Our Week In Review

Spring has finally arrived!  We have been working very hard to wrap up various activities before the home stretch.

This week we completed the math MCAS tests.  The children worked really hard for both days!

Due to the MCAS we did not read much from our newest interactive read aloud, Charlotte's Web.  We are all looking forward to reading this story of friendship and overcoming challenges.

We have been working to wrap up and publish our expert pieces.  This week we started to type these assignments into our Google Drive.  We learned how to insert a page break and a table.  Next week we will continue to type and learn how to insert pictures into our books.  We will also illustrate some of the pages and create a final book, complete with a table of contents and chapters.

During poetry workshop, we learned about a poet/artist, Douglas Florian, who paints watercolors and writes nature poems about those paintings.  We painted nature themed water colors on brown paper bags this week, and have started writing companion poems in free verse style.

We wrapped up our final piece of our Weather unit!  Next week, we will begin our last science unit ~ Magnetism and Electricity.

We also wrapped up our study of the Midwest, and have completed both assessments.  We will "travel" to the West beginning on Monday.

Spotlight On...

...Will and Jack!  They have been doing a great job during their lacrosse season, and even had the opportunity to play during half time at the Cannons game.  Unfortunately, the weather ruined their plans.  Way to go guys!!!!!

Spotlight On...

Ryan and Travis! They have been having a wonderful lacrosse season! We enjoy hearing about the lacrosse games every Monday morning.  Remember...If your child would like to be spotlighted on our blog, just send Mrs. Merten an email

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Our Week In Review

We had quite a busy week in room 24!

On Monday and Wednesday we were lucky enough to have our Poet in Residence, Ms. Elizabeth McKim come to JFK to work with our class.  She spent 90 minutes with our class on each of the two days, and the children have written some beautiful poetry!  (Stay tuned, you will see some of it this weekend!) Ms. Liz has a wonderful way with the children, and is able to bring out the most beautiful poetry imaginable.  Below are some pictures and videos of her time with us.  She will join our class at our Poetry Coffeehouse on June 10th.  We hope to see you there (more details to follow)!

The Poetry Bus

During reading we began our next (and possibly last) Interactive Read Aloud, Charlotte's Web.  Mrs. Merten LOVES this book, and has assured us we are going to be doing some "serious thinking" about the characters in this story.  Our goals while reading this book are:

• To read with expression (Ask your child about Reader's Theater ~ and Kids ~ add a comment about how you feel about Reader's Theater).
• To understand character's actions and their motivation
• To understand the author's message through character's actions
• To understand how the characters' actions lead us to different themes.

We have only read 2 chapters, but can't wait to read more!

During math, we have spent the last week reviewing the various concepts learned this year.  Mrs. Merten has been quite impressed with our ability to recall the topics.  Math MCAS is next Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Science we have been learning about storms.  We read various non-fiction books and created a chart about the storms.  Mrs. Merten shared some actual videos showing hurricanes, tornadoes and blizzards (including pictures of hurricanes from the National Weather Service).  Our last weather assessment is scheduled for next week.

We also cleaned out our terrariums.  Your child will be bringing his/her terrarium home soon (if it didn't come home today).

We are also wrapping up our study of the midwest.  We have learned so much about this part of the country.  We even discussed the Continental Divide (which many parents learned about in high school!).  Our assessment is also at the end of next week, and then we will travel to the west region.

Lastly, what a wonderful surprise this morning!  I arrived to a sign on the classroom door, 

a sign on the lawn, 

and many lovely notes.  Thank you for your thoughtfulness.

Our Week in Review

Was vacation just one week ago?

It has been a very busy week here at Kennedy School!

In Math, you may have noticed that homework has covered many topics.  We have started to review various concepts that we learned throughout the year, tackling a specific topic each day, in order to prepare for the MCAS test.  Our test dates are May 13 & 14.  This week we reviewed concepts of place value, geometry, and measurement.  Students are doing a great job reviewing!

In Reading we wrapped up Hate that Cat by Sharon Creech.  This is the sequel to Love that Dog, also by Sharon Creech, which we read before vacation.  Both stories chronicle a year in the life of a student named Jack, through his poetry journal entries.  We all enjoyed reading these books and especially loved seeing how Jack (and his teacher Miss Stretchberry) grew over the 2 years.




During Writer's Workshop, we have diligently been working on our non-fiction pieces.  We have decided to publish our work using our Google Drive.  Our drafts must be completed by next Friday so that we are ready to go!

Our journey around the United States has taken us to the Midwest.  We are learning about the land and natural resources from that area.  Students received a study guide and vocabulary this week, and our test is scheduled for May 16th.  We are hoping to skype with a few fourth grade classes from around the country in the next few months.  We are looking for a teacher in the midwest who would be interested in communicating with our class. If you know a fourth grade teacher who might be interested, please email Mrs. Merten.

Today we started the last part of our unit about the Weather.  We learned about the Jet Stream.  Next week we will learn how ocean currents affect the weather, and then we'll learn about WILD WEATHER (storms).  Our Weather assessment is tentatively scheduled for May 15th, though that date is subject to change.


From the teacher's desk:
One reason I love the spring is that we have developed a wonderful community that supports one another.  By this time in the year, the children work very well together, and are clear about the expectations for our class.  Learning is at its best.  The children are excited about the new topics and they know what their responsibilities are.  

 As you know, the focus of this year was "independence and responsibility".  I am pleased with how the children have grown in both of these areas. As we continue through the spring, I am hopeful that we can continue to work together to maintain this progress.  With spring activities and outdoor playing time, completing homework carefully can be challenging.   This spring, I've noticed assignments partially completed, or not completed as well as many misplaced.  Please take a minute to discuss homework with your child.  I'm looking forward to working together this spring, to prepare your children for fifth grade!

Spotlight On...

NATE!  Last week, during his soccer game against Marlboro, Nate scored 6 goals!  That's a double hat-trick!  His team won, with a final score of 8-2.  Congratulations Nate!