January 26-30, 2015

• Students are expected to continue working on their multiplication tables at home until completely mastered! Many students have studied for the in class test, and then have forgotten their facts during math! As we work on division and fractions in our math unit, a complete recall of multiplication facts is critical for success!

• Monday, January 26th students will use their "how to writing" to cook s'mores.  If you signed up to donate items for this event, please have students bring their supplies Monday.

Dates to Remember

• January 28 - Science Fair
• February 13 - Presidents' Weekend, No School
• February 16 - Presidents' Day, No School
• February 25 - Early release Day, 1:00
• March 23 - 27 - Spring Break

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Math - 

• We have a new math program, ThinkCentral, another online resource. To log in, go to https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/ePC/start.do to begin. Fill out the information below to find our school (see below), and make sure to remember to check the "Remember my school" box!
• To fill out the school information:
• Country: United States
• State: COLORADO
• District: Jefferson Co School Dist R-1, Golden 80401
• School: Van Arsdale Elementary School, Arvada 80005

• To Log-In as a Student
• Username: FirstInitialLastName (ex: jsmith, tjones)
• Password: vaFirstName (ex: vajane, vatom)

• Please finish the assigned work in ThinkCentral!

Literacy - 

• What's the headline?! Look at two pictures below. Imagine you are a newspaper journalist who is writing articles about these images. Create an eye-catching, exciting headline for each image. Remember that a Headline is like a main idea. Think to yourself, "What is this picture mostly about?" and then craft your headline from there.

 

January 19-23, 2015

Hello Families,

            My name is Ashley Ladd, and I am very lucky because for the rest of this year I will be in your child’s classroom to complete my student teaching semester. I will be graduating from CU Boulder this May with a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology as well as an elementary education teaching license. I am excited that I have finally reached this stage in my education because I have been waiting to be in the classroom for a full day, for the last few years. I am also very thankful that I will be co-teaching with Mrs. Nisely because she is a wonderful teacher and I know that I will learn so much from her! I look forward to teaching as well as learning from all of your children and I am excited to apart of this 2014-2015 school year. If you have any questions my email is ashley.ladd@colorado.edu, or feel free to drop by the classroom before or after school. I look forward to meeting you. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ashley Ladd

• We will be having an in-class writing activity and would love if we could have a few volunteers for our project as well as some supplies. I've set up a sign-up genius if you are able to help! Thank you!
• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084fa4ac2ea5fb6-monday

Dates to Remember

• January 19 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day, No School 
• January 28 - Science Fair
• February 13 - Presidents' Weekend, No School
• February 16 - Presidents' Day, No School
• February 25 - Early release Day, 1:00
• March 23 - 27 - Spring Break

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Math - 

• We have a new math program, ThinkCentral, another online resource. To log in, go to https://www-k6.thinkcentral.com/ePC/start.do to begin. Fill out the information below to find our school (see below), and make sure to remember to check the "Remember my school" box!
• To fill out the school information:
• Country: United States
• State: COLORADO
• District: Jefferson Co School Dist R-1, Golden 80401
• School: Van Arsdale Elementary School, Arvada 80005

• To Log-In as a Student
• Username: FirstInitialLastName (ex: jsmith, tjones)
• Password: vaFirstName (ex: vajane, vatom)

Science - 

• Watch the science videos below. Think about the question we tried to prove in science class this week: Whose day is longer, Earth or Jupiter? Write an explanation of how you know the answer to the question.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmeSpI48Nw4
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJVNUFBgRmM

Literacy - 

• List the author's purpose for writing the following piece. 
• Constructed Response: In the text, Wildlife Refuge, give three examples why the writer thinks it's a good idea to take a field trip to the Wildlife Refuge.

Wildlife Refuge* Field Trip

Dear Mr. Smith and Mrs. Nieto, 

We have a problem. The wildlife here in the city is very limited. There is not a lot of opportunity to learn about conservation and wildlife preservation. If we took a field trip to The Wildlife Refuge, our problem would be solved. Trenton, Diego and I would like to take our class for a great learning experience. In addition, we will provide a study guide to students to identify the animals and provide information about conservation of endangered wildlife. If we went on a field trip, we will learn about the wildlife from around the world and how rivers provide a natural habitat for them to live and breed. This information would help us to understand the importance of science in our day to day life. We would use math to make a budget and figure out a way to earn money. These skills will be very useful again and again. We will learn how to make a schedule with target dates. This will provide us with a plan that covers the entire project from start to finish. The preparation of the study guide will require lots of research and organization of information. The first thing to do is research, research, research! Next, we will choose a fund raiser (with your approval, of course). This will earn money for the field trip. The parents will hopefully chip in their time and money, if we don't get enough. We will prepare a plan schedule. This will provide the dates that team members will need to accomplish the steps toward our goal. My competent adult model is the Unofficial Guide to Walt Disney World. It shows us step by step how to plan a trip and what to see. Now, you are asking why should I approve a trip to The Wildlife Refuge? How does this improve student learning? Besides the fact that the project planning, fund raising, budgeting and reporting will provide an excellent learning opportunity, it will provide education. It will also provide awareness of wildlife and the importance of conservation. This project will be evaluated by its successful planning and its ability to involve our class in wildlife conservation. The trip will be evaluated by the student participation on the trip and a plan of conservation that identifies what we can all do to protect and respect wildlife so they will still be around when we have children.

Sincerely, 

Your student

January 12-16, 2015

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a marvelous winter break!

Dates to Remember:

• January 19 - Martin Luther King Jr. Day, No School
• January 28 - Science Fair
• February 13 - Presidents'  weekend, no school
• February 16 - Presidents' Day, no school
• February 25 - Early release Day, 1:00
• March 23 - 27 - Spring Break

We welcomed Miss Ladd to our classroom this past week.  She will be working with us each day from now until the end of the school year!  We feel very lucky to include her as part of our team!

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Math - 

• Please continue working on IXL.com! Please sign in and complete fourth grade long division. Also, almost daily homework practice sheets are assigned to students and due the next day. This additional practice directly supports our work in class.

Reading - 

• Remember, students will need to continue to complete their weekly at home reading and record and turn in their reading minutes each Friday. The requirement has been raised to 150 minutes of reading to meet fourth grade standards!

Science - 

• Please watch the following YouTube videos about the rotations of the planets in the solar system.
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT49AiYFV98
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_RAEESmsrs

December 15th - 19th, 2014

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!

Dates to Remember!

• Thursday, December 18th - Geo Bee, Van Arsdale library, 2:00 PM
• December 22nd to January 6th - Winter Break
• Wednesday, January 7th - Students return

Friday, December 19th we will be holding a Writer's Cafe in our classroom.  Students will continue to work on their Fiction stories and completing first drafts.  We would love to make this special for the students and have "cafe" sort of foods for all to enjoy while working.  If you wouldn't mind, we would love to have you click on the sign up genius link and sign up for a food item. This link will be sent via email.  Thank you!

1.  Writing:  we have a tight schedule next week and students will be required to finish pieces of in class writing.  If for some reason this writing is not completed in class, they will have additional at home homework that must be completed and turned in the next day. 

December 8-12, 2014

• 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 continue using IXL.COM, in addition to regular assigned homework. We are asking students to spend at least 10 to 15 minutes this week working on IXL.COM, E4, and E5.

• If you were unable to come to Grandparent's Day, the video is available here to share with your family! (http://tinyurl.com/niselygrandparentsday2014)

Dates to Remember!

• Thursday, December 18th - Geo Bee, Van Arsdale library, 2:00 PM
• December 22nd to January 6th - Winter Break
• Wednesday, January 7th - Students return

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• Please continue using IXL.COM, in addition to regular assigned homework. We are asking students to spend at least 10 to 15 minutes this week working on IXL.COM.