October 6th - 10th, 2014

• 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 use science note booking and dissecting sharks  coming Friday, October 10th, weather permitting. Students should wear old clothes that day. An old shirt over regular clothes would be helpful. 

• HELP NEEDED: dissecting sharks with students on Friday, October 10th. Nisely's class:  1:00-1:45,  Wiley's class:  1:50-2:35, Russ' class: 2:35-3:10.

• Parent-Teacher conferences will be Monday, October 20^th , Tuesday, October 21st, Wednesday, October 22nd.  If you haven't already signed up for a time, please email me.
• Cookie Dough Delivery on Thursday, October 9^th. Limo ride is Friday, October 10th from 1:00-3:00.
• Early Release Day:  This Wednesday, October 22nd at 1:00.
• Fall Party: Friday, October 31st

1. This assignment is on going and due on Thursday, October 30th.

  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.

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September 29th - October 3

• 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, please do so via the link below!
• http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c084fa4ac2ea5fb6-parent

• As I mentioned last week, I've rostered my class onto Raz-Kids.com! This site gives the kids access to hundreds of eBooks and audiobooks for them to read, listen to, and record and is a great resource! To sign in, students should enter: 
• Teacher: snisely 
• Password: First initial, last name
• Example - Teacher: snisely | Password: JSmith

Dates to Remember:

• Thursday, October 9 - Cookie Dough Pick Up
• Week of October 13-17 - Book Fair
• Monday-Wednesday, October 20-22 - Parent Teacher Conferences

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• MATH: Click on the Mega Math 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
• Also, be sure to finish any math homework that comes home. These pages are due the next day.
• LITERACY:   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.

• 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
• 
  

• 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.