This Week... 2/8/16

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

We've got a LOT going on in the next couple of weeks!  I've created a list below so you can keep up with all of the activities:

• Food Drive 2/8-2/12 - bring in non-perishable food items this week to contribute to our food drive.  All items will be donated to Loaves & Fishes.
• Imaginon Field Trip 2/11 - On Thursday morning we'll attend the Children's Theater production of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  We've been reading the book as our read aloud over the past week so we'll be familiar with the story when we attend the play.  The kids have been loving it, and I can't wait to see what they think of the performance!  We'll have a pizza buffet at Brixx following the play.
• Valentine Dance 2/11 - This is a family event, and we're looking forward to seeing you there!
• Early Release 2/12 - Students will be dismissed at noon, and will not eat lunch at school.  Please be sure to send a snack!
• Parent-Teacher Conferences 2/15 - No School

This Week...

Math:  We'll be completing our unit on 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication, and taking the test on Tuesday.  Then we'll begin a unit on 1-digit by 1-digit division.  Many of the kids already know their division facts, so this should be a review for most of us.

Reading:  Over the past two weeks we've been focused on completing our middle of the year reading assessments, and everyone has made progress!

This week we'll begin a unit on identifying the Main Idea and supporting details of a story.

Writing:  We've begun to look at how we organize our writing, based on the genre of writing we're doing.  Over the next few weeks we'll look at narrative, expository, persuasive, opinion, descriptive, compare & contrast, problem & solution, and cause & effect paragraphs.

Language:  This week we're talking about verbs - action, linking, and helping.

Science:  We've completed our unit on the Circulatory System, and will spend this week focusing on our Science Superhero essays and drawings.  Next week we'll begin a unit on the Respiratory System.

Bible:  We're continuing to watch and discuss the video series about the book of James.  Some of the kids said that it was hard to understand what Mark Hall was saying in the video, so we talked about how, just like when authors write, people making videos have different purposes for what they're doing.  I asked the kids if they thought that the purpose of these videos was to entertain, persuade, or inform.  They all agreed that it was to inform.  So then we talked about how we have to watch them differently than we would if they we trying to entertain us.  We have to listen attentively, think about what he's saying, and try to put it in our own words.  Then when we talk about it together, we can make sense of it, and how it can help us in our own lives.

One of the videos we watched last week talked about how we can't find our worth, our value, in the things we own, or the stuff we have, because it can all be swept away in an instant.  We have to find our value in God, and who He says we are.  That day, when we read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Edward (who was a very proud rabbit with fancy clothes, leather shoes, and a gold pocket watch) found himself stripped of his clothes (by some boys who were playing with him) and accidentally thrown overboard the ship they were on.  He ended up in the muck on the bottom of the ocean.  All of his finery was gone, and he had nothing.  The kids totally made the connection between the video and the book...I love when God does that!

Our memory verse this week is:  Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  James 1:22

Have a blessed week!

This Week 1/25/16

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

I couldn't believe it this morning when I was typing dates into the homework contract, and the due date was February 1st!  The year is flying by.  But you know what they say...time flies when you're having fun :)  We really do have a lot of fun in our classroom, and I enjoy your children SO MUCH!!!

We've got lots of activities going on this week for School of Choice Week!

**We are asking our parents to think of 3 words that describe why you send your child to MID. We will take a picture of our families holding up a white board with their chosen words. This idea is based on the Good Morning America- Your 3 Words segment http://abcnews.go.com/US/words-live-event-good-morning-america/story?id=14469378. We will take those snapshots and create a video segment for our School of Choice Week entry. A special thanks to Mrs. Keener for submitting this idea. We will begin shooting our sessions on Tuesday in car rider line. A student will hand each parent a white board and a marker. The parents will be prepared to write their 3 words on the white board. A student or staff member will snap a picture and move on to the next car. Parents that walk their children in may go to the art room where a student or staff member will be waiting to take pictures in the same manner. We will do this Tuesday-Thursday.

**You are invited to eat lunch with your child throughout next week. Please send an email to me if you plan to eat lunch, along with the specific date. This will help us prepare for the extra numbers in the cafeteria.

**We will have an assembly on Friday, January 29th at 1:30 p.m. to celebrate School of Choice Week. Parents are invited to attend.

This Week...

Math - We're learning how to multiply two-digit by two-digit numbers.  The kids have learned how to break the  numbers apart when they're multiplying by multiples of 10, 100, and 1000.  Now we'll learn how to use partial products to multiply.  We did this with 1-digit by 2-digit numbers earlier in the year, so this will be an added step.

Reading - In Reading we're working on completing all of our Middle of the Year assessments to determine the progress the kids are  making.  We'll talk about the results at our February Parent-Teacher conferences :)  So far, I'm seeing great progress!  While I'm working with kids on assessments, everyone is spending their time reading, and working on a Secret Door Book Project for a book that they've read independently.

We're also having a lot of fun with our read aloud, Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson!

Writing - This week we'll wrap up our Sentences Unit and will begin our Paragraphs Unit, working on writing various types of paragraphs, such as: expository, descriptive, sequence, compare and contrast, problem and solution, cause and effect, and opinion.

Science - We've made the switch from Social Studies to Science this semester, and the kids are really excited about it!  Our first unit is the Circulatory System.  We're learning about the heart, blood, and blood vessels in our bodies.  This week we'll do an experiment to show the different components of our blood...DON"T WORRY!  We're using candy...no needles or knives involved!!!

Bible - For the next few weeks we're taking a break from our regular Bible curriculum, and will be doing video series on the book of James.  It's done by Mark Hall (the lead singer of Casting Crowns and a Youth Pastor) and is really engaging and fun!

Our verse this week is:  Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  James 1:2-3

Have a wonderful week!

This Week 1/4/16...

Hello Fourth Grade Families!

Along with a new year, we have a new schedule!  Starting January 19th, we'll be adding Spanish as a specials class on Thursdays (yay!), so we needed to make a few changes.  Beginning tomorrow (1/6) Our lunch, recess, and specials times are changing, as well as the days we have our specials classes.  The changes are:

Recess:   11:30-12:00
Lunch:    12:00-12:30
Specials: 12:30-1;20

The new days for our specials classes are as follows:

Mon:  PE
Tues:  PE (1:20-2:15)
Wed:  Music
Thu:  Spanish
Fri:    Art

This week in...

Math:  We started a new unit working on patterns and expressions.  This unit introduces using a letter to represent a number which has really thrown some of the kids for a loop!  We'll also learn how to use function tables.  For extra practice with these skills you can use the following activities:

Study Zone

Watch Know Learn

Worksheets

Reading:  We'll be working on determining what's important to remember in our reading, specifically when we read nonfiction.  This is a great skill to work on as the kids get older and have more academic reading in Social Studies and Science classes.

Language:  This week we're going over the rules for turning singular nouns into plurals.  We'd done this earlier in the year, but didn't do so well, so we're spending some more time on this skill.

Writing:  Over the next week or two, we'll be doing the Build a Better Sentence Workshop.  The kids will work on improving their sentences by usng strong verbs, and recognizing 'when', 'where', 'why', and 'how' parts of their sentences.

Social Studies:  Now that we've finished our unit on the Revolutionary War, we'll be talking about early American Government and how it was formed.

Bible:  Our memory verse this week is:  I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.  Acts 13:47

Have a wonderful week!

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!