November 14, 2013

A few reminders and updates:

• Friday is a NUT day for $1. We are wearing purple for epilepsy, but if you do not have purple you can still have free dress, but it is still a $1.
• The state and capital map quiz is the 22.
• The National Park poster is due the 22.
• The students have a science test on the 20th.
• Students are finishing up a Mystery reading contract, and then they are working on Fiction 2 contract.
• We are writing a Personal Narrative. We are beginning the editing and revising part, and we will be typing these up.

November 1

Parents,

I just want to clarify the national parks project that will be coming up.

The planning sheet was handed out today, and it is the rubric for grading the poster project.

The states for each project come from the region we are studying, so the first project will be on a national park, monument, historical site, etc. from a state in the northeast region.

So the first states we are studying are:Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

I have told students to put the Historical Significance in their own words, do not print off a lot of information from the internet and attach it to the poster.

The poster should include:

The name of the park, the state where it is located, the region, and show a small map of the park or its location in the state.

When did it become a National Park, The historical significance( why is it a national park?), What would you see there, what can you do there? How far is it from your house? Include 4 pictures, may be actual  photos from a vacation, pictures from a magazine, drawings, or printed off the internet. Please label what the picture is of.

Everything should be neatly done.

It will be presented to the class, so practice this.

I have a book of National Parks, by state. They may check with me before doing work, if they have a question.

Remember, this is not a state park, or county park. It should be from the National Parks.

You can google National Parks.gov

More information:

Iowa Assessments will be Tuesday through Friday mornings.

We will not have spelling next week.

I will send a date home when I figure how long we should take to finish the northeast, but students may bring in their posters whenever they are finished.

Have a great weekend.

October 29

We had a great time at the Literature Festival. The students heard from 4 different authors, and they had some great ideas for the students to improve their own writing.

Today they received a pencil and bookmark, and tomorrow they will get a book to bring home.

Remember that tomorrow is an early dismissal.

Students brought home a note today about flu shots, just in case they don't show you!

Thursday students may wear black and orange to school and bring their costume to change into before the parade.

Friday is Mass day.

October 24

Happy Thursday! I am sure everyone is looking forward to a nice 3 day weekend.
A few updates:

• We are now in the unit on the Northeast Region in Social Studies. Hopefully the students showed you the map to study for the states and capitals quiz for this region. I will let you know when that date will be. We will have about 4 chapters on the region before the quiz. I will be sending home the rubric for the National Park project for the Northeast next week.
• We are on multiplication in math. We are learning to multiply by 2 digits, and working on strategies that can help us.
• We are working on pronouns in language.
• We are writing a personal narrative, and refining them by learning about strong leads, character development, and descriptive settings.
• Tuesday is the Field Trip to the Literature Festival. Remember that students will need to bring their lunch and drink. They may bring money to buy books. We will be leaving as soon as everyone arrives! Hopefully by 8:25!
• Monday is Sock it to Drugs! Wear your craziest socks with your uniform.
• If you are participating in the coloring contest, the picture is due Monday.
• Wednesday is an early dismissal-1:10
• The Halloween Party is at 2:30, or after the 2:00 parade on Thursday.
• Mass will be on Friday, due to All Saints Day.
• Due to the generosity of Miss Maya Hoffmiller, who was principal for the day, 4th grade had an extra recess and was awarded a homework free weekend! Enjoy!

October 14

Just a few updates for the week:

• Be sure your child knows if they will be ordering the pizza lunch on Friday. The lunchroom needs a count by Wednesday, or they have to bring a cold lunch.
• The Social Studies test will be Friday for 4A. We will finish and highlight tomorrow.
• The reading contract for Fiction 1 is due Friday.
• They are to know a Mystery Recorder Song for Friday for Music class.
• I sent home a paper today that explains the Literature Festival. The authors will have books for sale and students are welcome to bring money to purchase. The authors will be available to autograph the books. Buying books is an option.

October 3

It is starting to look like fall, although maybe just a little warm yet. We are into the thick of school, and it is hard to believe that we are already scheduling conferences for next week!

Today we had a presentation by Mack Orthodontics about dental care.

In social studies we are studying regions, and why and how the United States is divided into regions.

In math we have started studying multiplication. We are multiplying numbers by 10, 100, and 1000. Today we estimated products.

We have been discussing character traits, and setting in reading. We are learning how to visualize the setting, and how that helps us with the understanding of the story. Today we used a Native American picture book of poems, Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back, to work on this skill.

We have been working on finding sentence fragments, and how to fix them. The students are writing Halloween Stories, and working on using complete sentences, and some are using dialogue.

We are learning about our conscience in Religion, and how it helps us make good choices. Today we made Guardian Angels that will hang in our room for the month of October. I also want to say that I was very proud of each student during our Mass on Wednesday. They all did a fantastic job!

I look forward to meeting with each of you next week at our conference.

Remember, tomorrow is a spirit wear and NUT day dress.

Have a good evening.

September 23

A reminder that the social studies test is Thursday, and the students should have a highlighted study guide.

Also, today we previewed the Book Fair and the students filled in a wish list. Thursday is our purchase day. If you choose to come in and shop with your child at another time that is fine. We will go as a class on Thursday.

Finally, thank you to the class and Mrs. McFate for a wonderful birthday celebration. It was lovely!