Mr. Blanc's Class

Updates Thank you to everyone who stopped by at conferences. It was great to have the chance to get together and make sure we are all on the same page. I hope you all feel like you have a good idea of what your student can do going forward to ensure they are successful in 4th grade. Please let me know if you ever have any questions. Reading Next week we will continue our study of nonfiction texts. Students are expected to record at least two hours of outside of school reading each week. The reading logs are due on Tuesdays. Because last week was a short week, we didn't assign vocabulary words to be tested next Tuesday. However, students will get their new words that will be tested the following Tuesday, 11/8. Idiom of the Week: turn a blind eye Writing Students are currently in the middle of revising and editing a narrative paper. In my experience, it is challenging to get children to look critically at their work and find ways to improve their writing. Often they just wa...

Updates Next week will be a three day week because of conferences. If you haven't signed up for a conference please to go the Conferences link found within the Websites tab. Please bring your student with you to the conference. Math  We have started Module 3. This module focuses on multiplication and division. Students will learn multiple methods to solve division and multiplication problems and use those methods to solve multi-step word problems. I have made a slight alteration to our math homework routine. I believe something that was missing from my math instruction early in the year was immediate feedback to students. Because of this, we now go over the homework from the previous day in class. This daily  homework will be coming home with students after we have gone over it in class. Reading  We finished up our first reading unit of study on characters. Our next unit of study will focus on reading nonfiction texts. You can help your student progress as a reade...

Updates While it is difficult to come back to work when you have a newborn at home, I'm very thankful that I have a terrific group of students I get to work with each day. Thank you for all of the well wishes and kind gestures. It is great to be back!  Weekly Volunteers Next week we will begin our weekly reading and math volunteers. I contacted all of the people who had previously indicated that they were interested in volunteering on a weekly basis. Each person should know which day of the week they will be joining us. If you are interested in volunteering and did not hear from me, please let me know as we most certainly will be able to use your help. Math  We took our End of Module 1 Assessment on Thursday. Students will bring their scored tests home on Monday. We will jump to Module 3 next. This module covers multiplication and division.  Reading  Students continue to have a reading goal each week. Check in with your student and ask them to tell you ab...

Math  We will be taking our first math test on Tuesday, 9/27. The test will cover the first 10 lessons. We will spend Monday reviewing for the test. Students will be sent home with a practice test on Monday evening. You can help your student prepare for the test by going over the practice test with them. Reading Each child now has a specific skill they are working on while reading. Check in with your student and ask about their progress on their skill. Students should also be recording their reading on their reading log. They are expected to read at least 2 hours outside of school each week. Vocabulary  Students will be tested on their ten vocabulary words from our read aloud book, The Tiger Rising. The test will be on Tuesday, 9/27. We have been working with the words in class, but your student may need to study them in order to be prepared for their test.  Writing Students have been making good progress in their narrative writing. So far we have worked on us...

Updates It was great to see everyone at Back to School Night! I'll touch on a few of the big topics that were discussed in this blog post, but if you weren't able to attend and you have any specific questions please let me know. Students will have their first vocabulary test on Tuesday, 9/20. They will be tested on six figurative language terms. We been spending about 10 minutes a day in class studying the words, however students are encouraged to study their words at home as needed. In addition to taking their vocabulary test, students will also get their new vocabulary words that will be tested the following week. Math     Last week we started our math curriculum. You can expect your student to have math homework each night, except for Friday nights. If you find that you are not quite sure what the students are expected to do on a lesson please take a look at the math videos in the Websites section of our class website. Reading At the end of the week I started reading...

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 Last week I started 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. Because time in text is the best way to improve as a reader, students will be expected to read at home two hours each week. They have a reading log to document the time spent reading. Word Work Students will have a set of vocabulary words e...

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, 9/1 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!