MCAS Crushers!

MCAS

On Friday we will begin our English Language Arts MCAS testing.  A letter was sent home on Friday explaining the different portions of the test and what students are expected to do.  The dates are also included at the end of this blog.  We have been preparing for the test by learning what the different parts consist of and what we will be expected to do on the day of the test.  We have been building up our confidence and learning ways that we can "beat the test."  In addition, we have been emphasizing that we can do our best by using the strategies we have learned and taking our time. 

We have really treated this test as though it is a game that we can beat.  I have acted as their coach and have tried to dispel any concerns or fears that students may have.  Please encourage your child to try their best and to use their "magic" (the strategies we have learned).  Let me know if you have any questions.

Conferences

Parent teacher conferences will be on Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8.  Please don't forget to sign up for a conference on PTC Fast.  I look forward to meeting with everyone!

Regions

Next week students will begin a new Social Studies, Reading, Writing and Technology project.  We will be integrating many of the fourth grade subjects by reading, researching, and writing about a chosen region of the United States.  There will be many student choices in the project and will be largely interest driven.  Stay tuned for more updates!

Prezi

We have been learning about reading non-fiction and how to determine what is important out of all of the information in a non-fiction reading selection.  We have also been learning how to identify the main idea and supporting details.  To help us learn this we read and took notes on a chosen non-fiction topic such as National Parks, polar bears, animal survival skills etc.  We then utilized Prezi which is similar to Power Point (but much more updated and motivating!) to create presentations that highlighted the main ideas and supporting details of what we had read.  The pictures below show students presenting their Prezi's to the class.  You can ask your child to present their Prezi to you by going online to www.prezi.com.

Upcoming Dates

4/1, 4/4, 4/5 - ELA MCAS TESTING
4/5 - 4/8 - Book Fair
4/7 & 4/8 - Parent Teacher Conferences

Spring Fun & Learning

Hello Spring!

It's almost here!  With Spring comes many exciting events, new learning opportunities, and some important dates. 

Non-Fiction

We have been learning how to determine the main topics of a non-fiction text by skimming and scanning the text features.  We are also learning how key details can support our understanding of the main topics in the text.  We will be starting a project in the classroom that will help solidify this concept and help us practice our newly learned skills.  Partnerships will read about a topic and determine the main topics and key details from the reading.  They will then create a presentation using Prezi present their topic to the rest of the class.  Prezi is similar to Power Point but more exciting!  When they are finished we will share!

Writing a Response to Literature

We are working on understanding questions so that we know what they are asking of us.  This will help us better think about and answer them.  We are also learning how we can categorize our evidence which helps us come up with answers or reasons. (Ask your child about my Grandmother's purse!)  Yesterday, students wrote some beautiful responses to a question about an excerpt from Because of Winn-Dixie.  I thought I would share one response below so you can see what fourth graders are expected to do (and are capable of!)

Number Lines

Today we will begin looking at fractions on number lines.  We have gotten very good at partitioning tape diagrams and area models into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths and sixths.  We have also learned what equivalence means.  Our next step is seeing this same concept on a number line.  We will then move on to using number lines to help us think about the sizes of different fractions and putting them in order.

Potential and Kinetic Energy

We are nearing the end of our unit on potential and kinetic energy and it has been a blast.  Yesterday, students made adjustments to an experiment we had done together to see if they could make their cars travel even further down the ramp.  They determined their own variable and designed their own experiments.  Some added height to the ramp, others added weight to the cars, some adjusted the tracks.  Today, students will present the results of their experiments.

Important Dates

March 25th - No School
March 30th - Report Cards Go Home
April 1st, 4th, 5th - MCAS ELA

Donations

We are looking for some things to replenish our supplies!  Anything you could send in would be greatly appreciated!

Pencils
Magnets for our whiteboard
Clorox Wipes

So Happy To Be Back!

I was so happy to come back to school today and see all of your children's smiling faces!  It will take a few days to get everyone back on track and in our routine again but today was a great start!  Thank you all for the support and understanding you have given me over the past couple of months.  I want to take some time and give some updates and let everyone know what we will be working on over the next few weeks.  

MAH - Math Vocabulary

A new list of math vocabulary words went home today to be studied during MAH.  Our quiz will be on Friday, March 4th.  Please let me know if you need any help with ideas for studying.

Math - Fractions

We will be starting a new unit on fractions in math this week.  A parent hand-out will be going home tomorrow to explain some of the concepts being taught.  The websites listed below may be helpful with any homework questions your child may have.

http://www.oakdale.k12.ca.us/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1391596408603

http://greatminds.net/support/parents

http://www.ojusd.org/cms/page_view?d=x&piid=&vpid=1391596408603

Reading - Non-fiction

During reading we will be reading non-fiction and learning how to determine which information is most important.  We will be thinking about main ideas, text structures, and text features.  Eventually we will use this learning to help us write our own non-fiction.  

Writing - Literary Essays & Open Response

We will be circling back to review our literary essay unit and connect this to open response which is a shorter version of literary essay where students respond to a specific question about the literature they are reading.  We will focus on learning how to cite evidence to support our thinking and connecting all of our ideas together to create cohesive writing.

Science - Energy

We launched a new science unit today on different forms of energy.  The first two we are focusing on are potential and kinetic energy.  Over the summer I applied for some materials from Hot Wheels (the toy car company) and they came in!  Students began experimenting with energy today using car tracks and Hot Wheels cars.  They made many observations and came up with many ideas about energy which we will continue to explore over the coming weeks.  Here are a few pictures of our exploration today.  To me, this is the definition of engagement!

Mystery Reader

Merry & Bright Students!

With the holidays upon us, students are doing surprisingly well with staying focused and working hard in school!  We have been making a lot of strides in thinking about theme, writing about theme and discussing theme during literacy.  During math we have been dividing larger numbers and using our knowledge of place value to help us do so.  Our multiplication quizzes were great and I can see that our studying during MAH has been really helpful as we do this more complicated division.  We are asking questions, and forming more detailed hypothesis during science.  I really could not be happier with our progress at this point in the year!  Thank you for always supporting us, even when things get hectic!

Mystery Reader

Next Wednesday, December 23rd is a full day of school.  To kick start our winter vacation, we are going to be participating in a fun reading activity called, "Booked In."  We are going to spend a large part of that day reading some great books.  To add to the fun, I thought it would be great if we could host some MYSTERY READERS. 

We are looking for parents, grandparents, or siblings to volunteer to read a favorite picture book or poem to our class on that afternoon.  Please let me know (secretly!) if you are available and I will give you some open times to choose from.

Reader's Notebooks

Students have been learning that they can jot down their thinking about what they are reading in many different ways.  Here are a few examples of what students are doing in their notebooks as they think about their reading.

Science, Reading, Math & Writing OH MY!

Full Steam Ahead!

We are learning so much in our classroom right now!  Students are eager to get into the classroom each day to be scientists, explorers, mathematicians, authors and discussers of literature.  It has been fun to watch them grow and mature over the past few months.  I hope that you are starting to see growth in your child because I am certainly seeing it!

RAH Expectations

Students are expected to be reading the same book at home and at school.  This allows us to focus on one set of characters, one plot, one problem and one setting.  Having one book at school to read and one at home can create confusion.  Sometimes, families want to share special books at home that deviate from what their children are reading in school.  This is fine!  It just shouldn't be happening all of the time.

Reader's Notebook

Students have been learning to read and notice points in the book that require them to stop and read with more intensity.  The stopping points they have learned so far are included in a picture below.  We are also learning that we can jot down our thinking so that we can reflect on it, share it with others, and grow new ideas.  Tonight, students will be bringing home their Reader's Notebooks to share with you and to continue to jot their thinking as they read.  Students shouldn't be writing the entire time, but should stop at least twice to jot down their thinking as they are reading.  This is new so please feel free to email me with any questions! 

Math

We are well into multiplication and division and studying those multiplication facts at home are really helping students be more successful in school with these concepts.  Please don't forget that your child will be quizzed on December 15th on 1-6's.  Also, if you are in need of the math websites that include videos and examples of what we are learning in school, please let me know and I can email them to you.

Writing

We are currently wrapping up our literary essay unit and will be making portions of our literary essays into iMovies.  Stay tuned for these thought provoking premiers!

Science

We are learning about weathering and erosion and will become engineers in the near future.  We are in need of some recyclables for an upcoming project.  Here are some things we are looking for....
1. egg cartons
2. bottle caps
3. random pieces of plastic
4. plastic lids & containers
5. toilet paper & paper towel tubes
6. anything you think a child may use to invent something!

Any help you could I give us in collecting these items would be greatly appreciated!

Here are some pictures of students utilizing erosion tables and observing the process of weathering and erosion.  They were trying to figure out what may have caused the massive weathering and erosion of the Grand Canyon and apply this learning to their own weathered and eroded play dough sculptures.

Where is November Going?!

Field Trip!

Our field trip is next Tuesday!  We will leave the school around 9 and be back for a late lunch in our own cafeteria.  Students can still order hot lunch or bring their lunch from home.  There is no need for students to bring any money, we will not be going to a gift shop.  If you are still interested in chaperoning, let me know.  Also, feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Math Vocabulary Quiz

The math vocabulary quiz that students have been asked to study for during MAH is next Wednesday.  I can tell that students have been studying at home as it is making our problem solving much easier at school.  Today students were asked to find the area of two different rectangles and then find the sum of the two different areas.  Nearly all students did this with ease because they have been studying the words area and sum.  Thank you for your support with this! 

Recycling

Our community service learning project has been going very well.  Students have been learning responsibility as they assist in the recycling for the entire building.  I thought you would enjoy some pictures of our students hard at work!

 

 

Upcoming Events



11/20 - Farley Family Movie Night 6PM
11/24 - Field trip!
11/25 - Math Vocabulary Quiz
11/25 - 1/2 Day - Happy Thanksgiving!
12/4 - 12/5 - Family Holiday Shoppe

Field Trip Information!

Have You Passed In Your Permission Slip Yet?

Our class will be going to the Action Science Discovery Museum on November 24th.  If you are interested in chaperoning please let me know.  We would love to have you but you may need to follow the bus in your car or meet us there.  The cost for this trip is $16.50 for both students and chaperones.  There are a large number of students who have not turned in their permission slips yet, please let me know if you need another copy!  We are excited and can't wait for an exciting day!

MAH - Studying Math Vocabulary

Next week a study guide will be sent home asking students to study math vocabulary that we have been learning in class.  We will then be tested on this vocabulary on Wednesday, November 25.  Students have already made flashcards for these words.  We will continue to add to our math vocabulary list over the year and assess as we go.  If you are looking for ways to help your child study or have any questions, please let me know. 

Thursday Folders
Please don't forget to sign and send your child's Thursday folder back to school each week!

Thank You!
Thank you so much for donating supplies that were requested during parent teacher conferences.  We will be doing a science experiment with them very soon.  We are still in need of some more cans of play dough.  If you have any that you are willing to donate, we would really appreciate it!


Upcoming Dates
11/11 - No School, Veterans Day
11/19 - Pizza with the Principal, "Volunteerism" 6-7PM
11/20 - Family Movie Night 6-8PM
11/24 - Field Trip to the Acton Science Discovery Museum
11/26 - 1/2 day of school