Congratulations to our 100% Homework Club!Here is a look at what's happening in room 22: It's hard to believe that we are now into our last marking period of the school year We celebrated our 100% Homework Club last week. Now that it is our last marking period I do not require a teacher or parent signatures in the agendas. The goal is to create independence with copying down homework assignments as we prepare for 5th grade. I still encourage parents to check agendas for important information. It is your choice whether to sign it or not. Report cards were sent home on Wednesday. If you have any questions or concerns about your child's progress, please don't hesitate to reach out. Please remember to periodically check PowerSchool for your child's test scores and attendance. The class is really enjoying our study of the American Revolution. This is a project based unit where we are studying the "Domino effect" of the events leading to the war. We completed a fun activity on unfair taxes with Smarties. Students were asked to pay their tax (one Smartie) for a variety of reasons. The helped the students to better understand how the colonists felt when they were unfairly taxed by King George. In math we are taking a break from fractions and moving on to Topic 11: Line Plots. This is a very short topic of only 4 lessons. We will be taking a short quiz early next week. After April vacation we will begin our review in preparation for the NYS Math test which will be given over two days on May 1st and 2nd. If you have any concerns or questions about NYS testing, please let me know.
We really enjoyed our trip to the NYS Capitol, museum, and of course McDonald's last Friday. We started in the museum with talking about early hunter and gatherers and how they arrived during the Ice Age. We then explored all of the wonderful Native American exhibits at the museum. We learned more about their farming, housing, and way of life. We also had a chance to learn about how people immigrated through Ellis Island from other countries. There is so much to see, I only wish we had more time. It was then time for a quick lunch break at McDonald's and then we were off to the Capitol. The students enjoyed seeing the senate chamber, assembly chamber, million dollar staircase, carvings, and more. It was a quiet day at the Capitol because they were not in session but one of the lawyers who works there stopped to tell us a ghost story about a man named Sam. Sam was the night watchman who died in the fire in 1911. They say he haunts the Capitol building to this day and many claimed to have seen him. They offer a haunting tour in October for anyone interested in hearing more about these sightings. Overall the kids loved the field trip even with all of the walking we had to do! Upcoming Important Dates: 3/16: Movie Night at Genet 6:30 3/23: 1/2 Day of School - Staff Development 3/30 - 4/6: Spring Recess 4/11-4/12: ELA State Assessment 4/19: Science Fair Have a wonderful weekend. Stay warm. Spring will be here soon! - Mrs. Kusche
0 Comments
It's hard to believe that January is almost over. We are officially halfway through the school year. Time certainly does fly. Here is a look at what we've been up to: In social studies we have been studying life in New Netherland and New Amsterdam. These were the first European settlements in New York. We've been learning about the colonial way of life and talking about slavery. The children are researching roles of men and women as part of their center work this week. We are also reading the book "Go Free or Die", a story about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. In in attempt to combine S.S. and STEM, we decided to make butter last Friday. The kids had a lot of fun shaking the heavy cream. It took only 20 minutes of shaking (and dancing) to make the butter. I even created a fun "Shake it up" song list. The butter was delicious! Take a look at some of the photos below. We have been working hard at fractions in math. Topic 8 math tests have been recorded and sent home. Please review these concepts with your child at home. Also, remember that if your child receives a grade lower than 80% it needs to be signed and returned to school. This week we continue with our study of fractions. We are working on adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators. If you would like some extra review or practice, your child can access the Pearson Realize website for extra help. Our next math test will be given the week before February break. We certainly have been very busy in ELA. In writing we have been working on making inferences and responding to texts using our RADD strategy. The kids have done an amazing job of using what they have learned in class. We have read a variety of genres while practicing this strategy. In writing students have been working on a variety of pieces. The first is a snowflake point of view writing. Students are writing creative stories about being a snowflake, falling from the sky and landing anywhere in the world. These final drafts are being published on our classroom Chromebooks. The other writing is an informational piece about the pyramids of Giza. We are working on using graphic organizers and using checklists and rubrics to keep our writing organized. Look for these to come home next week. Upcoming Dates: Thursday, 2/1 - Choral Festival at CHS Friday, 2/2 - Sports Day : Wear your favorite sports jersey to school Tuesday, 2/6 - Band Festival at CHS 2/19-2/23 : Winter Recess 3/7: End of 2nd Marking Period for K-5 Reminders: - Students need proper outdoor gear for recess each day. The field out back is VERY muddy, so even though there may not be snow, boots are strongly recommended. - Please remember to sign your child's agenda each night. This will no longer be a requirement during our last marking period. Have a wonderful week! Please reach out if you have any questions!
- Mrs. Kusche Happy New Year! It was a strange first week back with a shortened week, early dismissal, and a two hour delay. However, we did our best to get back into our normal routine. Here is a look at what we did this week: Math: This week we began topic 7: factors and multiples. It was a real test of our multiplication fact knowledge. Please keep working on basic multiplication and division facts with your child if they are weak in this area. These skills are embedded in everything we teach this year. We had a chance to work on our Chromebook this week to practice some of these skills online An assessment will be given next Wednesday (1/10) on these concepts. ELA: This week in small group, we continued working on cause and effect skills by reading stories about King Tut and following recipes. We are also practicing our RADD (restate, answer, detail, detail) strategy with short written responses. The students are really improving. In writing, we wrote some resolutions for 2018. They really thought hard about what they would like to improve upon and came up with some pretty impressive projects. Look for these in our hallway if you're visiting! Social Studies: We started a new topic in social studies this week. We discussed the first European explorers that reached North America and New York. We had a lot of fun learning interesting facts about each explorer and creating passports for each one. Next week we will begin learning about the first Dutch settlement in Albany. Reminders: With a new year comes a few friendly reminders. Please be sure that your child has everything they need to be their best each day. These things include a healthy snack, snow pants and boots, and missing school supplies. We took an inventory on supplies that some students were missing and a checklist was attached to your child's agenda if they are in need of new supplies. Thank you for your support! Please remember that the children go outside each day that the temperatures are above 20 degrees. In closing, I would like to thank you all for your understanding about canceling our holiday hot cocoa and cookie party. I understand many of you did a lot of prep-work and organizing to help make this party a success. Your efforts do not go unnoticed. However, the teachers felt as though a party after vacation would prevent us from getting back to a normal routine after our long break. Your hot cocoa money that was sent in will be saved and used for our Valentine's Day party. Also, I am overwhelmed and grateful for all of the very generous and thoughtful cards, notes, and gifts this holiday season. Your unexpected generosity is so very much appreciated. I hope you all stay warm this weekend. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out. - Mrs. Kusche The kids have been loving our electricity unit. Students have really enjoyed building circuits and learning about conductors and insulators. This will be a very important part of our NYS Science test that the kids will be taking at the end of the school year. Please check out the photos below! A brief quiz will be given next week on electricity.
We have many fun events coming up. First, is our Morning of Kindness which goes along with our Random Acts of Kindness project. Students have been working hard all week preparing cards for bus drivers, inspirational signs for students, carnations messages for staff, and writing nice hand-written messages for students. Tuesday morning should be fun for all! We will also be spending the morning on 12/20 to make traditional colonial holiday crafts. Students will be rotating throughout the 4th grade rooms and completing a variety of crafts. Our Kindergarten holiday shop is always a lot of fun. This year we will set up a "shop" in our fourth grade hallway for Kindergartners to shop for their parents. The students will then help the little kids wrap and label their gift. We charge $.25 a gift and all proceeds are given to the Mohawk-Hudson Humane Society. Festive attire is encouraged! This week we finished reading the book "The Witches". The class really enjoyed this book by Roald Dahl. We plan to watch the movie next week and do a comparison between that and the book. It's one of my favorite reads! The kids loved it, too. Many chose it as their favorite book we've read so far this year. Division is going well. The class is really getting the hang of our DMSCB method for long division. Many of the students felt a little unsure of themselves as first. I tell them that practice makes perfect and each day their confidence grows a little more! We will be taking a quiz on Tuesday. Please remember to keep working on those math facts every night. In writing we continue to work on persuasive essays. This week during center work the kids had to convince me NOT to give them homework next week. We will see just how persuasive they are! In ELA, we continue to work on cause and effect. The kids are doing a great job! Please make note of all of the important events that are approaching. Important Upcoming Events: 12/12 : Morning of Kindness (Please arrive at 8:40 wearing your Kindness Squad shirt) Division Quiz 12/14: Electricity Quiz 12/15: Student Council Meeting 8:10 12/18: Kindergarten Holiday Shop 2:00 Holiday Concert grades 4 & 5 @ Green Meadow 7:00 Holiday Concert grades 4 & 5 @ Genet 12/19: Field Trip to Genet "Miss Nelson is Coming" Theater Presentation 12/20: Colonial Holiday Crafts 9:30 12/22: Cookies and Hot Cocoa Party 12:45 I hope you have a wonderful weekend. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out!
- Mrs. Kusche We have some catching up to do. The kids in room 22 have been very busy. Last week our students did a wonderful job presenting our flag project to the school at our Veterans Day assembly. Each student created a paper link column. Ian did a wonderful job with reading facts about our Our class was even featured on the district website! Click here to check it out! We finished reading "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" and decided to make a cereal which represents the book. The collaborative groups did a wonderful job summarizing the important parts of the book. Each group also gave a presentation and performed commercials! Check out our projects below. We are finishing up our unit on Native Americans. The kids are very excited about Monday's longhouse project. Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered to come in and help. (Please check your child's folder with special instructions about the morning.) This week we made wampum belts from pasta, we also acted out the Iroquois Confederacy, and took our end of unit quiz. The kids and I are going to be sad to see this unit come to an end. It's hard to believe we have reached the end of our first marking period already. The year is truly flying by. Here is a look at the kids who have handed in 100% of their homework ON TIME for the first few months of school. We celebrated with an ice cream party. Congratulations to our 100% Homework ClubI want to thank you for being such an active part of your child's education. I really enjoyed meeting with you during our first day of conferences. Our next parent conference day will be on 11/29 where I will have the chance to meet with the rest of you! Your involvement is so important in helping your child to succeed. If for any reason you are unable to attend your upcoming conference, please contact me as soon as possible. Remember next week is a short week. There will be no spelling test. I wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for! Happy Friday! Here is a look at what we did this week in room 22: Tuesday was a lot of fun. We celebrated Halloween with a delicious pancake breakfast. Thank you to all who helped to make this breakfast a success. We enjoyed playing Halloween BINGO and turning the teachers into mummies by wrapping them in toilet paper. We had a beautiful day for our parade this year! Math: We began working on two digit by two digit multiplication. The kids are working very hard. We will be testing on topic 4 at some point the week of the 13th. ELA: This week we finished reading "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane" by Kate DiCamillo. The kids really enjoyed this book. Since we've been working on sequencing skills, we decided to break down Edward's journey and turn different parts of the book into a cereal that represents the book. Look for pictures to be posted on our website next week. The kids are VERY excited about this group project. Writing: Students worked on steps in a process writing this week. Everyone chose their topic and decided how to break down their process into 6 simple steps. Then we added transition words before organizing our writing into five paragraphs. We then began publishing these to Google Docs. We look forward to finishing these next week. Veterans Day is coming up next week. There is no school on Friday, November 10th. On November 9th, Green Meadow will be having our annual Veterans Day assembly starting at 10am. Our class will be doing one of the presentations on stage. Parents are welcome to attend. All students will be participating and are strongly encouraged to dress in patriotic colors. We hope you can join us. Parents conferences are quickly approaching. If for some reason you need to make, cancel or change your conference time, please contact me as soon as possible. Also, please be sure to check PowerSchool for your child's current grades and assignments. Report cards will be coming home on Wednesday, November 15th. I hope you have a wonderful weekend.
- Mrs. Kusche Happy Friday! What a wonderful week we have had in room 22. Here is what were working on: Math: We finished our Topic 3 on multiplication. This week we worked on multiplying numbers using standard algorithms. We practiced this skill during centers with some Halloween-themed dice games. The kids had a blast. I'm very impressed with their knowledge of their math facts. Keep up the good work. Topic 3 math grades will be posted to PowerSchool next week. Please remember to sign and return any test grades lower than 80%. As we move in to Topic 4 we will continue to study multiplication. We will be talking about multiples, partial products, and distributive property when multiplying two-digit numbers by two-digit numbers. Our next quiz is slated for the week before Thanksgiving. ELA: We started reading "The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane". This is a favorite book of mine and the kids really seem to be enjoying it, too. We've been tying in story elements, main idea, and sequencing skills while studying this book. The class has been working in collaborative groups to respond to what they read. Every time we have to stop reading the kids don't want to put the book down! In small reading groups we finished working on main idea. The kids did a wonderful job identifying main idea of both fiction and non-fiction passages and finding details that support the main idea. We will continue to use this skill to help organize our writing. Speaking of writing, the kids wrote some "spooktacular" Halloween stories this week. Check them out in our hallway! Native Americans are what we are studying in our next unit of social studies. This week we had a lot of fun learning about the Ice Age and how Native Americans arrived here from Asia. We learned about their way of life. We had some fun dressing up in some authentic clothing and playing a game of telephone to learn about how stories and traditions for passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. The kids are loving this unit. We have a lot of fun activities planned which will include cooking, building longhouses, and a lot of fun! As you are aware, Halloween is Tuesday. We will be celebrating with a breakfast in the morning at 9:30. Parents are welcome to join us. The parade takes place starting at 2pm. You are welcome to sign your child out after the parade. Since our party will be taking place in the morning, there will be no celebration following the parade. We look forward to a fun day for all. If you have any questions regarding Halloween, please reach out! I hope you have a wonderful weekend with your families. It's hard to believe that November will be here this week. Time flies when you're having fun! I will leave you with some fun photos from our candy corn catapults we constructed during STEM today. - Mrs. Kusche Last week flew by. It must've been due to the short week. In Math, we starting Topic 3: Multiplication. We began by learning how to multiply numbers by 10, 100, and 1,000. We then worked on rounding numbers and multiplying them using that same zero strategy. By teaching them the distribution property, students were able to decompose numbers, multiply each part, and then add the parts together to arrive at the product. They kids did a great job! Remember to keep working on those math facts. Your hard work is paying off! We will continue to reinforce these skills this week with a variety of multiplication card games during centers. In ELA, we continued to work on main idea. In small groups we worked in both fiction and non-fiction. Our focus was on finding the main idea of the entire selection as well as in isolated paragraphs. The class has done well with this. We also continued reading Frindle by Andrew Clements. The class is really enjoying this book. Spelling grades have been posted to PowerSchool. Remember if your child receives a grade less than 80%, I ask that you sign and return the test. In Social Studies, we focused on the geography of New York State. The class worked on a project called "Where in the World is Green Meadow". We worked on understanding the difference between a continent, country, state, city, town, and neighborhood. We also worked on memorizing our address. We had a lot of fun with STEM this week. We wanted to stick with our apple theme and build apple boats. Students were given cut up apple pieces (skin on) and 15 tooth picks. Some of the designs were really unique. We found that the most simple designs worked the best. Check out our slideshow: Last week was fire safety week. Members of the Schodack and East Greenbush Fire Departments spoke to the students about how to be safe in the event of a fire. The kids went home with some treats as well! Apple Race 2017: Our Apple Race took place on Thursday. It was another beautiful day. We had a nice run and enjoyed a delicious apple afterwards. Thank you to those who were able to come out and cheer on our runners! They did a fantastic job. Upcoming Dates:
October 20th - No School October 31st - Halloween Parade @2:00 We will be celebrating with a Halloween breakfast in the morning starting at 9:30 - All are welcome! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! - Mrs. Kusche Thank you to all who participated in this week's Color Run. We had approximately 250 students from Green Meadow participate. As you can see from the before and after picture, we had a whole lot of fun! As many of you are already aware, we had a special visitor this week. Jason Gough from News Channel 13 visited our TV studio and stayed for a bit to give us some tips for being our best on TV. The kids really enjoyed having him visit. Jason Gough also mentioned our school on his live broadcast at 11:00. We tried something new this week. After writing our paragraphs about "Our Favorite Place", we worked on a collaborative Google Slide Show. We were all on our individual Chromebooks, working on our individual slides, and then brought it together as a class presentation. Please check out the slideshow below: docs.google.com/presentation/d/1DEuH65YKnlFM03AAc5JWuTHc4WPheen1IaEyB32BoKg/edit?usp=sharing Please be aware of the following upcoming events: 10/9 - No School - Columbus Day 10/12 - Apple Race - 4th Grade runs at 11:00 I hope you have a wonderful long weekend!
- Mrs. Kusche Happy Friday everyone! We've had a very busy week in room 22. Here is a look at what we did: I would like to say how proud I am of our seven student council candidates. They delivered wonderful speeches to the class on Thursday. Immediately after, students stepped into our voting booths to vote for their top two candidate choices. This was a very difficult decision. Results will be announced by Mr. Flanagan and Mr. Otto at the end of the school day today.
We had our first math test this week with topic 1. The class did very well! Tests were sent home on Thursday. Don't forget to check PowerSchool for the latest grades that have been posted. The kids are starting to get the hang of our new Envisions 2.0 series. Many of the students have reported that they like this program much better than the previous version. We will continue working on Topic 2 (addition and subtraction) next week. Our next quiz will be on Friday, October 6th. In writing, we focused on paragraph writing and peer editing. Next week we will continue to work on these skills and begin writing personal narratives with multiple paragraphs. Students will be tested this morning on our Roles of Living Things unit. We had a lot of fun studying animals, plants, and humans this month. We will continue our dolphin study as the year goes on. Next week, we will begin our first social studies unit. Our focus this year is on New York State. We will begin with taking a look at our state's geography. This will be a three week unit. Our first project is called "Where in the World is Green Meadow" this will help students to understand the difference between a continent, country, state, city. and town. ELA reading groups will begin next week as well. Students will be meeting with me several times each week in a small group as we begin studying our first reading comprehension skill: main idea. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! The month of September has flown by. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me! |