Jeffrey/Mead Team Blog
10/25 - 10/29
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 subtraction, focusing on adding up, keeping a constant difference and removal. We will be moving on to focusing on multiplication next week.
Calendar Grid and Calendar Collector have also continued in classrooms. Students have been making connections between the work we do in Number Corner and the work we do in our unit lessons. This month the grid focuses on identifying a mystery shape from different perspectives. As the days pass students get more information to help them eliminate possible shapes. Every three days they are able to figure out which shape the clues are leading them to and then start again! For Calendar Collector students are looking for patterns in the mass of two carrots. Each day the mass decreases due to the carrot drying out. Later this month students will graph the data using coordinate points.
We started Unit 2 this week! Last week, students took a preassessment to check in on their understanding of benchmark fractions and fraction models. We then grouped students based on their instructional needs. These groups are flexible and change throughout the week depending on the goal of each lesson. When students have not needed the fraction instruction of that day, they have focused on probability.
Math Stars
Read Aloud
Nora was able to get out of the canyon and found her father. He was on a small outcropping of rocks on the other side of the canyon. She mustered all the strength she had left and jumped over the canyon. She jumped down to where he was and found that he was still alive. This part of the book signaled a change in Nora. She is determined to be a survivor and not continue to be angry and hateful about her family's tragedy.
Writing
Reading
Ms. Jeffrey's class continued their second round of book groups. They are reading Walk Two Moons, Stranded, Night of the Twisters and Hatchet. They have assignments due on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Mrs. Mead's students focused on their opinion writing for a good portion of our Literacy block this week. Writing about our reading led to great conversations about what we look for in books such as details, strong characters and creating a feeling in the reader.
Science
Ms. Jeffrey's class did a STEM activity with Google spreadsheets.
Mrs. Mead's class did a STEM activity making Oobleck! Students made great connections to our matter unit and were able to use the vocabulary to discuss how the oobleck behaved.
Socktober
Thank you for all the socks donated this month!
School Wide SEL
Lesson 7: What Is Stress?
Summary: In this week’s lesson, your child will identify signs of stress, situations that can cause them to feel stress, and strategies they can use to manage feelings of stress.
Try This at Home: Ask your child what their body feels like when they’re stressed and what things cause them to feel stress. Share your own experiences with stress and what you do to manage it.
Remote Learning and Quarantine
In the event that a classroom is sent home due to a COVID close contact, the classroom teacher will provide remote instruction for their class. This can be a combination of synchronous (at the same time, through zoom or google meet) and asynchronous (self-paced) learning experiences. Students will receive special education and intervention services as schedules allow as well. In the event that a student is sent home due to close contact in school or on the bus, but their entire class is not quarantining, remote instruction will not be provided. Practice links may be provided. The student’s absences will be excused. In the event that a student is sent home due to close contact outside of school and school-related activities, the classroom teacher is not expected to provide remote instruction. The student’s absences will be excused.
Snacks
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 when eating and during mask breaks, which we all need!
FMS Newsletter
Four Winds
Mrs. Mead's class has our first Four Winds lesson on November 3rd.
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
November 5 Favorite Headband and Hat Day
November 18 Picture Retake/makeup Day
November 19 Comfy/Cozy Day
November 22-26- Thanksgiving Break (no school)
December 3 Show Your Spirit Day
December 22 Flapjacks and Flannel 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