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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.

Spelling: We reviewed the fact that some words have silent letters (knot, write, become, listen, less, answer)

Cursive: A cursive reviewed page is available and due Monday.

Reading: We started reading our shared reading book, Esperanza Rising, about a girl from 1930s Mexico that struggles through tragedies and starts a new life in America. We also practiced questioning as a reading strategy.

Writing: Today was the final work day for the first piece of writing, a personal narrative about a memory or event, that students have been working on. The piece is due into portfolios on Monday, September 26.

Math: None today due to the half day schedule.

Science: We watched the next part of the Science Court case about how to use data to make conclusions.

Social Studies: None today due to the half day schedule.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 2
• Orange magnets: 0
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: ?): 6

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

Notes:

• Picture Day is Monday, September 26!
• 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.

Cursive: A cursive reviewed page is available and due Friday.

Reading: None today due to extreme inefficiencies with our time. Our class is still struggling with early fourth grade mistakes, such as talking, not listening, not following directions, lack of participation, being impulsive, etc. There are a total of 26 different lists of mistakes on our class whiteboard that students are still struggling with. Once we can stop spending our energy on wasteful tasks, we’ll be able to focus on more important things. Ask your student if they have any ideas on how our class can improve.

Writing: We talked about finding a focus for writing. For example, a student may choose to write about Christmas Break. But that’s long time and a huge topic. Maybe the best part of Christmas Break was New Year’s Eve, and the best part of that day was watching the ball drop. The topic went from two weeks, to one day, to one hour. The best writing is focused on just the best parts.

Students also continued to work on their first piece of writing, a personal narrative about a memory or event, which is due into portfolios on Monday, September 26.

Math: Students worked on a Math pretest today.

Science: We didn’t get much done today. See the Reading section above.

Social Studies: We learned about Michigan’s economic activities, resources and goods.

Behavior Update:

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

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 reviewed common spelling patterns for the long o sound: oa, o, ow, o-consonant-e.

Cursive: A cursive reviewed page is available and due Friday.

Reading: We practiced the “Five Finger Rule” for selecting books. Students count how many unknown words they read on a page (of about one hundred words). If a student doesn’t know more than five words, that book might be too difficult for them at this time.

We also reviewed how to think of interesting open-ended questions. Good readers are curious and always thinking of questions as they read, such as:

• What if…?
• Why do you think…?
• Have you ever…?
• How would you feel if…?

Writing: None today due to inefficiencies with time caused by poor choices and talking. The first piece of writing, a personal narrative about a memory or event, is due into portfolios on Monday, September 26 (new date).

Math: We reviewed repeated addition and multiplication. We also reviewed skip counting by twos, fives and nines as a way to add and multiply. Homework is to complete Math Journal P1-2.

Science: Teams worked on graphing data and looked for patterns. Homework is to finish the graph, if not done in class, and to write a sentence comparing the graphs.

Social Studies: None today due to Math Skills. Today, students used Khan Academy to practice math skills. Khan Academy is a great way for students to practice math and learn new skills. They can even use it at home or from any internet connected computer!

Behavior Update:

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

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 looked for common spelling patterns for the long o sound.

Cursive: A lowercase cursive review page is available and due on Friday.

Reading: Students received their latest STAR Reading Levels and we talked about yearly goals. Your students should be bringing a STAR Parent Letter home today.

Writing: None today due to technology.

The first piece of writing, a personal narrative about a memory or event, is due into portfolios on Friday, September 23.

Math: Students completed a STAR Math test today. Check JupiterGrades to see what your student’s STAR Math Level is.

We also continued to review multiplication and addition sentences. Homework is to complete Math Journal p. P1-1.

Science: None today due to Math Skills.

Social Studies: Students worked in groups to complete an Economic Terms Organizer. We also started reading about some of Michigan’s economic activities. Homework is to finish the Economic Terms Organizer p. 5, if not done in class.

Behavior Update:

• Yellow magnets: 2
• Orange magnets: 1
• Red magnets: 0
• STAR Awards: 0
• Magnets moved this week (goal: ?): 3

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.