Friday, April 14, 2017

Update!

April Update

We have been soooooo busy this week!  
It was so nice to have a break and it sounds like we all had great
adventures!

We spent the week before spring break working on PIRATE activities!!  
We researched pirates, wrote pirate stories, built pirate ships, designed pirate flags....so much fun!

Since we have been back, we have jumped right back in!

Here are some highlights of what we are working on:
  • Science:  Motion and Design -- learning about Laws of Motion and using those laws to design, build and test designs.
  • Reading:  Reading about Science in Motion
  • Writing:  Learning how to write LIterary Essays.  Responding DEEPLY to text.
  • Phonics:  Moving on with Morphology!
  • Math:  Spending another week or two in fractions, percents and decimals.











And the BIG news.....We have been practicing for ISTEP+ part 2.
We will have ONLINE I-STEP testing on the following days....

Monday 4/17
Tuesday 4/18
Thursday 4/20
Friday 4/21
Monday 4/24
Tuesday 4/25
Wednesday 4/26

Most of our tests are from 8:30-9:30.....so a GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP is crucial!!!

Thank you for all you can do to get those kiddos in bed!



Thursday, March 9, 2017

Update!!

As we near the end of the 3rd Quarter....WOW!
I have some dates for you...

Friday, March 10          End of 3rd Grading Period
Friday, March 17          Report Cards
Friday March 31          Spring Break Begins
Monday, april 10          Back to School

Hang on tight!  
This last bit of 4th grade will FLY by!

Friday, February 17, 2017

Building Stamina!

We spent some time this morning talking about having a 
FIXED     VS.   GROWTH
Mindset.

Ask your child about the difference.

With a GROWTH mindset, we believe that we CAN learn new
things.  That we CAN grow our brain!

During the 2nd semester of 4th grade, we build a lot of Stamina.
We write more.
We read more.
We do more complicated math.

We expect A LOT.

The kids are feeling a bit overwhelmed.

Here is what I reminded them...
  • If we make mistakes....we learn.
  • If it is hard....keep trying.
  • We don't quit.
  • We "Just keep swimming".
  • Repeated practice makes us better.
  • We may not get it YET...but we will.
  • We MUST use our time well at school.
  • We can ALWAYS take work home if we need more practice or more time.


Here is a video that we watched on the Growth Mindset.




Sometimes we all need a little PEP talk!

Monday, February 13, 2017

Pizza Party!!!

We have some EXCITING news!!

Our very own Erin Suhy wrote an essay for an 
essay contest in the Current in Carmel.

Her essay WON!!!!!

Here it is...

How sweet is she???
We will let you know when her essay will appear 
in the Current.  She will be FAMOUS!!!!

And because her essay won.....
we get a PIZZA party for our whole class!!

We will have the PIZZA PARTY on 
Friday, February 17 at our regular lunch time.

IF you would like to help us make it into a 
full, healthy meal, let me know!  
We would love donations of a veggie side, a fruit side, a dessert 
and drinks for 26 people!

IF your child would rather not eat pizza or has a gluten allergy,
please send a packed lunch or buy a school lunch that day!

Congratulations, Erin!!!

Thursday, February 9, 2017

February Update!!

We are well into our
2nd Semester!


Here are some updates:

Math:  We have wrapped up our unit on long division and mutli-digit multiplication.  We are now working on fractions.  Watch your child's homework as it comes home each day.  It will give you a good idea of the skills we are working on and you can see how independent they are!

Science:  We have just about finished our unit in glaciers and landforms.  We are moving into rock abrasion and layers of the earth.

Writing:  We are finishing up our Informational Chapter Book on Pioneers.  We will spend next week publishing those books.  Watch for these masterpieces to come home late next week.  We will then begin writing an informational chapter book on Cataclysmic events.  We will start with research late next week.

Reading:  I have been checking in with your children on how they are doing with their Annotated Chapter Book.  The PTO purchased a chapter book for each student so that they could highlight, underline and write their thoughts in the book!  Check in with your child.  Are they on track to finish their book by Tuesday, February 21??

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Annotating Books!

Here we are.....devouring our new books!!  Thank you CE PTO!!!
BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImage BloggerImageAll this reading makes a teacher's heart happy!

Thursday, January 19, 2017

River Tables

We learned so much about the parts of a river.  Some of our learning came from reading....bust most of our learning came from doing!!!!!  Here we are making our own River Tables!!
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Ask your child if he/she can name the different parts of a river!!