News and Notes 10/4

News and Notes

From Fourth Grade

Welcome!

This week the Simonds School family welcomed the larger Warner community for our annual Open House.  What a great time of sharing and connecting!  The fourth graders were extremely enthusiastic to prepare for the big event.  They wrote letters to their families and were very particular in the staging of their classroom.  It is great to see the ownership that these students have of their classroom and school!  We had a wonderful turn out and the night just flew by.  We recognize that it is not convenient or easy to get the family out the door in the evening, so a big thanks to all those who took the time and energy to participate in Open House! 

The TEST

October brings with it the changing leaves, the Fall Foliage Festival, and for the kids at Simonds School, NECAP testing.  The NECAP test is a standardized test designed to assess how students are doing in meeting the state standards in mathematics and reading.  The next two weeks the fourth graders will demonstrate their knowledge of last year’s curriculum.  This testing requires good attention and effort from the students.  There are very specific regulations about how the test is to be administered, and the students always do a great job of following the directions for the “testing zone.”  In light of the fact that our minds will be stretched and pushed during the testing, the fourth graders will not be receiving any official homework for the next two weeks.  Instead they will bring home a list of suggested activities that will help them stay healthy, positive, and excited during this testing season.  Having a “can-do” attitude is key on the NECAP test, and we have been working hard over the past few weeks to prepare the students and brainstorm different strategies that will help them feel comfortable and be successful with their test.  This is their chance to show off all their great third grade learning, and the hope is that they will rise to the challenge, be proud of their work, and maybe even enjoy themselves along the way!

Patterns Are Everywhere!

We began our second “topic” in mathematics this week.  After completing our first unit on multiplication and division concepts, the fourth grade mathematicians were eager to jump into a new realm of math - patterns.  We began our study by looking at repeating patterns.  We discovered that repeating patterns are everywhere: in shapes, in numbers, in spelling, and in nature.  Being able to look at math like a puzzle to be figured out can turn it into a kind of game, and these fourth graders certainly enjoyed these games!  There were some repeating patterns that stumped us for a bit, but working together we were able to discern the essential characteristics of the pattern and then predict which elements would come next in the sequence.