October 27 Weekly Update

Take a look at what we've been working on this week...

Math
We ended the first half of our Multiplication and Division unit.  Students had an opportunity to review and reflect prior to taking their mid-point assessment.  The second half of our unit will focus on division strategies.  Our current lessons are structured more into investigations, so you will not be seeing Quick Checks come home for the next week.

Math facts continue to be essential to our unit and fourth grade math concepts.  Please make sure your child is practicing their facts nightly.

Science
The Ninjas began their second unit of study in science, Structures of Life!  They will learning with Mrs. Waters during this unit.

Social Studies
We kicked off our next unit of study, Early Settlement!  We began our learning by...

• thinking how expansion can help or hurt others.
• learning about the First Missourians before Europeans entered the area.

Reading
In our nonfiction unit, readers worked to...

• plan their research projects in teams (make sure you ask your child which extreme weather event they are studying)!
• structure the main idea of their texts into boxes and bullets.
• synthesize their learning within a text.

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
In our opinion writing unit, writers worked to...

• draft their personal essays into an essay structure.
• self-assess their writing by using our writing progressions.
• add evidence to support their reasons for their claim.

Upcoming Dates

• 10/31: Halloween Parade & Parties
• Parade: 2:20-2:40
• Parties: 2:40-3:40
• 11/1: Late Start; 11:05 start
• 11/2: Author Visit
• 11/3: JA in a Day
• 11/6: No School; Records Day for Teachers
• 11/10: Veterans Day Celebration

MO Day

October 20 Weekly Update

What a fun week!  The students had a blast on Missouri Day.  A big THANK YOU to all of the parent volunteers who made this possible.  Here's what else we've been up to in our classroom...

Math

We are nearing the midpoint of our Multiplication and Division unit.  As I stated last week, we plan to take our mid-point assessment on Tuesday of next week.  Students will be bringing home review pages (pgs. 161-166 & pgs. 239-242).  Completing these pages are not required, but they are a great tool to use to review for the assessment.  This week we...

• used partial products and the distributive property to continue to develop our multiplication stategies
• practiced word problems involving multiplication

Please remember to practice math facts nightly and use the Practice Buddies or review pages to prepare for our assessment on Tuesday!

Science

The Ninjas are completing their Motion and Design unit with Mrs. Wood this week.  Starting on Tuesday of next week, they will be beginning their Structures of Life unit with Mrs. Waters.

Social Studies

Wednesday was a blast with Missouri Day!  We prepped ourselves by learning why we celebrate Missouri Day and learning a little bit about Daniel Boone!  In our Government unit, students displayed their learner through posters comparing the three different levels of government.

Reading

In our nonfiction unit, Reading the Weather, Reading the World, students continued to develop strategies for tackling nonfiction texts.  We...

• learned how to tackle tricky vocabulary in our books
• identified the main ideas of our books by noticing how a text is structured

Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing

We are well into our opinion writing unit!  Students worked to develop ideas for personal essays this week by...

• reading past writing entries to find new thoughts and ideas
• planned out essays using a boxes and bullets structure

Upcoming Dates

• 10/23: Whole School Photo; wear class t-shirts
• 10/24: Multiplication Mid-Point Assessment
• review pages coming home
• 10/31: Halloween Parade & Parties
• Parade at 2:20
• Parties 2:40-3:40
• 11/2: Author Visit
• 11/3: JA in a Day
• 11/6: No School; Records Day

October 13 Weekly Update

Hello, families!  I fully enjoyed speaking with everyone this week at Parent-Teacher Conferences.  I know our students have been working very hard this trimester.  Here's what we've been up to this week during class...

Math
This week mathematicians worked on multiplication concepts such as...

• estimating products by rounding and using compatible numbers
• using arrays/area model and partial products to multiply 2 digit by 2 digit numbers
• multiplying using the Distributive Property

Please remember to have your child practice their multiplication facts nightly.  Math facts are essential to success as a 4th grade mathematician.

Science
The Ninjas are assessing their learning in the Motion and Design unit with Mrs. Wood this week and next week.  Their final day in Motion and Design will be next Friday!

Social Studies
In our Government unit we are assessing our learning by...

• creating posters to demonstrate our understanding of how to compare and contrast the federal, state, and local governments

Reading
In our Nonfiction unit readers learned...

• how to preview nonfiction texts in order to predict how the whole text might go by using their background knowledge and text features
• how to identify the structure of a nonfiction text and use the structure to determine what is important in the text

Please remember to have your child read 30 minutes nightly!

Writing
In our Opinion unit writers collected possible ideas for their writing by...

• thinking of a place or object and writing thoughts about that that place or object (NOT stories)
• noticing the qualities of good free writing and using free writing to collected ideas
• using elaboration prompts to grow their ideas

Remember, accountable word lists went home last week along with suggestions on how to practice them! 

Upcoming Dates

• 10/18: MO Day
• NOTE: We will have normal lunch and recess this day.  Students may choose to bring or buy their lunch that day.
• 10/23: Whole School Picture; wear class t-shirt
• 10/24: Multiplication and Division Mid-Point Assessment
• review pages will be going home next week
• 10/31: Halloween Parade & Parties; parade begins at 2:20 & parties are 2:40-3:40
• 11/2: Author Visit
• 11/3: JA in a Day

October 6 Weekly Update

Hello!  Check out what the Ninjas have been up to...

Math
Our mathematicians focused on...

• solving 4 digit by 1 digit multiplication word problems
• multiplying multiples of 10
• (ex. 60 x 30 = 1,800)
• (ex. 20 x 26 = 520)
• using models to multiply by multiples of 10
• reviewing their data to set goals and determine learning targets to work on

Please remember to practice multiplication facts nightly!  In addition, Online Practice Buddies are assigned daily as optional homework.  These are great ways to practice concepts at home!

Science
The Ninjas are continuing to work on their Motion and Design unit with Mrs. Wood.

Social Studies
This week in government...

• students compared the federal, state, and local government structures
• studied the structure of our local governments and applied their knowledge to solve problems

Reading
It was an exciting time in our classroom!  We started our new nonfiction unit of study!  Please see the Parent Letter here.  This week we got our hands on nonfiction texts and made connections to our nonfiction texts to become committed nonfiction readers.

Note: Please remember to read 30 minutes nightly!


Writing
We began a new opinion unit of study!  Please see the Parent Letter here.  This week writers...

• learned how to structure an essay
• collected ideas for opinion topics

Note:  Accountable Word lists went home this week with suggestions on how to practice accountable words at home!  Please be sure to practice these weekly!

Upcoming Dates

• 10/9: No School; PD Day
• 10/10 & 10/11: Parent Teacher Conferences (Nagy)
• Sign-up for your conference here!
• 10/10-10/12: Book Fair
• 10/18: MO Day!
• 10/23: Whole School Photo; wear class t-shirts!