A Very Busy Winter

Happy Spring everyone!   We have been working very hard throughout the winter!  

As writing is this year's school wide initiative, our students have been spending a lot of time responding to writing prompts with text-based evidence.

   

According to research from Grant Wiggins, feedback on student work is critical to improvement.  Our students have become very savy at analyzing one another's writing, and providing "hot" and "cold" feedback. 

 Below you can see students engaging in peer editing.   

Here the students are working with a Journeys text.

Some of our students chose to enter a ClassDojo contest to design the next ClassDojo avatar.  An underlying theme in the classroom has been the idea of a growth mindset.  We believe that intelligence is not inherent, but something that can be acquired each and every day.  Mistakes are not viewed as failure, but as opportunities to improve.  Below you can see some examples of artwork, which has been improved upon through trial and error! 

We have just closed our unit on plant development.  It was interesting for the students to observe the plants' cycle of life from seed, to mature plant, and after cross-pollination, back to seeds again.
Below you see an integration of art and science, as the children construct models of bees and crucifers.

As the State Assessments begin next week, I am confident that our students will perform very well.  I have watched them improve and absolutely blossom before my very eyes.  I am so proud of their accomplishments.
Before we take any test, I always remind them that I don't need to wish them "good luck".  Luck is not the reason for their success, but all the time and hard work that they have put in throughout our days together.

 As always, please reach out if you would like to have a conversation.  Have a wonderful Spring season!

October

In Math, we are utilizing number lines as a learning tool to help with estimation.  

 Each student has a math buddy with whom they work with through the Problem Sets.  In this way, they are able to do the Homework problems independently, or with a parent.

 Improving writing skills is a district-wide initiative this year.  The students have been practicing critiquing one another's writing, providing feedback, and making changes accordingly.

We had some cultural enrichment in the form of latin dancing! Last Fun Friday, we spent the afternoon listening to different types Latin music, such as salsa, merengue, and bachata, and learning the steps that go with them.

Open House 2015

Welcome Parents to Open House 2015!!!

!Bienvenidos a todos los padres a la Casa Abierta 2015!!!

Hello to all Parents and welcome to Room 307! 

!Hola a todos y bienvenidos al Salón 307!  

Back to School Night

Welcome to Dual Immersion Grade 4!!!

Mrs. Driscoll gdriscoll@buffaloschools.org

Volver a la escuela

¡Bienvenidos a la Inmersión Dual Grado 4!!!

La Señora Driscoll gdriscoll@buffaloschools.org

Session one is from 6:30 - 6:50, Auditorium is at 7, and

Session two is from 7:30 - 7:50.

Thank you for coming to learn more about your child's education.  Here is some information on what to expect this year.

Classroom procedures: 

Language distribution is 50% English, and 50% Spanish.

I teach Math and English Language Arts (ELA) in English, and Science, Social Studies and Native Language Arts (NLA) in Spanish.

Procedimientos:

Distribución de idioma es 50% inglés y 50% español.

Doy clases de matemáticas y artes del lenguaje inglés (ELA) en inglés y ciencia, estudios sociales y artes de lenguaje nativo (NLA) en español.

Planting kale

Homework:

(required everyday Mon - Thurs) Homework including projects should be completed by the children with the support of the parents.

Tarea:

(se requiere a todos los días lunes - el jueves) Tarea incluyendo proyectos debe ser completada por los niños con el apoyo de los padres. 

Writing during ENL (English as a New Language) class

Communication:

Send a note, email, call school 816.3420, check the school website under Teacher Pages, check out my blog (www.driscollolmstead.blogspot.com).    

Comunicación:

Enviar una nota, correo electrónico, llamar a la escuela 816.3420, visitar el sitio web, visitar mi blog (www.driscollomsted.blogspot.com).

Expectations for work:

At Olmsted we expect the best work from students. If something has been taught previously, the children are expected to know and demonstrate it through their work.

Expectativas para el trabajo:

Olmsted esperamos los mejores trabajos de los estudiantes. Si algo ha sido enseñado anteriormente, los niños deben saber y lo demostraremos a través de su trabajo.

Fun Friday!

Discipline:

Class Dojo allows us to communicate through the app.

Disciplina:

Clase Dojo nos permite comunicarnos a través de la aplicación.

Our Last Hurrah!!

Greetings, Parents!  This will be my final post of the year.  I hope you've enjoyed this school year and are looking forward to the summer ahead of us!  I know I have enjoyed getting to know all of you and your wonderful children.

After the State Assessments were over, we were able to relax a little and learn just for the fun of it.  


Some of the highlights were:

The Day of the Child

Here we are practicing how to wire a closed electrical circuit:

Our trip to Penn Dixie was a great field trip.  You should consider visiting the site over the summer.  Here the students are digging for fossils in the quarry, which looked like the surface of the moon!

We raised butterflies from caterpillars, and set them free in the community garden  when they were ready.

 We had fun on the annual Walk-a-thon!

This was our last field trip.  We cruised aboard the Miss Buffalo, and then went for a walk to Canalside.

It has been a real pleasure teaching all of your children this year.  They are so bright and have so much potential.  I wish all my families the best as you move on to middle school.  May you have great success in whatever you may do!

Come back and visit us again.

And remember, "If we did the things we were capable of, we would astound ourselves". -Albert Einstein 

A very busy 3rd Quarter

We started the new year with a project that all the students enjoy, called "Write-Clicks".  This program integrates technology with English Language Arts skills as well as Social Studies content.  Each student has access to their own iPad.  They learned to cut and paste between two documents, to paraphrase the author's words and to cite an author.

Students learning their way around the app Comic Life 

The Dual Language teachers organized the Three King's Day/Día de los 3 Reyes in January.  Three of our own, Christopher, Abigail and Sydney had the honor of being the narrators of the play!  

The Fourth Grade choir sang songs in English and Spanish. Everyone had a part in the celebration.  Afterwards we shared some Puerto Rican dishes for our luncheon.

In Science we went into great depth in our study of buoyancy.  The students collaborated in hands-on projects and experiments.  We explored why objects seem to weigh less under water.  We compared the weights of objects in salt water vs. fresh water.

From there, we shifted gears to the study of erosion, weathering, rocks and minerals.  The students did an impressive job of acting as geologists and classifying a group of minerals into their own categories acording to texture, luster, weight, shape, color, etc.  We even found a rock so porous, it floated!

A rock that floats!

This group of geologists categorized their rocks into igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic.

In Social Studies we spanned from life in the 13 Colonies to the events that lead up to the Revolutionary War.




In Math, we are currently on Module #5 which is all about fractions.  You can brush up with your child by talking about equivilant fractions, i.e. 4/8=1/2.

Students using fraction manipulatives.

We illustrated the benchmark fractions in order to make comparing fractions easier.  

As you know, April is all about the State Assessments.  We have been practicing the skills and strategies that the children need to know all year, so you need not stress out over the tests.  Students do their best when they are well-rested and calm.  I am confident that everyone will shine like the star that they are!

When testing is over there will be some exciting field trips coming up.  I sent home a letter with dates, but if somehow it never managed to make it home, just go to my home page and you can find the list of events there.





Enjoy the Spring break with your families!

Best,
Mrs. Driscoll

Thank you for donating candy for our classroom basket!