Mr. Blanc's Class

Inquiry Next week we'll begin our Where We Are in Place and Time inquiry unit. The central idea of this unit is migration impacts individuals and communities. The lines of inquiry are reasons for migration, ways migration impacts quality of life, and impact on current groups. In the beginning of the unit we'll learn about migration by studying westward expansion, starting with the Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase and the Lewis and Clark led Corps of Discovery. Math Students will continue their study of fractions next week. Up to this point our main focus has been working with equivalence and comparing fractions. Two of the big ideas students should grasp are for fractions to be equivalent, the ratio must be kept constant and the greater the denominator, the smaller the pieces. Next week the students will work on adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators. Conferences Spring Parent/Teacher Conferences will take place the first week of April. Please go to

How We Organize Ourselves Thank you to all of the chaperones who joined us for our field trip to the State Capitol! Hopefully you have had a chance to check out some of the pictures from the trip on our class Instagram account, blanc.wstv. On Friday, our classroom committees presented their classroom bills. There was fierce debate but in the end, only one of the five bills got a majority vote in both the House of Representatives and Senate and is now a classroom law. Have your student tell you what they think of the new classroom law. Last Monday, I sent you an email letting you know that we will begin teaching our state mandated Erin's Law lessons next Monday, 3/2. In the email I sent a link that included information on the learning outcomes as well as a link to a website with more information. If you review these materials and decide you want your student to opt out of the lessons, please contact the office and they will get you the opt out form. Students that opt out will do

How We Organize Ourselves When students return to school next Monday they will learn which committee they have been placed in. On Friday, they listed their top three preferences between culture, health and safety, infrastructure, technology, and rules. Once they've been placed in their committees, they'll work with their fellow members to craft a classroom bill that they believe should become a classroom law. On Friday, 2/28, each committee will get a chance to make their case and then each bill will be voted on. In order to become a classroom law a bill needs to get a majority vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Then Governor Blanc will need to sign it.  Field Trip Our field trip to Salem will take place on Tuesday, 2/25! We will be leaving school at 9 and expect to return around 1. Chaperones please arrive at the school by 8:45 so we are able to get our groups established. Reading  As book groups are finishing their books they will have a written resp

Short Week Students won't return to school until Wednesday, 2/19. Because there is no school on Monday or Tuesday, they will turn in their reading logs on Wednesday. How We Organize Ourselves Our classroom has now been divided into Senators and Representatives. Each legislative group selected their leader. Next week the students will be placed in committees. The committees will work together to craft a bill that they will attempt to convince their fellow lawmakers to turn into a law. In order for their classroom bill to become a law it will need to get a majority vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Then it will have to get signed by Governor Blanc. Writing We're working on writing strong persuasive arguments. The students have learned how to outline their argument by determining what their claim will be and their reasons to support the claim. Some of the ways they have been elaborating their reasons include brief stories, statistics, and counter argument

Reading The book groups are really taking off! Have your student tell you about a character in their book. They should be able to provide evidence from the book to support their opinions of the character. In an effort to get quality nonfiction texts in the hands of our students I will now be sending Time for Kids magazines home with students on Wednesdays. These may be used as at home reading for weekly reading logs. Please encourage your child to take advantage of this great resource. Idiom of the Week : cat got your tongue? How We Organize Ourselves Last week we learned about the three branches of our state government. The students were introduced to a fun resource called icivics.org. It's a great place to play simulations related to government. For example, they were able to be a legislator and work to get laws passed. Next week we'll go more in depth on the process of bills becoming laws. Hopefully you have already seen the paperwork for our upcoming field trip to

Social Emotional Learning This week in class we learned about our social filter. The students were introduced to the idea of a thinking bubble and a talking bubble. The words in our thinking bubble are private and only for us. Our social filter makes sure that words in our thinking bubble that cause hurt feelings, embarrassment, or are disrespectful are kept out of our talking bubble, which can be heard by others. We read a great book called "I Can't Believe You Said That" by Julia Cook that helps teach the importance of a social filter.   Reading The students have now been placed in a book group. Each book group has selected their book. They also decided how many pages they would read each day. Ask your student to tell you which book they are reading, how many pages or chapters they are reading each day, and when they will finish their book. Idiom of the Week: in the same boat Math We are continuing our multiplication and division unit. We made solid gro