January 30, 2012

Math: On Thursday students will take the unit 6 math test and complete the Open Response for unit 6 on Friday.

In unit 7, students will be focusing on understanding fractions, what they are, how we add and subtract them, how we make equivalent fractions, and then, how those fractions compare with decimals and probability. Students will each have a fraction card set that will really help them with their understanding. Students will be using pictures, blocks, and paper and pencil methods to develop our knowledge of fractions. At home, please help your child by pointing out how you may use fractional amounts in cooking or other aspects of daily life. Use dry macaroni noodles, beads, pennies, or anything else that you have a lot of, to show how to group items equally into halves, thirds, fourths, fifths, etc. Discuss how division and fractions are related.

Literacy: In reading we have started to learn about the elements of a story. In 4th grade, students break fictional stories down into elements or parts. The beginning of a story includes the introduction of the characters, setting, and goal/problem of the main character(s). The middle of the story includes the main events which are directly related to the goal/problem of the character(s). These events usually involve conflicts which make it difficult for the goal to be reached. Toward the end of the story, we reach the climax, or turning point in the story, which leads the main character(s) to either reaching his/her goal or not (the resolution). Students will be practicing mapping out various stories that we have read demonstrating their understanding of the elements.

Story mapping will help students as they move into their next writing project, which they've been so anxious to write all year--fictional stories. With their background knowledge of writing personal narratives and reading and hearing many fictional stories this year, and doing an author study, they now have the experience they need in order to write fiction. Aside from story elements, we will be focusing on making sure to have a good mixture of dialogue and description, and on paragraphing in fiction. Students will spend many days analyzing how authors paragraph based on characters speaking, the setting, etc.

Science: Our human body unit has begun with a lot of excitement. Students were introduced to our "new students" Bob and Fred, who will help us on our journey to learn about the organ systems, how they work together, diseases and injuries related to the systems, and how we can make healthy choices for a healthy body. This week students will begin a group project in which each group will be the "experts" on an organ system. Each group will research the organ system they are assigned to and teach the rest of the class about it. Each group will have an outline of a body, then draw and label the organs in the body, and provide facts about the system around the outline of the body.

January 17, 2012

Math: This week you will see the Partial Quotients method of division in action. Don't forget to look at the Unit 6 Family Letter or the Student Reference book for more information on how this method works. If your student is struggling with this homework, or any homework, please let me know in the agenda, and I can give extra support at school.

Literacy: Our students are so excited about gmail and google-docs! Our media specialist, Ann Reise, has been working with our students to introduce these great tools. Students have been made aware of the importance of being safe online, and the importance of asking for permission from teachers and parents to use the internet. Please be involved in what your child is doing online.

One of the exciting features of gmail is google-docs. Students are able to create documents that can be shared, commented on, and/or edited by teachers and students. This allows students who have internet access at home, to work on writing projects and to give and get feedback on their projects right at home. We will be experimenting with this this week. One of your student's assignments is to type one paragraph of their author essay into google-docs. On Thursday, Mrs. Reise will show us how to effectively share, comment on, and edit the work.

In reading we are discussing how and why we form opinions of characters. Their actions, words, looks, and how other characters interact with them all play a part in building our opinions. We are learning that if we give an opinion, it is important to back it up with evidence from the text or our background knowledge. Students will also be thinking about how our opinions sometimes change as we get more information. We call this synthesizing.

Science: Students have presented their PowerPoint presentations on the invertebrate group they researched. They all did a great job! This week we will look into how organisms are formed by cells, tissues, organs, and organ systems. Students will gain a general understanding of some of the organ systems animals have. This will lead us right into our next science unit on the human body, where students will focus on how our various organ systems play a part in helping us move.

Note: Calling all parents! The PSC is looking for nominees for president and secretary. If you would like to be more involved in your child’s school please consider one of these positions. Currently there has been no interest. You could share the position with a friend if you don’t want to do it all alone. The PSC offers many great community building opportunities for students and families. Please talk with your neighbors or sign yourself up! Contact Mrs. G. or one of us if you are interested or want to know more.

Monday, January 2, 2012

I hope you had a great winter break! 2012 is here! This is a look into how our class will start off the new year.

Math: This week we will wrap-up unit 5. Students will review for the unit 5 assessment next Monday, then take the written test on Tuesday, followed by the unit 5 Open Response on Wednesday.

In unit 6, students will be introduced to the Partial Quotients algorithm for division. Just like with all of the other Partial ______ methods, students solve parts of the answer in multiple steps, then add the parts together for the final answer. Again, this method helps students think about place value, and promotes mental math. Angle measurement and angle drawing will also be introduced in unit 6. Students will use full and half-circle protractors (provided in class) to both draw and measure given angles.

Literacy: In reading students will learn how to evaluate an author that they enjoy. We will complete an author study together, as a class, based on the author, Patricia Polacco. We will analyze what she does as a writer to engage her readers, and the common themes in her books. Students will then do something similar with an author of their choice.

After we spend some time on the commonly misused homophones "there," "their," "they're," and "your" and "you're," we will write about our author study. Students will build their skills of writing a non-narrative piece focusing on forming a thesis statement, paragraphing, and supporting opinions with evidence.

Science: Before break we began our animal structures unit which we will continue until the end of second quarter. Students will understand how animals are classified according to certain characteristics. They will understand the differences between vertebrates and invertebrates, and we will compare the complexity of organ systems amongst the major animal phyla. Small groups will create a short PowerPoint on an invertebrate group. This group will be responsible for teaching the rest of the class about this invertebrate group.