Mr. Blanc's Class

How the World Works To further our understanding of our how the world works central idea, which is, people use scientific knowledge to respond to a changing Earth, we will have two days with guests next week! On Monday, 12/16 a representative from the Red Cross Pillowcase Project will join our class to talk about being prepared for natural disasters. Then on Thursday, 12/19 we will have an expert panel of community members visiting our school. Andrew Phelps - Director of the Oregon Office of Emergency Management Mike Mumaw - Emergency Manager City of Beaverton Paul Jewell - Emergency Coordinator Beaverton School District Scarlet Valentine - Principal West TV This panel will give the students a chance to speak with leaders from their school, school district, city and state communities and see the work they do to prepare for natural disasters. Math Last week students learned what makes a number prime or composite. Have your child tell you the difference between the two....

How the World Works Our inquiry unit with the central idea that people use scientific knowledge to respond to a changing Earth is off and running. This week students learned about tectonic plates and how their movement can cause earthquakes. Next week we'll study volcanoes, landslides, and wildfires.  Reading Students have learned that knowledge of text structures can help readers determine the main ideas and supporting details from nonfiction text. The structures we have studied are chronological, problem/solution, cause and effect, compare/contrast, and description. Ask your student to tell you about the different text structures we've studied. Another way you can support your student in their nonfiction reading is to highlight everyday examples. Whether it's reading recipes, instructions on assembling furniture, street signs, or the back of cereal boxes. Idiom of the week : sit on the fence Math   To get started with our multiplication and division unit we'...

Short Week There will only be two days of school next week because of Thanksgiving Break. Monday, 12/2 is a Staff Development day, so students will not be in school then either. Students will return to school on Tuesday, 12/3. Inquiry The Innovation Fair was a great way to finish our How We Express Ourselves inquiry unit. Thank you to everyone who joined us! Our next inquiry will be under the theme of How the World Works. The central idea is people use scientific knowledge to respond to a changing earth. Some of the content unit students will learn about include plate tectonics, weathering, and erosion. Reading Students will not be assigned new vocabulary words or a reading log over Thanksgiving break. Instead, they will be given an optional reading log and anyone who brings it back when we return to school on Tuesday, 12/3 will get on the class Wall of Fame.  Idiom of the week: hit the road Library Cards Today students were given Washington County Cooperative Lib...

Innovation Fair On Thursday, students were sent home with information about the 4th Grade Innovation Fair. This will be our culminating activity for our How We Express Ourselves inquiry unit with the central idea that people innovate using creativity and knowledge of energy. It will take place on Thursday, November 21st, from 1:40-2:20 in the school Library. Students have been given a design map and been put in charge of coming up with a creative idea that they can share at the Innovation Fair. This idea will solve a problem by improving an existing object, or by inventing a new one. If your child needs anything other than their Chromebook, Micro:Bits (a computer coding device), or basic school supplies, it is their responsibility to bring those items to school. Reading  A big focus for our class going forward will be having each student select books at their just right reading level. This is so important, because in order to grow big ideas about the books they are reading, stu...

Back at West TV! On Monday, 11/4 we'll be back at West TV! There's no place like home! Halloween Party Thank you to everyone who put together the Halloween party! The students had a great time!   Conferences  Fall conferences will take place Wednesday, 11/6 in the evening and Thursday, 11/7 from 8am-8pm. If you haven't signed up yet, please go to the link below and select a time that works for you. I look forward to meeting with everyone! https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/West_Tualatin_View_Elementary Idiom of the week : jump the gun Upcoming Dates Monday, November 4th - Back at West TV! Tuesday, November 5th - Reading Logs Due/Vocab Test Wednesday, November 6th - Conferences 3-8 Thursday, November 7th - No School - Conferences 8am-8pm Friday, November 8th - No School  Monday, November 11th - No School - Veterans Day

Last Week at Timberland Next week is scheduled to be our final week at Timberland! It's a beautiful building, but I'm looking forward to getting back to our space at West TV. We'll have a sink in our room, restrooms a one minute walk away, and lunch and specials will be at the same time everyday! Math We've completed our place value unit. Our next unit covers metric measurement. Students will work with liters, grams and meters. They'll need to know the prefixes milli, centi, and kilo. Keep up with the progress of your student by taking a look at their Seesaw activities. Reading Two of our big focuses in our current realistic fiction unit are developing ideas about characters and determining the theme or life lesson that can be learned from our books. Next week students will complete a Seesaw activity to show their progress in those two areas. On Monday, they'll be given a passage and asked to use evidence from the text to describe one of th...

Conferences Fall conferences will take place Wednesday, 11/6 in the evening and Thursday, 11/7 from 8am-8pm. You should have received an email from the office with a link to sign up for a time to meet. If you haven't signed up, please go to the link below and select a time that works for you. I look forward to sitting down and talking about your student with you.  https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/West_Tualatin_View_Elementary Writing  Now that we have studied figurative language students are noticing it in books they are reading, songs on the radio, TV shows they are watching, and conversations. On Monday, we will have our first idiom of the week. This is a fun way to help students further explore figurative language. Have your student tell you what the idiom of the week is each week. In class students are encouraged to include figurative language in their writing in order to give the reader a chance to feel like they are present in their story. Ask your student to te...

Math Our focus in math is going to shift to using addition and subtraction to solve multi-step word problems. In the problems students will be expected to show all of their work, create a visual representation, and write the answer as a statement.  Reading All of the students are reading realistic fiction books in class. In our mini-lessons we've been talking about characters and how they often change throughout the course of a book. We're asking students to describe their characters and give support from the text to explain their description.   Writing This week students will select one of their narrative drafts to turn into a published piece. They ' ll use revising and editing checklists to help them improve their current work. Ask your student which story they decided to turn into a final draft. Inquiry Our next inquiry falls under the theme of How We Express Ourselves. The central idea of this unit is people innovate using creativity and knowledge of energy....

Friday, 10/11 There will be no school for students on Friday, 10/11. It is a staff development day. Inquiry Our inquiry under the theme of Who We Are, with the central idea that people bring their cultural and personal beliefs to a community of learners, is nearing the end. Next week students will begin working on collages that represent their values, cultures, and a community they are part of. Math Hopefully you've had a chance to see some of the exit tickets your student has completed on Seesaw. These are a great way for you to see how your child is doing in math. Next week we will continue our place value unit and work on rounding. Usually this is the most difficult part of the place value unit for 4th graders.  Reading Students were sent home with their graded first vocabulary test last week. Their next test focuses on grammar and will take place on Tuesday, 10/8. In addition, they are expected to read three hours outside of school each week and record it on a read...

We made it through our first week at Timberland! I appreciate the flexibility and understanding of everyone as we do our best to get settled in.     Weekly Homework  With all of the changes going on, we gave the students a bit of a break on their homework last week. This week we will begin the usual routine of turning in reading logs on Tuesday and getting the new reading logs too. Students will also take their vocabulary test and then get new words to study for next Tuesday.  Math   We just finished a short math inquiry that focused on mathematical patterns and multiplication strategies. Hopefully you had a chance to see the story problem that was completed on Seesaw. Our next focus will be on place value. Students will be comparing numbers, using addition and subtraction to solve multi-step story problems, and use rounding to assess the reasonableness of their answers. Reading  Next week we will begin our realistic fiction unit. All student...

It was great to see everyone who made it to Back to School Night last Thursday! I hope you left with an understanding of the curriculum and expectations for 4th grade. Reading Log This Tuesday students will be sent home with their first reading log. Students have the expectation to read three hours outside of school each week. Reading logs will be turned in each Tuesday, and a new one will be going home as well. Vocabulary In addition to the reading log, students will be sent home with vocabulary words each Tuesday. They will be quizzed on the words the following Tuesday. We spend time in class learning about the words, so it is up to the student to decide whether or not they need to spend time studying them at home as well. Inquiry Our first inquiry unit of the year is under the theme of Who We Are. The central idea of the unit is that people bring their cultural and personal beliefs to a community of learners. So far students have started thinking about their values. They...

First Week We had an awesome first week of school! We accomplished all of our first week goals which were to get to know each other, understand the classroom norms and agreements, and start getting baseline academic data on where starting are in reading, writing, and math. Headphones Please have your student bring headphones to school. If you are unable to get headphones for your child, let me know and I'll make sure they are provided. Stay Connected Instagram Follow our class Instagram account at blanc.wstv. Here I'll be posting pictures of what we're up to. Parent Survey Thank you to those who have already returned their Parent Survey. If you haven't sent it back to school yet, please send it with your student next week.  Upcoming Dates Friday, September - Back to School Picnic 6 - 8   Thursday, September 12th - Back to School Night 6 - 7:30

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 start getting some baseline data on where students are at in reading, writing, and math. Today we made great progress towards the 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, 8/2 9 at 4:30 . Please contact me if you ever have any questions or concerns. I look forward to getting to know my new students and their families!

Final Week of School  We have reached the last week of the year! It has been such a pleasure to teach this great class! I hope everyone has a wonderful summer.  Reading Students have one more reading log due on Tuesday, 6/11. Some of the students have completed their final book response of the year on Seesaw. The rest of the children will finish this week. Please make sure your child continues to read over the summer. Set aside time each day for them to read. To help keep them interested in reading I suggest taking them to the library every few weeks. Another way to keep your child interested in reading is to get them a magazine subscription. I remember as a child my parents gave me a subscription to Sports Illustrated for Kids and that was huge for my development as a reader. Idiom of the week: all good things come to an end Writing The students are working hard to finish up their final writing pieces. They took a look back through their writing notebooks and sel...

I can't believe we are down to the last two weeks of school! It has been so much fun to work with the students in this class. The end of the year is always crazy, but I've made a goal for myself to make sure I really appreciate the last two weeks I get to spend with this great group of children. Field Trip We are starting the week off with our field trip to the Cedar Mill wetlands. We will leave the school at 9:30 and expect to return at 11:20. There is no need to pack a lunch as we will be back by then. We will be outside and working near the creek so students will want to make sure they are wearing clothing they are okay with getting a little dirty. I was out of the building on Friday, but as of Thursday, we still had a few students who hadn't returned their permission slip. If you haven't sent the permission slip back with your student, please make sure they bring it with them on Monday. Inquiry Our field trip is supporting our sharing the planet inquiry with t...

Memorial Day There will be no school in observance of Memorial Day on Monday, 5/27. Math Next week will be our final week of state testing! The students will be working on the math performance task (PT). This test has less questions than the computer adaptive test (CAT) they took last week, but the questions will involve multi-steps and explaining the thinking behind answers. In class students will continue to work on solving problems with customary units. Give them some items and have them tell you which units a person would use to measure them.  Reading This week students selected their "last chance to read as a 4th grader" book. The book could be any genre. Each child will read that book and complete a written response on the book when they are done. Ask your student which book they picked. Idiom of the week: behind the eight ball    Writing Just like in reading, students will get a chance to select a "last chance piece as a 4th grade writer". ...

Math  Next week our study of measurement will switch gears to customary units. While students will be more familiar with these units, they'll find that it was much easier to convert between metric units because they are all base 10, while US customary varies. You probably noticed the Seesaw activities last week in math were review from earlier in the year. Many students had trouble remembering how to mutliply two by two digit numbers and using long division. Get in with your student and see how well they remember those to skills. Reading Logs/Vocab Last Tuesday, only 10 out of 23 students turned their reading log in. Only 3 students got perfect scores on their vocab test. Please give your student the expectation to read three hours outside of school and study their vocab words each week. Idiom of the week: roll with the punches Inquiry On Thursday, students were sent home with information about our last field trip of the year. It will take place at Cedar Mill Wetlands, ...

Reading The state tests have thrown our historical fiction book groups out of wack a little bit. On Monday, we will spend some time getting organized and figuring out which groups need to select new books and which groups need to get themselves back on track. Check in with your student and ask if they have been keeping up with their pages in their historical fiction book.  Idiom of the week: gray area Math Last week we wrapped up our geometry unit. Next week we will begin a study of measurement. This unit will involve both metric and US customary units. We'll begin with metric units. A strong understanding of place value will be essential for students to convert between between units. By the end of next week your student should be able to tell you what centi, milli, and kilo mean. Also, they should know in which situation a person would use liters, meters, and grams as units of measurement. Inquiry The final drafts of our migration papers were due Friday, 5/10. They su...

State Testing We will begin state testing next Tuesday 5/7. The first test students will take is the English language arts computer adaptive test. Students will work on the test on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. The best way you can help your student prepare is by making sure they get plenty of rest and get a good breakfast on test days. Encourage them to think of the tests as an opportunity to show what they know. Also, if you haven't sent back a letter of encouragement for your student, please send it to school on Monday, 5/6. Math  Our study of geometry will focus on finding unknown angle measures and identifying two dimensional figures. A great way to help your student in math right now is to help them study their vocabulary words. Our vocabulary words this week are geometry terms. Writing Students have been working hard on their migration informational papers. Hopefully by the end of this week they are getting close to having their first draft complete. The final dra...

Math We wrapped up our study of decimals and will now move on to geometry. Some of the topics we will study include identifying types of lines, measuring angles, finding unknown angles, and classifying two dimensional shapes. Keep up with how your child is grasping these concepts through Seesaw.  Reading Each student is in a book group that is reading a historical fiction book. Last week the groups met and decided how many pages they would read each day. They meet at the end of reading each day to discuss their book. Have your child tell you about their book. They should be able to explain what makes a book fall within the historical fiction genre.  Idiom of the week: get cold feet Inquiry Students spent this week researching their migration topic. Next week they will use their research to begin writing their first draft of their informational paper. We will go over strategies to start an informational paper, using evidence that supports the main idea of each para...

It was great to meet with everyone at conferences. One of the reasons West TV is such a great place to teach is because of the support strong support at home! Math Students will begin the week comparing decimals and by the end of the week they will add decimals. To monitor how the unit is going for your child, check their Seesaw account. Talk with them about what you notice they are working on in class. Inquiry Next Monday, students will pick their top three choices of migrations they want to research and write a paper on. The following day they will find out which migration they have! Ask your student which migrations they are most interested in. Field Trip Our field trip to the Clean Water Festival at the PCC Sylvania campus will be on Tuesday, 4/30. We will leave West TV at 8:50 and return around 2:15. There are still three chaperones spots available. Let me know if you are interested in joining. Idiom of the week: in the bag  Volunteer Appreciation The school w...

Parent Conferences There will be no school for students on Thursday, 4/18 or Friday, 4/19 because of parent conferences. If you have not yet signed up for a conference, please go to the link below and pick a time to meet. https://www.ptcfast.com/schools/West_Tualatin_View_Elementary Math Our first week of decimals went well! Students primarily worked with tenths, but were introduced to hundredths at the end of the week. Next week students will work on finding equivalent decimals between tenths and hundredths. This will prepare them to compare decimals later in the unit. A great way for you to support your student in their math is to take a look at their Seesaw activities and have conversations about what we are working on in class.  Reading Students have been working on using knowledge of text structures to help them read about history. The text structures we have been noticing are cause and effect, compare and contrast, description, problem/solution, and chronological. As...

Math  Next week we will begin our study of decimals! We'll begin by learning how tenths and hundredths can be in fraction form and decimal form. Then we'll move into comparing decimals and fractions and end with addition of decimals. Where We Are in Place and Time Our inquiry with the central idea that migration impacts individuals and communities has lead us to discussing reasons that people migrate. Students have been looking at different factors that may lead someone to migrate and have debated whether they are push or pull factors. Next week students will be introduced to a handful of migrations from history. Once we have introduced all of the migrations, students will select one to research in depth.   Philip Foster Farm The field trip to Philip Foster Farm is on Tuesday, 4/9. We will leave West TV at 9 am and expect to return at about 2 pm. If you are joining us as a chaperone please arrive at the school by 8:35. Students will need to bring a lunch and snack unl...

Writing Each student is writing a persuasive paper on a topic of their choice. The final drafts of the paper need to be completed by Friday, 3/22. Students will get four writing sessions of 45 minutes in class to work on their paper next week. If they aren't able to finish the paper in that time, they are expected to work on it at home. Check in with your student and see how their paper is going.  Idiom of the week: let the cat out of the bag Math  Hopefully you have had a chance to look at the math exit tickets your student has been completing on Seesaw. Next Tuesday, 3/19, we will take an assessment on all of the fraction concepts we have covered. One of the best ways you can help your student prepare is to go over the problems they have done on Seesaw with them. Inquiry This week we started our where we are in place and time inquiry with the central idea that migration impacts individuals and communities. So far we've studied the Corps of Discovery, led by Lewis ...

Reading Students continue to have the expectation of reading three hours outside of school each week. In class they are in book groups. Each group selects the book they would like to read and the number of pages or chapters to read each day. Check in with your student about what book their group is currently reading. Idiom of the week: the elephant in the room Math We have been experimenting with students completing exit tickets on Seesaw. I see this as a great opportunity for families to see what their students are working on in math. We know that learners need feedback to maximize their growth and this is a great tool to provide students with prompt feedback on their work. I encourage you to use what you see on their Seesaw exit tickets communicate with your student about their math. Whether you comment on Seesaw or have conversations at home is up to you.  Inquiry On Friday we wrapped up our how we organize ourselves inquiry with the central idea that community values...

Reading The snow days last week messed with our schedule a bit. We will have a gallery walk to share all of our book reports on Wednesday, 3/6. However, Friday, 3/1 was the last day students will be given to work on their project at school. If they are not done yet, they will need to complete their project at home. Check in with your student and ask if they have finished their project yet.  Idiom of the week: broadside of the barn Math  Next week we will continue the second half of our fractions unit. We'll start with extending fraction equivalence to fractions that are greater than 1. To have success with this skill students need to be able to convert between improper and mixed fractions fluently. For example they may be given two fractions like 33/9 and 3 1/3 and be asked to compare them. This problem is much easier if they can turn 33/9 into 3 6/9. At that point, they are able to tell that it is larger than 3 1/3.  How We Organize Ourselves  We will w...