Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling

In writing this past week, we worked on using great transition words and choosing awesome word choice to help persuade our audience and help our persuasive essays flow.  We are currently publishing our essays, and will celebrate our finished pieces this Friday!  In Spelling, the test over homophones will be Thursday, December 18th.  

Also, our classroom spelling bee will be held on Wednesday and Thursday.  Students have the Great American SpellCheck newspaper that contains study words.  Some students have also asked me for additional study lists.  

Reading

This past week in reading we continued to study tone, mood, and theme.  We are also reading a few debates from our StoryWorks magazine on persuasive essays.  

Math

In math we are finishing our chapter on long division.  The chapter 6 test will be on Wednesday, December 17th. 

Science

We have been studying the rock cycle and identifying the three different types of rocks!  Check out the video we watched this week.  

Our rocks test is Thursday, December 18th.  Extra credit activities/practice activities can be found on the online textbook.  After logging in, students click on "To Do" in the right-hand corner of the home page.  Then, the assigned activities will appear.  Click on the activity to complete.   After finishing an activity, click on the "I'm Done" button next to the activity.  The link to the textbook can be found by clicking on the textbook below.

Other Important Info.  

• Check the homework page and class calendar for upcoming and important dates! 
• Our Holiday Party is Friday, December 19th at 10:30.  
• Friday, December 19th is a Half Day with dismissal at 11:50.  Please make sure your child knows how they are getting home.  
• Winter Break starts Monday, December 22nd.  School will resume on Monday, January 5th.  

Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling

In writing this past week, we choose our persuasive essay topic and wrote both the introduction and conclusion paragraphs of our essays.  We will continue with this unit in writing the body paragraphs, using a lot of what we learned in writing our personal essays.  In Spelling, students will receive new word sorts this week.  Their next test will be Thursday, December 18th.  


Reading
This past week in reading we continued to study tone, mood, and theme.  We are also reading a few debates from our StoryWorks magazine to help us in writing persuasive essays.  Friday Homework this week is a reading titled, "Funny Faces."


Math
In math we are currently working on long division.  See "Division Man" below- he helps us in remembering the steps in solving long division problems.  Again, it is very important that students continue to study their multiplication and division facts at home.  

Science

We have started our rocks unit in science!  Students have their vocabulary flashcards, and the vocabulary quiz is this Thursday, December 11th.  The test over our rocks unit will be Thursday, December 18th.  

Other Important Info.

• This Wednesday, December 10th is an Early Release Day with dismissal at 1:40.  Please make sure your child knows how they are getting home.  
• Our Holiday Party is Friday, December 19th at 10:30.  
• Friday, December 19th is a Half Day with dismissal at 11:50.    
• Winter Break starts Monday,December 22nd.  School will resume on Monday, January 5th.  

Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling

In writing this past week, we finished our personal essays!  We will start our persuasive essays this coming week.  In Spelling, students will get new word sorts after Thanksgiving break.  

Writing our final drafts 

Reading
This past week in reading we continued with our historical fiction unit.  We will continue to study tone, mood, and theme in the coming weeks.  

Citing evidence in our text responses to our read aloud Wonder

Math
We have started Chapter 6 in dividing with multiples of 10,100 and 1,000 and with estimating.  Soon we will learn long division.  It is very important that students continue to study their multiplication facts at home.  The biggest error I see in multiplication and division is students confusing and not knowing their facts.  

Using a budget to create a Thanksgiving dinner for 10 people

Social Studies/Science 

We finished Chapter 2 in social studies.  Students will get the study guide on Monday, and the Chapters 1/2 Test is Wednesday, December 3rd.  In our next science unit, we will learn about rocks in Chapter 5, Earth's Resources.  

Blue Ribbon Week

"Dress for Success" Day

Other Important Info.

• Thanksgiving Break starts Wednesday, November 26th.  School will resume Monday, December 1st.  
• There is no Friday Homework this week.  

Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling

In writing this past week, we worked hard on putting our ideas together with the five-paragraph essay format.  We also worked hard on our introductions and conclusions, as well as adding transition words.  We are working on the final drafts of our personal essays this coming week.  Then, we will move on to writing our persuasive essays.  In Spelling, students will not get new word sorts until after Thanksgiving break.  

Reading
This past week in reading we continued with our historical fiction unit.  We used context clues to find information about the setting and time in history.  We then took it one step further by determining the tone and mood of the book.  We will continue this study this coming week.

Math
In Chapter 5 this past week, we worked hard on two-digit by two-digit multiplication and word problems involving multiplication.  Students will be tested over Chapter 5 on Wednesday, 11/19.  They will receive the study guide on Monday.  Again, students should continue to study their multiplication facts at home.

Social Studies

We have finished Chapter 1 in social studies.  This week we will move on with Chapter 2.  In Chapter 2, we will learn about Missourians, primary and secondary sources, population maps, and arts, sports, and recreation in Missouri.  We will have a test after Chapter 2, and this test will cover both Chapters 1 and 2. 

Veteran's Day Assembly

A big Thank You to all veterans!  

Other Important Info.

This past week we got to see Dr. Parker accept our National Blue Ribbon award in Washington, D.C. via a live internet stream!  

Our Blue Ribbon theme starts on Monday!  See our schedule below!

Monday, November 17^th:  We are FLYERS! 

Wear your green and gold to celebrate that we are high achieving Flyers!

Tuesday, November 18^th:  We are CRAZY about Long School!

Wear crazy socks and crazy hair!

Wednesday, November 19^th:  Show your BLUE Ribbon Pride!

Wear blue to celebrate our big award!

Thursday, November 20^th:  Begin with the End in Mind!

Wear your best “Dress for Success” outfit to show how we are leaders in our school! 

Friday, November 21^st:  We are a 2014 National Blue Ribbon School!

All students will be given a Blue Ribbon t-shirt today to wear!  

Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling
This week we chose an essay topic and worked on the organization of our essays (i.e. thesis including 3 supporting reasons and examples for each of those reasons).  We have also been working hard to write paragraph-long ministories that will act as some of our examples in our essays.  These are turning out great!  In Spelling, students will have their next test Friday, 11/14.


Reading
This week in reading we started our historical fiction unit with popular series.  We used context clues to find information about the setting and time in history for these books.  We will continue this study next week.

Math
In Chapter 5 this week, we used the "zeros trick," rounding, and the distributive property in helping us to solve two-digit by two-digit multiplication.  Next week, we will learn the traditional method of solving two-digit by two-digit multiplication!  So, students should continue to study their multiplication facts at home. The video below will help students in solving these bigger problems.

Social Studies

In Chapter 1, we have learned about the regions of Missouri and the states surrounding Missouri.  We will also review latitude and longitude and renewable and nonrenewable resources in Missouri.  Then, we will move to Chapter 2.  We won't have a test until after Chapter 2, and this test will cover both Chapters 1 and 2.  

Comfy Day Reward!

What a perfect way to start the week after an extended weekend!  On Monday, we enjoyed reading in our pajamas and with something comfy!  

Kid's Voting

We got to vote this week!  Check out the fun we had fulfilling our responsibility as citizens of Missouri.  

Other Important Info.

• I will see you all at the Music Program today!  Fourth grade performs at 4:00pm, and students must be there 15 minutes prior to get ready.  
• Our annual Veteran's Day Assembly is this Tuesday, 11/11, at 9:00am.  Students can wear red, white and blue to show their support! 
• This Wednesday, 11/12, is an Early Release Day with dismissal at 1:40.  Please make sure that your child knows how they are going home. 

Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling
This week we continued to prewrite for our essay unit by thinking of objects, events, and places that are important to us.  We built our stamina by freewriting for long periods of time, using the words below to "push" our thinking.  In Spelling, students will receive new word sorts on Monday. 

Adding boxes and stars to identify big ideas in our writing!

Reading
This week in reading we reviewed figurative language.  We read many books that used great figurative language and also found some in our independent reading books as well! 

Math
The Chapter 4 Test is Wednesday, 11/5.  Students will receive the study guide on Monday.  They should continue to study their multiplication facts at home, as Chapter 5 will have students multiplying by two-digit numbers.  This week's Friday Homework is the Math Standardized Test Prep. Ch. 4.  It is due Friday, 11/7. 

Social Studies

We resume social studies with the next unit involving Chapter 1: Missouri's Geography and Chapter 2: Our State Today. 

Music
Here are some videos from Mr. Kassulke:





Halloween Party Day! 

We started the day with a Halloween STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) activity.  Groups competed to create the most realistic spider web in the least amount of time, using tape, scissors and dental floss. 

Later we enjoyed our Halloween party!  A big THANK YOU to the many parents who volunteered to make the party a success!  

Other Important Info.

• We reached our goal of earning 100 points for good behavior!  Students can wear pajamas and bring something comfy (pillow, blanket, stuffed animal) on Monday!!
• Friday, November 7th is Picture Re-Take Day.