Great class photo in front of our gorgeous State House after a walk around Montpelier looking at bridges.

                               

                   A new puppy came to visit the classroom the other day!  Thanks Kim and Ava.

December 16, 2016

Dear Families,

     It has been very exciting in the classrooms as students are building paper bridges.  It is mind boggling to think that a paper bridge made out of one piece of paper, 24 x 36, could hold 4 dictionaries.  But we had several that did.  The next challenge was to create a bridge using two pieces of the 24 x 36 paper, being mindful to incorporate what was observed during the testing of the first challenge.  It seems triangles were a huge part of successful bridges.  We will be testing our 2^nd challenge paper bridges this afternoon. 

Important Person in History Information Project:  This week, students were assigned a three part project based on a person in history who made a huge impact on the world.  Students will be writing an information piece on that person.  This will be done in class.  We will be talking about how to use information text features, write a powerful introduction, and a satisfying conclusion, but the most important skill for students to work on is putting information into their own words.  Students will be working on reading information text about the person, summarizing, and making sure they are not plagiarizing.  The second component is to create a poster board presentation of the person.  I will provide the poster board.  This presentation will accompany them as they dress up as their person, the third component, and “become” the person.  They will be knowledgeable about the person’s life and be able to explain what contribution or impact they had on the world, in addition to talking about the person’s life.  We will have an evening of sharing on Wednesday, February 22^nd, 2017.   This will also be a Celebration of Learning for the entire school.  More details on that later, but please save the date.  Students were given a scoring rubric for this project.  A copy of the rubric was emailed to you all today.  

The sun is out right now, the shadows are long, but the shortest day of the year is just around the corner.  After that, the days begin to get longer. 

Stay warm,  Ellen 

Classroom Updates

COMING SOON!  Next week students will be assigned an independent book project.  It is called the 12 of 18.  All students were to complete reading a book by the second week of October to use for this independent book project.  More coming next week! Stay tuned!

Everyone is working very hard on the island project.  Very impressive!  The most important bit of advice is for students to follow the rubric.  I have extra copies of the assignment and rubric, if needed. Most students have completed defining the 29 terms, which are due October 11th,  and are now designing their islands. The project is due October 21st. The creative juices are flowing.

In writing, students took a look at their narrative pre-assessment score so they could see where to specifically improve their writing.  This week we focused on punctuating dialogue and adding interesting language.  A couple of areas that are challenging for students in the use of transition phrases to show the passage of time and elaboration.  Students are learning how to stretch out a small moment.

In grade 6 math, we are working on area and perimeter of rectangles and of triangles. I am looking forward to seeing the designs for the Mr. Trottle's dog fence.  We are also continuing our work on factors, multiples, multiplication and division.

If you have questions about grade 5 math, please contact your child's teacher or visit that teacher's blog.  

We finished our wonderful read aloud, Harris and Me.  The last chapter is always hard for me to read aloud, as I can feel the tears coming. An incredible book about a young boy, who finally learned what it means to have a place to call "home".

Sunrise/Sunset

Each Wednesday we track the time of the sunrise and the sunset in East Montpelier.  As you can see from the photos, the yellow, or daylight, is decreasing and the black, the darkness, is increasing.  We began tracking the sunrise/sunset times on September 7th.  Since then, we have lost 1 hour and 27 minutes of daylight.  Yikes!

Wondrous Words

Students looked the books they were reading to find new and interesting words.  We gave them a value.  Were the words worth 25 cents, 50 cents or $1.00?  We discussed how important it is to use interesting language in your writing to keep the reader reading.  After all, words are free.  No one owns them, so we can use them!

Personal Narrative Writing

 Students have been working diligently and looking critically at their narrative pre-assessment.  We have discussed how adjectives make your writing more interesting and transition phrases move your story along.  We also learned about inference.  We had a great time reading a small beginning of a story, thinking about what we could "infer" from the writing and then creating our own ending to the story.  Congratulations to those students who shared their work out loud.  It is a brave person who reads their writing out loud.  It is a risk, but we can't grow unless we take risks.

Number the Stars

What is the sign of a really good book?  It is when you don't want to put it down.  That was the case this week when students read chapters 11 through 14 in Number the Stars.  Lois Lowry grabs the reader and keeps you reading.  The book shows us a wonderful example of a young girl, an ordinary person, being brave not only to save her best friend's life, but the lives of several other people she doesn't even know.  The question for all of us is, would we rise to the occasion and be brave if the situation arose?

Island Project

Wednesday September 28th
Students were assigned a Design Your Own Island Project today.  The assignment has two components. First, students must define define 29 geography terms related to landforms.  Students may use an online dictionary or a  book dictionary.  Students should also do their best to rewrite the definitions in their own words. This is due on or before Tuesday, October 11th.  Once students finish the definitions, they will be able to start creating/designing their island and incorporate the landforms.  I showed students island projects that were created by previous students in order for them to get an idea of how to proceed.  There was much enthusiasm for the assignment!  Students were given a rubric for this assignment.  Ask your child about their idea for their island.  We will have some time in school for this assignment but students should also be working on it at home.

September 23, 2016

Dear Families,   
The All School Hike has been postponed until next Friday, weather permitting.  Students were given their hike assignment this week.  If you signed up to chaperone but cannot make the new date, please email Mike Sherwin, msherwin@u32.org.  Also, if you can now chaperone on September 30th, please email Mike to let him know.  We ask that on the hike, or any field trip, that you only take photos of your own child(ren).  Thanks so much.
Students have been taking the DRA2 Developmental Reading Assessment this week.  Congratulations to all the kids for doing their best on this lengthy test.  There was quite a bit of writing on their part!  Next week students will take the computerized math assessment called  STAR360.  All students in grades 5 and 6 will take the test during their math class on Tuesday.  
Students looked at their narrative pre-assessment writing piece to see how they could improve it.  The first order of business was to be sure everything was spelled correctly and that proper punctuation was used.  We are now looking at how to elaborate some parts of the story and how to use adjectives to make their writing more interesting and to keep the reader reading.  
In a few weeks, students will begin work on an independent book project.  We have talked in class about how everyone needs to have read a book by the first or second week in October.  Many students have already read more than one book.  Please ask your child what they are reading and if they have finished reading a book since the start of school.
In social studies, we looked at a map of Europe to see how many countries kids could locate.  Students will have a quiz on this soon.  I will have a list of countries students must locate and many blank maps.  When students feel they are ready, they can take the test, and they can take it as many times as they need to.  It is important that students understand where countries in Europe are located, especially once we begin our study of ancient civilizations.  
The cooler weather has arrived.  We are keeping track of the sunrise and the sunset on a weekly chart.  Over the past 2 weeks we have lost 42 minutes of daylight.  Yikes!  We were all surprised.  
Have a great weekend.  All the best, Ellen

Louisiana Schools Need Our Help! Arlyn has asked that we include the following message in our blogs about a school in Louisiana that needs our help. EMES is a collection site for books to be sent to St. Amant School in Louisiana. We are looking for NEW or LIKE-NEW Books. This effort is being organized by Bear Pond Books. Families who wish to purchase books, can get a discount if they use the Bear Pond online ordering system. For details see www.bearpondbooks.com. The 4th grade teacher has requested the following books in particular: • Scientific method • Scientific inquiry •Stem activities •Forms of energy •volume weight and mass •Plants •animals •Circulatory and respiratory body function •habitat •rocks •landforms • weather •phases of the moon •solar and lunar eclipse •food web “Our rooms are bare- not even everyone has a white/chalk board. “We’re having to bring in items from home to improvise an environmentas normal as possible. Students don’t have any reading materials for when they finish their work or when they come into class. We also do not have a library at this location, so reading books is considered a luxury as of now.” ~Lindsey Kelley, 4th grade teacher at St. Amant Primary School in St. Amant, Louisiana

Louisiana Schools Need Our Help!

Arlyn has asked that we include the following message in our blogs about a school in Louisiana that needs our help.

EMES is a collection site for books to be sent to St. Amant School in Louisiana.

We are looking for NEW or LIKE-NEW Books. This effort is being organized by Bear Pond Books.  Families who wish to purchase books, can get a discount if they use the Bear Pond online ordering system.  For details see www.bearpondbooks.com. 

The 4th grade teacher has requested the following books in particular:

• Scientific method 

• Scientific inquiry

•Stem activities 

•Forms of energy 

•volume weight and mass

 •Plants 

•animals

•Circulatory  and respiratory body function 

•habitat

•rocks 

•landforms

• weather 

•phases of the moon 

•solar and lunar eclipse 

•food web

“Our rooms are bare- not even everyone has a white/chalk board.

 “We’re having to bring in items from home to improvise an environmentas normal as possible. Students don’t have any reading materials for when they finish their work or when they come into class. We also do not have a library at this location, so reading books is considered a luxury as of now.”   ~Lindsey Kelley, 4th grade teacher at St. Amant Primary School in St. Amant, Louisiana

A great day at Wrightsville!

September 2, 2016

Dear Families,

We have had a great start to the new school year.  All of your children are wonderful. Everyone seems to be putting their best foot forward.  Enclosed in the Friday Folder, that went home with your child today, is important information for you about the following:

1.     Our classroom is a peanut and tree nut free classroom.  Bringing treats in for birthdays or other celebrations is fine, but please remember to check the ingredients and to be sure the food is processed in a nut tree environment.  Thanks!

2.     Grade 5/6 Wrightsville Dam Team Building Day Field Trip Permission Form.  Please return this by Tuesday September 6^th. 

3.     All School Hike Sign-Up and Permission Form.  Please return by Friday September 9^th.  Enclosed in that form is information for you if you are interested in chaperoning. 

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PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT:  I hope to see all of you on Parent information night, Tuesday September 6^th from 6PM to 7:30. There will be an information session in our classroom from 6:00-6:25 and another from 6:30 – 6:50.  Both of these sessions will be the same.  I will be speaking about the 5^th and 6^th grade academic program and expectations for students.  This evening is not the usual open house.  It is directed towards parents to inform you of what is going on in your child’s classroom.

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Please remember to return the information packet and the classroom

 blog permission form that was sent home on Monday as soon as possible.  Thanks so much.

             We are beginning our classroom read, Number the Stars, written by Lois Lowry.  This wonderful book takes place during World War II.  Students will be assigned chapters to read and questions to answer related to the text.  Students will be expected to be prepared to discuss what they have read.  We are also reading Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen, as a class read aloud. 

            With the start of the new school year, we have been talking about beginnings in class.  Students were assigned a Quote Response, due Thursday September 8^th , that is related to “beginnings”.  The assignment and the scoring rubric is glued into their writing journal.  Students may neatly hand write their response or type it on the computer.  Ask your child about the quote response! 

In 6^th grade math, students worked on a multiplication and division timed test, as well as a math skills review assessment. 6^th graders also have a POW, or Problem of the Week, called the Railroad Problem, which is due on Tuesday September 6^th.  This assignment requires students to write step by step directions to show how they solved the problem.  Ask your student if they solved the problem!  

5^th graders were also assigned the Railroad Problem and a POW (Problem of the Week) called All that Glitters.  This is due Monday September 12^th. 

In geography, we are learning where the 50 states in the United States are located.  I am impressed with how quickly students were able to learn where the states are located. We will then move to onto Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. This will prepare students for our Ancient Civilizations unit. 

There are always many things to get the year off on the right foot.  We are talking about safe, responsible and respectful behavior and reviewing PBIS behavior expectations for the classroom and the entire school (cafeteria, hallways, playground and the bus). Thank you for supporting your child’s effort to be safe, respectful and responsible.  

Don’t forget that Picture Day is Tuesday September 6^th!

Have a great long weekend.  See you Tuesday evening at the Parent Information Night. 

Ellen Knoedler

Welcome Back!
Welcome to all the 5th and 6th graders and their families to Mrs. Knoedler's classroom! I look forward to a great year of learning and fun.  And remember, you can read anywhere.    

Incredible Graphic Novels

Marvelous! Stupendous! Wonderful!  

These are just a few words 

to describe to Ancient Rome graphic Novels.

More photos to come!