December 16th - 20th, 2013

No take home note or reaction sheet next week!  The only homework over winter break required from student's is the reading log.  Enjoy your holiday break!

• Students continue to impress me with their writing and taking the time to brainstorm, plan, edit and revise both their in class writing and their weekly president's reports.  Thank you for the continued support.
• IXL has been purchased for our fourth grade continued use.  Student's now must log in with their student id and still :  (first and last name and 929)  billsmith929       nisely04.       Minutes and scores will now be saved to a class roster for more accurate record keeping.
• Wednesday, December 11th, Barnes and Noble night.
• Thursday, December 19th, Geo Bee, Van Arsdale library, 2:00.
• Tuesday, December 17th, 4th grade musical, 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Winter Break:  December 23rd-January 3rd.
• Students return:  Wednesday, January 8th.

Student's need to bring in an orange to school before Thursday.

1. Science:  Please watch the following YouTube videos about the rotations of the planets in the solar system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT49AiYFV98&noredirect=1

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

2.  President's report:  Student's are required to take notes in class on Mondays on the class president.  From now on students will write their rough draft at home on Monday and Tuesday and bring their writing piece back to school for revising on Wednesday.  Spending time in class to revise will help prompt that beautiful language and rich vocabulary students are required to use in their writing.

3.  Math:  In addition to random days of math homework work practice, students are required to log into IXL and work through the division problems given.  As they log in, I can monitor their work and their time spent on this task.  Log in is as follows:

IXL.  Student's now must log in with their student id and still :  (first and last name and 929)  billsmith929       nisely04.  

December 9th - 13th, 2013

• Students continue to impress me with their writing and taking the time to brainstorm, plan, edit and revise both their in class writing and their weekly president's reports.  Thank you for the continued support.
• IXL has been purchased for our fourth grade continued use.  Student's now must log in with their student id and still :  mathrocks 2013       Nisely04.       Minutes and scores will now be saved to a class roster for more accurate record keeping.
• Wednesday, December 11th, Barnes and Noble night.
• Thursday, December 19th, Geo Bee, Van Arsdale library, 2:00.
• Tuesday, December 17th, 4th grade musical, 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
• Winter Break:  December 23rd-January 3rd.
• Students return:  Wednesday, January 8th.

No spelling word lists were given this week due to spelling Bee quiz that will be given Tuesday, December 10th, 2013.

Grandparent's Day class video:   video  (click on the highlighted word)    password:  iteach1

1.  Check out the above video we made for grandparents day.  Click the link and type in the password.

2.  President's report:  Due Friday, 13th.  Our new president this week is Izzy.

3.  In addition to completing the regular worksheet math homework that is sent home several times during the week, student will need to visit IXL.com.  Log in using their student id and work on division.  See above weekly information on logging in.

4.  Reading log, as always, will be due Friday, December 13th.

November 18th - 22nd, 2013

No blog, reaction sheet or homework over our Thanksgiving holiday break! ONLY READING MINUTES WILL BE REQUIRED!   Enjoy.

Report cards will be sent home on Friday, November 15^th. Please sign and return the outside envelope.

• Grandparents Day:  Friday, November 22^th. Students will be working on a special computer presentation  in our classroom and plan to share these with their 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 25th - 29th.

1.  Math:  Students need to log onto think central and work through a math lesson that I reloaded for them.   Here are the steps:

a.  google search think central

b.  click on think central math

c.  fill out the log in sheet with Colorado, Jefferson Dist R-1 Golden, 80401, Van Arsdale,

d.  Log in:  first intial last name:  bsmith

e. passwork:  va first name:  vabill

     

2.  President Writing:  On Monday our new class president will present information about their life, family members, passions, hobbies, and two stories they want to share.  Student will take two column notes on the new president.  Then by Friday, November 15th each student in our class will:

a. turn their notes into a rough draft.

b.  Revise their notes (add, change, take out to improve writing)

c. edit their drafts.  (correct spelling and punctuation)

d.  write a final polished copy to be turned in on Friday.

All of these steps are to be done at home, each week, except the note taking.

We've have modeled and worked through two president pieces and one is graded and in this weeks Friday Folder with a rubric.

3. 

• 2. Turkey writing:

  This Turkey Needs Dressing!  On Monday students will receive 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 20th. Remember to use a circle and flee map to focus your thinking before you write.  These maps will be due with your turkey.

November 11 - 15th, 2013

• Thank you for all the donations of highlighters and gel pens!  We have put every single item to go use during our Writer's Workshop.  We are now collecting sticky notes for marking text  during reading. I have asked the office for extra supplies of sticky notes and they were able to give me a few, however, if you don't mind donating these items, we would all appreciate it!

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

Report cards will be sent home on Friday, November 15^th. Please sign and return the outside envelope.

• Grandparents Day:  Friday, November 22^th. Students will be working on a special computer presentation  in our classroom and plan to share these with their 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 25th - 29th.

• 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.  These are all strategies we are working on in class.

1.  President Writing:  On Monday our new class president will present information about their life, family members, passions, hobbies, and two stories they want to share.  Student will take two column notes on the new president.  Then by Friday, November 15th each student in our class will:

a. turn their notes into a rough draft.

b.  Revise their notes (add, change, take out to improve writing)

c. edit their drafts.  (correct spelling and punctuation)

d.  write a final polished copy to be turned in on Friday.

All of these steps are to be done at home, each week, except the note taking.

We've have modeled and worked through two president pieces and one is graded and in this weeks Friday Folder with a rubric.

2. 

• 2. Turkey writing:

  This Turkey Needs Dressing!  On Monday students will receive 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 20th. Remember to use a circle and flee map to focus your thinking before you write.  These maps will be due with your turkey.

 

November 4th - 8th, 2013

• Thank you to all the parent helpers and contributors to our fall party.  What a wonderful afternoon of games, crafts, parade, and food. Thank you for spoiling us.

        Needed:  highlighter markers!   Students are noticing and highlighting rich language and strong vocabulary in text and many don't have the tools to do this with.  I'm happy to share, but many highlight markers are running out of ink. We would greatly appreciate any and all donations.

• Hearing and vision: November 6^th.
• Report Cards: November 15th.
• Comp Day, no school:  November 25th.
• Thanksgiving Break November 26-29th.

Multiplication pacman

Here is the link to Mega Math.  Feel free to continue exploring the sight!

Focus on the multiplication games.  The better you know your facts, the easier daily math will be for you!  

MEGA MATH

The multiplication topics are in The Number Games

1.  Math:  Students will continue to bring home math pages to complete from their math homework book. These pages need to be completed and turned in the next day.  Keeping up with this important work supports the learning we are doing in class.

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 28th - November 1st, 2013

• Our Shark investigation was fantastic! Students worked hard to complete this lesson while science note booking. 
• Halloween Fall Festival, Wednesday, October 31st - parties 2:15-3:30. 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 6^th.
• Report Cards: November 15th.
• Comp Day, no school:  November 25th.
• Thanksgiving Break November 26-29th.
• Hawk Quest Assembly: October 31st from 10:30 - 11:30.

1.  Math Homework:  most days, if we complete the in class math lesson, students are expected to bring home a practice homework page.  This page is a great support to exactly what we are working on in class.  Students are also encouraged to work on several of our online sites to promote their math learning.

IXL.Com is an excellent resource new to our classroom.  Students can pick grade levels of practice to either pick up on skills in past grades or push their thinking on grade level or advance to 5th or 6th grade learning. Student work is tracked thru this program and I am able to see the work they have done. To log on:

Google Search:  IXL.com

username:  mathrocks2013

Password: nisely04

Students are also encouraged to go to  https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/content/hsp/math/hspmath/na/common/mega_math_9780547585062_/launch.html                    for additional practice on the skills we are directly working on in class.

2.  Science:  Please watch the following video and be ready to discuss your learning in class. Go to the following link and search for "Star Dust": http://www.symphonyofscience.com/videos.html

3.  Creating and writing project:  Due:  October 31st.

 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 21 - 25th, 2013

• Thank you to parents that took the time out of your busy schedules for conferences this past week. I loved the opportunity to talk about your son/daughter!
• Shark Investigation:  Wednesday, October 23rd, in the morning.  Shark tables will be set up outside, so we need a warm sunny day for our lesson.    Please wear old clothes and bring an old shirt to cover clothing.
• Early Release Day:  Wednesday, October 23rd, 1:00.

Fall Parties, 2:15-3:30. 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.

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 14th - 18th, 2013

• Parent-Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, Thursday, October 16th and 18th. Reminder forms were sent home with students in their planners.

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

• Denver Museum of Nature and Science Field Trip:  This coming Friday, October 18th.  Students will need to arrive at school early this day!  8:30 we will prepare to board buses for our trip to the Museum.  Students will pack their own drinks and lunch.  

• Early Release Day:  Wednesday, October 23, 1:00 dismissal.

• Fall Festival Parties and Parade, October 31, 2:15 p.m. 

November 15      Reports Cards go home!

November 25      Comp Day, No School

November 26-29 Thanksgiving Break
December 4        Early Release Day 1:00 Dismissal

1. This assignment is on going and due on Thursday, October 31st.

  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.

Click on this link to practice your math skills:     MEGA MATH

October 7th - 11th, 2013

Fourth Grade Nature and Science Field Trip! :  Friday, October 18th from 8:30-2:30.  Students will arrive at school early this morning as buses will depart at 8:45 a.m.  We will be touring the museum exhibits and also view the planetarium.  Permission slips and parent sign up forms are attached to each child's Weekly Reaction sheet in Friday Folders this week.  Permission forms and money need to be turned in by next Friday, October 11th.

Parent-Teacher conferences will be Wednesday, October 16th and Thursday, October 17th.  Your student recorded your conference time in their planner. Please check this time and contact me if we need to reschedule.

Cookie Dough Delivery on Thursday, October 10th.  This is also the day of the limo ride. 

Early Release Day:  October 24th at 1:00 p.m.

1.  Click on the Mega Math word link below to play our math games that directly tie to our math Expressions unit.  Remember the higher the letter is in the alphabet, the more challenging the game.

MEGA MATH


2. Creating and writing project:  Due:  October 31st.

 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 30th - October 4th, 2013

• Nature and Science Field Trip:  Friday, October 18th from 8:30-2:00.  Students will arrive at school early this morning as buses will depart at 8:45 a.m.  We will be touring the museum exhibits and also view the planetarium.  Permission slip and parent sign up forms will come home next week in Friday folders.
• Word Work/Spelling Tests:  Words are handed out each Monday and tests are Thursday. 

• 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.
• Dissecting Sharks!: Students will be science note booking and dissecting sharks  coming Tuesday, October 15th, weather permitting. Students should wear old clothes that day. We have some aprons, but another old shirt over regular clothes would be helpful.
• Parent-Teacher conferences will be Wednesday, October 16^th and Thursday, October 17th. If you haven't already signed up for a time, please email me.
• Cookie Dough Delivery on Thursday, October 10^th. This is also the day of the limo ride.
• Early Release Day:  This Wednesday, October 24^th at 1:10.

1.  Math: Play the factor game below to sharpen your factor finding skills:

http://www.hoodamath.com/games/factorfeeder.html

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

3.  MEGA MATH:

Students, we will use this link in computer lab on Monday, but you can check it out ahead of time if you'd like! The math gets more challenging the higher the letter in the alphabet.

MEGA MATH!

September 23 - 27th, 2013

Word Work/Spelling Test:  coming this week.  Students were given a spelling test and tested into certain levels of words. Words will be given to students on Monday and tested on Friday each week.

• 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.

October 18          4th grade field trip to Denver Museum of Nature and Science

                              We will be leaving the school at 8:45 a.m.  Please plan to have your child                               to school by 8:30 that morning. We want to have as much time at the                                     museum as possible, thus the early departure.

• 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.
• Book Fair:  October 14-18th. 

• Parent-Teacher conferences will be Wednesday, October 16^th and Thursday, October 17th. If you haven't already signed up for a time, please email me.

• Cookie Dough Delivery on Friday, October 27^th. This is also the day of the limo ride.

• Please remind your son/daughter that they must wait for you in the grassy area by the cafeteria when being picked up after school.  Students are not allowed to play on the playground equipment at this time, and for no reason should parents park in the hug and go zone!
• Early Release Day:  This Friday, October 27^th at 1:00.

1. 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).

2.  Math homework:  follow this link and play the following math time game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/shape_space/time/play/

September 16th - 20, 2013

 ·    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. 

·    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.

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

·    Parent Teacher Conferences are October 16 - 17th. If you haven’t already signed up for a time, let me know.

·    Friday, September 27^th, early release at 1:00.  Limo Ride.

FIELD TRIP to Denver Museum of Nature and Science:  Friday, October 18th.

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

• 
  

3. 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 9th - 13th, 2013

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

Parent Teacher Conferences, October 16 - 17th. If you haven’t already signed up for a time, let me know.

• Friday, September 27^th, early release at 1:00.
• 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.
• Picture Retakes:  September 11th.

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


• 
  


• 
• 
  



• 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/