Baker Class News

October 4, 2007

Dear Families,

Your children have been "knee deep" in NECAP testing this week (We say NECAP "kneecap" – so that was a joke, get it?) We have now completed three sessions of reading and will begin the writing sessions tomorrow. They have been good sports about the testing and seem to be applying their best effort. The results of the testing will be available in February and will be shared with you at that time.

In terms of a curricular update, things have been humming along here at school. We have continued reading The Revealer, by Doug Wilhelm. Our literacy focus has been becoming more adept at summarizing a chapter’s main plot events, comparing and contrasting characters, and personally responding to the text. In addition, we have been looking at the author’s craft and asking: Why did the author make the choices that he made? Which ones do we think worked well? Which choices surprised us?

I have been in touch with the author (who lives in VT), via email, and am trying to arrange a visit to our school, which may occur in November. I will keep you posted in case you would like to visit when he does. Here is the author’s own summary of The Revealers taken from his website www.the-revealers.com (a great site to visit to learn more about the book and about topics related to middle school bullying).

The conversations we have had around this book/topic have been intense at times – as students share their own experiences and become more involved with the characters in the story, many emotions and opinions surface that may not have otherwise. These conversations are important to have and we will continue them throughout the year as we seek to be a community that honors the individual, as well as the inclusion of everyone in the group. As we will see when we read the Diary of Anne Frank in January, the consequences of not doing so, are dire indeed.

Mathematically speaking, we have been continuing to work in the Connected Mathematics series on a unit called Data About Us. This unit focuses on statistical analysis through mode, median and mean measures, as well as the construction of line plots, stem and leaf plots, line and bar graphs. Each student is conducting a survey as well on a question of their choosing such as: If you could have any pet, what would it be? Or What is your favorite book genre? The surveys went out to grades 3-6 and results will be collected, collated, organized and representations of the results will be created and shared. Our next unit will begin in late October and at that time, some students will be seeing Mrs. Riccardi for math. We will be giving our students a pretest regarding number sense and calculation skills and students will be grouped according to need. I will be doing a unit called Prime Time which focuses on prime factorization with a little bit of algebra thrown in as well. Mrs. Riccardi will present a unit entitled: Building on Numbers You Know, which focuses on landmarks in the number system and building number sense.

We have finished our Solar Energy Unit with a cumulative test that you will receive with your Weekly Progress Report on Friday and we continue with our Geology study. Marjorie Gale, a geologist from the State of Vermont’s Geology Department, will be visiting with us at 12:30 on October 16^th. If you are available, feel free to come in and learn a little more about mineral identification and the molecular structure of rocks.

Last, even though it is only September, Ms. Riccardi and I have been talking about the end of the year field trip as, if we are going to take one, the planning and fundraising needs to begin soon. Mrs. Riccardi and I met the other day to discuss fundraising that supports the end of the year trip. In the past we both have taken trips that require large amounts of money. We are considering a fundraising idea of selling energy efficient light bulbs, as well as the old stand-by of selling American Flatbreads, with the results of each venture supporting the trip. The financial outcome of each would determine the kind of trip we would take. Consequently, the trip may be lower key than in the past (i.e. may not include an overnight or may stay more local to the area.) What do parents think about this? Are parents willing to participate in fundraising, as well as help fund a large-scale trip to, say, Boston or Montreal, or would you rather see us find a more local, inexpensive destination? Any and all thoughts are welcome! Please feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts – then I will know you actually read these things! J

Finally, a BIG thank you to all of you who have returned the weekly progress reports promptly on Monday – it is a huge help to not have to "chase after" kids to get them returned. Also, since it does count as a homework assignment, it will affect their report card assessment if these are turned in consistently late. I hope that the weekly feedback is helpful to you – it is very helpful to me to know that we are on the same page and that you are aware of what is going on at school.

Til Next Time,

Sara