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The Shakespearean Sonnet

September 15, 2008

Hello all! 

Well, we’ve finished our first couple weeks of school and I think we’ve officially settled into all the routines that will make our classroom run like clockwork this year.  On Friday we finished Othello and had a terrific debate over the culpability of Othello in the story.  Was Othello just being himself when he acted out of jealousy, or should he have arisen above his jealous nature to overcome the scheming Iago?  It was one of those moments that I wish you could’ve all been there for.  The kids were excited, engagement, incisive, and all around brilliant.

Today we began studying Hamlet.  It’s a considerably longer, more complex version than Othello, and I expect the kids to love the challenge. 

Overall it was an excellent week.  On Thursday a bunch of our kids played basketball and football together at recess, and it was great to see the whole class coming together as one, laughing and competing and getting along so well.  As their teacher, it was a pleasure to watch them enjoy one another’s company. 

I also found myself embroiled in a long conversation about the US purchase of Alaska, the assassination of Lincoln and attempted assassination of Andrew Johnson and William Seward, the meaning of Seward’s Folly, the story of Dr. Mudd, the man who treated John Wilkes Booth’s broken leg, and the subsequent origin of the phrase, “Your name is Mud.”  And much more.  It wasn’t the colonial history that I had hoped to start this week, but it was another one of those classroom moments in which you would’ve been very proud of your kiddo. 

This morning I handed back the kids’ first graded assignment.  During the second and third marking periods, your child will receive his or her first letter grades on the report card, so in preparation for this change, I will be assigning letter grades to assignments throughout the year.  Whenever an assignment is to be graded in this fashion, I will tell the kids of my intention and always provide a clear rubric that explains how I derive at the grade.  Overall the kids did well on this first assignment.  They were required to read an article about the different ways that animals use their tails and identify the main idea from each section of the story.  Students that received Bs and Cs did not identify the main idea correctly, which is not too concerning, as we’ve only been working on the concept for a week.  Overall I think it was an excellent learning experience for the class and prepared them well for the many grades to come. 

Camp Jewel

Information on our upcoming trip to Colebrook, CT went out today.  Please be sure to review it carefully, and if possible, attend the meeting on Thursday evening following curriculum night.  More information will be dispensed then. 

Thanks!

Thanks to Laura for donating a handful of books to the classroom library last week, at least two of which that are now in students’ hands.  The library is rapidly growing beyond the space that I have, creating a challenging but good problem to solve. 

Congratulations!

Congrats to Team 2 for their amazing comeback on Friday, winning the team competition for the week!  They received a First for Everything pass this morning, allowing them to be first for everything during a week of their choice. 

Congrats to me as well, for defeating the class in the class-wide competition against me.  Sadly, the kids did not reach the 60,000 point mark, mostly due to behavior at essentials like Spanish and Art, allowing me to enjoy 26 popsicles this week, one for each student.  As the kids have said, “The torture has already begun!”

Student Senate Primary Results

Congrats to Matthew and Emma D., who emerged from our primary election today as our two Senate candidates for the fifth grade.  Emma and Matt will each deliver a speech tomorrow to the entire grade explaining why they should be our fifth grade Student Senators.  Good luck, kids!   And congratulations to all the students who were brave enough to run in the primaries today.  They all handled their disappointment with great dignity.

On Wednesday our class will conduct primaries for Student Council Representatives.  Three students will emerge from our class to fill these important positions as well.      

Charlie Award winner!

Congratulations to Laura, last week’s Charlie Award winner!  The reading homework was chosen as the Charlie Award assignment for last week and Laura was one of the only students who brought in an assignment that demonstrated the use of reading strategies.  Highlighted sections of text, eliminated answers, underlined words, and other strategies made it clear that Laura took this assignment seriously.  Congrats, Laura, on a job very well done.    

Homework

Two new homework assignments went home this week, in addition to the egg drop and essay of the month that the kids should continue to work on.  We’ve discussed both long-term assignments a great deal so far, including lessons on effective essay writing and recording scientific observations.  I’ve also encouraged the kids to bring their science journals and rough drafts of essays into school for guidance, redirection, affirmation, and perhaps to be used as exemplars for the class.    

Reading

This week the kids will be working on a reading assignment that deals with comprehension on a literal level.  The kids should be using strategies such as underlining critical pieces of information and utilizing process of elimination when answering the questions that go with this reading. 

Math

The kids will be completing a math assignment from their Trailblazers curriculum.  Part of their assignment is to solve some potentially tricky word problems.  I have stressed to the kids that the work that they show in terms of these problems is more important than the ultimate solution.  I want to see evidence of their thinking, reasoning, and problem solving strategies. 

Box Top Contest

The PTO is sponsoring a box top collection competition and the class with the most box tops by October 24 will receive a pizza party.  This is a simple and effective fundraiser for our school every year and is free!  If you could help us collect these Box ops for Education, we would appreciate it!

Appreciation

Please allow me to end this newsletter with a heartfelt thanks to all of you for the remarkable level of support that I have received so far this year.  It’s been simply amazing, and it seems as if every day, someone else steps forward to offer a hand.  I have a large group of parents who have agreed to volunteer in the class, and a small but knowledgeable group of has stepped forward to assist with the stone garden. Paul has offered to bring a device in on the day of the egg drop to measure the G-forces of the egg’s impact with the ground, and the stream of notes and emails filled with kind words have been a great blessing.  I was admittedly hesitant when I was asked (told, really) to move up to fifth grade, and with such a large class, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  So far you and your remarkable children have made the move seem like the best decision I was ever forced into.

Thank you all, so very much.   

That’s it for today!  Have a great day!

Warmly,