The Kersey Chronicles
Rockstars Choosing to Matter in Room 25
Miller Shift Learning Showcase
In case you aren't aware, Noblesville Schools offers a unique annual learning showcase to highlight the incredible events happening in our school district. These presentations demonstrate the use of the Miller Shift mindset, and give students a platform to celebrate their hard work! This year, I would like to ask a few students (and possibly parents) to share their experiences with student-led conferences. If you are a willing participant, please email me! Thank you in advance for your support. For more information, see the video below. Feel free to watch it with your child and talk about what they think Miller Shift means!
Not sure what Miller Shift means?
Miller Shift is our term to describe the unique 21st Century learning happening at Noblesville Schools: the “shift” to a new way of educating our students for the world of tomorrow. The way we teach doesn’t happen everywhere else!
Miller Shift is:
- 4 Cs- collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity
- Inquiry/project based learning
- Doing, discussing and applying instead of just listening and memorizing
- Making real-world connections and learning from outside experts
- Students exploring their learning passions
- Integrating technology into the classroom as a tool to facilitate these other objectives
Try This At Home ...
Read a picture book together! Talk about why authors might write picture books and novels.
This Week's Set List (February 1-5)
Week at a Glance/Skills for the Week:
LITERACY – We started our Q3 novel study on Friday. The next three weeks, we will read Number the Stars by Lois Lowry. This critical reading will focus on comparing and contrasting characters (within and across texts), analyzing themes, and evaluating the use of literary devices. Students will do this through a combination of word study, written responses, comprehension checks, and group discussions.
***During this novel study, all other literacy tasks are put on pause. This is so students can focus their time and attention on critically reading one novel together. It also ensure students have enough time to finish the majority of work at school. Any remaining work should be completed for homework that night in lieu of Read at Home time.***
WRITING – We will turn our attention to writing our Young Author Books. I do not have a definitive timeline at this point, but these books will need to be published by the end of March. I will be sending home a timeline and expectations for these books to help students and parents manage this project at home as well.
MATH – We will continue unit 8 this week. The main purpose of this unit is to investigate fractions and ratios. Students will review the concept of renaming fractions as equivalent fractions, and will be introduced to algorithms for multiplying fractions, and mixed numbers. They will also practice estimating and calculating a percent of a number. These skills will be tested at the end of unit 8. This test is currently scheduled for Thursday, February 18th. A student guide will be sent home the week before and we will review the day before the test on February 18th. Per usual, please remember to utilize the family letter to support your child's work throughout this unit.
SPELLING – We will resume spelling this quarter. Students will take either 4th grade words, unit 13 (stop, am, talk, whether, fine) or 5th grade words, unit 6 (mountain, caught, hair, bird, wood).
SCIENCE – We will be wrapping up our unit on electricity and heat. Students have been building different types of electrical circuits. Questions to guide our learning include: How is energy transferred? How do we use electricity and heat? How are heat and electricity related? Why do we need electrical circuits? What do we know about circuits, conductors, and insulators?
SOCIAL STUDIES – We are taking a break from Social Studies and will resume later in the school year.
TIPS - We will use this time to practice test taking skills in reading, writing, and science to prepare for ISTEP+ (testing begins on February 29th)
Upcoming Events
February 3rd: Early Release Day, 2:55pm Dismissal
February 5th: PTO Movie Night 6:15-8:30pm
February 12th: Valentine's Party, 2:15-3:00pm