Winter Projects

Greetings A-4's

Winter often keeps us indoors, but we have been busy with many projects.  Some of the colder days kept us indoor for recesses, but we have also been working on Reader's Theaters, Kindness Connection Projects, Science Experiments and more!

We are now working on fractions in math.  Don't forget to pull out the Student Math Handbook!  Reviewing the Fraction section of this book would really be helpful for the kids to solidify their understanding and also helps you, the parent, to understand some of our teaching methods so you can better support your child's understanding.  Using visual models, drawings, diagrams and manipulatives help the kids to make clear connections.  

Book Bingo has ended. I still need the weekend to grade and check everyone's progress, but I am very proud of everyone.  Honorable mention to Margherita Merlo for completing the "Ultimate Black Out" Bingo - which is a fully covered board with no use of FREE spaces.  Wow! Many others have completed Bingo, some doubles and even a few triples!  I hope they enjoyed getting to experience different genres.  Next week, we will have a bit of a ceremony so kids can receive their Book Bingo Certificates of completion.

Now that Book Bingo is complete, we will move into our Short story and Non-fiction studies.  These skills will build skills that will be essential for the Expert Report and will also serve them well in the PARCC and other types of text interfacing skills for their future.  

TFK's did not come home in the RED folders so I can file them as a writing sample for conferences.  

Speaking of writing, we are continuing our work on Essay writing. We spent this week working on ways to develop support and evidence to our reasons.  Next week we will continue this work as well as concentrate on organizational techniques. 

In SS, we have been studying the history of slavery.  It is a touchy subject and a rather mature subject, but I have been very impressed with how well the kids have been able to receive and respond to it all. Beginning next week we will start another round of Cooperatives where the children will learn more about the time of slavery, abolition and the Underground Railroad.  

PLEASE NOTE: Complacency is our enemy!  This has been a difficult week.  We have experienced a lack of respect, low quality and effort in work and poor listening.   This creates a culture of 'one-upping' and negative competition for attention.  It is so very important for us to buckle down at this time of the year - it is supposed to be our "meat and potatoes" time of year, so we can enjoy all the special spring activities for 4th graders.  We are falling behind. I am requesting that you have a personal chat with your child to discuss how he/she might be able to offer her/his very best behavior and work ethic to contribute to a more positive classroom climate.  I appreciate your assistance and support in making positive change.

A few other items to note:

This past week was our last week of Keyboarding during the school day.  Please encourage and support your child to continue this practice at home.  If you are having any trouble with the "Typing Club" from home, please contact me or Todd Burleson. 

We are very excited to be connected to the "ST Math" program.  I am hoping you have been able to get on from home.  This is a new program and we are experiencing a few problems.  Please let us know how it is going from home.  

Remember, Conferences are coming up on Feb. 11 & 12. 

We will be having a very short and low key Valentine's Day celebration on Wed. Feb. 10 from 2:15 - 3:00.  If your child plans to participate in the Valentine exchange, please be sure to include everyone on the class list.  

I hope you all have a rejuvenating weekend.

Enjoy some pictures from our Winter Projects below:

Indoor Recess

'Mock rocks' in science - exploring that all rocks are made up of minerals

Civil Rights Reader's Theaters

Kindness Connection

Music Artist in Residence - Music of the Regions

Welcome Back!

We had a great week returning from break.  We rearranged the room, cleaned our desks and freshened up our work areas.  Everyone jumped right back into the routine.

We are continuing with Book Bingo.  Remember, it is due Friday Jan. 29th.  Some kids have already made a Bingo and are working to make more.  Please encourage your child to keep reading and working on filling out the forms.

Most of us have completed our Picture Book Project.  On Friday we got to share them with our Buddies.  Soon, we will have a 4th grade sharing day and share amongst all three of the 4th grade classrooms.  Eventually, Mr. Burleson will also make them available to access via the web. We will keep you posted.

This week we started our Keyboarding lessons.  We are using a new program called Typing Club.  A letter was sent home so kids can access their account from home and continue their progress.  Please encourage your child to log on about 3 times a week or more to practice.  We are allowing for 3 times a week here at school over the next 6 weeks.  Also, it is most beneficial for kids to use the correct fingers.  Please encourage that as well.

This week we introduced the Expert Report.  It is a long term project.  Our Expert Report Fair date is not until April 27th, but it is time to get the ball rolling.  This week the kids got a brief overview and we began some Topic Brainstorming.  Kids are making a list of 10 ideas that will eventually pare down to 5, then 3, then down to THE topic.  I am encouraging kids to think of multiple topics and to keep an open mind.  We are trying to avoid animals, as they already did an animal report in 3rd grade.  Also, we are trying to avoid duplicate topics within our classroom.  Next week the Expert Report booklet will come home and I ask that you review it with your child so you can be helpful and supportive with the materials and due dates.

As we point toward the Expert Report, we have changed our focus in writing to Non-Narrative writing.  We will be exploring expository, informational, opinion and personal essay.  These skills will assist them in building strong essays for their Expert Reports and build a stronger foundation of technical writing skills to take with them into middle school.

We are finishing up our study of the South East Region.  We will be taking some time to learn about Slavery and the Underground Railroad, which will lead us into our study of the Mid West.

But first, with Martin Luther King Day just around the corner, we will take some time to learn about the Civil Rights movement.

This week we completed our unit and Math Assessment for Multiple Towers and Division Stories.  These concepts will be revisited again in the spring, but for now we will shift to fractions then decimals.

FYI - Conference are just around the corner.  They are much earlier this year - Feb. 11 & 12.  I will be sending out a sign up very soon.  If you ever have technical difficulties with signing up, please just email me a choice of times that would work for you and I'll plug you in to the schedule.

Low Temps will be back next week.  Please bundle your kids - the fresh air is very important, even if it is for a short period of time.

Enjoy your weekend & a few pictures from the week:

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great break!  Happy 2016!

Here are some pictures from December.

I'll be posting again soon, but didn't want these pictures to get forgotten.

Picture Book Project

Math Posters 

Surviving Jamestown

More Picture Book Project

Music of the SouthEast Region

Multiple Towers

PJ's & Buddies

 Town Hall All School PJ Day