Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling

In writing, we are finishing Chapter 1 of our informational books and moving on to Chapter 2 on our focused topic.  This past week students met with their writing partners to revise their Chapter 1 drafts.   In Spelling, students' next test is this Friday, January 30th.  

Reading

In reading, we started our unit on close reading.  Students are rereading sections of nonfiction and fiction texts in order to dig deeper (ex.find the main idea and supporting details, identify cause and effect, etc.).  We will continue with close reading during our minilessons and in reading groups this week.  

Circling the cause and underlining the effect in a nonfiction close read

Math

In math this past week, we started Chapter 8: Fractions.  So far, we have reviewed factors and multiples.  See the anchor chart that students came up with in defining these review terms.  This week we will continue with prime and composite numbers as well as equivalent fractions and fractions in simplest form.  

Social Studies

In social studies, we are currently discussing Lewis and Clark's journey west.  Then, we will move on to pioneers in Chapter 5.  Students will receive their Chapter 5 vocabulary flashcards on Monday, and their vocabulary quiz will be this Friday, 1/30.  Again, students may also use Quizlet to study these words. 

  Other Important Info.  

• If you did not get a chance to read about our Student Teacher Ms. Bender in the previous blog post, please do so.  We are very happy that she will be spending the rest of the year with us!  
• PRISM projects are due February 9th.  PRISM night is Thursday, February 19.
• This year the PTO is sponsoring a donut breakfast for the 4th graders before school. Each student is able to invite one person that is dear to them. The event will be held on Wednesday, February 18th from 8:00-8:45am in the gym.  Invites will be going home with the kids soon. We do ask that the invited guest stay with the 4th grader until the rest of the school opens at 8:30.
• Six Flags Read to Succeed Reading Logs are due Friday, February 27th  If students are wanting to participate, they need to read 6 hours in addition to their class reading log minutes.  As a reward, they will receive a free admission ticket to Six Flags theme park!   

Meet Ms. Bender!

Hi! My name is Abby Bender and I am going to be student teaching in Mrs. Leighton’s 4^th grade classroom. I am super excited to spend the rest of the year with your awesome students!

Although I am originally from Farmington, Missouri, and just recently moved to St. Louis, I have already grown to love the area. I am currently finishing up my last semester at the University of Missouri where I will receive my degree in Elementary Education this May.

In my free time, I love to play tennis, cook, read, and walk my dog. I will also be getting married in June, so wedding planning has become a recent hobby of mine.

Last semester, I got the opportunity to meet your students when I made periodic visits to the classroom. I am now looking forward to getting to know each student a little better throughout my student teaching!

Feel free to email me at any time!

Abby Bender

Student Teacher-Long Elementary

University of Missouri

Elementary Education

abbybender@lindberghschools.ws

My fiancé, Jordan, and I took our engagement photos on Mizzou's beautiful campus!

 This is our dog, Harley! She loves to go on walks and to chase squirrels and rabbits.

I LOVE watching Mizzou sports. This is Jordan and I cheering on the Tigers at a football game last fall.

Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling

In writing, we are writing Chapter 1 of our informational book on our big topic.  Students are doing great in including headings in their text and writing the important facts about their nonfiction research topic.  In Spelling, we will get a new word sort tomorrow.  We will go back to our yellow, green, and blue word sorts. The next spelling test will be Friday, January 30th.  

Reading

In reading, we finished our read aloud "Wonder!"  It was such a amazing book including great life lessons and a wonderful story plot.  It was also neat to hear the story told through multiple perspectives as many characters had their own part in the book.  Check out some of our favorite parts of the book below! 

The next couple of weeks we will work on close reading, where we really think about and study texts in order to dig deeper into the meaning and author's craft.  

Math

In math this past week, we finished Chapter 7.  The Chapter 7 Test will be this Wednesday, 1/21.  Students have the Chapter 7 study guide, and we will work on it and review on Tuesday.  Our next chapter is on fractions.  We will start with a review of factors and multiples as well as prime and composite numbers.  

Social Studies

Check out our timeline of Missouri's history below.  Students did a great job in helping to put this timeline together!  

In class we are currently reading about the Louisiana Purchase.  We will continue to discuss this exciting topic in history next week.  The Chapter 4 Vocabulary Quiz will be Wednesday, 1/21.  Students have flashcards to study.  They can also log on to Quizlet to study using the link below. 

Other Important Info.  

• PRISM entry forms should be in.  Please let me know if you would like to receive a copy of the PRISM booklet for your child.
• Six Flags Read to Succeed Reading Logs are due Friday, February 27th  If students are wanting to participate, they need to read 6 hours in addition to their class reading log minutes.  As a reward, they will receive a free admission ticket to Six Flags theme park!   
• This year the PTO is sponsoring a donut breakfast for the 4th graders before school. Each student is able to invite one person that is dear to them. The event will be held on Wednesday, February 18th from 8:00-8:45am in the gym.  Invites will be going home with the kids soon. We do ask that the invited guest stay with the 4th grader until the rest of the school opens at 8:30.

Weekly Update

Writing/Spelling

In writing this past week, we started our informational books!  Students enjoyed picking their nonfiction research topics and reading a variety of resources to learn all about their topic in class.  Once we become experts on the topic, we will share our information within the four chapters of our informational books (outlined below).  In Spelling, we are studying our last homophones set.  The test over homophones will be Friday, January 16th.  

Reading

In reading, we are working on finishing our read aloud "Wonder."  We are also working on our text responses and providing evidence for our answers.  

Math

In math we are in Chapter 7, reviewing numeric and nonnumeric patterns.  Students were very excited to be introduced to a new math program in our computers rotation called Prodigy.  This past week, we all got practice with this new and exciting program.  Like ALEKS, students are allowed and encouraged to play this at home in addition to the practice they are getting at school. 

Playing Prodigy in the Computers rotation

Playing "Fraction Dots and Boxes" in the Games rotation

Social Studies

In social studies, we read through Chapter 3 on Native Americans.  We also worked on a timeline project, where each student focused on an important date in Missouri's history.  (A picture of our class timeline will be included in next week's Weekly Update.)  On Monday, we will continue with "Chapter 4: The Arrival of the Europeans."  Chapter 5 is titled "Becoming a State," and our next test will cover both chapters.  

PRISM

Information for 2014-2015 PRISM is now available online here: 

http://golindberghschools.ws/prism. The 2014-2015 PRISM information is also accessible on our district website from the 'Students' drop-down menu.  Participation in PRISM is optional to all students K-5.  If you are interested in participating, please visit the site listed above and print off an entry form to return to school.  

PRISM night is Thursday, February 19.  Projects will be due the 9th.

Other Important Info.  

• This Wednesday, January 14th is our next Early Release Day with dismissal at 1:40.  Please make sure you know how your child is getting home.  
• The school-wide Spelling Bee is this Friday, January 16th at 2pm.  
• Students took home Six Flags Read to Succeed Reading Logs on Friday.  If students are wanting to participate, they need to read 6 hours in addition to their class reading log minutes.  As a reward, they will receive a free admission ticket to Six Flags theme park!  These are due Friday, February 27th.  
• There will be no school on Monday, January 19th in observance of Martin Luther King Day.  
• Scholastic Book Orders are due this Friday, January 16th!  Click on the link below to order online! 

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.