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!