Curriculum Oct. 12 - 15

Cardboard Challenge- One highlight of our week was the opportunity to participate in the English Landing Cardboard Challenge!  Students first watched the video of Caine's Arcade  to see what the cardboard challenge is all about.  Then our 4th graders worked with their 1st grade buddies and their imaginations to make a plan and then they used cardboard boxes and tape to create their idea.  We ended up with some super cool creations!

Reading- We continued our discussions of theme this week both in our book club books and our classroom read aloud, Tiger Rising.  Students also learned how authors use symbolism in their books and worked to identify symbols in their books.  Next week we will wrap up our unit by having one last book club meeting.

Writing - Fourth graders continued to work on writing their rough drafts of their realistic fiction story.  Students are working to type their stories using Google Docs.  Our plan is to be finished with our stories by the end of next week!

Math - In math, students worked on adding and subtracting larger numbers, using mental math strategies to solve addition and subtraction problems, and using estimates to check the accuracy of their work.  Next week, we'll finish Topic 4 by reviewing and taking our final test.

Social Studies- We continued our economics unit by learning about taxes, and the difference between savings and investments.  Students applied their knowledge to their economic business plan.

Curriculum Updates October 5 - 9

Reading - This week students practiced summarizing their book club books.  They also began thinking about the larger, universal lesson that the author is trying to teach us.  Students began to determine theme in both our classroom book; Tiger Rising and their book club books.  Next week we'll continue to work on determining themes.

Writing - Our realistic fiction stories are all in the drafting phase.  Students are drafting their story's scenes.  Fourth graders learned about dialogue and why author's use dialogue in their writing. Next week, students will finish their drafts and will begin to revise their writing.

Math - This week students took their pretest for Topic 4 and began learning some strategies for mental math.  They also are learning to round numbers in order to find an estimate when either adding or subtracting.

Social Studies- In our economics unit students learned about supply and demand and how these affect the price.  We discussed how consumers, producers and the government are independent.  Students applied their knowledge to their business that they are creating.

PowerBlock - Look for a letter in your child's back pack about PowerBlock which begins next week!

Curriculum Sept. 21- Oct. 2

Reminders:
Oct. 1 - Picture Day -  Order online at mylifetouch.com Use code KM985101Q0 
or you can return the order form your child brought home.

Oct. 8, 2015: Early Release Day:  School Dismisses at 1:30pm

Oct. 23 2:00-3:00:  Fall Festival Party- Our theme is 70s Retro

Reading - We are continuing to read Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo as a class to practice making inferences, describing characters, and summarizing.  Students practice these same skills independently in their book club books.  Teachers meet with students weekly for a collaborative book club discussion.  

Writing - Students have picked a topic for their realistic fiction piece and are currently working on developing their character both internally and externally.  Students will also use a story arc to help them plan out their story.

Math - Fourth graders are working on comparing, ordering, and rounding numbers in our current place value unit.  Students will take their Topic 3 test at the end of the week.  We'll begin Topic 4 next week.  

Science - Our animal research projects are complete!  Students did a fabulous job making computer presentations and presenting their findings to their classes.

Social Studies - We finished up our geography unit and are now diving into an economics unit.  We'll spend this unit learning about economic topics such as natural resources, renewable/nonrenewable resources, supply & demand, goods & services, financial investments vs. savings, and taxes.  Students will choose a business partner and then they will develop a business that provides either a good or service.  

Parent-Teacher Conference Sign-up

Parent and Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, October 28 and Thursday, October 29, 2015. We need your help to achieve our school goal of 100% parent attendance at conferences.

Conferences are twenty minutes in duration and are scheduled back-to-back beginning at 5:00pm on Wednesday. Once again this year, we are using the online SignUp Genius tool to schedule conferences. Please click on the link to schedule your conference appointment:

Here is the link:

http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d49afa622a5fe3-English

Early Release Dates

Fall Career Share Signup... For the Guys

Sept. 14- 18 Curriculum Updates

Reading - We began our second topic this week:  Following Characters Into Meaning.  In this unit readers will be focusing on strengthening their abilities to make interpretations of texts.  This is a unit which teaches students to read with inference and interpretation, developing text-based theories about characters, supporting those theories with evidence from the text, and viewing characters and their motivations through a different lens.  Students began reading a book club book this week and started learning about their main character by thinking about internal and external traits as well as motivations, desires, and obstacles in their life.

Writing - Fourth graders worked this week on publishing their piece from Unit 1.  Next week, we'll begin Unit 2.

Math - Students worked this week to generate a number or shape pattern that follows a rule.  Often these patterns were found in tables.  Students learned to find the rule and fill in missing numbers.  We ended the week by learning to draw a picture or use reasoning to problem solve.  Next week students will take their Topic 2 Test and we'll begin Topic 3.

Science - Students continued to research a Missouri animal this week and began creating a digital presentation (PowerPoint or Google Slides) to share the information with the class.  Students will be presenting these projects next week.

Social Studies - We finished up our first unit of geography this week, by discussing urban, rural, and suburban communities.  We also learned about Missouri's Art and Culture. Students will be assess on this unit before we begin on our next unit.