3/7/17

Hello, Parents!

I just wanted to post some important due dates and information- On Friday, March 17th, all 5th-grade elective forms are due to homeroom teachers! We will turn them into West Jefferson Middle School that afternoon- Please get those back in as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I do not have any extra copies, and if you are in need of another form you will need to pick one up from WJMS. I apologize for any inconvenience there! 

Additionally, all 5th graders have a field trip to the Museum of Nature and Science on Thursday, March 23rd, please get those permission slips back into Mr. McGuire if you have not done so already.

Also, Mr. McGuire's homeroom 4/5 students will take their CMAS- ELA assessments during the week of March 20-24th. If you have any plans to leave early for Spring Break- please let me know as soon as possible in order to work around this. These tests are in the morning during our Reading rotation- 8:45-10:15. In addition, all 5th-grade Ponderosas will have their CMAS- Math Sessions in the afternoon- from 1:00 - 2:15. Again, please let me know ASAP if you see a conflict with any of your children. Thank you!!

Next, in reading, we continue to dig "deeper in our exploration of main idea. We continue to determine what a text is "mostly about," by incorporating our understanding of text structures, text features, author's purpose and intention, and how author's use illustrations/pictures to help with our understanding. In math, students just completed the unit working with multiplication and division of decimals and understanding shift patterns. Prodigy homework- continues to have some work around this and our next unit of learning. Unit 6 works with word problems in all contexts- addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division of whole numbers, decimals, and fractions. This unit also focuses on developing strategies for determining "reasonableness" of an answer as a means of checking our work.

In writing, we continue working on our research projects using a variety of sources for our explanatory pieces- 4th-grade, dinosaurs, and 5th grade, a body system- tying in with science. We are having discussions about resources and their reliability, checking our information over multiple sources, determining our VIP's- or very important points, using flowcharts to organize our sequence, incorporating the use of strong verbs, varying our sentence lengths for readability.

Thanks for all of your support! 

Mr. M

2/17/17

Hello, Parents!

First, I'd like to take a moment to thank all of the parents that helped with our Valentine's Day Party and also sent items in for all students to enjoy. Thank you! Students had a great time. I am grateful for your assistance!

Second, congratulations to all the members of BOB- what a great performance. Your hard work during the year paid off- with a wonderful performance!

Next, in reading, we are returning to a "deeper" exploration of the main idea. We are now returning to determine what a text was "mostly about," by incorporating our new learning of text structures. In math, students are working on division with whole numbers with two digit divisors, and now, we are beginning to explore division with decimals and shift patterns. Prodigy homework- has several problems linked to this work.

In writing, we are working on research using a variety of sources- explanatory pieces, 4th grade is tying in work from science with Dinosaurs by selecting a dinosaur to research and explain about. Students will discuss the dinosaurs environment, physical features, and food types. 5th-grade students, additionally, will work on science research about a human body system. Students will interleave learning from reading and science to use sequence, compare and contrast to write their explanatory pieces.

Thank you for all of your support, and I hope you all enjoy a long weekend together. It is a privilege to work with your children!

Mr. M

12/13

Hello, Parents!

A couple of items I wanted to point out to you regarding next week- on 12/21 two events that day, at 10:00 a.m. (note the change in start time) we have our "Tree Sing" in the lobby, and at 2:30 we will have our Holiday Party.

In writing, we have moved into the persuasive/opinion genre this week. Students have worked on quick writes regarding Band/Orchestra before and after school, Vending Machines in the cafeteria, Allowing students to purchase soft drinks in the cafe, and Year Round school. These topics have drawn "high" interest and creative responses. :)

In math, we are finishing up our third unit working with multiplying and dividing fractions. Students have made tremendous growth in the last couple of weeks and are demonstrating a real understanding of what is actually occurring when we multiply and divide parts of a whole, as well as, dividing a whole number by a fraction.

In reading, we have been exploring persuasive/opinion pieces and examining how authors use evidence/facts to support their claims in writing. Specifically, identifying how evidence increases readers "buy-in" vs. reading a piece that is strictly someone's reasons or beliefs about a topic. Evidence works effectively to help convince a reader.

Have a wonderful evening!
Mr. M

Week of 10/17- 10/21

Hello, parents,  in reading students took their pre-assessment for informational reading and they worked on being able to cite specific text evidence to support conclusions.  Students also watched a video called, “What is a summary?”. We broke apart the summary into five sentences and then we discussed how the first sentence should always tell what the “gist” is, or what the text was mostly about. The second, third, and fourth sentences should cite specific text details to support the conclusions or explanations that student had. The fifth sentence restates what the gist was again. Students then began to write their own 5 sentence summary from an article that was assigned on TweenTribune. Last we reviewed how to answer a constructed response in reading. The pre-assessment had two constructed responses that many students had difficulty in answering or responding to..."Accurately quote and explain Ben Franklin's advice about keeping a secret." In small groups, we discussed what the question was asking us to do and how to answer the prompt. 

In math, this week students continued to work with decimals subtracting unlike amounts and analyzed the process of ungrouping for the purpose of subtraction. Students also used the commutative, associative, and distributive properties to mentally solve large numbers and decimal numbers. Additionally, students estimated decimal sums and differences by using a number line to round decimal numbers.  Next week in math students will construct graphs with decimal scales and decimal numbers. Students will also work on solving real-world problems by taking a look at the distances of planets from the Sun in millions of miles. Then we will have our review and unit post assessment.

In writing, this week students took their pre-assessment for informational/explanatory writing. Students were asked to write an essay that explains, in detail, what something is, how something works, or how to do a complex task. Students were asked to include enough details and information for a reader to understand their explanation or be able to successfully follow their instructions. After the pre-assessment, we began to examine how to successfully write a summary. Students in writing also watched the “What is a summary?” video...I begin this work with a summary because if students have a solid understanding of how to write a 5 sentence summary- writing a 5 paragraph  informational/explanatory essay is much easier. Next week we will discuss "identifying the purpose" and "features of an explanation" students will work with a mentor text titled “A Breathtaking Body System.” Students will examine the VIPs or very important points- writers research and identify important points to include in their explanation. After discussing the VIPs we will review how to organize our ideas with a flow chart. The purpose of the flow chart is to help the students to gather their facts and keep them in order. 

Don't forget stem explorers on Thursday morning 7:30 a.m., and of course this Friday, October 28th is our fall party with the parade beginning at 2:15. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend. Thank you, Mr. McGuire

Week of 9/26 - 9/30

Hello Parents!
Another wonder week working with your children, thank you! Today, was field day and the students has a great time...and, I did as well. :) Thanks to all of the parents that volunteered and helped to make this an amazing day for our students!

This week in reading we focused on our inference skills by analyzing character actions in order to make inferences. We also discussed how reading/writing would be much different if we did not possess the ability to infer. In writing, we continued to our work on the craft of writing. We explored mentor texts for the use of repeated words, repeated phrases, onomatopoeia, and figurative language- similes, metaphors, and idioms. Students returned to a piece that they had previously written and revised their piece to find areas where they could insert the aforementioned "craft" items. Through sharing and Mrs. Olsen and I working the room with our highlighters- students revised to include and improve their work. I will say that I was quite impressed with the students results, and it was evident that the students applied the lessons into their writing.

In 5th grade mathematics, we continued to work with adding and subtracting mixed number fractions...students are progressing quite well. This is, developmentally, a challenging task for most learners in 5th grade, but with a growth mindset approach students are truly beginning to understand. We will be finishing up this unit in the next week! Please remind your child that if they are still in need of more understanding of this work- Mr. M is available...almost, every Wednesday during their lunch time for more support! They are invited to come eat lunch with me and review any items they need more support in.

Last, thanks to all of the parents that attended conferences on Thursday...I know that this can be rather difficult with work schedules and all- so thank you for your support and attendance! At last glance I did still have couple of times available for Tuesday. If that time does not work for you and you have not scheduled time yet...please, email me to schedule a conference at a time that works for you!

Thank you for all of your support, and it is an honor to work with your children! Have a great weekend!

Mr. M

Week of 8/29 - 9/2

Hello Parents and Students!
Another amazing week working with you all- I am very excited to be working at West Jefferson Elementary and I appreciate the opportunity to work with you children!

This past week we wrapped up our assessments in math and reading. We began working with fractions in 5th grade classes- comparing fractions by finding equivalents and discussing the role of the "multiplier." In our 4/5 reading we looked closely at characters and traits and discussed how those "traits" are what make up a character's personality. Additionally, we began working in small guided groups. In writing, we continued our work from the previous week examining narrative writing. We read several pieces and then wrote journal entries from a character's perspective...developing the topic with concrete details and examples related to the topic from the text.

Last, I would like to thank you all for having students sign up and attend the assessment days!

Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day Weekend and look forward to seeing you all on Tuesday the 6th.

Mr. M

Meet & Greet

Hello!
What a pleasure it was to meet all of the students and parents! I am ecstatic to be working at WJES- I spent a half year teaching kindergarten at Elk Creek elementary after completing my student teaching in 3rd grade. I have spent the last 6 of 8 years working in 5th grade at Mortensen Elementary- with one year working at our Jeffco Ed Center, and my last year working with sixth graders. I have experience in both primary and intermediate grades. Additionally, I have a good understanding of where students begin their elementary experience and where they need to be as they transition to the next level of their education career- middle school. I am a tech person- I've had math clubs & tech clubs in the past and look forward to offering the same for our students WJES. Last year, we spent time in our algebra unit working with robots and coding- so much so that I had to purchase a second "Sparki" robot due to enthusiasm.

The following information is posted on my "About me" page on my website: Mr. McGuire is a 4/5th grade teacher in Conifer, Colorado. I am passionate about life-long learning – as my grandmother told me, “learn to do many things.” I followed her advice! I’ve worked as an office furniture installer, Project Manager (in a family business), Carpenter, Web Developer, Electrician, Volunteer Firefighter, and now a teacher. Teaching is by far the best and most enjoyable job I’ve done. I do not consider it a job but rather my vocation.

Mr. M's website