Thursday

After finishing the second essay project, "How I Spend My Free Time," the kids are showing marked improvement in the organization of their Writing. They really stepped up to the plate when told the second essay needed to be "ten times" better than the first (which itself was pretty good for a start.) Most of the kids have become the "boss" of double-digit multiplication after weeks of practice, and they learned how to do an interview for their Familiy History Report project which isn't due until the end of January. I give the assignment before the break so some can choose to interview relatives they might see over the holidays. Some might want to take digital pictures for use in the project, and you might want to take a look at Voicethread.com on your home computer because the kids are learning to use it as a possible component of their Familiy History. I hope all of you have a terrific holiday season. Carry on!

Wednesday

No, those aren't former students doing their fifteen minutes of silent reading homework, but it sure looks like a great way to spend some free time even if the current weather forbids the swimsuits.

Speaking of "free time," that is exactly the topic for our latest Writing assignment. The kids are writing an essay on how they prefer to spend their free time. Today we finished up the prewrite part of the process where the focus is narrowed, a strong opening paragraph is started, and supporting paragraphs are outlined, and tomorrow we'll write the rough draft of the essay. We will work on adding details and examples that support their main idea.

For example, if my main idea is that I like to spend my free time reading at the beach, then I need a paragraph supporting that idea that includes what kinds or books or magazines I take with me to the beach. Maybe a second paragraph talks about or describes a particular beach that is well-suited to reading a favorite book.

Give a listen to "Grammar Girl" over in the right margin. She has an entertaining way of explaining writing tips with a new offering each week.

Wednesday Before Thanksgiving

Today the kids finished up their Thanksgiving cards and craft projects with their kindergarten buddies. They are pretty good at distinguishing proper from common nouns so you might ask them for some examples of each.
Have a happy Thanksgiving! See you on Monday.

Tuesday

Over five inches of rain has fallen already this month, and it's only half over! The kids checked our weather station in the library. Julia regularly brings the weather section of the Peninsula Daily News for the weekly forecasts, and we often check the weather in Las Vegas for some perspective.
This week we'll finish up the friendly letter project with the proper way to fold the letter and address the envelope. Later this year we'll learn how to write a business letter for another project in which the kids will receive some free materials from the American Quarterhorse Association.

Wednesday

Tea is a delightful afternoon beverage and one of the ways we wrap a week of hard work in Room 17. The fourth graders nearly filled one of my cupboards with all the tea boxes they've brought to school this year, and we may have to have more shelves installed if this keeps up! Did you know that tea comes in a peach flavor? Nice.
Parent/teacher conferences are next Monday and Tuesday and Veteran's Day is Wednesday. This Friday we will perform a song at the Vet's Day assembly and you are all welcome to attend. We might even save some tea! Now it's time to return to our lesson on common nouns.

Wednesday

Our class just finished up the final draft of the first essay: My Favorite Dessert, and we will have some of them displayed on the bulletin board soon. They did pretty well for the first major writing project.

Please return the blue slips confirming the parent/teacher conference for next month. It's only about two weeks out, and I'm looking forward to talking with you.

If you'd like to give your child a little extra Reading/Writing practice, ask them to identify the compound sentences in the blog post. That's one of the things we've worked on in the last few days.

Tuesday

The weather is cooling down, the rain has arrived, but it's nice and warm in Room 17 here at Franklin School. Take a look at this short video of Tracy Blume's band performing a Disney song and teaching the intermediate classes about jazz. Very nice!

We'll work on keyboarding this week and finish up the first essay titled "My Favorite Dessert." It looks we have some fine writers in Room 17 again this year, and some of the students have started to write their own summaries of news items for current events.

Thursday

One of "my" parents remarked yesterday that today (Thursday) is the kids' "Friday." Well, that's true in a way since tomorrow is a "Learning Improvement Day" for teachers. We'll be at the high school attending a presentation on motivating all students. It's the second in a series that began days before the start of school this year.

The kids did a great job with Picture Day, and everyone is looking forward to the "results." Without a doubt it was the smoothest photo session in recent memory. And, thank goodness for my observant colleagues. Having left the collar buttons undone, there was nearly a fashion error on my part.

Students are brining in lots of news items for our current events program and all the parent help with these items is greatly appreciated. Practicing reading the articles before presenting them in class is helping our kids learn to read as well as understand some of the events going on in the world. Thanks for your involvement. Now if we could get some of those mushroom and spider pics....

Open House

Tonight's Open House for Franklin's fourth and fifth grades starts at 6:00 PM. We'll meet in the gym for a few minutes and then meet in Room 17. I hope to meet all of you tonight. There will be tea!

Friday

Walking into the classroom from lunch recess, I found the fourth graders singing Taylor Swift’s “Love Story”. The next day it was “Whitehorse,” also by TW. Who says the record industry is in trouble? It's going to be an interesting year!

The kids are doing well and have started their Photostory projects. Several have recorded their voices to go with their self-portraits. We'll have a look at some of them next Thursday at Back to School Night. Hope to see you there.

Today's barbecue was the best we've had here at Franklin and the burgers were very tasty.

Tuesday

Tuesday in Room 17. Yes, that is a sentence fragment, but we'll work on that later this month along with run-on sentences and paragraphing.

The kids just started work on an exciting tech project that's new this year. To go along with their self-portraits (great job on these, by the way) they are writing a short biography. We'll make some digital photos of the portraits and then "put" them in the computer on a program named "Photostory." We hope to have some projects to show on "Back to School Night," which happens for fourth and fifth grade classes on Thursday, October 1st.

Today's bonus question: What are the nicknames for the five Pacific Salmon species?

Current Read Aloud: Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl. It's all about the harrowing and humorous experiences of a Fox family apparently at the mercy of three very mean farmers.

Recommended book for parents and other adults: Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon. Dense but accessible crime drama set c. 1970.

I'll see you tomorrow in Room 17 at Franklin Elementary School. If you don't have one, you can pick out a silent reading book from our classroom library. We'll get started reading right at 8:05 AM. Below is the newsletter I'll send home with the students tomorrow afternoon. See you tomorrow!

Room 17 Report
Mr. Burnett's Class Franklin School Room 17
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September 3, 2009

Dear Fourth Grade Student and Parents/Guardian:

I want to welcome you to the fourth grade and let you know that I am looking forward to having you in my class this year. You will have an enjoyable and productive year in our room!

You will need to have a book for silent reading at 8:10 each day. You may bring a book from home or find one in our classroom collection.

Since we believe that education is serious business, please do not bring any toys to school because they interfere with learning. Here are other rules you will be expected to follow:

1. Follow directions the first time they are given.
2. Stay in your seat unless given permission to leave
it.
3. Raise your hand and wait to be called on before
speaking.
4. Turn in all assignments on time.

HOMEWORK: Students are responsible for handing their homework in on time. Homework is due the following day and needs to be placed in the correct assignment box before the second bell when school starts. Homework generally consists of unfinished daily assignments, and I ask the students to read for at least fifteen minutes each evening. Occasionally, there will be homework projects that require more than one day to complete, and for these assignments I will give the students a due date.

WHEN ASSIGNMENTS ARE DUE: Assignments are usually due the morning after they are assigned. If the assignment is not handed in, the student receives a 0 in the grade book for that assignment, so it is very important that all assignments are completed and turned in on time. Nothing lowers a report card grade faster than missing assignments. If a student is absent, he/ she will have at least two days to make up the assignments after checking with me to see which assignments to make up.

GRADING: No student will receive failing marks on their report card if their assignments are turned in on time and they are trying to do the assignments to the best of their ability. I will present more details on the new report card as they become available to me.

You will earn good grades as long as you listen well in class, follow directions the first time, and complete and turn in assignments on time.

HANDING ASSIGNMENTS BACK: Assignments and papers are returned to the student’s “mail box.” Students are responsible for getting their “mail” and taking it home to show their parents/ guardians. I encourage you to keep assignments rather than throw them away, at least through the end of the trimester. The projects, like the “Family History Report,” you will probably want to keep forever.

I hope some of your questions and concerns about this year have been answered in this letter. You can also check our Franklin website by accessing the Port Angeles School District website. Good communication will help each student succeed in fourth grade. Please contact me with any other questions and concerns.


Sincerely,
Mr. Burnett (565-1853)

PARENTS/GUARDIANS: Please see me if you are interested in volunteering in the classroom this year.

School starts on September 3, 2009, and that is a Thursday. See you in Room 17 at Franklin School.

The Phone Message

WASL Over

After two weeks the WASL is finished. The kids worked very hard on all parts of this major fourth grade assessment, and attendance was excellent. Now we can move forward to group projects with a multi-media computer program called Photostory which allows kids to make a slide show with narration, pictures and music. That's one of our students in the photo above demonstrating the proper way to take a phone message. The picture will become part of her slide show project.

Technology Day 1

Science Night at Franklin

A few weeks ago we had a "Science Night" here at Franklin Elementary School and it was a big success. You can get an idea about what it was like from the video courtesy of Peninsula Daily News.Just go to the Peninsula Daily News website, find "video" in the tool bar, and scroll down to "Franklin Science Night."

Welcome back after what I hope has been a great Spring Break. Even the weather feels springlike today as we dive into finishing essays about life at Franklin Elementary School and learning more about long division and probablity. We had a terrific field trip to Port Townsend to see the Marinie Lab and participate in lessons about sound underwater and orcas (Killer Whales.) Both were very good, and the kids handled a long bus ride with ease and a demonstrated sense of joy...how many times did we sing the "Chicken Song?" On a more serious note: The WASL begins next week!

Young Writer's Conference

Franklin students and parent helpers walked to Peninsula College yesterday and participated in sharing sessions, writing workshops, and a book-making project. It was an exciting event, and more than a few students and adults remarked that the day went by very fast. It was a thrill to hear our students read some of their creative writings, and students from across the peninsula learned to listen and comment on the various stories and essays written by their peers. Many thanks to our parent helpers for supporting our efforts to build a student writing community.

Next Week is a Busy One!

Report cards go home next week and our field trip is Wednesday, March 25th (also next week.)

Friday

Last night's "Science Night" was a big success with community scientists and teachers exhibiting amazing activities and displays. Among the exhibits was a large display under glass of various large and colorful bugs. High school teacher Coke Smith must have one of the largest collections in the world, and that's a lot of bugs! Another exhibit also had "bugs" but you had to look through a microscope to see them; they were really small! For me, Mr. Burnett, the best part was seeing so many Franklin students and parents having a fun and educational evening at our school. Have a good weekend!