Vocabulary Words

We are just starting to develop our vocabulary learning. We are looking for words in the text, using context clues (words and the story around the words) to help us learn new words.

Students are being challenged and encouraged to USE the words outside of class.

Some words you might hear your fourth grader using:
- precipitation (rain, sleet, snow, hail)
- condensation (water that collects as droplets on a cold surface)
- dialogue (talking)

We are trying to develop synonyms ... for "dialogue" we have come up with:
conversation
chatting
talking
speaking

It is exciting to see the "spark" in students' eyes as they USE the words or share stories about the words they are using at home and their families' reactions!

Long and Short a

This week, our Word Work (Spelling) pattern is long and short a patterns in accented syllables.

The spelling patterns for long a ("A" says it's name) are:
* words with "ai"
* words with "a consonant vowel" ("aCe")
* words with "ay"

Then there are the with "Open a":
* when you count the syllables, it is the word that has a long a before a syllable break

"Short a" are words that "a" does not say it's name, like in "basket" or "shadow". We drew a picture of someone who is sick (feels sad, tired, bed hair, sore nose) visiting a doctor and having to say, "short a" while the doctor uses a tongue depressor

When we are working in class, we underlined the long and short a patterns, for short a, we drew a "tongue depressor" under the patterns.

Students can earn initials this week for finding examples of these patterns in their reading ... (a lot of initials actually ... )

Heggies Pizza

Milaca Elementary Students are fundraising for their sixth grade class trip to Deep Portage by selling Heggies Pizzas. This is an optional fundraiser. The money students raise each year is tracked, so that same group of students benefits from the sales. This is one of those opportunities where I encourage students to "Follow your family rules". I know there are many fundraisers and activities that take away from the family budget. Even if you choose not to sell to family and friends, please consider buying a pizza or two for your own home.

On our announcements ...

two "famous" chefs share all the details

There was a miscommunication on the due date. Pizza order forms need to be returned by Monday October 6th. The pick up dates are conference nights. Thank you for your consideration!

Homecoming Pepfest

On Friday September 26th at 1:30, the Elementary celebrated Homecoming with a pepfest. This half hour gathering of the entire school was filled with pep and school spirit! It is a thrill to have our Kindergarten through sixth grade students and staff members together in one space! It is amazing to think there are over 1000 people in our building together every day!! It is a great learning opportunity to picture "1000+" as students are a part of our school.

walking to the gym through the sixth grade hallway

High School Principal Mr. Patnode speaks

Our homecoming canidates

Head Football Coach and fifth grade teacher, Mr. Anderson speaks

Our class watches closes

We listened to speakers, watched a video, were introduced to the high school Homecoming candidates and their favorite books, television shows, and favorite elementary teachers. We sang the school song too. Go Milaca Wolves!!

The Boys Start the War

Ms. Leom started reading a new novel to her homeroom students today.

Phyllis Reynolds Naylor gives a modern day story on the Hafields and the McCoys in this first book of a series. We continue to model asking questions as we read, and "we" (Ms. Leom) look forward to the hilarious adventures that are a page or two away!

BLM Day 14

In Communications today, we started with Student of the Week. Went over our Daily Language.

Reviewed our Word Work for the week: Challenging Plurals. Then we read an article, determined what words were plural, and circled them. It included a lesson on possessive nouns (ask your fourth grader to retell Ms. Leom's story about how she remembers "possessives" ... two year olds ... blankets ... MINE!).

Then we talked about Vocabulary, how a word can have different meanings.

Followed by a discussion about why it matters:

Words with more than one meaning are important, because word meanings can change your understanding of what you read.

In Flex, we read our Reader's Theater books, "Eleanor Roosevelt and Marian Anderson". We made a list before we started of all the skills we should be using as we read:
- Main Idea and Supporting Details
- Asking Questions
- Biographies
- Word Work: Challenging Plurals
- Vocabulary - words have different meanings
- Fluency
- Characters 
and MORE!!

There is NO way we can be successful readers if we are focusing on ALL these skills. We practice the skills individually, so we can use them automatically when we read. As we are still progressing on these skills, we need to pick one for today. Within groups, students picked a skill to focus on, and use on their sticky note. Ms. Leom was able to monitor students by walking around and reading the notes they were taking (or not taking). She was able to sit with the groups and listen to students demonstrate their fluent reading.

Crazy

It is Homecoming Week at Milaca Elementary. While the high school students were sporting camouflage, in the Elementary School, we were sporting some crazy socks and crazy hair.

Class Meeting

On Wednesdays we have our Class Meeting. Most of our meetings are related to our Olweus Bully Prevention focus at our school.

Our class meeting goals were posted on the board before we started. We sat on the floor in a circle. We started by going around the circle, and students were invited to share anything they were thinking about, recently enjoyed, or were looking forward to in their lives. Students also had the option to pass. Today, there were three or four students who shared about new puppies.

Then we transitioned to our bullying discussion. We review Rule 1: We will not bully others. We shared so many examples and defined bullying. I was impressed by the participation and respectful listeners.

Next, we moved into today's topic, Rule 2: We will try to hep students who are bullied. There was a lot of discussion and participation. We started our discussion about what could happen to you if you get involved. We had to stop when we ran out of time.

I share our class brainstorming, so families can see what our fourth grade class discussed. We take our bullying prevention seriously.

The warm fuzzy part at the end of class was listening to several students comment (unprompted) about how they felt safe and enjoyed our discussion today. They felt their ideas were valued. They felt like they belonged to something special. They wanted us to have meetings more often.

I also like how discussions we have had earlier in the year, a Word Work lesson on hyphenated compounds lead to "two-faced" being applied (accurately) in our discussion today. Our entire day is filled with these moments. I can see so much growth, confidence, and learning happening in front of my eyes, I can't wait for the next day to begin our next chapter!!

We also talk about how "being smart" is often thought of someone who knows all the answers. In our classroom learning community, "being smart" is the student who is brave and willing to try and make mistakes. Being smart means trying, hard work, and effort. Being smart means asking questions when you don't understand. In our classroom definition, we are very smart, and growing smarter every day!

These were moments from today's class meeting.

Northeast Notes

Ms. Leom's class continues to study the Northeast unit in Social Studies. Mr. Greninger's class is scheduled to start their Social Studies learning on October 6th. With the schedule in place, fourth graders will take the Northeast States and Capitals Test (no notes) and the Northeast Unit Test (may use Information Packet, Questions Packet, and Notes Packet) on Thursday October 2. Remember, there is no school on Friday October 3 due to a teacher workshop.

Today, Ms. Leom introduced Northeast notes. We talked about getting organized. We put all of our other materials on our name tags and laying the NE Information Packet and NE Notes side-by-side. We labeled our NE Notes, "NE Notes". Then, she helped clarify the terms.

Then she modeled how to take notes (the heading is the main idea and the information is the supporting details).

Students find three supporting details for each main idea. In the box, students illustrate and color the most interesting fact to them. While we worked on this together, Ms. Leom walked around the room and helped students underline the information and record it on our notes. In our next class, students will work with a new partner (than their NE Questions partner).

Fire Posters

Today we introduced the 2014 Fire Safety Poster topic. Ms. Leom's students had time to brainstorm and plan their poster on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch (letter size) paper. They will be creating their poster on 9 x 18 inch poster paper in class and have work time in the next two days.

BLM Day 13

Ms. Leom was HAPPY to return to class today!! There are some days that Elementary Room 113 is one of the only places where everything makes sense - pretty crazy to think about with 27 students who bring their own gifts and baggage to school depending on the minute!

We've been working Main Ideas and Supporting Details, Asking Questions, Biographies, Word Works in the areas of hyphenated compounds, comparison suffixes -er and -est, challenging plurals, and this week we added fluency. It was a lot to organize and review at the start of our day today! We also decided we needed to develop Author's Purpose, when our memories appeared foggy.

We started with our Word Work: Challenging Plurals. We sat on the floor, and Ms. Leom modeled our sorting activity for today. Sorting words by physically moving them helps students think about words, their patterns, and students have to determine how to sort the word and explain it. 

Mr. Greninger's students

students work in groups of 2 or 3

We had to develop a checklist to make sure we met all of our learning goals for the morning. We also took some notes to review. 

 It was eXcItInG to return to class and observe ALL students had learned about fluency in the previous two days. Students also read to me, and I could HEAR the improvement in their use of expression and fluency from last week. It was also a thrill for them to appreciate their progress!

We started talking about Author's Purpose, and it soon became apparent, that we needed to develop this strategy. Our students had some background, but some needed a review, some students needed a full instruction, and other students needed to warm up.

Ms. Leom's class notes

Mr. Greninger's class notes

 Next, we took our discussion about fluency, dialogue, and author's purpose to read a Readers' Theater about Marian Anderon and Eleanor Roosevelt.

Ms. Leom's students

We took some notes about the characters.

Mr. Greninger's Class Notes

Ms. Leom's class notes

We are developing vocabulary as we read. We made a list of possible words, and students volunteered, sharing what they thought they knew about each word. Ms. Leom even recorded the students' ideas that were incorrect. As students read, they will jot down information, and we will clarify the definitions. Students develop vocabulary using context clues (information from the text).

Our learning goals as we read were:

It was exciting to see students engaged and driving our classroom learning. It is interesting to see how two classes can vary in their learning based on the input shared in class.

Two Days

Ms. Leom attended two days of Benchmark Literacy training. It included an entire day about teaching reading and a second day that looked at the Word Work and Writing components of the new learning. Although she was out of the classroom and attending her workshop in the high school, she was very involved with what was happening in the classroom.

Students are working on Fluency, or reading smoothly and their Complex Plurals Word Work for BML Days 11 and 12.

Ms. Leom also hung the first set of family pictures. The door of images is the first sight Ms. Leom sees when she enters the room in the morning, the images she sees throughout the day, and the last images she sees when she leaves at the end of the day. It reminds her that each student is part of a family. He or she is special and important in unique and individual ways - not always collected in data from testing. These are MY students when they walk through this doorway, and I respectfully appreciate the opportunity, responsibility, and accountability to each family represented.

Not all our families are pictured at this time. Mr. Greninger's families will also be featured when the opportunities develop.

Ms. Leom sent home copies of pictures for students and their families today. In the ten months, Ms. Leom had two former students pass away. Two alumni lost a parent, and another student lost a sibling. Being able to reprint and share these moments with the families from our one special year together matters.

Ms. Leom communicated missing work with Mr. Greninger's help.

For her homeroom students, Ms. Leom communicated student's recent test results, the fourth grade goals, their flex teachers, and overall learning plans. Detailed information was sent in an email. Please contact Ms. Leom (her contact information is on the top right corner) with any questions.

Looking forward to returning to our classroom and daily routine! Missed MY kids!!

Outside

Yesterday, Mr. Greninger's class took their MAP Math Test. Today, Ms. Leom's class took their MAP Math Tests. This data will be used to make decisions for Flex groups, plan for individual learning needs within the classroom ("differentiation" in teaching terms), and to communicate to students and families how students are progressing as a learner.

The test is taken on the lap top computer in the classrooms. After the test, both Mr. Greninger and Ms. Leom took their classes outside. We know that students need fresh air, time with friends, and large muscle opportunities to be at their best. It may only be a 5-10 minute break out of our classroom learning day, and we know it matters!

We appreciate our students' best efforts and focus during the tests. We also recognize how hard it is to be quiet and respectful as other students are finishing their testing. Our classes worked VERY HARD this week! We are SO proud!!

BLM Day 10

It appears that Fridays are a writing day in Benchmark Literacy. Today's lesson was a quick review for the features of a biography and a short discussion of the three biography subjects we read this week: Cesar Chevaz, Marian Wright Edelman, and Squanto. After our discussion, it was time to introduce the writing assignment.

Students Goals:
* I will write a narrative.
* I will include two of the following characters: Cesar, Marian, Squanto
* I will have two characters meet and talk about themselves.

We also had a checklist to help us:

Students were expected to write a full page on notebook paper, tear it out, and turn it in.

Students had 45 minutes to write. At the end of class, no matter how far students were, they were all asked to "finish up" their story, "give it an ending", and turn it into the basket. No one was expected to have writing homework for the weekend. Students will be assessed based on what they completed in class.

Pictures are Here!

Ms. Leom sent home school pictures with her students today! Please look for them!

Mind Maps

Ms. Leom's class is studying their Northeast States and Capitals. Mr. Greninger's class will have their opportunity in a couple of weeks. Ms. Leom had her students take the practice test earlier this week. Then we went over the answers. She sent home a second copy for students to continue to practice at home.

It has been two days, so we extended our states and capitals learning today. Ms. Leom showed the students several links on this blog that has states and capitals songs and videos. Some of our students are very musical and visual, and the videos might be helpful to their learning. Videos are not the only strategy students should be using.

Next, Ms. Leom invited the students to create a "Mind Map" of the Northeastern States. It was a baffling direction for the majority of the class. Ms. Leom drew an example of the Midwestern States, and then students jumped in and started drawing the Midwestern states they knew, and sharing all about their travels to Florida, Wisconsin ... It was ok for students to draw and not be on track. Sometimes we learn best when we stumble along. Ms. Leom only gave five minutes to get started. She was monitoring student progress, and she waited for everyone to "start something", before she pulled the class together and modeled the expectation.

A "Mind Map" is a visual of an area. It may not be drawn to scale or even the exact shape of the actual image. It is the basic visual you see in your head when you picture the Northeastern United States. Ms. Leom pulled down her big map. She demonstrated "thinking aloud" about starting in one area of the map. She chose Maine. Then she drew a rough map of the area.

Our learning includes the capitals. Next, she invited students to share states and capitals that they knew, and the memory tricks they use to remember.

For example, "Heart" (Hartford), Connecticut or "two Ds" for Dover, Delaware. One student said his Grandma's name was Mary, so he imagined Grandma Mary (Maryland) visiting Anapolis.

Student's mind maps were not collected. Sometimes the best learning isn't what is graded along the way. It is the attempts and effort. We'll create a mind map again in the next couple of days. Our goal, students will have a better visual picture of the Northeast section of the United States.

We are building our connections, one visual step at a time. Mind Maps are a learning tool that can help.

BLM Day 9

Today our plan called for rereading "Squanto". We reread a smaller section of the story. We concentrated on using Context Clues and developing Primary and Secondary Information.

First, we moved the students to the carpet.

For Context Clues, we discussed how we use Context Clues when we don't understand a word as we are reading. Then we talked about strategies we could use to help us figure out the word.

Next, Ms. Leom's Flex Reading group review First Hand and Second Hand Information. All students learned more about it. We will be using this skill throughout the school year.

We reread our "Squanto" selection. We use Squanto to help us identify examples for the different features of First and Second Hand Information. Then we reread parts of "Cesar Chavez" and "Marian Wright Edelman". We found examples of First and Second Hand Information in these selections too.

We learn about First and Second Hand Information, because the information is different. First hand information gives the reader a different perspective than just reporting the facts. It can help students evaluate the information you read and is helpful when students are the writers.

We also took some time for our Word Work (Spelling) today. Students read an article, "Birdmen Take to the Skies". They looked for examples of comparative suffixes -er and -est. The BEST part of this learning is when students take the initiative and ask questions.
- "Would the word 'fliers' be an example?" (No, because the -er ending indicates a "person who flies", not comparing)
- "What if the word has a different suffix, like -ing?" (No, because we are studying -er and -est suffixes this week.)
This student lead discussion and learning helps the class understand the differences in the words and the skills we are developing.