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Spelling: Today was a preview of upcoming spelling words.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 4-6 are available and due on Friday.

Reading: Students received Literature Circles notebooks and bookmarks today. We’ll use these for students to record their thoughts when they are reading.

Writing: We looked at a scoring guide that I will use to grade student writing. We reviewed the parts and talked about what I’ll be looking for in their writing. Here’s an example of how I score writing and the types of feedback I give students. I’ll grade a piece of each student’s writing with this scoring guide about every three weeks.

Students also worked on editing today for spelling, capitals, periods, and other mistakes.

Our first piece of writing, a personal narrative, will be due Sunday, September 22. Homework is to work on writing for 15 minutes. Your student should be revising at this point by adding more writing or making improvements.

Math: We practiced writing numbers in expanded, standard, and word form. Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: We read about how sedimentary rocks form and how scientists use observations to make inferences.

Social Studies: We read more about the type of government we have.

Character Strength: We are learning about curiosity this week.

Notes:

• Tomorrow is Picture Day!
• Buying chromebook insurance for $25 can save you from a $50-200 repair bill if a screen breaks or a keyboard is damaged. Payments are due by September 26 and you can pay online. Here are more details about chromebook insurance.
• Have you started a Daily Homework Time with your student? If homework causes tears or battles, or if you have had to deal with missing assignments or low grades, read more about Daily Homework Time and start one with your student. It will help!
• 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 finished our spelling pretest today.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 4-6 are available and due on Friday.

Reading: We finished reading a story about a dragon and a person who had to defeat the dragon with problem-solving. We also learned about making predictions, putting events in order, and what fairy tales are usually like.

Writing: We talked about focusing on a short time in writing. If a student wanted to write about interesting events that happen during lunch, they should focus just on lunch, not on the bus, in the classroom, at recess, or what they did at home. Focusing on a short time lets the reader spend their energy on the best parts.

Students also spent some time editing for spelling, capitals, periods, and other mistakes.

Our first piece of writing, a personal narrative, will be due Sunday, September 22. Homework is to work on writing for 15 minutes. Your student should be editing at this point.

Math: We practiced using place value to make a large or small number from a set of digits. Some students also practiced writing numbers in expanded and standard form. Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: We read more about how fossils can give us clues about the past.

Social Studies: We started reading about questions political scientists ask and what our government is like.

Character Strength: We are learning about curiosity this week.

Notes:

• Picture Day is Friday!
• Chromebook insurance payments are due by September 26.
• Have you started a Daily Homework Time with your student? If homework causes tears or battles, or if you have had to deal with missing assignments or low grades, read more about Daily Homework Time and start one with your student. It will help!
• 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.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 4-6 are available and due on Friday.

Reading: We read a story about a dragon and a person who had to defeat the dragon with problem-solving.

Writing: We talked about how writers should prove what they say by including details, such as talking, action to show how the characters move, and visual details to show what things look like.

Students also worked more on revising by rereading their writing and making some changes.

Our first piece of writing, a personal narrative, will be due Sunday, September 22. Homework is to work on writing for 15 minutes. Your student should be revising at this point by adding more writing or making improvements.

Math: Students worked on a STAR Math test today. Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: None today due to extra social studies time.

Social Studies: Today we learned about the preamble to the constitution and why we have a government.

Character Strength: We are learning about curiosity this week.

Notes:

• Buying chromebook insurance for $25 can save you from a $50-200 repair bill if a screen breaks or a keyboard is damaged. Payments are due by September 26 and you can pay online. Here are more details about chromebook insurance.
• Have you started a Daily Homework Time with your student? If homework causes tears or battles, or if you have had to deal with missing assignments or low grades, read more about Daily Homework Time and start one with your student. It will help!
• 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 continued working on a spelling pretest today.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 4-6 are available and due on Friday.

Reading: Students received new reading books and we read a story about how a queen used her imagination to solve a problem.

Writing: We talked about how writers should prove what they say by including details. If a student writes that they have a secret hiding spot with lots of treasures, they should prove it by telling about some of the treasures! If they write a ride is fast, or a house is scary, or a food is delicious, they should prove it with details!

Students also worked more on drafting the end of their personal narrative. Some students who were finished started revising by looking back at their writing and making changes.

Our first piece of writing, a personal narrative, will be due Sunday, September 22. Homework is to work on writing for 15 minutes. Your student should be finishing with their draft tonight and should have about a half page written.

Math: Students worked on a STAR Math test today. Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: We wrote notes about how time and water can change land features. We also started reading about fossils and learned how fossils can be created in catastrophes such as volcanic eruptions, landslides, or floods.

Social Studies: None today due to extra science.

Character Strength: We are learning about curiosity this week.

Notes:

• Buying chromebook insurance for $25 can save you from a $50-200 repair bill if a screen breaks or a keyboard is damaged. Payments are due by September 26 and you can pay online. Here are more details about chromebook insurance.
• Have you started a Daily Homework Time with your student? If homework causes tears or battles, or if you have had to deal with missing assignments or low grades, read more about Daily Homework Time and start one with your student. It will help!
• 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 started a spelling pretest today.

Cursive: Cursive pp. 1-3 are available and due on Monday.

Reading: Students completed a STAR Reading test today.

Writing: Students created a digital writing portfolio folder in their Google Drive and shared with me. We’ll use this folder to organize our writing this year.

Students also worked more on the draft of their personal narrative. We talked about how this piece of writing should be about a half page long, at 12 point font. That would make this piece about 25 lines long. Most students still have a ways to go to get to that point.

Our first piece of writing, a personal narrative, will be due Friday, September 20. Homework is to work on writing for 15 minutes. Your student should be drafting by now and should be about halfway finished with their draft, which would be about 12 lines or so.

Math: We set class and personal goals about making progress with our first topic of place value. We also practiced using place value blocks to represent numbers. Homework is to practice math for 15 minutes using MobyMax or Khan Academy.

Science: We used a simulation to model how rivers and floods might affect earth’s features, carve out a canyon, and move sediment to new locations.

Social Studies: We finished talking about the history of the September 11 events.

Character Strength: This week we are reviewing the #OtherPeopleMatter mindset this week. This is about five things:

1. Look for the good in others.
2. Know your words and actions affect others.
3. Cheer for the success of others.
4. Support others when they struggle.
5. Give others your attention.

Notes:

• If you want to order a new McGrath shirt or other spirit wear, do that here before midnight tonight!
• No school this Friday; it’s Ally Partnership Day.
• Buying chromebook insurance for $25 can save you from a $50-200 repair bill if a screen breaks or a keyboard is damaged. Payments are due by September 26 and you can pay online. Here are more details about chromebook insurance.
• 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.