Archive for March, 2014

Class activities for Monday, March 24

Monday, March 24th, 2014

Spelling: We practiced common spelling patterns for the /ou/ sound: ow and ou.

Cursive: Cursive workbook pp. 95-98 are due Friday.

Reading: Final groups performed their Literature Circles plays to the class today.

Writing: Today was the first revising day for the novel project. Each student should have reached 100% of their project word count goal by now. Ask your student or check StudentVue to see how much your student has done so far. The novel project is due Friday, March 28. Your student should be revising at this point. Look below for more details.

Novel Writing Project 2014

The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-3,000 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to Lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to Lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: We practiced identifying hidden questions in multistep word problems. Journal P7-5 corresponds. Homework is to work on MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for 15 minutes or more.

Science: Students continued working on their Space Fashion Show scripts today (more details and a sample script). The Space Fashion Show is our final project of our space unit. Students are working in groups to write a fashion show script that tells about the sun, moon, or earth. One student from each group will “model” a costume of the sun, moon, or earth. The Space Fashion Show is Thursday, March 27 at 2:oo. Family members are invited!

Social Studies: Students worked in groups to make a comparison map of powers of the state and federal government, and shared powers.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 0
  • Orange magnets: 0
  • Red magnets: 0
  • STAR Awards: 0
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 9): 0
  • Hours with no magnets (best: 73): 19

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Multiplication Madness

WLPCTGB
Johnston701.000
Moul220.503.5
Bell240.334.5
Howd250.295
Watkins130.254.5

We have one more game tomorrow to see if we get in the tournament; the top four teams advance. Keep practicing!

Notes:

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

Class activities for Friday, March 21

Friday, March 21st, 2014

Spelling: Students worked on making Words to Learn lists from missed spelling words.

Cursive: Cursive workbook pp. 95-98 are due Friday.

Reading: None today due to finishing some surveys from our Think! Energy assembly this week.

Writing: Today was the final drafting day for the novel project. Each student has a daily writing goal of 100-300 words, and your student should be at 100% complete by Monday! Ask your student or check StudentVue to see how much your student has done so far. The novel project is due Friday, March 28. Your student should be drafting at this point, with the goal of finishing the draft by before Monday. Look below for more details.

Novel Writing Project 2014

The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-3,000 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to Lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to Lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: Students worked on math skills with a guest teacher using Khan Academy. Homework is to work on MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for 15 minutes or more.

Science: Students continued working on their Space Fashion Show scrips today (more details and a sample script). The Space Fashion Show is our final project of our space unit. Students are working in groups to write a fashion show script that tells about the sun, moon, or earth. One student from each group will “model” a costume of the sun, moon, or earth. The Space Fashion Show is Thursday, March 27 at 2:oo. Family members are invited!

Social Studies: We used this PBS Kids Government website to learn that local, state, and federal governments all help provide and pay for schools, libraries, transportation, police, and parks.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 0
  • Orange magnets: 0
  • Red magnets: 0
  • STAR Awards: 0
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 9): 2
  • Hours with no magnets (best: 73): 22

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Multiplication Madness

WLPCTGB
Johnston601.000
Moul220.503
Bell240.334
Howd240.334
Watkins130.254

We got our second win today! We have to games left to earn a spot in the tournament; the top four teams advance. Keep practicing!

Notes:

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

Class activities for Thursday, March 20

Thursday, March 20th, 2014

Spelling: Students worked on MobyMax Vocabulary with a guest teacher.

Cursive: Cursive workbook pp. 85-90 are due Friday.

Reading: Today was a final practice day for groups to prepare plays from their Literature Circles magazines. Two groups also performed today, practicing reading with good speed, tone, volume, and accuracy.

Writing: Today was a drafting day for the novel project. Each student has a daily writing goal of 100-300 words, and your student should be about 90% complete so far. Ask your student or check StudentVue to see how much your student has done so far. The novel project is due Friday, March 28. Your student should be drafting at this point, with the goal of finishing the draft by Friday. Look below for more details.

Novel Writing Project 2014

The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-3,000 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to Lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to Lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: Students worked on math skills with a guest teacher using MobyMax Math. Homework is to work on MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for 15 minutes or more.

Science: Students began working on their Space Fashion Show scrips today (more details and a sample script). The Space Fashion Show is our final project of our space unit. Students are working in groups to write a fashion show script that tells about the sun, moon, or earth. One student from each group will “model” a costume of the sun, moon, or earth. The Space Fashion Show is Thursday, March 27 at 2:oo. Family members are invited!

Homework is to continue to complete the activities from kit students brought home Tuesday from the energy assembly, to fill out the student booklet, and bring the booklet back by Friday.

Social Studies: None today due to extra with with reading.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 0
  • Orange magnets: 0
  • Red magnets: 0
  • STAR Awards: 0
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 9): 2
  • Hours with no magnets (best: 73): 15

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Multiplication Madness

WLPCTGB
Johnston501.000
Moul220.502.5
Bell230.403
Watkins120.333
Howd140.204

Practicing our multiplication facts has helped, but we need to keep practicing! To make the tournament, we can’t finish in last place.

Notes:

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

Class activities for Wednesday, March 19

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

Spelling: Students started making their Words to Learn lists from words missed on the last spelling test.

Cursive: Cursive workbook pp. 85-90 are due Friday.

Reading: Today was a reading and AR skills day.

Writing: We talked more about writing realistic and believable dialogue that sounds like real people talk.

Today was also drafting day for the novel project. Each student has a daily writing goal of 100-300 words, and your student should be about 80% complete so far. Ask your student or check StudentVue to see how much your student has done so far. The novel project is due Friday, March 28. Your student should be drafting at this point, with the goal of finishing the draft by Friday. Look below for more details.

Novel Writing Project 2014

The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-3,000 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to Lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to Lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: None today due to extra time with science. Homework is to work on MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for 15 minutes or more.

Science: We started planning the Space Fashion Show today (more details). The Space Fashion Show is our final project of our space unit. Students will work in groups to write a fashion show script that tells about the sun, moon, or earth. One student from each group will “model” a costume of the sun, moon, or earth. The Space Fashion Show is Thursday, March 27 at 2:oo. Family members are invited!

Homework is to continue to complete the activities from kit students brought home Tuesday from the energy assembly, to fill out the student booklet, and bring the booklet back by Friday.

Social Studies: We reviewed the levels (local, state, federal) and branches (executive, legislative, judicial) of the government, and tried to think of positions and jobs that the government does (here is what the students came up with).

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 0
  • Orange magnets: 0
  • Red magnets: 0
  • STAR Awards: 0
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 9): 2
  • Hours with no magnets (best: 73): 8

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Multiplication Madness

WLPCTGB
Johnston501.000
Moul220.502.5
Bell230.403
Watkins120.333
Howd140.204

Practicing our multiplication facts has helped, but we need to keep practicing! To make the tournament, we can’t finish in last place.

Notes:

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

Class activities for Tuesday, March 18

Tuesday, March 18th, 2014

Spelling: None today.

Cursive: Cursive workbook pp. 85-90 are due Friday.

Reading: None today due to an assembly.

Writing: We talked more about using fresh language in writing, using new words or using words in different ways. That also includes writing different kinds of sentences that don’t all sound the same.

Today was also drafting day for the novel project. Each student has a daily writing goal of 100-300 words, and your student should be about 70% complete so far. Ask your student or check StudentVue to see how much your student has done so far. The novel project is due Friday, March 28. Your student should be drafting at this point. Look below for more details.

Novel Writing Project 2014

The final piece of the 3rd Marking Period will be our final fiction project of the year. Students will write and publish a novel. Each student will write their own novel, with a word goal minimum of 1,000-3,000 words, based on their reading level (each student’s minimum writing goal is equal to their reading level multiplied by 500). The novels will be written in Google Docs (docs.mrhowd.com) to make use of the word count feature. Final novels will be uploaded to Lulu.com and published as paperback books, which can be purchased for reasonable prices. So yes, students will actually write and publish their own novels. This project is based on the National Novel Writing Month Young Writers program. Here are more details:

  • Here are some novels written by former students:
  • If friends and family would like to order a paperback version of the book, we will upload the final texts to Lulu.com. Most books will cost between $5 and $10.
  • Half of this grade will be if students complete their own, personal word count goal.

Math: We practiced multiplying multiples of ten using mental math. Journal P7-2 matches this skill. Students also practiced math skills using Khan Academy. Homework is to work on MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for 15 minutes or more if there’s time.

Science: We learned that the moon revolves once around the earth in about 27 days, and it also rotates once on its axis in 27 days.  The moon rotates and revolves once in the same amount of time. Homework is to finish the Earth and Moon Movement review page.

We also went to an assembly about energy. Each student received a kit of energy-saving materials, including CFL bulbs, a shower head, and a faucet aerator. There is a student booklet that includes some activities to try at home. Homework is to complete the activities, fill out the student booklet, and bring the booklet back by Friday.

Social Studies: None today due to an assembly.

Behavior Update:

  • Yellow magnets: 1
  • Orange magnets: 0
  • Red magnets: 0
  • STAR Awards: 0
  • Magnets moved this week (goal: 9): 2
  • Hours with no magnets (best: 73): 1

Check your student’s Personal and Social Growth grade online to see if your student moved their magnet.

Multiplication Madness

WLPCTGB
Johnston501.000
Moul220.502.5
Bell230.403
Watkins120.333
Howd140.204

Practicing our multiplication facts has helped, but we need to keep practicing! To make the tournament, we can’t finish in last place.

Notes:

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