Coming Soon!

Soon, I am going to start having the students help me with blog updates. Beginning this week (if the time doesn't get away from me), I will have a couple of students working on writing our "Week in Review" section of the blog. I will still blog often, with tips and information that I believe is important/valuable for families, but I think that the "kid's view" of what goes on in our class is just as valuable. I hope you find that the information written gives you something to talk with your child about.

For now, I'd like to share one more bit of information about assignments. At times, you may receive a paper from a student that says "parent signature" or "please sign". Understand that I ask for a signature not so that your child is punished, or gets into trouble, but because I want to be sure that information is communicated to you in a timely manner. If you get a paper that has a signature requested on it, and you have questions/concerns about this, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Our Week In Review

This week, I thought I would post a bit about our week in the classroom. I hope that you have already heard a lot of this information from your child.

As you know, the children received the grades for their first math tests on Monday. I was really pleased with how they did! As with this test, I will try to send out a study guide for tests, and to give a week's notice. Sometimes with math I do give fewer days, depending on when we finish up the teaching portion of the unit. Keeping that in mind....we will have our first Social Studies test on Tuesday, 10/6. This will be on map skills, including latitude and longitude. I haven't announced the test at school, but will be announcing it on Tuesday. We will finish up the information for this unit on Tuesday and Wednesday.

We started two science experiments this week. First, we planted grass seed in 3 different types of soil- potting soil, sand, and a mixture of both. Students are learning about the scientific method, and each made a hypothesis about the grass. We will begin measuring the grass on Tuesday. We also were able to make terrariums. We used the steps of the scientific method to actually write up a lab report. Then we planted our plant clippings into the soil, added water and covered them. The children were so excited when we could actually see the water cycle in action-before the end of the day on Friday. We will view these to see the progression of the water cycle. Thank you to all of you who sent in extra jars and all of those plant clippings. We used almost all of them!


Classroom update about homework: This week I noticed that more students were forgetting items at home, which resulted in homework being missing. As you know, the focus of fourth grade is helping the students become independent, however some students still need reminders. Please check in with your child to see how they are doing with this. If he/she is forgetting things like getting the assignment notebook signed or library books, please try to remind them. I find that creating a list for children to follow helps them to remember all of the items they need. Next week, I will no longer be checking all of the assignment books nightly, rather, I will be doing "spot checks" to check that all assignments are written and materials are packed for those I'm checking. This is another step in the independence process.

Just Right Books

You may have heard the term "Just Right Books" from your child. A just right book is one that your child enjoys, can read with few errors, and has vocabulary that is understandable. It is expected that these books will look a bit easier to you than ones that your child has read previously.

When choosing a just right book, I've asked the children to follow some steps:
1. "5 Finger Rule": Students should open the book to a page (not the first one) and read it. Each time there is a word that needs to be sounded out, or is hard to read, one finger goes up on your child's hand. If 5 fingers are raised at the end of the page, that book is not "Just Right".
2. "Clunks": Reading the same page, students should keep track of "clunks". A clunk is a word that your child may be able to read, but does not understand. Three clunks on the page is the maximum.
3. Read the back: Students should read the back (or inside jacket) of a book in order to be sure that the book is interesting to them. I'm really stressing that the book must interest your child. Please stress that it needs to interest them, not me, a friend, or family member.

I have really been working to stress for the kids that reading is work, but it should be FUN! If it isn't fun for a student, I am working to help them get there.

Welcome Back!

Homework Questions?- I have some answers!

So far, getting homework completed has gone smoothly in room 24. I am pleased and proud of the students for showing such maturity and responsibility. I know that this will continue. When working on homework or looking at homework that has been completed, I think it is helpful to keep the following information in mind:

• Homework is designed to review the day's lessons. If your child is having trouble with the homework, it is important to let his/her teacher know. Feedback such as this is an integral part of the home/school relationship.
• Written homework should not take more than 45 minutes nightly. Some assignments are assigned over a few nights. Encourage your child to do a little bit each night, to avoid a build up of homework the night before assignments are due. If your child is spending more than 45 minutes on homework, please initial the homework with a quick note that says this, and I will accept the homework as complete.
  
• Most homework assignments are reviewed in class, rather than collected. This allows me to quickly assess the students' knowledge of the previous day's lessons, allowing me to provide review/enrichment as needed. Although the students are correcting the pages with a pen, I do see each assignment. Occasionally, I will collect and correct homework assignments.
• Homework is something that your child should be able to complete with minimal support from home. I recommend encouraging your child to use his/her student reference book for support in math. Please continue to encourage this independence.

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Below are some homework tips for the students:

Here are a few study tips that can help you do well.

• Use your Assignment Notebook(ANB): Write down your assignments every day, even when you think you can remember what your homework is without writing it down!
• Check off each assignment in your ANB after you have completed it.
• When you are finished with your homework, put it in your backpack right away.
• If you have a test coming up, study a little bit each night. You will have plenty of notice to do this.
• Use your study guides. You will be told what to study.
• When you have a long-term project, do a little every day. Chances are, you will get it finished even before it is due.