Important News: As you know, WKCE testing starts next Wednesday, November 2nd, for our 4th graders. Please make sure that your child gets good sleep and healthy foods for meals. Fourth grade is an especially important year for the WKCE as students are tested in all subject areas.
Thank you so much to those who volunteered to help with our Halloween celebration on Monday, October 31st! Students will be able to change into costumes (if they choose) at approximately 1:30. We have been asked to allow only 5 minutes for students to put their costumes on, so please keep this in mind as you and your child plan for Monday.
Math: Students have been working to understand the relationship between multiplication and division, understanding patterns in multiples of numbers, and playing games to help them with their fact knowledge. Games that could be played at home include "Baseball Multiplication," "Multiplication Top-It," and "Beat the Calculator." Ask your child how to play, or look up directions in our Math Student Reference Book. Students who already know their multiplication facts quickly can focus in on practicing division. Throughout the year, students will be taking 3 minute, 50 facts tests to measure their progress.
Due to WKCE testing, studylink homework will be irregular. Some days we will not have time to learn new concepts, but this will be a great time to practice facts at school and at home.
Literacy: In preparation for the WKCE testing, students have been looking at sample language arts questions to determine which sentence in a paragraph does not belong, where to best insert a given sentence in a paragraph, and how to use transition words to create a more fluent paragraph. Next Monday and Tuesday we will be looking at how best to take a reading test, by looking at the questions before the reading selection, and finding words that signal literal comprehension versus deeper comprehension.
In reading we have also been working on word accuracy. Ask your child to share some strategies he or she has to accurately say words that may be unfamiliar at first glance. We have been working on making meaningful chunks of words, finding words within words, and taking off prefixes and suffixes to make the rest of the word more manageable.
In writing, we have been looking at what authors of personal narratives do to make a great story. Students have learned that thinking about emotions and turning points in their lives elicit emotions. These are some ways we have generated ideas for our new personal narratives. Ask your child what his or her personal narrative is about.
Social Studies: Did you know that Wisconsin was once almost all covered with glaciers? Have you ever been to the western part of the state to the beautiful hills and valleys? Student are learning about the effects glaciers had on the land, and how much of the Western Uplands were not touched by glaciers. Wisconsin was thought to be like the western part of the state is today, until it was flattened by glaciers. Many lakes and rivers were formed by the scraping and melting of glaciers.
Over the next couple of weeks we will be learning about the Early People of Wisconsin and the similarities and differences between these groups. We will be thinking like historians, who must use various clues to piece history together.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
October 14, 2011
Math: As we wrap up unit two, we all have a solid base with which to move forward. Our understanding of place value has helped us be successful with addition and subtraction. We will use that foundation to help us with number stories, understanding whether or not number sentences are true or false, and determining "What's my rule?" problems. Unit three will also allow students to practice multiplication and division facts, introducing "factors" and "fact families." Please help your child practice multiplication/division facts. Fact triangles will be coming home for practice. Knowing these facts are crucial to the math we will come across soon!
Literacy: Readers constantly ask questions in their minds as they read. Sometimes the questions come out of curiosity for what will come next in a text. Sometimes the questions are to clarify understanding. Students have also been thinking about how we anwer questions. At times we can find answers directly in the text. Other times we must infer (use text clues and our background knowledge). Sometimes we have to go to an outside source. Even with all of those options, our questions are not always answered.
We are also thinking about questioning the meaning of words. If we are in a good fit book, we often come across a couple of words that we are unfamiliar with. We have been reviewing and practicing what readers do when they try to determine the meaning of a new word. Readers read-on to find more context clues, they substitute other words that would make sense in the sentence, they look for familiar words within the word, and they use picture clues. Ask your child to find a new word while he or she is reading. Together, discuss what the word might mean.
Students are responsible for adding 2 to 3 new words per week to their vocabulary section of their reading notebooks, then attempting to use those words in their writing.
As you have noticed, spelling words have been coming home as homework. Students are practicing words that are developmentally appropriate. Starting this week students will be getting new words on Fridays, and testing on the following Thursday. Tests will only consist of approximately six words from the list, then "mystery" words that are not on the list but follow the same patterns. This is to get to students to realize that spelling is not just about memorizing words, but understanding spelling patterns. I will also look for evidence of their patterns in their writing, which is the ultimate goal of word study. Students should practice spelling each night, at home, using the "Tic-Tac-Toe" sheet. Spelling City and Wordle are fun ways to practice too, but do not help with understanding patterns.
Next week we will dig deeper into personal narrative writing. We've taken a break from writing to look closely at what makes a sentence a sentence. Ask your child what a sentence is. Ask about subjects and predicates, and nouns and verbs.
Social Studies: Where in the world is Wisconsin? Students are working to understand where Wisconsin is compared to the rest of the world, and what surrounds our great state. We are looking at physical borders (natural) like the Mississippi River, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, etc. We are also looking at political borders (imaginary lines), like our southern border shared with Illinois. Next week students will be zooming into Wisconsin's five physical regions, and understanding the differences in those regions. This basis will give us an understanding of the resources early people of Wisconsin had, and then why non-native people settled in certain locations.
Literacy: Readers constantly ask questions in their minds as they read. Sometimes the questions come out of curiosity for what will come next in a text. Sometimes the questions are to clarify understanding. Students have also been thinking about how we anwer questions. At times we can find answers directly in the text. Other times we must infer (use text clues and our background knowledge). Sometimes we have to go to an outside source. Even with all of those options, our questions are not always answered.
We are also thinking about questioning the meaning of words. If we are in a good fit book, we often come across a couple of words that we are unfamiliar with. We have been reviewing and practicing what readers do when they try to determine the meaning of a new word. Readers read-on to find more context clues, they substitute other words that would make sense in the sentence, they look for familiar words within the word, and they use picture clues. Ask your child to find a new word while he or she is reading. Together, discuss what the word might mean.
Students are responsible for adding 2 to 3 new words per week to their vocabulary section of their reading notebooks, then attempting to use those words in their writing.
As you have noticed, spelling words have been coming home as homework. Students are practicing words that are developmentally appropriate. Starting this week students will be getting new words on Fridays, and testing on the following Thursday. Tests will only consist of approximately six words from the list, then "mystery" words that are not on the list but follow the same patterns. This is to get to students to realize that spelling is not just about memorizing words, but understanding spelling patterns. I will also look for evidence of their patterns in their writing, which is the ultimate goal of word study. Students should practice spelling each night, at home, using the "Tic-Tac-Toe" sheet. Spelling City and Wordle are fun ways to practice too, but do not help with understanding patterns.
Next week we will dig deeper into personal narrative writing. We've taken a break from writing to look closely at what makes a sentence a sentence. Ask your child what a sentence is. Ask about subjects and predicates, and nouns and verbs.
Social Studies: Where in the world is Wisconsin? Students are working to understand where Wisconsin is compared to the rest of the world, and what surrounds our great state. We are looking at physical borders (natural) like the Mississippi River, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, etc. We are also looking at political borders (imaginary lines), like our southern border shared with Illinois. Next week students will be zooming into Wisconsin's five physical regions, and understanding the differences in those regions. This basis will give us an understanding of the resources early people of Wisconsin had, and then why non-native people settled in certain locations.
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