NEW WEBSITE!

Hello everyone! Since printing and sending your summer letters, I have created a new website for our classroom this year! 

Visit https://sites.google.com/a/meapps.org/mrspbythesea/ to check things out. Please note that it is still very much "under construction". As our year begins, I will let you know when any major changes happen. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your summer! See you soon.

Mrs. Papagni

The Writing Process

In your child's Friday Folder, you may have noticed their Personal Narratives have finally made it home! (Side note: my apologies. These were meant to go home before winter break. They ended up in the wrong basket and got lost in the shuffle of January and February!)

We are SO proud of these pieces of writing, which took us most of Trimester 1 to complete. The process of writing we took was quite a journey, and not a simple one. To begin writing, students always brainstorm individually, and discuss with their peers. This can take some time, especially for these narratives which were personal accounts of a memorable time in their lives. 

Next, students work on drafting a timeline, a lead (to hook the reader), and the actual story. In the meantime, we discuss the importance of writing the "show version" instead of the "tell version". Have you ever read a story aloud to your child, perhaps a book with no pictures, and without even thinking, made a mental "movie" of the setting, characters, and events? That's because the story you read is the "show" version of the events. The author crafted his or her sentences so that you, as the reader, can see exactly what is happening in the story, down to the minute details. Oftentimes, stories allow you to use your 5 senses, which is the first step for some in crafting what we call "snapshots" in writing. Here's an example from the book Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest.

This blurb is a model example of descriptive writing. The goal during the writing process is for students to continuously add specific details so that their readers can make a mental movie in their mind while they read. 

At certain stopping points, students will begin to conference. There are two two types of conferences we run. During group conferences, one writer reads his or her writing to a group of 5-7 students, and the listeners (including me) ask questions and give feedback. During partner conferences, students work in pairs or groups of 3, and follow the same process. Throughout the whole process, students are constantly revising, rewriting, adding, removing, etc. The final product is one beautifully crafted, detailed, and descriptive piece of writing!

Scientist of the Week

I love this quote by Wendell Phillips: "Seldom was any knowledge given to keep, but to impart...". In the profession of teaching, as cliche as it may sound, I am a teacher and a learner every day. My students' creativity, ideas, and inquiry open my mind in new ways. To support this notion that students are also teachers, we have officially begun Scientist of the Week in Room 22! Each Wednesday, one scientist is chosen. He or she takes home the Scientist bag complete with the Scientist's journal, a lab coat, safety goggles, a magnifying glass, and an experiments book.

This person has one full week to choose an experiment (from the book/websites provided, or an idea of your own), practice the experiment at home, and complete a lab report. On Thursday, the student performs their experiment for the class! "Assistants" are welcome to attend the experiment, but the student must do the experiment from start to finish without any help. After the experiment is performed, another scientist is chosen!

This week's scientist showed us how polar and non-polar molecules don't mix by adding a multitude of liquid ingredients to a jar. 

This week, our scientist explained how vibrations on a glass can make loud sounds! This one is easy to try at home!

This week's scientist explained how oranges with a peel will float on water, and without a peel, the orange will sink to the bottom! 

Today's scientist showed us how water can travel directly down a string from one cup to another, without dripping. We were all wondering what other kinds of strings might work!

This week our scientist pushed a sharp stick through a balloon without popping it! 

Today, our scientist used water bottles, Lego pieces, and water to create a tornado in a bottle! This connected nicely to our recent discussions in science about extreme weather. 

This week, our scientist used baking soda and vinegar to blow up a balloon!

This week's scientist used the power of Carbon Dioxide to show us how to make dried cranberries "dance"! This is a great one to try at home.

Our first scientist showed us how oil, water, food coloring, and Alka seltzer tablets can make a lava lamp!