Viewing: Class Updates
January 14, 2014
Parents: Seeking Your Input
Hello, families! I am in the process of designing a new website for our class. I am eager to hear your input about what features you would like in a new class website. I’d appreciate you participating in this survey at your earliest convenience. This is a survey for parents, not for students.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 9, 2014
Update on Number the Stars
Good evening! Tomorrow is the last day that the Jaime from the Hartford Stage will be with fourth grade classes teaching lessons about Number the Stars, and I wanted to give you an update on how those activities have been going. She has been doing a wonderful job helping the kids to understand what takes place in Number the Stars. Her activities focus much more on the events in the book than they do on specific details about the Holocaust in general, which helps to keep the activities appropriate for kids.
Monday’s lesson focused primarily on dramatic terms and activities to help the kids to get prepared for the rest of the week. On Tuesday, the learned more about the character of Ellen Rosen, a young Jewish girl living in Copenhagen, whose life has changed because of the Nazi presence. The kids learned a bit about what was happening during the Holocaust, and particularly how it affected Ellen’s relationship with her non-Jewish friend, Annemarie. These programs tend to progress through key parts of the book, so Wednesday’s activity focused on a section that took place later on in the novel, where Ellen’s family learned that they must leave in order to avoid being captured by the Nazi soldiers. The kids learned that Annemarie’s family willingly accepted Ellen to stay with them, in hopes of protecting her, while Ellen’s parents sought protection in some other way (that they don’t yet know about). As they had in previous days, the kids participated in some dramatic activities to act out some of the conversations and situations that the young girls found themselves in.
Today’s activities were the most dramatic and revealing. This morning, the kids were invited to role-play what it would be like for them, playing the role of Ellen’s parents, to say goodbye to their daughter who was staying with another family for her own protection. This was a very dramatic activity for the kids, as they had to explain to Jaime, who was playing the role of Ellen, their daughter, why they could not stay with her, and why it was not safe for her to come with them. They did a wonderful job thinking about what the parents would actually say to their daughter in that situation, and they showed their understanding of what they had been taught on previous days.
The final activity from today, however, was the most emotional, and, I think, eye-opening for the kids. By moving desks and chairs, our class was transformed into a train traveling out of Denmark. A Nazi soldier, again played by Jaime (the theater educator), boarded the train and began to interview the passengers (the kids in our class). The kids were all assigned different roles, such as being a member of a Jewish family, being a member of a group of non-Jewish colleagues who were traveling for business, and other various roles. As they were questioned by the Nazi soldier, the kids did a very impressive job sticking to their characters as they tried to prove that they should not be targets of the soldier’s investigations. As really happened in history, the soldier identified many people, Jews and non-Jews, that she thought needed to be taken off the train. Passengers (the kids) were forced to quickly think on their feet and to come up with explanations to try and save themselves and their companions. This sparked a rich discussion later on as we discussed what the kids were thinking about during the activity.
There is no doubting that this is a very realistic activity. One of the challenges in teaching kids about the Holocaust is helping kids to develop a frame of reference. Here, fortunately, the kids in our class do not generally have any basis for understanding the concepts of genocide, hatred, and Anti-Semitism. We work very hard to give the kids an understanding of what happened, and an ability to relate to the experiences of people who lived during that time, while not putting the kids under undue stress.
Following these activities, the kids and I always have follow-up conversations, and I encourage kids to share their feelings and their concerns. I always reassure the students that these are events that happened long ago, and that they are safe here in their homes, in Connecticut. When the kids share how sad it is to learn about this, I remind them about the importance of learning about these historical events, among other reasons, so that we can make absolutely sure that nothing like this ever happens again. We had a wonderful conversation about the challenges that people in Europe (Jews and non-Jews) faced in the 1930’s and 1940’s, and I was really impressed by the kids’ mature contributions to the discussion. We were excited to welcome Superintendent Gary Mala, Assistant Superintendent Donna Rusack, and Mr. Giannini, who visited while making rounds throughout the building.
Some of the kids may come home and start discussions about these activities. I encourage you to continue to have these discussions with your children, as I try to avoid going into some of the more graphic details with kids. Students are explicitly asked to avoid discussing these topics during lunch and recess so that they can benefit from having an adult to facilitate the conversations.
If your son and daughter seems concerned or stressed by what they’ve learned, I encourage you to remind them, first and foremost, that their feelings are understandable and valid! I never tell kids “not to be upset” because the material we are learning about is, in fact, upsetting. It’s understandable for kids to feel upset and saddened by the events, but if they are afraid, I remind them that these are events from long ago, and that they are safe in their own communities. I also remind them that the police in their community are very different from the Nazi soldiers who patrolled the streets in Copenhagen, and that the police officers in their town are trustworthy, safe people who really are there to help and protect them.
Tomorrow will be the last day of the role playing activities. They will learn about some of the later events in the text, and at the end, the students will receive copies of the novel. This week’s activities will serve as a framework for when we read the novel together. I ask that you continue to discourage your kids from reading or learning about the book until we read it in class together.
Please continue to be in touch with me if you have any questions as we continue this important unit.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 8, 2014
NTS3 – Hiding from the Nazis
Today in class, you did a terrific job when Jaime came in for Number the Stars. I think you all asked thoughtful questions as Jaime played the part of the Rabbi who was telling the people about the Nazi’s plans. I know this can be sad and maybe even scary stuff to learn about, but I’m glad that you are participating so maturely. You can always come to me if you have a question or a worry. I’m here to help.
Click here to go to the Padlet discussion for tonight. It’s the usual password.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
January 2, 2014
Starting a new unit on Monday
Happy New Year! I hope your holidays were relaxing and you enjoyed time with family and friends.
Parents, please click on the link below this line of text to read an important message about a new reading and social studies unit starting on Monday.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
December 16, 2013
Padlet Discussions
In class, we have used Padlet as a tool to support online discussions. There are three discussion topics for today:
Simile Practice – Students should visit the page and post a simile about Saturday’s snow storm. (1-2 posts per student tonight, please.)
Improving Beginnings – On this Padlet wall, students can revise a dull story starter by using one of the five techniques we have worked on in class. (1-4 posts per student tonight, please.)
Acts of Kindness – It’s Kindness Week in room 209, and we’re looking to see how many acts of kindness kids themselves can perform for others. An act of kindness doesn’t need to be anything big – it can be anything that helps a friend, relative, or stranger. Kids can post quick notes about their acts of kindness, along with kind acts done by their family members. (1 or more posts by the end of the week, please.)
For security reasons, the Padlet walls are all password protected. The password is the name of the PGS mascot, all in lower case letters.
For privacy reasons, please NEVER EVER use your names on online discussions. Use your class number where you see the line for your name.
Posted in Class Updates, Homework Assignments|By Jon Moss
November 21, 2013
Adding Up Our Math Work!
The boys and girls in room 209 have been working so hard on a variety of math skills. We recently finished up the first math unit of the year, which started with place value and rounding skills and transitioned into multi-digit multiplication and long division with one-digit divisors. To review for the assessment, we played a terrific Jeopardy game that Laura McDonnell (Gr. 4 at RBS) developed and shared with the district-wide gr. 4 team. The kids had a fun time competing in a friendly game that prepared them for the lengthy assessment.
Kids in our class take review games VERY seriously! 🙂
In class today, we reviewed the completed and graded assessments. Students corrected their mistakes. One common area in which students seemed to struggle was rounding numbers to a given place value. (On the test, that’s items 15-18.) This is a common area in which students may have difficulty, and we will continue to work on these skills in class. Interpreting diagrams (item 22) was also a challenge for many students.
You will find that there is no percentage grade on the assessment. I do this intentionally because I find that, on this particular kind of assessment, percentages give less information than section scores. Consider the following example:
Imagine a class takes a 16 item assessment that is divided into four sections, each with four items. If “Mary” gave one incorrect answer in each section, she would have a score of 12/16, or 75%. Because Mary correctly solved most of the problems in each section, I would consider her to be making “good progress,” despite 75% being a traditionally lack-luster score. If another student, “Bobby” also scored 12/16 (75%), but had all four of his incorrect answers in a single section, it would indicate that there was one area in which he needed more intensive review and support. Both kids received the same score of 75%, but their assessments yielded very different results.
Instead, I score each section (rows of problems) individually. Your child can tell you how many points were possible for each item. I will send home review packets for students who struggled in a variety of sections.
Please take a moment this evening to review your child’s math assessment before signing and returning it to me. It is important that you return the math assessments to me so that I can keep them on-hand to review with you at the upcoming parent conferences and so I can use them as teaching tools down the road.
Starting last week, we began our second unit, which is a study of factors and multiples. It’s hard to believe that we’re almost done with this unit! We will finish the lessons next week and will review and test the week following Thanksgiving!
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
November 19, 2013
Lighting Up the Classroom!
Last week, we wrapped up our first science unit of fourth grade. Students in our class and Mrs. Castle’s class teammed up to learn about electricity. Because we focus so much on the steps in the inquiry process (Ask your fourth grader about 
this!), we begin by reviewing a science topic from third grade – magnets. This helped us to learn the four parts of scientific inquiry, and it gave us a valuable starting point, since there are a lot of similarities between magnets and electricity. (Again, ask your kid!) In our core electricity unit, we focused on components of electrical circuits (sources, loads, and paths) and different kinds of circuits (simple, series, parallel, and combination circuits). We learned about conductors and insulators.
We also talked a lot about how these concepts have a tremendous real-word application. Besides creating circuits to actually see light bulbs illuminate, we discussed how the past two years’ October storms caused the widespread power outages, how electricity is transmitted to homes, and how lightning “works” in nature, and much more.
We ended the unit by creating flashlights (that you’ve hopefully seen) that were made with batteries, bulbs, soda cans, and a short piece of wire. These series circuits integrated all components of the science unit, and the kids seemed really excited to end the unit with this project.
Ask your kids what they learned during this unit and what they enjoyed most! I always have a fun time teaching this unit, and I hope the kids had a fun time learning in science!
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
November 18, 2013
November 15, 2013
Respect in Class
Ratified in September by students and teachers in our classroom, our Class Consitution takes the role of “class rules” within our classroom.
Building a positive classroom climate is very important to me. Starting on Day 1, our class works hard to develop a community in which everyone is respected and valued. I’m pleased to report that we’re back on the right track after a disappointing week, last week. We had a lot of problems with kids talking at inappropriate times and distracting one another, students speaking unkindly about one another, and a lack of respect for our classroom space and the materials within it. Transitions in class (moving from one activity to another or one location to another) were difficult, as was collaborative group work (since it’s really easy for a purposeful conversation to devolve into something less productive). The kids lost the privilege of sitting in their desk clusters and instead spent a week in “old school” rows (which I dislike a great deal, but are less likely to promote side conversations). Through a great deal of effort, and after several discussions, the class (as a whole) has turned things around, and I’m really pleased with our new path. We’re back in the cherished desk clusters, and collaboration is here again! I hope you’ll take the opportunity to reinforce with your fourth grader the rights we all agreed to as part of our class constitution. (Click on the image for a larger size.)
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
October 24, 2013
Seeking Legos
Hello families! On Monday, we are building our class pumpkin, which (if all goes well) will be a spitting image of everyone’s favorite 6-story elephant! The kids are really excited to build the inside of Lucy, complete with people browsing the elephant’s interior gallery. We are seeking extra Lego figurines and blocks that families may be willing to part with. They don’t need to follow a specific theme – “EVERYONE can enjoy Lucy, including pirates, mariachi singers, and Egyptian guards! 🙂 We could also use chairs, or any bricks that could be used to make a small chair, table, display, etc. (Click for a picture of Lucy’s interior space.) Because we are gluing them inside Lucy, we won’t be able to return what we use, but we’re not picky. (Missing arms? Hands? Fine by us!) Kids are welcome to bring in their items tomorrow or Monday. (But please keep them in a separate bag so we can return what we do not use.)
Thank you!
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss