What We've Been Up To

It was great getting to see and talk with most of you at orientation night! Please let me know if you have any questions from everything we covered. You will find the PowerPoint and our 4th grade handbook under the "Documents for Parents" page. Simply click on the document name and it will link you to the document.

We've had another busy week!

Math--We wrapped up Unit 1 (Geometry) this week with an assessment that will come home soon. Our math this week included learning about concentric and congruent circles, inscribed polygons, and creating mathematical designs with our new knowledge of our compass.

*Next Week--Be on the lookout for the Unit 2 Parent Letter coming home that will provide you with important information including specific math vocabulary.

Social Studies-- We continued our learning of map skills by locating specific mountain ranges on maps and studying their elevation. We integrated Social Studies and Science as we began to learn about earthquakes and volcanoes.

*Next Week--We begin our study of the Middle Ages!

Reading-- We made our first trip to the library to find a "just right" book. We also worked on developing strong paragraphs in order to respond to our reading. We read "Chester and the Big Bad Bully" and responded to our reading with how characters in our books use MegaSkills. We are learning how to create a strong paragraph with the "3Ps--Prescription for a Proficient Paragraph." We learned that a strong paragraph has a topic sentence, three detail sentences (with supporting sentences for each detail), and a closing sentence.

*Next Week--We continue to respond to our reading based on specific prompts. We will also begin our first read aloud, "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Paterson.

Science-- We started our study of Earth's Processes this week by learning about many different changes that occur to the earth's surface. We learned about tectonic plates and how they can create mountain building. We learned that there are four types of mountains: fold mountains, fault block mountains, and volcanic mountains (igneous eruptions and igneous domes). Ask your child about how each are created! We also learned about earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanoes. Discuss slow and fast changes with your child and where you can see evidence of these changes in our world. Make sure to ask your child about our daily experiments!

*Next Week-- We will continue our study of earth's processes through daily hands-on activities.

Writing-- We earned our Writer's Notebooks and celebrated by decorating them! Make sure to ask your child how the notebooks were revealed!

*Next Week-- We will begin collecting ideas in our notebooks using various strategies. We will also begin to reflect on idioms and sayings and where we have seen them occur in our lives. For example, when have you had "money burning a hole in your pocket"? Talk with your child about how they can "live as a writer" and be on the lookout for writing ideas all around them.

Housekeeping--
Please make sure to return the yellow volunteer sheet back to me as soon as you can if you plan on helping in the classroom. I appreciate any and all help!

Enjoy your weekend!

Our Week and Next Week

Hi families! I'm hoping this post finds you having a wonderful weekend. I wanted to update you with what we worked on last week and give you a sneak peek into our upcoming week.

We had a fabulous first "full week" of school. We continued to get to know each other and build community within our classroom. One of the best events was when students were able to apply for a community job. They were able to choose their top three based on their personal preference and personality traits, explain their qualifications for each, and their first job of the year will be revealed on Monday when they are officially "hired" for the job. This is a great way for them to show responsibility within our classroom community in hopes that it will flow into their everyday lives. Make sure to ask them about their job and how they are fulfilling their special role in the classroom! (I will discuss more about this at Parent Orientation night.)

Math- We continued our study on geometry. Some of the topics include angles, polygons (concave and convex), lines, rays, and line segments. We also had our first Review/Game Day to review the concepts we studied throughout the week.

*Next week will include a study on circles, using a compass to construct them (concentric and congruent), and using a compass to create hexagon and triangle constructions. We will end the week with our first assessment.

Social Studies-We spent the week studying map skills, including learning how to read a map, use a key, and even use a map scale. Students created a birds eye view relief map, a side view relief map, and a map to scale of their classroom table.

*Next week will begin our study of earth's process as we integrate Social Studies and Science with many hands-on experiments on how fast and slow changes effect our world. (Volcanoes, earthquakes, mountain building, and the earth's layers are among the topics we will learn about.)

Science-This week, we studied the process skills we will use as scientists this year. We used observation and communication to observe our nature items with our senses in great detail, we used inferring and predicting as we solved a crime scene in a bakery where the "Baffled Baker" mixed up his ingredients completely. It was our job to discover the unknown substances based on our observations of the substances' chemical and physical properties the day before.

*Next week will include our integrated study of earth's processes within Social Studies using hands-on activities.

Reading-We continued to learn about ourselves as readers this week. This included learning how to choose a "just right" book (ask your child about this), learning what to do when our comprehension breaks down, and also how knowing our strengths and weaknesses as a reader can help us to become better readers this year.

*Next week will include our school library orientation. Your child is expected to have a "just right" book from this visit in order to be most successful with their reading. Please hold them accountable at home to read books that challenge them, but aren't too frustrating either. We will also begin responding to our reading and discussing our high expectations for those responses in 4th grade, which will include modeling writing detailed paragraphs using a graphic organizer.

Writing- We continue on our journey toward earning our Writer's Notebooks. We discussed the expectations of Writing Workshop and how peer and teacher conferences can help us as writers.

*We will have a very special celebration next Friday as a class to receive our notebooks. Please make sure to check your child's backpack on Monday for a letter regarding items needed to decorate the notebooks.

I know many of you are very interested in knowing what we are working on week-to-week and how you can learn of your child's progress throughout the year. Please make sure to check this blog frequently for updates on our learning, as this is the best way to get that information. Also, I will go into greater detail on how we can keep a constant home-school connection when we meet Thursday, August 26th at 7 pm for Parent Orientation.

I am thoroughly enjoying your kiddos and their eagerness to learn and work together! Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.

*Make sure to check the side of the blog to subscribe to posts by email. If you input your email address, you will get an email each time I update the blog.

First Three Days

We have had a wonderful first three days together! We have been very busy getting to know each other and setting up expectations for our classroom community. Here are some things we have been doing:

Community Building- School Scavenger Hunt, Kitchen Utensil Game, "That's Me" with our read-aloud "Gakky Two Feet" by Micky Dolenz, and creating a class promise

Reading-What does reading workshop look like and sound like? We have learned some important expectations for reading workshop time and discussed how to check out a book from the classroom library. We have also reviewed our three purposes for reading: persuade, entertain, and inform.

Writing-What does the writing workshop look like and sound like? We have learned important expectations for our writing workshop and even started writing this week about our summer break! We are also learning about what the "work" of the writer looks like. We are in the process of earning the very important Writer's Notebook.

Math-What does math workshop look like and sound like? We have learned about expectations for math time. We have also learned what game day will look like on Fridays by practicing yesterday. Each Thursday or Friday, we will have a math game day as an important review of the math we have learned all week. Our first math game was playing "Fact Triangles" with a partner. Each morning we will also use our morning work, "math boxes", to review what we are currently learning in math, and what we have learned in the past. As we have discussed, this will help us keep our math knowledge "filed" in our brain for continuous use.

Make sure to ask your child about the important classroom and school expectations, routines, and rituals in order to help them process all the "newness". We're looking forward to our first school wide assembly today, so make sure to ask about that!

Important reminders:

*Please send in a picture of your child with their family, friends, etc. for display in the classroom this year.
*Please make sure to check the agenda nightly, as this is a great way for home/school communication.
*Make sure to check the "Dates to Remember" page frequently in order to be up-to-date on all the important events in the classroom and here at Harmony.

Have a wonderful weekend!

saving on school supplies

If you haven't shopped for school supplies yet or still have some last-minute items to pick up, I have found an online resource on school supplies and where you can find them the cheapest. Of course, it doesn't include everything that's on our 4th grade supply list, but it does have a few items that could help you save some pennies.

If you're interested, check out the link here.

See you soon!