet. Regular homework will resume next Wednesday.

On Friday we took a field trip to the Moore Theatre, where we watched several incredible performances by young aspiring musicians ages 15-21 years old. There was an eclectic mix of musical styles, including steel drums, a brass band, rock-and-roll, soul and rap. The class loved it and several students even got out of their seats to dance to the music! It was inspiring for many students to see how talented some of the young musicians were and what they can accomplish. 

Highlights:
Writing - We continued free writing this week, to give students a chance to get back into the routine of writing after more structured writing topics in preparation for testing. Next week we will be starting a new unit on Persuasive Writing, which will be fun and exciting! Students will be writing letters and learning the art of persuasion.

Math - We are still continuing to work on decimals, converting fractions to decimals, comparing decimals and writing decimals in expanded form. Next week we will be nearing the end of the unit and will start our review.

Reading - We completed week 3 of our historical fiction unit. Students have been having great discussions and bringing up deep topics during their meetings. This week we worked on how to see the world through the eyes of the characters in the book and gathering details from descriptive passages. Students acted as detectives in a fun activity on Thursday where they each had a sentence and they had to use the details in their sentence to find the students who had sentences from the same descriptive paragraph as them. They did a great job!

Special Project- We worked on a fun Mother's Day art project this week making silhouettes profiles of each student. Each student got to pick the background paper and cut out their silhouette to put in the frame. They also wrote letters to special people in their families, including moms, dads, aunts, grandmas and cousins. Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Highlights from Week 29!

Whew! We completed our first week of the MSP (state testing) for 4th graders!! They did an amazing job of staying focused and persevering through hours of writing! This week, we will have our final two tests: math and reading (Tuesday and Thursday). Students will not have homework so that they can relax and rest up at home. 

On Friday, all of the 4/5 grade classes will be going on a field trip to the Moore Theater. Please return the field trip form as soon as possible! 

Highlights:

-We are taking a break from writing lessons/units during the testing weeks so that students can free write and get their ideas/thoughts/feelings expressed through their writing. We will begin opinion/persuasive writing next week!

-Math lessons continued this week and we covered/reviewed some new measurement concepts. 

-Historical Fiction Book Clubs resumed this week with more work on the setting, background knowledge, and the time period of each book. In groups, book clubs made a timeline poster of the setting of each book. 

Thank you for your continued support of our students throughout this testing period. I know that for some the anxiety level rises, and students can feel extra tired... So thank you for understanding and being an encouragement to your children during this time!

*Request*

Our classroom has run out and is in need of a few supplies. If you are able, please help us out if you can! Thank you!

Needed Supplies:

-0.7 Lead

-Thin Expo Dry-erase Markers

-Kleenex

-Clorox Wipes