Oh my goodness, it's been a long time since I have written in our class blog. I have needed to send home "hard copies" of my Thursday letter, as we have two families without an email address, and I wanted to be sure all had the correct State Report information.
Here's what we've been up to this week in the fourth grade...
Math: We are doing multiplication of 2 and 3 digit numbers by 1 digit numbers (for example, 246 x 5 or 68 x 7). Overall, the students are doing very well with this. The one problem we keep having is that some children still are not proficient with their math multiplication facts. We continue to practice them almost daily, but some students need to continue their practice at home. Please ask your child which level they are at. They should be at least at level R or S by this time of the year. If they still are not at M or N, they really need to keep practicing these at home. They are ALWAYS welcome to take home these sheets to work on them.
Reading: We are reading a por quois story from Brazil this week called How Night Came from the Sea. We are working on generalizations, vocabulary, and comprehension. We also are writing/illustrating our own por quois stories in class.
English: We are working on subject and verb agreement.
Social Studies: We are wrapping up our classroom work time on our state reports. We had over an hour of class time to work on these last week, and another 45 minutes of class time this week. These are due next Friday, the 29th. Again, if you have any questions, please contact me. I have examples here in the room for anyone to see. The students have all had access to these on a daily basis. This way, they know they're on the right track.
Science: Tomorrow will be the first time we will be able to do science this week. We will be reading about the classification of matter. We will also be filling in a packet/outline for this lesson.
Religion: We spent Tuesday's relgion/social studies time watching a video on Martin Luther King, Jr. called Our Friend, Martin. The students really enjoyed this and we had some great discussion afterward. My favorite teacher by far was my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Carlotta Young. She was an African American who grew up in Houston, Texas. She was very light skinned, and used to tell many stories about how she was treated differently from her darker skinned siblings. I enjoy telling the students her stories about growing up in the South, having to sit upstairs at movie theaters, trying to pass for a white child, and having to use separate bathrooms at some stores in her town. The students are always so amazed that children are/have been treated in such a way in our country.
We also read from our weekly gospel magazine, Venture, this week. It focused on the gospel of Luke. It talked about who Luke was and why he wrote the third gospel. Father Hennen will be in again for religion class tomorrow.
Have a great evening. Finish up those state reports and boards!!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
November 11 News...
Good Morning,
I just want to take a couple of minutes to update you on what's happening in our classroom...
Reading: We are actually covering two stories from our text this week. Marven of the Great North Woods and So You Want to be President are both great favorites of the class. I am doing two stories this week so that we can begin our novel From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler next week (and finish before holiday break). Each year, I read at least two novels with the students as they do comprehension, art, and other projects to go with the books. Mixed Up Files is the first of these, and a classic that the kids just love. The novel is about a brother and sister who run away from home to live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
English: We are working on singular and plural possessives. We continue to work on paragraph writing.
Math: We have started basic multiplication - a great time to review those math facts. Ask your child what level he/she is on. If not yet at level "M", these should definitely be practiced more at home!
Social Studies: We will have a test on Thursday (tomorrow) on chapter 3. A study guide will go home with your child today. In our studies of the Eastern states, we are talking a lot about the great history of our New England states. We watched a movie on Ellis Island immigration this week, and will see one on Plymouth next week.
Science: We have moved from studying rocks to soil. We did an activity this week where we studied a soil sample with hand lenses and discussed what we found. The students have brought in some AWESOME rock collections! Thanks for sharing these with the class.
Religion: We have an open book test on Unit 1 tomorrow. Please feel free to go through the Unit with your child and mark important pages with post-it notes, bookmarks, etc. Students are also free to use any notes they might take. We have reviewed and discussed this in class. Father Hennen spoke to the children last Friday about some of our friendship issues. The class re-told his lesson to me the other day, which served as a great reminder to all of us about how to be a good friend. So far, it's been a pretty uneventful week. I'll take the "no news is good news" path here. However, if you hear of any struggles at home, please let me know if I can help!
Next week: I will be out of the building next Wednesday - Friday (yes, I will be back for conferences Thursday evening). I will be at the Academy of Sts. Peter and Paul in Loretto. I am serving on an accreditation team for that school, and am interested in bringing back any information I can to help our school go through this process over the next two years. You can still email me, as I will check this daily/nightly. Mrs. Sarah Seiling will be our substitute. She is the same sub the children had last Friday - I like to find someone good (like Mrs. Seiling) and use the same person whenever I am gone. This provides a certain sense of consistency for the class.
Conferences: I look forward to meeting with all of you. Unfortunately, we only have 15 minutes to discuss your child's progress at this time. We will need to keep on schedule as much as possible, as this is a really large group, and I have many of you back to back to back. Please don't be offended if I have to cut off our conference if it gets too long. We can always have a longer discussion/continuation at another time.
Have a great evening! Don't forget - no school on Friday as it's a teacher's workshop day (report cards).
Kristen
I just want to take a couple of minutes to update you on what's happening in our classroom...
Reading: We are actually covering two stories from our text this week. Marven of the Great North Woods and So You Want to be President are both great favorites of the class. I am doing two stories this week so that we can begin our novel From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler next week (and finish before holiday break). Each year, I read at least two novels with the students as they do comprehension, art, and other projects to go with the books. Mixed Up Files is the first of these, and a classic that the kids just love. The novel is about a brother and sister who run away from home to live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
English: We are working on singular and plural possessives. We continue to work on paragraph writing.
Math: We have started basic multiplication - a great time to review those math facts. Ask your child what level he/she is on. If not yet at level "M", these should definitely be practiced more at home!
Social Studies: We will have a test on Thursday (tomorrow) on chapter 3. A study guide will go home with your child today. In our studies of the Eastern states, we are talking a lot about the great history of our New England states. We watched a movie on Ellis Island immigration this week, and will see one on Plymouth next week.
Science: We have moved from studying rocks to soil. We did an activity this week where we studied a soil sample with hand lenses and discussed what we found. The students have brought in some AWESOME rock collections! Thanks for sharing these with the class.
Religion: We have an open book test on Unit 1 tomorrow. Please feel free to go through the Unit with your child and mark important pages with post-it notes, bookmarks, etc. Students are also free to use any notes they might take. We have reviewed and discussed this in class. Father Hennen spoke to the children last Friday about some of our friendship issues. The class re-told his lesson to me the other day, which served as a great reminder to all of us about how to be a good friend. So far, it's been a pretty uneventful week. I'll take the "no news is good news" path here. However, if you hear of any struggles at home, please let me know if I can help!
Next week: I will be out of the building next Wednesday - Friday (yes, I will be back for conferences Thursday evening). I will be at the Academy of Sts. Peter and Paul in Loretto. I am serving on an accreditation team for that school, and am interested in bringing back any information I can to help our school go through this process over the next two years. You can still email me, as I will check this daily/nightly. Mrs. Sarah Seiling will be our substitute. She is the same sub the children had last Friday - I like to find someone good (like Mrs. Seiling) and use the same person whenever I am gone. This provides a certain sense of consistency for the class.
Conferences: I look forward to meeting with all of you. Unfortunately, we only have 15 minutes to discuss your child's progress at this time. We will need to keep on schedule as much as possible, as this is a really large group, and I have many of you back to back to back. Please don't be offended if I have to cut off our conference if it gets too long. We can always have a longer discussion/continuation at another time.
Have a great evening! Don't forget - no school on Friday as it's a teacher's workshop day (report cards).
Kristen
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Classroom News: November 4
Good afternoon! I am writing this as the children are in music class. I really need to let you all know about the discussion I had with the students just before they left for music. We are still having many difficulties with friendships in the fourth grade (as I stated in my class newsletter last week). This seems to have branched out to include more girls, and even a couple of the boys now. In spite of all the time I spent at the beginning of the year on my "anti-bullying curriculum", many children are still not doing a very good job at applying all we talked about. I believe that part of the reason we are having this trouble is that these children are not used to being in a class this size. They were in smaller groups with a lot more individual attention for many years, and are having a difficult time with the adjustment. Many are not good at sharing friends or interacting if I am not constantly vigilant. Also, many "incidents" happen when children are at recess or in the lunchroom - so I am not there to monitor. I have had large class sizes in the past, but never with the "getting along" problems that we are having this year. I will continue to work hard on this at my end, but need your support at home. Please talk to your child about using words when they are upset (not pushing, pinching, etc - yep - I've seen pinching this week!). Also, talk about including others. Possibly, line up play dates with different children. I need these kids to be more inclusive and tolerant of one another. I did warn the children that report cards are coming, and their behavior toward one another will be reflected on these.
Also, just a reminder that there will be a math test on Chapter 2 tomorrow (addition and subraction - lots of regrouping, estimation, solving for variables), and a test of the 10 Commandments, as well. Please study a little at home tonight.
I will be out of the classroom on Friday. As one of the former Spanish teachers at St. Francis (and the person who wrote the curriculum we are currently using), I will be helping Mrs. Zumbusch get Spanish lesson plans in order for the substitutes we have teaching this class until a replacement for Mrs. Gramstad is found. I will still be in the building, though, so if anything comes up, I will be around. Feel free to email/call me as usual that day, if necessary.
Have a good evening!
Kristen
Also, just a reminder that there will be a math test on Chapter 2 tomorrow (addition and subraction - lots of regrouping, estimation, solving for variables), and a test of the 10 Commandments, as well. Please study a little at home tonight.
I will be out of the classroom on Friday. As one of the former Spanish teachers at St. Francis (and the person who wrote the curriculum we are currently using), I will be helping Mrs. Zumbusch get Spanish lesson plans in order for the substitutes we have teaching this class until a replacement for Mrs. Gramstad is found. I will still be in the building, though, so if anything comes up, I will be around. Feel free to email/call me as usual that day, if necessary.
Have a good evening!
Kristen
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 21 Update
Greetings! All is moving right along in fourth grade. We have been extremely busy in our classes, and students seem to be really stepping up to the demands of fourth grade. I know a few of you voiced concerns about the greater amounts of homework, and higher level of work. Your children, though, are rising to the challenge, and this is so important as fifth grade doesn't get easier! :) Here's what we've been doing in our classes...
Math: We continue to work with the addition and subtraction of whole numbers and money. Regrouping has been a big challenge with many in this class. This has been surprising to me, as usually it is something that is already mastered in the third grade. Be that as it may, we continue to practice it daily, and the class is improving all the time. We also work with our multiplication math facts four days a week. This will help the children so much when we get to long division and long multiplication. Please keep practicing these at home!
Reading: We are on the story What Jo Did in our main texts. We also read Boss of the Plains this week, from our supplemental material. Both stories are so much fun. The skills the class is working on are comprehension, vocabulary, main idea/details, and cause/effect. We also have been doing some journaling and paragraph writing in class.
English: We had a simple review this week of common and proper nouns. The students did a nice job with this.
Science: We read about landslides, floods, hurricanes, and forest fires this week in lesson four. The class is filling out an outline packet on this lesson. We also did an activity on tidal waves, and the students built their own jetties to prevent beach erosion.
Social Studies: We will have a test tomorrow on Chapter 2: Regions of the United States. Children should have brought home books and study guides to help them study this evening. We also reviewed together in class today.
Religion: We said the rosary together in the chapel this week. We continue in our book, reading about God's creation and love for us. Father Hennen has been talking about the various plagues God sent to help Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt. We will be studying the ten commandments in order soon.
Art: We have been decorating buttons for the Buffalo Days contest. This is done by all fourth grade students in the city of Buffalo each year. It's been a couple of years since a St. Francis student's design has won... maybe this year! We also will finish decorating our masks Friday.
Monster Sing-a-Long: We will be having a monster sing-a-long with our first grade buddies next Thursday afternoon. Please send a camping/folding chair with your child that day. We have our silly sing-a-long out in the courtyard (weather permitting), and have snacks with our buddies.
Grandparents Day: NEXT FRIDAY!!! If you haven't turned in your RSVP please do so ASAP. Thank you!!!
Have a great evening!
Kristen
Math: We continue to work with the addition and subtraction of whole numbers and money. Regrouping has been a big challenge with many in this class. This has been surprising to me, as usually it is something that is already mastered in the third grade. Be that as it may, we continue to practice it daily, and the class is improving all the time. We also work with our multiplication math facts four days a week. This will help the children so much when we get to long division and long multiplication. Please keep practicing these at home!
Reading: We are on the story What Jo Did in our main texts. We also read Boss of the Plains this week, from our supplemental material. Both stories are so much fun. The skills the class is working on are comprehension, vocabulary, main idea/details, and cause/effect. We also have been doing some journaling and paragraph writing in class.
English: We had a simple review this week of common and proper nouns. The students did a nice job with this.
Science: We read about landslides, floods, hurricanes, and forest fires this week in lesson four. The class is filling out an outline packet on this lesson. We also did an activity on tidal waves, and the students built their own jetties to prevent beach erosion.
Social Studies: We will have a test tomorrow on Chapter 2: Regions of the United States. Children should have brought home books and study guides to help them study this evening. We also reviewed together in class today.
Religion: We said the rosary together in the chapel this week. We continue in our book, reading about God's creation and love for us. Father Hennen has been talking about the various plagues God sent to help Moses lead the Israelites out of Egypt. We will be studying the ten commandments in order soon.
Art: We have been decorating buttons for the Buffalo Days contest. This is done by all fourth grade students in the city of Buffalo each year. It's been a couple of years since a St. Francis student's design has won... maybe this year! We also will finish decorating our masks Friday.
Monster Sing-a-Long: We will be having a monster sing-a-long with our first grade buddies next Thursday afternoon. Please send a camping/folding chair with your child that day. We have our silly sing-a-long out in the courtyard (weather permitting), and have snacks with our buddies.
Grandparents Day: NEXT FRIDAY!!! If you haven't turned in your RSVP please do so ASAP. Thank you!!!
Have a great evening!
Kristen
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Classroom News... October 8
Greetings! I hope you are finding this blog informative and easy to use. We've been so busy in class, that I can't believe it's almost time for MEA/Fall break. Please remember that your child will not have school October 14-16.
It was wonderful seeing so many of you on Marathon Saturday. Even though the weather was rainy and cool, the kids seemed to have a terrific time. Please keep sending that marathon money in!
A parent requested I post specialist days, which is a terrific idea. Your fourth grader has the following specialists on these days...
Computers on Monday and Tuesday
Spanish on Tuesday and Thursday
Music on Wednesday and Friday
Phy Ed on Wednesday and Friday
Library on Thursday
Your child spent Tuesday morning "shadowing" our middle school students. Make sure to ask your child about this exciting experience! What a great way for our 4th and 5th graders to learn what it's like to be a middle school student at St. Francis! Also, I believe many of you plan on attending the middle school information night this Thursday. That is terrific. There will be many people (Mrs. Zumbusch and middle school teachers, as well as some middle school parents and students) there to answer any questions you might have regarding middle school at St. Francis. I am sorry I will not be there. My daughter, Prentice, turns 16 that day, so we have plans as a family that evening. There will be another information night later in the school year, which I will be attending.
We will have a reading/language arts test this Friday and next Monday. There really isn't anything for your child to study for this, as it is mostly reading passages and then answering comprehension questions.
We are starting to make paper mache masks in art class this week. Just in time for Halloween!!!
We have begun chapter two in math. This focuses on addition and subtraction of whole numbers and money. Please continue to practice multiplication math facts at home!
Social Studies is focusing on the different regions of the United States (Midwest, East, South and West). We are currently discussing the landforms and climates of certain regions.
Science is now all about weathering and erosion. Students are working in study packets on this.
We have visited our school chapel to say the rosary. We will start doing this more often, so your child is welcome to bring a rosary to keep at school. Father Hennen continues studying the Bible with the class - they are loving this! Besides this, we will soon be memorizing the 10 Commandments in order!
New book orders will go home Thursday, and will be due back on Tuesday the 13.
It was wonderful seeing so many of you on Marathon Saturday. Even though the weather was rainy and cool, the kids seemed to have a terrific time. Please keep sending that marathon money in!
A parent requested I post specialist days, which is a terrific idea. Your fourth grader has the following specialists on these days...
Computers on Monday and Tuesday
Spanish on Tuesday and Thursday
Music on Wednesday and Friday
Phy Ed on Wednesday and Friday
Library on Thursday
Your child spent Tuesday morning "shadowing" our middle school students. Make sure to ask your child about this exciting experience! What a great way for our 4th and 5th graders to learn what it's like to be a middle school student at St. Francis! Also, I believe many of you plan on attending the middle school information night this Thursday. That is terrific. There will be many people (Mrs. Zumbusch and middle school teachers, as well as some middle school parents and students) there to answer any questions you might have regarding middle school at St. Francis. I am sorry I will not be there. My daughter, Prentice, turns 16 that day, so we have plans as a family that evening. There will be another information night later in the school year, which I will be attending.
We will have a reading/language arts test this Friday and next Monday. There really isn't anything for your child to study for this, as it is mostly reading passages and then answering comprehension questions.
We are starting to make paper mache masks in art class this week. Just in time for Halloween!!!
We have begun chapter two in math. This focuses on addition and subtraction of whole numbers and money. Please continue to practice multiplication math facts at home!
Social Studies is focusing on the different regions of the United States (Midwest, East, South and West). We are currently discussing the landforms and climates of certain regions.
Science is now all about weathering and erosion. Students are working in study packets on this.
We have visited our school chapel to say the rosary. We will start doing this more often, so your child is welcome to bring a rosary to keep at school. Father Hennen continues studying the Bible with the class - they are loving this! Besides this, we will soon be memorizing the 10 Commandments in order!
New book orders will go home Thursday, and will be due back on Tuesday the 13.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Classroom News...
This week flew by! The field trip went very well. Students seemed to really enjoy Fort Snelling. I have been on this trip 4 times now, and I always seem to learn something new, as they seem to "change up" many of the stations the children visit. The class asked some great questions, and did a great job remembering to say their "thank yous" as we went from station to station.
Students just had their October reading logs and book reports sent home. Please record how many minutes/day your child reads on the calendars. I forgot to put a spot for parent signatures on the bottom. At the end of October, please tally your child's minutes and sign the bottom of these. Children earn one "chance" ticket for every 200 minutes they read each month (with a maximum of 5 tickets). Also stapled to the reading calendar is a book report form. These are assigned monthly (through April), and are due the last SCHOOL DAY of the month.
The class will have their FIRST social studies test on Wednesday. I will send home a study guide on Monday for you to help your child study at home. It will cover material from chapter one in our books.
Friday will be our first math test, also on chapter one. We will do a class review on Thursday. Please help your child prepare for this by looking through chapter one with him/her at home. Mostly, it covers place value and rounding - with some decimals and money (counting and making change). Also, I noticed that MOST OF THE CLASS has forgotten how to regroup in subtracting. YIKES! I will review this on Monday and Tuesday in class. Please do this at home, as well.
Father Hennen is coming in on Fridays for religion. The students just LOVE this! Right now, he is working with them in their Bibles, studying Genesis. When I attended Catholic grade school (about 100 years ago) our parish priest came in weekly to teach us, as well - and they were always some of my favorite classes. How fortunate we are that we have a priest who is so committed to educating our children!
I am currently reading aloud the book Murder at Midnight to the class. It is a book by the author Avi. I have found that fourth graders absolutely LOVE this author. I will be reading his book, Midnight Magic next. Other titles I read by him include: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Seer of Shadows, The Christmas Rat, and Crispin and the Cross of Lead. Both boys and girls love these books, which are filled with mystery, fantastic cliffhangers, and surprise endings. I really encourage you to read a couple of these at home (or anything else by Avi), as they are enjoyable for both children and adults. I do read other authors to the class, as well. Read aloud time is one of my favorite times of the day. Many studies have shown that it is so important to continue to read aloud to our children even as they get older. It reinforces pronunciation, comprehension, and is just plain FUN! Just don't visit our room during this time, unless you want a small sample of my terrible acting and accent/dialect skills! :)
Just a reminder to get out and get those MARATHON PLEDGES!!!
Students just had their October reading logs and book reports sent home. Please record how many minutes/day your child reads on the calendars. I forgot to put a spot for parent signatures on the bottom. At the end of October, please tally your child's minutes and sign the bottom of these. Children earn one "chance" ticket for every 200 minutes they read each month (with a maximum of 5 tickets). Also stapled to the reading calendar is a book report form. These are assigned monthly (through April), and are due the last SCHOOL DAY of the month.
The class will have their FIRST social studies test on Wednesday. I will send home a study guide on Monday for you to help your child study at home. It will cover material from chapter one in our books.
Friday will be our first math test, also on chapter one. We will do a class review on Thursday. Please help your child prepare for this by looking through chapter one with him/her at home. Mostly, it covers place value and rounding - with some decimals and money (counting and making change). Also, I noticed that MOST OF THE CLASS has forgotten how to regroup in subtracting. YIKES! I will review this on Monday and Tuesday in class. Please do this at home, as well.
Father Hennen is coming in on Fridays for religion. The students just LOVE this! Right now, he is working with them in their Bibles, studying Genesis. When I attended Catholic grade school (about 100 years ago) our parish priest came in weekly to teach us, as well - and they were always some of my favorite classes. How fortunate we are that we have a priest who is so committed to educating our children!
I am currently reading aloud the book Murder at Midnight to the class. It is a book by the author Avi. I have found that fourth graders absolutely LOVE this author. I will be reading his book, Midnight Magic next. Other titles I read by him include: The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Seer of Shadows, The Christmas Rat, and Crispin and the Cross of Lead. Both boys and girls love these books, which are filled with mystery, fantastic cliffhangers, and surprise endings. I really encourage you to read a couple of these at home (or anything else by Avi), as they are enjoyable for both children and adults. I do read other authors to the class, as well. Read aloud time is one of my favorite times of the day. Many studies have shown that it is so important to continue to read aloud to our children even as they get older. It reinforces pronunciation, comprehension, and is just plain FUN! Just don't visit our room during this time, unless you want a small sample of my terrible acting and accent/dialect skills! :)
Just a reminder to get out and get those MARATHON PLEDGES!!!
Monday, September 21, 2009
Class Blog
Welcome to our fourth grade blog site. Between this and group email notification, I am attempting to dramatically cut down on our classroom paper use this year. As you may have learned, we go through ENOUGH paper with our classwork/homework the way it is! :) I will try to keep updating this at least on a bi weekly basis.
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