Curriculum Newsletter 12-11-23

 

• Third Grade Math: Third grade math students continue to work on learning and practicing strategies for adding and subtracting efficiently.  Last week, we practiced “distance problems”.  They worked on finding missing addends.  An example of a problem is:  Ms Melone's family went on a trip to a museum.  They set their trip meter at 0.  When they got to the gas station, the trip meter read 38 miles.  They continued driving.  When they got to the museum, the trip meter read 165 miles.  How far did they travel from the gas station to the museum?
  
• Fourth Grade Math:  4th graders continue to work on solving math problems by using the U.S. Algorithm for addition in math. They are working on using it accurately and efficiently. We also will be working with reading, writing and breaking apart by place value  4, 5,and 6 digit numbers. Even though we are in our addition and subtraction unit, please continue to practice multiplication facts nightly.
  
• Reading:  Third and fourth graders are leaning about the RACE model when responding in written form to questions about reading. 

• Writing:  Last week we finished writing our Personal Narrative drafts  We revised our story by adding details by adding  similes and metaphors.  We also  reviewed ways to end a story. This week we will edit our stories to make them correct and publish them by typing them.
• We will be having a writing celebration for families on Tuesday, December 19th in the morning from 8:15-8:45! More info coming soon!!
• Word Study:  We began to learn about suffixes and when to use them.  
• Hour of Code:  Students learned about coding last week through various activities!  They did an hour of coding on Friday and loved it!

Important Updates and News

• Old T-shirts for a project!  Recycle Rhonda will be coming to do a fun recycled t-shirt project with us next week.  If you have any old t-shirts that you are willing to part with, please send them to school with your child.  They will be cut up and made into a bag.  I have extra shirts, if you don’t have one. 
• Report Cards:  Your child should have brought home their report card on Friday.  Please sign and return the envelope, as we use them for each reporting period.  Also, please fill out the survey. HERE is an online version of the survey.  
• Clothing for school:  Please be sure that your child has appropriate clothing and extras in case they get wet.  Also, please be sure that your child has boots AND indoor shoes when they come to school.  When students have only boots, it makes the rugs wet and we sit on the rugs throughout the day.
• Gift Cards Drive:   We are now collecting gift cards to be delivered to UCS families who are in need. HERE is a flier with more information.  
• UCS FOOD DRIVE:  Our food drive is continuing until Dec 15th (this is an extension from Dec 8th). We want to encourage families to donate whatever is easiest for them to donate so we are not asking grade levels to donate specific items. HERE is the flier for the Food Drive.
• DECEMBER LUNCH MENU  HERE is the lunch menu for the month of December! 

Have a great week!

Nuts and Bolts Newsletter December 4, 2023

                Nuts and Bolts             

• A NOTE FROM MRS DANIS

Greetings 4th Grade Families,

As you are aware, Friday was Mrs. Eakes last day with your children for math. I will be replacing her for the remainder of this school year. I am excited to be back at UCS working with my 3-4 team and having the chance to work with your children in math. We will spend the first few weeks getting to know each other as mathematicians as we work through our unit on adding larger numbers using the U.S. Algorithm. 

If you have any questions or concerns at any time please feel free to reach out to me. I am only in the building for the mornings, but will be flexible to meet if needed.  My email address is: patti.danis@mmuusd.org.

I am looking forward to connecting with all of you in the future.

Sincerely,

Patti Danis

• INDOOR AND OUTDOOR SHOES- Please be sure your child has shoes for indoors everyday, in addition to their outdoor shoes/boots. All students have cubbies in which they can store an extra pair of shoes nightly and over weekends.

• OUTDOOR GEAR:  We will continue to go outdoors in the morning and afternoon each day.  The only time we don’t go out is if it is too cold.  Please send your child with appropriate clothing for outdoor play (snowpants, jacket, hat, mittens/gloves, boots).  Please let me or Nurse Tara know if your family needs help supplying these items.  ***Your child should have boots and indoor shoes each day.  It can be uncomfortable to wear boots all day long at school.

• UCS FOOD DRIVE:  Our food drive is continuing until Dec 15th (this is an extension from Dec 8th). We want to encourage families to donate whatever is easiest for them to donate so we are not asking grade levels to donate specific items. HERE is the flier for the Food Drive.

• GIFT CARD DRIVE: We are now collecting gift cards to be delivered to UCS families who are in need. HERE is a flier with more information.  

• HAND WASHING REMINDERS:  Nurse Tara met with the class this week to review handwashing expectations.  Please help your child follow healthy hand washing habits at home!

• DECEMBER LUNCH MENU HERE is the lunch menu for the month of November!  Your child will also bring home a paper copy in their backpacks this week!

• SNOW MOTION DATES: If you are interested in volunteering for Snow Motion, here are the dates that the ¾ classes will be skiing and boarding at Cochran’s this year:  2/1, 2/8, 2/15, and 2/22 from 11:00 - 12:00.

End of November Newsletter 11-20-23

 End Of November Newsletter

This week we did a project related to the Balloons Over Broadway book.  Students in 3-4 planned and made their own balloon. Mr Weber helped us create this fun video that features our balloons.

Enjoy!

Welcome Ms Bloome!  Carly Broome will be joining our class on Mondays and Wednesdays for November and December.  Here is a quick note from Ms Broome: Hello! I go by Ms. Broome! I am a student teacher from Saint Michael's College in Winooski. I will be observing and supporting teachers every week here in Underhill Central School. I am excited to help and learn more from wonderful teachers! 

• Third Grade Math: Third grade math students have been working on learning and practicing new strategies for addition and subtraction.    Students are learning addition and subtraction in very different ways than we learned when in school.  Please look at the examples that I am providing.  Here is an anchor chart for addition and one for subtraction

• We continue to work on learning our multiplication facts.  Students worked on this with a project during Math Through Art this week.  Here are some multiplication games that you can use to practice the facts at home with your child.   You can also find some multiplication practice under the Math Resources tab on the right side of my blog.
• Fourth Grade Math:  Fourth graders have been working on multiplying two digit factors by one digit factors and also multiplying two digit numbers by products of 10 (i.e 18 x 30). Students have also been solving division story problems and interpreting remainders. After break, we will start our addition and subtraction unit where students will develop more efficient strategies to add and subtract large numbers. See the unit letter here.  
• Reading: Students worked hard to read with me over the past two weeks to complete reading assessments.  It has been great to work one on one with each student to learn more about their strengths and areas to grow as a reader.
• Spelling/Word Study: We finished up Unit 1 of spelling. Last week we worked on contractions. We will begin Unit 2 and continue learning about contractions after break.

Turkey Trot Photos

UCS FOOD DRIVE

We will be collecting non-perishable food items until December 8th. We want to encourage families to donate whatever is easiest for them to donate so we are not asking grade levels to donate specific items. HERE is the flier for the Food Drive.

NOVEMBER LUNCH MENU

HERE is the lunch menu for the month of November!  Your child will also bring home a paper copy in their backpacks this week!

Have a great break!

Nuts and Bolts 11-13-2023

 

A NOTE FROM MRS. EAKES:
Mrs. Eakes is one of the 4th grade math teachers and she asked me to share this note with families:
I just wanted to inform everyone that I am moving. My husband is a member of the United States Coast Guard and he has been transferred to Texas. My last day will be December 1, 2023.
Ms. Patti Danis will be taking over my position for the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year. Patti is an amazing teacher who has vast knowledge! Your kiddos are in the best hands!! She is also usually my substitute teacher whenever I am not at school and the kiddos already love her! Ms. Danis will be joining me on December 1st to help with this transition.
I truly appreciate the time I have been able to spend with your kiddo! I have loved watching them grow so far this year and I will miss them!
Please feel free to contact me or Jenn Cote with any questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Kim Eakes


NOVEMBER LUNCH MENU
HERE is the lunch menu for the month of November! Your child will also bring home a paper copy in their backpacks this week!

SNOW MOTION DATES:
If you are interested in volunteering for Snow Motion, here are the dates that the ¾ classes will be skiing and boarding at Cochran’s this year:
2/1, 2/8, 2/15, and 2/22 from 11:00 - 12:00

Curriculum News

Math -

• Third Grade: Third grade math students started a new unit last week. Here is the synopsis of this unit: This unit focuses on understanding and extending knowledge of place value and the number system to 1,000, and adding and subtracting accurately and efficiently. Students use a place value context (the Sticker Station) to represent numbers as hundreds, tens, and ones, and find equivalent ways to use 100s, 10s, and 1s to represent a given number. They construct and locate numbers on a 1,000 Chart. They also develop strategies for adding and subtracting 2-digit and 3-digit numbers with sums and differences to 400. Students encounter a variety of different addition and subtraction problems types.Check out this letter that includes samples of the types of math that we’ll be exploring if you are interested in more details. Click Here.
• Fourth Grade: Fourth graders used FlipGrid to write their own division problems. Students then got the chance to solve their classmates' division problems. Students are now working on using what they know about place value to solve larger multiplication problems.

LITERACY

• Our Reading Workshop has focused on Story Elements such as identifying character traits and how characters change and lessons they learn. We read Dear Ms LaRue and Mole's Hill. Ask your child to tell you how the characters in Dear Mrs LaRue and Mole's Hill changed.  We have also been exploring vocabulary from each story.
• Third and fourth grade students have been reviewing short vowel rules such as when to use tch vs ch,.  We also learned when to use a or an.  Ask your child  what to do if a word ends in v.  
• We finally finished our Spooky Stories. Many students chose to submit them to possibly be published the Spooky Stories writing contest.  We have begun writing personal narratives. Last week we reviewed adding a beginning to help hook a reader into reading our story and adding dialogue.

October 30, 2023 Curriculum News

 

Upcoming Dates:

Other News

• A note from Mrs Cote: October 31st in MMUUSD -  We value opportunities to celebrate learning and community with our students, and as part of our district’s focus on inclusivity and belonging, MMUUSD recognizes that not every family celebrates Halloween, and not every family celebrates holidays in the same way. Out of respect to our students' cultural, economic, social and religious differences, our schools do not celebrate Halloween, and we ask that staff and students leave costumes and candy at home.

• Picture Retake Day:   Picture Retake Day for those who request and those who were absent on the original day is tomorrow, Tuesday, October 31st.

• HOMEWORK? Right now for homework, students should be reading for 20 minutes a day at home.  I am not sending home word study homework at this time.

• NOVEMBER LUNCH MENU HERE is the lunch menu for the month of November!  Your child will also bring home a paper copy in their backpacks this week!

• TOMASI MEADOW TROT-This Sunday!On Sunday, November 5th at 2:00pm, enjoy a run (or walk) in the scenic Tomasi Meadow to support winter ski grooming operations in Underhill. Race course will start on the mowed trail in Tomasi Meadow, continue up and down Casey's hill and complete the loop back through Tomasi Meadow. There will be the option of a kid friendly one lap race or walk (1.4K) or a multiple lap 5K course.All proceeds will go directly toward winter trail maintenance in our town recreation areas. Suggested registration fee is $10 per adult and $5 per child 18 years and younger but donations of any size are accepted!     Registration Link

• Fun Friday: We will have a Fun Friday each month of the school year.  This month, we had Mismatch Day. Be on the lookout for more Fun Friday Themes!

Curriculum Updates

Third Grade: Third grade math students are becoming more comfortable with the concept of multiplication.  They began to learn the basics of division and how it is related to multiplication.  Students worked to write multiplication and division story problems this week.  They are recording their problems on a fun program called FlipGrid where they can share their word problems with each other.  See our videos HERE. We finished Unit 1 and will begin Unit 3 Addition and Subtraction this week.

Fourth Grade: Fourth graders have been using what they know about multiplication to solve division problems with two digit dividends and one digit divisors. They also have been practicing interpreting remainders in the context of story problems. Next week, students will write/ solve their own division problem and share with their classmates using a program called Flip Grid. 

Reading: We are reading the book The One And Only Bob by Katherine Applegate as a class.  It has been fun to talk about character traits and share a story together.  Students have begun meeting in small reading groups with me.

Spelling: We have begun spelling and spelling groups. We learned when to us a/an, how to spell and use there (vs their and they're), and a special way to remember could, would, should (ask your child). Students also reviewed when to use ch vs tch.

Writing:  We decorated our Writer's Notebooks and finished up our Spooky Stories. This week we are beginning writing narratives. 

Nuts and Bolts 10-16-23

Nuts and Bolts 

• Writing Journals:  Next week we will begin decorating our Writing Journals.  Please talk with your child about pictures that will remind them of real life stories and things they know a lot about that they can write about this year. These may be photos and/or pictures from brochures or magazines. These photos will not be returned . Please send in the pictures for your child’s writing notebook by Tuesday, October 24th. We will be decorating our writer’s notebooks with these pictures. Unfortunately, I am unable to print off pictures this year.
• Warm Clothing:  As we know, the weather is changing!  Please support your child in wearing layers and having warm clothing here at school.  I LOVE to bring kids outside and sometimes it is on a whim, but I won’t take the group out for longer chunks of time if students don’t have proper attire.
  
• UCS KIDS NIGHT OUT: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20th 5:30-8:30 (We will be closing registration for this event on Tuesday 10/17 in the morning, so sign up soon!)

Drop your UCS K-4th grader off  on October 25th from 5:30-8:30 PM with Mrs. Bernier, Kat McGory (parent and PHS teacher), and Tiffany Cross (UCS Para) at the UCS Gym and Playground for outdoor play, pizza and STEM activities.  The cost is $25 per student and the proceeds will go towards funding Math Through Art opportunities for third graders at UCS.  Sign up through the Google Form Here.   Questions? Email Mrs. Bernier at abigail.bernier@mmuusd.org for more information.

Last week we made and enjoyed applesauce!

Curriculum Newsletter - October 10, 2023

Writing

Third and fourth graders have been reviewing writing lowercase letters neatly and correctly (top start and using lines for size). 

We also read the book Haiku Hike.

We learned that a Haiku is three line poem.

The first line is 5 syllables

The second line is 7 syllables 

The third line is 5 syllables

We then took a walk and used our senses and came up with words that described what we saw, heard and felt.  Students then wrote their own haikus.  You can view the Haikus at our Open House on Thursday, October 12th.

 

Reading

We continue to work on building reading stamina and routines.  We have been enjoying read alouds as a class to accompany our community building and social curriculum. Students were introduced to their Reading Response Notebooks and are writing about the favorite part of a book they are reading and telling why it is their favorite part.

Math: 

• Third Grade: Third grade math students have continued to practice multiplication strategies and have been working to become fluent in their multiplication facts.  We spent time in the forest classroom making nature arrays with natural materials.  Ask your child about the area model of multiplication!
• Fourth Grade: Students are using arrays and equations to multiply two digit numbers by one digit numbers. This week, students will use what they know about multiplication to solve division story problems.   

Ask your child what the dimensions of this array is

Science

• Students drew what they thought a scientist looks like and what they do.  We discussed that we are all scientists when we question and try to find the answers to our questions to how and why things happen/work. We then practiced making observations and recording our observations like scientists do. We found leaves and then carefully looked at the details of our leaves and drew them in our Science notebook.

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  We also had the most amazing field trip to the Community Sailing Center this week. In addition to sailing, we learned about ecosystems, food chains, and keeping the lake healthy. We are very excited to continue working with the sailing center all year.

Thank you Chaperones! Thank you to all of the chaperones who joined us for the trip to the Sailing Center.  If you weren’t able to sail this time, please consider coming in the Spring to get out on the water!

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• KIDS NIGHT OUT! FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20th 5:30-8:30 Drop your UCS K-4th grader off  on October 25th from 5:30-8:30 PM with Mrs. Bernier, Kat McGory (parent and PHS teacher), and Tiffany Cross (UCS Para) at the UCS Gym and Playground for outdoor play, pizza and STEM activities.  The cost is $25 per student and the proceeds will go towards funding Math Through Art opportunities for third graders at UCS.  Sign up through the Google Form Here.   Questions? Email Mrs. Bernier at abigail.bernier@mmuusd.org for more information.

Have a great week!