Mr. Blanc's Class

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...