Weekly Update 12/15/13

Important Reminders:

In mail folders last week, students received the Six Flags Read to Succeed reading program sheets.  If students complete 6 hours of free reading at home and fill out the reading log on the sheet, they can earn a free Six Flags ticket!  The reading must be in addition to the required reading minutes for homework. The deadline for forms to be submitted is February 20.

Don't forget, we will be holding our classroom spelling bee this week to determine who will represent our class in the school bee in January.  Students interested in competing should be reviewing the words in the Spell Check newspaper that went home earlier this month.

Our winter party is being held on Friday, December 20th at 2:00 PM.  Hope to see you there!

Class Updates:

In math we learned how the Distributive Property of Multiplication can be an alternate strategy for solving large multiplication problems.  Students completed "playing card computations" and read some Greg Tang math books in centers to sharpen their skills with math facts.  We also practiced multiplying two digit numbers by multiples of 10.  This week we will be reviewing Chapters 10 and 11 for a test on Wednesday.

Students are continuing to make predictions in reading.  They are learning to either confirm or adjust their predictions as they read further into texts.  We are publishing the final drafts of our opinion essays and hope to have everyone finished with them by the end of the week.  Students learned about haiku poetry, which are three line poems about nature that follow a syllable pattern.  The children are writing haikus about the winter season.

In science, each child made their own sedimentary rock.  They did a great job!

They are hardening and will hopefully be ready for students to take home before break.  The children learned about the rock cycle and how each of the three main types of rocks are formed.  They made rock cycle diagrams to illustrate the process.  Other topics covered this week included earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods.  We also examined how the weathering process works with a classroom experiment.  This week will cover the types and layers of soil and review for a unit test on Friday.  Students will also be performing streak tests and hardness tests on rocks to help them infer what type of rock they might have.  Stayed tuned for more pictures!

Here is a look at some of the fabulous timelines from our class.  Many students even included events they hope will take place during their lives in the future.

Weekly Update 12/6/13

Important Reminders:

It's hard to believe, but we already have our first snow day!  Any time there is a snow day, please be aware that any assignments that were due will automatically be due the next day school is in session.  The same is true for tests and quizzes.  So, our spelling test will take place on Monday.

Wednesday will be an early release day with a 1:40 dismissal time.  Please make sure your child knows how they are going home on that day.

In our next mail folder, PRISM fliers will be sent home.  In 4th Grade PRISM is not required. However, it is encouraged that your child consider completing a project for extra credit.  In addition, all students are required to participate in PRISM in 5th grade, so this would be excellent preparation.  PRISM projects are completed at home.  Entry forms are due by January 10th.  Additional information can be found by clicking here.

We will be holding a classroom spelling bee the week before winter break in order to determine two students will will move on to our school spelling bee.  I passed out a Spell Check newspaper to each child that has lists of spelling words they can study, as well as "fun pages" to help them practice their words.  If your child is interested in studying for the classroom bee, I would suggest they review the words from the third and fourth grade lists. Studying is not required, but I know some students are very motivated to earn a spot in the school bee!  Therefore, the Spell Check is a great resource for them.

Class Updates:

In math, we have been building up our multiplication skills by working with larger numbers.  Students have learned to estimate products for numbers in the thousands.  They are practicing the procedures for finding actual answers to two, three, and four-digit factors multiplied by a one-digit factor as well.  Next week, we will be covering the Distributive Property of Multiplication and moving forward to work with two-digit by two-digit numbers.  Continuous review of basic facts will be helpful for students to be successful with these problems.

Before Thanksgiving break, the children worked in groups to plan a Thanksgiving feast for 10 people.  They searched grocery ads and online supermarket websites to compare prices and find the best deals.  Groups created posters that included shopping lists, menus, and budgets for their $150.  This was a great review for adding and subtracting money!

In reading, students are making predictions based on evidence from the text.  Looking ahead we will be learning the difference between a prediction and an inference. Our opinion essays are coming along in writing.  This week we focused on revising our drafts by elaborating upon the reasons that support their opinions. Two strategies were covered for elaboration, which were writing "mini-stories" and "parallel lists". The students are also looking for ways to add transition words into their essays to help their writing flow from one reason to the next.

The class has started an exciting unit in science on rocks and minerals.  The students are learning how to classify rocks and minerals based on properties like hardness, streak, color, and luster.  Children worked in groups to observe a variety of rocks with magnifying glasses and record their observations.  Next week, students will get to do several hands-on activities, including making sedimentary rocks.

Here is a look at our latest buddy activity with Mrs. Owen's class.  We practiced Habit 2:  Begin with the End in Mind.  Students learned the difference between realistic and unrealistic goals and each child wrote a specific goal they could work towards achieving.  Then, we played the Roll-A-Turkey dice game to create some fantastic turkeys!

Weekly Update 11/22/13

Important Reminders:

Please make sure you are looking on SIS to check grades regularly.  Second quarter is a short one, with only four more weeks left!

The music program is taking place this Sunday.  Please refer to the email I sent out this week for details.

Timeline projects are due by Tuesday, November 26.  We are looking forward to sharing them using Venn diagrams for comparing and contrasting all of the important events of the students' lives!

There is no school Wednesday through Friday of next week due to Thanksgiving Break.

Class Updates:

In math this week, we reviewed algebra concepts with multiplication and division, such as writing expressions and equations with these operations and writing rules for "in and out tables".  We worked on taking an equation and multiplying or dividing the equation on both sides to make a new balanced equation.  Finally, we reviewed Ch. 8 and 9 today and will have a test on these chapters on Monday.

In reading, we are learning ways to write written responses to questions about texts.  Students received bookmarks to help them remember how to write quality answers that include details and examples from the story to prove their answers are correct.

In writing we are writing opinion essays on important people in our lives.  Each child has developed a thesis statement and three reasons to support their thesis.  Using a graphic organizer, the students have also brainstormed three examples or details to support each reason.  We learned that opinion essays have special types of leads that are different from the narrative pieces we have been working on.  We have started rough drafts and will continue to be working on finishing our rough drafts next week.  It has been fun to hear about all of the fantastic people that inspire the students!

In social studies, we have been reviewing Ch. 3 all week.  We also learned about how to read an elevation map and about the war that took place between the Osage and the Sac and the Fox.  We will be starting a science unit on rocks and minerals after Thanksgiving Break.

Next week, we will be welcoming a new student to our classroom.  The students are excited to get to know their new classmate.  We also will be meeting up with our buddy class to do an activity to help practice the 7 Habits.

Weekly Update 11/16/13

Important Reminders:

The social studies time line project is due by Nov. 26th, which is the day before Thanksgiving Break starts. If students finish early, they can bring the projects in at any time before the 26th.  Please look at my blog post on the project for more details and for an example.

Class Updates:

In math we played Fact Family Dominoes and made Fact Family Portraits to practice the concepts of fact families for multiplication and division.  Students learned about the properties of multiplication, and we also worked on solving word problems that use all four operations.  Next week, the children will write expressions and equations using multiplication and division, and continue to study the difference between factors and multiples.  Here are a few of our Fact Family Portraits. The students needed to pick a fact family and write all four equations around the outside of the picture frame. Then, they had to draw the "family" doing a an activity that would typically be captured in a picture such as a holiday celebration or vacation.

In reading, we reviewed the differences between fiction and non-fiction genres, including everything from biographies to historical fiction.  The children finished their book recommendations.  As a class, our display shows us that we prefer to read realistic fiction and fantasy books.  We have been summarizing shorter tests, and now are moving on to summarizing chapters and longer books.

We started our next unit in writing which covers opinion and persuasive essays.  The children learned what a thesis statement is, and the importance of having three reasons that support your thesis statement.  We completed a "flash draft" of an opinion essay together as a class to practice the basic structure of how an opinion essay is organized.  Next week, the students will begin to explore ideas for their own thesis statements.  Here are some pictures from our realistic fiction writing celebration:

In social studies, we are learning about the important Native American tribes of our state, including the Missouri, Iowa, Osage, and the Sac and Fox.  We are comparing and contrasting the ways these tribes built housing and found food.  The students also learned about communities of mound builders, such as the Cahokia Mounds civilization.  The children should be studying their vocab. words daily for a quiz on Tuesday.

Finally, we had a fabulous Veteran's Day assembly on Monday.  Congratulations to Benny and Abby who were selected to play recorder at the beginning of the assembly, and to Madison who was our class flag holder!

Timeline Project

Students received information today about a timeline project they will need to complete for social studies. We are practicing reading and answering questions from timelines in reading and social studies.  This project will also allow students to practice making timelines themselves.

Each child has a set of instructions with a scoring guide and a piece of construction paper to make their timeline poster.  The timeline is to be a personal timeline that includes important life events. I made a sample timeline of my own life and showed students several examples of timelines that past students have created. The class also had some brainstorming time today to think about events they could list.  This is an at home project.

This is an at home project that will be due by November 26th.  Any family photos that are attached will be returned to you.  Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.  Below is a sample timeline from a past fourth grader:

Weekly Update 11/10/13

Important Reminders:

Monday we will be having our Veteran's Day Assembly at 9:15.  We are looking forward to honoring our friends and family members who have served our country.

Wednesday will be an early release day.  Dismissal will be at 1:40.  Please make sure to send a note with your child if they are going home a different way than usual.

Class Updates:

We had many visitors in our building this week from the Rams organization and the Edward Jones Dome. Volunteers came into each classroom to work with students on making cards for military service members and veterans.  Our class completed an amazing 225 cards!  We also were excited to have Rampage, the Rams mascot stop by.

In math, we are working on our speed and accuracy with multiplication and division facts through the twelves. The students are learning about arrays as a way to visually represent multiplication and division problems and multiplication table patterns.  This week will will focus on fact families.  Multiplication.com is a great website for students to play games at home while practicing their facts.  Here are a few completed Great Graphing Project Posters from our last unit:

In reading, we have learned two additional ways to write summaries, including a "Who, Wanted, But, So" summary.  Students are starting new books in their guided reading groups and will be practicing writing summaries throughout the week.  As we look at summarizing non-fiction books, the children will also begin to sharpen their skills at determining the main idea and important details of what they read. The class will be writing book recommendations of their favorite books to place in a classroom display where children can look for ideas to help them pick out their next good read.

We learned about homophones all week for spelling.  Students will now be trying to transfer their knowledge of homophone pairs into their writing workshop pieces.  I am happy to report we have finished our realistic fiction unit and we celebrated by sharing out writing in small groups on Friday.  Groups then decided together to award each member of their group with a certificate of achievement related to one of our areas of focus for the unit, such as "Leadership with Leads".  We did not quite have enough time to complete our readings and awards, so we will finish this up on Monday.  Pictures to come!

We will begin Chapter 3 in social studies this week, which focuses on the first people to live in Missouri and the surrounding area, including mound builders and Native American tribes.

Weekly Update 11/1/13

Important Reminders:

Thank you so much to all parents who made it out to parent-teacher conferences.  I enjoyed meeting with each of you and appreciate you taking the time out of your day to come in.  I would also like to thank everyone who donated items, as well as their time for our Halloween Party.  The students had a great time!

Our days are very full in 4th grade!  Instruction begins at 8:45, so it is important for students to arrive to school on time whenever possible.

The cold weather is beginning to arrive.  Students will still have outdoor recess whenever the whether allows. Please make sure children are dressing for the weather, and wearing coats.  Thank you!

Leftover Halloween candy?  Our classroom candy supply is beginning to get low.  Any donations would be appreciated.  The students look forward to earning a piece of candy at the end of the week if they have all assignments turned in fully completed and on time.

Class Updates:

In math, we have been reviewing chapters 6 and 7.  The students completed an activity called The Great Graphing Project where they made posters that included five different graphs we have been studying.  The children were able to survey each other and conduct experiments with dice to record data for some of their graphs.

In reading, we are learning how to summarize both fiction and non-fiction texts.  We learned the difference between a summary and a retelling and found out lots of interesting facts about Charles Lindbergh while writing "5W" (who, what, when, where, why) summaries.  In writing, we have been making final edits and revisions to our realistic fictions stories.  Several students are publishing their final drafts.  We hope to be able to wrap up this unit by the end of next week.

For social studies, the students have been exploring famous people who have contributed to the culture of Missouri, including Mark Twain and Scott Joplin.  We have learned about the importance of jazz music to our state and listened to a few examples of this type of music.  Students should be studying the vocabulary words for Chapter 2 nightly.