Edmodo is finally here!  Each student has a username and password for our class edmodo account.  They have brought home a detailed letter regarding edmodo, ways that we will use it, and the norms for using edmodo.  Please review the norms with your student, and then have both of you sign the permission form.  Those need to be returned ASAP!

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.

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.

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.

NO SCHOOL

Monday, October 24th

School will be closed for teacher's professional development.

MATH GROUPS BEGIN!

Beginning on Monday, October 10^th, 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 11^th :  Reading Day 1

Wednesday, October 12^th : Reading Day 2

Thursday, October 13^{th :} Writing Day 1

Tuesday, October 18^th : Mathematics

Wednesday, October 19^th : 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 20^th  

·       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.

Milestone Due Dates 2010-11

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.**

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.

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!

Chris Cakes


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) 

***NEWS FLASH***

There's a new tab at the top of this page - "WEBSITES FOR STUDENTS".  I've put links there for math, writing, and reading games.  There are also links for looking at the phases of the moon, which the students are learning about in science.  The games are all related to what we have been learning in these subjects.  Enjoy!

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT

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

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.

WOW! And a few notes...

I was excited to meet with so many of you these past 2 weeks.  We are going to have a fabulous 4th grade year in Room 310!  This is a new room for me so I am learning the ways of the air conditioning!  I would suggest that all bring some type of sweater/long sleeve shirt to put on in case we get an arctic air flow.  Actually, the building has been cold this past week.  Remember, though, the sweater or shirt needs to be uniform, so no hoodies or designs.


On that note, I do follow the specifics of the uniform code.  Students must wear belts, shirts must be tucked in, and only the colors specified in the uniform code, that includes socks and shoes.  


Looking forward to next week!
Mrs. Wagner