This Week in LL38....

I hope everyone enjoyed the long holiday weekend!  We have a busy week ahead of us.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

     Parent-Teacher conferences are coming up next Thursday, April 7th and Friday, April 8th.  I know many of you have signed up for conferences already.  If you haven't, please use the link below to sign up for a time that is convenient for you.   If for any reason you have trouble signing up for a conference, please email me and I can arrange a time for you.   I look forward to meeting with you next week.

https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/C_A_Farley_Elementary_School    

MCAS

     Just a reminder that we have our first session of MCAS testing this Friday.  Testing starts right away, so please make sure your child arrives to school on time.

Math Workshop

     Last week we used the number line to add and subtract fractions.  The kids worked on adding and subtracting mixed numbers as well.  Using the number line helps the students to visually subtract or add on to fractions.  

I hope everyone has a great week!  

~Jen

This Week in LL38...

Team Farley Fire Foxes

As part of our preparation for our "big game," the MCAS test we have discussed what makes a team successful.  As a class we brainstormed some ways that teams become successful.  Here are some of the ideas that the kids came up with...

• Hard work
• Practice
• Take advice/use feedback
• A positive attitude
• Look at their own "game" (strategies known)
• Look at the "game" of their opponent (what does the MCAS look like)
• Have a "game plan"

We also came up with a team name (Farley Fire Foxes) and took some pictures that show how "fierce" we are.  Our pictures also got us pumped to show off just how ready we are for our big game!

My overall message for the kids is that the MCAS is an assessment that we have to take, but it is also just another way for us to "show off" all that we know.  

Thinking about it as a game and working to come up with a "game plan" makes it more exciting for the kids.  We try to have fun during our test prep by incorporating lots of exercise (warm ups).  They also have a "coach" that likes to use her whistle to get the kids moving!  :)  We will certainly be ready for April 1st!!  

Ask your child about some of the "coaching tips" they have learned in school.

Science

We started our new unit on Energy in science.  We were fortunate enough to receive a class set of Hot Wheel cars and ramps to use for this unit.  Last week we determined what happened to a Hot Wheel car when the distance between the ramp and the floor increased.  The kids had a ton of fun playing around with the ramps to see how to get their car to go the farthest!

                                                             

Just a reminder that we do not have school on Friday because of Good Friday.  Tomorrow (Monday) is also a 1/2 day of school.

Book Orders are due by this Thursday!

Have a great week!

~Jen

This Week in LL38....

We had a few more presentations last week!  Congratulations to Christiane, Ti-Ti, and Kylie (not shown here) for their amazing presentation on sea turtles.  This group created an iMovie and a slide show to teach the class about sea turtles and what we can all do to help protect them!  I am hoping to upload both the slide show and iMovie at some point this week!

 

Also,,,,,,Congratulations to Angelina and Lizzie for their presentation on birds!  They taught the class a lot of fun facts about a variety of birds!  It is great to be able to learn from our classmates.  All of the kids have been encouraged to use these 3 presentations as possible inspiration to start their own project!

Math Workshop

Last week in math we started plotting fractions on a number line.  This led us to being able to compare 2 fractions using the number line.  One very important skill that was taught to all of the kids last week was the importance of using benchmark fractions such as 0, 1/2, and 1 whole.  We spent a lot of time getting lots of practice comparing a fraction to 1/2.  This will help us as we continue to work through this fraction unit.

Here is another way for the kids to think about it.....

Fraction Online Games

Each student now has on his/her Google Docs account a page with several links to fraction number line games.  These websites are a great way to practice what we are working on in the classroom.  

Reading Workshop

We jumped into the world of poetry last week in reading!  We were reading poems from a book called My Man Blue.  It is a collection of poems that tell a story about a man named Blue and a boy named Damon.  As we have been reading the poems from this book we have been talking about the inferences that we can make as well as noticing some of the poetry terms that we are becoming familiar with such as mood and stanza.

Giggle Poetry 

We also went on this website last  week.  This website a ton of funny poems written by Bruce Lansky.  For homework this week your child will be going onto this website and completing an assignment that goes along with it on Google Docs.  More information will be sent home with your child tomorrow!  This will be due on Friday.

I hope everyone was able to enjoy the weather this weekend!  Have a great week!

~Jen

This Week in LL38.....

We had a busy week as engineers last week as the kids designed their earthquake resistant buildings.  We also got to celebrate Dr. Seuss' Read Across America Day on Wednesday.  We had a guest reader come in and read a few books to our class!


Congratulations Amelia!  Amelia shared her PowerPoint about pollution with our class on Friday.  Amelia chose a topic that she was interested in, found out more about it at home, decided on a way to "show off" her learning, and then presented it to our class!  Great job!  We learned a lot about pollution.

We also got a sneak peek into another project about sea turtles.  Ti-Ti, Christiane, and Kylie will present their iMovie this week to our class!

Engineers!

The kids were able to finish researching earthquake resistant buildings.  They then created sketches of a few buildings that they felt showed off what they had learned in their research.  After creating their own sketch, they came together with their partner/partners and decided upon a building using all of their ideas.  They spent a few days using the materials that we had and trying to build a structure that would stand up to our shake table.  

The shake table simulated an earthquake.  The kids did a great job and many of the buildings held up under all of the shaking!  If a building fell apart, the kids went back to think about how they could revise their idea based on the results.  

I am really proud of the kids and all of the hard work and great thinking that went into building the earthquake resistant buildings!  

Reading Workshop

We have talked a lot about equality in our class this year through many books that we have read.  Last week we learned about Susan B. Anthony and how she worked hard to get equal rights for women.  Ask your child what he/she learned about Susan B. Anthony and her struggles!

This week we will take a little break from nonfiction reading and take a closer look at poetry.  We will be reading a variety of poems and analyzing the poems.

I hope everyone has a great week!

~Jen