Mr. Blanc's Class

I can't believe that Winter Break is already here! Optional Reading Log Students will not have a reading log assigned over the break. There will be an optional reading log sent home, any student who brings it back after break will get their name on the class Wall of Fame. Dreambox Challenge The student who completes the most minutes of Dreambox over the break will get on the class Wall of Fame. I am able to monitor the amount of time students spent on their accounts, so no time tracking is necessary. This is an optional challenge. I look forward picking up where we left off on Thursday, 1/4!

Next week will be short as Winter Break will begin on Thursday, 12/21. Inquiry On Monday, 12/18 students will begin writing an informational paper on their migration topic. They will use their research notes and an outline that we have been working on in class to write their best paper. They will have two 60 minute sessions to finish their paper. All of the work on these papers will be done in class on Monday and Tuesday. Have your student tell you what three subtopics they will include in their paper. Math Last week we began our study of division. So far students have learned to divide using the standard algorithm and a place value chart. Ask them to tell you what Dracula Must Suck Blood has to do with division. We've been checking our division answers by multiplying the quotient and the divisor and adding the remainder, if there is one. Next week we will learn how to use an area model to solve a division problem. Reading  Students will turn in their reading logs on Tue

Inquiry Students have been working hard researching their migration topic. We've spent time coming up with open-ended questions about our topics to give us guidance for our research. Next week students will get a few more days of research and then they will begin an outline for an informational paper they will write on their topic. The expectation is that each student has at least three subtopics about their migration that they write about. Ask your student if they know which subtopics they plan on writing about.  Reading In our study of reading nonfiction history texts we've learned how understanding common text structures like cause and effect, compare and contrast, chronological sequencing, and problem/solution can help us with comprehension. Next week we'll spend time pulling out the main idea and finding supporting details that link back to the main idea. This work will be essential, as students will be expected to be able to write informational paragraphs about t

Reading Students will turn in their weekly reading log on Tuesday, 12/5. They will also take their vocabulary test on nonfiction text features that day as well. Our reading time is now divided into two sections, for the first half students will be reading nonfiction texts and during the second half they can read the genre of their choice. On Tuesday, each student will get a historical fiction book that is set during the migration they are studying for our inquiry unit. Check in with your student and have them tell you about their book.  Idiom of the week: a drop in the bucket     Math  Next week we will begin working on division. The students who have the most success during this multiplication and division unit are the ones who have their math facts down. It's difficult to work on long division story problems if you have to use a lot of brain power to determine how many times 4 can go into 21 without going over. There are all kinds of apps, and of course, good old flashcar

Update I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving break. Because we only had two days of school last week the students were not given new vocabulary words. Instead they will be given new words tomorrow. Those words will be tested on Tuesday, 12/5. Reading In addition to not being assigned vocab words last week, students were also not assigned reading logs. There was an optional reading log that went home over the break. A new reading log will be sent home 11/28, it will be due the following Tuesday, 12/5. We will be shifting gears to a unit on nonfiction reading. This week students will work on an assessment to see what areas we need to focus on during our unit. Writing We will also begin a new writing unit this week. Our new unit will cover informational writing. Similar to reading, we will begin with a pretest to determine where we begin. We will be applying our informational writing skills in our migration inquiry unit. Inquiry On Monday, 11/27, students will find out w

Writing The final drafts of our narrative papers were due on Friday, 11/17. We will not be spending anymore time in class on the papers, so if a student doesn't have their paper complete, they will need to finish it at home. Check in with your student to see if they turned their paper in on Friday. Reading Next week students will complete a post assessment on our Interpreting Characters unit. They will read a passage and answer four questions. The big focus in our unit has been reading intensely to grow big ideas about characters. To show proficiency on this assessment, students will need to support their ideas with evidence from the text. Idiom of the week: cost an arm and a leg Math We will continue our study of multiplication. Students have been practicing multiplying by 10, 100, and 1,000. Next week they will begin multiplying up to four digits by a single digit number.  Inquiry Our migration unit has gotten off to a strong start. So far students have learned a

Math Students will come home on Monday, 11/13, with their math assessment that was taken last Thursday. Go over your student's test with them. Our next math unit will cover multiplication and division. Next week students will begin the unit by working on finding the area and perimeter of quadrilaterals. Reading Next week we will wrap up our reading unit that focuses on interpreting characters in realistic fiction texts. This unit teaches students how to go beyond just following the plot of the story and begin reading intensely to grow strong ideas about what they read. Our most recent lessons have been about finding the theme of our stories. Ask your student to tell you what they think the theme of their book is, make sure they support their idea with evidence from the text. Idiom of the week: hit the road Writing Students are in the middle of revising and editing one of their narrative drafts. The final drafts will be typed and due on Friday, 11/17. Students will be

There will be no school on Friday, November 10th, in observance of Veterans' Day. Reading Students have their usual weekly reading log due on Tuesday, 11/7. Have your student tell you what their current reading goal is. Idiom of the week : out of the blue Writing Students will begin the process of selecting one of their first narrative drafts and then taking it through the revising and editing process to create a published piece. Ask your student which of their narratives they plan on publishing. Math We will be finishing up our unit on place value, rounding, and multi-digit addition and subtraction next week. There will be a test on the unit on Thursday, November 9th. You can help your student prepare for their test by going over the practice test that will come home with them on Wednesday, November 8th. Inquiry On Monday we will begin our inquiry unit with the central idea of migration impacts individuals and communities. At the beginning of this unit we will stud

Next week will be shorter for students. Friday, November 3rd will be a teacher grading day. There will be no school for students. Reading Students have their usual weekly reading and vocabulary expectations. Our reading mini-lessons are beginning to focus on characters and noticing patterns in their actions and looking for ways they are changing. Have your students tell you about the main character in the book they are reading. How would they describe the character? What challenges are the character facing? Idiom of the week : turn a blind eye Writing Last week we practiced some different strategies for starting our narrative stories. The strategies we attempted were starting with action, dialogue, or a vivid description that establishes characters and the setting. Next week we will go over different strategies to bring our stories to a close.  Math In math we will continue to solve multi-step word problems using addition and subtraction. Students are working on communica

Reading Last week was not our best reading log completion week. Please check in with your student and make sure they are reading and recording the expected three hours outside of school each week. Another way you can help your student progress as a reader is to have them tell you what their current reading goal is. They should know. Idiom of the week : jump the gun Math Next week students will begin solving multi-step words problems that involve addition and subtraction. They will be expected to show all of their work, create a visual representation of the problem, and use rounding to assess the reasonableness of their answers.  Inquiry On Monday students will begin working on the action that will represent their values, culture , or community. This will be the c ul minating acti v ity of our inquiry unit with the central idea of people bring their cultural and personal beliefs to a community of lear ners. Students will be given three hours of class time to complete their

It was great to get a chance to sit down and chat with each of you about your child! My hope is that you left with a clear picture of what your child needs to work on to be successful in our class. Reading Last week students used a rubric to assess themselves on a reading assessment. Then I met with each of them to make sure they understand what they can do to improve. The students will take another reading assessment in a few weeks, after we finish our unit studying characters in realistic fiction. I'm not concerned with their score on the first assessment, my goal is that they now understand what they can do on the next assessment to demonstrate improvement.  Idiom of the week: playing with fire Math  Next week we will begin using rounding to help us estimate. Students will visually represent rounding using a number line. This skill will later be used in story problems as a way to prove that an answer is reasonable.  Inquiry  Students will wrap up their collage tha

Conferences Because it is the week of fall conferences, there will be no school on Thursday, 10/12 or Friday, 10/13. If you have not signed up for a conference yet, please go to the link below to sign up. You can also call the office to schedule your conference 503-356-2510. https://www. ptcfast .com/schools/West_Tualatin_View_Elementary Reading  We are in a pretty good routine of students working on their reading goal at this time. Many of the students are doing a nice job of working on their goal the first couple of days after receiving it, but they tend to forget about it later in the week. You can help by giving them the expectation of sharing their reading goal with you. Also, please check in with your student regarding their three hours of outside of school reading for the week. Their next reading log is due Tuesday, 10/10. Vocabulary Our vocabulary test on Tuesday, 10/10 will be on words from our read aloud book, Tiger Rising. Students were sent home with a list of t

Reading By Monday, 10/2 each student will have their first reading goal. They are responsible for working on their reading goal during their in class independent reading time. Each time I conference with them I'll check in on their previous reading goal and then give them another reading goal to work on. Your student should know what their reading goal is, have them tell you. Vocab Our vocabulary for next week will again focus on figurative language. Instead of showing an understanding of the definition, students will be given six types of figurative language and asked to write an example of each. The six types of figurative language they will need to give examples of are simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, onomatopoeia, and idiom. Idiom of the Week From this point forward we will have a different idiom of the week each week. Students are encouraged keep an eye out for the idiom of the week and share when they encounter it in their lives. Our first idiom of the w

Reading Students will turn in their 1st weekly reading log of the year on Tuesday, 9/26. They are expected to record a minimum of three hours reading outside of school each week. Now that we have established our reading expectations for the classroom, students will begin getting reading goals next week. Each student is responsible for working on their reading goal as they read, have your student tell you what their reading goal is.  Vocab Our first vocabulary test of the year will be on Tuesday, 9/26. Students were sent home with a paper copy of the words but they can also practice the words here . One thing we have talked about this week is that figurative language is everywhere. I've let the class know that any student who notices figurative language over the weekend in a song, book, conversation, or anywhere else will be added to the classroom Wall of Fame.    Math Our focus in math has been communicating our thinking with each other. The students have be

Reading Next week we will begin having the expectation that students read 3 hours a week outside of school. Students will be given a reading log to document their reading on Tuesday. They will turn the reading log in the following Tuesday. Vocabulary Students will be given their first set of vocabulary words on Tuesday. They will be tested on these words the following Tuesday. The words this week are introducing figurative language. We will be studying the words in class, but some students may want to study the words on their own at home as well. One way to study the words is to use quizlet. There is a link to the website under the Websites page of this blog. Students will have been shown how to get to the site and use it to practice their words by Tuesday. Inquiry We are in the beginning of our first PYP inquiry unit. The first unit falls under the transdisciplinary theme of Who We Are. The central idea of our unit is that people bring their cultural and personal beliefs to a c

First Week Goals I had three goals that I wanted to focus on during the first week. They were to get to know each other, learn the classroom expectations, and begin to collect to beginning of the year academic data on students. I feel that we had a successful first week and accomplished those three goals. Reading Next week I'll start the process of reading with each of the students and having a conversation with them about their reading. Studies have shown that by far the best way to improve as a reader is to read. In order for the time spent reading to have the best impact, students need to be reading just right books. When I have finished reading with each child next week, I'll have a good idea of the just right books for each student. Back to School Night Back to School Night will be on Thursday, September 14th starting at 6 pm. If you have any questions about classroom expectations, the 4th grade curriculum, volunteer opportunities, or anything else, thi

Today was an awesome start to the school year! I have three goals for our class this week (1) I want us to get to know each other, (2) I want to make sure that we know and understand the classroom norms and essential agreements, and (3) I want to get some baseline data on where students are at in reading, writing, and math. Today we made great progress towards the three first week goals. I'm really looking forward to working with the students in this class! If you ever have any questions, please, don't hesitate to send me an email.

Hello! The purpose of this blog is to communicate with families about the events in Mr. Blanc's class. Research shows that when students talk to their parents about school they perform better. This blog can be a valuable tool to help families facilitate meaningful discussion with their child by giving them specific things to talk about. I hope to see you all at the West TV Meet and Treat on Thursday, 8/31 from 4:30-5:00 . Please contact me if you ever have any questions or concerns. I look forward to getting to know my new students and their families!

Next week will be the final week of the school year. It will be hard to say goodbye to this group of students, but I look forward to seeing them as the leaders of the school next year! Inquiry Next week students will finish up the field guide they are making on an animal found in our local watershed. Their final piece will be a watercolor painting of the animal and a paragraph of written information. Ask your student what animal they are working on for their project. Idiom of the week : all good things must come to an end Preventing Summer Slide Parents have asked me what their child do to over the summer to prevent the academic summer slide. One recommendation I have is to give your child the expectation to read every day. Build in a half hour time of day in which they always read. Then, talk to them about what they are reading. Have them tell you about the characters and the problem in the story. To help your student with their math, I recommend having them play an online

I can't believe we are down to the final two weeks of the school year. I have really enjoyed working with the students in this class! Hopefully we'll have a great last two weeks together. Watershed Field Trip I hope you have had a chance to look at the pictures from our field trip to our local watershed last Thursday. Initially, I was concerned about the weather, but we may have ended up with the best weather of the week. Thank you so much to the chaperones who made the trip possible! Math  We completed our final math module last Friday. Our final two weeks of math will give students a chance to do some inquiry problem solving, coding, and games. Lego WeDo  On Tuesday, 6/13 and Thursday, 6/15 we will be visited by an Innovation Strategist from the District who will lead the class in robotics lessons using Lego WeDo. Have your student tell you about what they make on Thursday. Field Day West TV Field Day will be on Wednesday, June 14th. Fourth grade will participate

 The field trip to the Cedar Mill Wetlands was lots of fun! I was at the water testing station the whole time, so all of the pictures you see below are from there. I did my best to get pictures of all of the student groups, but unfortunately, I didn't get all of them. Have your student tell you whether their data suggests that we live near a healthy wetlands.