Our week back from vacation went really quickly! In reading, we began to learn about mythology. So far, we have seen an overview of myths and discussed some of the characteristics. You may see some mythology books in the coming weeks. The children can bring them home if interested. We will do much more with mythology beginning next week. Today was Dr. Seuss' birthday, and we celebrated Read Across America Day!
In Social Studies we worked diligently on our Washington, DC research. The link to some of the helpful sites we used (and found today) is under the curriculum link. Today was the last day for research in school. The rest of the project will be completed at home, and is due next Friday.
In Math, we started to learn about area and perimeter. Mrs. Y came to our class on Thursday and we worked on an MCAS open response question about fractions.
We have been learning about Adverbs in English. Here is the Schoolhouse Rock video about adverbs.
Next week we will post our March Birthday Kids !
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
Our Week In Review
(One of our Book Talks)
Recorder Karate Help (Be sure to have your password ready!)
This week, we finished reading Snow Treasure. Most of the students rated this book a 9 or a 10 because it was such an exciting adventure story. We discussed characters ~ and decided if we would like to be friends with the main characters of this story. Here we are talking about this.
Many of us would like to be friends with Peter Lundstrom ~ who is brave, smart and daring. We also learned about figurative language in this book. One thing we tracked was onomatopoeia. We created a wordle of the examples of onomatopoeia we found in this book. Here is a small copy of our wordle. Everyone has a copy in their reading journals.
One more reading update ~WE HAVE READ 660 BOOKS THIS YEAR!!!! I am so proud!
Some children have expressed that they are having trouble with Recorder Karate. Here is a link which will help the children with recorders.
Many of us would like to be friends with Peter Lundstrom ~ who is brave, smart and daring. We also learned about figurative language in this book. One thing we tracked was onomatopoeia. We created a wordle of the examples of onomatopoeia we found in this book. Here is a small copy of our wordle. Everyone has a copy in their reading journals.
One more reading update ~WE HAVE READ 660 BOOKS THIS YEAR!!!! I am so proud!
Some children have expressed that they are having trouble with Recorder Karate. Here is a link which will help the children with recorders.
Recorder Karate Help (Be sure to have your password ready!)
Other News
Today Miss Johnson was a substitute teacher at Kennedy! We were so excited to see her, and to have her visit when she had time today!!! We miss her, but were SO excited to see her again. We hope that she substitutes at Kennedy again!
Today Miss Johnson was a substitute teacher at Kennedy! We were so excited to see her, and to have her visit when she had time today!!! We miss her, but were SO excited to see her again. We hope that she substitutes at Kennedy again!
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Fraction Action
In math we are learning about fractions. Today we discussed comparing fractions ~ specifically putting fractions in order from either smallest to largest or largest to smallest. These charts represent the rules your child learned today.
The kids are also still working on learning their multiplication facts. I have seen great improvement by some of them! Below is a Schoolhouse Rock Video to help with their 3s tables.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Winter Wonderland!
Winter Wonderland Day was a success! We began our day with a math lesson about adding and subtracting fractions. This is something we will be working on throughout this unit. Today was our first day, and the children did a great job!
After math, we went to Mrs. Williams' room, where she helped us to fold snowflakes. We were impressed with how much math was involved in this activity. Next week, we will be writing poetry about snow and/or snowflakes.
Later in the day, the fourth grade got together to watch a movie called Snow Buddies. We really enjoyed this! We were able to make several connections to our last interactive read aloud, Stone Fox.
Our Week in Review
This week, we continued learning about parts of speech with adjectives. Below is the Schoolhouse Rock Video that we watched (and will watch) to help remember this part of speech.
In reading, we have continued reading Snow Treasure by Marie McSwiggan. We have been discussing figurative language, and this week we began tracking some of the characters. We are looking at the characters in a different way, and when we finish this book the children will have to answer the question "Would I like this character as a friend?". The children are enjoying this adventure story.
From the Teacher's Desk
The children continue to make good progress in fourth grade! Many of them are improving with their test preparation and their ability to finish homework and return it to school. This does continue to be a struggle for some. Setting a schedule with a specific homework place and time can help with this. Often times the work is finished but it is forgotten at home. If this is a problem for your child, a checklist may help. I encourage the children to use their Assignment Notebooks as a checklist, but perhaps one that is more obvious would work.
At times I write "See Me" on your child's paper. When I write this it is because I am looking to have a conversation with your child, and often gather more information about the particular assignment. I realize that it is hard to know if your child did, in fact, see me. When I have seen a child, I will cross off the see me in a different colored pen/pencil. That is the cue that I have seen the child.
One site that I use often is Brainpop. This site has many 3-4 minute video clips about a wide variety of topics. The children really love the videos, and they learn something, too! Although many of the videos we use are subscription based, there are several videos that can be viewed for free, without a subscription.
Our Week in Review
This week, we continued learning about parts of speech with adjectives. Below is the Schoolhouse Rock Video that we watched (and will watch) to help remember this part of speech.
In reading, we have continued reading Snow Treasure by Marie McSwiggan. We have been discussing figurative language, and this week we began tracking some of the characters. We are looking at the characters in a different way, and when we finish this book the children will have to answer the question "Would I like this character as a friend?". The children are enjoying this adventure story.
FEBRUARY BIRTHDAYS
Happy Birthday to our February Birthdays, Jillian and Conlon!
From the Teacher's Desk
The children continue to make good progress in fourth grade! Many of them are improving with their test preparation and their ability to finish homework and return it to school. This does continue to be a struggle for some. Setting a schedule with a specific homework place and time can help with this. Often times the work is finished but it is forgotten at home. If this is a problem for your child, a checklist may help. I encourage the children to use their Assignment Notebooks as a checklist, but perhaps one that is more obvious would work.
At times I write "See Me" on your child's paper. When I write this it is because I am looking to have a conversation with your child, and often gather more information about the particular assignment. I realize that it is hard to know if your child did, in fact, see me. When I have seen a child, I will cross off the see me in a different colored pen/pencil. That is the cue that I have seen the child.
One site that I use often is Brainpop. This site has many 3-4 minute video clips about a wide variety of topics. The children really love the videos, and they learn something, too! Although many of the videos we use are subscription based, there are several videos that can be viewed for free, without a subscription.
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