This week ...11/30/15

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

I hope that you all. had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  I can't believe it's already December, and Christmas is only a few weeks away.  Here's a heads-up on some of the fun events that will be happening over the next couple of weeks:

• December 2nd at 4pm - Mount Holly Christmas Parade.  MID has participated in this parade for several years.  Our Dance club and Basketball teams will be in the parade this year.
• December 4th - Early Release at noon.  We'll also do our Reading Challenge Celebration that morning.  The kids who've met their Learn2Earn goals will be watching the Polar Express and having popcorn and hot chocolate :)
• December 15th at 6pm - MIDS Christmas Program.  The kids have been practicing their songs with Mrs Scroggs, and I've heard that Mrs. Edwards (our drama teacher) has a couple of surprises in store.  The program will be held at Thrift Baptist Church
• December 18th - Class Christmas Party.  This day is an Early Release day, and students will be dismissed at noon.  We'll have our party that morning.

This week in...

Math:  We're working on Unit 5 - Multiplying By One Digit Numbers.  Each of the kids has their own work plan, based on the pretest that they took.  Click here to see an example:  Unit 5 Differentiated Work Plan.  After someone takes a unit pretest, I grade it, and then assign work based on the problems that they missed.  This way, they aren't spending time working on skills that they've already mastered.  With each unit topic that they need to complete, they sit down with me to watch the visual learning segment and complete a few problems for that topic.  Once they feel confident with it, they continue to work at their own pace to complete the assigned work and a brief assessment.  They they move on to the next topic.  Some kids may need to work on all of the topics in a unit, and some many only need to do two or three.  I'm excited about the kids being able to move at their own pace, focusing on the skills they really need!

Reading:  For the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about making inferences.  This is one of the most important reading skills, because when we're able to infer we can understand what we're reading much more deeply.  We use the equation TC + BK = inference.  TC = Text Clues, and BK = Background Knowledge.  When we combine the clues from our reading with our background knowledge, we can make a smart guess about what's happening in the story.

Writing:  In Writing, we've published our writing pieces from November, and are adding them to our portfolios.  We're also talking about what makes a good sentence, a better sentence, and the best sentences.  Action parts also add to a good sentence (where, when, and why something is happening). For a good sentence, we want to include a noun, a vivid verb, and a describer (adjective or adverb).

Language:  This week we're working on the difference between common and proper nouns.

Social Studies:  We learning about the events leading up to the Revolutionary War:  The Boston Tea party, the Intolerable Acts, and the first Continental Congress.  By the end of the week we'll have talked about the battles at Lexington and Concord that set the war in motion.  

Bible:   Our memory verse this week is: I am not ashamed of the good news. It is God's power. And it will save everyone who believes.  - Romans 1:16

Have a wonderful week!

This week...November 16th

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

First, I need to apologize for not getting my weekly blog post out for a couple of weeks!  With 'no school' days, special programs, and holidays, I got out of my regular routine.  Its crazy how that can throw things off!

Also, not all of you were aware of this, but my son Charlie was very sick over the last couple of weeks.  He's doing much better and I'm so thankful for your and your children's prayers!  While he was sick, I was out of school one day, and left early one day.  Your kids were absolutely wonderful for the substitute teachers, and they got lots of complements on their great behavior.  As a parent, I know how good it feels to know that your child is doing the right thing, even when you're not with them (especially when you're not with them!) so I wanted to pass that along to you :)  I feel so blessed to be their teacher :)

Happy Birthday Wallace!
This week we'll be celebrating Wallace's birthday!  Wallace is such a wonderful part of our classroom community.  He always has a friendly smile on his face, and a funny comment on his lips!  He never fails to make everyone laugh.  He's also a hard worker, and a math wizard.  His laid back attitude makes him easy to be around, and I think every kid in the class considers him their friend.

Accreditation Review
This week the accreditation review team will be visiting MID to observe in our classrooms and meet with the administrators and other stakeholders in our school. I know that we have an awesome faculty, and we're doing amazing things in our classrooms.  I hope that the review team agrees!  Keep us in your prayers this week as we continue the accreditation process.

This week in...

Math - As we started the 2nd quarter, we're beginning to differentiate instruction even more in Math.  The kids have started taking pretests for the math units, and then studying the parts of the unit that they missed pretest questions on.  Following that, they'll take the post-test, and move on to the next unit.  This way, they aren't spending time on things they already know, but are focused on the topics that they specifically need to learn.  This week we'll be wrapping up Unit 4 on Division Meanings and Facts, taking the Benchmark Assessment for Units 1-4, and doing the pretest for Unit 5 - Multiplying by 1-Digit Numbers.

Reading - This past week we've been talking about making inferences when we read, and we'll continue that this week.  We'll be reading some nonfiction poems and making inferences about what the author meant when she chose certain words and phrases.  Two of our book clubs have finished their book, and we'll be talking about starting another one.  The other book clubs will continue reading and discussing their book.

For our Read Aloud, we've started reading a historical fiction novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier.  It's set during the Revolutionary War, which we'll begin studying in Social Studies this week.  The main character, Tim, narrates the story.  He's about 10 or 11 years old.  His father is on the side of the King, but his brother Sam is a patriot who joins the militia and goes off to fight in the war. This causes a lot of upset in their family, as you can imagine.

Writing - The kids are wrapping up the final drafts of their most recent writing pieces, so we'll be adding those to our writing portfolios.  We'll be starting our Sentence Structure unit this week, and will talk about what makes a good sentence.  Then we'll move on to better sentences, and best sentences in the next week or so!

Language - This week we're focusing on sentence fragments and run-on sentences.  We'll define, identify, and correct them.

Social Studies - As I mentioned above, we'll begin learning about the Revolutionary War, and will focus on the events leading up to the war over the next couple of weeks.  We'll begin by talking about the original thirteen colonies, then the different acts that were put in place to tax the colonies.

Bible - This week we'll be learning about Peter's vision in which God told him that nothing he has made clean can be called impure.  Our bible verse for this week is:  God accepts people from every nation. He accepts people who have respect for Him and do what is right. Acts 10:35

Have a wonderful week!

This Week 10/19/15

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

A big 'Happy Birthday' to Ava!  Ava is such a blessing in our classroom...she is a hard worker, not only with her academics, but when helping keep our classroom neat and organized as well.  At various times this year Ava has erased the whiteboard, swept the floor, cleaned the desks, organized her classmates' desks, straightened up our bookshelves, and even brought a garbage bag out to recess to pick up the playground!  She also loves to help out with Safety Patrol in the afternoons.  She is a wonderful helper and a great example to her classmates, and her sweet little sister, Aubrey, who's in Kindergarten.  We love you Ava!!!

I hope you'll all be able to join us for the Fall Festival on Thursday night!  We've got our door decorated for 'Trick or Treat', and I'm working on putting my costume together :)  I can't wait to see the kids all dressed up in their costumes!  If you're able to donate candy, please drop it off at the front desk...we could also use your help in other areas, so check out the Sign Up Genius that Mrs. Verdi sent out.

This Week In...

Math:  We're starting our Multiplication Unit this week.  Some of the kids are already well versed in their multiplication facts, and this will be a review for them.  Others are still working on learning their facts.

We're continuing to work on our Math Fact Fluency daily.  We've started setting a goal for how many facts we can get right in 3 minutes at the beginning of the week.  We went to see if we can reach it by the end of the week.  Some kids set their goal on Monday, and reached it on Tuesday!  So I told them to reset it a little higher...we're gonna keep on challenging ourselves!!!

Most of the kids did really well on their Unit 2 assessments!  I'm planning to send homework once a week that continues to focus on adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers.  It's so easy to make small addition, subtraction, or regrouping mistakes, so it will benefit the kids to continue practicing this skill.

Reading:  We're continuing our 'Asking Questions' unit.  We'll be learning about types of questions, asking questions as we read, noticing when our questions get answered, and reading with a question in mind.  All of these strategies will help the kids understand what they read more deeply, and will extend their learning.

We're still enjoying our read aloud, A Snicker of Magic, and the kids are making tons of inferences about what's going on in the story.  Ask them what they found out about who Felicity's related to...that should get them talking!

Writing:  This week we're going to be doing some activities that will help us become better at making our writing descriptive.  We'll also work on 'showing, not telling' when we write.

Language:  We're working on Subjects and Predicates this week.  We'll learn the differences between the simple subject and simple predicate, and the complete subject and complete predicate.

Bible:  This week we're learning about the continued persecution of Christians by the Jewish leaders.  Our memory verse is:  My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Thank you for sharing your kids with me...I truly enjoy our time together every day!!!  I'm looking forward to seeing you next week for Parent-Teacher conferences :)

This Week...10/12/15

Hello!

The weeks are already flying by!  I can't believe it's already October...at the end of this month we'll have our Parent-Teacher conferences.  I'll be sending out an email this week with a sign-up link.

I wanted to share some pictures from our field trip to Schiele Museum, but I'm having trouble getting my computer to upload the pictures :(  Once I get it working, I'll put some pictures on the blog.  Unfortunately, we couldn't visit the Catawba Indian Village because of the rain, but we still had a great time!  We spent some time talking about the tribes who were native to North Carolina, and learning about other tribes around the United States.  The kids also met the archaeologist who works for the museum and got to put together some pieces of pottery, just like they would in their lab.  Not to mention, we had an epic astronaut vs. alien war in the Space exhibit!

This Week...

Math:  We'll be focusing on subtracting large numbers, especially subtracting across zeros and regrouping (ie. 6700 - 4265).  By the end of the week we should be ready to take our Unit 2 test, which will focus on the following skills:

• Using mental math to add and subtract
• Estimating sums and differences of whole numbers
• Adding whole numbers into the thousands
• Subtracting whole numbers into the thousands
• Subtracting across zeros

My plan is to review on Wednesday and take the assessment on Thursday.

Reading:  Last week the kids formed guided reading groups and chose their first books!  They've been spending some time reading them every day, and responding to what they've read in a journal.  They've been doing some buddy reading, round robin reading, and reading on their own, and seem to be enjoying their books and their groups!

This week we'll begin our 'Asking Questions' unit, and will talk about how our questions help us understand what we read even better.  We'll learn about how some questions have answers that are right there in the book, and others have answers that we need to think about.  We'll also generate some questions for our classmates to answer based on Bloom's Taxonomy (levels of learning).

We're having a blast with our read aloud - A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd!  It's about a girl named Felicity Juniper Pickle, who has moved around a lot and just wants to settle down and find a place to call home.  Felicity, her mom, and little sister have just moved to her mom's hometown, Midnight Gulch, Tennessee.  They say that there used to be magic in Midnight Gulch, and Felicity might find out that there's still a little bit left.  Ask your kids about it!

Writing:  We're working on our unit on Sentence Structure, and will be talking about vivid verbs, awesome adjectives, and how we can describe things so that out readers can experience what we see, feel, hear, taste, and touch right along with us.

Language:  This week we're talking about the four different sentence types, and subjects and predicates.

Social Studies:  This week we'll wrap up our North Carolina unit and begin reviewing continents, oceans, and maps.

Bible:  We'll find out how the apostles were persecuted for telling others about Jesus, and how they had to stand firm in what they believed, even when facing tough circumstances.  Our memory verse is:

• Be on your guard.  Stand firm in the faith.  Be brave.  Be strong.  
• 1 Corinthians 16:13

Have a blessed week!

This Week...9/28/15

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

This past Thursday, we observed 'See You at the Pole' during Chapel time.  This is a day, once a year, when students across the nation meet at their school flag poles to pray for their schools, families, and communities.  For our part in the observance, the fourth graders wrote a prayer together, and I wanted to share it with you.

Lord, we pray:

• For all of the kids who can't pray in their schools, that they will find encouragement.
• For the homeless, that they will find a home.
• For those who don't know about you, that someone will tell them.
• For people who are sick, that they will be healed.
• For all of your creatures, that they will stay healthy and safe.
• For the elderly, that someone will help them do the things that they can't do for themselves anymore.
• For poor children around the world, that their needs will be met.
• For the boy who broke his arm yesterday, that he will heal quickly.
• For Mountain Island Day School, that we will continue to grow, and learn, and care for each other, and bring God glory.

We pray these things in Jesus's name.

These children have such pure, loving hearts.  I truly cherish the time that we spend together!

Field Trip - Tuesday 9/29

This week we have our field trip to Schiele Museum on Tuesday.  Please have your child wear a light blue top and khaki bottoms that day.  Also, they'll need to bring a bag lunch.  I'll send out an email reminder and a Remind text on Monday afternoon.

This Week...

In addition to our field trip, we'll be busy with lots of other things this week.

Math:  We'll begin Unit 2 - Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers. This week we'll be working on using mental math to add and subtract whole numbers, estimating sums and differences of whole numbers, and solving problems that have missing, or unnecessary information.

Six Minutes to Math Fact Fluency:  We're also going to start working on developing fluency with our math facts.   Some children will start on their addition facts, and others on multiplication facts.  I assessed their readiness last week to determine where they needed to begin.  The kids will be working with a partner to see how many math facts they can give the answer to in 3 minutes.  Each child will graph their results daily, and will work to continue improving that number.  Each week they'll take a quiz to see if they're ready to move on to a new set of math facts.  I'll send home individual notes to let you know what facts your child is working on so you can help them practice at home.

Reading:  This week we'll be talking about making connections with what we read...those "that reminds me of...' moments.  We'll also begin meeting in our guided reading groups.  In our groups, we'll choose a chapter book that we'll read together.  The focus of each group will be different depending upon the needs of the readers in that group.  For example, one group may focus on the structure of the book (character, setting, plot), while another group may focus on author's craft (the types of literary devices you find in the story...figurative language, foreshadowing, allusion, etc).  Once each group has chosen a story, we'll develop a reading schedule and begin our journeys together through our books!

Writing:  The kids will finish editing and publishing their first pieces this week (we'd hoped to do this last week, but ran out of time).  We'll also do a writer's reflection and add these new writing pieces to our writing portfolios.  I can't wait to show these to you at parent/teacher conferences!  We should begin our next writing unit at the end of the week:  Sentence Structure.

Language:  We'll look at the 'Hard and Fast Rules' for using numbers and plurals in our writing.

Social Studies:  In addition to learning more about the North Carolina Natives at Schiele Museum this week, we'll also look at the different groups that came from other parts of the world and settled in North Carolina, such as the Quakers, Moravians, Highland Scots, and Africans, and how their cultures impacted the areas they lived in.

Bible:  We'll learn about some of the miracles that the apostles performed in Jesus's name as they spread the Gospel.  Our memory verse this week is:  

• Peter said, "I don't have any silver or gold, but I'll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk." - Acts 3:6

I'm praying that you each have a wonderful week!

This Week 9/20/14

Hello!

Thank you to those of you who were able to join us for Curriculum Night last week!  It was great to see you :)  For those of you who weren't able to make it, you can see the powerpoint presentation by clicking on this link:  Curriculum Night PPT

I just had to share this picture from recess last week:

The kids found this BIG, UGLY, GREEN caterpillar, and were absolutely fascinated by it!  They watched it crawl along every stick they could find, and wanted to know what it would turn into.  We looked it up and found out that it's a Polyphemus Moth Caterpillar.  The moth is the kind that looks like it has two big eyes on it's wings:

Some of us thought it was cool, and some thought it was creepy...what do you think?  Never a dull moment with these guys!!!

DON'T FORGET:  Permission slips and payment for our field trip to Schiele Museum are due on Wednesday, Sep 23rd

So, here's what's coming up this week in...

Math:  We'll be wrapping up the last activity in Unit 1 on Monday.  We'll be reviewing the following skills on Tuesday:

• Write numbers (into the millions) in standard, word, and expanded form
• Round numbers (into the millions) to any place value
• Compare and order numbers by using what they know about place value
• Break down dollar amounts into the dollars (ones), dimes (tenths), and pennies (hundreths)
• Count money and figure out change given
• Using an organized list to solve a problem

On Thursday we'll begin Unit 2 - Adding and Subtracting Whole Numbers.  We'll also begin working on building our math fact fluency this week.  I'll write more about that in a separate blog post.

Reading:  This week we'll continue working on monitoring our understand of what we read, focusing on how to determine the meaning of words by using context clues.

I've completed the kids' beginning of the year reading assessments, and will begin forming Guided Reading groups.  We'll probably start meeting with our Guided Reading groups next week.

Language:  This week we'll work on the Hard and Fast Rules of Apostrophes, Quotations, and Numbers. 

Writing:  On Monday, the kids will go through the pieces they've written since school started, and they'll choose one to take through the publishing process.  We'll focus on revising, editing, and publishing their writing this week.  This will be the first writing piece that they'll add to their Writing Portfolios!

Social Studies:  In our NC unit, we'll complete our Glogs on the NC Native People and will share them with each other.  Then we'll begin looking at how the North Carolina colony came to be, why people wanted to come here from England, and the challenges they faced when they got here.

Bible:  We'll learn about how the believers came together following the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the disciples.  They met together every day, ate meals together, and supported each other.  Our memory verse this week is:  

• The believers studied what the apostles taught. They shared life together. They broke bread and ate together. And they prayed. Acts 2:42

I pray that you all have a wonderful week!

This Week 9/14/15

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

In Friday Folders the kids brought home permission slips for our field trip to Schiele Museum on Tuesday, September 29th.  Please watch for these and return them to school with payment (by check) as soon as possible!

We had a good first week acting as MID's Safety Patrol!  Mrs. Verdi came in and  talked with the kids about Safety Patrol expectations, and what they would be responsible for while they were working the car line.  The kids couldn't wait to put on the Safety Patrol belts and get up there to help!

This week, Thursday, September 17th from 6:30 to 7:30, we'll have our annual Curriculum Night.  You'll get to walk through a day in your child's shoes!  I'm looking forward to seeing you for this fun and informative evening.

Also, we'll be alternating between Spelling and Vocabulary words each week.  This week the kids will be working on vocabulary and will have homework based on these words.  After assessing how they do with this week's words, I'll determine if students need to be working at this same level or if they should be working at a higher or lower level.

This Week in...

Math

We'll continue working on Using Money to Understand Decimals, and Counting Money and Making change.  Take a look at last week's post to see some online activities you can use with your child to help them practice these concepts.  We should be ready to take our Unit 1 assessment early next week.

I'll begin assigning  Moby Max (www.mobymax.com) for some of our Math homework beginning next week, and I'd like the kids to complete the initial assessment at home this week for homework.  I'm sending home the login instructions with their homework contracts.  Please be sure to have the children complete this assessment on their own (with no help from parents) so that we get an accurate picture of their abilities.  Moby Max assesses whether there are any missing skills and then assigns activities that help the kids work on those skills.  Once those skills are mastered, they'll be assigned activities that will reinforce what they already know, and challenge them with new skills.

Reading

We'll read the last chapter of Indian in the Cupboard on Monday, and I'll be assigning a project based on the book for students to complete at home.  The directions and grading rubric will be attached to this week's homework contract, and is posted on the Homework page of the blog.

In class, we'll be talking about leaving tracks of our thinking as we read.  I don't know about you, but I'll often read something and have all kinds of thoughts and questions, but if I don't write them down, I'll forget them.  I'll be teaching the kids how to record their thoughts on sticky notes (when we can't write on the text) and to annotate text in the margins (when we can write on the text).  This will be a great skill for them to have as they move into middle and high school.

I've been working on Word Recognition assessments with the kids and will complete those on Monday or Tuesday this week.  Then we'll move on to Comprehension Assessments.  I'm hoping to have all of our beginning of the year assessments done early next week so we can begin our guided reading groups.

Language

We'll be continuing to work on the rules for commas and apostrophes this week with some practice activities. 

Writing

One day this week the kids were lining up to go back in the building after recess, and one of them asked, "Will it be Writing time when we go in?"  When I said it would be, several of them said, "YES!"  I love seeing them so excited about their writing!  The kids and I have begun holding Writing Conferences, and I've been having so much fun reading their writing.  This is a creative bunch!  We're focusing on the Ideas writing trait right now, and this week we'll talk about using Special Places and Special People to generate writing ideas.  

Social Studies

This week we'll be working on a Glogster project to share what we're learning about the North Carolina Natives that originally lived in each region of the state.  Five students will focus on each region (Coastal Plains, Piedmont, and Mountain).  After they've completed their 'glog', they'll break into groups of three (with each region represented) and will teach each other what they've learned.  I think they're going to love it!

Bible

In the first chapter of Acts, we'll read about how Jesus's disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit when it came to them on the day of Pentecost.  At this time, the city of Jerusalem was filled with people from every nation, who were there to celebrate the feast day.  They all looked around in amazement as they realized that they could understand each other, even though each of them was speaking in his or her own language.  Peter then addressed the crown and explained to them what was happening.

Our memory verse this week is:  

• They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.  All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.  Acts 2:3-4

Have a wonderful week!

This Week 9/8/15

I just have to share some pics from the last week or so...

Our first Safety Patrol!!!  I'm emailing the schedule out today, and it's posted on the Class Info page.

Trying to save Fred...Fred is a worm (gummy) who's capsized his boat and can't swim.

The kids had to work together to get Fred into his life preserver (a gummy ring),

and back into his boat.  The catch is...they can only use the paper clip they've been given!

They can't touch anything with their hands.  Success!  This team saved Fred!

So did this one!  Eventually, everyone saved their Fred, and had a lot of fun doing it!  The reward was...gummy worms and gummy rings!

THIS WEEK...

Now that we're settled in and on our regular schedule, I'll be posting on the blog every weekend to let you know what's coming up that week.

Math:  We'll be working on using what we know about Place Value to compare, order, and round whole numbers into the millions.  Then we'll begin using money to help us understand decimals to the tenths and hundreths place.

Here are some links for activities you could have your children do at home:

Comparing and ordering numbers:

Study Zone

Topmarks  The games toward the top of the page are for younger children, but the ones further down are perfect for 4th graders.

Rounding Numbers:

Mathman

Math Millions

Using Money to Understand Decimals:

Lunch Lady

Scottie Nickel's Change Maker

Reading:  This week we'll be talking about that inner conversation that we have when we read, and how sometimes it helps us focus on the text, but other times it distracts us.  As readers, we want to be aware of when we get distracted so we can refocus and get back to our reading.

We'll also talk about times when we get stuck, and strategies that we can use to help ourselves keep going.

I'll be assessing the kids' reading levels this week so that we can begin meeting in guided reading groups.  During guided reading we'll meet in small groups of students at the same reading level to get instruction at the 'just right' level to help us grow as readers.

We're about halfway through our current read aloud - The Indian in the Cupboard.  When we finish, the kids will have a project to do at home, and they'll have a week to complete it.  I'll be sending home the details at the end of the week, and I'll post them on the Homework page.

Language:  We reviewed the Parts of Speech last week, and will focus on the Hard and Fast Rules of Capitalization, Commas, and Apostrophes this week

Writing:  This week we'll go over the Six Traits of Writing (Voice, Organization, Ideas, Conventions, Excellent Word Choice, and Sentence Structure), and we'll begin focusing on the Ideas trait.  We'll talk about where we get our writing ideas from (and where some authors have gotten their ideas!) and brainstorm some lists in our Writing Notebooks.  We'll also begin doing Teacher/Student writing conferences.  I'll meet with each student one-on-one every week to talk about their writing, give individualized instruction, and set writing goals.

Social Studies:  We'll continue our study of North Carolina, focusing on the Piedmont and Mountain Regions.  Then we'll talk about the Native Peoples who lived in each of these regions.

Bible:  We'll be studying the book of Acts during most of this school year, and it's FASCINATING!!!  I gave the kids an overview last week, and we talked about our memory verse...did you know those were the last words Jesus spoke to His disciples before he ascended into heaven?

This week we'll learn about what happened to Judas after he betrayed Jesus, and how the disciples chose a new leader (Matthias).  Both of these events fulfilled scripture written in the book of Psalms (69:25 and 109:8)

Our memory verse this week is:

• But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you - John 14:26

Have a blessed week!

The First Few Days

Yesterday afternoon, when the kids had gone home, I stepped into Mrs. Antley's room and asked her, "Were these kids this good last year?"  And she said that they were...aside from liking to talk a bit more than they should (I haven't had a class yet that didn't!).

The first few days with your kids have been SO GOOD!!!  They have been polite, cooperative, and willing to try everything I've thrown at them.  So far we have:

• Set up our Writing notebooks and started learning the procedures for studying Mentor Sentences (we study the writing of published authors and use them as our mentors).  
• Set up our Math Notebooks and gone through all of the types of problems that we'll do each week in the Mountain Math Center (this is a great way for them to regularly review the skills that they've learned in 3rd grade, and will learn in 4th).  
• Gone over 3 days of the Daily Language Review that we'll do during our Morning Work time (they'll do 5 problems every Mon-Thur and each morning follows the same pattern).

• Started our class read aloud, The Indian in the Cupboard (I know they're loving it when I finish a chapter and they're begging for "just one more chapter...please?!?").  Today we talked about why authors of books and TV shows leave us hanging just when it gets to the really good part.
• Took a beginning of the year Reading Self-Assessment (this helps me understand their outlook on reading and what they like and don't like about reading.  It also gets them thinking about setting Reading goals, which we'll do next week

• Did a 'Write the Room' activity where the kids answered questions that helped us develop our class rules.  
• Developed our rules:  Be Responsible, Be Respectful, Be Kind, Be Safe, Be Your Best.
• Looked at what kind of smart we are (with a Multiple Intelligences survey).
• Started our Social Studies unit on North Carolina...they're creating 'Me on the Map in NC' booklets.

• Started building our Reading stamina during independent reading time (I call it Read to Self time).

Whew...looking at that list makes me tired!  But it also shows me how much we've been able to accomplish in only three days.  

Your kids have been working hard, but we've thrown some fun in there too.  We played a game of Pebble, Pebble during our morning meeting on Tuesday, and did a brain break today with a Boom Chicka Boom video...ask your child how to do Boom Chicka Boom underwater style!  Tomorrow or Friday we'll be doing a teamwork activity called Save Fred.  It's challenging and fun, and the kids will have a ball!

I'm having so much fun getting to know your children, and I can already tell it's going to be a great year!

Welcome Back!

Welcome to 4^th Grade!  I’m so happy that you’ll be a part of our classroom.  I’m excited about all that we have planned, and am looking forward to working with you and your child. We’ll have many wonderful experiences and opportunities to learn and grow during the upcoming school year.

This will be my third year at Mountain Island Day School, and my seventh year working in education.  I love working with the upper elementary grades!  

My husband, Chuck, and I have four children and a goofy dog named Maya.  My younger sons, Nick and Charlie, go to North Lincoln High School.  Nick is a  freshman and Charlie is a sophomore.  My only daughter, Laura, is heading off to college (sniff!) at Appalachian State University.  My oldest, Andrew, is all grown up and lives in Wisconsin.  We moved from Wisconsin to North Carolina in 2011 J

I believe that communication is the key to a great parent-teacher relationship. Please contact me if you have questions or concerns at any time. The easiest way to reach me is by e-mail at kpoole@midschool.org.  

I use this blog as our newsletter and will post regularly throughout the school year (I’ll email you a link when I do).

I’m looking forward to a year of fun and learning with your child! 

This Week...

Just a quick update :)

This week in...

4th Grade
On Monday the 4th graders will bring home a permission slip for our field trip to Old Salem.

Bible:  We've been talking about how the Jews and Gentiles had been arguing about which of the Old Testament rules the Gentiles had to follow (the Jewish believers still followed all of them).  Now, the apostles and elders have reached a decision (ask your kids if they remember the 3 rules that were agreed upon...they were a little grossed out by them!) the apostles are traveling to share this decision with the churches.

Reading:  We're working on making inferences.  Last week we talked about inferring the meaning of unfamiliar words, and this week we'll be working on using text clues to make inferences.

Language:  We'll be reviewing punctuation rules.

Writing:  We're going to watch some 'Reading Rainbow' book review segments and decide what elements need to be included in a good book review.  This will then become our criteria for Learn2Earn book reviews.

Social Studies:  As we continue with our North Carolina unit, we'll study the three regions of our state: Coastal Plains, Piedmont, and Mountains.

We'll also finish our current read aloud, The Indian in the Cupboard.  The kids have just loved this book and I'll be sending home a project assignment at the end of the week that we'll use to wrap up this amazing story!

5th Grade
Reading:  We're working on how we merge our background knowledge with new learning, and how we can correct misconceptions in our background knowledge.

Language:  We'll be reviewing punctuation rules

Writing:  We'll also watch some 'Reading Rainbow' book review segments and decide what elements need to be included in a good book review.  This will then become our criteria for Learn2Earn book reviews.

Social Studies:  We're currently reading fact sheets about the events  that led up to the Civil War.  This week we'll begin studying the events of the war itself.

We'll also begin a new read aloud:  Among the Hidden.  This mystery and adventure by Margaret Peterson Haddix will have them on the edge of their seats wanting to know what happens next!  We just finished reading Tuck Everlasting.  We watched the movie version on Friday and earlier in the week the kids wrote letters to Jesse, as if they were Winnie Foster, explaining to him why she didn't drink the water from the magic spring when she turned seventeen.  Ask your kids about their letters...they were really good!

That's what's happening in our classroom. I hope you have a blessed week!

Learn2earn.org

I want to let you know about a change that we'll be making in 4th and 5th grade this quarter.  The 5th graders have been trying out a website that allows them to track their reading and answer questions about their books called Learn2earn.  While Accelerated Reader requires students to read certain books, Learn2earn allows them to read any book.  Also, the Learn2earn site has students answering questions that require higher order thinking, rather than multiple choice questions, and allows them to write about what they think and feel about the book that they're reading. The answers appear in a 'newsfeed' that only our class can access.  Parents are also invited to 'like' the student's comments and encourage their children on the newsfeed.  We've looked at the site as a school, and are likely to be moving to Learn2earn next year.  The newsfeed looks like this:

This quarter, I'm going to have the 4th graders use Learn2earn as an option, not a requirement.  I'd like both parents and students to have a chance to see what it's like, and give me feedback on it.  We'll still do AR as well.

The 5th graders, who've been trying out Learn2earn as a option, will now be required to log their reading and answer questions.  AR will no longer be used in 5th grade.  I'll be sending home the login information, requirements and grading rubric early next week to both 4th and 5th grade parents.

After you've had a chance to check out Learn2earn with your child, please let me know what you think!

Weekly Update 3/9/15

Ahhh...sunny days at last!  By the end of last week we were all tired of having indoor recess.  This is the time of year when it just feels good to have the sun shining on your face :)

I'm keeping an eye on the rain that's supposed to be here at the end of the week.  If it ends up raining on Thursday, we'll reschedule our field trip to Rural Hill as the activities are all outdoors.

Speaking of field trips, I hope that your kids will be able to join us for the biggest field trip ever...Camp Mariner!  Both Mrs. Hudson and I will be there (wouldn't miss it!) and are looking forward to all of the fun and learning.

Another date that's coming up fast is our Mariner 5K on Saturday, March 21st.  I hope that some of you will join us to run or walk...I'll be there walking!  FYI...there's a prize for the class with the most student participation, so get your kids out there!!!

This week in Literacy we're working on paying attention to the language that signals new learning when we read.  When we think things like, "I never knew that", or "that surprises me", as we read, we're learning something new.  We also are talking about misconceptions and how we sometimes think we know something and then find out its wrong.

In 4th grade Social Studies we're learning about the War of 1812, James Madison, and Andrew Jackson.  We'll wrap up our unit on Early American History next week, and will do the assessment on the 21st.

In 5th grade Social Studies we're spending most of our time this week preparing for our trip to JA Biztown.  Don't forget to send in permission slips!

Have a blessed week!

This Week's Update

Ok...it's March, and I'm ready for SPRING!!!  I'm impatiently waiting for sunshine and warm breezes :)

We've got lots going on this month, including two field trips.  On Thursday, March 12th, the 4th and 5th graders will be spending the day at Rural Hill in Huntersville.  In the morning we'll be making firecakes and learning what it was like to be a soldier during the Revolutionary War living in the field.  In the afternoon we'll learn about light and heat in the 18th century.  We'll be sending permission slips home early this week with the cost and other important information.

On Tuesday, March 17th, the 5th and 6th graders will attend JA Biztown.  This was a huge favorite with last years' 5th graders, and we're excited about going again!  To prepare for JA Biztown, the 5th graders are learning about economics, including financial literacy (understanding what services banks offer and how we use them), how the economy affects a community, work readiness, and business management.  While we're at JA Biztown, each student will work at their 'job' for the day, get paid in 'Biztown Bucks' and then decide how to spend their 'money'.  After last year's visit, the kids wrote about having a new understanding and respect for just how much their parents do taking care of a job, family, and home.  A permission slip and volunteer information (we'll need some parent volunteers!) will come home this week with costs, etc.

Our literacy focus this month is on nonfiction.  We've been talking about listening to the 'inner conversation' that goes on in our heads when we read, and working on leaving tracks of our thinking by writing our thoughts on post-it notes and in the margins of articles that we read. We're practicing 'stop, think, react' where we stop after each paragraph, think about what we read, and react by jotting down our thoughts.  Then we talk to a partner or small group to see if their understanding was any different than ours (hearing someone else's perspective can broaden our understanding).  This week we'll be focusing on nonfiction features like:  table of contents, photos and captions, headings, subheading, glossary, etc.  We'll do some nonfiction writing as well.

In 4th grade Social Studies we're learning about important events and people in early American history.  We'll be talking about the Monroe Doctrine, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Trail of Tears.  Later this month we'll focus on the Abolition Movement (ending slavery), and the Reform Movement (women's rights).

In 5th grade Social studies we'll spend the first two week of March on preparing for JA Biztown.  The second half of the month will focus on the Civil War.

Have a blessed week!

Monday Update 02/02/15

Oh my...this Monday Update is looonnngggg overdue!  I apologize for not being consistent about getting these out during December and January!

Let's take a quick look at the month of February:

• We have the MID Valentine's Dance coming up on Friday, February 6th!  It's one of our biggest and most fun parties of the year, so I hope you'll join us.  Be sure to send in your order form for tickets and pizza.  If you don't have one, let me know and I'll send one home with your child.
• We'll celebrate Mackenzie's birthday on February 11th!
• We'll have a small Valentine's Day celebration in the classroom on Friday, February 13th.  I'll be sending home a list of names this week for a valentine exchange.  If you're able to donate cookies or juice boxes, please let me know!
• There is NO SCHOOL on Monday, February 16th.  It's President's Day AND a Teacher Workday.  Progress reports will be posted later that week.
• The current AR period ends on Wednesday, February 25th.

In our classroom we've got lots going on!  Here's a peek at what's happening:

Bible:  We're continuing in the book of Acts and learning about how the disciples went out and spread the good news.  This week's bible verse is:  I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for everyone who believes; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  Romans 1:16

We've also been participating in some journaling activities that go along with what we're talking about in Chapel with Mr. Tom...putting our lives in God's hands and living out his plan for us.  The kids are doing some thinking about what kind of a person they want to be, and what steps they need to take to get there.  We're keeping journals that will help us come up with a mission statement for our lives.  The first week the kids wrote about 3 people that they admire, and the qualities that they like in that person.  Last week they wrote about things that might hold them back from doing what God asks of them.  We've been watching this video/singing this song because the song goes along so perfectly with the theme.

Literacy:  Both 4th and 5th graders have begun participating in Literature Circles.  They're reading the same book with a small group of their classmates, and they each have a job to do each week that will contribute to their group's weekly meeting.  We have a wide variety of books being read: in 4th grade groups are reading The Vanishing Coin, Because of Winn-Dixie, Holes, The Tale of Despereaux, and Jackpot.  In 5th they're reading Sounder, Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, Red Moon at Sharpsburg, Holes, and Game Changers.

The jobs that they need to complete for their Lit Circle meetings are:

• Discussion Director:  The DD runs the Lit Circle meeting, making sure that everyone gets a chance to do their job.  He or she also comes up with four discussion questions for the group.
• Character Sketcher:  The CS chooses one of the main characters to do a profile on.  He or she draws a picture of the character, determines three of the character's traits (along with evidence from the book), identifies one of the character's goals, problems, and solution (if there's been a solution at that point in the book).
• Word Wizard:  The WW finds six words in the reading for that week that are unfamiliar, interesting, or really descriptive, and create vocabulary cards for the group.
• Passage Picker:  The PP find two passages from this week's reading that are really important, very descriptive, or interesting, and presents them to the group for discussion (only groups with four people in them have a passage picker...most groups have three members).

Both 4th and 5th graders are working on publishing a writing piece that they created during Writing Circles in December and January (they met with a small group each week, shared their writing with each other, and chose a writing topic for the following week).  They'll include this piece in their Writing Portfolios.  We'll continue our Writing Circles next week with brand new groups.

4th grade has been working on capitalization and comma usage, and will be starting a figurative language unit.  5th grade is currently reviewing figurative language.

Social Studies:  In 4th grade we're studying the early American government that was put in place following the Revolutionary War.  Last week we talked about the Constitutional Convention, including the Virginia plan, the New Jersey plan, the Great Compromise, and the 3/5 Compromise.  This week we'll learn about the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.  We'll be using these hand movements to help us remember the Bill of Rights.  Next week we'll wrap up this unit with the three branches of government and the three levels of government.  I'm planning to give the unit test on Thursday, February 12th.  I'll let you know if that date changes.

5th graders are studying European Exploration.  We learned about Ferdinand Magellan and the Treaty of Tordesillas last week.  This week we'll focus on Spanish and Dutch exploration and trade.  Next week we'll wrap up the exploration unit with French and English exploration and trade.  I'm planning the unit test for Thursday, February 12th.  I'll let you know if the date changes.

Wishing you all a blessed week!