CAP CHAT
Mrs. Tuttle's CAP Class ~ Shields Elementary
November 3, 2016
Mission Statement
We, the Wizards of the CAP House, will participate in advanced level learning, have a growth mindset, and work towards BIG dreams, by following our school rules, and having fun!
CAP NORMS
- Be prepared
- Be respectful
- Be Kind
- Persevere
What's Happening??
11/8 NO SCHOOL Election Day
11/9 Field Trip 4th grade (NO CAP)
11/10 NO SCHOOL Professional Development Day
11/11 NO SCHOOL Veterans Day
11/16 PTO Fall Fundraiser Pick Up 3:30-7:00
11/22 PBS/Spirit Day
11/23 - 11/25 Thanksgiving Break
11/28 - 12/2 PTO Holiday Shop
11/29 PTO Meeting at 6:30
THURSDAY NOTE
I can't believe the end of the first marking period is here! It has been a fantastic beginning of the year and I'm excited to already see growth, not only academically, but socially and emotionally as well! Report cards will come home on the 22nd.
I know there were a couple questions about how the schedule works in a mixed grade level class. Reading and writing is completed as a whole group with the students learning and applying the same skills and strategies, around the same text (currently The Phantom Tollbooth). Students participate in whole group instruction as well as mixed grade level small groups and also complete work independently. The differences in reading and writing standards for 4th and 5th are minimal, which works well for us. Math instruction in CAP is different. Since there are specific 4th and 5th-grade math standards to be addressed, math instruction is separated by grade level. From 8:45-9:30 the 5th graders receive math instruction and then the 4th graders have a 60-minute block of math during their time in CAP. Lately, I have found that 4th-grade math works nicely around 9:30-10:30 as 5th graders finish independent or small group math work from the morning, work on their math PBL, and then transition into ELA assignments. Since the 4th graders participate in Literacy Lab in the afternoon, this allows the 5th graders to have their extra reading time, too.
CAP was created as a self-contained program to allow for flexibility in teaching and learning and provide students with learning opportunities that are different than a regular 4th or 5th-grade classroom. Our schedule fluctuates depending on the days lessons and projects we have in progress. If you ever have questions about the schedule or projects let me know!
Just a reminder there is not any homework this week or next week since almost half of our class will be on vacation in the coming week!
I will be out tomorrow, November 4th, but Mrs. Wilson will be substituting and I know the class will be in good hands.
Happy Thursday,
Mrs. Melissa Tuttle
Volunteers
Reading
We have been working on the beginning chapters of The Phantom Tollbooth. There are a few different organizers that will be used to help students read closely, analyzing the text on a deeper level. You should see a Literature Web come home today and this organizer helps students think about ideas, key words, feelings, images and symbols found in the text as well as the structure of text. We spent time in class talking about the organizer and the rubric, which will be used to grade some Literature Webs once we have practiced completing a couple together.
We are also tracking the characters, setting, and conflicts between the protagonist and the antagonist as we read. Students will be completing some of the reading assignments on Schoology. They can download organizers in their Notability notebook and then complete assignments on their iPads. All of the students requested they use their iPads, but they are also able to print any organizers to complete if they choose.
Math
The 4th graders finished their big numbers unit and have moved on to the factors and multiples unit which will cover multiplication and division. So far we have created arrays to discuss properties of numbers such as factors, prime/composite, odd/even, etc. Mrs. Gray, the math specialist, will be coming in to do some multiplication number talks (like she did with the 5th graders, but with smaller numbers and 4th-grade strategies) soon!
Home-School Connection: Ask your child to show you the album in our math course on Schoology of the factors they created. You could also practice finding factors of numbers less than 100. They should have a few strategies they can share on how to find the factors.
5th graders are wrapping up their multiplication and division of big numbers! They have been using the standard algorithm for multiplication and comparing it to other strategies. They have been so excited to have found a way to multiply large numbers. The standard algorithm for division is not taught until 6th grade, but they are using a few strategies including partial quotients, which most of them have found useful when dividing larger numbers. Once everybody returns from vacation we will focus on volume for the remainder of November.
Home-School Connection: This week the group keeps asking me to give them practice problems so give your child a problem and have them explain how they are solving it. If your child seems to be confused please let me know so I can check in!
Where in the World is Mr. Hagen?
Thanks to Mr. Hagen we have a personal connection to somebody who can help take us around the world. This week we got to visit Singapore with him! He tweeted us pictures and videos and during a Skype session, the students got to ask him questions about the country. They were blown away by the idea that he was 12 hours ahead of us so they were talking to the future! They asked some great questions about the government, laws, language, culture, and animals there. Of course, then they wanted to spend the rest of the day researching the country! We decided we will need to make a folder on Schoology for each place we visit and then they can share information as they find it. It was awesome to see everybody so engaged and thinking!! I am very thankful we get to have these experiences!
All Pictures are provided by Media Muggles and Picture Professors
We have new jobs for November and December so the pictures below were photgraphed by...
Macie, Travers, Jaxon, Aidan W, and AustinPlaying Amazing Race to 100,000 Miles
Properties of Numbers (4th Grade)
Creating Voting Privacy Screens for Mock Election
Connect with Us!
Email: melissa.tuttle@cape.k12.de.us
Website: www.mrstuttlesclass.com
Location: 910 Shields Avenue, Lewes, DE, United States
Phone: 302-645-7748
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mrstuttlesclass
Twitter: @TuttlesTechies