April 22 to April 26, 2024

                         

I hope you all had a successful day of asynchronous learning on April 19.  As I review the work in Seesaw, I see such great work and creativity!  Thank you for your support for asynchronous learning at home.

Students did a wonderful job with their MCA testing.  All students have completed these tests. Yay! I am not yet sure when results will be available, but I will keep you posted as I learn more.

Our next formal tests will be the spring Fastbridge reading math tests.  The dates for these tests in 4th grade are as follows:

                    Monday, April 29 - Auto and aReading tests, 12:50pm
                    Tuesday, April 30 - aMath test, 9:45am

Reminder:  No school for students on Monday, May 6, due to teacher workshops.

(There will be NO asynchronous learning on this day.)

DURING THIS WEEK IN OUR 4TH GRADE CLASSROOM, WE WILL BE WORKING ON THE FOLLOWING:

READING:

- As we have completed our lessons on Poetry, this week we will begin Unit 7 in Benchmark and focus on the reading strategy of drawing conclusions.

-For Word Work, students will learn vocabulary using the Latin root "bio". Students will bring home a study guide on Monday, and the test on these words will be on Friday, April 26.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at approx.  36  books by the end of April to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:
All students should complete their poetry books by Friday, April 26.  They can bring the books home throughout the week to complete their work, and students will also have time in class to work on the final copy.
*If you are able, please help your child by editing any of their rough drafts before they enter them into their final copy.

MATH:

-This week, our lessons will focus on finding unknown dimensions in area and perimeter. We continue to work on strategies for multiplication and division of larger numbers including using a ratio table, an are model, and the standard algorithm. 

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.  This will be important as we work on computing larger numbers during Unit 6 lessons.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder.

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, April 22, and due on Wednesday, April 24.

Homework will be assigned on Wed., April 24,  and due on Friday, April 26.

Social Studies/Science

Science lessons this week will include using senses to discover mystery items in concealed containers. Students will read about animal eyes and how they are alike and different.

In Social Studies, we will begin our study of the Western region by learning the state locations, capitals, and abbreviations.  Students will bring home a study guide at the end of the week, and our test on the West will be the week of May 7.

ART:  Students will learn about the artist Keith Haring and create an artwork in the style of his work. (See image below.)

April 15 to April 19, 2024

                                 

Reminders:

 1. Friday, April 19, is an asynchronous learning day. Students will bring their Chromebooks home on Thursday, April 18, and all work will be posted in Seesaw by 7:00 am Friday morning.  

On this day, I will have office hours from 9:00 am to 11:00. A Google Meet code for these office hours will be provided in Seesaw on Friday morning as well.
*PLEASE NOTE: STUDENTS DO NOT NEED TO CHECK IN DURING OFFICE HOURS. This time is available for students only if they have any questions regarding the assigned work for the day.

 2. Our class schedule for the upcoming MCA test during the week of April 15 is as follows:

    MCA Math:  Tuesday/Wednesday, April 16 and April 17, 9:45 AM

Check out what else we have planned for the upcoming week:

MATH:
- We will continue our April calendar activities that will focus on polygons, area, and perimeter. 

- Lessons continue on multiplication, division, area and perimeter,  data collections, and analyzing data. 

*Math HOMEWORK:   

The Home Connection book work will be assigned on Monday and will be due on THURSDAY. Home Connections will also be assigned as part of Friday´s Asynchronous learning day.

*Check planner for  Home Connection pages to be completed.

SCIENCE/HEALTH  
We will continue to work on the Science unit titled ¨Vision and Light¨. For Health, students will review bus safety for the spring trimester.

 READING:
- We will continue our unit on Poetry, and during the next few weeks, students will completing their final copy of poetry by writing their final copies in a blank book.  This will also be part of student work during our Asynchronous learning day.

Word Work: 
The word work focus this week will be on ¨r¨ controlled vowels. A list will come home on Monday, April 15. We will work on the words throughout the week, and  our quiz on these words will be on Thursday, April 18.

40 Book Challenge: 
Students should be at approximately 36 books by the end of April to be on track for the 40 Book Challenge. 

WRITING:

- Students continue to practice capital cursive letters, and they will create and write additional poems to add to their individual poetry books.

ART:

Our class will continue their participation in "Art Adventures" presented by Rush Creek volunteers and through the Minneapolis Institute of Art. 
On Thursday, student will meet with Mrs. Hehn for their weekly art lesson.

April 8 to April 12, 2024

 

REMINDER:

The Rush Creek Elementary PTO’s Spring Fundraiser will be held April 13 from 6:30 to 10:30 at Pints and Paddle. We will have the classroom artwork on display during the in-person event as part of the silent auction.
*Please note our art work displayed on this blog post to the left!

Tickets and event details can be found through the fundraiser website. Click the link below for more details.

http://bidpal.net/RushCreekPTOSF24

Here is what is happening this week in our 4th Grade Classroom this week:

- MCA TESTING is scheduled for the week of April 8 and April 15. Please note 4th grade times listed below:

                    4th grade Reading – April 9-10 12:45-2:45
                    4th grade Math – April 16-17 9:45-11:15

READING:

-  Students will continue to work on figurative language and poetry writing.
*No word work this week due to MCA testing.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at approx.  36  books by the end of April to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:
Students are studying and writing poetry. This week, students will write shape poems, Haiku poems, and Limericks.

MATH:

-We continue our Unit 6 studies on division and multiplication strategies of larger numbers.  The April number corner activities include features of polygons and metric distance measures.  

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.  This will be important as we work on computing larger numbers during Unit 6 lessons.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder.

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, April 8, and due on Wednesday, April 10.

Homework will be assigned on Wed., April 10,  and due on Friday, April 12.

Science:

We continue our science investigations about vision and light and how animals have sensory capabilities to learn about their environment.  Students will read stories and work with a vision simulator to discover how light affects vision.

ART:  Students will work with Mrs. Holst for their art lesson this week on Friday.  Also, Art Adventures continue this week as students learn about artists and artistic techniques by engaging in lessons through the Minnesota Institute of Arts and volunteer presentations.

April 1 to April 5, 2024

                     

Welcome back after Spring Break!  I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Spring Break with family and friends! We are looking forward to a month filled with new learning and activities as we move into springtime in our 4th grade classroom.

During April, parent volunteers will be presenting art lessons through the Minnesota Institute of Art, Art Adventures program.  Each week, students will participate in art lessons thanks to the MIA and Rush Creek parent volunteers.

*Reminder: 
- MCA TESTING is scheduled for April, and 4th grade times are listed below:

                    4th grade Reading – April 9-10 12:45-2:45
                    4th grade Math – April 16-17 9:45-11:15

Other activities and learning for the week include the following:

READING:

-  We will review cause and effect and Pourquoi tales from Unit 6 in reading, and our test will be on Tuesday.  

-For Word Work, we'll study the words using the Latin root "ben and bene".  A study guide will come home on Monday, April 1, and we'll have the quiz on these words on Friday, April 5.  

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at approx.  36  books by the end of April to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:
This week, students will continue to study and write poetry. Students will read and write haiku, diamonte, free verse, and onomatopoeia poetry.

MATH:

-Students will review the Unit 5 geometry concepts and take the Unit 5 test on Wednesday.   The April number corner activities include features of polygons and metric distance measures.  

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.  This will be important as we work on computing larger numbers during Unit 6 lessons.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, April 1,  and due on Wednesday, 
April 3.

Homework will be assigned on Wed., April 3,  and due on Thursday, April 5.

Social Studies/Science

Students will continue their study the Midwest Region of the United States.  We will also begin a new science unit titled Vision and Light.

ART:  Students will with Mrs. Prin during Friday´s art lesson to create a color contrast hand design.

March 18 to March 22, 2024

                                         

Welcome to our last week together before Spring Break. Wishing you all a wonderful week of joy, relaxation, and great family memories.  We are looking forward to some extra fun this week during our classroom studies and activities:

- On Tuesday, we'll meet with our first grade buddies to celebrate the Spring Equinox by writing and creating spring acrostic poems.
-Thursday will be our popcorn reward party for the great job 4th graders did in the Readathon.
- Friday is the Rocky's Way all school spring bingo party. We will play bingo as a whole school at 3:00 on Friday, March 22

 

Other activities and learning include the following:

READING:

-We are completing Unit 6  lessons this week as we continue to learn about and read Pourquoi tales. We will have the Unit 6 reading test after spring break.

-For Word Work, we are going to focus on poetry terms and vocabulary as we will begin a writing unit on poetry this week. 
*There will be no word work test on Friday, March 22.  Word work and spelling tests will resume after spring break.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at approx.  32  books by the end of March to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:
Students will write Spring acrostic poems with their first grade buddies. We continue to work on uppercase cursive and writing using  March writing prompts to practice and hone writing skills.  
*We will also begin a poetry unit this week and compose various types of poems.  The final copy will be created using a blank book where students can compile their creations along with illustrations.

MATH:

-We will continue with Unit 5 math as we work on area and perimeter.  The Unit 5 math concepts will be reviewed and tested after break. We'll complete March Number Corner concepts by continuing to work on function tables, fractions, and multi-step story problems.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.  This will be important as we work on computing larger numbers during Unit 6 lessons after spring break.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, March 18,  and due on Wednesday, 
March 20.

Homework will be assigned on Wed., March 20,  and due on Friday, March 22.

Social Studies

Students continue to focus on and study the Midwest Region of the United States.  This will include reviewing the states and capitals and the state locations.  We'll also explore the economy, history, and land forms of the Midwest Region.
*The test on the Midwest states, capitals, and state abbreviations will be on Friday, March 22.

ART:
This week, students will work with Mrs. Prin as they create an optical illusion and contrasting color hand design.

March 11 to March 15, 2024

                                         

Time to spring ahead! It's great to look forward to having more daylight in the evenings for fun and outside activities!  

Because 4th graders did such an outstanding job with the Readathon, we will have a pizza reward time this Thursday, March 14.  This will be perfect as we will also be celebrating PI day, 3.14.  On Thursday, March 21, 4th graders will have a popcorn reward party. Both of these celebrations are rewards for the great work in the Readathon.

We're also looking forward to so much learning this week!  Read ahead to find out more:

READING:

- This week we'll  continue to read and work on cause and effect and begin learning about Pourquoi tales.  We continue to analyze and work on identifying different text structures as we read.

- For Word Work this week, students will work on more ambiguous vowels including au, aw, and al words.  A list will come home on Monday, and students will be tested on the first ten words on Friday, March 15.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at approx.  32  books by the end of March to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:

Students will complete their work on their Women in History.  Students will also write in response to March writing prompts and continue to develop their cursive skills by working on uppercase cursive letters.

MATH:

-Our studies this week continue to focus on geometry.  We will work on the features of polygons, area, and perimeter. On Thursday, we will celebrate PI day with lessons on circles including using cookies to determine the diameter and circumference of a circle.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Tuesday with Ms. Vogler.  

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, March 11,  and due on Wednesday, 
March 13.

Homework will be assigned on Wed., March 13,  and due on Friday, March 15.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Science/Social Studies/Health:

For Science, Ms. Vogler will continue with her lessons using circuits on Monday, March 11.  Student will participate in Makers´ Space on Tuesday.  For Social Studies, we will start learning about the Midwest by learning the states and capitals of this region.

ART:
Student will learn about Celtic knots and create a drawing and illustration of a Celtic knot during their Friday art lesson.

March 4 to March 7, 2024

                                     

This is the last week of the trimester!  Students have shown growth and achievement in so many areas during the winter grading period, and our classroom continues to be a positive space where students are learning, working, and playing together.  We'll celebrate the end of the trimester with an all class movie reward time on Thursday, March 7.
*Reminder:  No school on Friday, March 8.  

READING:

- This week we'll read and learn about stories and focus on cause and effect during our reading lessons. 

-Students will work on the Latin root "mal/male" for vocabulary and word work development.  A list will be sent home on Monday, March 4. We'll work in class on the list each day, and the quiz is scheduled for Thursday, March 7.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at 28 books at this time and 32  books by the end of March to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:
As March is Women´s History Month, this week students will do research and a mini-report on different women as they work with online research sites. Students continue to work on upper case cursive letters for writing practice along with Typing.com to continue work on keyboard skills.

MATH:

-Our studies this week continue to focus on geometry.  We will be working on parallel and perpendicular lines along with symmetry during this week's lessons.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, March 4 and due on Thursday, March 7.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Science, Art, Talent Development:

Students will work with Mrs. Vogler during talent development time and work with construction Makey Makey materials to create and code designs using circuits.

The Elm Creek Naturalist will be here to work with the students on Thursday to work with the students. 

ART:

Students will learn about Wassily Kandinsky and abstract art and create an artwork using his technique and style.

Feb. 26 to March 1, 2024

                         

 

HERE'S A SUMMARY OF WHAT WE'LL WORK ON THIS WEEK!

-This week, we will have our last DARE lesson with Officer Smith on Tuesday. 

*Reminder:  Read-A-Thon - All responses are due on Friday, March 1.
Students should be reading 20 to 40 minutes each night (average) as part of 4th grade homework, and please take the time to add the minutes to the Read-A-Thon document so we can have amazing progress in the February Read-A-Thon!  Your support is greatly appreciated.

READING:

- Our lessons will continue to focus on the comprehension strategy of comparing and contrasting while reading trickster tales.  Students will work on fluency by reading a trickster tale script, and the reading test for this unit will be at the end of this week. 

- Word work study will focus on vowels sounds using ¨oi, oy "and ¨ow,ou¨  words  while analyzing syllabication.  We will have a spelling test on the first 10 words on the spelling list on Friday, March 1.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at  28  books by the end of February to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. ADD THESE TO THE READ-A-THON document for the Rush Creek Read-A-Thon.

WRITING:

Students will write thank you notes to our custodians and kitchen staff workers, complete their perspective stories, and  continue to work on their penmanship skills by practicing cursive with upper-case letters.

MATH:

-Our studies this week will continue to focus on angles and angle measures. We will also study circles including radius, diameter, and circumference.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, Feb. 26,  and due on Wednesday, 
Feb. 28.

Homework will be assigned on Wed., Feb. 28,  and due on Friday, March 1.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Social Studies:

Students will continue their study of the southern United States, and we will have our social studies test on the Southern Region on Friday, March 1.  A study guide will come home on Tuesday, Feb. 27.  Practice the states and capitals of the south using the study guide sent home last week and also using sites connected to this blog.

ART:
Our lesson on Friday will include creating clay pots in the design of a creature.  We will create the pots this week, and after they dry and are fired in the kiln, we will have an additional art lesson to decorate and glaze our creations.

Feb. 20 to Feb. 23, 2024

                                 

 

*Reminder:  The Read-a-thon continues, so keep up the great reading!  The next form is due on Friday, Feb. 23.  The 4th grade goal is 500 minutes by March 1, so a minimum of 125 minutes per week is required to make this goal.  Happy reading to all of you!

READING:

 We will read Trickster Tales as we practice comprehension strategies including continued work with comparing and contrasting skills. Students will read and complete work about Presidents´ Day during independent work time.

- Students will work on the Latin root "scrib/script" for vocabulary and word work development.  A list will be sent home on Tuesday, Feb. 20. We'll work in class on the list each day, and the quiz is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at approx.  28  books by the end of February to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. ADD THESE TO THE READ-A-THON document for the Rush Creek Read-A-Thon.

WRITING:
As we have completed our Perspective Stories and lower case cursive work, we will now work on upper case cursive and use February writing prompts for daily writing.

MATH:

-Our studies this week focus on geometry.  Students will be studying angles and angle measures in regular pentagons and using a protractor. 

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder.

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Tuesday, Feb. 20,  and due on Friday, Feb. 23.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Social Studies:

Our next unit in Social Studies will focus on the Southern region of the United States.  Students will review the state locations and capitals of the south, and they will bring home a study guide on Feb. 20.  As we study the land forms, products, climate, and culture of the south, the test will be on March 1.  More information will be coming home next week.

Dare continues on Tuesday, Feb. 20, and we will have our 3rd weekly lesson with Officer Smith.

ART:
Students will work on creating a lion and lamb drawing to welcome March, and they will also have access to a puzzle website to learn about famous artists and artworks.

Feb. 12 to Feb. 16, 2024

                            

*Reminder:  Read-A-Thon
 Students should be reading 20 to 40 minutes each night (average) as part of 4th grade homework and 125 minutes each week to reach the 500 minute monthly goal for the February read-a-thon.  Continue to send the forms in each week, and the the next one is due on Friday, Feb. 16 Your support is greatly appreciated.

Valentine's Day Celebration:  Our class will celebrate Valentine's Day on Feb. 14 in the afternoon.  Please send valentines and Valentine's Day boxes by Wednesday morning, Feb. 14.  
(I have extra white bags for students to decorate to collect their valentines if needed.) 

We will also meet with our first grade buddies on Feb. 12 to play Valentine's Day games and create Valentine Mad-Libs .

 
*Conferences continue on Thursday February 15.  If you change your time, please let me know via email as I don't receive notifications when parents change times. I look forward to meeting with you and sharing all of the wonderful progress your child has made during the school year so far.

Read on to see other learning and activities students will be participating in this week:

READING:

- We will read stories this week and focus on comparing and contrasting during our reading lessons.  Students will also read about Lunar New Year during their reading work time.

- Word work study will focus on long and short "u" words and syllabication.  We will have a spelling test on the first 10 words on Friday, Feb. 16.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at approx.  28  books by the end of February to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 30 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework to read at least 125 minutes each week. ADD THESE TO THE READ-A-THON document for the Rush Creek Read-A-Thon.

WRITING:

Our focus this week is to continue writing our 1st person perspective stories as we do creative writing to animate an object.  Students are now typing their final copies and will illustrate their stories during writing lessons this week.

MATH:

Students will complete the Unit 4 math test and practice using coordinates to create a graph picture to develop geometry skills.  We'll also work on data collections using mean, median, mode, and range.  

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, Feb. 12,  and due on Wednesday, Feb. 14.

Homework will be assigned on Wednesday, Feb. 14,  and due on Friday Feb. 16.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Science/Health:

We continue our  science unit through Amplify Science titled "Energy Conversions."  This week students will continue to explore energy conversions by reading science stories and using the Energy Conversion Simulator during science lessons.

Officer Smith will be with us on Tuesday for our second DARE lesson.

ART:
On Friday, students will work with Mrs. Hehn during their weekly art lesson.

Feb. 6 to Feb. 9, 2024

                                         

I hope you all had a wonderful 3 day weekend enjoying the beautiful weather!  

*Conferences will begin on February 6.  If you change your time, please let me know via email as well as I don't receive notifications when parents change times. I look forward to meeting with you and sharing all of the wonderful progress your child has made during the school year so far.

Please help remind your child to read for the Rush Creek Readathon during February, “I Love to Read Month.” The week one tally sheet is due on Feb. 9.  Students need to read 125 minutes minimum per week to make the Readathin goal. Your support and assistance is greatly appreciated!  Forms were sent home, but if you need another, please let me know.


THE WORKS MUSEUM will be presenting to 4th graders on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
We look forward to this exciting science adventure for our class as an extension to our Energy Conversion science unit.

The Rush Creek Book Fair is this week as well.  We will preview the Book Fair on Tuesday as a Class.   Students can attend the the book fair to purchase items during their recess time on Wednesday and Thursday.

Here are the times the Book Fair is open this week:

Feb. 6 to Feb. 8:

•     Tuesday and Thursday Mornings 8-9:30 am
•     Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Evenings 4-8 pm
•     Wednesday and Thursday from 11:30 am-2:00pm

Reminder: *We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Feb. 14.  Students can create a valentine box and bring valentines for their classmates on this day.  We'll take time to pass out and read our valentines during the afternoon.  
*A letter was sent home on Wednesday with more information and a list of the students in our class.

Read on to see other learning and activities students will be participating in this week:

READING:

- Students will be completing their Unit 4 reading test, and we will start with stories on Unit 5 that will focus on comparing and contrasting.

- Students will work on the Latin root "graph" for vocabulary and word work development.  A list will be sent home on Tuesday, Feb. 6. We'll work in class on the list each day, and the quiz is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 9.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at  26 books by mid February to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:

Students will begin to work on an object perspective story this week.  Students will follow the writing process of writing a rough draft, editing and revising, and  typing a final copy to animate an object using first person narrative. 

*We continue to practice cursive skills by working on upper case cursive letters, and we continue to practice keyboarding skills with Typing Club.

MATH:

-We will complete Unit 4 on addition and subtraction strategies along with units of measurement.  We will review this chapter and complete the Unit 4 test towards the end of next week.  

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Tuesday, Feb. 6, and due on Friday, Feb. 9.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Science:

We will continue with our Science lessons on "Energy Conversion."  We will learn and read about forms of energy and different uses of electrical energy.

ART:
On Friday, students will work with Mrs. Holst during their weekly art lesson.

Jan. 29 to Feb. 2, 2024

                                         

*We will celebrate Valentine's Day on Feb. 14.  Students can create a valentine box and bring valentines for their classmates on this day.  We'll take time to pass out and read our valentines during the afternoon.  
*A letter was sent home on Wednesday with more information and a list of the students in our class.

Conferences are coming up on Feb. 6, 8, and 15. Please sign up for a time if you have not yet done so. We will review your child´s progress, review 4th grade goals, and share all of their amazing growth in 4th grade so far this year.

This week, 4th graders will start the DARE program with Officer Smith. Our first DARE lesson will be on Tuesday, Jan. 30.  We will have lessons on Tuesdays until the the end of February.

Read on to see other learning and activities students will be participating in this week:

READING:

- Our plans for the week include reviewing elements of realistic fiction while summarizing, and students will read a script titled ¨Mushing to Alaska¨ to practice fluency skills.  We will take the Unit 4 reading test on Friday, Feb. 2.

- Word work study will focus on long and short "o" words and syllabication.  We will have a spelling test on the first 10 words on Friday, Feb. 2.

*Students will engage in an author visit with Nina Hamza, author of ¨Ahmed´s Epic Year¨, on Friday, Feb. 2. We have completed this story as a read aloud in class, and we thank Donna Ohlgren, our media specialist, for arranging this visit for 4th and 5th graders.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at 22 to 24 books by the end of January to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:

Students will complete their lower case cursive packets and use additional time to write from February writing prompts.

*We continue to practice keyboarding skills with Typing Club.

MATH:

-Our lessons this week will continue to focus on  subtraction  using the algorithm and other subtraction strategies while computing numbers and solving word problems. Students are working to master their division facts by completing the division fact timed tests.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, Jan 29, and due on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 
and Homework will be assigned on Wednesday, Jan. 31, and due on Friday, Feb. 2.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

SCIENCE
Our lessons on Energy Conversion continue.  This week, we´ll continue to work on systems by creating a solar powered system, and we´ll work in the Amplify Science simulator to explore energy conversions.

ART:
We will create a heart string art design this week on Monday...,

....and, students will create a 3-D ¨LOVE¨ art block design on Friday.

 

Jan. 22 to Jan. 26, 2024

     

            

After the cold week and four days of inside recess, students are once again looking forward to outside recess time.  The class has earned a reward party for their excellent behavior and school work, so on Wednesday, we will have extra recess reward time and hot chocolate too!  Yay!

Here are our plans for the week:

READING:

- Plans for reading this week include extended lessons on summarizing both realistic fiction and informational stories. Reading includes stories from Benchmark, Time For Kids, and Newsela. 

- The Fastbridge winter Autoreading test is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 22, and
the Fastbridge winter trimester aReading test is scheduled for Thursday, January 25.  Students will take these tests during their reading instructional time.

- Students will work on the Latin root "miss/mit" for vocabulary and word work development.  A list will be sent home on Monday, Jan. 22. We'll work in class on the list each day, and the quiz is scheduled for Friday, Jan. 26.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at 22 to 24 books by the end of January to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:

Students will have a lesson on Adobe Express with our district technology specialist, Melissa Sanchez.  We will share our Elder Interviews with each other as students have completed the final copy of this writing project.  Students will also write in response to January writing prompts.

*We continue to practice cursive skills by working on upper case cursive letters, and we continue to practice keyboarding skills with Typing Club.

MATH:

-Our lessons this week will continue to focus on the addition and subtraction algorithm and other strategies to compute numbers including using constant difference, give and take, and finding a friendly number.  

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder.  

- On Tuesday, students will take the Fastbridge aMath test for trimester 2 during their math instructional time..

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Monday, Jan 22, and due on Wednesday, Jan. 24. 
Homework will be assigned on Wednesday, Jan. 24, and due on Friday, Jan. 26.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.  We are working towards our class popcorn and soda party as students master their division facts.

Science:
Our new Science unit it titled ¨Energy Conversions¨.  Lessons this week include learning about systems and their functions.  Students will also work on building a simple electrical system.

ART:
 Students will create a ¨Longest Line¨ drawing with Mrs. Prin during art instruction on Friday, Jan. 26.

Jan. 16 to Jan. 19, 2024

                                                 

Our class,  did a fantastic job with asynchronous learning on Friday, Jan. 12!  Thank you for all of your support to make this a successful day! Grades have been posted in Seesaw so you can see how your child did on each assignment.  

We are also soon ready to have a class reward party for our excellent behavior and class participation during our  classroom lessons.  We look forward to celebrating our great successes soon!

Here's a brief summary of what we'll be working on this week.

READING:

- Students are working on summarizing nonfiction texts and fictional stories. We will also focus on the genre of realistic fiction during our lessons.

- Word work study will focus on long and short "i" words and syllabication.  We will have a spelling test on the first 10 words on Friday, Jan. 19.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge.   Students should be at 22 to 24 books by the end of January to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:

Students will complete their Elder Interviews by typing the final copy in Google Docs and creating an illustration.  We also continue to complete our lower case cursive writing packet as we practice cursive writing weekly.

*Students have access to Typing Club to develop their keyboarding skills during independent work time.

MATH:

-Our lessons this week will focus on place value along with the addition algorithm while computing numbers and solving word problems. We continue to work on our division facts by taking a daily timed test to reach mastery and earn a class popcorn, pop, and movie party.

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder

*Math HOMEWORK:
Homework will be assigned on Tuesday, and 2 pages will be assigned.  These pages will be due on Friday, Jan. 19.
*Watch for the Unit 3 math test coming home this week in your child's take home folder.

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Social Studies/Health:

We have completed our study of the Northeast region, and we will test on this Unit on Friday, Jan. 19.  Students will bring home their study guide (a pink packet) on Tuesday to review for the test, and we will also review in class.

For Health, we are reviewing bus safety, and we will also have a "Harmony" lesson to develop our social and emotional learning. (SEL)

*Students will have a chance to participate in a bus safety poster contest through Osseo Area Schools.  I have materials for students who are interested, and they can bring these home to work on this independently if they choose to.

ART:
Students will work with Mrs. Weiland on Friday to study Picasso and create a cubism style self-portrait using oil crayons.
Students are completing their "Falling 4th Grader" art work, and these will be due at the end of this week.

Jan. 8 to Jan. 12, 2024

                             

Happy Winter Wonderland! Students did great work for the first week of 2024!                                     What a fantastic start to the New Year!


Please remember that Elder Interviews are due on Tuesday, Jan. 9.  Students will use this information to write a paragraph about the person they interviewed.  They will work to write a rough draft, revise and edit, and create a final copy. 

*Reminder:  This Friday, Jan. 12, is an asynchronous learning day.  We will go over the expectations and assignments on Thursday, and students will bring their Chromebooks and chargers home.  All assignments will be posted in Seesaw by 9:00 am.  Work can be done independently, and there are no Google Meet times or live lessons required

READING:

- This week, students will take the Unit 3 reading test focusing on inference skills. Lessons in Unit 4 will focus on summarizing as we analyze the elements of realistic fiction. Students will also work on a summarizing packet and a land form information packet during independent work time.

- Word work this week will continue to focus on vocabulary using the Latin root "port¨. Students received a study guide on Friday, and the quiz will be on Thursday, Jan. 11.

- We continue to read daily for our 40 book challenge. Students should be at 22 to 24 books by the end of January to be in line with the 40 book challenge.  If students are able to read and document 1 book per week, they will be able to reach the 40 book goal.

*Remember to read for 20 to 40 minutes each day at home for daily reading homework. 

WRITING:

Students will write their rough drafts and create their interview stories, and they will also focus on completing the lower case cursive packet along with writing using January writing prompts.

*Students have access to Typing Club to develop their keyboarding skills during independent work time.

MATH:

- This week, we will complete Chapter 3 in math, and the test is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11.
*Students are taking daily division timed tests to gain fluency with division facts.  There will be a class reward popcorn and movie party when all students have reached their goal.  

- Students will explore Concept Quest math enrichment problems on Wednesday with Mrs. Wilder.  Students will start a new unit with new sets of problems next week.

*Math HOMEWORK: 
Homework will be assigned on Monday, Jan. 8, and will be due on Thursday, Jan. 11.
Students will be assigned math pages for asynchronous learning on Friday, Jan. 12.  This work will be due on Tuesday, Jan. 16. 

*Continue to study multiplication and division facts to develop and maintain fact fluency.

Social Studies:
Our lessons this week will focus on the Northeast including the natural resources, climate, culture, and land marks.  The test for this unit will be next week. Students will also learn about entrepreneurship and create a simplified business plan in regards to being an entrepreneur.  

*On Wednesday, students will participate in ¨Maker´s Space¨ to design and create their own imaginative projects.  Thank you to all the volunteers who have helped plan and assist with this event.

ART:
Students will work on their ¨Falling 4th Grader¨ art project throughout the week.  They will use foreground, middle ground, and background as they complete their work.