This year, fourth grade students have the opportunity to compete in the school Geography Bee. National Geography provides 2 sources for students to use to prepare for the Geography Bee: National Geographic Study Corner and National Geographic Daily Quiz Questions. I encourage students to also become aware of major land marks in each country as well as to know facts relating to history.
I am so proud of all the hard work continues to put forth towards their education. This past week, students persevered through many problems given them during NWEA testing of reading, mathematics, and language skills. We will finish NWEA testing this week with the next district assessment taking place after winter break.
The text passages this week in reading continue to focus on the question: "How do our actions affect others?" Today, we read passages from students who were in school during the 9/11 attacks. The students focused on how the actions of the students helped others as well as discussing the importance of being grateful for the life we have the opportunity to experience. If you would like to look at the material I used during this lesson as well as other videos, visit this link. Our classroom discussion was a powerful conversation regarding our actions and how we can make choices that allow our world to be a better place. We will read 3 other books this week that look at how we can make choices that affect the lives of others in a positive way. Please look for extension activities that come home as there will be 2 opportunities for students to discuss how they can act with kindness and share their memories. We are finally getting back to our math routine this week. Our routine was not consistent last week, thus causing a slight confusion with rounding. The students will have an opportunity to extend their understanding of rounding as well as add and subtract 3 - and 4-digit numbers. Safety first is the theme this week for science as students continue to research the importance of restraint systems in vehicles. This week students will learn about the history of seat belts. After our research is complete, we will begin learning about potential and kinetic energy. This will be the foundation of our science experiments during this unit. Weekly Code 1. Using all of the books/texts we have read over the past 2 weeks, discuss how our actions affect others. Once you have had this discussion, write "Act with Courage" in your student's planner. 2. Identify one fact learned (on Tuesday) about the history of seat belts. There are many learning adventures that await us this week! I hope everyone had a good long weekend. I sure enjoyed my extra day with family and time to adventure with my adventure buddies!
Students continue to become fluent with using digital tools on their Chromebooks. We have all realized it will take more time to become familiar with how to use each tool; thus, learning activities are taking longer now. As the month progresses, students will progress through each activity quickly. I look forward to seeing how students will be able to use their Chromebooks to enhance their learning. We will continue to read selections regarding how we can challenge ourselves. This week, students focus on how their actions impact others. The focus texts will all be realistic fiction pieces that focus on how you can speak up for yourself and how you can take responsibility for assignments. We will also discuss how our actions impact others. Our class is full of math lovers! It is so much fun hearing an almost cheer every each day as we approach math time. This wee we continue to focus on place-value as students compare numbers, round numbers, and add numbers. I am so very excited for our science lessons this week. We will start our first PLTW unit, energy collisions, with looking at the importance of seat belts and air bags in a collision. I look forward to starting this unit with the students and gaining a deeper understanding of energy. Students will also gain access to their code.org sign in. Stud will be able to access at home. Weekly Code Order the following numbers from greatest to lease. 19,392; 19,485; 19283 Describe one example of how our actions impact others. I look forward to seeing everyone at Open House this Thursday. What a wonderful first week of school last week! The students did a wonderful job building our classroom community and establishing their role as a student. Our main focus the first 4 days of school was establishing goals and how to overcome struggles. These kids will move mountains as we adventure into learning this year!
This week in math we will focus on building a strong foundation with understanding place-value up to the millions. Students will use place-value charts as well as number lines to model numbers. Some of the key words/concepts this week are value, standard form, expanded form, word form, and digits. We will start the first unit in our Wonders reading series this week. The theme for the first unit is "Think it Through." This week's essential questions is: Where do good ideas come from? Students will read how characters in fairy tales come up with creative ways to solve their problems. The students will use sequencing, predicting, and finding synonyms as they read the texts for this week. We will continue writing our "short" personal narratives this week during writing time. The students have chosen on special moment from this summer to write their first published writing piece for the year. We will focus on writing a strong lead as well as including "juicy" descriptive words in our "Summer Shorts." The spelling focus for this week is short vowel words. The students have their lists to practice at home. We will also have time to practice in class with a test given on Friday. If a student misplaces their words, they can go to the Spelling Corner of our website to get the words. Weekly Code Each week I will post 2 questions for the students to show what they have learned through the week. After discussing the questions, write a brief summary of what your student's response in their planner. 1. What is the relationship from the tens place to the hundreds place? Hint: each place is tens times more than the previous place. 2. What are the elements (parts) of a fairy tale? Hint: students should mention the characters experience a difficult task, there are usually imaginary creatures, and the stories frequently end in "happily ever after." I hope you all have a wonderful week and I look forward to the learning adventures we get to experience this week. Welcome to a brand new year! I am so very excited to be a fourth grade teacher at Arrowhead Elementary! I will use this website as a way to keep parents and families updated on the activities that are taking place in our classroom. Please become familiar with the site and the resources I have linked throughout all of the pages.
Please make sure to join Fresh Schools and complete the Parent Contact Information Survey found on the Parent Information Page. I will use this information as a way to keep in touch with you throughout the school year. I look forward to meeting you on the "Meet the Teacher" night Tuesday, August 22nd from 2:00 - 3:00. This will be an opportunity for you to see the classroom, organize your supplies, and meet me, Mrs. Gray. Please use the comments as a way to ask questions and add your thoughts to each post. Here's to a great year of exploration and growing in our learning! |
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May 2018
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