This will be a brief post since I met with so many of you this week and will meet with the rest of you next week!  I don't want to be repetitive...

We are wrapping up both our reading and writing units in the next 2 weeks. I am impressed with the volume of writing I have seen, and I love seeing the character development in the stories. The students are working hard to think deeply about the characters in their books, and they are developing theories and searching for lessons -- not easy work when you are 9!

We are having a lot of fun with our data unit, but it will be over by the end of next week. Then we start the big stuff -- getting into more difficult multiplication and division. Keep your eye out for a family letter with suggestions for how you can support at home.  This is a big turning point!

We are still having a lot of fun with our VT Geography unit, but the kids have learned most of what they need to know. Now for the fun stuff -- we had the Giant Vermont Map visit this week, and next week we will do an outdoor version that is similar. We will end the unit with candy maps on Halloween.

We enjoyed our visit to the solar array and the Essex Hydro Dam. The kids asked some good questions and I can tell they are thinking hard about what humans are doing to our planet by making electricity. We have discussed which resources are renewable and which are not. Next we will begin researching various types of electricity generation and the pros and cons of each.

We continue to work on kindness and smooth transitions. I see growth every day, and we are laughing a lot and enjoying our classroom community.

I loved meeting with you this past week and discussing your children. I look forward to seeing the rest of you next week!

Enjoy the long weekend together.