10.30.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:36 pm by javagirl
Reading: We are finishing our diary books and projects. We have been working on vocabulary, “I wonder” research projects, character analysis, summaries, and more during this unit. After the diary unit, we will dig into nonfiction books and work on summaries, comprehension, vocabulary, and more.
Writing: We are finishing up our “I wonder” research projects with a partner. We will be reviewing the steps of a research project and how to write a good paragraph/paper. Topic sentences and detail sentences still need work for most students. During the week of Nov. 2nd we will be doing our 5 day writing sample where the students will have 5 days to take themselves through the writing process on a given prompt. It will be content specific (related to social studies, science, or math that we have been studying this year) so they will all have base knowledge of the subject and know where to get more info to add to their papers.
Math: We FINALLY finished up Unit 3! We are briefly touching on Unit 4 with some supplemental materials on geometry, shape transformation (rotations/transformations/reflections), and area/perimeter reviews. After about a week of that, we head into MULTIPLICATION!! Both our classes seem to have lost their quickness when it comes to the multiplication facts! Continue to review those skills at home so that speed and accuracy are equal. Passing is 97-100 facts in 5 minutes. Math Magician (most can find this on the OCE site) is a great practice tool.
Science: Food Chemistry might be changing the way your children eat! Some are excited and some are grossed out by the experiments. We look forward to having a guest speaker next week! We continue to look for depth and details to the notes and answers in the science journals. The notebooks are due the day of the test. The tests will be on Nov. 10 for Donaldson’s class and Nov. 13 for Bell’s class.
Social Studies: Unit 3 is done! Congrats to several students who missed NONE on the vocabulary section of the test!! There were several perfect test scores as well. Every test contains opportunities for level 4 work through the essay questions. A star on the front of the test shows that one or more answers were considered at a level 4. We head into Unit 4 this week and looking at the people and culture of North Carolina. Review sheets and vocabulary flash cards will be coming home. All greenwork and unit 4 review sheets will be due Monday, Nov. 16th. Unit 4 test for Bell’s class will be Nov. 17th. Donaldson’s class test will be Nov. 18. At home museum projects are due Nov. 12 and the museum display day for parents is 2:00pm on Nov. 19. Projects may be brought to school on Nov. 9,10, and 12. Other than illness on Nov. 12, late projects will result in a lower grade and loss of Fun Friday reward since students have over 4 weeks to complete the projects.
Other:
Interim reports come home on Friday, Oct. 30 for anyone making lower than a 3 in any subject. They need to signed and returned.
No school on Nov. 11th.
Book Fair is Nov. 9-13.
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10.26.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 7:34 am by javagirl
Looks like we continue to have sick kids in 4th grade this week! Rather than gather worksheets, etc. and have you stop by to get their work, we have composed a list of online games and activities to support the classroom objectives we are covering. We have not played many of these games so you may need to weed out any that are too difficult for your child. For social studies – read and begin doing greenwork in Unit 4. We will cover the intro and lesson 1 this week. For science – we will catch you up when you return.
Math- Area and perimeter (calculate the area and/or perimeter of rectangles, can skip triangle, circles, etc. for area)
http://www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks2/maths/perimeter_and_area/index.html
http://www.mathplayground.com/area_perimeter.html
Math- Translation/Rotation/Reflection of shapes
http://www.mathplayground.com/patternblocks.html
http://www.onlinemathlearning.com/transformation-games.html
http://www.mathsonline.co.uk/nonmembers/gamesroom/transform/transform.html
Reading- Main Idea/Details/Summaries
http://www.gamequarium.com/readquarium/skillsi-p.html
http://www.readingquest.org/pdf/sumitup_dir.pdf
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/teachers/minilessons/wr/0,28171,1577469,00.html
Writing- topic and conclusion sentences
http://lrs.ed.uiuc.edu/students/fwalters/para.html
As always, there’s plenty of things to be found in internet4classrooms under 4th grade. Just have your child select a topic that we have been working on recently.
Language Arts: http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_4th_lang_new.htm
Math: http://www.internet4classrooms.com/skills_4th_math_new.htm
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10.08.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 12:40 pm by javagirl
Today the students recieved a project sheet explaining the at home social studies project and deadlines. We spent 30 minutes going over the sheet and details.
Idea sheet is due Friday, 10-16-09 (signed by parents and with a sketch attached)
Project is due Thurs, Nov. 12 (can be turned in Mon./Tues/or Thurs. that week only).
Parents (or other special guests) are invited to walk through our “Musuem” on Thurs. , Nov. 19 at 2:00-2:30pm.
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10.01.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:34 pm by javagirl
New for quarter 2 in Social Studies from Mrs. Donaldson
In Social Studies, we cover two units per quarter. This quarter we are covering units 3 and 4. Rather than assign the “greenwork” (green boxes with questions that go along with the reading) every few nights, I have decided to look it over on the day before the unit test. I talked with each group of students about how to pace themselves to get this done. I often suggest that they use their nightly reading time once or twice a week to reread the social studies lessons we have done in class and to complete the greenwork. They can write a note in their agendas on a weekly basis to complete the “greenwork”. They are welcome to work ahead in any of the units.
I have already given out the vocabulary flash cards and the unit review sheet for Unit 3. Have you seen it yet?!?!
Bell’s class review sheet and greenwork for Unit 3 is due on Oct. 20th. The test will be Oct. 21st.
Donaldson’s class review sheet and greenwork for Unit 3 is due on Oct. 22nd. The test will be on Oct. 23rd.
There will be an “at home” social studies project this quarter. The sheets will go out in the next week or two with all the details. Students will have 3 or 4 weeks to complete it so don’t worry about it just yet!!
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09.30.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:33 am by javagirl
Welcome back! Here’s what we will be covering in quarter 2.
Math: Unit 3 place value, rounding, problem solving
Unit 4 angles, symmetry, area/perimeter, and other geometry ideas
Unit 5 multiplication of larger numbers
Science: Food Chemistry
Social Studies: Unit 3 Statehood, Unit 4 People
Word Study: Alternate between spelling and vocabulary lists
Reading: nonfiction books, steps to a research project,
summarizing, asking questions, diaries and journals
Writing: writing letters and research reports
Thinking skills: observation, comparing, evaluating, and problem solving
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08.26.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:37 pm by javagirl
Something new! We will be sending home a sheet of “Can Do’s” with the quarter 1 report card. We have borrowed an idea we saw at another year round school. Instead of an optional packet of practice work over track out, we have compiled a list of optional projects and extension activities. This is a completely optional and ungraded list of Can Do’s. These are “things your child CAN DO” to enhance learning and bridge the gap between quarters. We will be glad to let them share the projects when they return and will make a note of those who complete a project, but it will not be a grade or extra credit. We think you’ll enjoy this list! We welcome your feedback regarding this idea after track out or any suggestions you may have before we compile a list for quarter 2.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 8:31 pm by javagirl
We are finishing strong!
Reading: nonfiction book contract and a text features poster project are almost finished. We will continue to work on comprehension strategies for nonfiction books and reinforce the important role text features play.
Word Study: weekly contracts due Thursday. New lists and contracts come home on Fridays.
Math: finishing up unit 2 on geometry and heading into unit 3. We will work on unit 3 also in quarter 2. Practice those multiplication and division facts!
Social Studies: this week we took the unit 2 test. We will being working on timelines next week. Unit 3 and 4 will be covered in quarter 2. Feel free to read them over track out or start on the vocabulary words!
Science: this week we are working in student led lessons to wrap up the unit on rocks and minerals. Quarter 2 will cover food chemistry.
Writing: both classes are finishing up writing assignments and breathing a sigh of relief that the NC Writing Assessment is done for quarter 1. Students worked very hard on the 75 min. writing test.
Report Cards come home on track out day- September 4th. Remember to sign and return the envelope after track out.
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08.11.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:13 am by javagirl
With interim reports out, we have passed the midway point! This school year is off to an amazing start! Here’s a look at where we are headed for the next few weeks.
Math:
This week we are reviewing and testing Unit 1. Prime numbers and composite numbers were a new concept to our 4th graders! Next we will hit Unit 2 and geometry. Be prepared to hear the “Line Lizard” song over and over! The test for Unit 2 math will likely be around Aug. 25th. We do not usually send home anything to “study” for a math test but suggest you skim over your child’s homework and talk about key vocabulary and concepts throughout the unit.
Writing:
We are finishing up a review of paragraphs and story beginnings. Both Mrs. Donaldson and Ms. Bell are doing different writing projects with the same objectives. We will be reviewing Revising, editing, and grammar the last 2 weeks of the quarter. The week of Aug. 24th (the 8th week of the quarter) we will be giving our first “on demand” writing prompt. The students will have about 75 minutes to take a prompt through the writing process and write a complete paper. We will probably send home a practice assignment the week before. In place of the “Grade 4 Writing Test” we now have 4 writing samples we are required to give each year. Again, the best way you can help your child to prepare is to give them a boost of self confidence for this adventure!
Social Studies:
We are into Unit 2 on the early settlers and history of North Carolina. We typically go over 2 lessons per week. The “green” work is due shortly afterwards for each lesson. Our test will be Aug. 26 (Donaldson) and Aug. 27 (Bell). Watch for a review sheet to come home the week before. Flashcards have already been given out last week. We will end our quarter by working on timelines based on Unit 2.
Science:
We will finish up the rocks and minerals unit with more hands on experiences and experiments. The kids LOVE science (except when it smells like vinegar!). The test for both classes will be Aug. 21st. Ask you child about how to test a rock for hardness.
Reading:
We are done with our first unit on fiction reading strategies. We will now take a look at nonfiction text and text features. To show our understanding of text features, each student will be creating an “all about me – text features poster” at school. They are welcome to bring in photos to illustrate their posters. We will be working on them for the next 2 weeks or so. We will be reading non fiction books and working on comprehension skills. Our quarter will end with a week of poetry and figurative language. Ms. Bell is our resident poet (a genuine published author!).
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07.17.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:56 pm by javagirl
Class emails when out with more notes and news from the teachers, but here is the overview for the next couple of weeks.
Math: more fluency practice with multiplication and division, problem solving, and properties of multiplication.
Word Study: long and short i,o, u
Reading: CROP-QVS reading comprehension strategies
Writing: prewriting strategies (graphic organizers, etc.) and main idea/focus
Science: rocks and minerals
Social Studies: finish Unit 1. The test will be on July 28th for Donaldson and July 30th for Bell.
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07.16.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 6:32 am by javagirl
Ask your child about Thinking Thursdays when we classify, analyze, and evaluate our way to higher thinking through fun activities and thinking problems. For some kids it will become their favorite part of the week!
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