Posts By: Jon Moss
February 4, 2020
Number the Stars (Day 2 Updates)
Today, Carly from The Hartford Stage came for our second day of learning about Number the Stars. The kids began by pantomiming several scenes, such as acting in a school play, blowing out the candles on a birthday cake, etc. The kids really enjoyed figuring out how to act out those scenes, especially since these moments were so familiar to them. Following these tableaux, Carly led the students in a safe discussion about what was happening in and around Copenhagen (the setting of the story) in the 1930s. She introduced the concept of the Holocaust, and I was surprised by how much many students already knew. She explained that Hilter looked for someone to blame for the problems happening in Germany and that the Jews were made into scapegoats. She shared that, eventually, many of the Jews were rounded up and sent to camps where many worked and many perished. The kids took this topic seriously, and I admire their maturity during the discussion. I should say that there are times when students have additional prior knowledge and may start to share more sensitive information than what we’d normally choose to include. Carly and I both redirect the conversation when this happens, and we remind kids that some things are best discussed with families at home. This hasn’t happened yet this week. In the event that something particularly sensitive is shared by a student in front of the whole class, I’ll, of course, give you a heads-up so you can be prepared for questions at home.
Toward the end of the activity, students thought about what sounds they’d hear in a war zone. Ideas included explosions, gun shots, car engines roaring, people shouting, etc. Students made a “sound circle” where they created a cacophony of the sounds they’d expect to hear during a time of war. Finally, one group of four students recreated the previous tableaux of those familiar moments, but this time, with the “soundtrack” of the sound circle. This helped the kids to imagine how so many of these familiar moments would be different during wartime. Kids shared how they’d feel if they had to live during these situations, and their comments were deep. As I said in a previous message, these students don’t have much understanding of ideas like war, persecution, or hatred, and activities like these help them to understand these concepts a bit better.
Following these activities, I always remind students of a few things: (1) They are completely safe. We’re studying events from our world’s history, and by learning about them, we can work to ensure that they never happen again. But they are absolutely safe in their homes, school, and community. (2) These topics should be discussed when there’s an adult there to facilitate the conversation. So this isn’t appropriate conversation for the lunchroom, playground, bus, etc. (3) There are some things that might be upsetting or alarming. Kids can always come to me if they’re feeling worried or anxious, and they can talk to their grownups at home as well.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
February 2, 2020
Learning About Civil Rights
Martin Luther King Day is such an important day in our country, and in our class, it kicked off our informal unit about Civil Rights. On the Friday before Martin Luther King Day, we read the first half of a wonderful book called As Good As Anybody. This book tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr., starting from his life as a young boy. It gave us a wonderful opportunity to talk about the concepts of discrimination, segregation, separate-but-equal (and the inherent flaw in that idea) and more. I’m always glad to see how confused kids are by this – The idea of treating someone unkindly because of their skin color was totally alien to the kids, and they couldn’t fathom how someone would do this to another person. This launched us into our continuing study of diversity and civil rights.
Leaders of the protest, holding flags, from left Bishop James Shannon, Rabbi Abraham Heschel, Dr. Martin Luther King and Rabbi Maurice Eisendrath.” Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington Cemetery, February 6, 1968. Published February 7, 1968. (Photo by Charles Del Vecchio/Washington Post/Getty Images)
This past Friday, we finished reading As Good As Anybody. The second half of the book taught us about Abraham Joshua Heschel, a Jewish man who fought for the rights of Jews who were being persecuted, much as Dr. King did for African Americans. The two men teamed up and worked together to accomplish their shared goal of earning equal civil rights and fair treatment for ALL.
While the kids were, of course, familiar with Dr. King, Abraham Joshua Heschel was a new name to them. The book hints at how Jews were treated unjustly in Europe during World War II, and it lets us add to our previous understanding of discrimination by race or gender by understanding the idea of discrimination by religion. This transitions perfectly to an activity we’re starting this Monday.
On Monday, fourth graders at PGS will start a unit of study about an incredible novel called Number the Stars. Throughout the week, theater educators from the Hartford Stage will join our class to teach the kids about the novel Number the Stars, which tells the story of a fictional family in Denmark that helps to hide a Jewish family that tries to escape from the Nazis during the Holocaust. Following the Hartford Stage residency, we will begin reading this novel as a class.
This will be an advanced unit that touches on mature content matter. Fourth graders at PGS have had this unit for many years, and I’m always impressed by how maturely students are able to participate in the lessons.
When we teach this unit, our focus is more on characters and situations in the novel, with general background information provided to students. We do NOT discuss any of the graphic or gory details of the Holocaust, and we always work very hard to make the unit “kid-friendly” and age-appropriate for fourth graders. We focus more on challenges that characters faced and understanding the feelings they had, rather than the facts of what took place during the time period (although some general ideas are introduced during the unit). Think of it as a book that takes place during the Holocaust, not a book about the Holocaust itself.
As the unit progresses, I will be in contact with you to keep you informed about class discussions and content so that you can be prepared for follow-up discussions at home. And as always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to email me.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
December 20, 2019
December 4, 2019
October 24, 2019
Starting Science, Short Answer Responses, and more!
Someone asked me last week what my favorite subject to teach was. I’ve been asked that numerous times, and I think it’s one of the hardest things to answer. I love teaching reading, because books allow us to take a (metaphorical) field trip to new places, new times, and new situations, and to talk about each one. I love talking about what we read! I love teaching math, because it’s fascinating to see how skills can build on one another, and that’s where I tend to see kids have those “lightbulb” a-ha moments most often. Science is a real passion of mine, and I absolutely love seeing kids draw their own conclusions in class. (I’m also biased, because I wrote three of our four science units in fourth grade, so I know the lessons well and feel a sense of pride.) It’s at this point that I realize that I’ve given a snub to writing and social studies, and I quickly scamper to explain that I love those too, and I end up just saying that I love teaching everything. Perhaps it changes from day to day – and today, it was all about science!
The kids are SO excited to share their science projects with the class, which I was thrilled to see. We only got through two projects today, and the kids know that it will take several days to have everyone share. Today’s creative presentations taught us about the scientific properties of apples and apple trees, as well as about the effervescent qualities of Polident tabs. We continued the science theme of the day and kicked off our first science unit, which is all about energy. Today, we learned about electrical energy and how static electricity flows from negative to positive. We teamed up with Mrs. Matos’s class, which we’ll do from time to time throughout the year.
We’ve kicked off our first science unit today with Mrs. Matos’s class! We’re learning about energy, and today, we started by learning how electricity flows in a circuit. #AskYourKid why we couldn’t take a wire and put a light at one end and a battery at the other. More tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/bEMuthNzXs
— Jon Moss (@MossTeaches) October 24, 2019
That’s not all, however! In reading, we’ve learned about the eight kinds of thoughts readers have while reading. I encourage kids to be aware of when these thoughts pop into their head, because these are what allow us to have rich discussions about what we read. These will be critical for when we launch book clubs in the late fall or winter.
We’ve moved on, in reading, to beginning our study of narrative elements. We’re going slowly (right now), because this is also our launch into short answer responses (SAR). Kids have been doing this for years, and each year, the expectations mature a bit. We drafted a SAR about the setting of the WONDERFUL book The Purple Coat, and students are working with partners to identify and explain the setting of the book The Josefina Story Quilt.
This week, we looked at the SAR checklist, which helps the students to learn what goes into a quality short answer response. TTQA stands for “Turn the Question Around”. A bow sentence shows how the textual evidence connects to the reader’s opinion. For example, if I wrote “Miss Viola Swamp was a talented teacher. I know this because she was very strict and yelled at the kids.” you might wonder why her yelling supported the idea that she was a good teacher. (Nowadays, we tend to frown on teachers who yell too much!) But if I added the sentence “The class was really wild, and she was the only person who could get them calmed down and working hard to learn.” you might better see the connection. That’s what a Bow Sentence does. The rest of these are probably more clear to you. We’ll be using this document a lot this year, and I’ll be sending home copies soon.
The Ice Cream Rubric doesn’t rate any ice cream cones. Instead, it focuses on how we assess a student’s short answer response. In class, we talked about this rubric’s value as more than something that helps to yield a grade. It helps students to know what a strong response looks like and helps them to evaluate their own work. Again, I have copies of this which will be sent home in the coming weeks.
In math, we’ve finished the first unit (as you know), and the math assessments will come home early next week. (I’d like you to sign and return them, and since I want to give you a few days to do that, I didn’t want to go over the weekend.) Right now, students are doing a great job learning about factors and multiples.
We’ve started learning about map skills, focusing on cardinal directions, latitude, and longitude. My class last year was kind enough to purchase us a dry erase globe, which has been a GREAT resource for introducing these skills.
More to come! As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
August 29, 2019
2/180
Today was another great day! I’m excited to have opened our class library, which has been a HUGE project throughout the past year. Each book in our library is leveled, so students will be able to choose books that are in their just-right range. Matching readers to texts is a big focus for me, and I look forward to sharing more with you in the future!
We also went outside to discuss recess expectations with Mrs. Borio. By taking time to be proactive in our discussions, we can avoid some of the usual recess issues that often crop up.
It was rainy yesterday, so the annual bell-ringing ceremony was postponed to today. The weather was perfect, and our antique PGS bell rang loud and proud today!
While we waited for the bell-ringing ceremony to begin, kids enjoyed spending time together in the nice, warm sun!
Last, but not least, here’s a GREAT photo of our whole class!
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
August 29, 2019
Help Me Learn About Your Child
Hello, families! I’m excited to get to know your kids better. Would you please take a few moments to complete TWO surveys for me? These help me to better target instruction to meet your child’s needs and to best address your goals. The first survey is a general survey that helps me to learn about your child. The second survey focuses on technology and will help me to understand more about your child’s access to and comfort with different forms of technology. Thank you for completing these at your earliest convenience. (I’d love to have them by next Wednesday, if possible.) If you prefer to complete them on paper, please email me or send in a note, and I’ll print them for you.) The surveys are embedded below this paragraph. You do not need to complete both of them at once, but the surveys will NOT save your responses if you leave this page and come back later. (So, for example, consider completing and submitting ONE survey, then come back and do the other at a later time.) Both parents/guardians, or other individuals responsible for your fourth grader’s care are welcome complete these to share their different insights on their child, if that is helpful to you. Thank you so much. As a parent, I know how much time these can take and how busy the start of school can be.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
August 28, 2019
1/180
Surely I’m not the only person to feel a bit daunted when seeing the fraction 1/180 on the calendar. We just finished day 1 out of 180 school days this year. It seems like such a long period of time to go (and it is), and yet I know that it will pass so quickly!
Our first day was terrific! Everyone was here in class, and we began learning class and school routines, such as how we should behave during lunch, how we greet one another during Morning Meeting, our morning song (which is oh, so cheesy, but is a really special way to launch the day), and more!
(For all the images in this post, right clicking and choosing to open images in a new tab will allow you to see them in full size. On a mobile device, just pinch to zoom in.)
We also covered some of the less enjoyable but still important topics, such as what to do in the event of a lockdown. (A few students seemed a bit anxious when discussing it, but I do my best to make it low-key, by explaining that sometimes we need to stay out of the way in our classrooms to let people come into the school or room to help us to be safe. I leave the possible scenarios out of the discussion, though I did jokingly suggest that a particular third grade teacher’s crazy driving might be one cause for a code red lockdown. :-D)
We had our first Wellness class in the gym. (For new families, Wellness is our district’s term for the combined classes of gym and health.) Mrs. DeSantis had some terrific games to let the kids get out some energy and to get to know one another a bit better.
Upstairs, we started sorting the kids supplies (which was no small task, as you might imagine!) Thank you, once again, for sending in all those materials. We’ll use them well throughout the year! Of course, having a few dozen tissue boxes meant we surely had to make time for a bit of creative fun!
Toward the end of the day, we began working on our first pencil and paper activity, an “all about me” sheet, which we’ll use to get to know one another. I had the opportunity to begin to meet one-on-one with individual students to conference on this very basic writing activity, which offers me the valuable opportunity to get to know your kids as individuals, not just as a class.
It was a great first day! I tend to think that the second day two is better than the first, because we’re done with the administrative stuff (sorting supplies, learning what to do in different situations, etc.) We get to have more fun with team-building activities, beginning to develop our class routines, etc. So if your child came home excited and happy today, I look forward to an even better day tomorrow! As always, feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.
…a few final photos of smiles! Enjoy!
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
August 1, 2019
Welcome to Fourth Grade!
Hello! Welcome to the online home of PGS Room 209. During the school year, I will update this web site regularly with information about activities happening in Room 209, bulletins and news items, current events related to what we’re studying in class, online assignments, and much more.
It’s going to be a great year in fourth grade. There are so many new things to learn, and there are some really interesting activities coming up! Remember, I’m hosting a meet & greet on Tuesday, August 27th, between 3:00-3:30pm.
About Me
I asked my kids, Charlie (entering grade 4) and Caroline (entering grade 1) what I should tell you about myself. Here’s their report:
- I love to read, but I usually don’t enjoy fantasy genres (even though I do enjoy science fiction)!
- I love reading with my kids. We are reading The Year of the Dog right now.
- I like visiting historical places, like Philadelphia.
- I enjoy listening to lots of different kinds of music, but I especially like Queen, Billy Joel, The Four Seasons, and more!
- I like to play basketball with Charlie and Caroline.
- We like building Legos together.
- I played the trombone for one year when I was in fourth grade, but then I switched to singing for the next decade.
- My favorite multiplication fact is 7×6=42. (I don’t know why, but it is!)
- I like to build things.
- I always prefer having recess duty to lunch duty. Even on the coldest days of winter!
- My favorite “extra” part of my job is seeing my former students graduate from Avon High School each spring.
- I love to teach math and science! (But I also really enjoy teaching reading too. That’s why I like teaching elementary – so I get to teach all the subjects!)
I live locally with my wife, my son (Charlie), our daughter (Caroline), and our dog (Rimley). In my spare time, I like working on home improvement projects, making things in my woodworking shop (especially using my lathe), finding “good eats” at local farmers’ markets, or just relaxing by cooking, listening to old time radio shows from the 1940s and 50s, reading comic books, or watching the news. I collect old reel to-reel tapes of music, all sorts of vintage technology, antique or unusual telephones, funky ties and tie clips, and all things related to Star Trek. I have been hoping to learn to play the guitar for a few years, but I haven’t gotten the time to focus on practicing. Maybe this is the year! (I do enjoy playing the harmonica, however!) This summer, I spent a lot of time working at a local summer camp, setting up my classroom, and I had a week to travel with my family. (We go to Atlantic City each year, which is where I was born.)
I enjoy tinkering with my computer and coming up with interesting ways in which I can use technology in the classroom. (You can definitely expect to use computers a lot in Room 209! I enjoy using Chromebooks, our class’ SMART Board, and other technologies while teaching.) Of course, I also love cheering on my favorite sports teams: the Boston Red Sox (Don’t worry Yankees fans, I promise not to be mean!), the New Britain Bees, the University of Hartford Hawks basketball teams.
Click “more” to learn more about me and fourth grade!
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss
May 28, 2019
Finishing May in 209
The school year may be wrapping up, but that doesn’t mean that we’re slowing down in room 209! Here are some updates on what we’ve been working on:
Reading
This is the time of year when I administer the spring round of DRAs to students in order to get an updated reading level for students. I’ll be sure to share your child’s spring reading level so that you can help to match your child with just-right books during the summer. Remember, your child doesn’t have one single level and, instead, has a range of just-right levels. There are many factors that an impact the suitability of texts, including familiarity with the topic, character voice, the sequencing of events in a text, etc. Also, several weeks ago, students started bringing home black and yellow book bags (pictured to the right) with just-right texts from school. While they’re still encouraged to enjoy their own books from home, using this book bag helps to ensure that they are coming home with a book that’s appropriate for their own level when reading at home. I’ve enjoyed getting to discuss with students the books they’re reading and enjoying at home!
Writing
This year, we flip-flopped our expository writing unit and narrative writing unit in order to take advantage of some teachable moments earlier in the year. So this spring, we’ve been working on narrative writing. Our guiding idea has been the thought that “Writers write about what they know.” Our lessons have been based on this idea, including activities that brainstorm experiences based on feelings, descriptions, etc. Some time ago, students wrote a narrative story without any pre-teaching. We called this the “cold write” story. This allowed me to see what skills I needed to focus on, and it is allowing us to focus more on how to improve a story through revising and editing.
Math
We’re just finishing up our unit on geometry. The homework from late last week served as a review for the unit assessment, and I’ve enjoyed working on this unit in class. We’ll soon start our final unit, which focuses on measurement and data.
Social Studies
A million thanks to you for your donation of a dry erase globe to celebrate teacher appreciation week! As you may have seen on Twitter last week, we have been working on latitude and longitude, and the globe was a great tool for illustrating this abstract concept! We also took a few minutes to make you a special thank you video, as you may have seen online.
Thank you so much, families, for our new dry erase globe!What a terrific teacher appreciation gift!We’ve had fun using it to learn about latitude and longitude! #AskYourKid about CT’s coordinates. We also enjoyed making a stop motion animation to show some of our work! 333frames! pic.twitter.com/QYhrfsGEJf
— Jon Moss (@MossTeaches) May 24, 2019
Science
We’ve been learning about plants and animals in class. The bulk of our study has focused on how animals use their senses to survive. Students learned about sensory processing by experimenting on how they perceive sensory input, and they extended their learning by working with mealworks. We learned about how otters stay warm in icy cold waters, and students worked to build their own insulated containers (based on how otters use a later of air to stay warm). In the coming days, we’ll shift to learning about how plants also have specific parts that are needed in order to survive.
Posted in Class Updates|By Jon Moss