A few homework reminders...

         Now that we are about a month into the school year, I figured I would let you know about the homework reminders that I have told the students.  If you could reinforce them at home that would be helpful.  Thanks in advance!

·         MAH and RAH~ parents need to sign each night stating their child has completed the time that is written on the page

·         MAH and RAH~ should be written by the students since this is their homework

·         RAH~ the titles of books need to be capitalized properly and underlined

·         MAH Attached Multiplication Page~ the entire page needs to be completed including the outside border of problems

·         RAH Thinking Page~ The students have been getting a lot of practice with writing down their thinking.  This is expected during RAH.  The ideas at the bottom of the RAH page are just suggestions.  The students have learned about MANY things that they can think about while reading.

 

As of right now, we will not have spelling each week at home.  We are working as a fourth grade team to determine what approach to spelling is best for fourth graders.  I will let you know if/when spelling starts up again on a formal basis.  In the meantime, if your child is writing at home, after they get their ideas on the paper, you could ask them to go back and highlight words that “look wrong” to them. 

         

Conference Sign-Up

         Parents are now able to sign up for their child's conference on PTC Fast.  The link to sign up is below. 

The spots tend to fill up fast, so please sign up as soon as possible!  Thank you!

 

http://www.ptcfast.com/schools/C_A_Farley_Elementary_School

Reporting from Mount Washington...

    

          It was a great week in fourth grade.  Thank you to all the parents that came out to Parent Night last night!  I hope that you found the presentation informative and that it gave you a snapshot of our school day.

The kids had learned about Mount Washington last week.  They got to watch a few videos about the weather at the top of the mountain, the Cog Railway, and a car race to the top!  The kids took all that they learned and created a newscast about Mount Washington.  They were so creative, and they loved seeing themselves on the big screen.

          In reading, we started our asking questions unit.  We have started to think about the questions that we have before, during, and after we read.  We started reading The Widow’s Broom today.  The kids had so many questions about the events in the story. 

          When your child is reading at home, you could have him/her stop and think about what they are wondering.  Having a conversation around the questions that they have while reading will help your child to become a more thoughtful reader.

          I hope you have a great weekend!

~Mrs. Lewis

         

Math Practice Ideas

Here are a few math game websites that your child might enjoy using at home.  Practicing the multiplication facts on these websites would be a good way to get their "MAH time" in.
 

http://www.mathplayground.com/

http://www.learninggamesforkids.com/4th-grade-math.html

http://www.math-play.com/

http://www.mathnook.com/

Paw Print Reward!

Our class worked together to earn our first Paw Print Reward!  The kids voted and chose to have Pajama Day on Monday.  :)

Fabulous Storytellers

          We had a great week in fourth grade!  We figured out that we have a great group of storytellers in our class.  The students picked a “seed” story from their writer’s notebook.  They are going to “grow” their seed story by using strategies that they have learned in class.  To help us tell stories step by step, the students practiced storytelling their seed story to their partners.  The partners made suggestions to help the storyteller to add more thoughts, action, and dialogue to their story.  They were all great teammates!  J

          In reading we practiced stopping and jotting down our thinking this week.  We talked about strategies to help us remember when to stop and think about our reading until it becomes more natural.  We also talked about how to choose “just right” books. 

In social studies we “visited” Mount Washington in New Hampshire.  We watched several videos on the weather at the top of the mountain and some interesting ways that people get to the top of Mount Washington.  The kids are now creating news reports on the mountain.  We will be taping these news reports next week!

I hope to see everyone at our Parent Night on Thursday from 6:30-8:00.  Additional information was sent home yesterday in your child’s Thursday folder.

Have a great weekend! 

~Mrs. Lewis

Homework "Plan"

Here is a homework plan that helps to create a routine with the weekly homework assignments.

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
RAH	Read/Stop and Jot (20 minutes)	Read/Stop and Jot (20 minutes)	Read/Stop and Jot (20 minutes)	Read/Stop and Jot (20 minutes)	RAH DUE
MAH	Practice facts 5 minutes	Practice facts 5 minutes	Practice facts 5 minutes	Practice facts 5 minutes	MAH DUE
Spelling (every other week)	Work on a choice from “appetizer” column	Work on a choice from “side dish” column	Work on a choice from “entrée” column	Work on a choice from “dessert” column	SPELLING DUE
Blog Post (every other week)	Write post or comment		BLOG POST DUE   *Write 2-3 comments		COMMENTS DUE

Settling in to Fourth Grade....

           We made it through our first full week of school!  Phew!  The kids are starting to get into the morning routine and the routines throughout the day as well. 

 In social studies this week we got to take a tour of the United States.  We watched a neat video of a man drawing the United States and got to listen to a fun rap song to go along with the drawing.  The kids really enjoyed watching this amazing video.  They also got to work together in groups to put together a United States puzzle.  It was great to see teamwork taking place in the classroom.  Each group had a different strategy for cooperatively putting the puzzle together.  After piecing it together everyone wanted to take it apart and try it again!  J

In math the kids loved shopping at “Lewis’ Boutique” and writing out their own checks for items that they wanted to buy.  This helped students write numbers in word form and standard form.  They got a kick out of the “slightly” outrageous prices for some of the items for sale.  J

The authors in the classroom were learning strategies for creating personal narratives.  We had some great discussions about how to tell a story step by step to make it interesting to the reader.  The kids started by storytelling their story to their writing partner and then jotting down their story using a story planner.

One of the highlights of the week was when the kids took to the computers and created their first blog post on kidblog.org.  (More information is coming home this weekend.)  The buzz of excitement in the computer lab was awesome!  The kids especially liked commenting on their classmates posts.  A very motivating writing task!  J

I hope everyone has a relaxing weekend!

~Mrs. Lewis

Typical 4th Grade Homework...

I will not be updating my blog each night for homework assignments.  With that being said, homework in my class tends to stay pretty much the same week to week.   On occasion I will give homework in science and social studies, or there may be a project.  Homework is assigned on Monday and most is due on Friday.  This schedule for homework allows you and your child to plan out the week and come up with a schedule for completing homework built around any other activities that he/she may participate in.

Here is a sample homework schedule:

·        RAH (Read at Home)~ Due:  Friday

·        MAH  (Math at Home)~ Due:  Friday

·        Math page (a few times per week)~ Due the next day

·        Spelling Words Menu~  Due Friday

·        Blog Post~ Usually due Wednesday or Thursday  (More information to follow on our classroom blog.)

A Fun First Week.....

         We had a great first week of fourth grade!  We got to share our true/false statements with a partner.  That helped us to get to one another a little better.  This week we also started reading workshop.  The kids got to work with their reading partner and start to talk about our class read aloud, The One and Only Ivan.  We also got to use the book checkout system in our class which is on the computer.  The kids LOVED having the chance to go on the computer and check out books.  It is a great way to keep track of the types of books that kids are reading.  It will also help me keep track of each child’s reading interests. 

          This afternoon we learned about a fun activity that we are going to be working on this year….blogging!  After our discussion I noticed that we had an opinionated group of fourth graders which is great when you are trying to start up a class blog.  There will certainly be lots to write about this year!  More information will be coming home shortly about our class blog.

          Have a great weekend! J

~Mrs. Lewis

Our First Day...

         We had a great first day of school!  We got to play lots of games that helped us get to know our classmates better.  The kids loved doing a Classmate Scavenger Hunt.  We found out that our class is very unique and talented.  It was fun to see how many kids had been to another state this summer, knew the factors of 12, and could curl their tongue.  The best was finding out that almost everyone could pat their head and rub their tummy at the same time!  Funny!

          We will continue to get to know one another as the week goes on.  We will also start to look at ourselves as readers and writers.  We will create hopes and dreams that we have for ourselves this year. 

          I am sure everyone will sleep well tonight!  I am looking forward to a great year!