Multiage Team Blog
February 3rd- 7th
Highlight of the Week
Responsive Classroom
Morning Meetings continued this week. During Morning Meeting everyone has the right to fun, feel like they belong, and feel that they are in important. Students use and reflect upon guidelines for behavior daily to make sure those rights are protected for everyone. This week some of the things we did included Chair Hockey, Secret Elf and the Middle Name Greeting.
Math
Students began a new calendar grid that focuses on algebraic thinking. They have noticed patterns of different colored blocks and how the pattern has grown and are now connecting that to coordinate pairs.
Fifth graders are working in unit 3, and fourth graders finished up Unit 2. Fourth graders are learning more about multiplication and division with remainders, while fifth graders are learning division and measurement, including work with decimals. Unit overviews for each grade level are shown below. This week fourth graders worked on applying their multiplication knowledge to different multi step problems. Fifth graders continued their focus on decimals by working on various strategies for adding and subtracting, as well as division of whole numbers.
Math Stars
Students are working diligently to earn Math Stars. A reminder that students may not get help from others on Math Stars. We recognize that the problems can be challenging but it is important students learn perseverance skills.
Writing/ Word Study
Mrs. S. Mead's class is continuing their work with opinion writing. In addition to our group piece about lunch, students are also working on individual pieces about whether they should have access to chromebooks during school. Currently, we have taken a hiatus from chromebooks until this piece is done. In addition, students wrote their first letter to their penpal from the Essex Senior Center! We are excited to send these out next week!
Mrs. K. Mead's class is working on opinion writing. We have been planning our opinion pieces and trying to narrow down who our audience should be as that will impact our writing. We will then move on to discuss and apply some of the techniques we noticed in our model pieces.
Reading
Students began reading non-fiction text this week. They are working on noticing text structures, making the most of text features, and summarizing with non-fiction text. They record their thinking in their Reader's Notebooks.Students are meeting in small groups to share their thinking around their books and practice those summarizing skills. This work is being done in homerooms.
Read Aloud
Mrs. S. Mead's Class continued reading: Space Case. Kira and Dash watched the footage of Dr. Holtz going out the airlock. At first glance, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening, however, Kira noticed something about his hands that had them taking a second look. The two junior sleuths discovered that Dr. Holtz seemed to be using sign language to try to communicate something before walking out the air lock and to his death. Now, armed with this new knowledge, they have to decide who they can trust to sniff out the murderer.
Ms. Jeffrey's class is reading Watchers Island, which is a short fantasy book. Rachel discovered a yearbook with pictures of her own grandfather and people on the island. The people on the island are still the same age they were 60 years ago. Rachel has figured out that once you get stuck on the island you don't age. She is now trying to escape but the residents of the island are preventing her from doing that. The students are wondering why it is so important to the people that Rachel remains on the island.
Mrs. K Mead's started reading Loser by Jerry Spinelli. This is the story of Donald Zinkoff. In fifth grade Zinkoff continues to be noticed for being different from others. He is particularly upset when Gary Hobin tells him he can't be on his team for Field Day and Zinkoff decides to skip school. We have had discussions about how Gary's words and actions are affecting Zinkoff and the types of affects we want to have on other people. We are also reading a non-fiction text as a class called A Fungus Among Us. We have discussing how the text features are helpful as we find our way through the amazing world of fungi. We have learned a lot of new and shocking information!
Social Studies
Winter Assessments
Report Card Envelopes
Ski Vermont - Fifth Grade Passport
Lunch Bunches
Book Fair!
Thank you to those of you who have come in to volunteer - it's a busy place!
Why We Do It
The annual FMS Book Fair will take place from February 5-10, 2020. The book fair is an essential fundraiser for our school library program. Each year, the book fair provides our library with hundreds of exciting new books. In addition, funds raised are used to purchase new library materials, including audiobooks, digital subscriptions, fresh reads and curriculum materials. It is also a chance for students to add new books to their home libraries, and for classroom teachers to enrich their classroom libraries. It brings excitement about new books into our school, and that is palpable!
A Few Changes
This year, you will notice some changes to the book fair. This year's fair is a books only fair, with just a few exceptions. The school supplies and toy-like items sold in the past will NOT be available at this year's fair. We will have a huge selection of paperback and hardcover books, which is the primary focus of the fair. For those who are interested, there will be a small collection of non-book items such as journals, posters and bookmarks.
Book Coupons
This year, we will again provide a $2 book coupon for every single FMS student to be used to purchase a book at the fair. We will have many current titles available at a great discount - many popular titles cost just $1 or $2! The PTO is helping support the book coupon program this year through an enrichment grant - so thank you!
Volunteers Needed
We need your help to make this terrific event happen. Volunteers are needed to help set-up, run the cash register, and to help break down the fair as well. Please visit the Volunteer Signup Form to sign up for a slot (or two)! The form will require you to login with or create a Scholastic ID. This takes very little time, but keeps our volunteer signup form private, and has many great benefits like being completely ad-free and offering a chance to sign up for text message reminders for your slot. Volunteers are needed on the following dates: 2/4, 2/6, 2/7, 2/8, 2/10 (before and during the Family Dance) and 2/11.
Contact
Please contact Sara Jablonski with any questions sjablonski@ewsd.org or 857-6306.
Allergy Free and Safe Settings
Allergy Free and Safe Settings
We have some students on our team with severe, life-threatening allergies to tree nuts, peanuts, and sesame seed and oil. That means foods containing those or foods processed in a facility with those ingredients will not be allowed in the classroom. Please read food labels, including the entire ingredient list, carefully. A safe snack list is posted on the team website for your convenience.
Please plan to pack your child's snack in a separate bag or container to keep the snack away from any lunch items containing tree nuts. Lunches do not have to be allergen-free, and may contain any foods. Everyday students will leave their lunch boxes in crates. Please let us know if you have any questions.
A Note about Valentine's Day from Ms. Cobb
Dear Families,
We continue to encourage healthy choices at EES and FMS. As you know, Valentine’s Day is on the horizon, and with the ever increasing number of food allergies/sensitivities among our student population I wanted to let you know that we will be celebrating this “holiday” in a non-candy way. If your child chooses to bring in cards, please be certain that those cards do not have any candy or food items attached. This will lead to a healthier, safer, and more inclusive celebration. We encourage everyone to also consider helping your children to make homemade Valentine’s Day cards with a focus on kindness, caring, and helping others.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this.
Ms. Cobb
Music Blog for Mrs. Ferris
Practice Superstars
Jeffrey: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22
K. Mead: 4, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 19, 20, 21
S. Mead: Everyone!
Important Dates
February 6-10 FMS Book Fair
February 24 - March 3 Winter Break
March 20 Parent Conferences
March 25 Family Reading Night
Contact Us
Karen Jeffrey: kjeffrey@ewsd.org
Kelsey Mead: kmead@ewsd.org
Stacey Mead: smead@ewsd.org
Kristi Goyette: kgoyette@ewsd.org
Website: https://www.ewsd.org/Domain/379
Location: Founders Memorial School, Founders Road, Essex Junction, VT, USA
Phone: 802-879-6326