One of the expectations of students in the Upper Elementary is to complete reading responses each school year. These responses allow students to use their individual writing skills and creativity in order to express how they felt about a book they read.  We have a binder of activities students may choose from but sometimes they come up with their own unique ideas. Recently, Max did just that by using Minecraft on his computer to craft a scene from the book, The Witches.  His joy of reading and Minecraft shown through as he shared the creation with his classmates!

On Wednesday we enjoyed an educational, hands-on field trip to the Eli Whitney Museum in Hamden, CT. We learned about cameras and how our eye takes in light and projects an upside down image on the retina, similar to how a camera obscura functions. Students then made their own camera obscura to look at images and to project images. This was a great introduction to concepts we will study for our science fair later in the spring. Thanks again to Liz and Joanne for chaperoning.

Parent Teacher Conferences will be on February 15 (1 pm start – last conference at 7:30 pm) and February 16 (8:00 am start and last conference at 11:30 am). Please schedule your appointment by 5:00 pm on Wednesday, February 14^th.

If you would like to meet outside of the scheduled conference times, please email me  directly and we could set up a mutually convenient time.  In addition, if you would like to meet with one of our enrichment teachers, please email them directly to set up a time to meet. Enrichment teachers will be available for parent conferences on Thursday, February 15^th from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm and on Friday from 8:00 am to 11:30 am.

We look forward to talking with you about your child’s progress at school.

 

On Monday the students worked together with support from their teachers and a few parents to make sandwiches for the St. Vincent DePaul Mission located in Waterbury, CT.  This was a rewarding experience that was kick started about 8 years ago with help from Mrs. Zaums.  Our goal is to make sandwiches every month, so be on the lookout for opportunities to assist us in the classroom. Thanks for all of the food and supply donations from parents!

On Wednesday, Max’s mother, Jayne stopped in to share with us an exciting opportunity to do an art and cultural exchange with a children in Kenya and Rwanda, called “Kageno Kids.” We are in the beginning stages of how our class and possibly the larger school community can help out.  Here is a link to their website,  http://www.kagenokids.org/index.html .  Thanks again, Jayne for your enthusiasm and insight to this wonderful project!

Lastly, this is a friendly reminder that the Upper Elementary class coffee is scheduled for Monday after drop off. We also have a field trip planned to the New Canaan Nature Center on Wednesday.

The students were relieved to wrap up the CTP4 testing on Monday.  In between exams they took short breaks to enjoy a snack, stretch, socialize or play some quick group games. We are happy to be back to our normal work cycle and routine!

Before Monday testing got underway we celebrated the January birthdays of Miss Hope, Max and Zhariya with a birthday breakfast.  As I reflect on these celebrations I am so glad we decided on this new format this school year. It is a healthy, positive way to begin the day and recognize each student’s special day along with their family.

On Tuesday our Upper Elementary gray team won their first game of the season by defeating The Mead School, Stamford.  They played well as a team considering it was their first action of the season! A huge “thank you” to Michele, Liz and Amy for driving students to the game and an additional “thank you” to Leslie for the snack.

Our morning work cycle took on a different feel on Tuesday as we welcomed the 3rd Year students to our classroom and the 5th Year students visited Middle School. As you can see from the pictures the 4th Years were excellent guides as they assisted their 3rd Year friends in our classroom. We are looking forward to the 3rd Years joining us next fall, but we will miss our 5th Year friends.

 

Last summer I had a great experience learning about the Writing Project from Lucy Calkins and other professionals at the Teachers College: Columbia University.  This year is my first implementing the new Writer’s Workshop program and the students are learning new skills to become better writers.  Last week we kicked off our essay writing unit and continued that work into this week. Collaboration and sharing strategies are both huge parts of this program.  Enjoy the pictures!

It’s so nice to be back at school to kick off 2018 with snow, lessons and group fun!  Some students shared their favorite things from the holiday break. Others began writing their resolutions for the New Year.

Although our week was shortened by weather we packed in some engaging math lessons and cultural lessons. Fifth years worked on several fraction lessons while the fourth years wrapped up their second math unit.

In one of our cultural lessons we revisited the Long Black Line, which helped tell the story of the beginning of Earth. Next, we discussed the appearance of humans and how much time passed before they could make and use tools, eventually leading to recording history through their writing.

Lastly, we made sure to use a few minutes each day for some group games in class. Some of their favorites are Four Corners, 7-up and When the Wind Blows.

Miss Hope wants to extend a thank you to all of the students and their families for the beautiful flowers, decorative cards and the birthday snack! We celebrated her birthday on Monday to begin the week.

We look forward to a great second half of the year as we welcome 2018 in the Upper Elementary!

 

We have witnessed a lot of group work and collaboration in the classroom in the first half of the school year.  Students naturally reach out to help each other in follow up work or lessons during work cycle.  During large group lessons I encourage students to work in teams or pairs to solve problems. Then, through discussion the students learn different strategies to solve problems or approach a task.

1:1 student conferences are going very well. I meet with each student one time during the six day schedule rotation. We discuss long term planning, goals and form a closer relationship. I encourage students to bring their own items to discuss at this time too.

We are thrilled at the success of the monthly birthday breakfast!  It is such a great way to recognize birthdays and bring together our class community and their families. Our latest breakfast on Monday celebrated both Finn and Sienna for the month of December. We will celebrate January birthdays towards the end of January after the holiday break.

As 2017 winds down we have been busy in the classroom working cooperatively, writing, sharing reading responses and doing various Montessori sorting activities for math, language and culture.

We encourage making more friendships and building community. One example is by changing up the lunch tables. On Wednesday, we sort students randomly to lunch tables. On Friday, we make large group tables of 6-8 seats and the students choose the table they prefer.  To build community we play group games periodically when we have a few free minutes during the day.

This is a close-knit Upper Elementary classroom consisting of students that love to work together!  They have created a supportive classroom community of learners.  Whether it is during language or math lessons the students are an extension of the teachers as they assist and go to one another for help throughout the day.

Students have been sharing a lot of reading responses lately. A few are game boards based on the books they have read.  Their classmates love to listen and then ask questions or make comments about the books that are shared.

 

Last week the students worked together in three groups to make bread for our school Thanksgiving celebration.  John Dixon ambitiously challenged the students to make bread from scratch using yeast. They made Amish white bread, honey wheat bread and oatmeal bread. We enjoyed the bread together Wednesday before the holiday.

Our field trip to the Hartford Science Center was a blast! We explored all levels of the museum including the newest exhibit, Alien Worlds and Androids. The students had the most fun in the Sight and Sound exhibit.  An extra “thank you” to our parent chaperones, Chris Bojarczyk and Rob Schultz!