Dear Families, It has been wonderful learning from Natalie Kinsey Warnoc these past two weeks. Students learned all about genealogy, family trees, photography over time, primary and secondary sources, artifacts, anachronism and censuses. They have looked at history related to family members through various guided research. They have learned so much and we are eager to synthesize this new learning. The project requires that students choose one family member or resident of Salisbury to interview, research and/or learn about. So, students will be coming home with a brainstorming page to complete. They will most likely need help from some family members to complete the page. This completed brainstorming page will serve as the start of a writing piece where students will need to choose one small moment from that person’s life to write and publish a story about. The small moment may begin as a truth, but the story may be historical fiction at the end. Any related photographs, diaries, letters, or other primary sources will help aid your learner's writing. So feel free to send pictures of those in via email to your learner's teacher. Throughout the writing process students will be bringing home drafts, seeking help from family members. We appreciate any support you can give your student. Timeline: -Brainstorming page due, Thursday November 2nd (However, if your learner has it earlier that will help them begin writing!) -1st Draft to be reviewed at home the week of Nov 6th to be returned to school by November 10th -Week of Nov 13th, final revisions to be made between school and home -Story will be shared with Natalie Kinsey Warnoc week of Nov 20th. When we return from November Break, we will compile all student stories and publish a book. We will keep one copy at school and students will be able to purchase a copy if they wish to keep one at home. More information about this will be provided in a couple of weeks. If you have any questions or comments about this project please do not hesitate to contact us. Thanks for your support with this exciting project! If you are eager to get started we attached the brainstorming page below:
The photos below are from the Family Fun Night at Middlebury Indoor Tennis! Coming Week:
Monday, October 30-(Grade 5) STARBASE Wednesday, November 1- (Grades 4/5) Shakespeare Friday, November 3-Conference Day, No school for students Other Important Dates: Shakespeare at Town Hall Theater, Friday, November 17th (Grade 3 to watch peers) Grades 5/6 Bingo Fundraiser, Friday, December 1
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AUTHOR RESIDENCY Students were lucky to meet and learn from Natalie Kinsey-Warnoc for three days this past week. A focus was with where personal stories can come from. The following link will bring you to her website if you would like to learn about the author. In two weeks she will return and students will begin writing their own stories. Students were given family trees that they should try and fill out to the best of their abilities. We respect that families are who you want them to be, so don't worry too much about the specifics. The idea is for students to take a look back at history and see how things have changed over time. Next week, students will be working with Natalie to write a family story. She has asked students to take a few minutes at home to find a photograph or family artifact that tells a family story. Students have a form to fill out, which will help them to write their family story. Check out her website here: kinsey-warnock.com/ The photos below are from her visit: TENNIS Students also began their tennis unit in PE this week. Grades 3/4 were learning from Middlebury Indoor Tennis instructors as well as Mr. C. Fifth grade students will being tennis next week and the unit will culminate with a really fun night at Middlebury Indoor Tennis on October 27th. Mark your calendars, it was great fun last year! The photos below are of 4th graders learning about tennis! FIRE SAFETY Students were visited by Salisbury volunteer firefighters on Thursday. They learned all about fire safety and were able to explore the trucks, ask the fire fighters questions and even put out a fire! The photos below are from the visit: SHAKESPEARE Students in grades 4 and 5 met with our 5 Town Hall Theater actors on Wednesday for the third time. This week students continued to explore the play, The Twelfth Night. They also worked to direct different scenes within the play, deciding on how the actors should display more or less of various emotions. Then students needed to come to a consensus about what sounds should be in the play during various scenes. Below are some photos of that part of our week! (NOVEMBER 17th (EVENING SHOWS AT TOWN HALL THEATER) OPEN HOUSE, Grades 4/5 VIDEO LINK: www.wevideo.com/view/980066966 MATH Grade 3: Third graders are another busy week. We are hard at work learning about the different multiplication models that we will be using for the remainder of the year. Third graders also have begun the process of memorizing their multiplication facts. Students have class time to work on their facts and are invited to bring home fact cards to study each night. We introduce multiplication facts in a strategy based orders. Most students have passed their twos and have moved onto their fours and eights. Our calendar is a preview of our geometry unit. We are looking at triangles, quadrilaterals, pentagons and hexagons. Grade 4: Fourth graders had a really productive week in math class! Students learned about multiplying two-digit numbers using the partial product strategy. They may call the strategy the BOW TIE method, as that term seems to stick! You should ask them to show you how to solve a problem in this way. Let them choose the problem. They are pretty proud of this new learning! We also worked with ratio tables to multiply larger numbers. Our calendar introduces equivalent fractions using money, base ten pieces, arrays and other shapes. Grade 5: Students took their Unit 1 post-assessments on Volume and relationships between various expressions and equations. They were able to compare their pre assessments from one month ago to their post-assessments. Then we were on to Unit 2! Students began to find equivalent fractions for various fractions using the money model. They then began a project about a River Trail with various landmarks at different spots along the trail. Finding the distance of the trail proved to be challenging, as it needed to be a common multiple of all the stopping spots. Working with partners can also go really well, or can sometimes be a challenge within itself. This also serves as an opportunity for students to be assertive, problem solve and compromise with peers. LITERACY All students have been assigned a book to be reading at home nightly and projects have also been assigned. Ask your learner about their book and feel free to read a chapter (or a few) with them aloud or together. Some of their choices are really great! We will begin working on the book projects in school this week. Conferences Teachers are working on scheduling times for goal setting conferences with parents. It is your choice whether you would like to have your child attend the Fall Goal Setting conference. The Spring Conference is a student led conference and your chid will run this conference. Please look for a conference form in your child's folder in the next couple of days. Please return the form to school as soon as possible, so that we can schedule a conference time with you. COMING WEEK: Monday, October 16: Grade 5, STARBASE Wednesday, October 18: School Photos, Grade 4/5 Shakespeare NO SCHOOL THURSDAY OR FRIDAY Morning Meeting Photos: |