CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR SHINING STARS:

MICAH, MADISON J., KHALILA, K’MIYAH, KAYLA, MADISHON T., AND CAMERON

FOR SCORING AN 80% OR HIGHER ON THEIR MATH ASSESSMENTS!!

Our Week in Review:

Writing:  We are finishing our feature articles for the college fair project.  Students are adding pictures to their paragraphs and writing clever sub-titles that relate to those paragraphs.  


Math:  We wrapped up Unit 9 with an assessment this week, and will begin Unit 10 on Monday.  Students participated in a fraction war tournament today.  They are down to the final 4 contestants - our own Micah and K'miyah may be facing off for the fraction chamption title!


Reading:  Students learned how author's have a purpose for their writing.  We used the acronym of "PIE" to remember some of the purposes:  Persuade, Inform, and Entertain.  The kids looked through newspapers to find examples of all of these, and learned what determines the purpose; facts, opinions, and stories are a few examples.


Social Studies:  We having been diving into the area of economics over these past 3 weeks.  The kids know about the characteristics of a market economy, such as competition, supply and demand, incentives, personal property rights, and specialization.  They participated in an auction and a simulation to understand how money moves in a circular flow.  

U of M College Trip

Here are pictures from our wonderful trip to the University of Michigan.  Thanks to Mrs. Dixon for joining us, guiding us, and relating stories to the students from her time at U of M.  




Make your own photo slideshow at Animoto.

A ZILLION THANKS TO

MICAH, MOSES, DARNISHIA, & MADISHON

for their amazing teaching and guiding younger students through various math games during Math & Science Night.  They helped to set up the games, teach new math concepts, played several games with students, and had a great time!

REMINDER FOR MILESTONE 3

Milestone 3:

Due: Thursday, May 17th

DUE: All visual aids for your “Amazing People” scrapbook.  Your scrapbook must be complete, with a page for every Roman numeral and the book itself completed.  Scraps of paper ready to be assembled will not be accepted. Follow the outline requirements to assemble your scrapbook.  

Below you will see an example of a completed scrapbook.  This is what is due for your 3rd Milestone-all visual aids.Your scrapbook must include YOUR OWN information, from your Milestone 2 outline.
Vincent v. gogh scrpbk

View more PowerPoint from sgwagner

IT'S TIME FOR OUR COLLEGE VISIT-1

We are desperate...

We use these supplies everyday for our reading groups.  We write unknown words, connections to other texts, events that surprise or confuse us, and things we want to discuss in our groups.  We would greatly appreciate any donations!!


As always thank you:)

Our week in review...

Writing: Students are working on putting their feature article graphic organizer into paragraphs for their first rough draft.  The goal will be to complete all drafts prior to our college trip on April 5th.


Math:  This week students focused on the formulas for area of rectangles, parallelograms, and irregular shapes.  They had a quiz on Friday that covered 8.3-8.6. They have a worksheet on area to complete and give them extra practice.  Students will also be reviewing, possibly in the form of pop quizzes, double digit multiplication and math terms.


Reading:  All groups have complete their novels and this week we will be moving on to some of my favorite authors and stories!  Groups will be changing to allow students to experience other classmates' take on the stories.  We have finished learning about the element of setting (time, place, and environment), and will be moving onto plot with understanding conflicts and resolution of the story.


Science:  Students completed their unit on energy and are moving on to states of matter, which is always a fun, hands on experience!

To the following students for creating wonderful outlines for Milestone 2 and turning them completed on time:

Morgan                          Kayla

Lauryn                           Darnishia

Micah                             Madishon

Brianna                         Joshua

Madison

K'myiah

Cameron

IT’S TIME FOR OUR COLLEGE VISIT!

We will be taking the students to U of M on Thursday, April 5th for their college visit.  WE consider this a reward for students who have worked diligently on this project, completing all phases, and have shown exceptional behavior both in the classroom and in the school. Students who have not completed the phases and/or have had disciplinary problems may not be able to go.  I will be discussing this within the next week with both the students and their parents.  The goal is for all students to experience this visit-college is what we want and expect them to achieve during their educational years.

TO:

 Micha's Family for the Animal Crackers

Devin's Family for the Sun Chips, Granola Bars, and Water

K'myiah's Family for Cheese Crackers

If I have forgotten anyone since the last post, I apologize-

YOU ARE ALL EXTREMELY GENEROUS WITH SNACKS FOR THE ENTIRE CLASS:)

Milestone 3:

Due: Thursday, May 17^th

DUE: All visual aids for your “Amazing People” scrapbook.  Your scrapbook must be complete, with a page for every Roman numeral and the book itself completed.  Scraps of paper ready to be assembled will not be accepted. Follow the outline requirements to assemble your scrapbook.  See below for the outline.

Gershwin Outline-Milestone 2

YOU'RE ALL AMAZING!! - FLASHMOB VIDEO

Here is the video from our amazing Flashmob:)

   

For providing snacks for the whole class:

K’myiah’s family

Joshua’s Family

Kayla’s family

We really appreciate your generosityJ

MARCH IS READING MONTH

UPA is having a school-wide reading contest to see who reads the most books this month. The winner of the contest from each grade level gets to be "Principal for the Day."  Every time your child reads a book and completes a book report form for that book, s/he will receive credit for that book.  The book report must be signed by a parent to verify that your child has read the book. The books must be read at home. Books read at school for guided reading or independent reading do not count toward the contest. Book report forms for my class will be available from me. Completed reports will be displayed outside of our classroom. Books read should be books at your child's level and not too easy for him/her.

FIELD TRIP

The fourth graders will be going to the Charles H. Wright Museum as a cultivating experience for our study on slavery! The cost of the trip is $5.50. Please submit payment, along with the permission slip as soon as possible.  

Amazing People Milestone 2

Below you will see the outline example for your 2nd Milestone.  Notice that I've written in detail what I plan on putting on the pages for the scrapbook.  You may need/want to add to your outline, based on your amazing person.  Also, I wrote an epitaph as my person is no longer living.  If your person is still alive you will need to write a celebration of that person's life.  Remember, your pages need to be very creative.  I will be using a quote from George Gershwin on the epitaph page, and so I will also decorate that page to make it interesting to my reader.


Gershwin Outline-Milestone 2

BLACK HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION

To conclude our studies of Black History Month, there is a program in the evening (5-6pm) on February 29th. Some students will be participating in the program and we will be featuring the work that we've done all month. We would love to see you there. Come to see what your child has done and learned!

View more PowerPoint from jtiggs

TAKE THE QUIZ - HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?

To encourage our students to learn more about Black History month, Mrs. Johnson has  created a take-home Black History Month quiz contest. Students in grade 3-5 will be participating. The quiz was sent home last Friday. Students are to work as independently as possible. Have them do a Google search for the key words in the questions. The quiz is due back by March 27th. It is not a requirement, but I encourage you to have your child attempt to do it to practice web-searching skills and to learn more about Black History.

To Madishon T. and family for donating snacks for the past 2 weeks, as well as reams of paper.  We really appreciate your generosity!