Jeffrey/Mead Team Blog
2/7 - 2/18
Math
Each day students participate in a Number Talk which are designed to help students become flexible, accurate and efficient when making calculations. The strategies we are teaching help students solve problems across all four operations. Right now Ms. Jeffrey's class is working on multiplication with partial products as well as halving and doubling. Mrs. Mead's class is working on multiplying up and the big seven. We are also doing some fraction number talks.
We wrapped up February Calendar Grid and Collector. Students worked on metric capacity conversions with collector and multiplying fractions with grid. Both were good previews of learning the students will do later this year.
Mrs. Jeffrey's class worked on adding and subtracting decimals, including the standard algorithm. The focus was choosing which strategy is most efficient for any given problem. By the end of the week we also began relating the values of fractions and decimals, such as 1/2 and 0.5.
Math Stars
Read Aloud
We also started the "Julian Chapter" from Auggie & Me. This is a companion book to Wonder. This book gives the perspective of three people we didn't hear from in Wonder. We will only be reading this chapter but students are welcome to read the other two chapters on their own after if they would like. The "Julian Chapter" focuses on Julian's experience when Auggie joined Beecher Prep. Julian is extremely unkind to August and this chapter shows his journey to realizing the impacts of his actions and the different choices he could have made. We have had great discussions around responsibility, intent vs impact, and how do to make a different choice when unkindness is what is modeled around you. For Julian it is his mother who modeled this behavior which the students picked up on quickly. We will finish this chapter when we return from break before moving onto another Golden Dome book.
Writing
Ms. Jeffrey's students continued with informational writing. They researched South American countries and are in the process of writing informational postcards as part of the Dash and Dot project.
Mrs. Mead's class is continuing to work on informational writing. We are in the research stage of our next writing pieces which will focus on South America and be integrated into our Social Studies project.
Reading
Ms. Jeffrey's class spent two weeks reading and studying tall tales. After reading a few tales, they collaborated on a definition of this genre with special attention on the characters, setting and events. In addition, they compared this genre to other types of folk tales.
Mrs. Mead's students have continued another round of book groups continuing to focus on theme, characters and author's craft. We are all reading novels written in verse which mirrors the style of our read aloud. Students are reading The Crossover, Love That Dog & Hate That Cat, Home of the Brave, and Heartbeat. As a class we are also discussing the importance of rereading and paying close attention to details and figurative language. We will wrap these book groups up when we return from break before moving into a non-fiction unit.
Social Studies
Students continued the Dash and Dot project. This integrates STEM, writing and social studies. Students will be coding Dash, a robot, to travel to capital cities in South American countries. They are researching those destinations and writing postcards, as a form of informational writing.
SBAC
If at all possible please schedule student appointments around those SBAC testing sessions. Thank you!
School Wide SEL
UVM Student Teacher
Student Technology Tools
The following is a list of online programs students may use this year. Others could be added as the year progresses. Individual student password documents will be shared with students. We will be send home a permission form regarding student technology programs in the first weeks of school.
Safari Montage
Scholastic News
eSpark
BrainPop
Spelling City
Book Creator
Typing Club
IXL
Khan Academy
Prodigy
Masks
Students will need two masks at school everyday. Masks will need to be worn on the bus to and from school. They should also be worn at school except during recess and when eating and during mask breaks, which we all need!
FMS Newsletter
Celebrations
Early Dismissal Procedure
IMPORTANT! Procedure for Early Dismissal
In the event that your child needs to be dismissed early, the following protocol must be followed:
On Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday - you must pick up by 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday- you must pick up by 1:00pm.
Send your child’s teacher and Kim Kedzierski (kkedzierski@ewsd.org) an email first thing in the morning letting them know what time your child needs to be dismissed, the reason why and the name of the person picking them up. Or, you can also call the attendance line at 879-6326 and leave a message stating your child’s name, time leaving, the name of the teacher, the reason why, and the name of the person picking them up.
When you arrive to pick up your child, please pull up to the front of the building and call Kim at 879-6326 to let her know you’re here
Important Dates
March 10 & 11 Jason Chin Author Visit
March 11 Pattern/Mismatch Day
March 18 Conference Day (no school for students)
March 21 Inservice Day (no school for students)
March 22 - April 1 SBAC
March 25 Favorite Color Day
Contact Us
Karen Jeffrey: kjeffrey@ewsd.org
Kelsey Mead: kmead@ewsd.org
Website: https://www.ewsd.org/Domain/379
Location: Founders Memorial School, Founders Road, Essex Junction, VT, USA
Phone: 802-879-6326