Katie Riley

November 28th-December 2nd

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful holiday and had a chance to relax. We have 3 1/2 weeks left and then we are halfway through this school year. It's hard to imagine! I know holidays bring excitement, but we will be busy, so keep on studying.

This week:

• Beginning traditional literature (folktales, tall tales, fables)
• Writing responses to literature (book reviews, book talks, letters to author)
• Nouns and verbs test on WEDNESDAY. Review p. 61-62 in the GUMS book. Spelling test sort 13 on Friday (we did a pretest today).
• Continuing with division. PLEASE practice this and facts. Some are stumbling and we are about to move to 2-digit divsors.
• Starting chapter 6 in science on simple machines. A good home practice is to help them identify various machines around the house. They need to know lever, pulley, wedge, inclined plane, screw, wheel and axle.
• We are also starting our new unit on the colonies. We will begin at the end of chapter 4 with Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth. We will be doing maps to locate the 13 colonies into their 3 regions (New England, Middle, and Southern). They also need to know the resources and climate and how this helped them with their jobs and survival.

Important dates:

• 12/1 Progress reports sent home
• 12/1 Cici's pizza night
• 12/8 Tree of Wishes Items due
• 12/9 Bullard night at Barnes & Noble
• 12/21 Winter Celebration 10-11am. Carolee Rogers will be in touch with volunteer requests and donations as needed, but please join us.
• 12/22 Last day of 2nd marking period
• 12/23 No school

Have a great week!

A time change... our poetry celebration will be Friday the 18th from 10:00-10:30 am. More information to come home.

November 7th-11th

Here's a quick look at our week:

No school tomorrow- Election Day!

Science Day- Friday! Wear your class t-shirt

There is no spelling this week. Please practice with multiplication.

We are working on poetry, irregular verbs, force and motion, and explorers. I'm looking for balls of various sizes, sand paper, wax paper, aluminum foil, and match box cars for science this week.

Please mark your calendars for Friday, November 18th at 8:00 am. We will be having a poetry celebration. More details to come.

Enjoy the week!

October 31st-November 4th

Here's a glance at next week:

Reading/Language Arts: Working on poetry and irregular verbs

Spelling: Sort 11. Test will be THURSDAY this week. All students in Target will take theirs in the morning before going to their class.

Math: Chapter 9. 2 digit by 2 digit multiplication. Please keep practicing facts. If your child is struggling with homework, please let me know.

Science: continuing with chapter 5 on force and motion.

Social Studies: chapter 3 on explorers. Focus on Columbus, Cartier, Hudson, Cabot, Ponce de Leon, and Balboa. They need to know areas explored, obstacles encountered, and accomplishments.

Other class news:

• Thank you to all the parents who are sending in a fall/Halloween snack on Monday.
• Field trip is next Friday, the 4th. Please be here on time and picked up by 3:45. No backpacks or other items needed.
• Next week is also Red Ribbon Week. The schedule is as follows:

 Monday- "Black Out Drugs"(wear black), Tuesday- "Shade Out Drugs" (wear sunglasses), Wednesday- Wear camouflage, Thursday- "Paws Off Drugs" (wear Bullard/UGA shirts), Friday- class t-shirt for field trip.

• No school-Election Day November 8th
• Thank you to everyone for a great conference week! Enjoy your weekend.

Don't forget!

Maps are due on Thursday :)

October 17-21

What are we learning?

Reading and Lanuage Arts- We are working on the reading strategy PREPS. Ask your child about this. I'm trying to work hard on having them read for information... this is a skill we are still struggling with. We are also moving on to verbs and continuing with figurative language (as well as adding them to our personal narratives). Ask your child about similes, metaphors, onomatopeias, and see if they can give you some examples. We will be learning about palindromes, puns, idioms, hyperboles, and personifications as well.

Spelling-  We will be working on sort 9 this week. After getting to know the students and their skills for the first nine weeks, I have determined that the spelling contracts are not necessary any longer. They are doing very well with their words. On Monday's we will take a pretest to help determine what words to study. Then, it is up to you how you want to prepare for Friday's tests. You may continue the activities as you wish. If students grades drop and I feel like it is necessary for any individual child to pick up their studying, I will determine that on an as needed basis. If you have questions, let me know.

Math-We are finishing up chapter 6 this week. Then will review and take our end of nine weeks math benchmark. We will also take the prestest for the 2nd nine weeks. We will be working on extending our multiplication and division next. Study those facts!!!

Science- We have started chapter 5 on force and motion. Keep watching this blog for some neat web sites to visit!

Social Studies- We have moved on to chapter 3 on explorers. Students need to know the accomplishments, areas explored, obstacles encountered, reasons for exploring, and the country the explorer represented. The 6 explorers are: Columbus, Balboa, Ponce de Leon, Cabot, Cartier, and Hudson.  

Other information

• Last call for any October book orders?
• Thursay 10/20 is Chick-Fil-A night
• Picture retakes Friday, October 21st
• Conference week next week. Early release all week. Students dismissed at 12:15. Report cards distributed at this time. The school book fair and community book drive will also be held during this time.
• No school for students on Tuesday, November 8th. Election day.
• Thanksgiving holiday. No school Monday 11/21-Friday 11/25

 

October 3-7

What we are learning?

Language Arts: We will begin Unit 7 in spelling. We will be learning how to use descriptive language in our writing and will be working on the rough draft of our narrative.

In grammar, we will be studying common, proper, singular and plural nouns.

Math: we are finishing up chapter 4 on graphs. Test on Friday.

Social Studies: We will be studying the regions of the United States and will be learning about six Native American groups. We will be completing a study guide in class on Friday. We will review on Monday. The unit test is Tuesday October 11th.

Important Notes:

Your child received their first "4th grade" project. It is called "Map in a Month". This project is to be completed at home and is designed so that your child completes a small assignment each night. If they follow the calendar provided, they will have a finished product in a month and will be ready to turn it in on the due date of October 20th. We will be learning about map skills each week and the students can access the Social Studies book from home if needed as a reference throughout the project. If you have any questions, please let me know.

 

What about homework?

All homework assignments should be written in the agenda daily. Read 20 minutes each night. Spelling words will come home on Mondays. Complete 100 points each week. These are due on Fridays. Study your spelling words each night. Your spelling tests are on Fridays. Math homework will be assigned in class and written in the agenda. Agendas should be signed every night.

I hope everyone had a delightful weekend!! Here is a glance at what we will be doing in school this week!

Reading EQ: How can I use various reading strategies to help develop and enhance my overall reading comprehension? Writing EQ: How can I use descriptive writing to add flavor to my stories?

 We are continuing to work on analyzing elements of a narrative (characters, setting, problem, solution)  I will also use the strategies of rereading, questioning, and activating prior knowledge to clarify and help shape their understanding of what they read. Frequent use of modeling these techniques will help the students use these in their everyday independent reading. We are also practicing reading to locate information. This is an important skill that should be practiced often.

       In writing, we have been working on the different components of the writing process through our narrative stories. We will be working on organizing and developing the body of the paper as well as editing and revising over the next couple of weeks. We will work on the proper format for writing a paragraph and adding descriptive details to support the main idea while adding flavor to our writing.

     This week we will continue our graphing unit (chapter 4)

A LOOK AHEAD:

Math~EQ: What strategies can I use to multiply larger numbers and verify that my answers make sense?  

  We will begin our multiplication unit next week. The students will be learning about the different properties of multiplication including the associative, distributive, and commutative properties. We will also be working on writing algebraic expressions this week. PLEASE continue to have your child practice his/her multiplication facts each week. We will also begin 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication soon!! The children will be more successful mastering the concepts presented in class if they know their facts (0-12)!!           

Multiplication and Division

 2 and 3 digit by 1 and 2 digit multiplication

• Rule for order of operations:

1. Compute inside the parenthesis first  

 2. Multiply or divide in order next  

3. Add or subtract in order to finish  

• 2-digit and 3-digit by 1-digit or 2-digit division   (324 ÷ 12 = )
• Solve division problems including those with remainders
• Estimate quotients using multiples of 10
• Compute using commutative, associative, distributive property
• Mental Math in estimation of products and quotients; determine reasonableness
• Problem solving

     *I will continue to teach our class about the Native American cultures this week.  She will focus on comparing and contrasting the different tribes over the next couple of weeks. Students should be rereading lessons in chapter 2 and be able to describe the environment, shelter, clothing, and food for these tribes: Inuit, Kwiakutl, Nez Perce, Hopi, Pawnee, and Seminole.

 

  The children should be working on thier MAP IN A MONTH! They seemed very excited as we brainstormed some creative topics in class. The children are encouraged to complete a majority of this project independently, but parents certainly can offer some support. This project is due October 20, 2011. I hope this is a fun and educational project for your child!     

SCIENCE: WEATHER EQ: How can my understanding of weather patterns help me forecast the weather?        

We will continue to explore the weather in Science this week. We will continue to discuss the types of clouds and weather instruments/symbols in class.  Study guides should be completed by TUESDAY. WEATHER TEST IS WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28th!!

For more information about weather, please have your child visit the following website:  www.weatherwizkids.com 

Weather Fronts Websites

  
IMPORTANT DATES:

*Science Test~Wednesday September 28th

*Map In A Month Due October, 20th

*Conference Week 24th-28nd

Spelling Sort # 6

TEST: Friday, September 30th

http://www.webskite.com/weather-seminar/basic-weather/fronts.htm

http://okfirst.mesonet.org/train/meteorology/Fronts.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_front

http://comingbackalive.com/fronts.html

  

Map in a Month

Due October 20th

Download Map in a Month

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!! Here is a glance at what we will be doing in school this week!

**Picture Day is Wednesday, September 21st. This will be the picture that will be in the yearbook!

Reading EQ: How can I use various reading strategies to help develop and enhance my overall reading comprehension? Writing EQ: How can I use descriptive writing to add flavor to my stories?

 We are continuing to work on various skills while reading our independent books.  I have been modeling different strategies that the children can use in their independent reading.  I will also use the strategies of rereading, questioning, and activating prior knowledge to clarify and help shape their understanding of what they read. Frequent use of modeling these techniques will help the students use these techniques in their everyday independent reading. 

       In writing, we have been working on the different components of the writing process through our narrative stories We will begin our descriptive stories about a "Special Place" this week. We will be working on organizing and developing the body of the paper as well as editing and revising over the next couple of weeks. We will work on the proper format for writing a paragraph and adding descriptive details to support the main idea while adding flavor to our writing.

     This week we will begin chapter 3 on collecting and displaying data (graphing). Please visit chapter 3 to

 A LOOK AHEAD:

Math~EQ: What strategies can I use to multiply larger numbers and verify that my answers make sense?  

  We will begin our multiplication unit in 2 weeks. The students will be learning about the different properties of multiplication including the associative, distributive, and commutative properties. We will also be working on writing algebraic expressions this week. PLEASE continue to have your child practice his/her multiplication facts each week. We will also begin 2 digit by 1 digit multiplication soon!! The children will be more successful mastering the concepts presented in class if they know their facts (0-12)!!           

Multiplication and Division

 2 and 3 digit by 1 and 2 digit multiplication

• Rule for order of operations:

1. Compute inside the parenthesis first  

 2. Multiply or divide in order next  

3. Add or subtract in order to finish  

• 2-digit and 3-digit by 1-digit or 2-digit division   (324 ÷ 12 = )
• Solve division problems including those with remainders
• Estimate quotients using multiples of 10
• Compute using commutative, associative, distributive property
• Mental Math in estimation of products and quotients; determine reasonableness
• Problem solving

   *Partial Product Multiplication:  Students learning 2-digit multiplication can get mixed up about the process, especially with the place value of the numbers as they work the problem.  When you use the strategy of partial product in multiplication, each partial product is computed and recorded separately as in the example.  Notice the absence of splitting the digits in the product, “carrying” and “indenting”. It is the straightforward way in which this process of multiplication is carried out that appeals to many students.   

                                                                   43

                                                                 X 27

                                                                   21   =   (7 x 3)

                                                                  280   =   (7 x 40)

                                                                    60   =   (20 x 3)

                                                                 +800  =   (20 x 40)

                                                                  1161

*Shopping Math 

On shopping trips, have your child help you compare prices.  For example, if one pair of shoes costs $49 and another costs $35, ask him or her to figure out how much would be saved by buying the less expensive pair.  ($49-$35. Think 40 – 30= 10 plus 9-5=4; the difference is 14; $14 would be saved.)

    We are learning about the Native American cultures this week.  The focus will be on comparing and contrasting the different tribes over the next couple of weeks. The students need to understand the environment, shelter, clothing, and food for these 6 tribes: Inuit, Nez Perce, Kwiakutl, Hopi, Pawnee, and Seminole. Please visit chapter 2 and the PowerPoint to learn about them. Students are taking notes and have a "Native Americans Book" that we have put together. They will use this to study for the test. It is very important to keep up with this.

Download SS Gr 4 Unit 2 Explore the Native American Nations

Download Native Americans Study Guide key

  The children were assigned their first TAKE HOME project called MAP IN A MONTH! They seemed very excited as we brainstormed some creative topics in class. The children are encouraged to complete a majority of this project independently, but parents certainly can offer some support. This project is due October 20, 2011. I hope this is a fun and educational project for your child!   

 

SCIENCE: WEATHER EQ: How can my understanding of weather patterns help me forecast the weather?        

  
IMPORTANT DATES:

*Map In A Month Due October 20th (there is an error on date kids wrote down. 20th is correct date)

*Conference Week 24th-28nd

 

Spelling Sort # 5

TEST: Friday, September 23rd

We will continue to explore the weather in Science this week. We will continue to discuss the types of clouds and weather instruments/symbols in class. For more information about weather, please have your child visit the following website:  www.weatherwizkids.com 

Weather Fronts Websites

http://www.webskite.com/weather-seminar/basic-weather/fronts.htm

http://okfirst.mesonet.org/train/meteorology/Fronts.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_front

http://comingbackalive.com/fronts.html