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.