Tour of the States

Attached is a link to the "Tour of the States" song by Renald Francoeur. I shared this song with the class earlier this year and they loved it! It's a great way to learn our country's states and capitals. I gave the class a challenge to memorize the lyrics by the end of the year.  Let's see who is up for the challenge!

https://youtu.be/_E2CNZIlVIg

The Lyrics for Tour the States by Renald Francoeur 

I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour First, I'm gonna see Nashville, Tennessee Then Madison, Wisconsin, is where I gotta be, yeah Then I'll take a plane Well actually I'm afraid to fly, so I think I'll take the train Let's go! Going to Trenton, New Jersey; Frankfurt, Kentucky Maybe take a trip to Jackson, Mississippi Let's see what they can show me in Jefferson City, Missouri Santa Fe, New Mexico; Denver, Colorado Boise, Idaho, I love it every time that I go In 1492, he sailed the ocean blue, but next week I'll see Columbus in Ohio Grab a little sunshine in Tallahassee, Florida Take a bite out a peach in Atlanta, Georgia I've never been to Carson City, in Nevada, or Lincoln, Nebraska You can catch me in Phoenix, Arizona, or Sacramento, California, yeah St. Paul, Minnesota, maybe, Juneau, Alaska, yeah I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour Boston, Massachusetts; Concord, New Hampshire Going to Vermont for Montpelier Montgomery, Alabama, then Washington D.C., to see the nation's capital Aloha to Honolulu, Hawaii Des Moines, Iowa, so peaceful to me Going to Springfield, Illinois, to build a little house on a prairie In Little Rock, Arkansas, I love what I saw Going back to Dover, Delaware, ‘cause I want more Indianapolis, Indiana, and Hartford, Connecticut, need an encore Smelling pine trees in Augusta, Maine I like Topeka, Kansas, I'm glad that I came But I've never been to Salt Lake City, in the Utah, or Richmond, Virginia Going to see Bismarck, North Dakota, and Charleston, West Virginia, yeah Annapolis, Maryland, maybe Lansing, Michigan, yeah Helena, Montana; Columbia, South Carolina Got to go to Pierre, South Dakota, yeah, follow if you wanna I'll be eating a banana in Baton Rouge, Louisiana Schedule that on my planner Friends say I gotta come sooner to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma So I guess I'm gonna But first I'm going to Cheyenne, Wyoming, then party in Raleigh, North Carolina Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, can't think of a rhyme for Pennsylvania So I'm skipping to Salem, Oregon, then Austin, Texas And then maybe Albany, New York, for breakfast Providence, Rhode Island, was a blast, and, Olympia, Washington, was just the best-est I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on tour without a care I want to take a little trip somewhere, yeah Places I've never been, yeah Going on a tour, tour, tour

Dear Families,

     We were very busy in room 306 this week.  The class loved sharing their realistic fiction writing with parents and teachers at our writing celebration on Tuesday. Thank you for all for coming! Next week we start a new writing unit on persuasive writing.

      In math we finished unit 2 on Multiplication. We also practiced completing 50 math facts in 3 minutes. Thank you for encouraging multiplication practice at home. Those who have mastered their multiplication facts will move on to division. Next week we will start unit 3 on fractions. 

     For all of you who have students in Chorus and Orf, the winter concert is next Thursday, December 14 at 6:30 in the YES Gym.  Performers meet in the music room at 6:15.  I can't wait to hear them perform!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend. I see snow in the forecast!

Best,

Laura

Homework 11/27-12/1

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hi Families,

Today we ended the day with a "Mini Mayflower" STEM challenge. The students had to design and build a ship that would float in water and carry as many pennies as possible without sinking. They could only use tinfoil, straws, popsicle sticks, tape, a flash card, and pipe cleaners.  

Here are the results:

Taylor, Katya, and Nazmiya's boat: 100 pennies

Madison, Imogen, Lizzie, and Lydia's boat: 71 pennies

Josh, Reed, and Sammy's boat: 60 pennies

Grace, Natalie, and Olive's boat: 40 pennies

Sawyer, Aidan, and Joey's boat: 40 pnnies

Sergio, Max, and Jude's boat: 23 pennies

They all worked hard and I was very impressed with their creativity.

I wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! 

Warmly.

Laura

Maine State Museum and The State House Field Trip

Hello Families,

We had such a fun day on our field trip to Augusta today. Thank you to the parents who helped chaperone the trip! I heard a few students say this was the best field trip they have ever been on.

We started our visit to Augusta with a tour of the State Capital Building. The student's enjoyed visiting the House of Representatives Chamber and actually sitting in the representative's chairs.

At the museum we listened to a presentation on the importance of iron.  The students learned what temperature iron ore must be to melt and got to help make a widget. They enjoyed viewing each exhibit in the museum and learning about Maine's history, resources, and nature. Make sure to ask your child what they learned. You can also check out their seesaw post to read what they had to say about the field trip.

Have a great night!

Best,

Laura

Homework-week of 11/13/17

Hi Families,

We had a blast in room 306 this week! Here are just a few things we worked on:

-Factor Bingo

-Area and Perimeter robots

-Reading The Young Man And The Sea

-Editing and revising our realistic fiction stories

-Explaining our thinking in math

-Veteran's Day discussion- Each students shared a Veteran they know and we discussed the reason why we have this day off from school.

Wednesday, November 15 is our field trip to the Maine State Museum in Augusta. Remember to pack your child a lunch and a snack.  If you volunteered to chaperone, please email me to confirm that you are still available. I also need to know if you're taking the bus or driving on your own.

It is getting cold outside! Now that temperatures are below 40 degrees I wanted to remind you to send your child in with a jacket or sweatshirt  and pants to school.  Students can not wear t-shirts and shorts outside for recess.  

Starting next week I will be posting homework on the classroom blog. This way you can check in with your child to make sure they're completing their assignments.

Have a fantastic long weekend!

Best,

Laura

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Thank you for attending our recent parent/teacher conference

Hello families,

It was a short week, but we got a lot done! This week we reviewed factors and multiples in math and practiced multiplication facts with a new game galled "Multiplication ladders". The students are continuing to draft their realistic fiction stories and beginning to edit and revise their writing. In reading we finished our classroom read aloud, Chasing Vermeer and discussed characters and character traits.

I wanted to thank you all for attending our recent parent/teacher conference this week. I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me, and I hope that our conference was able to provide you with some valuable insight into your child’s progress in school. I look forward to our continued partnership throughout the remainder of the school year.

This week a permission slip went out for our upcoming field trip to the Maine State Museum in Augusta on Wednesday, November 15. Please sign and return those forms if you haven't already.  

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me.

Best,

Laura

Good Morning Families!

We had an exciting week in room 306. Students enjoyed reading their new books from the book fair, decorating our classroom pumpkin, and starting Unit 2 on multiplication and Words Their Way during word study. Not to mention the excitement of a dark classroom when the lights were out on Wednesday morning.

Next week we start the week off with a field trip to the Portland Symphony Youth Concert on Monday.  We will leave just after 9:00 a.m. and should be back around 11:00, just in time for lunch. 

Remember to continue encouraging your child to practice their multiplication facts at home!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Best,

Laura

Sign up for Seesaw

Dear Families,

This year we are using Seesaw to share and communicate with families! Your child will post to Seesaw to share their learning. I'll also use Seesaw to send you messages and reminders. Seesaw is private; you'll only see posts created by your child.

Please Sign Up Now

1. Click on this link: https://app.seesaw.me/s/203-155-292
2. Choose your child from the list
3. Create your account
4. Once I approve you, you can see content from your child

After you sign up, download the free Seesaw Family app and sign in. You can also access Seesaw from a computer at https://app.seesaw.me.

Thank you for supporting your child's learning!

Laura Frost

P.s. If you used Seesaw last year or have more than one child using Seesaw, follow the link above, then click the 'Sign in' tab at the top of the screen. You do not need to create a new account.

Scholastic book order

Hi families!

Today I sent home a scholastic book order form. If you're interested in buying books please place your order by Friday, October 6.  If you choose to order online, my class code is LL437. Every book you order earns our class points towards new books for our classroom library! There is also a YES book fair coming up. The dates of the book fair are Monday, Oct. 23- Friday, Oct.27.

Thank you!

First Week of School

Hello Parents,

We had a fantastic first week of school! I loved hearing each student share their "brown bag" item, which told me a little  more about them. The students have been busy writing about their hopes and dreams for 4th grade.  On Friday we ended the day with a fun math game called Multiplication Squares! 

I wanted to make you aware of the papers that went home in your child's red folders ttis week. The students received a reading log along wth this year's reading homework expectations.  Please read over these notices with your child.

Tuesday afternoon there was a band demonstration for students to see, hear and learn about each instrument offered at YES.  There will be more information to come this week. 

Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.

Thank you,

Laura Frost

Dear Students,

                My name is Mrs. Frost and I am very excited about having you in my class this year! Over the summer I moved to Maine from Boston, Massachusetts. I had a blast camping, exploring Portland, and moving into my new home.  

This year we are going to have a lot of fun and of course we will learn a lot! I hope you had a fantastic summer and I can’t wait to hear all about it. To make your transition to a new class a little easier, YES is having an Open House at school before the school-year school begins.

When: Thursday, August 31, 9:30-10:30 a.m.

Where: Our classroom, room 306

Who: You, your classmates and some of your family members

What: Check out the classroom, meet friends

Want to know a little more about me? Here are a few of my favorite things:

Color: blue

Food: pasta

Movie: Grease

Season: Fall

Hobbies: reading, cooking, and hiking

Things to do: Traveling and spending time with family

I am looking forward to meeting you and learning about all of your favorite things this year! See you soon!

                                                                

Your Teacher,

Mrs. Frost

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