Math - DMR Monday

Writing - DLR Monday and Speeches begin tomorrow.  

Other - Tomorrow is the 4th grade picnic to Murdock Park.  We will be gone from 10:30 until 1:00.  Also, our end of the year party will be held on Wednesday after lunch.  If your child would like to bring his or her favorite treat with them to school for the party, that would be great.  There will be no sign up sheet for this party as it is my gift to the students.  Please help your child look through his/her books at home in order to return all classroom books and borrowed school books to school before Friday.

Math - DMR Thursday; Quiz tomorrow over units of measurement; Today we worked on converting units of mass and capacity and discussed the things we should be thinking about when solving a converstion problem, different things we need to remember when solving conversion problems, and what we should do to apply those things in order to solve the problems.

Science - NO HW 

Social Studies - Unit 4: Lessons 1-7 test on Monday; Today the students worked in predetermined study groups to review over the lesson assessments for each lesson.  I was very proud of the level of discussions that took place between each group.  Some students ended up adding more to their answers and even changing their answers all together after discussing the questions with group members.  Good Job!!

Writing - DLR Thursday; Students should continue to work on speeches at home.  Tomorrow we will focus on writing a conclusion.  In class, students continued to work on their speeches and I shared with them the speaking rubric I would be using to score their work.  Students who finished writing their speeches began practicing in small groups.

Reading - NO HW

Other - Don't forget to check at home for library books and classroom books with the name BELL written on them.  Please return all books to school as soon as possible.  Mrs. Gauthier sent home overdue notices today for missing books.

Math - DMR Tuesday and quiz on Friday over the units of measurements we discussed on Monday; Today the students worked to convert customary units of weight and capacity.  They also used those skills to complete a problem-solving situation that required them to fill grocery bags with a specified amount.  Overall, students did a good job solving the problem and applying their skills.  These papers will be in Friday Folders this week.

Science - Tomorrow is the science test.

Social Studies - The Unit 4 test is next Monday.

Writing - DLR Tuesday and continue working on writing out your speeches.  The next time we will have time to work on speeches in class will be on Friday.  On Friday we will focus on writing the conclusion.  All speeches will be presented in class on Monday.

Reading - NLL Tuesday and read chapter 11 and respond to the following prompt: Summarize the story that Shirley tells in your own words.  What lesson or message does the story teach?

Other – The students also completed a fun art activity with Mrs. Nakasuji, their substitute.  She has been a regular face for the students this year and has done a wonderful job getting to know the students and making the day run smoothly.  She wanted to have a little fun with them today and they worked together to make some very nice, creative bookmarks.

Math - DMR Monday. The students will be given a quiz on the units of measurements that we looked at today on Friday.  They are being asked to memorize the basic conversion measurements for the customary and metric system.  Today we looked at measuring an item to the nearest 16ths, 8ths, quarter inch, half inch, and inch.  We took time to review over an inch ruler and how to use it.  We also began choosing a comic to use for our scale drawings.

Science - Science test on Wednesday this week.  The students must also read page 64 today and answer questions 1-2.

Social Studies - The test will be given on Monday, June 8 and will cover Unit 4: Lessons 1-7.  Today we read and discussed Unit 4: Lesson 5 and how the early 20th century events impacted California.  The students ended the lesson by writing a persuasive letter to convince a relative or friend to come to California during the period of the Second World War.  In the reading lesson, the students learned that CA played a large role in manufacturing supplies for the war and many jobs came to CA because of World War II.

Writing - DLR Monday; Written speeches will be due on Friday and the students will begin sharing their speeches on Monday, June 8th.  Beginning tomorrow, the students will be given time in class to begin writing their speeches.  We spent a large amount of time discussing reading and did not begin writing speeches today.  This will not be assigned as a homework assignment until tomorrow when the students receive their note cards.

Reading - NLL Monday.  The students have been asked to complete their NLL on a sheet of lined paper.  The topic for the NLL tonight relates to chapter 9 (which we read and discussed in class today).  The students have been asked to respond to the following questions: How would you have handled the Tiresome Trio (the triplets)?  Now that Shirley has to replace the coins in her piggy bank (or return the coins that she took out to buy candy), what do you think she should do?  Why?

 

Math - DMR Thursday; Today we corrected together the pretest I gave the students on Tuesday.  This pretest is going to help me shape the math curriculum for the remainder of the school year.  Since we jumped around quite a bit before the STAR test, many concepts and topics were touched on, but I want to be sure that we work on the main areas that the students need in order to have the skills they will need for 5th grade.

Science - Test on Wednesday, June 3

Social Studies - Test on Monday, June 8

Writing - DLR Thursday. Spelling practice page 143, and outlines are due tomorrow.

Reading - NLL Thursday and read chapter 8 in In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  After reading the chapter, students should think of one word to describe how Shirley has changed in the month on August.  Today, most of the works I thought of or students shared began with the letters CO, so they can challenge themselves to think of other CO words to describe her change for a little fun.  We read and discussed chapters 6-7 today and reviewed over a few problems that they students had with the Chap 3-5 quiz.

Other - Tomorrow is dress like a teacher day and Alex X. and Alex Z. are Students of the Week.

Math - DMR Wednesday

Science - Last science test will be given next week on Wednesday, June 3

Social Studies - Last social studies test will be given on Monday, June 8th.  It will cover Unit 4: Lessons 1-7.  Today we wrapped up lesson 3 and discussed the assessment questions from last week's assignment.  The students worked with partners to read lesson 4 and discuss the "How" portion of the Big Idea Question: How did immigrations and settlements help California grow.  They worked together to complete the assessment assignment for lesson 4.  Tomorrow the students will review over the unit 2 tests with me and we will have our classroom debate on when they think California "truly" became a state.

Writing - DLR Wednesday and Spelling Practice page 142; Today I modeled how to complete a formal outline.  The students have been exposed to several formal outlines during their social studies unit on the gold rush.  I talked with the students about how the speech requires a formal outline and not a brainstorming outline that they are used to using for more of their fiction writing.  They began working on their outlines in class and they are due on Friday.  Next week the students may work on writing out their speeches.  They will not be scored on their written speeches, but instead will be scored on their oral speeches (written speeches our optional).

Reading - NLL Wednesday.

Other - Friday is Dress Like a Teacher Day and Alex X. and Alex Z. are Students of the Week.

Math - DMR Tuesday; Today the students took their final pretest covering the information that we still have left to cover.  My goal is to have as much specialized instrcution and activities as possible during the next weeks to meet the students' needs.

Science - No HW

Social Studies - No HW

Writing - DLR Tuesday and Spelling page 141; Today the students completed their speech introductions.  We are going to work on our outlines more tomorrow since there were so many questions about how to proceed today.  Outlines will be assigned tomorrow and will be due as homework on Friday.

Reading - NLL Tuesday and tomorrow the students will take a quiz on Chapters 3-5 from In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.

Other - Friday is Dress Like a Teacher Day and Alex X. and Alex Z. are Students of the Week.

Thank you so much to everyone who could make it to Open House.  I apologize if I did not get a chance to talk to you personally.  I was able to get several great pictures of families last night and I hope to share those with you soon.  With only a few weeks left of school, we will be busy completing and preparing for our biography speeches, completing the core curriculum in math, and ready In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson.  Please remind your child that although the school year is almost over, we still have a lot to do, so respectful manners, responsibility, and  focus should still be goals for them as they come to school each day.  I do have several fun activities planned for the last days of school (I know. My idea of fun may not fit their ideas!), but coopreation and self control are needed in order to have fun in a class of 33 without distracting classrooms around us.

Again, thank you for coming last night and supporting the school by purchasing items at the Book Fair and signing up to help out the Home and School Club.  The DVD playing last night will be given to each student to enjoy for years to come.  I hope they can look back at 4th grade with ond memories.

 Here are a few updates:

I have finally finished scoring the Unit 2 Social Studies test.  We are going to go over the questions in class next week and I will discuss with the students the importance of fully answering all parts of short response questions, paying attention to class discussions and participating in the discussions, and staying focused on learning and asking questions when needed.  

The students will be receiving their final scores for the Gold Rush simulation next week and the winners for each class will be announced!!  They will also be getting their Island of the Blue Dolphins folders back - which will include their tests, tests, and response activities. 

Have a nice long weekend!

Math - DMR Tuesday; Chapter 8 test will be given on Thursday; Today the students completed the Chapter 8 Test from the textbook as a review and a way for me to see if there are any specific areas we need to review over.

Science - HW is due tomorrow

Social Studies - None

Writing - DLR Tuesday and Spelling Practice; Today the students completed taking notes on the 8 strategies to writing a speech.  We focused on writing an introduction and introduced the color blue to our Step Up to Writing strategies.  The blues add more interest to our writing.  For our purposes, we are going to be working on writing strong instructions by using a quote. telling a story, stating something striking or shocking, relating to a current event, or asking an interesting question.  The students were given note cards (if wanted) to begin writing their introductions.  We are going to work tomorrow to better understand how to use one of the techniques mentioned above to write a more interesting introduction.

Reading - There is no NLL this week; Students should read chapters 3-5 in In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson and answer to reading response question on a lined sheet of paper - this questioned was recorded by them in class on Monday and was posted on yesterday's HW blog.  They should also keep track of any vocabulary word that they come across that they do not know by recording it on lined paper and writing down the page number where the word is located.

Other - Today and tomorrow is Dine Out at Cicero's Pizza - I will be dining out on Wednesday; Thursday is Open House from 6:30  -7:30 (Remember, this is a time for you to see what you child has been working on this year in the classroom and the tech lab.  You can also check out the book fair in the GLC and I will be taking pictures of all families that come on this day.  If you would like to meet about your child's progress, please send me an email to discuss this matter in private.  Open House is a fun time to share memories of the school year with family and friends.)

Math - DMR Monday; Today we reviewed over rounding with decimals and the students worked to complete a few estimation problems in order to practice their rounding and adding and subtracting with decimals.  Since some students are having a difficult time transferring their rounding skills of whole numbers over to decimals, I will be working with small groups tomorrow to focus on this skill more for the students who need the extra help.

Science - Homework due on Wednesday (this is the family connection assignment that was given several days ago).

Social Studies - No HW; Today we discussed how the gold rush impacted California's economy.  We ended our discussion on how export was very crucial to California's growth and how the gold rush helped that to occur when it did because of the large amount of people settling in California.  We also talked about the idea of "statehood" and when they think California became a state.  We are going to have a classroom debate on this idea next Thursday.  The students have been asked to form their own opinion on this question and to come to school on Thursday to support their opinion.

Writing - DLR Monday and Spelling Practice; Today the students began thinking about speech writing.  We used our Writer's Express books to look at the eight strategies or steps to speech writing and began taking notes on the strategies.  We will continue our note taking tomorrow and will begin writing the introduction for our speeches.

Reading - No NLL this week; The students must read In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson chapters 3-5 and respond to the follow reading response questions (they were asked to write this down a lined paper today): Do you think Shirley did the right thing about not telling anyone about what Mabel did?  Explain.  How would you have handled it?  They have also been asked to keep track of vocabulary words that they do not know while they are reading by recording them on back of the same lined sheet of paper used for their reading response.  They should record page numbers with the words that they list.

Other - Monday - Wednesday is Dine Out Night at Cicero's Pizza; The Book Fair will take place during lunch and scheduled library times this week and will be open during Open House on Thursday; Open House is this Thursday! There will be no school this Friday and next Monday.