Abstract Sculptures and Drawings

In Art Class on Friday, we created Abstract Sculptures in groups.  Then we sketched our sculptures individually. Can you guess which sketches and sculptures match? Impressed by our artwork?  Leave a comment!

The Sculptures

Our Artwork (students chose if they wanted their sketch posted)

Our Week In Review

Though it was a short week, we were able to complete a lot !

In Math, we have been working on place value skills.  This week we worked on reading and writing large numbers.  We also talked about the value of digits in numbers.  We will be learning about BIG numbers for a few weeks (numbers to the billions).  This week we also learned a math game, Name That Number.  We will be learning another game next week.  Ask your children about these games.  They are easy to play at home with basic cards and/or dice, and a wonderful way to reinforce our math lessons.

Name That Number!

During Reader's Workshop we have really been working to establish our routines.  We have also started talking about Narrative Elements (the parts of a story).  Laying the groundwork for our routines and literature basics will allow us to stretch our reading wings as the year progresses.  We have also been working in Reading "Zone".  Mrs. Merten is quite impressed with our stamina!  Mrs. Merten has been filling our bookbags with books that she thinks will interest us.  We are excited to give them a try.

The Reading Zone

                    One Reading Note:  One important part of our Reader's Workshop is the children read the same book at home and at school. This book should travel back and forth with your child.  The books can come from our class library, your home, or the school or public libraries.  This is a new expectation, and many children are still developing a routine to help remember to bring the book back to school.  Anything you can do to support this would be appreciated!

During Writer's Workshop, we began to talk about writing goals for fourth grade.  So far we have come up with some things that were hard for us last year, or things that we just would like to get better at.

Fridays continue to be spent on Creative Arts. This week, we were treated with a demonstration from our Music Department.  Teachers from the "String School" and after school band were at JFK to demonstrate the instruments that student have the opportunity to play.The teachers then played some music to show how the instruments would fit into a band or orchestra.

They were great!  If your child is interested in this opportunity, a note was sent home on Friday.

We have been working on writing poems about ourselves in Poetry workshop with Mrs. Williams.  We are almost finished writing these.  During technology workshop, we have been learning how to navigate the JFK website, our class blogs, and how to set bookmarks for ourselves (to get back to these sites easily throughout the year).  We also learned how to open/create a Microsoft Word document and how to save it into our folder. Next week, we hope to begin typing our biopoems.  Finally, during Art with Mrs. Hess, we worked together to create abstract sculptures. Then we drew the sculptures.  Stay tuned for pictures of our sculptures and our sketches!

The Technology Lab

Check out Mrs. Williams and Sammi~ They didn't know it, but they dressed alike this morning!

 



From the Teacher's Desk 
What a great start to the year! The children have really settled into the routine and are doing a great job!  One part of our blog that I like to highlight is the section "Spotlight On...".  If your child (or your family) does something exciting or special, please let Mrs. Merten know.  We can "Spotlight" your child on this blog.  In the past, we have "spotlighted" students playing in a basketball tournament, winning a medal in gymnastics or skating, celebrating Diwali, and so much more!  We even spotlighted a new puppy!  If you have something for this section of our blog, please email Mrs. Merten.  Next week is our Parent Information Session.  I hope to see you there ~ Wednesday, September 11, 3:00-3:30 and 3:30-4:00.

Sneak Peek ~ For the Students

Check out our new way to sign in!  The SmartBoard was taking up all of our writing space during the morning, so we are going to try this!  Tomorrow we will sign in our regular way (using the board).), and I'll show you how this new system will work.  Have a great night! Remember to READ!

~ Mrs. Merten

Our First Week

Our first week of school was AWESOME!  We enjoyed getting to know one another, and have started to come together as a group.  I have no doubt we will establish a wonderful classroom community.  We brainstormed ideas, and created some classroom rules.  We all signed them, too.

This week in math, we began to learn about place value.  Mrs. Merten was quite impressed with all of the information we already know about this topic!  Our math lesson today was interrupted by our first FIRE DRILL.  We were all impressed by how quickly and quietly the whole school left the building.

In writing, we said goodbye to two unnecessary words, "I Can't". We had a small retirement celebration as we raised the "I Can't" shirt to the rafters.  All of the things we "can't" do are attached to the bottom of the shirt. 

In reading, Mrs. Merten read a new book, Carnivores, by Aaron Reynolds.  This is a book that stresses the importance of realizing who you are.  We also listened to the story Aunt Chip and the Triple Creek Dam Affair, by Patricia Polacco.  We have a few more pages to read in this book, but we have enjoyed the story so far.  This book is a wonderful way to remind students about the wonderful things we get out of books.

Mrs. Merten handed out our first reading log today. This will help guide the children's reading throughout the year.   Logs are due on Fridays.

Here we are "turning and talking"

Today we had our first Poetry lesson with Mrs. Williams, and our first Technology lesson with Mrs. Merten.  We loved both of these times today.  In technology we learned how to sign into our computers and then to set some bookmarks.  We are excited about all of the things we will learn this year!

What a Day!

Well, we did it!  The first day was fabulous!  We had a lot of fun getting acquainted, and we started to learn a little about one another.  We will spend this week really getting to know each other, and establishing our fourth grade community.  Today we started to work on our classroom rules, and brainstormed somethings we think about how to treat each other. I hope everyone had a wonderful day.  I know I did !

We started off the day creating posters about ourselves .  It was quiet !

We did a carousel activity where we wrote our thoughts about a few topics.  This will help us create our  class rules.

Welcome!!!

Welcome to 4th grade and our class, Room 24!  By now, you have learned that you will be with us, and you have Mrs. Merten for a teacher (that's me!).  I can't wait to meet you; we are going to have so much fun together.  Don't forget to read the "Summer letter for Students," and the "Summer letter for Parents," in the Important Documents section at the right.  There is really good information in both of these documents. You will also find  a "Suggested Supply List," in case you misplaced the one that was in your report card at the end of third grade.  Our blog is full of information.  Just scroll down and you can see some of our past blog posts.  If you have any questions for me, leave them in the comment section of this post and I will answer them.  Remember to check with your parents first!  I hope to post a few pictures of our classroom next week.  Check back for those!  Enjoy your last week of summer vacation! 

~ Mrs. Merten

Two Weeks and Counting

Welcome to our class blog, "Ladybugs on Learning"!  I hope you will find this page helpful for both parents and students.  If you are new to our blog, welcome!  If you are a returning guest, welcome back!  I'd like to share a few things with you, to guide you through using our blog.

• We welcome comments on our blog from families as well as from our students.  We began encouraging this last year, and have left some instructions on how to best comment in the sidebar to the right.  Please follow the instructions and comment away!  
• Last year, we began to use Twitter to communicate "up to the minute" updates to our blog.  There is a twitter gadget also in the sidebar to the right.  You may find pictures, links or just some quick "tweets".  Bear with me, as I learn how to best navigate this part of our blog. If you tweet, follow us @JFK24Ladybugs.
• I have posted some links to important information to the right as well.  You will find summer letters to both parents and students, as well as the suggested supply list for incoming Fourth Graders.  You will also see our class handbook, however I haven't updated that quite yet.
• I try to post updates to our blog on Fridays, and very often include pictures or videos of our week.  I also try to include links(games, study guides, videos, etc.)  which could help students with homework or studying.  If you would like to follow our blog by email, there are two options.  You can enter your email in the "Follow by Email" gadget, or you can become a "Follower". Both of these options are in the section on the right.  
• If you or other members of your family speak a different language, I've included a translator gadget to the right.  This will help  families from around the world to keep updated with your child's school activities.

In a week or so, you should learn if you are in our class.  I hope to post some pictures of our classroom, so that you can see what to expect!  I know we are going to have a great year!

Enjoy the last few weeks!