December 24th-January 11th, 2013

Each student received a homework sheet in their Friday folers.  Here is what the homework sheet requires.  Each paper needs to be signed and returned by January 11th.

Holiday Homework


1.  Write a thank-you note to someone who gave you a gift.

2.  Sing, hum, or whistle a holiday song.

3.  Play outside-take your little brother or sister with you (Or your big brother or sister).

4.  Clean up  a mess that you didn't make.

5.  Give a compliment to your mother.

6.  Help w ith dishes after a holiday meal.

7.  Help with a household chore without being asked.

You have set a goal to read and finish this book:________________________________________________

Your book talk will be on:_______________________________

December 17th - 21st, 2012

No Take Home Note/ or homework next week. Students will still be expected to read over the winter break and fill out two reading logs. Happy Holidays!

Museum Field Trip:  This Thursday, December 20th. Students are to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring a sack lunch for the day.  We will depart the school at 9:10 a.m. and return back to Van Arsdale at 1:30. 

Student Supplies needed:  many students have used up or no longer have some of the essential supplies they started the year with, such as pencils, erasers, glue sticks, scissors, dry erase markers, colored markers and colored pencils. Our school does not have the funds to purchase these supplies for students and many students do not even have pencils.

Winter Break:  December 24^th- January 4, 2013. Student’s return Wednesday, January 9^th, 2013!

1.  We started our Solar System Unit this past week.  Please watch the following two youtube movies. This information will support the  understanding how the positions/rotations of the Earth, moon and Sun affect days, seasons, and lunar month.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT49AiYFV98

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_RAEESmsrs

 

 

2. Math:  Please solve the  following problems. Use the lattice multiplication method for solving the multiplication problems.  When you divide, use the family for help!

 

a.  61 x 24 =     b.  23 x 12 =     c. 92 x 82 =      d.  77 x  27  =

 

e.  4015 divided by 5      f.  444 divided by 6        g. 917 divided by 7

December 10th-14th, 2012

Holiday Gingerbread houses: We still need supplies to create our houses, such as white frosting, graham crackers and candy decorations.

Can food Drive starts Monday, December 10th. Please bring in boxes or cans of food that have a current expiration date.

Our first pizza celebration party was a huge success. Thank you to all the students that were invited through focused attention to their work and outstanding behavior for two weeks.  We are hoping more students can join us for our next party on Friday, December 21st.

No Take Home Note/ or homework next week. Students will still be expected to read over the winter break and fill out two reading logs. Happy Holidays!

Student Supplies needed:  many students have used up or no longer have some of the essential supplies they started the year with, such as pencils, erasers, glue sticks, scissors, dry erase markers, colored markers and colored pencils. Our school does not have the funds to purchase these supplies for students and many students do not even have pencils.

Winter Break:  December 24^th- January 8, 2013. Student’s return Wednesday, January 9^th, 2013!

1.  Watch the following math video and solve the two problems below the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=MFO5qaSRKOI

a. 255 divided by 5   a. 136 divided by 8

2..  Complete the math worksheet below using the lattice method of multiplication.

Language Arts

Print off and complete the worksheet below.  The focus of the worksheet is INFERENCING.  You will need to be a detective and search out clues that will help you answer the questions correctly.  There is one correct answer for each question.  This is due by Wednesday morning.

December 3rd - 7th, 2012

Holiday Gingerbread houses: we will be making these houses to compliment our Area and Perimeter math lesson. Students will be designing and calculating the area and perimeters of their holiday houses. Supplies needed: Graham crackers, white frosting, M & M’s, Dot’s, Tootsie Rolls, small candy canes, pretzels, Smarties, and any other candies for our little houses. We also need two or three parents who would have some extra time to glue graham crackers to small student milk cartons. (glue houses – Monday, December 17th. Students measure, design and create houses on December 19th.)

· Grandparent’s Day: was a wonderful success this year. Thank you for all the treats donated by parents.

Early Release Day:  Wednesday, December 5th, 1:10

Night at Barnes and Noble: Wednesday, December 12th, 93rd and Sheridan from 4:00-9:00. This will be a fun night. Part of the proceeds from this evening will come back to Van Arsdale Elementary.

· Winter Break – December 24 – January 8th. Only reading log homework will be assigned over this holiday break.

· January 7th and 8th– no school for students. Teacher workdays.

Students return on Wednesday, January 9th, 2013.

 Student Supplies needed: many students have used up or no longer have some of the essential supplies they started the year with, such as glue sticks, scissors, dry erase markers, colored markers and colored pencils.

1.  MATH:  Watch this youtube link and then solve the three division problems listed below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwa9YZzSj9c

a.  261 divided by 3      b. 142 divided by 2     c.  372 divided by 4


2. You have been hired to design 5 enclosures for the animals at a local zoo. After successfully creating these enclosures, you will be given a certificate. Please print these certificates and turn in to class on Friday, December 7! How many certificates can YOU earn?! [Note to Parents: if you are unable to print at home, please provide a hand-written confirmation with signature.]



http://mrnussbaum.com/zoo-play/

2. Constructed reading response: We have been working hard at responding to text in class. Here is a chance to show me what you know! Remember, read the text, and in your written response, include a topic sentence, 3 supporting details from the story, and a strong concluding sentence. Read the question and text below and write a constructed response:

QUESTION: Why do researchers believe dogs have the inborn talent for reading humans, thus making them people's choice for a pet? Give at least three examples from the text.

A Dog’s Life From Wild Wolf to Friendly Fido

How does the family dog know from the look on your face that he or she is in the doghouse? Believe it or not, your pooch did not learn from experience. There was no need. A recent study has found that dogs have an inborn talent for reading humans, and ability that may explain why they were one of people’s first commonly kept pets.Scientists have known for some time that dogs are descendants of wolves. But they didn’t know why some wolves were able to be domesticated, or tamed to live with or be used by humans.Researcher Brian Hare says that he has a pretty good idea. He found that dogs outscored both wolves and chimpanzees in tests to see which animal could best read human gestures and facial expressions to find hidden food. The conclusion? Dogs are born with a remarkable ability to read people, making a human-dog relationship very natural.Humans put dogs to good use, too. They used their new sidekicks to help them hunt, for protection, and for companionship.Hare believes that wolves developed this people-reading skill as a way of survival. The wolves that became domesticated were the ones that could read humans well enough to find scraps of food. The better those wolves got at reading humans, the more food they found, which increased their chances of survival. Over thousands of years, those wolves turned into today’s dogs.

November 12th-16th, 2012

• No blog or homework over our Thanksgiving holiday break!  Enjoy.

• Writing:  Thank you for having conversations with your son/daughter regarding the writing they have completed in the classroom and at home.  I have included these graded writing pieces in their Friday folders. I was pleased to see so many students are using strong descriptive words, had a clear beginning, middle, and end to their writing, and took the time to edit and revise. On reading responses, we are working on including a topic sentence, supporting details from the text and including a strong conclusion. These are all strategies we are working on in class.
• Math writing: please see student work in Friday folder. Having a conversation with your son/daughter about their math writing will help them process and improve.

• Report cards will be sent home on Friday, November 16^th. Please sign and return the outside envelope after our Thanksgiving break.

• Grandparents Day:  Friday, November 16^th. Students are working on a special computer presentation  in our classroom and plan to share these with their special guests on Grandparent’s day. Students are encouraged to dress up on this day in order to represent our school and show respect to our guests.

• Thanksgiving Holiday:  No school November 19th - 23rd.

• 2. Turkey writing:

  This Turkey Needs Dressing!  In your Friday folder I sent home a turkey copied on card stock.  Cut out the Turkey, use scraps of cloth, paper, foil, glitter, and your imagination for a spiffy he or she.  Be sure to name him or her and then write a story about your terrific turkey. Your dressed turkey, and turkey story are due Wednesday, November 14th. Remember to use a circle and flee map to focus your thinking before you write.  These maps will be due with your turkey.

Great Graphic Novel on line:  Check it out on line:     http://www.wormworldsaga.com/ 

Math

Task #1

This week we will be exploring DIVISION!  Let's practice. Show all your work.  Drawing a picture might help you solve these problems.

1. Mary has 12 apples.  She wants to sort them equally into 3 baskets.  How many apples will she put into each basket?

2. Bob was 24 cookies.  He wants to divide them equally in 6 ziplock baggies.  How many cookies will be in each baggy?

3. Mom made 30 cupcakes.  She wants to arrange them equally onto 6 platters.  How many cupcakes will be on each platter?

4. Carmine has 40 bottle caps.  He wants to arrange them in 4 equal rows.  How many bottle caps will there be in each row?

5. Carson has 25 skateboards.  He wants to gift them equally to his 5 friends.  How many skateboards will each friend receive?

6. Maggie cat had a litter of 21 kittens!  She wants to share the kittens equally between herself and 6 friends.  How many kittens will each girl get?

Task #2

Play the Hoodamath division game below and practice your division facts.  Remember division is the reverse or opposite of multiplication. 

http://hoodamath.com/games/dragracedivision.php

November 5th - November 9th, 2012

• Report cards will be sent home on Friday, November 16^th. Please sign and return the outside cover.

• Our Fall party was fantastic!  One of the best Ever.  Thank you to all the many parents that donated their time, supplies, money and their creative ideas to make this afternoon so fun and special.  A huge thank you to our room moms!
• Early Release:  Wednesday, November 14th, 2012

• Grandparents Day:  Friday, November 16th.

• Thanksgiving Holiday:  No school November 19th-23rd.

• Snacks needed for Grandparent’s Day:  To provide a welcoming, social environment, we will again be serving simple snacks to our grandparents and other special guests. A light finger food such as cookies, brownies, pastries, breads, or mini muffins are needed. All the snacks from fourth grade will be served in the main hallway outside the C pod. Please email or call Michelle Lopez if you can donate food for this special day or if you have any questions.

1.  Math Writing:  Please write a math paragraph for the following problem:  Sandy collected 42 sea shells at the beach.  She wanted to give an even number of shells to each one of her seven friends.  How many shells does each friend get to keep?

Sentence stem:  To solve this problem I need to___________. I know this because_______________. First, ______________. Then, _______________Finally,___________________. The answer to this problem is_____________________. (plus include a picture that would help you solve the problem)

2. Turkey writing:

This Turkey Needs Dressing!  In your Friday folder I sent home a turkey copied on card stock.  Cut out the Turkey, use scraps of cloth, paper, foil, glitter, and your imagination for a spiffy he or she.  Be sure to name him or her and then write a story about your terrific turkey. Your dressed turkey, and turkey story are due Wednesday, November 14th. Remember to use a circle and flee map to focus your thinking before you write.  These maps will be due with your turkey.

October 29th - November 2nd, 2012

• Halloween Fall Festival, Wednesday, October 31st - parties 2:15-3:40. Students may bring a costume to school on the morning of the 31^st and will be given 15 minutes to change before the school-wide parade begins. Please no masks or pretend weapons. This is a school rule.
• BOOK ORDERS DUE:  This Friday, November 2nd.
• Hearing and vision: November 7^th.
• Grandparents Day, November 16^th, 10:50 to 11:50.
• Early Release: Wednesday, November 14th, 1:10.
• Report Cards:  Friday, November 16th,
• Please remember that the Banana Costume and writing are both due Monday, October 31^st

1.  Don't Forget:  Your Banana Writing piece and display is due this Wednesday, October 31st!  Can't wait to see your masterpieces.

2.  We've been working on writing and showing our thinking in Math.  Please read the example below and then complete a math writing on the problem given. This is due Friday, November 2nd.

Example Problem #1

Mary is crazy about books! She has a bookshelf in her room with 7 shelves. Each shelf holds 46 books. How many books does Mary have in her "library" altogether?

Example of Math writing to the above problem:

     To solve this problem I knew I needed to multiply because I saw the clue words altogether, each, and how many. Then I multiplied 6 x 7 = 42 then I mulitplied 40 x 7 = 280. Then I knew to add zero to equal 280. Next, I added to 280 + 42 = 322. That is how I got the answer 322. That's how I know Mary has 322 books on her shelf.

                                         40         6

                                       x  7     x  7

                                      ____    ____

                                       280  +   42   =   322  books

#2 Your problem:

      Sally collected sea shells each morning for a week while she was visiting her grandmother.  By the end of the week she had collected 5 buckets of shells. In each bucket she had 42 shells.  How many shells does Sally have altogether?



(Use the following sentence stems to complete problem number 2):


     To solve this problem I knew I needed to_______________. I knew this because__________________________________________________.
First,____________________________________________________.
Then,____________________________________________________
________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________.
Finally,___________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________.
The final answer to the problem is________________________________
_________________________________________________________.

Show your math work:

                                          

October 22nd - 26th, 2012

• Early Release day: Wednesday, October 24th. 1:10 dismissal.
• Halloween Fall Festival, Wednesday, October 31st - parties 2:15-3:40. Students may bring a costume to school on the morning of the 31^st and will be given 15 minutes to change before the school-wide parade begins.  Please no masks. This is a school rule.
• Banana Costume and writing are due October 31^st.
• Hearing and vision: November 7^th.
• Grandparents Day, November 16^th, 10:55 to 11:55.
• Please note that the Van Arsdale PTSA (News & School Happenings) and school cafeteria lunch menu links have both been added under the “Classroom Resources” at the top left of this blog.
• November 16^th – Report Cards go home.
• In place of the reading comprehension sheet this week, students will find a writing prompt.  I have also attached a rubric to help guide students on fourth grade writing expectations.  This writing piece and the rubric are due on Friday, October 26th.  Please take the time to read through your son/daughters writing and encourage quality final drafts. Many students need to be reminded to use the flee map, revise and edit; adding those rich descriptive words, and correct spelling and grammar errors.
• 
  

1.  Please read the following prompt and respond in a one page, paragraph form. Remember to construct interesting, and detailed sentences! You must use a circle and flee map.  The final copy, flee map and circle map will be due next Friday, October 26th.  Share with your parents!

If you could choose one food to never eat again, what would it be? Why?

2.

MATH

Let's practice our math facts!  Play the game below for 15 min. 3 times before Friday.  Here's the clencher...you have to click all the clouds!  Have mom or dad sign in your planner that you fulfilled the requirement and I will pay you 5 PAWS.

 

http://www.multiplication.com/games/play/flying-high

 

 

October 15th - 19th, 2012

• Needed: Dry Erase Markers.  Due to the high use of student dry erase boards, we running low on dry erase markers.  We use these boards every day in math, and reading. We would love it if you could help replenish our supply.
• No reaction sheet this next week due to conferences.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences on October 17, 18th. Reminder forms are attached to the reaction sheet in this weeks friday folder. 

     Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend.

• Early Release Day:  Wednesday, October 24, 1:10 dismissal.

• Fall Festival Parties and Parade, October 31, 2:15 p.m. 
  
  
  
  A big thank you to our guest teacher, Ms. Rose Foster, for bringing 26 iPads to our classroom.  We had a great time exploring the cool app she found for us, Barefoot Atlas.  It's a keeper for sure!  She loved our class and promises to come back again throughout the year.
  Thank you Ms. Foster!
  
  Visit the website below for more information about Africa!
  
•  http://pbskids.org/africa/

1.  Main Idea Practice:

MATH

Follow the link and play the math factor game.  This is  great multiplication practice too.  I started with the factors of 12 and played two rounds on each multiple up to 40, but the game goes up to 72, so feel free to exceed my expectation.

 http://www.coolmath4kids.com/times-tables/math-lines-xfactor-32.html

Have a parent verify that you played two rounds on each multiple up to 40

3.   Here’s an “ap-peel-ing” contest, and a fun and creative way to celebrate October’s top holiday. First, design a costume for either a real or plastic banana. Use a variety of materials, such as paper, cloth, paint, glue, markers, glitter, yarn, or whatever. Create a setting and a nameplate for your banana. Bring your completed project to school on October 31^st. We will have a “parade” of costumed bananas and a panel of judges will choose the four “top bananas”.  Awards will be given for the Top Banana, Scariest Banana, Most Creative Banana, and Funniest Banana.

For a language arts connection, each student will write a story featuring their banana as the main character. This project will be completed at home as homework. The afternoon of the 31^st, we will share our stories while we enjoy banana splits (with new bananas of course!).

Attached you will find a rubric that will be used to grade you project.

Reminders:

·         The paper should be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman Font.

·         The paper should be a minimum of 1 page typed, double spaced.

October 8th - 12th, 2012

• Mid term reports will be sent home on friday, October 12th's  folder.  Parents, please sign and have your son/daughter return them on Monday.  I look forward to discussing these with you at conferences.

• Fall Party:  has been changed to Monday, October 31.  Mrs. Lopez has volunteered to be our classroom liaison!  She will be calling parents that indicated that they could help with our party.
• Parent-Teacher Conferences are October 17, 18.   Confirmation Notes will be sent home in next weeks Friday Folder. If there’s a conflict with your time, please call me as soon as possible.
• Thank you for helping your son/daughter study their multiplication facts! Many students are lacking knowledge of their multiplication facts!  Without this basic knowledge of facts, students may fall behind in math this year.  10 or 15 minutes a night of studying multiplication facts or first thing in the morning will promote this essential learning and pave the way for future math assignments.
• Early Release Day - October 24th, 1:10.

MATH

This week we are starting our second fourth grade math unit.  We will be focusing on the operations of multiplication and division.  We will be finding factors and multiples, writing and solving multiplication and division word problems, solving multi-digit by single-digit multiplication and division problems, and continuing with Mountain Math, estimation, equivalent equations.

Review the math vocabulary below in anticipation of our new unit...

A factor is a number that can go into (divided by) a larger number evenly. 

So, 6 has 4 factors:  1,2,3, and 6

     12 has 6 factors:  1,2,3,4,6, and 12

A multiple is the product of a quantity by an integer.

So, Some multiples of 2 are 4,6,8,10,12, and on and on...

     Some multiples of 6 are 12,18, 24, 30, etc...

Ok...Let's try a few.

What are the six factors of 18?  (_____ ,_____ ,_____ ,_____, _____ ,_____)

What are the six factors of 20?  (_____ ,_____ ,_____ ,_____, _____ ,_____)

What are the factors of 40? (____,____,____,____,____,____,____,____)

What are the first three multiples of 10?  _____,_____,_____

What are the first three multiples of   5?  _____,_____,_____

What are the first three multiples of   3?  _____,_____,_____

Play the factor game below to sharpen your factor finding skills:

http://hoodamath.com/games/factorfeeder.php

2.  Please read the following text on Fingerprints and complete the diagram as instructed.

3.   Here’s an “ap-peel-ing” contest, and a fun and creative way to celebrate October’s top holiday. First, design a costume for either a real or plastic banana. Use a variety of materials, such as paper, cloth, paint, glue, markers, glitter, yarn, or whatever. Create a setting and a nameplate for your banana. Bring your completed project to school on October 31^st. We will have a “parade” of costumed bananas and a panel of judges will choose the four “top bananas”.  Awards will be given for the Top Banana, Scariest Banana, Most Creative Banana, and Funniest Banana.

For a language arts connection, each student will write a story featuring their banana as the main character. This project will be completed at home as homework. The afternoon of the 31^st, we will share our stories while we enjoy banana splits (with new bananas of course!).

Attached you will find a rubric that will be used to grade you project.

Reminders:

·         The paper should be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman Font.

·         The paper should be a minimum of 1 page typed, double spaced.

September 24 - 28th

 

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

·    Parent Teacher Conferences are October 17 - 18th. If you haven’t already signed up for a time, let me know.

·    Friday, September 28^th, early release at 1:10.

·    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.

·    Intermediate Field day - Wednesday, September 26^th.

·    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 tab). Please encourage your son/daughter to read the rubric and edit and revise their writing before turning it in.

·    ·    After giving the first round of our acuity test to students this past week, I noticed that many students struggle with determining the main idea, summarizing, and author’s point of view in reading and writing.  We will continue to spend time in class working on these skills.  Spending time at home to reinforce these strategies will only benefit your son/daughter.  I appreciate your help.