Week 9

Although this is really week 9, technically it is the start of our second nine weeks!  I always tell the kids how much I love this first week of a new nine weeks: it is a fresh start, a clean slate (and gradebook!).  So, if there was a subject a child didn't feel like he or she did his or her best on last nine weeks, nothing is stopping him/her from improving this nine weeks!

If all goes as planned, the Tuesday Communicators will come home tomorrow (on Tuesday).  You should be able to sit down with your child and average his/her scores for each subject using the yellow sheet on the inside of the communicator.  You will receive the official report cards later this week when we meet.  I'm looking forward to meeting with each of you and discussing your child's accomplishments so far and setting goals for the rest of the year.

Don't forget that the Book Adoption Fair is during conferences as well.  If you get a chance on Thursday from 3-7 or Friday from 7-11:30, the library will be open with books that are hoping to be adopted!  By adopting a book, you're making a donation to the SCE library that will bring joy to children for years to come!

This week:

Reading: Our focus this week is on distinguishing fact from opinion.  We will also be paying attention to punctuation that helps us phrase groups of words when we read out loud.  Vocabulary words this week are: thrilling, entertaining, critics, jolts, promote, advertise, angles, focus, and target.  There will be a vocabulary and reading quiz on Thursday.

Spelling: This week we are again focusing on the different "oo" sounds.  Our spelling test will be Thursday as there is no school on Friday.

Language: We are finishing up the Owl Update!  The kids have done a great job!  We are also continuing to work on cursive handwriting.

Math: We are finishing up addition and subtraction this week as we look at estimating and problem solving skills.  We will either have a test Thursday or next Monday.

Alabama History: Although Native Americans are not really in the 4th grade course of study any more, I find it very difficult to teach about the explorers with out a little bit of knowledge of who was here first! :)  So, we are going to quickly discuss Prehistoric Alabama as well as the more modern Native American tribes such as the Choctaw and Creek during the next two weeks.

Science: We will be discussing parts of the ear this week as well as assigning a project for the students. The students will be given the task of designing their very own instrument with a few requirements based on what they've learned in our sound unit.  Your child will be able to tell you much more about the task tomorrow afternoon.  We will have a test early next week on sound and how the ear works.

Thanks for your help and support at home!

Walk to School Day!

Wow!  What a huge success Walk to School Day was!  A majority of the class walked to school this morning and those who were unable to were walking around the track this morning rather than reading in the auditorium before the 7:50 bell.  The students seemed to have a lot of fun and enjoyed this lovely fall air!

We decided to do some walking of our own, so for the first 25 minutes of our day, our class went out to the track and "moved forward."  Some of them ran, some jogged, some enjoyed chatting while walking and some even cart-wheeled their way around the track.  Each student kept track of how many laps he/she did then we recorded our total laps once we got back.  Together we walked 190 laps!  That translates to about 34.5 miles which is more than a marathon!

Sometimes it feels like we do a marathon worth of learning in a day, but today, this fourth grade class actually completed a marathon!

Walk to School

Don't forget that Wednesday is Walk-to-School day!  We are encouraging all of our children, if at all possible to walk to school.  Many of the children already do, but if your child does not, think about making a morning out of it - could you work in a nice stroll to school together?

Please try to talk with your kids about how far it is from your home to school.  I'd love for us to collect some data at school on Wednesday about how far we travel to get to school!

Tension

Today the students played two different "instruments" as they investigated if tension has any effect on the pitch of the instrument.

Lindley listens intently to the pitch of the string on the Minigutbucket

Jordan and Josh pluck the string on the FOSS-ulele

Ask your child what he/she learned today about how tension effects the pitch!

Week 8

It was so nice to see everyone so dressed up and smiley for picture day today! I cannot believe that it is the 8th week of school and almost the end of this first nine weeks of school! The Communicators will come home on Wednesday this week and you can easily average your child's grade for each subject by adding the total your child earned and dividing that by the total points. Of course there will be a few more opportunities to earn points this week but hopefully there will be no surprises for you next week when we meet for conferences.

Spelling: Different u sounds

Reading: This week our focus is on story structure and making sure that students can identify characters, setting and plot. We are also continuing to focus on reading aloud with expression. We have some truly AWEsome words this week that I'd love to see the kids using: awe, daring, indescribable, extraordinary, convey, conferring, luminous, fade, alarmed, reacted. There will be a reading and vocabulary test on Friday.

Math: The focus is on addition and subtraction. We will also work on making good estimates. There will be a test early next week, probably Tuesday. This week's multiplication focus is 6.

LA: Our main focus this week is on the Owl Update as we work to create a newspaper the whole school will be interested in purchasing.

Science: This week we are focusing on how tension effects pitch, what matters sound travels through the best and what we can use to amplify sound.

AL History: We will finish talking about government tomorrow and have a test on Thursday. For the test, students will need to know the terms: term, mayor, democracy, population, appointed, and republic. Students will need to understand what taxes are and what they are used for. Students will also need to know what duties we as citizens have. The students will need to be able to name the three branches of government and tell a little about what each branch is responsible for.

Week 7

Reading: This week our main focus is on understanding characters.  The students will be making inferences about characters based on what they do and say.  The students will be looking at their actions and personality to make predictions about what they might do next.  We will also be talking about point of view and reading with expression.  These are great things that you can bring up with your children as they tell you about the books that they are reading.

Vocabulary: (Quiz on Friday) horrified, seafaring, foaming, yearning, tidal, outcast, memorable, condition, betrayed and shortage

Spelling: This week, our words are homophones (words that sound alike but are spelled differently and have different meanings).  The words on their own are not all too difficult, but it is very important that the students understand what the meaning of the word is and are able to use it in a sentence.

Math: We will be finishing up our Math Menu on Wednesday and then moving on to work more specifically on addition later in the week.

Alabama History: We will be using all that we learned in Montgomery to help us understand the three branches of government and what our local government does for us.

Science: The students talked more in depth today about high and low pitches: what causes them and what sorts of things make those particular sounds.  We will also examine a few instruments this week as we learn more about what makes high and low pitches.  There will be a quiz on Thursday that will include: sound discrimination, vibration, and high and low pitches.

Montgomery

Wow!  What a day, what a trip!  The children were very excited for this field trip, eager to see all that our state's capital had to offer.  We saw so many wonderful sites, and learned so much about our great state!  I know the children will enjoy learning even more about everything that we saw as we go through our year of Alabama History. 

Here is our day in pictures...

Matthew with the statue of Rosa Parks

Lissette at the Rosa Parks Museum

Aidan with the Rosa Parks statue

The class standing on the steps of the Governor's Mansion

The stairwell and chandelier inside the Governor's Mansion

The dining room inside the Governor's Mansion

The Alabama shaped swimming pool installed after Governor Wallace was shot to help him with his physical therapy.

Lemonade and cookies given to us by some of the staff of the Governor's Mansion!  

The old train station near where we boarded the river boat

The Harriott II Riverboat

Abby and Lissette enjoying lunch on the riverboat

The dining room on the riverboat

Wyatt enjoying the cruise

Hailey enjoying the cruise

Harrison enjoying the cruise down the Alabama River

The captain of the ship quizzed the children on their knowledge of Alabama.  They shouted answers up to him, but if they were wrong, he would toot the very loud horn

The staircase inside the Capital building

The rotunda inside the capital building

The students getting the best view of the dome from the floor!

The old House of Representatives room

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the preacher

The students with Bill Thompson, presiding judge of the court of civil appeals and a Homewood resident!

The Judicial Building

The State House

The Capital Building with flags and stones from each of the 50 states