Happy Holidays!

Monday, December 17th

Families of Room 31 ~

Our class had a wonderful time celebrating our Snowflake Festival this past Friday.  We were entertained by the Shrewsbury High School Choir and then spent some time working cooperatively in groups creating window snowmen!  I was so proud of he students efforts and cooperation!  Enjoy some of their masterpieces below.

Report cards come home today.  Please sign and return your child's envelope tomorrow for us to reuse each trimester.  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out via email or note.
Looking forward to a fun, yet busy week of learning!

Miss Finneran

Update - Week of December 3rd

Families of Room 31 ~

This time of year can be VERY hectic for everyone, so I am doing my best to stay on top of items you need to be aware of.  Below is a brief update of events between now and the winter break.

GINGERBREAD SHOP – Friday, December 7^th.   An envelope was sent home Monday Nov. 26^th for the students / families to plan any purchases your child may make.  If your child is planning on shopping THIS FRIDAY, you may send in the envelope any day with your child- including Friday.   This is the ONLY DAY for making purchases. 

BOOK ORDERS due by Friday, December 7^th - Any December book orders are due by Friday, December 7^th in order to make sure arrival happens by our winter break.  Orders will be placed on December 8^th.  If you should need to arrange any “special pick-up” please reach out and let me know. 

SNOWFLAKE FESTIVAL – Friday October 14^th 11:15 – 12:45

PARENT VOLUNTEER’S NEEDED!!!  I am looking for at least SIX VOLUNTEERS to help out with our snowflake festival.  The fourth-grade classes are making window snowmen and will work as a team to plan, design and create these.  It is helpful if I have one parent per group to help manage this event.  Please let me know at your earliest convenience if you are able to assist with this event!

TRIMESTER ONE REPORT CARDS – These report cards will be sent home on Monday, December 17^th.  We ask that you KEEP the report card at home, yet return the signed envelope with your child the next day for use to reuse throughout the year.

MATH – We have moved in the CHAPTER 6 – Fraction and Mixed Numbers.    Please remember that there are student book resources on both my class blog and on the class Schoology site.   A major concept of this chapter is learning how to add and subtract fractions with like and unlike denominators, compare the size of a fractions, along with a focus on mixed numbers.  Please reach out if you have any questions and / or your child needs any assistance with some of these concepts. 

SCIENCE - Our unit on WEATHERING and EROSION is quickly coming to an end.  We will be finishing with a culminating project where the students need to create a shelter to protect their structure (sand castle) from the effects of weathering.   We will then TEST their model and see if their design withstands the forces of “nature!” This has proven to be one of my FAVORITE days of the year!!  I’m sure you will see many examples on SEESAW once we have completed this assignment!

SOCIAL STUDIES – Student have been hard at work creating a Key Note presentation on the iPad about the EAST.  The students have been actively planning, writing and researching visuals to support their project.  I’m looking forward to having the students share their hard work with you. 

READING / WRITING – The students have wrapped up their Trimester One writing assessment – Opinion Writing.   Much of our reading / writing time has been connected to the social studies project, yet once it is completed this week, we will move towards a focus on narrative writing – (main idea / events) as well as continued focus on reading skills.  The key focus for our whole group reading this month is about ASKING QUESTIONS where the students will read to discover their answers as well as learning to ask questions to expand their thinking.

Please reach out if you have any questions / concerns.

Kelly Finneran

Happy Thanksgiving

Finneran Families ~

Today, more than any other day of the year, I stop … pause…. and reflect.   I think about all that I am grateful for.   Truly, your children and your support are right up at the top of my list.  Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.

Every day, I am moved and inspired by what I see your children doing.  Every day, I am in awe at the incredible perseverance your children display while growing and learning.   Every day, I am grateful to be in a school environment with such dedicated teachers, staff and a PTO that collaboratively work to build a culture with a focus on student growth and learning which happens in such a safe, loving environment.  

I believe that the success of our classroom is built on a foundation of mutual respect and inclusiveness.  I know I could not do my job if I didn’t have the support of such hard-working students and parents.  We – parents – students – teacher – are a team in every sense of the word. For this, I am blessed!

This is a wonderful time of the year to get together with friends and family to celebrate and be thankful for all the wonderful people in our lives. During this time of Thanksgiving, I just wanted to share my gratitude and thank you and your children for being such an important part my life.    

Enjoy your time with family and friends.

Kelly Finneran

Weeks of Nov. 13th and Nov. 19th

Families of Room 31 ~
I hope everyone enjoyed this extended weekend.  I know I was happy to catch up on some much needed sleep.  Just a few updates / reminders regarding the next few weeks.

NO SCHOOL - Wednesday, Nov. 21^st – Friday, Nov. 23^rd

BOOK ORDERS are due Thursday, Nov. 15^th.  If ordering online, the classroom code is DPQ8C.  Website is:  https://clubs.scholastic.com

Student Council collections: The 4^th grade Student Council is holding a supply drive for those in need. All donations will go to St. Anne’s to distribute to local families. Our class has been asked to donate SHAMPOO and $1.00! Let’s all do our part!  Orders are due by Nov. 19^th.  Thanks to those families who have already made their donations / contributions!

SCHOOL STORE - FRIDAY, Nov. 16^h - This year students will only shop with tickets earned based on their Reading and Math Incentive sheets!  Any student who turns in any sheets prior to Nov. 16^th will have tickets to shop with at the first school store.   

SCIENCE – Last week we created a classroom stream table to examine the destruction water can cause on the land.  This week we will be viewing various time lapsed photos looking at the changes in the earth’s surface.  The students will then have to write a C-E-R (Claim / Evidence / Reason) supporting their statement.

SOCIAL STUDIES – We have begun our project on the EAST.  This project demonstrates our knowledge of the concepts of climate, economy, natural resources and physical features of this region. This project will be completed in school, unless the students need some extended time to write their paragraphs.  This project needs to be completed before the Trimester ends.  

MATH – We are wrapping up Chapter 3 this week.   Our focus for early in the week will be to apply their knowledge of double-digit multiplication and long division to solve real world problems.  Students will be bringing home a study guide to review the concepts.  I believe the test will be on Friday of this week.  Students needing more time will complete the test on Monday

READING - We continue to use our INNER CONVERSATION and merge this with our thinking while reading nonfiction texts. We will focus on the difference between visual and text features.  This week I will model my thinking during whole group mini-lessons helping the students to key in to times when they are learning new information while reading.  We will also review the importance of being accurate with the information that they learn. Our hope in modeling these lessons is that the students will carry this over into their independent reading.  

WRITING – Although we are working on INFORMATIONAL jobs throughout some reading responses and our Social Studies Project, we are taking a step back to review our OPINION writing.  We will be taking a look at our early writing this year (Student Council) and review the strong opinion language used when writing an opinion piece.  I ask that students start thinking about something they have a strong opinion about as next week they will be completing their TRIMESTER ONE writing assessment.  The students will have 90 – 120 minutes to complete an opinion writing piece of choice. 

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions / concerns regarding our classroom.

Week of Nov. 5th

Just a few reminders:

Tuesday, November 6^th - This is NO SCHOOL on Tuesday, November 6^th for students. We are holding our parent conferences that day. For those attending, please remember that I am holding student / parent conferences so you need to bring your child with you to the conference. Each conference is scheduled to be 40 minutes. I have emailed each family with a reminder of their time. Looking forward to our upcoming meetings.

Monday, November 12^th – NO SCHOOL – Veteran’s Day
Thanksgiving Vacation is scheduled for Wednesday, November 21^st – Friday November 23^rd. There will be NO SCHOOL. 

Student Council collections: The 4^th grade Student Council is holding a supply drive for those in need. All donations will go to St. Anne’s to distribute to local families. Our class has been asked to donate SHAMPOO and $1.00! Let’s all do our part! 

SCHOOL STORE - FRIDAY, Nov. 16^h - This year students will only shop with tickets earned based on their Reading and Math Incentive sheets!  Any student who turns in any sheets prior to Nov. 9^th will have tickets to shop with at the first school store.   Thanks to the 6 students who volunteered to work at the school store. Those who volunteered will work THIS FRIDAY – Nov. 9^th.  The need to be at the school by 8:15 to assist with set up. They should first come to the classroom to pass in homework and unpack.

SCIENCE - I hope many of you enjoyed the WIND / WATER erosion photos from last week’s science experiment. This week we will focus on the DEPOSITION aspect of erosion.   We will set up a classroom stream table and watch the effects of water on soil.

SOCIAL STUDIES - We are wrapping up our learning of the EAST region. This week focuses on the immigrant experience through Ellis Island in the early 1900s. We will then be starting a project that demonstrates our knowledge of the concepts of climate, economy, natural resources and physical features of this region. This project will be completed in school. 

MATH - We are currently in the middle of Chapter 3. As you can see by last week’s homework, our focus has been on double digit multiplication. At the end of last week and this week, we have a focus on LONG DIVISION. We will then move on to applying these skills in word problems. 

READING - Last week our whole group focus was on MONITORING our comprehension by having inner conversations and taking the time to “stop and jot” those conversations down on post-it notes. This is a skill that is essential in building our reading knowledge. It is my hope that the students carry this skill over in their small guided reading groups as well as their independent reading.

WRITING - Our focus is on INFORMATIONAL writing with a connection / tie-in to social studies. Student will be focusing on the strong language of informational writing and the importance of good planning using a pillar. It is great when we can integrate our subject matter.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions / concerns regarding our classroom.

Week of Oct. 22nd

Families of Room 31 –

A few reminders for this week:

SCHOOL PICTURES – Due this Tuesday, Oct. 23^rd.  RETAKES will be Wednesday, Oct. 24^th. 

Parent Conferences – Due to the fact that I am holding student / parent conferences, I have several parent conference times beside Tuesday Nov. 6^th.  Last week I sent home a parent conference preconference form.  Please make sure to return the form with your child a day or two prior to your conference if not sooner.  Reminder – there is NO SCHOOL for students on Tuesday, Nov. 6^th

MATH – We completed our Chapter 2 test on Friday.  I will send them home with the students as soon as I have remediated and corrected the test with teach individual child.    This week we begin Chapter 3 - Whole Number Multiplication and Division.  This chapter is very rich in content truly focusing on multiplying by 2-digit numbers and the process of long division.  Please make sure your child is practicing their math facts (multiplication and division) especially if they have not mastered them yet.  Their nightly practice counts towards the Math incentive.   Program and truly is essential for success in this chapter and chapters to come.

SCIENCE - Last week, we had our first “official” hands-on science investigation.  The goal of this lesson was to learn about mechanical weathering and frost wedging.  We placed water in tin cans and let then freeze overnight.  They observed the cans the following day and certainly had some distinct observations.  I believe many of them sent you a phot via their SEESAW account!  This week we will learn about abrasion and how abrasion affects and change the earth’s surface!

SOCIAL STUDIES - We are continuing with our notetaking of the EAST REGION.  The focus this week will be finishing up learning about the economy of the region as it connects to the natural resources and we will move to learning about the climate.  I hear that there is a possible nor’easter heading our way this coming weekend.  Please have the kids pay class attention to the weather if it happens to be on at home!

WRITING – Our focus recently has been on the components of NARRATIVE writing with a focus on writing ENTERTAINING OPENINGS.  The focus has been on using a variety of TOADS (thoughts / questions, observations, action, dialogue and sound).  WE also began talking about using our SENSES to describe the SETTING of the story.  Later this week, we will move to learning to ask key questions of ourselves to discuss and describe and critical characters and / or critical objects as they relate to a story we create.    Our hope is to wrap up the beginning of the narrative writing diamond (openings and settings) before we move on to informational writing.

READING – We have begun meeting with GUIDED READING groups now that DRA’s are over.  The groups is also using a subscription to STORYWORKS to read some non-fiction articles and respond to the text.  We are also incorporating our read aloud – The Wild Robot – into some written responses on Schoology that the students will read and respond to.  Lastly, this week our focus for whole group reading is to review expectation of reading / responding to multiple choice questions and open responses.  I am modeling my thinking with the students as we work through a passage together.

As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.