Weekly Update

This week in Math, we have finished Chapter 1 with a lesson on pictographs and have started Chapter 2.  We have compared numbers, ordered numbers from least to greatest, and reviewed making and reading tables.  Today we had our first lesson on rounding.  The students are doing great with it so far!  Remember that students can visit the Moodle for extra math practice (including the study of math facts), using my school website link: click here.  Also, students have a math packet for Friday Homework that is due September 6th.

Morgan reviewing facts at the Technology Rotation

Trevor at the Activity Rotation, putting together a place value chart

Reagan and Tyler playing "Digit Ski" at the Games Rotation

 

Ryan at the Problem Solving Rotation

Raph working on his Math Notebook

In Reading, we have added more reading strategies to our "R CAFE" board.  This week we practiced the strategy "cross checking," tuning into interesting words, asking questions while reading, and reading with expression.  We noted that the more we read, the better we get at all of these strategies!  Don't forget: The boys' Reading Response Letters are due next Friday, September 6th.  An example is posted on this blog, under the label "Reading Response Letters."  Students also have a purple description sheet in their binders.  

Check out the strategies we have added to our R CAFE board!

 

Katherine and Macey practicing our "Read with expression" strategy

In Writing, students are doing a great job developing their personal narratives.  This week we focused on adding good details to our writing by zooming into the most important part and adding sensory details.  We also  checked the organization and flow of our stories by using transition words such as "first," "next," and "finally." We added these writing strategies to our VOICES board.  Please remind students that it is important for them to write in their Reflection Journal each week night.  They are not to write for a set time, but should write on a complete idea, thought, feeling, diary entry, etc.  Entries should be dated.  I told students that I will be collecting these next Friday (9/6) to view over the weekend.  

We have been busy writers in using these strategies!

Dorothy adding great details to her writing

In Social Studies, we studied landforms.  We made a flipbook to help review some water landform terms.  We are also locating other landforms on a United States map, such as the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River.  Social Studies is fun!

John working on his landforms flipbook, with the final product below!

Gianna and Tyler finding examples of landforms to add to their flipbooks

Katherine and Ella locating landforms on their U.S. maps 

Also, students have reached their first 100 points this week for great behavior!  We voted and would like to have a comfy reading and writing time in class on Wednesday!  With your permission, the first part of this reward is that students are able to wear pajamas to school.  The second part is that students are able to bring a comfortable item with them to use during independent reading and writing time.  The word "sleeping bag" was thrown out there as we were discussing the reward.  However, if your student rides the bus, they need to have something that will fit in their backpack (ex. a small pillow, Pillow Pet, or blanket).  Also, for all students, the comfy item has to be something that they can comfortably carry in the hallways by themselves.  A reminder note will come home with Flyer Folders on Tuesdays.  Finally, students came home with Flyer Folders tonight.  Please go through these with your child and return any forms on Tuesday. (We are off Monday for Labor Day!)  The social studies quiz is also coming home in Flyer Folders.  Don't forget to take a look at the "Homework" page on our blog.  We look forward to starting our spelling and reading groups next week, as well as Long Lawn Day on Friday! 

Have a great 3-day weekend!  

Homework: Reading Response Letters, Math Worksheets, & Daily Edit Quizzes- Oh My!

In reviewing our "Reading is Thinking" lesson from Friday, we discussed our Reading Response Letters yesterday.  Reading Response Letters are letters that students will write to me about their independent reading book once every two weeks.  These letters will be due on Fridays, starting with the girls' letters due this Friday (8/30).  However, just like Friday Homework, students may turn it in at any time during the week that it is due.  These letters are worth a reading grade and a writing grade, 10 points for each.  Students have a purple assignment description sheet behind the "Reading" tab in their binders.  Below is a fantastic example of a Reading Response Letter that we wrote together in class after reading Chapter 3 in our read aloud book.  

As I have mentioned before, students do not have much math homework.  We are involved in many activities at school, so students mostly use the time at home to study math facts or to study for upcoming tests and quizzes.  We have finished Chapter 1 in math, and students took their completed practice worksheets home today in their Flyer Folders.  If a paper has a check on it, the worksheet needs no corrections and can stay at home.  However, I may have wrote, "Fix:" and then listed certain problems that I would like a student to correct.  When the student has made the corrections, the worksheet(s) should come back to school for my review.  Because we are finished with Chapter 1, I want to make sure that students have cleared any misconceptions.  

Finally, students will have their first Daily Edit Quiz this Friday.  Our morning work last week focused on math.  This week we are focusing on writing.  Therefore, students are involved in daily edit practices each morning.  We review each skill after students have finished the morning work, and students are quizzed on these skills on Fridays.  For example, we have discussed synonyms and apostrophes this week.  As long as students pay attention during morning work and correct their answers, they will do great on the quiz (5 questions).  Students keep morning work in the front of their binder for the entire week. 

All of this information can be found in our class handbook in the "Homework Expectations" pages.  As always, please let me know if you have any questions.  

Weekly Update

Welcome to our first Weekly Update!  We have had a great first full week of school!

In math, students are mastering our rotations routine.  First, students will participate in the mini lesson.  Then, they will be involved in one rotation a day: Technology, Activity, Games or Problem Solving.  They will get to all of the rotations by the end of the chapter lessons.  Students are pulled from their rotation in small groups to further review the lesson at the back table with me.  In addition, students have a math notebook that they use on a daily basis.  It may only come home before a unit test.  Unit 1 contains the first four chapters.  Students have been working in Chapter 1 this week with place value and benchmark numbers.  Students can visit the Moodle for extra math practice (including the study of math facts), using my school website link: click here.

In reading, students reviewed expectations for independent reading and picked "just right" books.  I can tell that I have a group of students who love to read!  It is very important that students keep up with their Reading Log, reading 120 minutes each week.  Students are also keeping track of all the books they will read this year on a blue Reading List in their binder.  This week we also discussed reading comprehension strategies and were reminded that "reading is thinking" as we made predictions, asked questions, made connections, and learned new things from our books.  As a class, we have started our first read aloud, PIE by Sarah Weeks.  PIE is a Mark Twain Nominee.

Eric adding "good fit books" to his Reading Interests List

Gianna illustrating our "too easy" books reminder

Ella recording her thinking while reading

Dorothy recording her thinking 

In writing, students are prewriting by filling their writer's notebooks with ideas for their personal narratives.  We have listed people and places that are important to us and thought of memories, or "small moments," for each.  Please remind the students that it is important for them to write in their Reflection Journal each week night.  They are not to write for a set time, but should write on a complete idea, thought, feeling, diary entry, etc.  Entries should be dated.  Students may keep these journals at home, unless they are told to bring it in for teacher review.

Tyler prewriting his personal narrative

In social studies, we have reviewed cardinal directions as well as the continents and oceans.  Students will have a quiz on Tuesday (8/27) on the Continents & Oceans.  Using a key, they will label a blank map with the 7 continents and 5 oceans.  We will review on Monday, and students can use the world worksheet completed in class as a study guide.  Additionally, I have review games and activities on the Moodle.  Students have all of their technology usernames and passwords listed on their log in card in their binder.

Alex and Morgan using cardinal directions in drawing a floor plan

Also, I want to thank the parents who came out to Curriculum Night!  If you were not able to make it, your child will bring home our Class Handbook containing everything that I had discussed.  It is important that all parents read over our 4th Grade Handbook, as it is packed with vital information about our class.  An electronic, color copy (which is helpful for the clip chart colors) can be found on my school website here.  We can have another Party Leader to help coordinate both the Halloween and Valentines parties, and one Party Helper for the Valentines party on Feb. 14th.  We are also looking for a Junior Achievement parent volunteer.  We have one parent interested who may want to work with another parent and split the responsibilities.   The volunteer would be trained and receive all lesson plans and materials.  This would take place at the end of the school year.  The parent volunteer in my classroom last year taught 45-minute lessons for 5 days (split between 2 weeks).  We would work out what time works for you and our class.  Please email me if any of these volunteer opportunities interest you.  Finally, students came home with Flyer Folders tonight.  Please go through these with the students and return any forms on Monday.  Be sure to check out our new "Homework" tab on the blog for a list of daily homework assignments!

Have a great weekend!  

Assignment Books

This week we are getting into more routines.  Each student has a yellow assignment notebook in the front of their binder.  The binder (and therefore assignment notebook) comes home every night.  As I mentioned before, the assignment notebook is going to be a main form of communication this year.  

Starting this week, students will fill out the Reading Log portion of the assignment notebook as part of their reading homework.  I am looking for 120 minutes of reading at home each week.  However, how students split up those minutes is up to them and their schedule.  Students may evenly break up that time to 24 minutes each weekday, or they may read 30 minutes Monday-Thursday.  We also discussed that a student may read for 40 minutes in just one night.  As long as students have at least 120 minutes for the week, they will get full credit.  Of course, students may also exceed the 120 minutes of reading each week.  The only other homework students have tonight is to brush up on their math facts (especially multiplication).  I had students cross out the "writing/spelling" section of the assignment notebook for today because we have not yet discussed our reflection journals that will be coming home each night.  Finally, students colored in their behavior circle at the bottom of the notebook.  We will discuss my behavior management system on Curriculum Night this Thursday, but a color of green, yellow, orange or red is great!  A blue circle would represent a "warning," and a purple or pink circle would notify you that your child made 2 or more poor choices for the day.  I told students that I would like them to go over their assignment notebook with a parent on a nightly basis, and then their parent should sign or initial next to the colored circle.  A parent's signature verifies that the reading log information is correct and also lets me know that you have seen your child's behavior for the day and homework assignments for the night.  Tomorrow morning, I will briefly meet with students to look for the signature or any other notes that may be for me in the assignment notebook.  (Please do not write dismissal notices in the "notes" section, as these need to also be turned in to the office.)  Below I have circled the sections of the assignment notebook that students are to use tonight.  

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.  I look forward to Curriculum Night this Thursday at 6 p.m.!

Our Second Day!

We had another great day today!  After music class, we started talking about "The 7 Habits of Happy Kids" as part of our character and community building activities this week. Students had an awesome discussion about the meaning of a habit, and they gave great examples of good and not so good habits.  This year we will focus on 7 good habits using the book below.

Today we were introduced to the characters in this book that will help to teach us the 7 habits.  We also listened to this song to help us understand the 7 habits a little better:

Our goal is to remake this song as our own once we know more about these habits.  We will focus on one habit at a time.  

In between discussing a few other class routines and expectations as well as taking a math and spelling pre-test, students had a great time decorating and personalizing their writer's notebooks.  They look fabulous!

  

      

Parents, next week we will be getting into the curriculum and more routine.  It will be important to make Curriculum Night this coming Thursday the 22nd.  There you will learn more about these routines and you will receive a copy of our class handbook, which will also be posted on our class website.  Unless students have not returned signed forms in the manila folder, they do not have homework this weekend!  The assignment notebooks will be another main form of communication between home and school this year.  Next week, students will be utilizing all sections of the assignment notebook, including the Reading Log and Behavior sections.  I would also like parents to start signing the assignment notebook.  Also, next week I may not be posting to the blog on a daily basis.  However, on Fridays I will recap important events from the week and provide reminders for upcoming events, in addition to posting other valuable information.  Finally, students will have P.E. on Monday, so make sure they dress accordingly.  

Students, if you have not done so already, comment below on something you learned this week or describe your favorite part of our first week of school!

The students are very sweet, and I enjoy getting to know them all!  Have a great weekend!

Our First Day!

Today was a great day!  We started off the day with building community.  Since we will all be school leaders and good friends this year, we needed to get to know our classmates better.  First, we acted as journalists by interviewing our classmates.  After students interviewed a classmate, they introduced him or her to the rest of the class!  

   

 

In the afternoon, we rotated around the building to be reminded of expectations in the hallway, bathrooms, cafeteria, library, and playground.  We also reviewed our "I CARE" language with our counselor, Mrs. Maddock.

 

We ended the day by reading one of Mrs. Leighton's favorite picture books, "Skippyjon Jones!"  So, we learned a little Spanish today too. 

For homework, students are to bring back any forms that need to be returned in the manila envelope.  Also, students should bring in magazines they are interested in to decorate our writer's notebooks.   Finally, I want to let you know that we eat lunch at 12:55, so students are welcome to bring a snack that is safe for the classroom (ex. fruit, yogurt, pretzels, cheese, and other foods that contain no nuts!).  

*If you are a student reading our blog, comment below to tell me one thing you learned today about anything we discussed (geography, our classmates' interests, expectations and routines at Long and in our classroom, Spanish, etc.) OR tell me about your favorite part of the first day of 4th grade. :) 

Thank you students for a great day!  I will see you all tomorrow!

Welcome to 4th Grade! We will have a hoot!

         

      Posts Coming Soon.... August 15th!