April Updates

March and April have been busy months. There was a couple of projects happening in LA and Science. Students also completed their VTCAP testing. Everyone showed up and did their best while taking such a long and exhausting test. We took an extra recess every afternoon and still managed to have at least one core class per day after lunch.   As we head into April break, we wish you all a good week ahead.  Keep reading for some more detailed information about what's happening on Team Wizards.  

A little extra recess

Playing reverse charades

Morning Meeting:  Your students continue to participate in a morning meeting each day when they arrive to school.  This time is so crucial to getting a good start to the day.  Activities range from greetings and shares, to games, to thoughtful discussions, to problem solving and we have lots of laughs together.  This week our focus has been on increasing responsibility with our Chromebooks by reviewing the expectations that Chromebooks belong with a student or on the cart.  We are working on keeping Chromebooks safe.  Ask your student about how they are doing with following the expectations for Chromebooks.  

A morning meeting activity - Students have to draw various things without looking.  
We had lots of laughs and it was impressive how skilled some students were at this

Science: Students have been diligently working on Solar System projects in science to finish our unit. Their topic choices included the solar system, the Sun, and individual planet, or constellations. Their project had to include a model that would support an argument on the importance of their topic. This is an important science skill that they are learning. We are moving into a Social Studies unit on the American Revolution and principles of the United States Government. To go along with this unit from Investigating History, I will be reading excerpts from King George: What Was His Problem? by Steve Sheinkin.

Models done on posters

3D Solar System models

Students performing a skit that teaches about British government 

during colonial times.

Language Arts: Students finished researching and creating one-pagers for Women's history month. They are currently working on a unit that analyzes how a setting, plot, and character interact within a specific historical context. The text being used is Fighting Ground by Avi. This book also helps to provide some background information about the Revolutionary War, which will be used in Social Studies. Ask your students about their guest teacher and some of the demonstrations they were able to see in class.

Math:  Students are well into their work with decimal numbers and place values.  Students began the unit by learning to read, write and compare and order numbers with tenths, hundredths and thousandths.  They are now applying their understanding of the whole number addition and subtraction algorithm to decimal numbers.  After break we will be extending their learning to both multiplication and division.  

Save the Date:  

On Tuesday May 12 we will be taking Team Wizards to the Audubon Center in Huntington Vermont for a day of outdoor learning and team building.  We will be leaving school at 9 and returning around 2.  We will be sending out more details the week before the trip but we wanted this date to be on your calendar for now.