Friday October 7, 2016

Happy Friday everyone,

This morning we did some fun vocabulary review and then students wrote their Math exams. In the afternoon they wrote their Vocabulary tests. Tuesday is a half day and we will have two exams. Please come to school well rested and with healthy snacks. They will be dismissed at 11:45 am with no lunch.

Have a great weekend!

Grade 4 Quarter 1 Major Subjects

Exam Schedule

Friday October 7 (full day)	Tuesday October 11	Wednesday October 12
	8:35-9:15   Study Period	8:35-9:15   Study Period
9:15-10:00 MATH Exam	9:15-10:00    LANGUAGE Exam	9:15-10:00       SCIENCE Exam
230:3:15 Vocabulary Test Lessons 1-6	10:00-10:15       BREAK	10:00-10:15     BREAK
	10:15-11:00      Study Period	10:15-11:00     Study Period
	11:00-11:45      SOCIAL STUDIES Exam	11:00-11:45    READING Exam
	Dismissal	Dismissal

***The word of the day is STUDY!***

Thursday October 6, 2016

Good afternoon everyone,

This morning during Language we did a very thorough Grammar review and I collected their Language notebooks to give them a quarterly grade. We did another run through for our Language Festival play and started to add actions and movements. During Science we played a Jeopardy style review game.

An intense game of Jeopardy happening in Science Class!

 Important News:

The students in grades 4 and 5 have the opportunity to participate in an educational study trip to:

The Kaohsiung Science Museum                                                                

Date: Friday October 14, 2016 

Departure Time: 12:30pm

Return Time: 3:45pm

Cost to Student:  200 NT

Transportation for this activity will be provided by: BUS

* Students DO NOT need to bring a snack lunch. We will be leaving after eating the school lunch.

Please fill out the form that was sent home today and return it to school by:

                                                Tuesday October 11, 2016           


HOMEWORK:

Tomorrow you have your MATH and VOCABULARY exams. Please come to school with healthy snacks and be prepared to show me everything you have learned this quarter! Go to bed early and be well rested for tomorrow!               

Wednesday October 5, 2016

Hi everyone,

Happy Wednesday!
This morning I had a serious talk with the class about being organized and responsible. We are almost through the first quarter and by this time I expect students to come to school on time, complete the morning routine quickly, and hand in all homework which has been done to the best of their ability. I have had too many students handing in incomplete assignments or handing in homework late. From now on, if I feel it is happening too often with no valid excuse, those students will be subjected to a lunch detention which will also cause their House to lose points.

Today we did some vocabulary practice, began rehearsing for our play for Language Festival, reviewed what we have learned so far about animal reproduction in Science, and talked about women's fight for the right to vote in Social Studies.

Please check out our first ever DISK Newspaper done ENTIRELY by the middle school students!

http://www.diskg.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Newspaper-Fall-2016.pdf

A note for parents:

We talk a lot about healthy living in our class (exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, and getting    enough rest!) and one of the topics that keep coming up is bedtime. Some students go to bed later than me! I was doing some research and came upon this interesting article. Take a look if you're interested =)

http://time.com/3663796/for-better-grades-let-your-kids-sleep-more/

Some of the highlights were:

*What they found was a “significant” performance variable in math and languages that was related to a good night’s sleep.

*The National Sleep Foundation recommends that children ages five to 12 get 10-11 hours of sleep a night.

*To develop healthy sleep habits, the National Sleep Foundation suggest parents establish a  consistent bedtime routine, emphasize the need for a regular sleep schedule, keep television  and computers out of bedrooms and teach children about healthy sleep habits.


I am sending this out because of course I want the kids to get their homework done on time but not at the cost of a good night's rest. If their homework is taking them longer than an hour,that's an issue. Please let me know if this is the case so that I can give them extra help at school or try to figure out what the problem is. I aim to give them no more than 45 minutes a night but depending on the student that can take up to an hour. 

If it's getting into the night hours and they are still working please just write me a note letting me know why the work was unfinished and encourage them to go to bed early. If they stay up too late in  the evening they are tired at school the next day and can't participate or focus well anyway so it's  really not worth it. I would rather have well rested, alert kids ready to learn than ones who are too  tired to function properly.

Remember, sleep deep wake light !
=)

HOMEWORK:

**STUDY FOR EXAMS**

*Please memorize the first 3 lines of your Language Festival script by Thursday

SOCIAL STUDIES:

*Susan B. Anthony biography report is due Thursday October 6

Friday October 7: 

*Vocabulary Test Lessons 1-6

*Math Exam

***The word of the day is SLEEP!***

Tuesday October 4, 2016

Hi everyone,

This morning we had auditions for our play that we are doing for the Language Festival. Once we decided on parts we had our first read through of the script! Way to go everyone. Afterwards we did two transitions of Daily 2. During Science we learned about animal life cycles and specifically compared complete and incomplete metamorphosis. To finish we watched an incredible video showing the life cycle and metamorphosis of a monarch butterfly.  In Math we learned how to multiply three factors and everyone did wonderfully. We even had time to have a little competition and do some extra group work practice. During Social Studies we began learning about women's fight to vote.

HOMEWORK:

SCIENCE:

*Metamorphosis Venn Diagram assignment

*Please remember that your Science Notebooks will be graded for Quarter 1 tomorrow as well

READING:

*Memorize your first 3 lines by Thursday October 6

MATH:

*Workbook page 26

*If your multiplication and division skills are still not strong, please find time to practice on IXL

SOCIAL STUDIES:

*Susan B. Anthony Biography Report due on Thursday October 6

I HIGHLY suggest you do half of this assignment tonight and half tomorrow.

***The word of the day is SUFFRAGE!***

Monday October 3, 2016

Hi everyone,

This morning the students helped me to create a beautiful Fall bulletin board in our hallway. Thanks for all the help kiddos! Afterwards we did some Math practice. In Science class we talked about how animals reproduce and then used our knowledge of plant reproduction to compare and contrast.


                             

The new bulletin board on the third floor. It's all about GIVING THANKS!

This afternoon I wanted to use our last ECA period to do extra Math work so I let the students shake it out a little before they got down to work. I love those smiling faces!

HOMEWORK:

MATH:

*Workbook page 23-25

*Multiples Assignment

READING:

*Language Festival: Please memorize 3 lines from the character you would most like to play and be ready to perform them tomorrow.

SCIENCE:

*Watch Unit 3 Lesson 4 How do Animals Reproduce?
The website to login is: https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/ePC/start.do?orgID=88636067
Please make sure you BOOKMARK this website.

***The word of the day is: NEWBORN!***

Friday September 30, 2016

Happy Friday everyone!

This morning in Math we learned about multiples, square numbers, and how to use a multiplication table. I have marked and returned everyone's Math assignments. Well done to all of you! During Science class we reviewed the plant life cycle and created a diagram to show this in our notebooks.  Next we compared how different plants reproduce, some using seeds and others using spores. We even got to take a look at the fern in our classroom and inspect it for spores! During Social Studies we recapped Jim Crow laws, drew conclusions on how African American people would have felt about these laws, and started to learn about leaders in the African American community.

*disclaimer: due to the typhoon we have not been following the schedule exactly. I am switching around subjects to try and get the most important material covered before the exam!

These are photos of the students enjoying the classroom educational games during ECA. The girls are practicing their multiplication tables while the boys are practicing matching singular and plural nouns.

HOMEWORK:

SCIENCE:

*Watch Unit 3 Lesson 3 online

IXL:

*Practice any skills you want to get better at!

LANGUAGE FESTIVAL:

*Please read the first story on the script and write down 2 characters you would like to be in the performance.

***The word of the day is DOLPHIN!**

Thursday September 29, 2016

Good afternoon everyone, 

We have a lot of catching up to do so we dove right into Grammar class learning about singular and possessive nouns. The kids paid excellent attention, participated, and asked questions. Way to go! During Math we reviewed lesson 4.1 because I didn't have much voice last time we went through it. Afterwards we continued to 4.2 where we learned about arrays and fact families. During ECA I introduced students to a series of math practice and grammar practice games I created for the classroom. 

HOMEWORK:

***Important note: Because of the typhoon  I have cancelled the Lesson 6 vocab quiz tomorrow. I will test lesson 6 words on the vocabulary test October 7.***

LANGUAGE: 

*English Workbook pages 31-33

MATH:

*Please watch this video on youtube about fact families: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ8lY40uHr0

*Do Practice sheet 4.2 for homework. This is a Math assignment that will be graded. Please write nicely and do your best work.

Please note there is an updated exam schedule below:

Grade 4 Quarter 1 Major Subjects

Exam Schedule

Friday October 7 (full day)	Tuesday October 11	Wednesday October 12
	8:35-9:15   Study Period	8:35-9:15   Study Period
9:15-10:00 MATH Exam	9:15-10:00    LANGUAGE Exam	9:15-10:00      SCIENCE Exam
230:3:15 Vocabulary Test Lessons 1-6	10:00-10:15      BREAK	10:00-10:15     BREAK
	10:15-11:00      Study Period	10:15-11:00     Study Period
	11:00-11:45      SOCIAL STUDIES Exam	11:00-11:45    READING Exam
	Dismissal	Dismissal

*This schedule is open to changes between now and exam week. If you have any questions or concerns please don’t hesitate to come and talk with me.