Happy Fall!

This week marks the official start of fall--my favorite season.  It's a time when everything starts to change and prepare for the coming winter.  This holds true in our classroom, too.  When we finished our addition and subtraction indicator test this week in math, we marked an end to material that most students learned and mastered in 3rd grade.  Now, we will be starting multiplication.  While most students have a basic understanding, we will really begin to focus on this skill, expand what we already know, and prepare to use the knowledge as we move into division.  We're also going to look at the properties of multiplication and how it relates to other number operations.

We are about halfway through our first novel study.  We've really focused on predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing.  Now we are going to begin analyzing characters.  We've read enough in each book and have enough information about the characters that this should be a fun learning experience.  Also, our first project assignments are going to take place in class.  Students are finishing their daily assignments at different paces, so I gave them their choice menu (tic-tac-toe board) for this novel studies projects.

In writing, we are beginning to publish our first piece on our special object.  Our next piece is going to be a personal narrative--a story about something important that has happened in our lives. 

Also, we have a date for Challenge Ed...Monday, October 12.  Please check Take Home folders in early October for more information.

Week of September 8-11

I hope that everyone has a very nice Labor Day weekend.  Once we return from the long weekend, we'll pick up right where we left off.  We are still working on rounding and comparing/ordering numbers in math.  Those students who have mastered the skills will continue to work on enrichment activities.  In reading, we started our first guided reading groups.  Students are either reading The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, Loser by Jerry Spinelli, Rules by Cynthia Lord, or The Jacket by Andrew Clements.  We are working on the reading strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing.  We will spend time on context clues, plot, and character traits.  In writing, we are building a strong foundation of the Six Traits so that we can delve into each a little deeper as the year continues.  This week, we'll be working a lot on word choice.  We have started our first science unit on rocks and landforms.  Our focus this week will be learning about what materials make up rocks.  Enjoy your holiday weekend!

First Full Week

We are half way through our first full week of school. I am so pleased with how quickly the students are learning the new procedures and how hard they are working on new material. This week, we have been focusing on place value in math. We will learn place value through the hundred thousands place. We are also reading a story on Lou Gehrig. It's one of my favorites! Through this story, we are learning about the reading strategies of predicting, clarifying, questioning, and summarizing. These are strategies that we will use all year. In writing, we've began a list of possible topics that we can come back to all year long for ideas. We'll start our first writing piece tomorrow, which will be to describe the special object we brought to school.

Please mark your calendars for Back to School Night on September 3. I look forward to meeting everyone then!

Welcome to the Team!

I am so excited to that you chose to check out the blog! Our first day is now behind us, and I thought it went very well! All of the students seem eager to get started and begin new material. We're going to keep working on establishing procedures because that will help us have a fantastic year. However, we will also start doing some more academic activities tomorrow that should be a lot of fun.

One thing that I did want to address was snacks. Fourth graders eat lunch at 12:40, which makes for a long morning. Students are allowed to bring in snacks, but they must follow the school guidelines. Also, please don't bring in anything that requires a spoon or a napkin to eat--even if it follows the guidelines. I want snacks to energize, not distract, us.

Now that you've been on the blog once, I invite both parents and students to check frequently for new posts. While you're reading, please ask questions or make comments by clicking on the comment button at the bottom of the post. If you do not have a Google ID, you can click on Name/URL. Then type in your name (no URL needed) and post your comment. Comments are sent to my e-mail before being shown on the blog. Therefore, I can timely answer any questions about information I have posted. If you have a question or concern that more individually relates to your child, please e-mail (there is a link in "My Profile") or call me. I'm looking forward to the new school year. I hope you are, too. See you soon!

Week of April 6-April 9

Hello! I hope that everyone is having a nice weekend. I wanted to give you a run-down of what we have going on this week.

In reading, we are finishing our guided reading novels. I have a quiz planned for Wednesday, and I will be assigning a book project on Monday. The projects will be due on Monday, April 13. Students will also be taking an indicator quiz on 4.5.2, writing responses to literature. They will read a passage and answer an open-ended question.

In writing, we are working on the trait of Voice. This is the emotion and personality of the characters or author. These activities will lead us into our unit on poetry, about which I am very excited.

We learned about decimal and fraction equivalents last week in math. This week we will be focusing on rounding decimals to the nearest whole number or tenths. Our quiz is on Wednesday, and I will do any reteaching beginning on Thursday.

We will be having a story teller visit the 4th grade on Tuesday. Dan LeMonnier is coming to teach us about President Benjamin Harrison, who spent a majority of his life in Indiana. On Monday, we will spend some time discussing Mr. Harrison and prepare questions for our visitor. This visit also ties into our Indianapolis trip where we will be visiting the President Benjamin Harrison Home. I'm very excited for the children to not only learn about Benjamin Harrison but also the art of story telling.

Just a few reminders: permission slips for the Indianapolis field trip are due on April 13. If you've misplaced the slip, please let me know so that I can send home a new one. Also, there is no school on Friday.