Newsletter 04.11.16

Good Afternoon,

A few quick notes for you from the Chameleon class. 

The first week back after the two week break started with a rather spooky Monday. Halloween at Phorms was a huge success, the pupils dressed up in some truly incredible costumes and the whole school took the afternoon to celebrate with a variety of activities. In 4^th grade, each classroom was open and children could move between rooms as they wished.

Pupils have also jumped straight back into work, within Writers workshop I’ve started to conference with pupils regarding the first check in. This looks at the plan and draft of one of their stories. Pupils are coming to the meetings prepared and ready for the questions asked. Those who I have met with have told me that they understand the grading they’ve received and agree with it based on our conversation.

In Math, pupils were given and have completed a multiplication and division pathway. This looked at skills which they had already learnt in previous years. On Friday we also sat a short check-in quiz to recap their knowledge. This will come home on Monday for you to see.

Starting on Monday 14^th November and running to Thursday 24^th November I will be holding parent conferences. These are for us to meet and discuss your child’s development so far throughout the year; it is also an excellent opportunity for you to see the work your child is doing in class and to ask any questions. Below is a link to a Doodle Event, within this you are able to schedule a time for us to meet. 

http://doodle.com/poll/ngnd2e8rrqam36hk

Important Dates:

-          Monday 14^th November to Thursday 24^th November Parent Teacher Interviews being held.

-          22^nd November School Photographer

-          28^th – 29^th November the Usborne book fair will be taking place in the Library. More information regarding this to follow.

Here is an overview of the areas of study we will focus on throughout the first week back:

English:

I will be continuing to meet with people regarding the plan and draft of their realistic fiction story. Pupils will be bringing their rubrics home once we have met. Within lessons I will continue to instruct pupils how to improve and revise their stories, they will be using their writing partners to help push their work forward.

I will be starting another round of reading assessments with pupils, these are shorter than previous assessments but they will aid me in seeing the progression that has been made.  

Math:

Pupils will be getting their new pathway which is focused around multiplication; this involves multiplying with larger numbers and using a variety of formal written methods. As well as this we will be running intensive times tables workshops within the lessons to ensure all pupils are proficient with their multiplications.

Science:

In science on Monday pupils will be sitting a small check in quiz covering the areas that we studied last term. As well as that we will look at the weather and environment in a number of different countries from different continents. Pupils should be able to identify what type of climate certain countries have by the end of the session.

Humanities:

We will begin to look at perspectives in humanities, identifying that different people could see the same thing in different ways.

German:

Liebe Eltern der Chamäleon-Klasse,

diese Woche begann schaurig-schön mit Halloween. Passend dazu haben die Schüler eine Krimigeschichte gelesen und sind dabei einem frechen Jungen im Batman-Kostüm auf die Schliche gekommen. Außerdem haben die Schüler mit Hilfe eines Sachtexts den Ursprung von Halloween kennengelernt und erfahren, dass diese Tradition ursprünglich aus Irland stammt. Als Vorbereitung für das Aufsatztraining der kommenden Wochen haben wir Adjektive gesammelt, die gute sowie schlechte Eigenschaften einer Person beschreiben. Um treffende Wörter zu finden, wurden die Schüler an die Arbeit mit dem Synonym-Wörterbuch herangeführt. Zudem wurden die neuen Lernwörter geübt (s. Anhang).

Desweiteren wurde das 1. Lernwörterdiktat verbessert. Das Ergebnis des 1. Diktats fließt nicht in die Bewertung mit ein. Vielmehr diente dieses Diktat dazu, dass die Schüler an einen längeren Diktattext herangeführt werden und diese Prüfungsform kennenlernen. Die kommenden Lernwörterdiktate werden dann aber bewertet. Die genauen Bewertungskriterien teile ich Ihnen im nächsten Newsletter mit.

Ich wünsche Ihnen ein erholsames Wochenende!

Herzliche Grüße

Agnes Fojcik

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mario Civico and the entire Chameleon team.

Newsletter 14.10.16

Good Afternoon,

A few quick notes for you from the Chameleon class. 

Even though this is the last week before the well deserved break, pupils have still been working hard and have shown great dedication to their own education.  

Pupils were committed to writing this week and are now fully aware of how the first assessed check in will work. This will be taking place during the first week back after the October break. Pupils have been instructed to have a finished draft prepared along with a character sketch and story arc plan.

Some students have requested to work on their stories over the break. We support our student's love of their work, but we encourage you to only ask and inquire about their process and not direct their work as we wish to conference to learn more about what they have attempted to apply in their writing.

On Thursday pupils sat the first math assessment. Everyone worked hard and quietly and all showed great respect if they finished early, by not disturbing others. I was incredibly happy with all the results that pupils got. The tests will be coming back today, please look through them, sign the test on the front and then return them after the October break. 

Test Grade Class Breakdown:

15 children got 1’s
6 children got 2’s
1 child got a 3

Important Dates:

-          Monday 31^st October, Halloween day. Pupils are permitted to come to school in costume and the afternoon will be full of Halloween inspired activities.

-          Monday 31^st October – Friday 4^th November, English first check in.

Here is an overview of the areas of study we will focus on throughout the first week back:

English:

This week in writer’s workshop we will be looking at moving on from a draft to a revision, learning that a draft is only the second step in writing a wonderful story. Pupils will look back over their drafts and decide which one they would like to improve and revise.

Children are getting much better at noting important parts of their text now to talk about later. This week we will work on pupils being able to discuss a book they are reading with their reading partner.

Math:

This week will be spent introducing the new multiplication and division pathway. It will consist of various mini lessons that teach children several strategies for simple multiplication and division.

Science:

In science pupils will be continuing to learn about different countries around the world, we have been doing this by looking at a number of different aspects of countries and societies. This week pupils will compare the life of an average German person with the life of two other people from very different geographical and societal backgrounds.

Humanities:

Before the break pupils were introduced to a board game that encourages almost all of our character strengths we will play this again, building on what we discussed previously.

German:

Liebe Eltern der Chamäleon-Klasse,

 neben dem Lernwörtertest haben wir uns in dieser Woche auf die Förderung des Hörverständnisses  konzentriert. Die Schülerinnen und Schüler sind zusammen mit den Alsterdetektiven einem Lebensmittelskandal auf die Schliche gekommen.

Ich wünsche Ihnen und Ihrer Familie erholsame Ferien.

  

Herzliche Grüße

Agnes Fojcik

Sports:

We have now finished our endurance running unit in sports; I couldn’t believe that half the class were able to run without stopping for over 20 minutes! Amazing! We will be starting a team games unit after the October break. From now on we will stay indoors for sports therefore only indoor shoes are required.

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Sincerely,

Mario Civico and the entire Chameleon team.

Newsletter 07.10.16

Good Afternoon,

A few quick notes for you from the Chameleon class. 

Due to the holiday on Monday we have had slightly less lesson time for English writing and reading this week, however we have still achieved a lot.

Pupils were given a rubric in writers workshop. This is the rubric that I will using to assess children’s drafts and plans during the first check in, which will take place the week after the October break. Pupils have also looked at how writing a strong introduction can draw your reader into the story, in a powerful way.

Pupils also had the chance to go back into the library this week and I was thrilled to see how many children returned and took out books. I’m excited that reading is becoming a grounded part of the Chameleon class’s daily life.

In man the pupils did an amazing thing, I handed out the subtraction pathway on Tuesday and almost all pupils have now finished it on Friday! This means that on Monday we will do a couple of check-in quizzed to ensure that pupils have understood the work. Those pupils who have not finished by now will be required to catch up a little at home over the weekend. 

Important Dates:

-          13^th October, Math formal assessment.

Here is an overview of the areas of study we will focus on during the coming week:

English:

This week in writer’s workshop we will be looking at how an ending can be the most important part of a story. We will look at a variety of endings from different mentor texts and notice what they do to complete their story. This will be an important task that children will need to use for the first formal conference after the October break.

Children will continue to read a lot during the readers workshop sessions, however it is important that they are also making small notes about the books they are reading. Currently children are not doing this and then when it comes to share their thoughts on the books, they struggle to truly analyze an aspect. 

Math:

We have now spent all the class time that we can on the subtraction pathway, the majority of pupils have finished this. On Monday we will complete the subtraction check-ins which tie to this pathway. Next week we will be reviewing everything that has been covered in the first 5 weeks of school to ensure that pupils are ready for the assessment on Thursday.

Science:

Within science this week we will look again at capital cities briefly, thinking about how to organize a timeline and what could be an event in one city but not in another based upon the culture of the country and people who live in it.

We will then review everything studied up to this point, continents, religions, political styles and capital cities, ready for a brief check in quiz.  

Humanities:

Pupils will think about the idea of a growth mindset and think about how having this can help them in their everyday life.

Art:

This week children we will think about children’s dreams and they will take time to generate a list of the dreams they’ve been having recently.  

We will then start to look at a surrealist movement of artists and how that style could be used in their final project.

German:

Liebe Eltern der Chamäleon-Klasse,

in dieser Woche haben wir uns auf das Einüben der Lernwörter konzentriert sowie die wichtigsten Inhalte der Klassenarbeit wiederholt.

Der Lernwörtertest findet am Freitag, den 14. Oktober, statt. 25-30 der 40 Lernwörter werden in einen zusammenhängen 120-150 Wörter langen Text integriert. Dieser Text wird in Diktatform abgeprüft und im Gesamten bewertet. Somit fließen auch Fehler bei „Nicht-Lernwörtern“ in die Bewertung mit ein. Die Ergebnisse der Lernwörterdiktate fließen in die mündliche Note mit ein. 

Desweiteren haben die Schüler ihre Zugangsdaten für das Online-Portal Antolin erhalten. Dieses Portal zur Leseförderung ist unter https://www.antolin.de/ aufrufbar. Die Schülerinnen und Schüler sollen pro Monat mindestens ein deutschsprachiges, altersgerechtes Buch lesen und anschließend Fragen auf dem Portal beantworten. Im Anhang finden Sie weitere Informationen zur Nutzung von Antolin.

Herzliche Grüße und ein erholsames Wochenende

Agnes Fojcik

Sports:

In this coming week we will be completing our last endurance run session. Pupils will be pushing themselves and seeing what their max running time is.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mario Civico and the entire Chameleon team.

Newsletter 30.09.16

Good Afternoon,

A few quick notes for you from the Chameleon class. 

Children have been continuing to develop in all areas of the curriculum this week.

We were able to finish our addition pathway which lines up perfectly to fit the subtraction pathway into the next week. Once that has been completed children will have received all of the teaching that they get before the first formal assessment, this will take place on Thursday 13^th October, and will be based upon all the work covered up to this point. I’m confident in pupils’ abilities going into this assessment. 

Children have shown excellent development in their writing as they’ve been taking on the idea of ‘show, don’t tell’ I’m starting to see this emerge in their writing more and more. Once a child has mastered this skill their writing automatically steps up a level and it sounds far more effective and emotive. 

Children seemed to be incredibly interested in science this week, we looked at 5 major religions from around the world and their origins. The religions we looked at were Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism; children were fascinated to learn the differences between them. 

Important Dates:

-          13^th October, Math formal assessment.

Here is an overview of the areas of study we will focus on during the coming week:

English:

This week in writer’s workshop I will be handing out the formal assessment rubric that I will be using to assess children’s writing at the first check in phase. I will begin to conference with children for this formal assessment after the October break. During the conferences running up to the break I will be using the rubric in lesson conferences to help point pupils in the right direction with their writing.

Pupils will be pushing their reading further this week and we will be revisiting the library on Thursday to return and take out new books. I’m thrilled with how enthused about reading the majority of children in the class are.

Math:

We will be starting the subtraction pathway, focusing on the column method of subtraction and ensuring all pupils have a full understanding of how to borrow when subtracting. This is a key skill that many children often struggle with.

Science:

Within science we will be looking at three capital cities from different countries in different continents, these are Berlin, Tokyo and Sao Paulo. Children will investigate different images of the cities identifying the similarities and differences between them. Children will then apply their improved reading skills to discover and create a small fact file about each city.

Humanities:

Pupils will think about the idea of a growth mindset and think about how having this can help them in their everyday life.

Art:

This week children will begin to be reflective about their art work, they will take time to develop a rubric to assess minimalist pieces of art. Using that they will critique their pieces from last week and then finally create another, ideally, improved piece.

Sports:

Last week we ensured all students ran for 8 minutes without stopping. This week we will be pushing it to 10 minutes.

We will continue to work on our character strength of perseverance by working towards running at a steady pace for 10 minutes straight.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Sincerely,

Mario Civico and the entire Chameleon team.