There are many updates that I have to give to you. Please mark these on your calendars so that you can remember them.
The Halloween party will be held on Wed., Oct. 31st. The party will begin at 2:35 and the parade will begin around 3:05. This is different than most years, having the party first and the parade second.
Please remember that your child may dress up in an APPROPRIATE costume. There will NOT be time for your child to put on any Halloween make up of any kind! Please remember that the costumes may not have any type of weapons with them. The children will not have much time to change so please make sure that their costumes are easy to put on. It may be a good idea to label your child's costume with their name as well. You are free to take your child home after the parade as long as you tell me first and check them out in the main office.
Conference times will be sent home today. Please write your conference time down on the calendar since our time is limited to 20 minutes. If we find that we need additional time to talk I will reschedule an additional time for us to meet so that I can stay on schedule. Your child's report card will be sent home Nov. 5th in their red folder.
Tomorrow we will be celebrating the end of our SS unit by watching the move The Newsies. The movie theater has graciously donated popcorn for the kids to eat. Children may bring in a drink to have during the movie. They may also bring in a snack to share with the class if they want. If your child cannot eat popcorn they may bring in an alternate snack.
Next week is Red Ribbon Week. There will be several special activities happening during the week. I have listed them below:
Monday - Red Ribbon Day - Wear your red ribbons (provided by the school) to signify your belief in a drug free life.
Tuesday - Black and orange day - doing fun and healthy activities with friends.
Wednesday - Costume Day - wearing your costume at the party to signify that drugs cannot be disguised. They are dangerous.
Thursday - Backwards day - wear your shirt backwards to signify that you are turning your back on drugs.
Friday - Hat day- Hats off to a drug free life.
Please continue to have your child practice learning their states, capitals, and abbreviations of the U.S. A trimester test was given and many children were not proficient on the NE region states.
Our class continues to work on homework completion. This is an area that is concerning to me. Children need to learn to be responsible for their learning and their assignements.
As the weather grows colder I am looking for items that can be used for arts and crafts for indoor recess. Some favorites are beads, buttons, foam, lanyard string, coloring books, and glitter.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Friday, October 12, 2012
Falling into Fall
As we fall into the colder weather please make sure that your child has warm clothes for recess. In our classroom it is hard to know what to wear since it is either very hot or very cold in the room. having your child wear layers is the best way to survive the changing temperatures both inside and outside. I would like to reccomend that girls not wear sandals anymore since they cannot wear them at recess or PE. Having a coat, hat, and mittens for recess would be great!
This week we worked very hard on learning common and proper nouns in grammar. We worked on comparing and contrasting our reading stories and making sure that we understood the author's purpose. The children had to make inferences to understand what the authors purpose was.
In writing we worked on understanding what a topic sentence is and how to write one. Mrs. Christenson has been coming in to teach writing with us. We are gearing the children up to write an opinion piece.
In math we have been working on learning place value, and how to convert decimals to fractions and vice versa. We also worked on ordering decimals from smallest to largest. We have two children who are still in the 5 minute addition club. Our goal is that by next Friday all children have moved into the subtraction club. Please have your child work on learning their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts! The majority of 4th graders are not fluent in their math facts. That is a fundamental foundation for all we learn in math this year.
In Social Studies we took the NE region states and capital test. The results will be sent home sometime next week. We will be finishing the Progressive Era next week. To celebrate our completion of the unit all 4th graders will be watching the Disney movie The Newsies on Oct. 26th. We are working on having a movie theatre donate popcorn to the kids and then I will allow the kids to bring in a special drink of their choice. More information will come as the event gets closer.
We have finished the rock and mineral unit in science and the kids have been focusing on test taking strategies until the next science kit comes.
Thank you to Olivia and Zoe D. for donating class pets to the room. We are now the proud "parents" to a tadpole and a gecko. Several kids have asked about bringing in other animals for pets. At this time I think we have enough pets in the room. I would like to save those "special" pets like snakes and spiders for Mr. Bergert and the 5th grade. :)
Please continue to work on homework completion with your child. They need to know that they have responsibilities they must uphold.
This week we worked very hard on learning common and proper nouns in grammar. We worked on comparing and contrasting our reading stories and making sure that we understood the author's purpose. The children had to make inferences to understand what the authors purpose was.
In writing we worked on understanding what a topic sentence is and how to write one. Mrs. Christenson has been coming in to teach writing with us. We are gearing the children up to write an opinion piece.
In math we have been working on learning place value, and how to convert decimals to fractions and vice versa. We also worked on ordering decimals from smallest to largest. We have two children who are still in the 5 minute addition club. Our goal is that by next Friday all children have moved into the subtraction club. Please have your child work on learning their basic addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts! The majority of 4th graders are not fluent in their math facts. That is a fundamental foundation for all we learn in math this year.
In Social Studies we took the NE region states and capital test. The results will be sent home sometime next week. We will be finishing the Progressive Era next week. To celebrate our completion of the unit all 4th graders will be watching the Disney movie The Newsies on Oct. 26th. We are working on having a movie theatre donate popcorn to the kids and then I will allow the kids to bring in a special drink of their choice. More information will come as the event gets closer.
We have finished the rock and mineral unit in science and the kids have been focusing on test taking strategies until the next science kit comes.
Thank you to Olivia and Zoe D. for donating class pets to the room. We are now the proud "parents" to a tadpole and a gecko. Several kids have asked about bringing in other animals for pets. At this time I think we have enough pets in the room. I would like to save those "special" pets like snakes and spiders for Mr. Bergert and the 5th grade. :)
Please continue to work on homework completion with your child. They need to know that they have responsibilities they must uphold.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Testing and Tenement Week
This week the students have been busy taking the unit 1 reading test. I will send you their results as soon as I get them graded. So far I am impressed with the time the children are taking on the test to read and re-read each question. I feel very positive about their upcoming results!
The students will also be taking the unit 3 math test this week. As we have taught this unit it is apparent to all of the 4th grade teachers that all the kiddos need more practice on their basic math facts. The Truman Website has a great game called Math Flashcards that the kids have all been to that they can use at home to help them get to know their math facts more fluently! We still have 7 kids in the class who have not passed the 5 minute club addition. These kids should be practicing this test every night at home until they pass it.
The children have finished up the Earth Materials unit in science so now they are working on solving story problems. It is called Learn It, Know It, Show It. They will also be working on the RUCKUS story problem plan to help them understand story problems better.
Homework completion has gotten a bit better. The class earned one mystery motivator last Friday for having a successful week of returning homework. This week all children have NOT returned their homework so they will not earn their reward. Our class yellow ticket jar is almost full again. This time the kids voted to earn a movie and popcorn party. I plan to ask the Carmike Cinema to donate the popcorn to us when we earn this reward.
Please remember that tenement houses are due this Friday as are the book orders!
I plan to assemble the tenement houses in the glass case by the gym. If you are at school be sure to look at them!
Please make sure that your child have a coat at school as the weather turns colder!
The students will also be taking the unit 3 math test this week. As we have taught this unit it is apparent to all of the 4th grade teachers that all the kiddos need more practice on their basic math facts. The Truman Website has a great game called Math Flashcards that the kids have all been to that they can use at home to help them get to know their math facts more fluently! We still have 7 kids in the class who have not passed the 5 minute club addition. These kids should be practicing this test every night at home until they pass it.
The children have finished up the Earth Materials unit in science so now they are working on solving story problems. It is called Learn It, Know It, Show It. They will also be working on the RUCKUS story problem plan to help them understand story problems better.
Homework completion has gotten a bit better. The class earned one mystery motivator last Friday for having a successful week of returning homework. This week all children have NOT returned their homework so they will not earn their reward. Our class yellow ticket jar is almost full again. This time the kids voted to earn a movie and popcorn party. I plan to ask the Carmike Cinema to donate the popcorn to us when we earn this reward.
Please remember that tenement houses are due this Friday as are the book orders!
I plan to assemble the tenement houses in the glass case by the gym. If you are at school be sure to look at them!
Please make sure that your child have a coat at school as the weather turns colder!
Friday, September 14, 2012
Mystery Motivator
This week we worked a great deal on main idea and supporting details in reading. The children are learning how to find the main idea in their reading. We continue to work on reading comprehension and fluency. Students must remember that learning to read is only the beginning. Reading to learn is the goal!
We finished up our unit 2 math and took the unit 3 pre-test . Test results were sent home today with your kids. Our next math unit is on multiplication. The Truman website has some wonderful resources for helping your child learn their basic facts. Simply go to the 4th grade link and you will see your choices. We now have 12 kids in the 5 minute club. Ask your child what this is.
Please save an empty tissue box for your child. They will be bringing home a Social Studies project sheet on Thursday and will need that empty Kleenex box to complete the project. More detail will come on Thursday. This is an at home project.
WE have a Mystery Motivator reward in our class beginning Monday. The children will get this mystery prize if ALL of the 4th graders return their homework DAILY next week. It is a GREAT prize!
New book orders were sent home today. The more the kids read the better they will get at reading! There are many books that are only $1.
The state book for next week is New York and the Comprehension Tidbits story is The Wrasse Fish.
We finished up our unit 2 math and took the unit 3 pre-test . Test results were sent home today with your kids. Our next math unit is on multiplication. The Truman website has some wonderful resources for helping your child learn their basic facts. Simply go to the 4th grade link and you will see your choices. We now have 12 kids in the 5 minute club. Ask your child what this is.
Please save an empty tissue box for your child. They will be bringing home a Social Studies project sheet on Thursday and will need that empty Kleenex box to complete the project. More detail will come on Thursday. This is an at home project.
WE have a Mystery Motivator reward in our class beginning Monday. The children will get this mystery prize if ALL of the 4th graders return their homework DAILY next week. It is a GREAT prize!
New book orders were sent home today. The more the kids read the better they will get at reading! There are many books that are only $1.
The state book for next week is New York and the Comprehension Tidbits story is The Wrasse Fish.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Our Yellow Ticket Jar Goal Has Been Met!
Congratulations to my class for reaching our classroom yellow ticket goal! Our class voted to celebrate by having a PJ day with ONE stuffed animal friend to carry along. Please make sure that your child is wearing appropriate pajamas and that they are weather friendly since the kids will still be going out to recess. Children will need to wear shoes to school as well. The stuffed animal will be kept at their desk tomorrow as long as they are able to handle it.
We have added a two new class pets to our room. Thanks to Olivia R. we are now the proud owners of two tadpoles! The children are so excited to have a class pet and are looking forward to seeing them grow into frogs.
Thursday and Friday I will be busy giving the kids a reading assessment. Mrs. Sauser will be in the room as the student's substitute teacher. I plan to send these results home , as well as, the results to the unit 1 math test next week. Watch your child's mail.
Homework completion is still problematic! Please refer to your child's homework schedule on the back of their red folder so that you are familiar with their homework schedule and are able to help get your child into that routine.
This week we have been working on main idea and details in reading. We have been talking about the author's purpose and inferencing.
We continue to work on our writing piece about an event in our lives. The children are currently working on peer editing this piece.
In math we are working on multiply digit addition and subtraction as well as big numbers and place value. We will take the unit 2 test next week.
In history we learned about Robber Barrons and did research on a Robber Barron that we shared with the class. Next week we will move on to capitalists.
In science we are doing scratch tests to see what properties are in rocks.
Please remember that the PTO is still collecting the directory information along with the volunteer form. Spirit wear is due on Spet. 11th. If you still need a form you can find it on the Truman web page.
The summer reading and math calendars are due tomorrow.
Tonight is a PTO fund raiser at Chick Fil A from 5 - 7.
Have a relaxing weekend!
We have added a two new class pets to our room. Thanks to Olivia R. we are now the proud owners of two tadpoles! The children are so excited to have a class pet and are looking forward to seeing them grow into frogs.
Thursday and Friday I will be busy giving the kids a reading assessment. Mrs. Sauser will be in the room as the student's substitute teacher. I plan to send these results home , as well as, the results to the unit 1 math test next week. Watch your child's mail.
Homework completion is still problematic! Please refer to your child's homework schedule on the back of their red folder so that you are familiar with their homework schedule and are able to help get your child into that routine.
This week we have been working on main idea and details in reading. We have been talking about the author's purpose and inferencing.
We continue to work on our writing piece about an event in our lives. The children are currently working on peer editing this piece.
In math we are working on multiply digit addition and subtraction as well as big numbers and place value. We will take the unit 2 test next week.
In history we learned about Robber Barrons and did research on a Robber Barron that we shared with the class. Next week we will move on to capitalists.
In science we are doing scratch tests to see what properties are in rocks.
Please remember that the PTO is still collecting the directory information along with the volunteer form. Spirit wear is due on Spet. 11th. If you still need a form you can find it on the Truman web page.
The summer reading and math calendars are due tomorrow.
Tonight is a PTO fund raiser at Chick Fil A from 5 - 7.
Have a relaxing weekend!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Our First Full Week of School
I bet your kids will be exhausted this weekend! We worked very hard this week and increased our stamina. Thank you for all of the healthy snacks that have been sent in. They are a great way to keep the kids' brain going!
In reading we worked on problem and solution in reading. The children all read a mystery book. We worked on sentence fragments and sentences while deciding if the sentence was a statement, command, question, or exclamation.
In math we worked on angles, rays, lines, and line segments. We took our unit 1 math test and our unit 2 pre test. The children will be re-grouped for math on Monday. Our next math unit is multi-digit addition and subtraction. As I have given the kids Tiger Tests I have noticed that many of the kids do not know how to multiple and divide. Please work on this at home! This is a skill that children should come into 4th grade having.
In writing we are working on writing a personal narrative about an event in our lives. We are ready to peer edit next week.
In Science we continue to investigate rocks and minerals. The children are really doing a nice job of the grouping in science.
In SS we have taken the states and capitals pre-test. Your child will be expected to be able to locate and name the 50 states, their capitals, and their abbreviations by the end of 4th grade. We have also started our Progressive Era unit.
PLEASE help your children get their homework done and turned in! There were 11 kids in the class who did not get their homework done this week and missed the extra recess!
Book orders are due on Sept. 6th.
Have a great 3 day weekend!
In reading we worked on problem and solution in reading. The children all read a mystery book. We worked on sentence fragments and sentences while deciding if the sentence was a statement, command, question, or exclamation.
In math we worked on angles, rays, lines, and line segments. We took our unit 1 math test and our unit 2 pre test. The children will be re-grouped for math on Monday. Our next math unit is multi-digit addition and subtraction. As I have given the kids Tiger Tests I have noticed that many of the kids do not know how to multiple and divide. Please work on this at home! This is a skill that children should come into 4th grade having.
In writing we are working on writing a personal narrative about an event in our lives. We are ready to peer edit next week.
In Science we continue to investigate rocks and minerals. The children are really doing a nice job of the grouping in science.
In SS we have taken the states and capitals pre-test. Your child will be expected to be able to locate and name the 50 states, their capitals, and their abbreviations by the end of 4th grade. We have also started our Progressive Era unit.
PLEASE help your children get their homework done and turned in! There were 11 kids in the class who did not get their homework done this week and missed the extra recess!
Book orders are due on Sept. 6th.
Have a great 3 day weekend!
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Begin Something New
Our three words for the day were very apprpriate.... "Begin something new."
The fourth graders had a wonderful first day! We spent time getting to know one another and getting to know the class procedures. We played the Guess Who I am game, read a story called Loud Lips Lucy, wrote about our first day of school feelings, and took a cursive pre-test. During recess we reviewed the playground rules and talked with our friends.
Today your child brought home with red homework folder. Please take a minute to look through that and review the homework expectations that your child will have. Please be sure to turn the homework sheet over and read both sides. Homework will begin on Friday.
Tomorrow the Kindergarten color day is blue. Thursday it is orange, and Friday it is red. Your child may wear these colors if they want to help the kindergarteners learn their colors.
Book orders and Highlight magazine forms were sent home. Both help the classroom earn free things. Ask your child about this.
Please feel free to email or call me if you have questions or concerns!
The fourth graders had a wonderful first day! We spent time getting to know one another and getting to know the class procedures. We played the Guess Who I am game, read a story called Loud Lips Lucy, wrote about our first day of school feelings, and took a cursive pre-test. During recess we reviewed the playground rules and talked with our friends.
Today your child brought home with red homework folder. Please take a minute to look through that and review the homework expectations that your child will have. Please be sure to turn the homework sheet over and read both sides. Homework will begin on Friday.
Tomorrow the Kindergarten color day is blue. Thursday it is orange, and Friday it is red. Your child may wear these colors if they want to help the kindergarteners learn their colors.
Book orders and Highlight magazine forms were sent home. Both help the classroom earn free things. Ask your child about this.
Please feel free to email or call me if you have questions or concerns!
Monday, August 20, 2012
Welcome to 4th Grade!
Welcome to 4th grade and to my class! This year will be a fun and exciting year! In order to "go green" I will not be sending home newsletters but will rather post class information on this blog. Please sign up to be a fan so that you will be notifiied each time I add a new blog!
Thanks,
Mrs. Thompson
Thanks,
Mrs. Thompson
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