Pruett's AIG Blog for IBJ

Here are fifth grade scientists solving ecological disasters around the globe in The Great Ocean Rescue. This team could potentially wrap this work up prior to winter break. 

Fourth grade AIG reading students have been working with reading fluency through the presentation of readers theater plays. You may have noted Rumplestiltskin  in an earlier blog post. Here is a final presentation - this time of The Frog Prince . Enjoy! We will return to Junior Great Books stories after the Thanksgiving break. Have a great break!

Restructuring plans for ACS will be available Monday on a website, if you were unable to attend the meeting at Jones.  Check the ACS website for details: http://www.ashevillecityschools.net/ Here are some snaps of stakeholders discussing options. An exciting time for our schools!

Dr. Baldwin, ACS board members, and stakeholders from across Asheville met at IBJ tonight to discuss restructuring of Asheville City Schools. 

You may have seen fourth grade videos of the awesome new Makerspace (thanks Mrs. Sorensen and Page!) from this blog from October 28. Well, here's another set of Jones fifth graders working with the same challenge. Enjoy!

Our fifth grade advanced subject group for math has been working with challenging pattern drawing. These activities require not only the following of patterns but also a steady hand.

Much to my delight, I happened upon a cafeteria filled with the most beautiful quilts! Then discovered that they were all made specifically for Jones students! It was amazing to see students choose their quilts today. Not a dry eye in the room! Way to make a wonderful and lasting impression on children IBJ!

Before the Veteran's Day holiday, I sent home some work from our fourth grade readers. We have been using Junior Great Books (JGB) to hone our reading skills. The first story we read was Thank You Ma'am by Langtston Hughes. In this story, a boy (Roger) receives some unexpected help from Mrs. Luella Bates Washington Jones - whose purse he had tried to steal! In JGB, students read stories repeatedly for deeper understanding and have open ended discussions about them. My role in these discussions is as a facilitator, asking questions to encourage student understanding. This method of Socratic questioning has been a major focus for IBJ this year - specifically through the National Paideia Center - which is and awesome, national organization that promotes this method of learning. Students processed their understanding of the story by writing a thank you note to Mrs. Jones - something Roger couldn't manage in the story. Lots of great responses were written. Here's one

So, with some days missed due to professional development, our fourth grade ASG Reading students have taken a break to work with Readers Theater. In Readers Theater, students show the action of the play through the tone/inflection of their voices. Here's an example of one groups presentation of Rumplestiltskin. Enjoy!

Here's a shot from last year that inexplicably didn't make the blog. There's Ms. Cain in her element, surrounded by adoring students! I love this shot!

Completion of the story Charles by Shirley Jackson included a writing exercise to demonstrate student understanding. These writings went home with all but one student today. The exception involved a Google issue that we are resolving. At any rate, look for some writing - and other information - from fifth grade readers today! Thanks! Here's a sample of one student's writing: Dear parent/ guardian, Laurie, also known as Charles, began the school year with an unacceptable behavior. Some bad language and violence are some of the things your child is doing in class. you should plan to work with your child on behaving better. I´m sorry to tell you this, but Laurie´s bad behavior has resulted in my spanking him. Also, Laurie has refused to do exercises and/or his work. However, we are working with him and he is becoming a wonderful helper. I am looking forward to working with your child this year. Sincerely, Kindergarten Teacher That last sentence rem

Fourth grade readers are taking a break from JGB this week and next to prepare and present a readers theater play. Students will be working on reading fluency with our end goal an electronic presentation of the classic fairytale Rumplestiltskin ! Stay tuned!