Our 4th graders created some amazing Passion Projects and they turned out fantastic! We hope you got to enjoy walking around the gallery on Friday, but if you missed it–here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

Greetings 4th Grader & Parents/Guardians!

It is finally starting to feel like fall outside and we are getting into a groove here in 4th grade inside. We have been very busy 4th graders over the past month.  

I am very excited to share some news with you all. My husband Pat and I are expecting our first child at the end of February. I am sharing this big news with the class today, I imagine they will all be a buzz when they come home. I plan to take 6 weeks of maternity leave from the end of February until April or early May. Ms. Burke will begin the search for an amazing long term substitute later this fall. We will keep you updated with this process.   

Here are some things happening in our classroom:

In math we finished unit 1 and took our assessment this  week. I will send home assessments today next week. We focused on building our mathematician minds, place value, estimation, addition, subtraction, and geometry in unit 1. We will begin unit 2 which focuses on multiplication next week

In writing we are continuing our narrative unit and focusing on writing personal narratives. We have learned to write using a storyteller’s voice. We will work on writing leads and endings next week.  

In reading we are reviewing story elements such as characters, character traits, setting, and plot. We have spent a great deal of time learning about making good book choices and what to do when we are stuck on a word. We are enjoying our first whole class read aloud, Wonder.  We will beginning discussing theme next week.  

In science are first unit is Energy. We have explored energy sticks and wondered how they work. We have also reviewed circuits and what makes a light bulb light up.

Reminder: There is no school on October 18 & 19. Have a wonderful 4 day weekend!

Please feel free to contact me at rebecca.ford@colchestersd.org , with any questions or concerns. Also, check out our class blog at fordsfriends159.edublogs.org. Finally,  follow me on Twitter @FordGoes4th.  

Your Teacher,

Mrs. Ford

Ford’s Friends had such a great time at Shelburne Farms today! From the chicken parade, milking cows, grooming donkeys, a story hike, and so much more! Thank you so much to all the chaperones who joined our trip to make it a huge success. Check out some of the fun we had today!

Wow! I can’t believe we have already finished our first two weeks at school! We have been so busy getting to know each other and reminding ourselves about the school expectations. Ford’s Friends have done an awesome job reviewing ways to be Safe, Respectful, and Responsible in the classroom, cafeteria, hallway, bathroom, and on the bus. This year kids are earning fish tokens for demonstrating positive behaviors in all settings, ask your child about some of the tokens they have earned this week.

In addition to practicing expectations, we have spent a lot of time getting to know each other and building a community of friends and learners in our class. A few of the activities we did last week were self portraits, puzzle pieces showing our strengths, a friend scavenger hunt,  and the Save Fred Challenge!

This week we began math by doing a series of lessons to build our mathematical mindsets and think about math in a variety of ways. We set goals for 4th grade and took a few beginning of the year assessments. We also enjoyed being scientists by observing our class caterpillar and chrysalis. Next week we will add reader’s and writer’s workshop!  

Here is our Unified Arts schedule for the 1st quarter. We have Unified Arts at 8:50 every morning, so it will be very important for students to be on time.  

I am so impressed with all students already and am excited to see what this year has to offer! Please feel free to contact me at rebecca.ford@colchestersd.org , with any questions or concerns. Also, check out our class blog at fordsfriends159.edublogs.org. Finally,  follow me on Twitter @FordGoes4th.  

Your Teacher,

Mrs. Ford

Check out all the fun we had at Field Day on Friday! Ford’s Friends really rocked their first ever Field Day! We can’t wait for more end of the year fun!

End of the Year Events:

• Friday June 1st 2:00 – 2:45 — Lighthouse 4th’s Cardboard Arcade
• Wednesday, June 6th Field Trip to Ben & Jerry’s and Rock of Ages
• Thursday, June 7th Field Trip to the Vermont State House
• Tuesday, June 12th Field Trip to Shelburne Museum
• Wednesday, June 13th Fun Day at Bayside Park
• Friday, June 15th 11:55 BBQ at MBS
• Tuesday, June 19th Last Day of School!

I can’t believe the year is almost over! 4th grade has been such a blast this year. Thank you for your continued support!

Ford’s Friends are officially halfway through SBAC testing. All kids worked so hard on both math assessments. I am so impressed with the growth mindset that they showed. Next week we will take the English Language Arts assessments on Tuesday and Thursday. There will be no homework again, so please use the time to relax and play.

Thank you again to all families who came to our Passion Project Presentations! The kids worked so hard and were so happy to share their learning. Here is a slideshow of all the Ford’s Friends fantastic projects.

It is officially my FAVORITE time of year in 4th grade. Passion Projects! Ford’s Friends have been working extra hard the past 2 weeks. After choosing a topic, kids researched using library books and online sources to become experts. They did so much reading, note taking, and organizing information. It has been wonderful watching all of our learning on informational reading and writing put to action. This week most kids began writing the first draft of their report. I was away from class most of this week so it has been great to see what our 4th graders can do independently. Spoiler alert: it is amazing!

On Thursday all kids planned what their final project would be and came up with a list of materials they will need. Many kids said they were bringing materials from home. Please check in with your student and any materials and supplies should be sent in to school on Monday, March 26th. School is also providing materials so please do not stress about finding poster board or clay. Kids can work on a project at home, however they will need part of their project done at school. We will be spending all literacy time next week on projects.

The whole Lighthouse 4th grade will be presenting our passion projects next Friday, March 30th from 9:00-10:00 am.  Students will be spread out in all four of the lighthouse 4th grade classrooms.  We hope you can come and check out their hard work.

We are also so excited to watch the movie “Wonder!” After reading the book together this past fall we have really focused on choosing kindness in our classroom.

Greetings 4th Grader & Parents/Guardians!

The first month of 2018 has been one of the most busy yet. We spent the first couple of weeks with mixed up schedules and it feels great to finally be back into a routine.

In math we finished up unit 4 which focused on multiplication. We spent a few days reviewing strategies for basic facts then moved into multiplying larger numbers. We learned two strategies for multiplying large numbers, the area model and partial products.  We took our unit 4 assessment this week. Next week we will start unit 5 which focuses on fractions.

In writing we are enjoying our new unit on Informational writing. We are doing this unit with Mrs. Carney’s class. Last week we spent time planning our first piece. To focus on organization and structure of informational writing, the first piece will be from information from our background knowledge. We are working on writing complete paragraphs, this week we focused on topic sentences

In reading we loved finishing up our unit of Greek Mythology. Ford’s Friends had the best time putting on our play “The Trojan Horse.” Kids worked so hard whether they had a speaking role or worked on the set. I was so impressed with the amount of teamwork and creativity our class put into the performance. Thank you to all the parents who came to support our class.

Last week we began our study of informational texts in reading. We identified nonfiction text features and learned strategies for making sure we are reading all the information the author is trying to teach us. This week we focused on identifying the main idea  and supporting details.  

During social studies we have also been working with Mrs. Carney’s class. We spent most of December and January focusing on Vermont history and geography. This week we made posters teaching about Vermont state symbols. Next week we will begin our next science unit, Land and Water.

Due to an icy playground we have had a few weeks of indoor recess, which is challenging for friends. However we are stilling working hard to follow classroom expectations. We even filled our token jar! The Friends voted to forgo a reward this time so we can have a DOUBLE reward when we fill it again. We are working to earn tokens so our class can have a blanket and pillow fort day AND a movie and popcorn. Please remind kids to keep following expectations to earn this awesome reward!

A few reminders:

• Library day is Monday. Please remind kids to bring books on Monday.
• P.E. is Tuesday and Thursday, kids need sneakers those days, but please send indoor shoes everyday.
• Please send kids in layers. It can get warm in the classroom, but we will continue to go outside for breaks when we can.

 Thank you for supporting your students in their learning.  Please feel free to contact me at rebecca.ford@colchestersd.org ,  with any questions or concerns.

Your Teacher,

Mrs. Ford