• As students work through our science unit, they have shown great strides in accurately recording and demonstrating wonderful experiments. Science notebooks are a critical piece to our science studies. These notebooks integrate writing and scientific data collection and thought. Higher levels of thinking are required throughout all of our science units.

• Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for October 20-22nd. I have created a SignUp Genius page for parents to sign up for conferences; you should have received an email with the link to the page. If you didn't receive the email or haven't signed up for a conference spot yet, click the link below to sign up:
• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084FA4AC2EA5FB6-parent
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• I have rostered my students to Raz-Kids.com, using the school's subscription to Raz-Kids. This site gives the kids access to hundreds of eBooks and audiobooks for them to read, listen to, and record. Reading comprehension quizzes along the way show student progress. Your child can access the site on a computer tablet or phone (iOS or Android systems) via http://www.raz-kids.com/login/snisely. In addition, you, as a parent are also able to follow your child's progress! Log in as your student, click on the "Parents" link in the upper right, register and follow the instructions. Alternatively, if you prefer, you can send your email address(es) to me at snisely@jeffco.k12.co.us. Student sign in is: Teacher:  snisely  Password:  First initial, last name .  (ie:  Teacher: snisely  Passord:  TSmith

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 26th: Early Release at 1:00 & Carnival

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• Literacy: Please read the following text on fingerprints and complete the diagram as instructed.

• Math: Play the factor game below to sharpen your factor finding skills
• http://www.hoodamath.com/games/factorfeeder.html

September 15-19, 2014

Picking a "Just Right" Book

What can we do to make sure that we grow as readers? How do we know if the books that we are reading are the best for our level? We talked about the five-finger rule of picking a "just right" book this week. Make sure you're picking "just right" books!

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We are starting our next Writing unit: Poetry and Figurative Language. If you have any kid friendly poetry books, I would love to borrow them for the next three weeks. Please make sure they are clearly labeled with your child's name. Thanks in advance!

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As students work through our science unit, they have shown great strides in accurately recording and demonstrating wonderful experiments. Science notebooks are a critical piece to our science studies. These notebooks integrate writing and scientific data collection and thought. Higher levels of thinking are required throughout all of our science units.

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INSERT CARLANAN'S INFO

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 26th: Early release (1:00 PM) and Carnival

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LITERACY

Dear Students, 

This week we discussed opportunity cost during our time together in social studies.  Please write a short story that shows me that you understand the concept of opportunity cost.  Make sure that your story includes a main character, a choice with at least three options, and the final opportunity cost clearly identified.

Please click on the link below and watch this sort video to refresh your memory.

Opportunity Cost

Please label your paper with your name, student number, and your homeroom teacher's name. You may turn this in as you finish it.  The final due date is Thursday, September 18th.  

• Literacy: Please read the following four paragraphs. On a sheet of notebook paper, write the sentence that does not fit in the paragraph (this is a detail that should not be included with the rest of the text).

• Math: Follow this link and play the following math time game.
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/shape_space/time/play/

September 8-12, 2014

Thank you for helping your son/daughter study their multiplication facts!

Help Needed!  We need a mom or dad that can donate time to our class to file on Fridays for Friday Folders.  Please let me know if you can help, even  one or two times a month would be greatly appreciated.

• Most students have done an awesome job keeping up with the weekly blog and completing the homework assigned. Included in this week’s blog is a rubric for at home writing prompts (under the important forms link, under Classroom Resources on the left). Please encourage your son/daughter to read the rubric and edit and revise their writing before turning it in.
• The minutes required for Weekly Reading Logs has been changed to 100 minutes to keep everything fair between all fourth graders, between all three fourth grade classrooms.

Dates to Remember:

• Wednesday, September 10th: Cookie dough orders due
• Thursday, September 11th: Picture Retakes
• Friday, September 26th: Early release at 1:00 and Carnival

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• Please read below and complete the web on a piece of paper:

If the images do not load, please click here.

• Writing Prompt: If you found $20 on the ground, explain what you would do with it.

Notice that below we have attached the rubric for your writing prompt. Please share with your parents the discussions we had in class about following the prompt! This will also remain as a link under "Classroom Resources" on the top left side of the blog.

September 2-5, 2014

Thank you for helping your son/daughter study their multiplication facts!

• Students are working on getting their class work and homework in on time. Students are responsible for bringing a late assignment note home for any missing homework.  This is a fourth grade expectation and a sign of responsibility.
• Students are doing an amazing job completing their homework and getting it in on time.  Thank you for your continued at home support with this.

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 26^th:  Early release at 1:00
• Wednesday, September 10th: Cookie dough orders due
• Thursday, September 11^th: Picture Retakes

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• Please read the following text. Complete the graphic organizer on a sheet of notebook paper writing the main idea and supporting details.

If the images do not load, please click here for the text, and here for the organizer.

• In math, we are focusing on determining place value. It is so important that we understand how to determine place value before moving on to new concepts in math (such as division). Mrs. Nisely had fun watching and playing this game about place values. Tell us what YOU think!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/number/place_value_headings/play/

May 19th - 23rd, 2014

• Thank you parents for attending our student conference celebration!  What a delight it was to hear students sharing this goals, growth, and successes from our fourth grade year! Our kids have worked hard this and are ready for fifth grade.  Thank you also for supporting our class this year with your help, kind words, and donations.  
• End of the year party:  Wednesday, May 28th.  Students will bring a sack lunch, beach towel, and out door equipment (Frisbee, soccer balls, footballs, etc.) Please no bats. We will have a picnic in the park gazebo. 
• Field Day: This coming Tuesday, May 20th. We will be outside all day.  Students need a good nights sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, bring and water bottle, and sun block and hat.
• Solar Ovens:  Friday, May 23rd.  If you volunteered to donate an item or help assemble ovens, we will combine all three science classes together in the library at 10:30.
• Report Cards:  will come home in Friday, May 23rd's Friday folder.

Social Studies:  DUE MONDAY, May 19th

History Assessment                                           Name_____________

                                                                     Teacher_____________

Directions:  Use the information in your notebook, what you remember from class discussion and videos, and apply your schema to the task below.  I will be looking for specific details and strong description in your response.

Scenario:  While on a field trip to the History Museum you 'accidentally' wander away from your group and discover an old, dusty door tucked away at the end of a long, dark hallway.  Of course you are curious and open it to have a look, despite the clearly printed sign that says KEEP OUT.  Little do you know it’s actually a time machine portal and now you are hurtling through time!  After tumbling and twirling back in time, you land with a thud and discover you have landed in historic Colorado in the 1880s.  You are the oldest child in a pioneer family that has recently homesteaded in one of the three regions of Colorado. Write a diary entry, describing in detail, your day from sun up to bedtime.  You will receive extra credit for mentioning what other family members are doing during the day as well. This is your opportunity to apply what you’ve learned and use your amazing writing skills to ‘knock my socks off!’  I can’t wait to read your diary entries.

Use the back of this page to plan you diary entry.  What thinking map would work well for this task?

Lastly, on a separate sheet of paper, write two-four sentences describing how your life is similar and different from an 1800s pioneer child settling in Colorado.

Note:  You may hand write your diary entry and reflection sentences on notebook paper and staple them to this page, or you may type and print your diary entry and attach it to this page.