December 21, 2015 - January 1, 2016

• Van Arsdale is helping with the Grub Club Food Drive. Grub Club is a bi-weekly program in which homeless and emancipated Jeffco students receive boxes filled with three days worth of food, as well as personal hygiene products. They are working to collect 1,800 pasta dinners, for homeless Jeffco students. Fourth grade is having a friendly competition to see which class can bring in the most dinners! The food drive will be running until January 15th, so you have until then to bring in your donations. Please note: these students do not have can openers, please donate canned pasta dinners with a "pop-top".

• There will be no blog updates until after we return from winter break. Please have a restful, fun, wonderful winter break! See you in the next year!

• Santa's Wishlist: Parents, if you are in need of some stocking stuffers, we have a small Santa's Wishlist at the bottom of this blog update.

Dates to Remember:

• December 21 to January 5 - Winter Break
• January 6 - Students return

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No take home note or reaction sheet for winter break! The only homework over winter break required from student's is the Reading Log. Enjoy your holiday break!

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We have been working very hard this year, and been very good, learning and growing as fourth graders (aka fifth-graders-in-training). Unfortunately, our supplies are dwindling! If you need some ideas for stocking stuffers, we are running low on spiral notebooks, pencils, composition books, and dry erase markers.

December 14-18, 2015

• No take home note or reaction sheet for winter break! The only homework over winter break required from student's is the Reading Log. Enjoy your holiday break!

• Santa's Wishlist

Dates to Remember:

• December 17 - Geo Bee
• December 21 to January 5 - Winter Break
• January 6 - Students return

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Literacy - Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)

Math - As always, continue to practice your multiplication facts! See the "Classroom Resources" on the left hand side for math games and videos.

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We have been working very hard this year, and been very good, learning and growing as fourth graders (aka fifth-graders-in-training). Unfortunately, our supplies are dwindling! If you need some ideas for stocking stuffers, we are running low on spiral notebooks, pencils, composition books, and dry erase markers.

December 7 - 11, 2015

• Students continue to impress me with their writing and taking the time to brainstorm, plan, edit and revise both their in class writing! Thank you for having conversations with your son/daughter regarding the writing they have completed in the classroom and at home. 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.

• Please be practicing your math facts. There are math games linked in the "Classroom Resources" as well as multiplication videos.

Dates to Remember:

• December 17 - Geo Bee
• December 21 to January 5 - Winter Break

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• Work on President's Piece (Olivia) 
• Remember to be using rich vocab, details and beautiful descriptive language! Please see the rubric listed as "Writing Rubric" under Classroom Resources.

Social Studies -

Clink on the link and watch the video.  

Tell me four things you know now, that you didn't know before you watched the video.

Please type your sentences, 14 pt. font, double spaced, name and number

http://www.cleanvideosearch.com/media/action/yt/watch?videoId=0cZYuBiVVYE

Math - 

• Practice your multiplication facts! See the "Classroom Resources" on the left hand side for math games and videos.

November 23rd - 27th, 2015

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

November 9-13, 2015

• Grandparents Day: Friday, November 21st from 1:35 to 2:30. Students are encouraged to dress up on this day in order to represent our school and show respect to our guests. Also, we are looking for someone willing to contribute some snacks for our guests on Grandparent's Day. 

• Report cards will be sent home on Friday, November 13th. Please sign and return the outside envelope.

• Thank you to all the parent helpers and contributors to our fall party. We had a wonderful afternoon of games, crafts, parade, and food! Thank you for spoiling us! <3

Dates to Remember:

• November 13 - Report Cards
• November 20 - Grandparents Day (1:35 - 2:30)
• November 23th - 27th - Thanksgiving Break

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• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)

• There is no President's Piece this week. Next week we will have Madison as our president!

• "Dress This Turkey!" Writing: 
• This Turkey Needs Dressing! Students received a turkey copied on card stock. Cut out the turkey, and use scraps of cloth, paper, foil, glitter, and your imagination to dress up a spiffy he or she turkey. Be sure to name him or her and then, write a story about your terrific turkey. Your dressed turkey, and turkey story are due Thursday, November 19th. See the rubric below.

October 26-30, 2015

• Students have been doing very well on making sure they have their president's pieces well written and turned in. For better writing, the rubric has been attached below and is also linked in the link menu

• Jamba Juice will be going on this Thursday in the front of the building. Again, it's $4 per juice and the money will go toward school funding.

• Fall parties are this week! On Friday, students may bring a costume to school on the morning of the 30th 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 30th. Please make sure to have completed both the writing portion and bring your banana on Friday!

Dates to Remember:

• October 30 - Fall/Halloween Parties
• November 3 - Hearing and Vision Screening
• November 13 - Report Cards

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• Work on President's Piece () 
• Remember to be using rich vocab, details and beautiful descriptive language!
• Top Banana Contest due October 30th (see this blog post)

October 19 - 23, 2015

• Fall Parties are on October 30th. If you'd like to volunteer, please talk to our room mom, Mrs. Steinwagner. Students are allowed to bring a costume for the parade later in the day, however it should not take longer than 15 minutes to get changed. Remember, no masks are allowed due to school rules!

• Parent teacher conferences are this week! Hopefully you've already signed up for a spot! If not, please email me to schedule a time for your conference! To check the slot you signed up for, check the SignUp genius, linked below.

• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084fa4ac2ea5fb6-fall

Dates to Remember:

• October 21 - Early Release
• October 21 - 22 - Parent-Teacher Conferences ~ If you have not yet signed up for a spot, please do so ASAP or email me to find another time!
• October 30 - Fall/Halloween Parties

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• Work on President's Piece () 
• Remember to be using rich vocab, details and beautiful descriptive language!
• Top Banana Contest due October 30th (see this blog post)

October 12-16, 2015

• The date for shark dissecting has been set for Monday, October 12th, weather permitting. Students are encouraged to bring an old t-shirt or apron that can be worn on top of normal clothes to protect their clothing. We would love it if we could have some parents come in to help set up and prep the sharks beforehand, around 12:30 and clean up afterward, around 3:30, as well as assist with the dissection themselves. Please email me if you are interested in helping! Times for shark dissections are:
• Mrs. Nisely's class from 1:00 -1:50
• Mrs. Wiley's class from 1:50 - 2:35
• Mrs. Russ' class from 2:35 - 3:20

• Fall Parties are on October 30th. If you'd like to volunteer, please talk to our room mom, Mrs. Steinwagner. Students are allowed to bring a costume for the parade later in the day, however it should not take longer than 15 minutes to get changed. Remember, no masks are allowed due to school rules!

• Please, if you haven't signed up for a spot, please do so as soon as possible!! If you are unable to come to one of the times listed, please email me at snisely@jeffco.k12.co.us and we'll find another time on another day.

• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084fa4ac2ea5fb6-fall

Dates to Remember:

• October 21 - Early Release
• October 21 - 22 - Parent-Teacher Conferences
• October 30 - Fall/Halloween Parties

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• Work on President's Piece (Collette) 
• Remember to be using rich vocab, details and beautiful descriptive language!
• Top Banana Contest due October 30th (see last weeks blog post)

October 5 - 9, 2015

• Students have started working on Class President's Reports! We've have modeled and worked through one president piece so far, and these will be recurring writing pieces for every week. 
• On Monday, our new class president will present information about their life, family members, passions, hobbies, and two stories they want to share. Students will take two column notes on the new president. 
• By Friday, each student in our class will have:
1. turned their notes into a rough draft. 
2. revised their rough draft (add, change, take out to improve writing) 
3. editted their drafts. (correct spelling and punctuation) 
4. written 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.

• The date for the Shark Dissections still is to be decided. Information to follow about dates, times and volunteers.

• A reminder again that Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, October 21 and Thursday the 22nd. If you haven't signed up for a spot, please do so as soon as possible!! If you are unable to come to one of the times listed, please email me at snisely@jeffco.k12.co.us and we'll find another time on another day.

• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084fa4ac2ea5fb6-fall

Dates to Remember:

• October 21 - Early Release
• October 21 - 22 - Parent-Teacher Conferences

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• Continue working on your President's Piece
• Top Banana Contest (see below)

Top Banana Contest

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 30th. 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 30th, we will share our stories while we enjoy banana splits (with new bananas, of course!). The paper should be typed in 12 point, Times New Roman Font and a minimum of one page, double spaced. Attached you will find a rubric that will be used to grade you project.

September 28th - October 2, 2015

• The date for Shark Dissections has been changed! Instead of doing them next week, we will be doing them the week of October 5th to 9th (in two weeks).

• Parent Teacher Conferences are scheduled for Wednesday, October 21 and Thursday the 22nd. If you haven't signed up for a spot, please do so as soon as possible!! If you are unable to come to one of the times listed, please email me at snisely@jeffco.k12.co.us and we'll find another time on another day.

• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084fa4ac2ea5fb6-fall

Dates to Remember:

• October 21 - Early Release
• October 21 - 22 - Parent-Teacher Conferences

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• Please write down as many examples of Learning with the Spirit of Endurance. (This can be a character in your book or examples of yourself learning with the spirit of endurance.)

Math: Check out Mega Math (below)! You can 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.

• https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/content/hsp/math/hspmath/na/common/mega_math_9780547585062_/launch.html

September 21-25, 2015

• 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 Wednesday, October 21 and Thursday the 22nd. I have created a SignUp Genius page for parents to sign up for conferences; you should have also 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-fall

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 25th - Early Release (1 PM) & Carnival
• October 21 - Early Release
• October 21 - 22 - Parent-Teacher Conferences

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• 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 14-18, 2015

Starting last week, fourth grade will be selling Jamba Juice for $4 to fundraise for the school. Van Arsdale will be getting a portion of every sale, and if this goes well, we will be selling juice every Friday!

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!

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 25th - Early Release at 1:00 and Carnival

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Literacy - 

>> Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)

>> 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 7-11, 2015

• 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.

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 7th - Labor Day (No School)
• Friday, September 25th - Early Release at 1:00 and Carnival

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)

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

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

Math - Log onto ThinkCentral from home and finish the assignment you started on Thursday. To get to the website, go to https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/ePC/start.do. You will only have to fill in the school once as long as the check box is checked, but make sure that all the fields are correct! The district is not Arvada. 

For your username and password, you should have it in your planner!

August 31 - September 4, 2015

Welcome back!

• 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.

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

Dates to Remember:

• Friday, September 7th - Labor Day (No School)

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Literacy - 

• Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)
• 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.

Growth Mindset - Give an interview to someone! Use the script below and record their answers.

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!

Copy/paste the following if the link above doesn't work: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks2/maths/number/place_value_headings/play/

For more math games check out the "Math Games" link on the left, under Class Resources

May 18-22, 2015

This is a super busy week, so make sure you know what's happening and are prepared and ready!

• Field Day for Fourth Grade: Tuesday, May 19th. Hot dogs, hamburgers and other snacks will be sold again this year for a small fee for those students staying on campus during lunch. Please check with me if you plan on taking your son/daughter off campus for lunch. Make sure your child has sunblock and appropriate clothing (no dresses / skirts / sandals, etc), as this is an active day!

• Field Trip to Majestic View Nature Center: Wednesday, May 20th. We will be leaving school at 9:30 and returning between 1:45 and 2:00. Kids will have to bring a sack lunch as we will be having a picnic in the park, and water bottles are strongly encouraged!

• Solar Ovens: Friday, May 22nd from 10:30 - 12:00, students will be building solar ovens as part of our energy science unit. We need parent help on this day, if you are free.

Dates to Remember:

• May 19 - Field Day, 4-6
• May 20 - Field Trip to Majestic View Park
• May 22 - Solar Ovens
• May 25 - Memorial Day, no school
• May 28 - Last Day of School, early dismissal (1:10 pm)

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Literacy - Weekly Reading Log (150+ minutes)