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. 

Happy New Year! (Jan. 2 to Jan. 5, 2024)

 

Welcome back to the first week of 2024!  I hope you all had a festive, fun, and relaxing break with family and friends!  Here's a brief summary of what we'll be working on during the week!

READING:

- Students will complete Unit 3 lessons in Benchmark as they read and review historical fiction, and our test on Unit 3 will be towards the end of this week.

- Word work this week will focus on the Latin root ¨port¨ as we work on vocabulary words.  The test on these words will be scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 11.
*(We have a short week this week and next week, so we will take 2 weeks to complete work on this Latin root.)

- 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.  Make sure to spend time reading over winter break!

WRITING:

Our next writing project will be an Elder Interview.  Students will be asked to interview a grandparent or another person from their family or community.  These interviews will be due next week on Tuesday, Jan. 9.  Students will then use the information to write about the person they interviewed by creating a rough draft and final copy.
*Students will receive the questions and information on this project to bring home on Tuesday, Jan. 2.

*Students have access to Typing Club to develop their keyboarding skills, and they continue reviewing cursive to develop their handwriting skills.

MATH:

- We will continue to review fractions and decimals, and we will review division facts by working on daily one minute tests to master division facts 1 through 10. When everyone has mastered their facts, we will have a class popcorn, soda, and movie celebration!

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

*Math HOMEWORK: 
Homework will come home on Tuesday, Jan. 2, and will be due on Friday, Jan. 5.

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

SOCIAL STUDIES

As we studied the Eastern Region by learning the states and capitals, we will now focus on the land forms, economy, and culture of the Eastern United States. 

ART:
We will learn about art and space by studying foreground, middle ground, and background as we create an image of a falling 4th grader. (See sample below.)