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Spelling: We reviewed short and long vowel sounds today, which will be the skill tested on Monday’s spelling test. Check the Spelling page for the yearly list of spelling words (there is no list given out before each test).

Cursive: Cursive pp. 15-17 were due today.

Reading: Today was our first discussion day in Literature Circles. Students share with their group the questions, connections, illustrations and passages they noted from the book they read.

Writing: We talked about how important it is to focus a story on just the best time. For example, a student might write a story about how horrible the school lunch food is. Their story can focus only on lunch, and they can skip talking about breakfast, the bus ride, or recess. Focusing on a specific time helps a writer stick to just the best parts.

A personal narrative is due into portfolios on Friday, October 14. Students should be drafting at this point.

Math: None today due to STAR Friday..

Science: We finished Science Court today. There will be MiniQuiz over collecting data on Monday.

The the Energy Fair (more details here) is Friday, October 7.

Social Studies: Students worked in groups to solve a puzzle about economics.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 2
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: 10): 7

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

Notes:

• The McGrath Fun Run is October 6. Money pledges and donations are due October 3.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: We learned the correct usage of fewer and less. Fewer  is used for things that can be counted, and less is used for things that cannot be counted:

• There are fewer students in this class than last year.
• We have less time to complete the work now.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 15-17 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: We learned that good readers notice interesting passages when they read and want to share them with others. Readers might find passages that are funny, interesting, surprising, or important. Since no reader can remember everything, finding the best passages to remember is important.

Writing: We talked about how students can find “buried stories” by drawing a map of a well-known place, and putting an “x” at each location that a memorable event happened. Students can use this buried stories map to get writing ideas later.

A personal narrative is due into portfolios on Friday, October 14. Students should be drafting at this point.

Math: We started to learn about how the distributive property can be used to separate harder multiplication problems into easier ones. For example, 9 x 4 can be separated into (5 x 4) + (4 x 4). The 9 is cut into 5 + 4. Homework is to finish Math Book p. 15, 1-5.

Science: We watched the final segment of Science Court and students worked on analyzing the evidence. Homework is to finish Science Court, Part 3.

Students were also introduced to the Energy Fair (more details here). The Energy Fair is Friday, October 7.

Social Studies: None today due to an extra time with science.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• The McGrath Fun Run is October 6. Money pledges and donations are due October 3.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: We learned common spelling patterns for the /o/ sound: o, al, aw, au.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 15-17 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: We practiced making visualizing by drawing illustrations that matched the text we were reading.

Writing: Students learned how to complete a prewriting conference with a partner today.

Students should be ready to begin the draft for their personal narrative. This piece will be due  into portfolios on Friday, October 14.

Math: We reviewed the identity property (1 x 5 = 5) and zero property (0 x 5 = 0) of multiplication.

Science: None today due to Math Skills. Students are working on building their skills at Khan Academy. Ask your student to show you how many skills they’ve completed, or how many energy points and badges they’ve earned!

Social Studies: We reviewed scarcity, choices and opportunity cost today.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• The McGrath Fun Run is October 6. Money pledges and donations are due October 3.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: None today due to making library cards.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 15-17 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: We practiced making connections in reading today. A connection is when a student notices something similar between a book and anything else (a person, TV show, movie, etc.).

Writing: None today due to technology.

Today was a prewriting day. Students should be working on selecting and planning their next piece of writing, which is another personal narrative. This second piece will be due  into portfolios on Friday, October 14.

Math: We reviewed the identity property (1 x 5 = 5) and zero property (0 x 5 = 0) of multiplication. Homework is to finish Math Book pp. 12-13 which was started in class, and to complete Math Journal P1-3.

Science: We reviewed the second part of the Science Court case about random samples.

Social Studies: Students looked at some examples of scarcity and thought about what choice could be made in each example. Homework is to finish the Economic Problems review, pp. 6-7, started in class.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• The McGrath Fun Run is October 6. Money pledges and donations are due October 3.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.

Spelling: Students searched for words that had silent letters.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 15-17 are available in class and due on Friday.

Reading: We worked on creating a class reading goal for the year. The class average reading level from our first STAR Reading test was 4.3. We set a goal of 5.3 by the end of the year.

Writing: We talked about about how good writing is like baking cookies. If a baker takes time to get all the best ingredients, follows the recipe carefully, and has patience while the cookies are baking, everything will turn out deliciously!

Writing is the same way. If a writer takes time to collect their ideas (during prewriting), follows the writing process carefully, and has patience to work for the full time without quitting early, the writing will be delicious!

The “recipe” of writing is the writing process. Here are the steps and about how many school days students will have to complete each step:

1. Prewriting (3 days): students make lists, webs and gather ideas.
2. Drafting (4 days): students write their piece in sentences.
3. Revising (4 days): students look back at their writing to improve their ideas, changing words, add or removing parts.
4. Editing (2 days): students correct spelling, punctuation, paragraphs.
5. Publishing (2 days): students finalize their writing by rewriting or typing their piece.

Today was a prewriting day. Students should be working on selecting and planning their next piece of writing, which is another personal narrative. This second piece will be due  into portfolios on Friday, October 14.

Math: None today due to pictures. We did set a class math goal based on our last STAR Math test. Our class STAR Math level was 3.8. We set a class goal of at least 4.8 by the end of the year.

Science: Students worked on the second part of the Science Court case. Homework is to finish Science Court, Part 2, if not done in class.

Social Studies: We reviewed Michigan economic activities, resources, good and services today.

Behavior Update:

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

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

Notes:

• Our class set a behavior goal of having our class move no more than 10 magnets each week.
• The McGrath Fun Run is October 6. Money pledges and donations are due October 3.
• Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
• View grades, assignments, and attendance at JupiterGrades.

Our Mission:
All students in Room 130 will do their best and get ready for 5th grade.