Landstown Mind Vine

The results from the second Virginia Math League Contest in grades 3, 4, & 5 are in!  The following students were the top performers on this contest…

 Grade 3: (Remember that third graders are completing the 4th grade contest–impressive!)

 3^rd Place: Amara C, Anna B, and Releina A

 2^nd Place: April S 

1^st Place: Neo D

 Grade 4:

 3^rd Place: Alyvia N & Jane K

 2^nd Place: Jordan L, Paul S & Kriselle M

 1^st Place: Samantha C

 Grade 5:

 3^rd place- Thomas A & Justine A

 2^nd place-Micah N, Lorenzo F & Jeffrey P

 1^st place- Tyler M

The third practice contest will be held in mid-March and the official contest will be held in early June.

Things are getting very exciting in the Word Masters Meets!  There were many high scores in 5th grade (Carey Y scored a 19/20!).  Some first place winners are holding their rank while many previous winners have slipped and others are working their way up the rankings.  Anything could happen in the third and final meet!  The champion for the grade level for the year will be determined by the individual with the most accumulated points, so everyone needs to study hard and be well prepared for the third and final meet in April.

Here are the results for Meet #2…

Grade 3

3rd Place:  Ruth T & Jasmine R

2nd Place:  Jared S.

1st Place:  Ciara G & Reese Yeatman

Grade 4

3rd Place:  Sarah M.

2nd Place:  Jalen B & Courtney H

1st Place:  Kriselle M

Grade 5:

3rd Place:  Ariana B, Pauline D, Jeffrey P & Thomas A

2nd Place:  Ashley J, Asheton V, Nick B, Angela G & Tyler M

1st Place:  Carey Y

Some students in Ms. Haberdash’s class recently engaged in a study of Junior Great Books.  This literature series involves students in multiple readings of the story to allow for a greater depth of understanding of the text.  Students explore vocabulary used in the story, formulate questions about the text and then participate in a shared inquiry discussion which is like a discussions adults in a book group might have.  If you hear your child saying things like, “I’d like to add on to what you just said…” or “I disagree with you because I believe…” then they’re using the conversation skills that a Junior Great Books discussion encourages!

Students began to grapple with understanding that any issue will likely have a variety of stakeholders (someone who has something to gain or lose in a given situation) with conflicting viewpoints.  Students first considered the hypathetical situation of only upper grades being served pepperoni pizza for lunch due to budget cuts.  Though they were up in arms initially, they came to see that there were many viewpoints to consider.  Later students read an adapted article in which President Obama advocates for a longer amount of time in school for kids.  They again had to consider all of the stakeholders, their opinions and the possible outcomes in such a situation.

Students continue to work on their problem solving and communication skills when working through Math Exemplars.  They also have opportunities to test out of regular math content and then work on Math Extensions.  Most recently they have been involved in designing and carrying out scientific experiments and will soon return to a close study of their theme, SYSTEMS.

STUDENTS IN MS. CUTHBERTSON’S CLASS have been hard at work on the writing process.  Guided by criteria on a rubric, they have completed persuasive writing and steps in a process tasks.  Students are learning to back up their opinions with detailed reasons and to create clear and consise explanations.  They’ve also engaged in peer and self-evaluations of their writing.

The class continues to work with the William and Mary Unit Journeys and Destinations.  They’ve completed their reading of The Green Book and are now working on research to determine the best means of preserving memories: traditional or modern.  They’ve even written an e-mail to an expert at Old Dominion University to get his perspective on the issue!

Ms. Cuthbertson’s students continue their study of challenging vocabulary through participation in Word Masters.  Results for Meet 2 can be found here among the latest posts.  The third and final list of words should be arriving any day now which will give students a total of 75 words to work with on the final meet as they compete to determine who will be the Word Masters champ for the year!

STUDENTS IN MS. MYERS’ CLASS continue to work on Math Exemplars and the M3 math program every Friday.  Recently they were given four samples of student work (from another schools) and asked to determine what rating each sample received from the teacher based on the Math Exemplars rubric.  This helped to familiarize them with the rubric that would be used to evaluate their work and to see what went into an outstanding product.

These students have also been working on two different tasks.  In one task, they have been asked to use their knowledge about simple machines to try to solve the mystery of the construction of the Great Wall of China.  Taking into consideration the terrain, the materials and tools available, how did the Chinese create this amazing structure?  To complete this task, students have had to think like builders and historians.

The second task students have been engaged in is the creation of an information product about the explorers.  Using a variety of sources students will first research to find information to create a poster using the computer program Glogster.  Next they will create an informational brochure that includes highlights about their individual explorer’s motivations, sponsors, successes and hardships.  Their brochure will include a glossary, bibliography and  some higher level questions to get people to think about exploration.

Students recently had a visitor, Mr. Marcia, come from NASA to discuss moon phases and other features of astronomy.  In coming weeks, some of the students in Ms. Myer’s class will also be studying the exciting Red Wolf Unit.  More on that soon!

Students in Ms. Saunders’ class continue their study of  challenging vocabulary through Word Masters.  You can find the results for Meet 2 here among the latest posts.  The third and final word list should be here any day now.  Students will be responsible for 75 words on the final meet as they compete to find out who will be the Word Masters Champ for the year!

The fourth grade cluster class has also been exposed to the biographies of several famous people who had various obstacles to overcome on their path to success.  They have completed a Junior Great Books story and Math Exemplars.  As in other grades, the students have been focusing on clear and detailed explanations in the communication of their problem solving process and their answer.

The most exciting news from the fourth grade cluster is their use of the Creative Problem Solving process to address an authentic challenge right here in the school.  Building on the data and research of students from last year, this year’s fourth graders have been working to solve the following challenge: How might we efficiently educate and motivate the Landstown Community to properly recycle. 

To gather data about this challenge, Ms. Saunders’ students interviewed Mr. Anderson and the custodians, created an electronic survey to get feedback from staff and students throughout the school, skyped with students at Creeds Elementary where they have a very successful recycling program, solicited information from experts in the community and did internet research. 

After using criteria to determine the best solutions to this challenge, they are now in the process of writing a proposal to Mr. Anderson to implement a schoolwide recycling program that they will oversee and hope will have a long-lasting impact.  We love how the work students are doing with this challenge is directly connected to our theme of Relationships and to the big ideas of interdependence that we learned about in the River Adventure Unit.  We’ll be sharing more information about our recycling efforts and an upcoming exploration of M3 math materials soon!

STUDENTS IN MY SYKES’ CLASS continue to work on the William and Mary unit Persuasion.  They have completed novel studies of literature from Japanese American and African American cultures and will soon begin reading a book  from Hispanic American culture.  All of these novels cover the big ideas of change and persuasion.  

Recently these students took a very close look at a most persuasive primary source document: The Declaration of Independence.  Using Paul’s Reasoning Wheel, they considered the stakeholders, perspectives, assumptions, and more of those effected by this document.  It was very interesting to see the level of engagement and the sophistication of understanding the children had of a rather complicated text!   

Having just finished writing and delivering persuasive speeches in the character of a famous loyalist or patriot added perspective and meaning to the students’ reading of the Declaration.  Ms. Sykes worked with students to guide them through researching the arguments for and against the inevitable Revolution .  After they understood both sides of the issues, they chose a person to investigate more closely and then wrote a speech from his or her perspective.  Through the speeches, students demonstrated an understanding of the issues, a sense of voice and a good bit of theatrical flare!  Some of the students even visited Ms. Cuthbertson’s class to share their speeches and model the art of persuasion.

Ms. Sykes’ class also continues their study of challenging vocabulary through Word Masters.  You can see the results from the second meet here in the latest posts.  The third and final list of words will be arriving soon.  For the third meet, students must study a total of 75 words as they compete to find out who will be the Word Masters Champ for the year!   

STUDENTS IN MS. SWAGERS’ CLASS have continued working with the problem solving process and Math Exemplars.  A special focus has been placed on clear and detailed written explanations of their steps to solve the problem and their solution.  They have also engaged in peer and self-evaluation of their work.

Several weeks of bridge lessons are culminating with a class bridge tournament in which two students from each class will be named champions.  Trophies will be given to the winners along with bridge t-shirts and certificates to all students.  Some students will be invited to participate in an intercollegiate tournament that will be held at The Woman’s Club of Norfolk on Saturday, March 26 from 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.  Landstown Elementary will be the only Virginia Beach school competing against several schools from Norfolk.  Information fliers will be sent home soon to a selection of students. 

Ms. Swagers’ students recently engaged in a Socratic Seminar on Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in which they discussed the question How do you know when you’ve done something well?  Students were able to consider why they seek to achieve, their level of self-confidence and independence and the stress they experience when they and others place emphasis on always trying to do their very best.

Students seem to love being able to think deeply about and discuss these ideas.  They had another opportunity to engage in this kind of self-reflection and meaning making when they recently completed the Taba (concept attainment) process on one of two topics: Being Gifted or Being Successful.  Gifted students were exposed to a great deal of information on what it means to be gifted, how one is identified as gifted and the challenges and strengths that make up gifted individuals.  Students working on the Success Taba sorted through information about highly effective people, the science of happiness, practices of successful students and adults.  The generalizations from the students’ work were turned into a graphic organizer that will guide their reading of biographies on famous people.  As they’re reading, students will look for specific examples of gifted or successful behaviors. 

In the coming weeks, students will also have the opportunity to create metaphors of their metacognition and engage in a couple more Socratic Seminars.  All of these experiences will lead to a performance task that they will complete to demonstrate their understanding about the big ideas related to being gifted or to being successful.