Welcome to the final week of February! I think we will all welcome March with open arms! First of all, there will be a sub, Melissa Simar, today, February 25. My daughter is sick and I’ll be at home with her. This will be a brief post, but I’ll cover everything.
Language Arts- This week we will be doing a story selection called Smokejumpers. The question of the week is “How can we prepare for emergencies?” This is an expository text, and we will be focusing on the author’s purpose for creating this story, as well as honing in on important ideas in this and the accompanying texts we’ll be reading. Spelling words will come home today. Please make sure that your students are getting their Lexia and Spelling City time in. Please also make sure that your student is reading a biography for a video book report due at the end of 3rd term. Math-We are continuing our work with fractions. We have been simplifying fractions, and finding common denominators. Towards the end of the week, we’ll be covering improper fractions. Keep ALEKS topics and Reflex minutes going for homework. The test on Ch. 8 will likely be at the end of this week. Science- Mrs. Meredith will be doing water cycle posters. History- We will be focusing on Westward Expansion along the Oregon Trail. Please keep in mind that all students should have a partner and a plan about a craft that he or she is going to sell during our Trading Post at the Rendezvous. Please have a conversation with your student about what they are planning to sell on March 8th. They need to come up with a product, a reasonable price point (Beaver Bucks are the currency), and some advertisement in the form of a poster that draws customers. Each year there are the kids/parents who don’t plan, and the kids come to school nothing to sell. This is really hard on the student, so I’m asking you to please have the conversation early. Thanks! That’s all for this week. Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. Have a Great Week!!!
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Hello! I hope that you all had a fantastic day off yesterday! I can hardly believe that there are only 3 months left of this school year! We are full steam ahead to get as much learning in as possible! Thank you for all that you are doing at home to make sure that your students are doing their homework.
This week for the story selection, we are reading about Encyclopedia Brown. Many of you will remember those mystery stories from when you were kids. I read as many of them as I could get my hands on! It is a work of realistic fiction, which means that it could actually happen in real life. We will be focusing on character traits and plot development. This week for writing, we will be doing an opinion/argumentative essay. This is a tough new concept, but for the first foray into this type of essay, I think the students are doing a fantastic job. Spelling lists came home today, so please look for them, and make sure your student is getting their Spelling City work in. Students should have chosen a biography to read by now. The book report will be a 2-3 minute video report in which the student is dressed like, and speaks as if they are the individual from the book. I will have more specific details about the book report next week. The book report will be due on 3/25, which is the day before the end of 3rd term. In math, we are continuing our work on equivalent fractions. As we proceed, we'll be learning about reducing fractions to their lowest forms, and then comparing and ordering fractions. Overall, they're doing a great job. Make sure you reinforce the concepts by letting your student help you measure when you're baking or cooking. The real-world application can really make a difference! In science, the students will be using data to to evaluate weather predictions. Make sure that they have access to your weather app. KSL is a great resource. For history, we are preparing for the Mountain Man Rendezvous, coming up on Friday, 3/8. Students are busily earning Beaver Bucks, which will act as currency during the trading post portion of the day. I am looking for parent volunteers to come help us out that day. It's a great way to earn your volunteer hours. You would be helping run some games, bringing/serving food, and helping the trading post run smoothly. You might even wear your coonskin hat! Please make sure that your student has a simple outfit (think cowboys, Native Americans, pioneers, mountain men) to wear that day, and that he/she is making some homemade items to "sell" during our trading post. If you are interested in helping out in the Rendezvous, please email me back. There will be a short informative meeting this coming Friday directly after school. Hello and welcome to Hope and Kindness Week! A huge thank you to Amy Dansie for decorating our door. Amy has been so great about keeping our door looking fantastic. Mrs. Kinikini has worked hard to make sure that all ELA students feel loved and cared-for this week. There will be activities each day, so ask your students about it.
In math, we started lesson 1 of chapter 8 today. We are entering the world of fractions! In language arts, we are reading a selection entitled "Seeker of Knowledge". The question of the week is, "How can knowing another language create understanding?" We have a few students in our class who are able to speak another language, or have parents who are able to speak another language, so that should create some interesting class discussions. By now, you and your student should have chosen a biography to read for our Term 3 book reports. More info to come about the specific assignment. For now, get reading! In Utah History, we will be finishing up with Mountain Men, and the impact they had on our culture. In science, the students will be continuing their journey through the water cycle with Mrs. Meredith. As always, please make sure that your student is working on ALEKS, Lexia, and Spelling City at home for their homework. For Valentine's Day, students may bring a box or envelope made at home on Thursday morning. They may also bring Valentine's Day cards for 27 students. We will not be having a party, but we will be learning about St. Valentine, and exchanging cards. Please let me know if there are ever any questions or concerns. Have a great week! Hello Parents,
It was wonderful visiting with many of you in the classroom during conferences. I was struck at the love and devotion that is so evident in your families. Thanks for coming and for doing the at-home conferences, as well! This week is a full-length, regular week (thank heavens). We will be learning about the Navajo Code Talkers in language arts. It's one of my favorite units, and we will be talking about why secret codes are sometimes necessary. We will be making some ciphers, and talking about historical ways people have made coded messages. We will be working on sequencing when talking about events in a text, as well as emphasizing important ideas when writing or reading a text. Spelling words will be coming home on Monday (as they do every Monday), so look for that as you help your student prepare for the spelling test. In math, we are practicing equations with multiple operations. This can be a confusing because of the variables involved, but on Friday, we made "operation machines" with paper plates for the variables, rubber bands for the parentheses, and note cards for the different numbers on which to run the operations. By the end of the class, 100% of students in attendance had finished the assignment and most felt like "that was sooo easy!" Next week, we will get a little more complicated, and then the test for ch. 7 will be on Wed. or Thursday. Keep up the ALEKS and Reflex! In history, we will be learning about the fur trade in Utah, mountain men, relations with the Native American population, and the Mountain Man Rendezvous. The 4th grade rendezvous will occur on 3/8. It's a costumed affair, and we will need some parent volunteers to come spend a Friday facilitating old-timey vittles, games, and a trading post. More about that later, but at least you can clear the date if you're interested in helping out. The students will be making homemade items to sell or barter using "Beaver Bucks" that they will start earning this Monday. This is a 'dadgummed' fun tradition that's been going on for at least 9 years at ELA. I'll send some pictures from past years on Dojo to give you an idea of what the day looks like. *Important* Students will begin playing recorders this term in music. I will be sending a hard copy order form home on Monday, and I will email the soft copy in case you'd like to pay the office online. We asked parents to order these recorders at the beginning of the year, and only 2 have been ordered...so here's another request. 4th graders in Utah have to play the recorder!! Hahaha! *Important* - Starting 2/4/19, I will only be accepting late work 2 days after the original due date. If it is turned in within 2 days of the original due date, you will receive 50%. If you have been absent, you will have as long as you were gone to turn in your homework. If your papers are turned in 2 days after the original due date. You will receive 0 credit. Last, but not least. 3rd term book report is a biography. Please help your student find a challenging (for them) book about someone that he or she is interested in. We will be making a short video book report dressed as that character to show the class. I love these! More specifics to come, but for now, get started on the book. That's it! Have a great week! Thanks for reading. P.S. One last thing. We will not be having an official Valentine's Day Party, but we will be exchanging Valentine Cards (if you'd like your student to participate) and non-food items (if desired). Please have your student make some sort of Valentine's box at home to bring the morning of the 14th, to collect the Valentine's cards from their friends. There are 27 children (14 boys and 13 girls) in our class. |