Weekly Updates, events, and any other information not found on the calendar on the “Assignments” page will be posted here.
Week of 11/29-12/5
It’s December! I can’t believe it. We had a great week. Art Goes to School came this week to teach the class about different artist and types of art work. As I’m sure you heard, we visited the Da Vinci Science Center on Thursday. It was an all day, hands on, Science experience. They were given the opportunity to explore all different topics in Science. The class did a great job! The school store opened for fourth grade this Friday. It will be open once a week for students to purchase school related items. Our class store also opened this week. Some students purchased items while others are still saving for some of the big ticket items. They need to keep earning their Cold Cash.
In Science, we explored how solids at room temperature are affected by heat. Using soap and wax, the class observed the two solids slowly melted into a liquid. Then, we removed the two items from the heat source. Both materials returned to a solid taking the shape of the container.
In Social Studies, the class prepared for their state research projects that will be presented on Monday and Tuesday. They’ve worked very hard on these PowerPoints, and I look forward to seeing them.
In Writing, we are almost done with our personal narratives. They are doing a great job completing all parts of the writing process.
In Math, we’re about to finish Unit 4. Check out the Everyday Math Resources and quizzes on my website. They are great for reviewing the concepts covered in this unit.
Overall, it was a successful week. It’s always tough to come back after Thanksgiving break. All of our minds are now in “holiday mode”. The class is doing a great job focusing and staying on task.
One more thing: Noah’s birthday party is this weekend. Have fun!!!
Weekly Updates, events, and any other information not found on the calendar on the “Assignments” page will be posted here.
Week of 11/22-11/28
Well, we made it to the end of the first marking period, and even better, it’s Thanksgiving break! I hope all the students enjoy their time off. Have fun with your family and friends. Thank you to all the parents for coming in for conferences. It was great to get the opportunity to talke with all of you. The support is very appreciated. I look forward to another fun, exciting marking period.
Last week, we were working on some fun, educational assignments. In Social Studies, the class continues to work on their state research projects. They are finishing up their PowerPoints. Next week, they will practice and present their projects in front of the class. They are having a lot of fun working with a partner during this process, and they are learning skills that are important for them to know in the future. In Writing, they are peer editing as they complete their first 5 paragraph personal narrative. It’s exciting to see them read each other’s papers and have meaningful discussions along the way. They all seem to be enjoying the writing process. We are into decimals in Math right now. This can be a bit tricky. The class needs to take their time while figuring out these types of problems. We continue to enjoy our read aloud book, The House on Hackman’s Hill.
So, it continues to be a fun, learning adventure in the classroom.
Hopefully, the Halloween candy is weighing us down! This week marks the end of the first marking period. I can’t believe it’s over. The time flies by! This class did a great job overall, and I look forward to seeing continued growth into the second marking period. Conference forms will go out next week. Report cards go out on November 17th. Students have off on the 21st-29th. Our first field trip is scheduled, and we will be going to the DaVinci Discovery Center in Allentown. It used to be in Bethlehem, but now they have a new, beautiful building near Dorney Park. I actually grew up around that area, so I’m very familar with it. It will be a great trip! Please get the permission slips back by next Friday. I will then randomly choose the chaperones. I can’t believe we are entering the holiday season.
In Science, we’ve been exploring properties of how air takes up space by doing activities, such as blowing up balloons and blowing bubbles. In Math, we just finished up with Unit 3, and the class was excited to get a taste of Algebra. On to Unit 4 next week. In Social Studies, we finished up our Geography Unit. Now, we’re getting into a little history about our land. We’ll be writing personal narratives next week in Writing. Students are encouraged to elaborate on their ideas. We just finished our first theme in Reading. On to the next theme. Also, we started reading a new book for read aloud. It’s an exciting book for the class.
Well, it was a great run for the Phillies. We’ll see how next year goes…
It’s been a very active week. Thank you to all of the parents who came in on Monday and Wednesday. I hope you enjoyed your time in our classroom. On Wednesday, eleven students gave amazing speeches in an effort to become our class’s student council representatives. Although all did very well, there could only be two selected. Our class representative is Abbey Iafolla and our class alternate is Julie Byrne. Congratulations to everyone who participated. The class did an excellent job listening to the speeches and voting for who they thought would make the best candidate.
The class received several assessments back in their test folders this week. Students were also given information on a flu vaccine, conference times, and several other forms that were in the Wednesday folders.
In Science and Social Studies we reviewed a lot of the concepts that we had been studying and working on throughout the previous couple weeks. In Math, we began Unit 3 which contains multiplication, division, and a little algebra. We will continue to practice our basic facts throughout this unit in the form of games, fact triangle practice, and timed tests. In Writing, the students began using their Writer’s notebook on a regular basis. We’ve been discussing the importance of writing about small events with great detail. Although there will be no Spelling test this week, next week the students will be tested on Units 7 and 8. We are wrapping up Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing this week. The class will be assigned a Literature response that will be due next week.
Other news:
As flu and cold season begin to get a lot more active, the school is requesting that students be diligent with hand washing throughout the day. We can only do so much, but if your child is sick, please make sure they stay home until the fever is gone for 24 hours.
Congratulations to everyone that was nominated for student council. Your speeches were very good. Although only two of you are able to be the class representatives, I thought all eleven of you did a great job.
Another busy week just flew by us. The class had a Unit 2 Math test this week which they will get back next week. They also had a Geography test and a quiz in Reading on Chapter 7 from Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. In writing, we started exploring new strategies to help us get ideas. We talked about writing small instead of covering the big picture. The kids love writing in their Writer’s Notebooks. In Science we explored volume of liquids and solids. We’ll continue to explore states of matter next week. We are getting into Unit 3 in Math which is on multiplication and division. Next week, we will be finishing up our read aloud book. The class will be assigned a Literature response for this book. I’ll let you know the details soon. We’ll be starting a new story in our Imagine books too next week. We just keep moving along.
Other news:
Students were given the chance to go on their blogs this week.
Pictures went home and retakes are on October 20th.
Celebrate Education Week is next week so check out the calendar on the Assignments page for the dates and times.
What are your thoughts on homework? Please take the poll below:
Now, post a comment on what you think of homework. Please include at least one positive and one negative idea regarding homework. Also, include your opinion.
Attention students and parents: Our class received their blog usernames this week. When posting a comment, you only have to put the username in the name spot. Leave the email and webpage blank. Parents, please use first names and last initial. Remember to review the guidelines page. Feel free to ask me any questions and comment on any posting or page within this site. Click on the different pages to check things out. Let me know what you think!
Weekly Update:
A full five day week is something that we’re not used to yet with having several Mondays off this year. The class has had several different types of assessments in all the subjects. Be sure to check in on how they are doing by signing the test folder when it comes home. We continue to work in Unit 2 for Math. This unit will be wrapped up next week with the quiz on Wednesday. We’ve done a lot in this unit. The class has explored different ways to do multi digit addition and subtraction problems. We’ve also explored line plot and bar graphs. While working with different ways to organize data, the students explored minimum, maximum, mode, median, and range. We will review all of these concepts prior to the test. In reading, we continue to read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. The class did a really good job on their Literature Diary Responses to I’m New Here Once we finish Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, they will do a literature response for this book. The messages and connections in this story continue to help create meaningful discussion. The class continued to work hands on in the Matter Unit for Science. We observed how changing the shape of an object does not affect its weight. They molded clay and used connecting blocks to experiment and discover this out. We spent a lot of time this week in Social Studies. The class is making note cards for key terms that they will have a quiz on next week. We will begin to explore latitude and longitude too. This week, we continued with Spelling Unit 5. This week’s test is on Unit 4 and 5.
Other news:
Students received their blog ids this week.
Pictures went home and retakes are on October 20th.
Book Fair Ends Friday!
Celebrate Education Week is coming up soon so check out the calendar on the Assignments page for the dates and times.
We’re a month into school already. I can’t believe it. It’s been a great transition into a new school and a new grade level. I have a great class. I hope to write an update every week about the great things happening in our class. Please check back frequently and feel free to comment on anything. Students in my class: you will receive a username and instructions on how to comment. Remember, I preview everything before it gets published on the website. Week of 9/21-9/25
In Math, we had our first test. I was very pleased with how everyone did on Unit 1. Let’s keep it up! We began Unit 2 which deals with numbers, graphs, and adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers. We are finishing the week with some time to play. The games in this Everyday Math program are great.
In Reading, we finished our first read aloud, Fantastic Mr. Fox. This was a funny story that brought up good conversations about character traits. We began reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. This is a great book for this age. The students can easily make connections to this story and the characters. The class looks forward to it every day. Students continue to read independently, and I’ve received many book summaries already. Keep reading!!!
In Writing, we are starting off with the basics. After doing a couple fun writing activities, we are focusing on sentence and paragraph structure. We’re also discussing using different literary devices to enhance our writing (Show not tell!). During daily language and grammar practice, the class is practicing their editing skills and distinguishing between different types of nouns. I encourage you to write every day!
In Social Studies, we explored different maps this week. Students are creating their own Fun Park map.
In Science, we began the Matter unit. The class is loving the different experiments. We made root beer floats and now we’re exploring balloons filled with mysterious items. All of these activities are allowing the students to investigate the different states of matter with hands on activities.
These weeks are flying by! All the kids love going to our Life Skill’s buddies. What a great experience for everyone.
Just an FYI: as flu season starts, be sure to wash your hands and take care of yourself.
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