MrHowd.com

Spelling:  We practiced possessive pronouns today, learning that possessive pronouns do not have apostrophes:

• It the their dog. The dog is theirs.
• It is our dog. The dog is ours.
• It is her dog. The dog is hers.

Cursive: Cursive worksheet pp. 18-20 are available and due Friday.

Reading: Today was a reading day in Literature Circles.

Writing: Students used their technology time today to edit and publish their personal narrative. Students did this using their MrHowd.com Google Docs account (docs.mrhowd.com). Using Google Docs, students started typing their personal narrative. They can access this from school, home or any other internet-connected computer. Students can also share their document with me or others for comments or suggestions.

The next piece of writing will be a personal narrative that has been slightly fictionalized, or, in other words, a personal narrative based on a true story. This piece of writing will be due Friday, November 6. This will be the final writing piece of the first marking period.  Students should be publishing by now.

Math: We continued to review the trade-first method of subtraction. Homework is to complete Journal pp. 47, 49.

Science: We reviewed the last experiment and took notes in our minibooks. We learned that weight is how much gravity pulls an object (or the force exerted on an object due to gravity).

Social Studies: We started learning that immigrants moved to Michigan in the early 1900s to work in factories.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 0
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 4

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at SnapGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with SnapGrades?

Notes:

• The end of the First Marking Period is Friday, November 6.
• Need to make, change or check your Fall Parent Teacher Conference time? See here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.

Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 5th grade.

Spelling:  We reviewed the homophones there, their, and they’re and students practiced matching the correct homophone to sentences.

Cursive: Cursive worksheet pp. 18-20 are available and due Friday.

Reading: Today was a discussion day in Literature Circles.

Writing: Students reviewed the grade they received on their most recent piece of writing. Check SnapGrades and click on “writing” to view your student’s grade and suggestions for improvement.

We talked today about how much time would be needed to complete an average piece of writing. Many students guessed 30-90 minutes. But it’s much more:

1. If an average student works on writing for 10 minutes per day at school, 4 days per week, and,
2. If an average student works on writing for 10 minutes per day after school, 4 days per week, and,
3. If students are allowed 3 weeks to complete each piece of writing…
4. That results in 80 minutes per week, 240 minutes for a 3-week writing piece. In other words, an average piece of writing takes a total of 4 hours to complete.
5. If a student works 20 minutes per day at school and home, that would add up to 8 hours of work!

The important message is that an average piece of writing takes more than 4 hours of work, and the easiest way to do this is to work on it a little each day. Students who only work on their writing at school, or who try to finish up a late piece of writing only at recess, are bound to earn unsatisfactory grades, because they’ll never have the opportunity to spend the time it takes to write a quality piece of writing.

You might want to ask your student how much time they have been spending on writing each day.

The next piece of writing will be a personal narrative that has been slightly fictionalized, or, in other words, a personal narrative based on a true story. This piece of writing will be due Friday, November 6. This will be the final writing piece of the first marking period.  Students should be editing by now.

Math: None today due to extra time with writing.

Science: None today due to library.

Social Studies: None today due to art.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 0
• Orange magnets: 2
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 4

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at SnapGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with SnapGrades?

Notes:

• The end of the First Marking Period is Friday, November 6.
• Need to make, change or check your Fall Parent Teacher Conference time? See here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.

Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 5th grade.

Spelling:  We learned that the letter h following an s, t, w, c and p make a new sound. These two-letter combinations are called digraphs (cat/chat, ten/then, were/where, sell/shell).

Cursive: Cursive worksheet pp. 18-20 are available and due Friday.

Reading: Today was a reading day in Literature Circles.

Writing: We talked today about the difference between a list and “slow motion writing.” A list is…

First, I woke up. Then I got out of bed. Then I brushed my teeth.

Slow motion writing turns a list into a story…

Beep, beep, beep. I hate that alarm clock, I thought to myself. I flipped the blue covers off me and swung my feet out of bed. Still feeling a little sleepy, I slipped my feet into my slippers and padded toward the bathroom. I clicked the light on, and my eyes squinted in defense. It was bright! I grabbed my green toothbrush and spread a little Crest across the top. A few dips into the stream of cold water, and I was ready to freshen up my mouth.

The difference between a list and slow motion writing is noticeable. One tells what happened, the other one lets the reader see the story as it is happening. One is skimpy and fast, the other lets the reader look around and experience all that is happening. Check with your student and see if they are writing their personal narrative in a slow motion way, or if it’s just a quick list without any life.

The next piece of writing will be a personal narrative that has been slightly fictionalized, or, in other words, a personal narrative based on a true story. This piece of writing will be due Friday, November 6. This will be the final writing piece of the first marking period.  Students should be revising by now.

Math: Students learned the trade-first method of subtraction. In the method, students set up the problem by first making all their trades (another word for “borrow”), then subtracting at the end. This helps students to remember to trade and eliminates mistakes. Students also completed a bar graph MiniQuiz today. Homework is to finish Journal pp. 46 and 48.

Science: Students completed an experiment with spring scales by measuring the weight, in grams, of several different objects in the room. Homework is to finish the experiment’s conclusion questions if not done in class.

Social Studies: None today due extra time with writing.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 4
• Orange magnets: 1
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 5

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade at SnapGrades to see if your student moved their magnet. Need help with SnapGrades?

Notes:

• The end of the First Marking Period is Friday, November 6.
• Need to make, change or check your Fall Parent Teacher Conference time? See here.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at SnapGrades.

Our Mission:
Every student in Room 130 leaves improved and prepared for 5th grade.