WRITERS WORKSHOP: Students have been learning about how authors write about memorable objects in their lives. They brought in a memorable object, wrote about why it's important to them, and now are in the process of writing deeper. This means they are rereading their writing and stopping at a part that "touches" their heart, and then adding more details about that part. Look for student work to be posted soon!
READING WORKSHOP: My reading class finished with the guidelines for reading workshop, working on how punctuation helps us understand the author's meaning. The students have also begun to write recommendations for books and are placing them in genre baskets. These recommendations help students find new books that their classmates have enjoyed.
Some students will be working on Edmodo to post research they are doing on their guided reading books.
MATH: Last week students took their first interim assessment, and this week focused on several objectives. One objective was to re-teach concepts that students are struggling with, such as place value, pictographs, and story problems. We also began Unit 4, which is working with decimals, place values in the 10ths, 100ths, and 1,000ths. We have also started 4.4, which is working with adding and subtracting decimals.
SOCIAL STUDIES: We have traveled through time as historians, learning about Michigan's Early People, the lumber and mining industry. We will continue next week on more of Michigan's early industry. The focus for this unit was how Michigan's economy was built through industry, which brought in people from Europe, built up towns around rivers, and how life changed throughout the past 100 years.
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
We are in desperate need of snacks! The students come back from AMPT "starving", and have about 2 minutes to grab their reading materials and snacks, and go to their reading classes. We have found that the quickest way to do this (other than the students bringing individual snacks, which is great!) is to have large quantities of snacks, put them into baggies & have the kids grab & go! We really appreciate all the donations that you have generously sent in. We are looking for animal crackers, graham crackers, pretzels of all types, popcorn, etc. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
1st Quarter Progress Reports
Progress reports will be sent home on Monday, November 14th. Please sign the note attached indicating that you have received your child's progress report. If you should have any questions and/or concerns please do not hesitate to contact me!
WAYS TO DISCUSS BOOKS AT HOME
This list of questions gives ideas for ways to discuss books at home with your child. The questions gradually get harder and get to higher level thinking skills as you go down the sheet.
You can also look at this website for additional questions to ask and discuss during reading:http://readingtokids.org/ReadingClubs/TipBloomsTaxonomy.php
You can also look at this website for additional questions to ask and discuss during reading:http://readingtokids.org/ReadingClubs/TipBloomsTaxonomy.php
Friday, October 21, 2011
CELEBRATION!!
We had almost 100% participation in Fun Friday today!! Congratulations to all students who passed their first milestone of 4th grade!! I'm really excited about these exhibitions since the students have already put a lot of time and effort into their beginning research. A HUGE shout out to all parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and whomever else, for all the support you have given to your student to encourage their success of this exhibition!
MILESTONE 2 OUTLINE
Milestone 2 is due on November 17th. This milestone is in an outline form. There are 7 main criteria that must be completed for the exhibition. Below you will find both the original notice that was sent home near the beginning of school stating the 7 requirements, and also, an outline template. Students should use this template to complete their outline for their state. Outlines may be written or typed, but must be neat and legible. As always, thank you for your fabulous support, and please email me with any questions/concerns.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
OUR GROWING WRITERS...
Our weekend writing assignment that was due Monday, October 18th was:
If you had to choose between being UGLY and RICH, or BEAUTIFUL and POOR, which would you choose? Give the reasons for your choice.
Several students wrote extremely well, using examples and details, and captured the idea of how we can be beautiful on the inside, how we can be poor in money, but wealthy in life around us. Please go to the “Student Work” tab at the top of the page so that you may read what they wrote (unedited!)
Our weekend writing assignment that was due Monday, October 18th was:
If you had to choose between being UGLY and RICH, or BEAUTIFUL and POOR, which would you choose? Give the reasons for your choice.
Several students wrote extremely well, using examples and details, and captured the idea of how we can be beautiful on the inside, how we can be poor in money, but wealthy in life around us. Please go to the “Student Work” tab at the top of the page so that you may read what they wrote (unedited!)
Friday, October 14, 2011
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED THIS WEEK?
MATH: We have been focused on math facts this week, using math vocabulary for multiplication and division. We learned multiples, factors, factor pairs, and products for multiplication. We also dived into division with dividends, divisors, quotients, and remainders. Ask your students about “DQ”! We had an awesome math morning today, with students learning how to take notes in their math notebooks. We decided that some students need number examples to help them with definitions in math, some need word definitions, and some need both number examples and words. It was really exciting to listen to them talk math and make the decision about how they learn, which determined how they took notes. This is something that we’ll be doing on a regular basis. It is important for them to understand note taking, and that their notes need to reflect their learning. Considering that it’s been a long week of MEAP work, I was overjoyed with their enthusiasm to do math!
READING: We have not switched reading groups this week due to the MEAP schedule. However, the students have been reading everyday as they finish the test. Again, I am constantly surprised by our kids’ self-motivation. They are reading all types of genres, from poetry to non-fiction about animals, marine life, space, to all forms of fiction. It’s a teacher’s dream to have students exploring reading, and not getting enough of it!! I hope that you are seeing this at home, too. Keep encouraging them to read at least 20 minutes a day.
SCIENCE/SOCIAL STUDIES: We are finished with our first science unit, which covered the moon, sun, and the earth. In two weeks we will start our social studies unit. In our first unit we will learn how to be historians from primary and secondary sources. Our learning will focus on Michigan history.
WRITING: We are continuing our writing of narrative paragraphs. Students have learned what makes a strong topic sentence, and how to support that sentence with details and examples. They are also working on editing skills, looking for capitals, punctuation, spelling, and language errors. They have learned about the 4 types of sentences, subject, predicate, direct object, and prepositional phrases.
MILESTONE 1 REMINDER
Milestone 1:
Due Thursday, October 20th
· ALL RESOURCES for the interest project: at least 3 books AND 3 websites on the correct form with a parent signature.
· PLEASE NOTE: Each student is required to bring printed copies of the information they will be using from the websites and all three of the books that they will be using for their research. Actual websites used for their research must be listed, not “Wikepedia.com”.
**Please see below for the actual form and dates for all milestones if you have not received one from your child.
MEAP Testing will continue next week. Students will be taking the Writing Part 2, and Math tests. Please make sure that your child is in school, gets a great night's sleep, and eats a fabulous breakfast. Also, please be sure that they are on time!
Tuesday, October 18th : Mathematics
Wednesday, October 19th : Writing Day 2
They had a math assignment last night to complete on edmodo. We learned how to join the math group, find the assignment, do the assignment, and then turn it in. I will be grading the assignments and they will be posted in the “grades” portion of edmodo.
As always, be email me with any questions/concerns.
Friday, October 7, 2011
SUPPLIES!!!
Unfortunately, we did not receive all of the supplies that were ordered. We are in desperate need of vinyl, 2 pocket folders with prongs for homework. As you may have noticed, the orange folders I gave them temporarily are falling apart! I don't know if there are orange folders available, and I do want to keep them all the same color. So, to be on the safe side, will you please purchase 1 of these vinyl (polyvinyl) folders in green? The students will then have all of their homework planner pages attached inside the folder, and will have enough pages to last the year.
As always-your support is greatly appreciated.
As always-your support is greatly appreciated.
We have been having serious chatting issues during learning, independent work, and during transitions. I've spoken to the students too many times and it has gotten to the point of frustration for myself and for other students. I did want to let you know that, going forth, students who choose to talk at inappropriate times will be calling a parent. I've told them I doubt any parent wants to get phone calls every 5 minutes (exaggeration, of course!). They will also be missing recess. On one hand, the students are growing more comfortable with each other as a class community. On the other hand, it causes a lot of side conversations. Please have a discussion with them regarding the rights of others too learn (again, we've had many conversations), and their need to focus on learning.
Thank you all for your constant support.
MATH GROUPS BEGIN!
Beginning on Monday, October 10th, students will be placed in math groups. Each day they will have 4 different stations that they will work in during math. These are the stations:
- · Working with me on current concepts and concepts that need further review.
- · Computers for FasttMath and other math games.
- · Independent practice using math journals
- · Everyday Math Games
This allows me to meet the needs of the students and support them at their learning levels. It also provides opportunities for students to work with each other, mentor each other, and talk math.
Speaking of talking math: Ask your child how we “talk” math during class. We did this with the first math assessment on Monday. Students looked over their assessment, worked on what their errors were and why they made their errors, and helped other students with discovering various ways of approaching problems. My goal is to establish a safe environment for students to talk math. When we talk math we begin realize that there may be other ways to approach a challenging problem. We also learn that mistakes are what help us move to the next step of our learning.
MEAP Testing will begin next week. Please make sure that your child is in school, gets a great night's sleep, and eats a fabulous breakfast. Also, please be sure that they are on time!
Tuesday, October 11th : Reading Day 1
Wednesday, October 12th : Reading Day 2
Thursday, October 13th : Writing Day 1
Tuesday, October 18th : Mathematics
Wednesday, October 19th : Writing Day 2
Tutoring will start Tuesday, October 11th for students have received a letter. Please be sure to sign the letter and return it ASAP! Their spot will be given to another student if the letter is not returned. I will be tutoring 4th Grade Reading.
Thank you to all who have returned their letter already.
READING GROUPS HAVE STARTED!
Last week we started reading groups. Some students are going to other fourth-grade teachers for reading (Mrs. Wagner, Mrs. Tiggs, or Mr. Wetherbee). The school is trying something different to determine if students will show more academic growth this way. We know that the students are not used to having more than one main teacher. With that in mind, all of the fourth-grade teachers are in constant communication and will be aware of any pertinent information. If you would like an academic update based on your child's reading you will need to make an appointment with your child's reading teacher. Below is a list of the reading class your child is in:
Mr. Wetherbee:
Moses
Jaiden
Emetrionna
Dylan
Mrs. Tiggs:
K’myiah
Kayla
Khalila
Morgan
Camron
Micah
Brianna
Mrs. Drain:
Joshua
Mrs. Wagner:
Darnishia
Devin
Lauryn
Kiera
Madison
MILESTONE 1 REMINDER
Milestone 1:
Due Thursday, October 20th
· ALL RESOURCES for the interest project: at least 3 books AND 3 websites on the correct form with a parent signature.
· PLEASE NOTE: Each student is required to bring printed copies of the information they will be using from the websites and all three of the books that they will be using for their research. Actual websites used for their research must be listed, not “Wikepedia.com”.
**Please see below for the actual form and dates for all milestones if you have not received one from your child.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
SNACKS
A big "THANK YOU" to K'miyah for providing snacks for several weeks for our class!
We have snack everyday and I've encouraged the students to bring in their own healthy snacks, with an occasional treat from others! As a reminder - only dry, healthy snacks, as snacks such as yogurt, fruit cups, and jello can get messy.
**We do have a student who has an allergy to oranges, so please do not send oranges.**
We have snack everyday and I've encouraged the students to bring in their own healthy snacks, with an occasional treat from others! As a reminder - only dry, healthy snacks, as snacks such as yogurt, fruit cups, and jello can get messy.
**We do have a student who has an allergy to oranges, so please do not send oranges.**
FRIDAY FOLDERS
Please be on the lookout for the Friday Folders and Friday Forms. These will be coming home every Friday with the week's homework and any important forms or additional information.
One side is for papers that need to stay home, and the other side is for papers/forms that need to be returned.
You will need to initial at the bottom of the form where it states "Parent's Initials", so that I know you have read over the checks and the comments. This form allows communication between myself and home to show your child's behavior and homework/classroom participation is for the week.
We have a very chatty class and it is getting in the way of our learning. The students and I have discussed how the constant talking takes away the rights of our classmates from learning. Please discuss this with your child and encourage them to use strategies that will help them respect others, and advance their own learning.
One side is for papers that need to stay home, and the other side is for papers/forms that need to be returned.
You will need to initial at the bottom of the form where it states "Parent's Initials", so that I know you have read over the checks and the comments. This form allows communication between myself and home to show your child's behavior and homework/classroom participation is for the week.
We have a very chatty class and it is getting in the way of our learning. The students and I have discussed how the constant talking takes away the rights of our classmates from learning. Please discuss this with your child and encourage them to use strategies that will help them respect others, and advance their own learning.
IMPORTANT DATES
Milestone 1: Thursday, October 20th
Milestone 2: Thursday, November 17th
Milestone 3: Thursday, December 8th
*Detail information for each Milestone will be in your child’s Friday folder on next Monday, October 3rd!
STATE PROJECT
For our first exhibition this year, your child will be teaching the class about a state. I will be discussing this on Monday with the students so they will understand the expectations for their exhibitions. You will have the option of completing the paper form that will be sent home on Monday, or completing the form on the blog, which will be under "Permission Forms" at the top of the page. Your and your child will need to list three top choices of states. Choices will be made on a first come basis.
Forms are due on Thursday, September 29th. I will have all the requirements, and your child's choice, returned by Monday, October 3rd. Once the state is chosen, it is FINAL, so make a fun and wise choice!
Please join us for ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT Pancakes!
PANCAKE BREAKFAST is BACK!!
Served with SAUSAGE, ORANGE DRINK & COFFEE
BY: CHRIS CAKES
LOCATION: Ellen Thompson (front parking lot if weather permits)
DATE: Thursday September 29, 2011
TIME: 5:00-7:00 p.m.
COST: $6.00 per person at the front desk
$7.00 per person at the door
(Children under 2 free)
Thursday, September 22, 2011
***NEWS FLASH***
Sunday, September 18, 2011
BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT
Thank you to all spent the evening with me:
K'miyah and her mom
Micah and her mom
khalila and her dad
brianna and her mom
Mrs. reynolds
Kierra and her mom
Our week in review....
Writing: We've been working on making recommendations to papers written by other students. This is in preparation for writing on the MEAP. We are looking at what makes a strong paper - punctuation, grammar, spelling, specific details, and staying on topic. The students read a paper, found errors, corrected errors, and then wrote recommendations. **A NOTE OF HOMEWORK FOR THIS: I told the students I would post the writing prompt on the blog on Friday for those that weren't able to get it before dismissal. I apologize. Something came up for me this weekend & I was not able to do that. We will continue to work on these, and I will give students time in class.**
Math: Students reviewed double bar graphs, entering data, addition and subtraction of whole numbers, and place value to 1 million. Please write numbers and have your students read them, tell you what place value a certain number is in, and write them out in expanded form: 123,456 = 100,000 + 20,000 + 3,000 + 400 + 50 + 6.
Map: We completed all three MAP tests this week (Language Arts, Math, & Reading). Students who are new to UPA will be taking the test sometime this week with Mrs. Johnson.
Reading: Our focus this week was on making connections with the text we are reading to our own experiences (text-to-self) and to other texts (text-to-text). This next week we will be completing this with text-to-world connections, and moving into understanding how to summarize what we read without actually retelling the story.
Science: Mrs. Tiggs read The Giving Tree and the classes discuss what each student will give to each other during science and social studies. The students wrote these on green leaves and they will be hung on a tree in the cubbies.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Our Travelers have had a fabulous first week of school! We have been busy learning about each other, the routines of our classroom and the 3rd floor, and revisiting math skills. We have also begun thinking as readers and writing as writers. Travelers have picked out several "just right" books and begun to "jot' in their writer's journals. Please ask them about all of these travels they have experienced so far. We have an awesome group and I am so excited about our growth and learning for the year.
HOMEWORK
You should be seeing a homework planner with the work that is due for the next day, or projects that are being worked on at home. Please take time to read this and initial so that your Traveler and I know that you are learning along with us.
They will be getting a special folder for their homework planner that will have enough pages for the year.
MAP TESTING
MAP testing will begin next week on the 12th. However, I do not have the days or times that our class will be taking the test. As soon as I do I will pass that on to you. Students will be tested on language usage, reading, and mathematics. Their fall scores will dictate their end of the year score targets for each subject.
AMPT
AMPT scheduling is a little confusing. Due to schedule conflicts, our class is split with the other the grade classes. It's best to have the students leave their gym shoes at school, at least until we all work out which days, which students, have gym! I will be working on a chart to clarify this for the students (and me!)
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
To all who brought in and donated supplies to our classroom! We all appreciate the extra paper, pencils, highlighters, etc.
HOMEWORK
You should be seeing a homework planner with the work that is due for the next day, or projects that are being worked on at home. Please take time to read this and initial so that your Traveler and I know that you are learning along with us.
They will be getting a special folder for their homework planner that will have enough pages for the year.
MAP TESTING
MAP testing will begin next week on the 12th. However, I do not have the days or times that our class will be taking the test. As soon as I do I will pass that on to you. Students will be tested on language usage, reading, and mathematics. Their fall scores will dictate their end of the year score targets for each subject.
AMPT
AMPT scheduling is a little confusing. Due to schedule conflicts, our class is split with the other the grade classes. It's best to have the students leave their gym shoes at school, at least until we all work out which days, which students, have gym! I will be working on a chart to clarify this for the students (and me!)
THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
To all who brought in and donated supplies to our classroom! We all appreciate the extra paper, pencils, highlighters, etc.
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