Our Week In Review

Our first full week was a big success! We began our week, as we always do, with our grade level community meeting.  We end our meeting with a weekly yoga set. We also ended our week with our fourth grade friends.  On Friday we began our day with Dance Party Friday, and later on Friday we gathered to learn about Constitution Day (9/17) through this "virtual field trip" from Discovery Education.  We wrapped up a fabulous Friday with Creative Arts Friday and our end of the week meeting! 

Dance Party Friday!

This week, we had our first math assessment.  The children worked really hard, despite some nervous feelings about this first test.  You will receive the corrected assessment on Monday. There have been several glitches with the technology,  so you may not be able to access the assessment online.  Moving forward this will be resolved, and you will be able to see all assessments online as well.  Beginning next week, our math focus with be addition and subtraction.  If your child is not automatic with his/her addition and subtraction facts, there are some links on our curriculum pages which help provide practice in a fun way.  Additionally, your child could use the website/app quizlet, which is a way to create and use electronic flash cards.  Many children use this app on an ipod/ipad.  To use this, go to Quizlet.com and search for "addition facts" or "subtraction facts". There are 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.

 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.

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

 During Writer's Workshop we have been working on our Hopes, Dreams and Goals for fourth grade.  We enjoyed brainstorming and beginning our writing outside this week.  During this process, we will be focusing on writing clear, descriptive sentences.  This week, we used the "Vanilla Sentence" strategy.  Ask your child to share the difference between a vanilla sentence and an ice cream sundae sentence.

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 next week, all students will have books in their book bags (added with Mrs. Merten), 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. 

Adding pins to the map~  Ask your child why we do this.

 Each week, on Friday, we end our week with our "High, Low, Bet You Didn't Know", and celebrate one student's accomplishment (this may be kindness, being a good friend, demonstrating excellent effort or something more that the teacher notices).

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