The Week Ahead, Sept. 23

Week of September 23

I would like to thank all of you for the time we spent together last week talking about your children. I always find conferences rewarding, and value the time we get to talk together about how your children are doing and next steps to help them continue to grow as students.

In Reader’s Workshop our class has continued to build elements of our workshop. Soon they will begin to meet in groups to read and talk about books. We have also started to read online. This week students will also start to access sites related to reading. This will include book themed sites, as well as author’s sites.

In Writer’s Workshop our class is putting final touches on their first personal narrative. Students will be printing these out and have them ready to share soon. Please feel free to ask them to share with you.

In Math, our class is continuing to understand estimation, and what reasonable estimates are used for. One of the most difficult parts of learning about estimation is understanding what is reasonable. Any conversations you can have about making estimates this week will help strengthen what we have talked about in class. We will start with addition and subtraction after our vacation next week.

Our inquiry unit continues to progress and give students the opportunities to evaluate their skills when working in groups. Last week students identified problems they want to solve. We will work this week to understand the problems, and identify possible solutions, which they would be able to present and implement.

Have a great week!

-Martin Reinsmoen

Dates and Reminders

Monday, 23 September - Day 5

MAP Parent Coffee - 8.15 - 9.15 AM,5th Floor Conference Room

Wednesday, 25 September - Day 7

State of the School -  25 September, 8:30 - 9.30, Secondary School Campus - MPH

Sept. 28 – Oct. 6 No School – Fall Break

The Week Ahead, Sept. 17

4C News - Week of 16^th September

This week is parent-teacher conferences and I’m looking forward to this opportunity to meet with and discuss your child’s school life and learning.  

This conference will give us an opportunity to discuss

• Your child’s transition into a new grade/class/school
• Results of early assessments, areas of strength, and
• Relevant next steps

The fourth floor continues to be a productive environment for learning.  Our inquiry unit continues to progress and give students the opportunities to evaluate their skills when working in groups. With our discussions of roles, and how decisions are made, students will start to identify issues or problems at school and home that could be appropriate to solve in a group.  Students will be expected to apply all that they've learned about group work to come up with solutions, agree and present their best idea to the class, and implement the solution.  More to come on this soon when students have constructed the problem and formed a group.

In Math, our class will begin to explore estimation strategies and what reasonable estimates are used for.  We’ll be grappling with the question:  What makes an estimate reasonable?  Students will be working like true mathematician as they will be grappling with estimation problems, reaching a reasonable answer, communicating their thinking, and revising their thinking.

During Reader’s Workshop, students have acquired the skills to be independent readers.  During independent reading time, students read silently and respond to their reading in written form.  In addition to independent reading, students also have a time for choosing a reading related activity such as partner reading, reading responses, listening to audio books, or working on a reading project.  With these skills secure, another component of the Reader’s Workshop will soon be added.  We will begin to work in guided reading groups.  In guided reading, students work in a small group with the teacher.  Guided reading lessons are designed to meet the individual needs of the reader both in reading fluency and comprehension.

Lastly, students continue to develop their personal narrative. Focusing on details, dialogue, and an effective lead, students should feel like they have worked hard, and this is a very good piece of writing for them. Feel free to ask to see the progress they are making on this, as they can all access it online through Google Drive. 

Dates and Reminders:

18^th September (Wednesday)               Early dismissal (11:00am)

19^th September (Thursday)                    Parent-teacher conferences (No school for students)

Have a great week.

Mr. Reinsmoen

September 9 Newsletter

Dear Parents,

It has already been a full month of school and the progress each student is making is showing. 

Up coming in math we will be transitioning into comparing numbers and making estimations.  Our previous work with place value and larger numbers will come in hand as we work on our skill of making reasonable estimations.  This past week was the first week that Math Mates went home as homework.  Students should be working on these and bringing them back to school early in the week as they get checked daily.  This also allows them to come in with questions before they are due on Friday.  Students should be showing their work so we can see their thinking process. 

For reading workshop, students are still continuing to develop the skill of ‘thinking about their reading’ and expanding into deeper thought than just a retelling of their book.  We have been working on this by having students write about their reading and we have also tried to meet with students to talk about it as well.  It so very important to dive deeper than just a retelling of the story, because being able predict or connect with the book shows more understanding.  Students should continue to read at least 20 minutes each night.  Reading to your child or having your child read aloud, to you or a sibling, helps with their fluency and should be incorporated along with them reading independently.

Students are beginning the process of picking a specific story to write about in writing workshop.  Previous lessons about detail, expression, and dialogue will be focused on as we develop our stories.  We have been including different examples to help students get a clear picture of a well crafted stories.  The reader of the story should get a feeling of actually being in the story through the author’s narration, and we will continue to work on this process.   

We have really dived into our PYP Inquiry unit, How we organize ourselves.  This past week different guest speakers talked with students about different aspects of group work.  Craig Johnson, the superintendent, discussed the decision making process and used the example of building the new school.  Cindy Cleary, the school counselor, talked with students about different roles in groups.  We will use these different discussions to help move forward in our unit.   

NWEA MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) is this week for grade 4.  Testing will take place on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this upcoming week.  The tests are used to collect more information about your child and help inform the teachers of strength and areas of improvement.  There is no need or way to study for these tests, but there are some tips to help your child.  Make sure they are getting plenty of sleep this week, and also make sure your child is having a healthy and nutritious breakfast every morning.  These two tips are probably the most important things you can do to help your child.

Here's to another great week- Matthew Beniak

Dates and Reminders

•  Sept. 9-10 – Picture Day, specific day will be emailed from teacher

•  Sept. 10-12 – Grade 4 MAP testing

•  Sept. 13 - No School for Students - PD Day for all teachers.

•  Sept. 18 - Early Dismissal at 11:00 for ES students - Ganesh Immersion

•  Sept. 19 – No School for Students –  PT Conferences

Sept. 2 The Week Ahead in Grade 4

Dear Parents,

We completed our third week of school already! Daily and weekly routines are becoming better established, our schedule is running smoothly, and the curricula are well underway.

In math this coming week, we will continue our place value work by looking at expanded form and standard form. We will take some time to review the base 10 math system and the relationships between 1s, 10s, 100s, and 1,000s. Placing numbers (up to a million again) in order from low to high will be introduced next. Students are now very familiar with the Maths Mate and that will begin to come home as homework, but with continued classroom support.

In reading workshop, we will continue working with our reader’s notebooks as a way to ‘think about our reading’ by taking notes as we read, and writing reflections on our reading. As mentioned last week, reflections should emphasize sharing the reader’s or character’s thoughts, instead of just re-telling what is happening in the books we read. Each student has an assigned day each week to complete a letter to us about their thinking with their books. Students should continue to read a book of their choice for a minimum of 20 minutes every night.

For our writing workshop, students are writing every day. Most writing sessions end with a sharing of student’s writing work as students read their work aloud. We have been focusing on being detailed and expressive writers and it really shows in student work. We have written a draft of a small moment, or a seed story in class and are starting to review and strengthen this piece of writing in class. Students will continue to be encouraged to add thoughts, feeling, adjectives, and narration to help ‘show’ rather than just ‘tell’ us their ideas.

Our PYP Inquiry unit, How we organize ourselves, began well last week as we explored how our class is organizing itself and through creating class norms. Our guest speakers from the school community will come and talk to the students about decision making, roles, and organization of groups starting this week.

NWEA MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) is beginning this week for some classes, but grade four will not start until 10, 11, and 12 of September. More information about this assessment will follow next week but know that it is a survey of what students know and are learning, and it is not something to study for. Some research has shown that lowering student anxiety is one of the best preparation method for this tool that is designed to helps teachers guide their instruction.

The Art classroom has a blog too. You can find the link to this blog on my blog on the right side. Here it is if you prefer to gotheir directly.

Best Wishes,
Martin Reinsmoen

Dates and Reminders
• Sept. 2 - E3 Activities Begin
• Sept. 10-12 – Grade 4 MAP testing
• Sept. 13 - No School for Students - PD Day for all teachers.
• Sept. 18 - Early Dismissal at 11:00 for ES students - Ganesh Immersion

General Notes and Information

• Please remember to call the help desk at 022-61313600, or even better to email them (ESHelpdesk@asbindia.org) AND me (reinsmoenm@asbindia.org ) AND the classroom assistant Ms. Anita (BillavaA@asbindia.org), if your child's regular dismissal plan changes.
• Attached is a letter from our PTA Grade Level Parent Representative, please read to find out the great work parents are contributing to the coming school year, and how you can help. Note: the attached instructions’ are not attached but let Ms. Sandell know and she can help you out.•      Also attached is our curricular outline for the year. Happy reading!

August 26, The Week Ahead

Last week was our first full week, and it was full of fun and learning. We started to get into our normal routines for the year, and enjoyed some great activities while starting to get into our curriculum. 

The Open House last Friday was great for me to meet many of you. I am very glad that so many of you were able to come join us on Friday. 

This week in math, we will continue with place value and reading and writing whole numbers in standard form. We will also begin to talk about the value of numbers. For example the value of the 6 in 4,602 is 600. We want students to not only be able to read the numbers, but also to be able to explain their value. Students will also take the numbers and break them into expanded form. 4,000 + 600 + 2. We will continue to keep the Maths Mate homework at school this week, completing it with support to help students understand the new worksheet and what they may need to do to complete it in a week independently beginning next week. 

Our reading and writing lessons continue with an emphasis on “thinking about reading”, choosing “just right” books, and making “lists of people, places, and things” to write about so that they will never again have to look at a blank page and wonder where to start. Everyone has received their Reader’s Notebook and will begin to use this daily at school. Students will be assigned a day of the week to write a letter about the book(s) they are reading. We will continue to do this throughout the year, with an emphasis on sharing our thoughts while reading, instead of just re-telling what is happening in the books we read.

How we organize ourselves, our first unit of inquiry begins this week. Students will explore the central idea:  People can create systems and protocols to support the decision making process. We plan to have guest speakers from our school community come and talk to the students about decision making, roles, and organization of groups.  Students will gain insights into the importance of formulating and documenting their own ideas, and understanding why discussions with a group and agreeing on a common set of ideas is important when collaborating with others to make decisions.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

-Martin Reinsmoen

Dates and Reminders

• Sept. 2 - E3 Activities Begin
• Sept. 13 - No School for Students - PD Day for all teachers.
• Sept. 18 - Early Dismissal at 11:00 for ES students - Ganesha Immersion

• Please remember to call the help desk at 022-61313600 if your child's regular dismissal plan changes. 
• We really want to stay away from using paper cups on our floor to show our awareness of the impact of using so many. Please send a water bottle every day to help us accomplish this. 
• If you have not yet completed the Google Form about your student please do this to help me get to know them.

Week of August 19th

Grade 4 News

Week of 19^th – 23^rd August

The new school year has gotten off to a great start. As always, the beginning of the school year is an important time for establishing good routines and an effective learning environment.  It’s been lovely getting to know your children – their personalities, hopes and dreams as well as their characteristics as a learner.  I will be sending you a weekly note via email to keep you updated about school.  Please feel free to respond to the email if you have questions.  The note will contain information about what we will be focusing on in class that week and any important announcements.

In our first math unit we will be exploring students’ prior knowledge of numbers and place value and using that knowledge to read and write whole numbers in standard and word form.

As readers, 4^th graders are developing the essential habits of independent reading.  This week we will be discussing how the icommons area is organized and used effectively, how readers choose books and how to make good book choices.  An important goal for students is to read 'Just Right' books.  Just Right books are those that they understand well and can enjoy.  These are the books that will help them become better readers. 

Students will begin writing every day in their writer’s notebook and work on building their writing stamina.  We will be exploring ways to generate ideas for writing.  Once students have a few strategies to use, they will never have that feeling of sitting in front of a blank page again. 

This week we will begin our first unit of inquiry.  Students will explore the central idea:  people can create systems and protocols to support the decision making process.  We plan to have guest speakers from our school community come and talk to the students about decision making, organization of groups, and roles.  Students will gain insights into the importance of formulating and documenting their ideas within a group, making decisions by discussing ideas, and features of effective group work.

You may notice in the next two weeks that your child will not be bringing homework home regularly. We are spending time at school talking about homework and what my expectations are for it. Once students understand the importance and purpose of the homework, then I will start to send it home. 

Remember that our Open House is scheduled for this Friday August 23rd. It will start at 8:15 on the 4th floor.

I look forward to seeing you all on Friday!

Sincerely, 

Martin Reinsmoen

Dates and Reminders

• 21^th August (Wednesday)             E3 Activity Fair, 3:00 – 3:30, 4^th Floor
• 23rd August 8:15 Open House for 4th grade parents.
• Please remember to send a note or email if your child’s regular dismissal plans change.
• Please ensure your child brings a water bottle to school each day.

Welcome to 4th Grade!

Dear Parents, 

The new school year has gotten off to a great start. As always, the beginning of the school year is an important time for establishing good routines and an effective learning environment. I enjoyed getting to know your children today, and look forward to the time we will spend working together this year. I will be sending you updates weekly about what we are doing in school. Please feel free to respond to my email if you have questions. The updates will contain information about what we will be focusing on in class that week and as well as any other important announcements. 

I have started a blog, which will have the same information as my emails. At times it is nice to have everything in one place, think of it as that go to place, when you just can't seem to remember where something else is.

To help me get to know you and your children, I would like you to all fill out a survey about your hopes and dreams for them. Please try to find time to do this so that I get to know you and your children a little more. 

I feel very lucky right now to have another teacher working very closely with me. Matt Beniak is student teaching in our classroom for the next two months. He and I are spending a lot of time discussing, planning, and reflecting on the lessons that we have in our class. I'm also excited because he and I both went to the same college. Another of those signs showing us how small the world really is. 

In our first math unit we will be exploring students’ prior knowledge of numbers and place value and using that knowledge to read and write whole numbers in standard form. 

As readers, 4^th graders are developing the essential habits of independent reading. This week we will be discussing how the icommons area is organized, how readers choose books and how to make good book choices. An important goal for students is to read 'Just Right' books. Just Right books are those that they understand well and can enjoy. These are the books that will help them become better readers. 

Students will begin writing every day in their writer’s notebook and work on building their writing stamina. We will be exploring ways to generate ideas for writing. Once students have a few strategies to use, they will never have that feeling of sitting in front of a blank page again. 

I am including our Specialist Schedule. Please let me know if you have questions. PE uniforms should be worn each day that students have PE.

If I have still not met you, I hope to meet you soon. 

Have a wonderful week! 

-Martin Reinsmoen