Archive for September, 2015

Class activities for Wednesday, September 30

Wednesday, September 30th, 2015

Spelling: None today.

Cursive: Cursive worksheet pp. 7-9 are available and due on Monday.

Reading: None today due to the fall fundraiser kick-off. The fall fundraiser is for school supplies, assemblies, and end-of-the-year field trips. It is not for the Mackinac trip. Our fourth grade Mackinac trip is on May this year and student costs are $100. There will be a separate fundraiser for this trip later in the year.

Writing: Students worked on prewriting conferences today by sharing their prewriting with a partner. Each partner had the job of adding at least five helpful comments or curious questions to their partner’s prewriting ideas. Homework is to finish adding at least five prewriting comments on their partner’s document, if not done in class.

Our next piece of writing is another another personal narrative, due Friday, October 23. Your student should have a list prewriting ideas by now and ready to start drafting their story tomorrow.

Also, students were given a colored file folder today. This will be their writing portfolio. Students were asked to decorate the portfolio with pictures, stickers, drawings, and other things appropriate for school. I’ll laminate the folders next week. We’ll use these portfolios to collect writing throughout the year. Homework is to decorate the portfolio by Monday.

Math: Students used Moby Max to practice math skills today.

Homework is to practice MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for at least 15 minutes.

Science: We reviewed the Magnetic Observations experiment today. We learned that magnets don’t “stick to metal,” they only stick to “certain kinds of metal.” Today, we learned of two of those metals: iron and steel.

Social Studies: None today due to our reading skills practice day using MobyMax Reading Stories.

Notes:

  • We had a team meeting today as a class to discuss some of the poor choices being made. A few students have been hurting our learning time with interruptions and distractions. We’ve talked about this and practiced many times at recess. The class was honest and had several helpful ideas during our meeting. Hopefully this will allow us to move forward and not be wasteful of the limited time we have at school. Consider asking your student about this and see what they say.
  • Students should be working 40 minutes each school night during their Daily Homework Time, even if there is no official “homework” from class that day.
  • Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
  • Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
  • View grades, assignments, and attendance at ParentVue and StudentVue.

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

Energy Fair 2015

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Energy Fair 2015

BioBlitz 2015

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

BioBlitz 2015

Your student should work 40 minutes each night

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Daily Homework Time

Students should plan on about 30-50 minutes of homework each school day (ten minutes per grade level), not counting time to read. It’s best to pick a consistent time each night, such as after dinner, or right after school–whatever works for your family. The important idea is that your student is working at least 30 minutes every night, even if there is no actual homework assigned from school. Here’s a sample schedule:

Math

Writing

  • Time: 15 minutes or more
  • Work on the current writing piece.
  • Continue from the work that was started at school.

Homework from class or other practice

  • Time: about 15 minutes or less, based on what was completed in class.
  • Finish up science experiments or social studies notes from class.
  • No homework from class? Do some of these things:
    • Cursive handwriting, reading aloud with fluency, spelling words, learning practice at Khanmath facts, or reading, science or language skills at Khan Acacdemy.

Reading

  • Time: 20 minutes or more
  • This is not part of the daily homework time. It’s extra! That means 40 minutes + 20 minutes. That’s because reading is that important!
  • Students could read books from home, library books, fiction stories, informational books, or at Epic or other digital reading sites.

Class activities for Tuesday, September 29

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

Spelling: None today.

Cursive: Cursive worksheet pp. 7-9 are available and due on Friday.

Reading: None today due to extra time with science.

Writing: We talked about making a list of ideas from the beginning, middle, and end of a story. This can be used like a checklist later when the story is being drafted.

Students continued to prewrite today. Our next piece of writing is another another personal narrative, due Friday, October 23.

Math: Students used Khan Academy to practice math skills today.

Homework is to practice MobyMax Math or Khan Academy for at least 15 minutes.

Science: Today was the Energy Fair!

Social Studies: None today due to extra science time.

Notes:

  • Students should be working 40 minutes each school night during their Daily Homework Time, even if there is no official “homework” from class that day.
  • Check out our class calendar to stay up-to-date.
  • Visit our Links page: keep track of all the websites we use for learning, or try something new.
  • View grades, assignments, and attendance at ParentVue and StudentVue.

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