A Blizzard of Work

 Today is the first day that I have been able to sit and write this blog.  Many of you know that my mom is recovering from a broken hip.  Surgery went well, rehab was ok and now I have had to take a leave of absence to be home with her and care for her.  I did not want the week to go by without me reaching out with the previous week's happenings.

The children are doing a nice job with their assignments and projects.

There are many projects going on.  The first is for International Night.  We are studying and learning about the Dominican Republic.  The children are in groups and working on posters, flags, travel brouchures and some are making dioramas.  There is a lot going on and lots of learning is taking place. Everything should be ready for the night of February 29th where parents and family can visit the classrooms.

I also introduced the Live Wax Museum project which will be on March 21st for our 4th graders to perform to the other classes and teachers who come to visit throughout that day.  This project is mainly done at home, but some parts will be worked on in school.  

Amplify Science:

We are continuing the unit on Vision and Light.  The children are learning about the enviornments that certain animals live in and why their vision is so important to survive in those habitats.

Reveal Math:

We are finishing up with multiplication and will be moving onto division next week.  The children enjoy being "the teacher" as they come up and show what they know.  

100th Day:

February 2nd will be the 100th day of school.  We are hosting a food drive to help with the food pantry.  We are asking for donations of food and holding a contest.  We want to see which classroom(s) can collect 100 items.  It will be greatly appreciated if you can send in anything for our food pantry.

The children can also dress as a 100 year old or just wear a shirt with 100 items on it.  Be as creative as you would like. Check out the SOS Class Dojo for messages about it.

Our January Winter Wonderland

 We are back into the full swing of things in Room 232.  The children are doing a lot of work.  One thing that we are all working on is preparing for International Night (February 29,2024).  We are researching and leaning all about the Dominican Republic.  We have 5 groups working on various topics and projects.  It is great to watch them collaborate and decide on what needs to get done.

They are creating slides, cook books, posters and some are going to be working on a diorama for their group.  We will work on travel brochures and creating a door to welcome everyone to the Dominican Republic.

Wonders:

We continue to work in our Reading Writing Companion book to read stories, learn our vocabulary for our Anchor Text and summarize, discuss point of view, and work on realistic fiction for this particular unit.  We start off by going over our essential question and try to answer it as we complete our stories. 

The children work collaboratively at times, while independantly at other times.  It is wonderful to hear all the discussion and accountable talk as I walk around and check in on what they are doing.  Miss Holly and Mrs. Sanchez are a great asset to the room as they also work with small groups.  It is a team effort on everyone's part.  

On Friday we were able to attend the spelling bee for the 4th grade competitors.  I could feel and see the excitement in everyone's eyes.  The buzz was heard in the classroom before heading down to the cafetaria.  They all did a fantastic job.  Representing Stephen Olney School is a student in Ms. Silviera's class with Parker coming in as the runner up.

New Year:

This week during morning meetings  we have been discussing making new goals for the New Year.  Many came up with some fantastic ones for what they want to accomplish in school.  We wrote about our Winter break, chose one word for the year and filled out little posters for 2024.  

We continue to receive post cards from various states and the children enjoy reading them and listening to what other states are either famous for or what they state is like.

I have been falling behind with posting our Students of the Week and so here are the latest ones: Congratulations to all of them.  They also move on to becoming the VIP of the following week.

Health Update:

Many of you know that my mom broke her hip days before Christmas.  Needless to say,  our family did not get to celebrate together as she was in the hospital for 10 days and now is in rehab getting physical and occupational therapy.  She is doing nicely and progressing along.  With that being said, she has her follow up appointment to see her orthopedic doctor.  We are crossing our fingers and toes, that he will release her from the nursing facility that she is at and send her home soon.  Thank you all for your concerns and checking up on her.  It means a lot and I appreciate all the emails I have received in the past few weeks.  

Have a fantastic week ahead.  Lots of things are happening at SOS so make sure you check out the newsletters that Mr. Pacitto sends out and check the SOS class dojo.

New Year- 2024 Here We Go!

 

Welcome to 2024- As you may or may not have known, my mom broke her hip before Christmas and, needless to say, our holidays did not go as planned.  I also had a sinus infection and bronchitis.  When it rains it pours.  Now, here we are with our first week of January completed and the children are back in the routine of things.

The students wrote their New Year goals when we returned on Tuesday.  Many were academic goals, while some were personal or at home goals.  Whatever the goal, I know that they will be successful in achieving it.

In Science, we have begun the unit Vision and Light and are learning about the Tokay Gecko and how it uses its sense of sight to live in the enviornment.  

The children work together in their groups to figure out answers and plan out their writing.

In Math we are learning about the Distributive Property of Multiplication and are learning different strategies in multiplying.  We are also preparing for the upcoming RICAS testing.  

On Tuesday of last week, we went on our very first field trip of the school year.  We were able to see the Providence College Women Basketball team in action against DePaul.  It was a blast.  The children were very attentive and excited during the entire game.  

We are in the process of preparing for International Night, so the children are in groups and researching all about the Dominican Republic.  They are researching various topics, taking notes and creating slides, posters or a diorama for their group.  We will also be creating travel brochures.

In Wonders we are continuing with Realistic Fiction and they are writing their own story.  We read Delivering Justice and are learning about how segregation was part of the day to day for so many people.  We are also summarizing, looking at point of view and working with Linking Verbs.  So much learning is taking place and the children have gotten right back into the routine of things.  

The following pictures are from the week before we broke for the Holiday Break.  There was an in person Student of the Month Assembly.  Some students received awards for Attendance and for their scores on last year's Ricas testing.  

I hope that your New Year is off to a great start.