Room 27 News

LEARN LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

Week of 10/9

  We were introduced to Wikispaces and Animoto.  Wikispaces is a place for us to create, collaborate, and share online.  Animoto is a video making website.   Ask your child to share these online tools with you.  In writing we continued work on the use of transitions,  a lead  and an ending for our writing.  We wrote about our field trip to Skinner State Park.   In reading we continued reading groups and realistic fiction.  We compared two reading selections about helping others.   Also in reading, we have Scholastic News Magazine, online and paper copy, which has interesting stories and current events that motivate students to read.  In math we finished with addition and subtraction and finished with the meaning of multiplication.  We completed a review of September math with a problem solving  with partners and in the end the students put together puzzle pieces and solve the problem:  What year was the Statue of Liberty dedicated to the US from France.  A fun way to end the unit and review what we have learned.    In social studies we continued  our study of Mexico using Google classroom.  In science will will start our study of landforms next week.

Your child should read for at least 20 minutes nightly and sign the reading log.

READING TIP OF THE WEEK:

Encourage your older siblings to read to younger siblings...Older siblings will practice reading out loud and younger siblings will enjoy being read to . BEST of all, they get to enjoy spending time together!!

This week we went on our field trip to Skinner State Park in Hadley.  We hiked, played a game, discussed weathering and erosion from science.  Also Ms. Traub, the Regional Environmental Education Coordinator from Skinner State Park, taught a science lesson about the formation of the area along with types of rocks and erosion.  In writing we worked on the use of transitions and a lead for our writing.    In reading we started reading groups and realistic fiction.   In math we finished with addition and subtraction and started with the meaning of multiplication.   We will have the September Assessment on Friday, October 9.  In social studies we will started our study of Mexico using Google classroom.  We practiced the Mexican hat dance.

Your child should read for at least 20 minutes nightly and sign the reading log.

READING TIP OF THE WEEK:

GIVE PRAISE... the best motivation comes from positive feedback.  Whenever your child finishes a reading or writing assignment, ask about what was read and praise your child's effort.  

Just remember in order to become better at reading you just need to

READ, READ, READ!!!!

Important Dates:

Monday, 10/12, No School, Columbus Day

Tuesday, 10/20 Early Release at 1:15 pm

Friday, 10/30 Early Dismissal at 11:00 am

Room 27 News

LEARN LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

Week of 9/25

  This week we used Google classroom   It allows us to collaborate, discuss and show our work as well as learn technology skills.   Also I am able to provide feedback to student assignments.  We will continue to use Google classroom this year.   In writing we worked on prewriting activities make a list and use a graphic organizer and how to write a thesis statement (what our story is about).  In reading we continued our routines of independent reading, read a play together to practice fluency and read a realistic story to practice monitoring our thinking while reading.   In math we started using rounding to estimate sums and differences along with adding and subtracting whole numbers.  In science we continued our study of erosion and weathering and how they affect the surface of the  Earth.  Next week in social studies we will start our study of Mexico and Canada.    Please take the time to check out our website and click on Book Recommendations where we have posted some of our recommendations for books.  

Your child should read for at least 20 minutes nightly and sign the reading log.

Skinner State Park Field Trip:  Friday, October 2

Student needs for field trip:  water, backpack, lunch if bringing from home, sneakers, camera (not necessary but can bring one), dress for the weather (sweatshirt, pants, shorts, etc)

READING TIP OF THE WEEK:

Kids are more likely to read about what they find really interesting.  Don’t worry if it’s a newspaper, magazine, cookbook or an illustrated novel. Just remember in order to become better at reading you just need to READ, READ, READ!!!!

                Please visit our class website at wsps.org

or

https://sites.google.com/a/wsps.org/mr-canata/home

Important Dates:

Friday 10/2 Field Trip, Skinner State Park

Monday, 10/12, No School, Columbus Day

Room 27 News

LEARN LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

Week of 9/18

This year the school would like to implement a school wide working (healthy) snack for grades 1-5.  Students would need to provide their own healthy snack from home.  We will start snack next week.  In math we continued place value with using a number line to round numbers.  Each student has an account for our online math book  (www.pearsonsuccess.net)  Visit the online math book site and have your child show you about the site and his/her progress.  On September 17th it was Constitution Day.  We learned about the Constitution and its importance.  Also we signed a class Constitution.  Your child can share with you what we learned in his/her Google drive.  In science we will started our study of erosion and weathering and how they affect the surface of the  Earth.   Every student has an account for our online science book at www.discoveryeducation.com.  Have your child show you the site.   Don’t forget to ask your child to share his/her work in Google Please take the time to read with your child.  Your child should read for at least 20 minutes nightly.

READING TIP OF THE WEEK:

Ask your child what he/she is reading.  Ask what it is about and what is enjoyable about the book.  Ask your child to describe it to you.

                Please visit our class website at wsps.org

or

https://sites.google.com/a/wsps.org/mr-canata/home

Important Dates:

Monday, 9/21 West Springfield Day at the Big E (after school)

Friday 10/2 Field Trip, Skinner State Park

Monday, 10/12, No School, Columbus Day

Schedule of Specials:

Tuesday- Physical Education (PE)   Wednesday- **Arts Block  Thursday - Computer   Friday (PE)

Room 27 News

LEARN LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY

Week of 9/11

We started the year with the daily class routine and using our agenda for organization.  The agenda should be signed by a parent/guardian every night.  In addition the front inside page of the agenda needs to be filled out and signed by parent/guardian indicating the student handbook was read.  This year the school would like to implement a school wide working (healthy) snack for grades 1-5.  Students would need to provide their own healthy snack from home.  We have netbooks in our class and each student has a Google account.  We use the the computers in all subject areas.  Ask your child to share his/her work in Google.  In math we started place value with comparing and ordering numbers.  Each student has an account for our online math book  (www.pearsonsuccess.net)  Visit the online math book site and have your child show you about the site and his/her progress.  In English Language Arts, we discussed just right books and monitoring our thinking while we read using stick on notes.   Also we worked on reading and responding to questions using evidence from the story.   In social studies we started map skills with latitude and longitude.  In science we will start our study of erosion and weathering and how the earth is constantly changing next week.   Homework will be given Monday-Thursday.  Please take the time to read with your child.  Your child should read for at least 20 minutes nightly.

Important Dates:

Open House at Coburn School, Thursday, September 17, 2015

5:30 pm -7:00 pm

Field Trip, Skinner State Park, Friday, October 2, 2015

Early Release:  Dismissal at 1:15 pm, Monday, October 14, 2015

Schedule of Specials:

Tuesday- Physical Education (PE)   Wednesday- **Arts Block  Thursday - Computer   Friday (PE)

Contact information:  jcanata@wsps.org or 413-263-3318

We performed our play at the end of the year.  See photos below.

To go along with our study of immigration, we completed a study of Ellis Island.  Mr.  Noonan transformed the classroom into Ellis Island.  Students needed to come prepared with a passport from their country, a bag of items from their country, be able to answer questions about why they came to America, and what they hoped to find in the new country.  In addition students were asked questions and had to be inspected such as an eye examine along with their features measured.  Students experienced part of what it was like to come through Ellis Island to America.  Some students received a passport into America while others were deported.  As a follow up, students were asked questions, particularly about their experience of the day.  See pictures below.
   

      Eye examine

  Questioning

         

      Passport check
                                                                      

     Passed! Welcome to America                                        

                 

        The deported