In Preparation for Winter Break...

I wanted to let you know about a couple of things happening in our classroom the rest of this week.

Tomorrow, Thursday, December 20, we will have our Winter Celebration at 2:45pm. Feel free to stop by and have fun with us!

Friday, December 21 is our last day before Winter Break. The school will be having an All School Sing Along in the gym at 2:00pm this day. Please come by and sing along with us if you wish!

On a sadder note, Anyang will be moving to Iowa over Winter Break. Her last day with us will be tomorrow, Thursday, December 20. We are all sad to see her leave us, but we wish her well in Iowa.

I hope all of you have a safe and happy holidays. I look forward to seeing all the students back on Monday, January 7th!

We're Back On-Line!

First off, I need to apologize for not posting since Thanksgiving. My computer crashed here at school and I didn't have a way of getting to the information I needed to keep you up to date.

Since Thanksgiving, we have completed a lot of work! The students have finished chapters, started research, and everything in between.

In MATH, we have finished chapter 3 on multiplication and division and have started chapter 4. Chapter 4 is on data and graphs, so we are learning about the different types of graphs including bar, plot, and line graphs, as well as how to use the information given to us in the graphs. This is a very short chapter that we will be trying to finish up before Winter Break next week!

In READING, the students finished their novel studies with Mrs. Whitten and we have gone back to the textbook. We started a new story this week about Mimicry and Camouflage with different types of animals. We learned the new vocabulary on Monday, read the story on Tuesday, and will complete different activities to go along with the story. The focus skill this week is Cause and Effect relationships in stories as a way for an author to organize their writing. In the story, we have found several different cause/effect relationships. On Wednesday, we will discuss these in more detail, as well as learn about prefixes and suffixes and different reference sources. Thursday, we will read the story again and discuss it and then on Friday is our comprehension test. All students are encouraged to take their books home during the week to read the story again on their own or with their parents. The more they read it, the more they will comprehend. Our vocabulary test will be next Wednesday, since next Friday will be kind of crazy with the last day before Winter Break.

In LANGUAGE ARTS, we are talking about common and proper nouns this week. We will also learn about possessive nouns and the difference between all three of these so we can start using them more in our writing.

In SOCIAL STUDIES, we have started our unit on the SouthEast region of the United States. The students are researching a state with a partner and creating a PowerPoint presentation they will be giving to the class next week. They have had a lot of fun learning about the different states in this region and all these states have to offer.

We also held a class Geography Bee last week to determine our classroom representative for the school Geography Bee that was held today. Dayne Aschenbrenner was the winner from our classroom. He represented us well by winning the school Geography Bee today! Dayne will go on to take the test for the State Geography Bee to determine if he gets to move on to the National Geography Bee! CONGRATULATIONS, DAYNE!

Next Friday, December 21, is the last day of school before Winter Break. We will have a full day of school that day. Students will return to school on Monday, January 7. I hope all of you enjoy your time off over the holidays.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me! Have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Hello Parents!

Since I updated you last, students have learned so much new information!

In MATH, we have continued our leveled math groups. The students are being tested over chapter 3 very soon. We are coming to an end on our division chapter and students will be tested soon if they haven't been tested already. Please make sure your child is comfortable with this concept, and if not, please let me know! I think all students are doing very well with this chapter, so Mrs. Bowman, Mr. Spreer, and myself have decided we will be moving on to chapter 4 after break. Chapter 4 covers tables and line graphs, including making tables, interpreting data, and using a table. Hopefully, this chapter will go rather quickly and we can move on to data and probability.

In READING, Mrs. Whitten has finished her novel studies with the students. There are a few students playing catch up with their novels since they got behind, but they should be finished with them today. Mrs. Whitten had the students hand in all of their work packets and their books if they were finished. These will be graded and the grades put into Infinite Campus as soon as they are all graded.
After break, we will return to the textbook for a while to get back into our routine. Next Monday, students will receive new vocabulary words and we will be reading a non-fiction story about a tradition of basket weaving. We have some fun activities to go along with this story, so it should be a fun week next week!

In LANGUAGE ARTS, students have been writing complete sentences incorporating their spelling words. We have been looking at these sentences to make sure they are using a capital letter at the beginning and a ending mark at the end of each sentence. We have also been checking hand writing on these to make sure students are taking their time and using their best handwriting.
After break, we will be working on simple and compound sentences, prepositional phrases, and compound subjects and predicates.

In SCIENCE, students took their test over Earth Materials last week. They were given all of the information on the test and asked to write it down on their study guide. This information was also posted in the room for them to write down if they didn't finish in the time they were given. Several students did not do too well on the test, so they were given the opportunity to correct their answers for a better grade. This was a choice they were given, so if they chose not to correct, they were given the grade they got the first time.
After break, we will start our next region of the United States and do some fun activities learning more about the country we live in.

I hope everyone enjoys their three days off from school this week. Enjoy your time with family and if you are traveling, please do so safely. I look forward to seeing the kids back next Monday and hearing about their Thanksgiving break adventures.

This Week

We have had quite a busy couple of weeks since I last posted. The students have been very hard at work on book reports and research of earth materials.

In SCIENCE, we have continued our Earth Materials unit. We are coming to the end. Students have been assigned one rock or mineral to research. We have been researching these this week and students have prepared one powerpoint slide on their rock or mineral. These slides have to contain certain information on their rock/mineral. We will put these together into one presentation to share with the class. We will continue working on this research project until all slides have been completed and we can watch our powerpoint presentation.

In MATH, we are seeing great success with our leveled math groups. The students really seem to enjoy these groups and are doing a great job! We have all been working on division, just at different levels. Students are grasping the concept of division and seem to understand the purpose of what they are doing. We have had some trouble with completion of homework for these groups, so please make sure your student is completing their math homework if they have it. This is not something they will have every night, so you'll need to check their planners to see if they have math homework each night.

In READING, Mrs. Whitten has been doing leveled novel studies with the students. There are three different novels being read in our classroom right now. She meets with each group at least 3 times a week, if not more. The students are completing skills sheets and quizzes on these books as they read. They really seem to enjoy the books they're reading. Students have also been working on vocabulary words that go along with their books.
We are also currently working on a book report. This report is in the form of a paper grocery sack. The students each have a paper sack and on it they have to write certain requirements on each side of the bag. For example, on the front of the bag, they will write the Title of the book, Author, and draw a picture of the main characters. On the back of the bag, they will write a paragraph about their favorite part of the story and a paragraph on their opinion about the book. They are writing these paragraphs on paper and then gluing them on the sack or typing them on the computer. On one side of the bag they must put the plot of the story and on the other side they must put a list of the main characters as well as a description of the role that each character has in the story. Then they must put three things inside the sack that represent events or characters in the story with a paper explaining the connection of the objects they chose. This is a big report for these students and we've been working on it each day. They have had the opportunity to take it home to work on it as well. Be sure to ask your child about this report and make sure they are using their time wisely in order to complete it by November 27. Some students are still reading their books while others are almost done with their reports.

We've had a great time in our classroom this week and are looking forward to learning more and more from each other with our rock/mineral research as well as our book reports. Please remember that next Friday, November 16 is Early Release. Students will be dismissed at 1:20 pm.

Have a great weekend! If you have any questions or comments, please let me know!

Our Week This Week

I want to thank all of you for coming to parent/teacher conferences last week. It was nice to get the chance to talk to tell you all of the wonderful things your children are doing in our classroom. I know everyone's schedule is busy, so I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to come chat with me.

I wanted to let you know that Mrs. Whitten will be teaching in our classroom for the next few weeks. She has planned some very fun activities with the students, so be sure to ask your children what they are doing in each subject area.

In MATH, we have fully implemented our leveled math groups. I spoke with each of you about this at conferences. The students really seem to be enjoying these groups. I think it's helping them feel better about math and giving them more confidence in the area of math. We are all still working on chapter 3 with multiplication and division. Some groups are moving much faster than others and will continue to do so. Some groups are starting division in chapter 3 and others are still working on multiplication. Please continue working on the basic multiplication facts with your children, as this is the biggest problem we are seeing when solving these problems. They can practice any way they choose, as long as it's basic multiplication fact practice. There are several websites with games if they get tired of doing flashcards. The more they practice, the more comfortable and confident they will be in math.

In READING, Mrs. Whitten began a novel study with the class. There are three different novels she will be working on with three different reading groups. The students have been put into groups and will read from a novel and learn the skills needed. This also means that students will not have a comprehension test for a few weeks while we are reading these novels. They do have vocabulary words they are responsible for knowing, but they will not be tested on these yet.

The novels will be at the students reading level and they are encouraged to take these novels home to read in order to stay up to date on their assignments. Feel free to read along with your student and enjoy these novels along with us!

In SCIENCE, we are continuing to work on our Earth Materials unit. The students have learned about different types of rocks and minerals including limestone, basalt, quartz, gypsum, and marble. We have looked for evidence of calcite in each of these rocks by soaking them in an acid (vinegar). The students have really enjoyed working with these minerals. This week, we will discuss and investigate the hardness of different rocks and minerals.

Students will have a new SPELLING list this week. This is a 'fun' list of spooky words, so hopefully this will give everyone a chance to get a wonderful grade on their test.

We will be having our Fall Party this Wednesday, October 31 at 2:30pm. Feel free to join us if you are able.

Have a great week!

How quickly time goes!

This month is getting away from me! I guess time flies when you're having fun!

In MATH, I hope you all received the letters telling about the math groups we started today. Students were placed in groups based upon previous state and MAP test scores. The students will then go to their math group every day from 9-10am for math instruction. This means that if your child is going to Mr. Spreer for math group, that he will be assigning all of the Math In Focus work for your child. If you have questions about an assignment, I would be happy to answer them for you, but please know that Mr. Spreer would be happy to help out as well. The same goes for Mrs. Bowman if your child is going to her for math instruction. Some of the students will be staying with me, so nothing will change if this is the case. We wanted to implement these math groups so that each child could be instructed at their level in math. We are hoping to see gains in their test scores by implementing these groups. I think the students will find that it is better for them as well, since we will be instructing them at their levels. I will explain more about math groups during parent/teacher conferences, but if you have questions before then, please let me know.
We will be working on Chapter 3 in math groups this week, which is on multi-digit multiplication and division. Please continue working on multiplication facts with your child at home and signing their math calendars each time they practice. I will still be checking these every Monday.

In READING, Mrs. Whitten is meeting with leveled reading groups this week. The students are also working on Centers that go along with the story we read last week titled On the Banks of Plum Creek. This is an excerpt taken from a Little House on the Prairie book by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The students really enjoyed the story last week, but our test scores weren't so good. Please talk to your child about their reading comprehension score from last Friday. They should have shown you a slip of paper with their test score on it. If they didn't, please let me know if you need their score on this test.
The vocabulary from last week will continue this week and students will be tested over these words on Friday.

In LANGUAGE ARTS, we are still working on identifying subjects and predicates in a sentence. We talked about simple and complete subjects and predicates as well. Students are getting better with this skill, but we still need some practice. This week, we will also discuss compound subjects and predicates.

In SCIENCE, we have started our unit on Earth Materials. The students have conducted an experiment already and will most likely take a look at their results today (Monday). This is a very exciting unit for the students and they learn a lot about rocks and minerals. Please be talking to your student about what they are learning in science to see if they can tell you about all the fun things we are doing!

Students will NOT have spelling or reading tests next week due to a three day week. Please be aware that there will not be school this Friday, October 19 as well as next Thursday and Friday, October 25-26 due to Parent/Teacher conferences.

Next Wednesday and Thursday (October 24-25) is Parent/Teacher conferences, and I am looking forward to discussing your child's progress so far in fourth grade. This is one of two times we get to sit down and discuss their achievement, so I'd love to have all of you here during your scheduled time. If something comes up and you aren't able to make it that day, please call the office and let them know. I'd be more than happy to try to reschedule this with you. It's very important that you are involved and know how your child is succeeding in fourth grade, which is why it's extremely important for us to meet. I can't wait to share with you all the wonderful things your children have done so far in fourth grade.

Have a great week and I look forward to seeing you all next week!

October Days

I hope you all enjoyed a nice day off with your children yesterday.

Last week, we had a very busy and productive week!

In MATH, we took our test over Chapter 2. This test covered multiples, factors, and estimation. The students did pretty well on this test. I hope you all got a chance to look over your child's test to see how they did.
Mrs. Whitten began Chapter 3 with the class towards the end of last week. Chapter 3 covers multi-digit multiplication and gets into some division as well. The students are doing pretty well, but those students that don't know their multiplication facts are really struggling. We've done a few timed tests for multiplication, and I've already seen improvement! Many students have already passed their 2's and 3's timed tests. I hope to see many more pass these before parent/teacher conferences. I will be sharing your child's progress on these timed tests during our conference.

In READING, we completed our Centers activities that went along with our story Kai's Journey to Gold Mountain. The students looked up facts on Angel Island and learned more about the history behind immigration. They did a vocabulary word hunt as well as writing synonyms for their vocabulary words. The students also met with me in small reading groups to enhance their learning on comparing and contrasting characters as well as their vocabulary. These small groups are leveled reading groups based upon the students reading levels, so they get reading instruction at their reading level.
This week in reading, Mrs. Whitten will be teaching the story Little House in the Big Woods-On the Banks of Plum Creek. The students will receive new vocabulary words, so be looking for those to come home today (Tuesday). They will be tested on these new words next Thursday, October 18, since we will not have school on Friday, Oct. 19. The students will be working on conflict and resolution amongst characters as their focus skill this week.

In LANGUAGE ARTS, we will be working on complete and simple subjects and predicates in sentences. The students had some difficulty finding the subjects and predicates last week, so we will continue this concept this week as well.

In SOCIAL STUDIES, the students finished their unit on the South West states with Mrs. Whitten. They had their test last week and did very well. I hope your child shared some of the facts they learned about the states in the South West region.

We will begin a new SCIENCE unit this week about Earth Materials. I had planned to start this last week, but we didn't move as quickly as I had anticipated. This week we will be looking at "mock rocks" and what materials make up rocks in our world. We will take these "mock rocks" apart and try to figure out what they are made up of. We will then use a dissolving technique to help us determine the "ingredients" of the rocks. Students will have a great time becoming scientists and investigators.

As we get closer to Parent/Teacher conferences, please be looking for a letter coming home with your specific date and time for your conference. I would love for students to come with you to these conferences if possible, so they can hear us talking about their learning. They also provide a lot of insight as to how we can work together to help them with our learning. It's very empowering for the students to see their parents and their teacher talking together in order to help them. I look forward to meeting with all of you to share your students progress. We've had a great time in the classroom so far and I can't wait to share everything with you.

I hope you all received the October book orders in students backpacks last week. Attached to the front was a letter that allows you to order these on-line instead of sending a check to school with your child. Please know that each time you order on-line, our classroom receives a free book for our classroom library, so it helps our class as well as your child. Students become better readers the more they read, so it helps us all!

Have a great week and, as always, should you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please let me know!

South West State Presentations

Students presented in their SW state groups today! They have been researching their states for two weeks and completed a report with their group. Each of them was responsible for certain parts of the research and certain parts of the final project. They then presented these in front of the class today and did a great job! Enjoy the pictures below of the students presenting their information! Be sure to ask them what they learned about the Southwest States today!

Already October?!?!

Time flies when you're having fun! I can't believe this week begins October!

Last week, we had a lot of fun learning happening in our room. In MATH, we finished up our lesson on factors and began making multiplication flash cards for the facts we need to work on the most. This includes the doubles (3x3, 4x4, 6x6, etc.) and the 3's. We will slowly add to these flashcards so the students all have flashcards to study. We also had our first multiplication timed test last week. Students all begin on their 2's facts. They have two minutes to complete as many facts as they can out of 60. If they get all 60 completed and correct, they move on to their 3's. This keeps going until they pass their 9's. I will be giving you a report on where your student is at our Fall Conferences coming up in a few weeks.
I hope all of you got to see the new multiplication chart we implemented due to the number of students that are struggling with facts. Students are expected to practice their multiplication facts for at least 30 minutes a week. These charts will be checked on Mondays along with their reading chart, so be sure your student brings it to school every Monday. If they do not have it on Mondays or if they have it but have not completed their correct amount of time, they do spend their morning recess making up this missed time.
Our next lesson in math will be on Multiples and we will start this on Monday. I am hoping to get through this lesson fairly quickly so we can have our Chapter 2 Math Test by Wednesday and begin Chapter 3 this week as well. Chapter 3 will start with multiplication and division of larger facts. Mrs. Whitten will begin teaching Chapter 3 and she's excited to get started.

In READING, we read a story titled Kai's Journey to Gold Mountain. This was a historical fiction story about a little boy who was an immigrant from China in the 1930's. He sailed over to the USA and stayed on Angel Island in the San Francisco Bay until he was interrogated and given the right to go with his father into the USA to live. This is based on true facts, so the students got to watch a few videos on immigrants who went through this process in order to become a US citizen. This next week, students will complete centers based on this story, one of which is to find five facts about Angel Island they didn't already know using the websites I provide at the center. Students seemed to be very interested in this story, so feel free to read it with them on-line if you have access. Just go to www.thinkcentral.com and have your student log-in. They should be able to find their reading book and read this on-line without a problem.

In SCIENCE last week, we took our final data on our soybean plant experiment. We found that soybeans can grow in the dark, but they are not mature, producing plants. They were not healthy and green like the ones growing in the light and they did not have leaves and strong stems either. We came to the conclusion that plants can grow in the dark, but they are not healthy and will eventually die, as some of ours did. Since the students who put their plants in the dark were upset that their plants died, everyone whose plant didn't grow was able to plant a new seed to put under the grow light. We will watch to see if these grow better and hopefully, we will get to watch the plants to full maturity if we can keep them alive long enough!

In SOCIAL STUDIES, Mrs. Whitten finished her unit on the Southwest. Thank you to all the parents who donated food for our feast we had last Friday. It was delicious! Mrs. Whitten and I plan to keep this up for each of the regions of the United States since the students enjoyed it so much and learned a great amount. The students will be giving their presentations on their states this next week. I will post pictures of their presentations when they give them!

In LANGUAGE ARTS, we will begin learning about simple and complete subjects and predicates. We will have our skills test over this, as well as our vocabulary on Friday, October 5th.

Please be watching for some important notes regarding Parent/Teacher Conferences to come home this week. I will be sending the first one home on Monday asking your preferred time for a conference.

Keep checking your students backpack each night for their class work and homework. Just a reminder that students have homework every night MONDAY-THURSDAY that is due back to school the next day. Several students are really struggling with this and are missing recess to complete their homework. Even if they complete it at night, but forget to bring it to school, they have to re-do it here at school. I have explained to them that it is their responsibility to get the homework back in their backpack when they complete it to make sure it gets back to school the following day.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to let me know. Thank you for your time. Have a great first week of October!

This Week in Our Room

IMPORTANT THINGS TO KNOW THIS WEEK:
Thursday, Sept. 27 - 10:00am and 7:00pm - 4th grade music program performance in the gym
Friday, Sept. 28 - MAP TESTING for MATH
Friday, Sept. 28 - EARLY DISMISSAL at 1:20pm


Last week, we were quite the busy group.

In MATH, we started chapter 2 on estimation and factors. The student really struggled with this concept, but after many lessons spent on this, I think most of the students gained a better understanding of estimation. We moved on to factors, and a lot of the students had a hard time with this due to the fact that they weren't comfortable with their multiplication facts. I encouraged the class to study their basic multiplication facts at home every night for at least 5-10 minutes. We will be starting a multiplication calender much like our reading calendar in the very near future for this, so please make sure your student is working on these each night. We will be starting multiplication timed tests this next week as well, so be looking for that to come home. We continued the week with common factors between two numbers and then finding the greatest common factor of those two numbers as well. The students seemed to do well on this, but many of them had to use their multiplication charts to help them with their facts. I could not remind them enough how important it is to know these facts since we don't spend time learning them in fourth grade. We will continue with chapter 2 this week, which will move on to multiplication of two and three digit numbers. If your child is having difficulty with multiplication, this week may be a struggle for them. Please know that by helping them practice their facts each night, they will get better and better in no time.

In READING, we did Centers for Week 2. These centers focused on the vocabulary words, synonyms and antonyms, letter writing, and a technology center where the students were able to make a baseball card for a character in the story we read last week. This helped them focus on character traits, which was our focus skill.
We also had our first week of small, leveled reading groups. I met with the students in small groups and read a short story with them and we discussed the vocabulary words, character traits and motivations, as well as comprehension. The students seemed to enjoy these groups. We will meet in these groups every other week. We will be starting a new story this week with new vocabulary words, so be looking for new vocabulary words to come home.

In SOCIAL STUDIES, Mrs. Whitten finished the first week of her unit on the Southwest region of the United States. The students have really enjoyed learning about these four states. Each child was put into a research group to learn more about one of the states. They each have jobs they are responsible for completing in order for their research to be complete. They will present their research projects next week, provided they are done with their projects. We will take pictures of their projects and I will be posting them on the blog, so be looking for these! The students have been working very hard on their research, so they are quite proud of their work. We will continue working on these this week, hopefully finishing them up and presenting them by the end of the week.

In SCIENCE, we have continued to record data on our soybean plants. The students have found that the plants in the dark are growing! They were quite surprised by this, however, they did notice that the plants in the dark are not turning green or producing as big of leaves as the plants in the light. We will continue to look at these this next week to see if the students can come to any conclusions on whether plants can grow in the dark.

The students have been working very hard in music for their music program that will take place this week. Our performances will be on Thursday at 10:00am and 7:00pm. Please make sure if your student has a speaking part that they will be able to make it to both performances if possible.

I wish all of you a very nice upcoming week! If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.

Success!

We have been very hard at work the past several days. We had a wonderful time on our Soybean field trip yesterday as you can see from the picture!

We have finished chapter 1 in MATH. Students had their test on Tuesday and did an AWESOME job! I was so proud of them! I could tell from their scores that the students have been working very hard in class and at home to learn the concepts taught. I'm certain this will continue throughout the year.
We have just begun chapter 2. This chapter includes concepts on estimation and rounding. This seems to be difficult for fourth graders, so be sure you are asking your child about math each day. Anything you can do at home to help with estimating would be greatly beneficial to your child. If you go to the store, asking questions such as, "If we have $10.00, do we have enough money to buy milk, bread, and a package of candy?" Have them estimate the cost of each item to see if they think there is enough money. This is a real life concept that students will need to learn and continue to work on. If you need any other ideas of how to help at home, please don't hesitate to ask.

In READING last week we had our Centers. During Centers weeks in Reading, students are given a checklist of centers to finish for the week. They get as many of these done as possible and turn them in on Friday. Also during the week, I meet with leveled reading groups. I did not meet with leveled groups the first week of Centers, because I wanted to show the students how Centers were run in the classroom. Centers should always be independent since I will be working with other students in small groups while the rest of the class is working on their centers.
This week in Reading, we are reading a story about Jackie Mitchell. Jackie was the first female pitcher to play in the major leagues with men. She is famous for striking out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. We are continuing to work on character traits, motivations, and actions with this story as well as mapping out the story for comprehension. Students will have their comprehension test tomorrow (Friday).
I have also had a few students tell me that when their vocabulary words come home they are getting thrown away. I'm not sure if this is true, or if they just aren't showing parents their words they are supposed to be studying. If you have not seen Vocabulary come home this week, please let me know. Students will be tested over these words next Friday, September 21. These words will come home every other Monday on colored paper. If you ever see colored paper in your students backpack, please look at it. Colored paper means it's important (most of the time).

In LANGUAGE ARTS/SPELLING this week we are working on the other two types of sentences. These types of sentences are imperative (question) and exclamatory (exclamation). Along with exclamatory sentences, we also have discussed interjections. Interjections are words that are said with strong feeling such as WOW, GREAT, etc. These words are separated in an exclamatory sentence with a comma or exclamation mark. We will continue to discuss these types of sentences next week.
In SPELLING, students are working on words with variant vowels and dipthongs. To you and me, this means that words that have the 'o' sound can be spelled with an au or aw. Words with an 'oi' sound can be spelling with an oy or an oi, etc. Students have also told me that spelling lists are getting thrown away or not making it home on Monday nights. EVERY MONDAY NIGHT there should be a spelling list coming home with your child on colored paper. Please be looking for this in their backpacks. They need to study these words every night for 5-10 minutes to prepare for their test on Fridays. If they do not bring it home, don't forget you can access it on www.spellingcity.com


In SCIENCE, we are continuing to watch our soybean plants very closely. They have sprouted and have started to grow. We have covered half of them with a black trash bag to see if plants can grow without light. We will collect data for the first time today, so the students are excited to take the bag off very quickly to measure their plants to see if they are growing in the dark.
We also had our field trip to the KSU North Farm for our Soybean kick-off! The students had a great time seeing the soybean fields, sweeping for bugs on soybean plants, and seeing the bugs under a microscope. Students also got to see the equipment used in the fields to plant and harvest the soybeans. The picture shows our class in front of the harvesting machine used in the fields.

Don't forget that this Friday, September 14, is our Bergman Ice Cream Social from 6:00-8:00pm. You can purchase tickets at the door if you haven't had a chance to get them yet. There will be a live band at this event as well! Come and have a great time with the rest of the Bergman families.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns about happenings in the classroom, please let me know. I'm here to help your child in any way I can.

Have a great weekend!

Our First Week was a Success!

First off, I want to thank all of you for trusting me with your child this year. I have enjoyed what each and every child has brought to the classroom thus far.

In MATH this week, we worked on place value. Chapter 1 in our text book covers place value up to the 100,000s place. Most students did very well this week, however, there were some that had trouble writing numbers this large as well as saying them correctly. Please have your child try writing and saying these large numbers to see if they can do it. If they struggle, please work with them at home on this skill. Feel free to ask your child to bring their math textbooks home whenever you'd like to take a look at what we are covering in class. Their textbook is also available to see on-line through the Think Central website. There is a link to that website on the right hand side of this blog. Students can log in using their lunch numbers as their username and password.

In READING this week, we read our first story out of our textbooks titled The Hot and Cold Summer. We discussed character traits and motivations as well as worked on our comprehension and understanding of this story. The students took their first comprehension test over that story today. Their scores for their computerized tests will come home on a slip of paper that will be stapled into their planners each Friday, so be looking for those to come home. If you have any questions about their test, you can again have your child log on to Think Central, and you can see the test questions as well as the students answers to these questions.

In SPELLING this week, we had our first pre-test and post test. Spelling words will come home each Monday after we take our pretest and the post test will come home on Friday with a letter grade and percentage on it. We use www.spellingcity.com to practice our words in class as well as to take our pre and post tests.

In SCIENCE, we began our first unit on the Scientific Method using soybeans. We looked at actual soybean plants and drew them. Students learned a little bit about soybeans in preparation for our field trip on September 11 to the Kansas State University North Farm. We will begin our first investigation with soybeans next week.

In LANGUAGE ARTS, we worked on the types of sentences. We only talked about two of these including declarative (statements) and interrogative (question) sentences. The students practiced identifying these sentences as well as identifying whether sentences were complete or incomplete. We will continue this skill next week.


Our first week of school went by very quickly, but was a huge success! We also had fun getting to know each other using some team building and class building games in the classroom. Please ask your child about the activities we do each day as well as what they are learning in class. There will not be one day that goes by that your child won't learn something new!

If you have any questions or concerns about anything, please feel free to contact me via e-mail at jillp@manhattan.k12.ks.us or by calling the school at 785-587-2865.
Thank you. I look forward to working together this year to make fourth grade a wonderful and successful year for your child.

Have a wonderful three day weekend! I look forward to seeing all the students back on Tuesday!
GO CATS!

Welcome to a new school year!

Hello parents! Welcome to our fourth grade classroom blog. I will try to update this weekly with announcements and important information as well as just letting you know what's happening in our classroom. If you subscribe to the blog on the right hand side of this page, you will get automatic e-mails when I update the blog. This is an easy way for you to keep up to date on what your child is doing in our classroom. If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to e-mail me or comment to this post. Thank you and I look forward to having a wonderful year with your child!