Our Week In Review

Fall has finally arrived!

Our mantra this week was "Always Stick Together".  We applied this mantra while working on our puff mobiles this week.  We are almost ready for our race!

We wrapped up our 2nd math unit about addition and subtraction this week. Our test today was a HUGE success!  Way to go 4th graders!

We continue to learn about prefixes, and how to use our knowledge of root words and prefixes to figure out the meanings of unknown words.  Students have started to use these skills in their reading.

On Thursday we enjoyed a fabulous Skype with author Amy Nielander, author of The Ladybug Race. She shared her process of writing, and the steps she takes when writing a book! What an interesting story she shared! Ask your child about the steps she took to get her book published.

This week, students began sharing their love of books by giving book talks to our class.  When students share books they love, other students get excited about reading the books as well. Though it is hard to speak in front of your peers, two brave students volunteered this week.  We now have 7 more students signed up for book talks!  We can't wait to hear more about what books our friends love!

Our fourth graders worked this week to help stop hunger.  This month, Midas participated in a program to "Drive Out Hunger".  For each "meal" drawn on a plate and tweeted, Midas will donate a meal to Feeding America.  Here are a few of our "meals".  Stay tuned for a picture of ALL of us!

If you would like to participate, share this video, and Midas will donate a meal!

SURVEYS

Please take a minute to share your feelings about fourth grade. Choose the appropriate link to complete:

• Parent Survey
• Student Survey

Looking Ahead ~

We will continue with our Map Skills unit in Social Studies.

We will create our terrariums and observe the water cycle!  We will also explore weather instruments.

We will continue reviewing personal narratives in writing

We will begin learning about multiplication in math

Conference dates have been confirmed, and next week you will receive a link to sign up for parent/teacher conferences.

The Water Cycle

We have been learning about the water cycle during science this week. Below are some videos we have seen to help us to understand this concept.

Our Week In Review

Our week began with our whole grade Community Meeting.  Our mantra,  "Be an Engineer!" was particularly important this week, as we had a visit from our new Engineers in Residence, Mr. Andrew Leenhouts and Mr. Peter Gill.  Both of our engineers are graduates of Franklin High School, and Peter even had Mrs. A. Williams at JFK!  Our engineers shared a lot about their jobs as civil engineers, and then talked with the students about the design process. 

 After we learned about the design process, we began to plan for our first project, "Puff Mobiles".  Here we are planning and discussing our Puff Mobile designs.  The finished products should be fantastic!

During reading, we continue to learn and practice finding evidence about the narrative elements in a story.  We have read some fun books!  Next week, we will wrap this up, and move onto our first Interactive Read Aloud.

During social studies, we began to learn about the hemispheres of the Earth.  We will continue to learn advanced map skills, and how to use latitude and longitude to find exact locations on a map.

In science we began to learn about the weather.  The students in our class already have a great deal of knowledge about this topic!

We already know a LOT about weather!

Looking Ahead ~

We will continue with our Map Skills unit in Social Studies.

We will continue learning about the weather, specifically the water cycle.  This will lead into the creation of our terrariums!

We will continue working on our Hopes and Dreams during writing, and begin to write narratives (both personal narratives and fictional ones).

We will assess our understanding of addition and subtraction skills with our second math assessment next Friday.

As soon as conference dates are confirmed, you will receive a message along with a link to sign up for a date and time that is convenient for you

Our Week In Review

Fall has arrived!  We have been very busy in room 24.

This week we had our first math assessment.  The children worked really hard, despite some nerves with this first test.  On Monday, you will receive the corrected assessment.  You may also see your child's work online at www.pearsonrealize.com.  Beginning next week, our math focus will be on addition and subtraction.  If your child isn't automatic with his/her addition or subtraction facts, there are some links which provide practice on our curriculum page.  Another idea is to use the website Quizlet. Here your child can search for various sets of "electronic flash cards". Many students enjoy using these cards on an ipod or ipad.   A quick search of "addition facts" or "subtraction facts" gives your child many options for flash cards.This tool can be used for all subjects, and students can even make their own flash cards to help with studying in other subject areas.  We will explore Quizlet in the coming weeks during Technology on Fridays.

This week we began and ended our week with our fourth grade friends.  We enjoyed our weekly grade level meeting Monday, and ended with Dance Party Friday (many children's "high" of the week). We also met at the end of the day to discuss Constitution Day.  You can find more information about the grade level activities on the "Fourth Grade News" page (use the link to the right). There you will find information about Creative Arts Friday for this week as well.

We have been working on various reading strategies during Reader's Workshop, and we will continue to work on our routines for the next week.  By the end of the week, all students should have books in their book bags, and should have an established routine at home for evening reading.  If you have any questions about reading or your child's book choice, please contact Mrs. Merten.  We had a "guest teacher" this week...Mrs. Richards came in to share some strategies for looking at words.  We enjoyed her teaching!

On Wednesday we celebrated our summer reading with story teller Len Cabral!  He was wonderful.Your children should have many stories to share.

We continue to work on our classroom community, and we have really grown!  Students are feeling more and more comfortable working with one another and talking about their thinking.

Looking Ahead ~

• On Monday we will have a visit from our "Engineers in Residence". We will begin our first engineering project next week.
• We will begin our Map Skills unit in Social Studies and our unit about Weather in Science.
• We will continue working on our Hopes and Dreams during writing.
• As soon as conference dates are confirmed, you will receive a message along with a link to sign up for a date and time that is convenient for you.

Author Alert!

If you ar a fan of Rick Riordan, you will LOVE this! Scroll down for other author information.
(Information was taken directly from the Unlikely Story website.  More information can be found here.)

Rick Riordan

We've got an event of mythological proportions with bestselling author Rick Riordan to celebrate the newest book in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, The Hammer of Thor. Please know that our seating capacity is limited to a maximum of 200 people, so not all who would like to attend will be able to purchase tickets.

Important Details:

• Tickets go on sale Tuesday, September 20th at 6:00pm.
• Tickets are $23.41 and include admission for two (2) people and one (1) copy of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: Hammer of Thor. Additional copies will be available before and after the event.
• The presentation will consist of a Powerpoint by Rick with Q & A, lasting about 45 minutes.
• Rick will be signing and personalizing books following his presentation.
• Photos will be allowed while in the signing line.
• Rick will sign any books purchased at the event, and you can bring 2 books from home to be signed.

In addition to Rick Riordan, there will  be some other great authors at the bookstore in September and October.

• CeCe Bell (author of El Deafo) 
• Tom Angleberger, her husband (author of the Origami Yoda series) 
• Click here to scroll through the events calendar. 

***Keep in mind that some of these events require preregistration.