Accepting & Respecting Literature Circles

This week, students received their new Literature Circle books and they were very excited to start reading!  Each book has a common topic of accepting & respecting others, especially those who are different from us.  It is a powerful message that will promote and teach empathy.

We also spent time reviewing the weekly requirements.  Every week, the students will have to read a chunk of the book (pages indicated on their bookmarks), complete at least one sticky note every 10 pages (requirements linked), and complete 1 role sheet every week.  More information is posted below!

Thank you so much to our fabulous parents who have volunteered their time to come in each week to monitor and facilitate rich discussions about literature! You ROCK!

Presentation Explaining Literature Circle Requirements and Procedures


Bookmarks for Required Reading


Chunk Due Dates: Our class will have literature circle meetings every Thursday from 10:15-11:15, so that is when their reading chunk, role page and sticky notes are due.  

• Chunk 1: Due 11/3
• Chunk 2: Due 11/10
• Chunk 3: Due 11/17
• Chunk 4: Due 12/1

Unit 1 Test: Place Value, Rounding, Addition, Subtraction and Multi-Step Word Problem

We have our final math assessment over Unit 1 material on Friday!  The test will cover the concepts on the quiz from last week (lessons 1-10) plus adding, subtracting & multi-step word problems.

Students will complete a study guide in class today.  They should use that to help study for the test as the test mirrors the study guide.  We will review the study guide and questions about it more detail on Thursday in class.

There are many problems not completed in the student workbook that kids can use for additional study practice.

• Addition (lessons 11-12)
• Subtraction (lessons 13-15)
• Word Problems (lessons 16-18)

Remember, to study for a math test, you must do problems!  

Global Virtual Classroom Introduction

Explore the winners from last year!  http://www.virtualclassroom.org/win15.html

Walk to School Week is NEXT Week!

The Green Team invites you to join us for Walk and Bike to School Week, Oct.3-7! Students who walk, bike, or scooter to school will get a reward each morning! Plus, students can wear special colors or certain shirts each day to represent being healthy, safe, and green!

MONDAY, Oct. 3 - Wear RED for transportation safety!

TUESDAY, Oct. 4 - Wear BLUE for water conservation

WEDNESDAY, Oct. 5 - Wear your favorite sports shirt or jersey for exercising and being active for good health!

THURSDAY, Oct. 6 - Wear GREEN for recycling, composting and reusing!

FRIDAY, Oct. 7- Wear Orange or Yellow to represent wearing bright colors when biking or walking outside


The Oak Park Public Library Book Bike will be at Mann after school to allow students to check out fantastic books and participate in fun activities onTuesday, Oct. 4 (rain date Oct. 6).

*A raffle drawing will occur during the week for those students who participate in the Mann School Walk-a-Thon, which will take place during school on Tuesday, Oct. 4 (rain date Oct. 5). Please support the local businesses that have donated prizes for this week: Lively Athletics, Forevermore Dance and Theatre Arts, and Wonder Works.

Math- Tape Diagrams

This week students will be introduced to Tape Diagrams.  Tape diagrams are a very helpful way to model addition and subtraction problems.  Since it is a visual model it requires kids to pay attention to how to set them up; this method and model greatly helps students make sense of word problems and setting up the problems to solve.  Especially the multi-step problems we will do this year!

Here are a few videos to help you get a better understanding of what Tape Diagrams are and how they work.

This is a quick video showing tape diagrams with single digit addition & subtraction to help understand how they work.
 


Here is a longer video showing kids in a 4th grade classroom using tape diagrams to make sense of math.  The days of teaching a formula and asking kids to memorize it are over.  From years of doing that, we have learned it doesn't work.  Kids only remember those formulas or algorithms for a short time and need to be retaught the same thing year after year.  If we teach kids how numbers work with models, they understand numbers and are able retain and apply a concept in multiple contexts.

Reading Update: Out of My Mind

The kids started reading the novel Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper this week. This is a beautifully written story that ties perfectly into our first trimester unit of accepting & respecting.  Students will be doing a majority of the reading at home so we can use our class time for a variety of activities and discussions.

We have divided the book into 4 chunks that we will read over the course of 4 weeks. They will be assigned to read one chunk of the novel each week and that will be due each Tuesday. If they save the entire chunk until Monday to read, it will be overwhelming; please monitor that your child is keeping up with the reading each night.


Helpful Links: 

• Out of My Mind Introduction to the Novel This is the presentation the 4th grade teachers used in class to introduce the novel to the children. 
• Reading Guide Questions that you can discuss with your child as they read Out of My Mind.
• During each chunk, the students will be stopping to think while they read. This is an imporant skill that I often find the kids are not doing. To practice this skill, they will write an annotation on sticky note for each chapter.​   Click here for the Post-It Note Directions

Math Update- Lessons 1-4 Check In

This week we finished the lessons on Place Value of Multi-digit Numbers in our curriculum (lessons 1-4).  Yesterday, all the kids completed a "Check-In" over the concepts in these 4 lessons.  I often give kids check ins after every few lessons to make sure they are keeping up.  I grade it to see if they are understanding the concepts but it doesn't necessary end up as a grade in my grade book- it is more so to inform my instruction.  Today, in math I pulled small groups of students to review misconceptions I noticed on the check in, so your child should have a good understanding of all the concepts in lessons 1-4.   I am going to send home the check ins today, and I ask that you review them with your child and send them back signed on Monday.  I also made the below video that reviews problems from the check in or similar problems.  Please consider having your child watch the below video to work on concepts they are still struggling with.  You might even want to watch this to help understand the place value tables and terminology we have been using in class.

Lesson 1-4 Review Video
Lesson 1-4 Video Handout this is optional to complete the problems along with the video (you can print this out or your child can open it on their iPads and fill it in digitally while they watch the video).

Our first formal quiz will take place after lesson 10.  If all goes as planned, students will take that quiz on Monday, 9/26.  As we get closer to the quiz, kids will write the official date in their planners. Students will receive a study guide next week to begin preparing for the quiz!

Thanks so much for your support from home!