tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18952305577054836192024-02-21T21:50:17.724-08:00Welcome to 4th GradeMrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-14544763057855820042019-05-21T06:17:00.001-07:002019-05-21T06:20:46.166-07:00Week of May 20th<b><u>Important Dates to Remember</u></b>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Friday, May 24th - Half Day: Dismissal at 11:40 </li>
<li>Monday, May 27th - No School: Memorial Day</li>
<li>Friday, June 7th - Field Day </li>
<li>Wednesday, June 12th - Mini Society Market Day </li>
<li>Friday, June 14th - Half Day (Last Day of School) </li>
</ul>
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<b>FLE</b> lessons will be taking place next week. I'm missing several permission slips from students. Please remember that if I do not have a signed permission slip on file, your child will not be able to participate in the lessons.<br />
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<b><u>NWEA</u></b>: We're working on the Reading NWEA today and I'll have those results for you in Friday folders this week. The kiddos worked really hard this year and made so much growth! I'm so proud of them!</div>
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<b><u>Mini Society Update</u></b>: We're full steam ahead with our Economics unit. All students have turned in a plan to me stating what product they are planning to produce and what types of materials they need. The Prototype Design is due this Thursday so please make sure your child is prepared to bring in ONE type of each product they are planning to produce as well as a completed prototype sheet. If your child asks you or a member of the family for help with the production of their products, please remember that you do not work for free. You need to negotiate some sort of payment with them whether it would be helping out our around the house, helping out with dinner, etc. I have offered to help kids laminate products and make copies but they are paying me with the money they are earning in the classroom. Over the next few weeks, we're going to be learning about goods, services, wants, needs, scarcity and more! This will be an exciting month of learning for us!<br />
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<b><u>Math</u></b>: We just finished up Unit 7 in Math. This unit focused very heavily on word problems and problem solving strategies. We have made so much progress in this area this year! I'm very impressed with how the students tackle these types of problems and set up their problems using a number model! I'm currently correcting unit 7 math tests and they will be placed in Friday folders this week. We have just started our last unit of the year! In this unit, we'll be doing a review of number stories, fractions, decimals, and measurement concepts.<br />
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<b><u>Language Arts</u></b>: In Writing, we're finally wrapping our research papers and we have a few things to accomplish in writing over the next few weeks. We'll be putting this information into a Google slide show and sharing it orally with the class. Then, we'll be doing some work with Literary Essays to round out the year.<br />
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In Reading, we have been having great conversations about our books! In addition to talking about the events of the chapter, we have been working on skills such as making connections, making inferences, digging deeper into the text, and theme.<br />
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We're also continuing to work on nonfiction reading skills as well. We'll continue to work on skills such as analyzing informational text, finding information to support our answers, and finding the main idea. Over the next few weeks, we'll also continue working on text features and text structures.<br />
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<br />Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-55490774137408661552019-05-02T10:51:00.001-07:002019-05-02T10:51:46.251-07:00Week of May 6th <b><u>Important Dates to Remember</u></b>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Monday, May 6th: ACES Walk</li>
<li>Tuesday, May 7th: M-Step (Math)</li>
<li>Thursday, May 9th: Field Trip to Nature Center (We will be eating at the park - please bring disposable lunches) </li>
<li>Wednesday, May 15th: NWEA (Reading) </li>
<li>Friday, May 17th: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40</li>
<li>Tuesday, May 21st: NWEA (Math) </li>
<li>Friday, May 24th: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40</li>
<li>Monday, May 27th: No School - Memorial Day </li>
<li>Wednesday, June 12th: Mini Society Market Day </li>
<li>Friday, June 14th: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40 </li>
</ul>
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<b><u>FLE</u></b> Letters are coming home with your child today. We need a signed permission slip on file for every child. Please read the information and send it back to school by May 17th. </div>
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<b><u>Math</u></b>: The Division tests we took last week are in your child's Friday folder this week. We are well into unit 7 which focuses on Multiplication of a Fraction by a whole number and Measurement. This unit focuses heavily on multiplying fractions and mixed numbers with whole numbers. We're getting really good at converting improper fractions to mixed numbers and vice versa. I'm noticing a lot of improvement in our fractions skills! We're using these concepts so much and students are really getting comfortable with them. This unit will help lay the groundwork for 5th grade math next year. </div>
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<b><u>Language Arts</u></b>: In reading and writing, we're continuing to work through our informational unit. Our research papers are coming along quite nicely and will look great once they are finished! In reading, we'll continue working with main idea, supporting details and we'll be examining many short informational pieces as we do this. </div>
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We're also starting a round of book clubs. The kids are having great conversations about their books! They will be given periodic nightly homework and will be asked to respond to a question that I have given them. </div>
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<b><u>Social Studies</u></b>: We're just finishing up our Human Geography unit. Next week, we'll also be starting our Economics unit. As I mentioned earlier, the students will be opening their own business and creating a product. Designing a product definitely makes this unit easier and more fun! I'll be sending home some more information on Monday and getting the ball rolling next week with this. Stay tuned...</div>
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<b><u>Science</u></b>: In Science, we have been focusing on different phases of the moon and learning the necessary vocabulary that goes along with it. Our last unit of study is the stars! </div>
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Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-63601072230342760512019-04-16T05:13:00.002-07:002019-04-16T05:35:09.942-07:00Week of April 15th <u><b>Important Dates to Remember</b></u>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Friday, April 19th - No School: Good Friday</li>
<li>Wednesday, April 24th - Anderson Music will be here to fit students for instruments.</li>
<li>Tuesday, April 30th - MSTEP Testing (ELA Part 1)</li>
<li>Wednesday, May 1st - April Reading logs are due </li>
<li>Wednesday, May 1st - ACES Walk </li>
<li>Thursday, May 2nd - MSTEP Testing (ELA Part 2) </li>
<li>Tuesday, May 7th - MSTEP Testing (Math)</li>
<li>Thursday, May 9th - Field Trip: Nature Center </li>
<li>Friday, May 17th - Half Day: Dismissal at 11:40 </li>
<li>Tuesday, May 21st - NWEA Testing </li>
<li>Thursday, May 23rd - NWEA Testing </li>
<li>Friday, May 24th - Half Day: Elementary Only </li>
<li>Monday, May 27th - No School: Memorial Day </li>
<li>Friday, June 7th - Field Day </li>
<li>Wednesday, June 12th - Mini Society Market Day </li>
<li>Friday, June 14th - Last day of school: Dismissal at 11:40</li>
</ul>
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The book reports are officially finished and they were great! Thank you for all of your hard work and support on these projects! Corrected rubrics will be going home in Friday folders. </div>
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<b><u>Math</u></b>: We're just about at the end of our Division unit. Our goal with division is to ensure students can solve division problems, interpret the remainder and be able to solve long division problems (including word problems) with 1 divisor and a 4 digit dividend. We've been taking very small steps with these skills and we have made so much progress! I have reminded the kiddos about the importance of making sure their facts are committed to memory because this will make learning long division so much easier. We will be reviewing and testing next week. Keep your eyes peeled for a study guide coming home.<br />
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<b><u>Language Arts</u></b>: In Reading, we're continuing to work through our informational unit. We have been focusing on main idea and supporting details. After this, we'll be doing some fun activities to help us with our understanding of main idea and supporting details. We'll start pulling out our Scholastic News articles to help with this. The articles are so interesting and it's been learning about many things as we read them. We'll also be using the magazines to help us with text features and understanding the importance of them.<br />
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In writing, we're chugging right along with our research unit. Kids have picked a topic they are excited about and we just finished the research process. Organizing our notes and turning them into paragraphs has taken a lot of practice but our writing is looking good!! We focus a lot on topic sentences. These are important because they introduce our paragraph and the supporting details follow. We have made so much growth with our editing and revising skills! Checking each paragraph is essential before moving onto the next paragraph. Our final writing will be organized, typed and will have a lot of the text features we've been learning about. Stay tuned!<br />
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<b><u>Social Studies</u></b>: In social studies, we're in the midst of our Human Geography unit. Human Geography is our umbrella topic with several concepts falling under it. Over the next few weeks, we'll focus on learning how people have changed the earth in positive and negative ways, push and pull factors tied to immigration, and we'll touch briefly on westward migration and slavery.<br />
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<b><u>Science</u></b>: We just started out Sun, Moon, and Stars unit. To begin this unit, we'll be focusing on lessons that teach the students about the sun and their shadows.<br />
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<br />Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-50177607510513097352019-03-26T09:02:00.000-07:002019-03-28T10:38:29.707-07:00Week of April 8th Hello Parents,<br />
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I thought I would put out the important dates to remember before my next curriculum update because we have our MSTEP dates on the calendar as well as many other important end of the year activities. These dates are also found under my CALENDAR tab.<br />
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<u><b>Important Dates to Remember</b></u>:<br />
<ul>
<li>April 8-11th - Book Report Presentations. Check with your child to see what date they are scheduled. </li>
<li>Wednesday, April 10th - Spring Pictures </li>
<li>Friday, April 12th - Field Trip to the Festival of the Arts. Permission slips were sent home last week in Friday folders. </li>
<li>Friday, April 19th - No School - Good Friday</li>
<li>Tuesday, April 30th - MSTEP Testing (ELA Part 1)</li>
<li>Wednesday, May 1st - ACES Walk </li>
<li>Thursday, May 2nd - MSTEP Testing (ELA Part 2)</li>
<li>Tuesday, May 7th - MSTEP Testing (Math)</li>
<li>Thursday, May 9th - Field Trip to Nature Center</li>
<li>Friday, May 17th - 1/2 Day: Dismissal at 11:40</li>
<li>Friday, May 24th - 1/2 Day: Elementary Only </li>
<li>Tuesday, May 21th - NWEA Testing (Reading)</li>
<li>Thursday, May 23rd - NWEA Testing (Math)</li>
<li>Monday, May 27th - No School: Memorial Day </li>
<li>Friday, June 7th - Field Day </li>
<li>Wednesday, June 12th - Mini Society Market Day (Information about this will go home in early May)</li>
<li>Friday, June 14th - 1/2 Day: Last Day of School </li>
</ul>
Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-75729960467348072702019-03-15T06:52:00.001-07:002019-03-15T06:52:27.260-07:00Week of March 18th <u><b>Important Dates to Remember</b></u>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Wednesday, March 20th - Geography Test </li>
<li>Friday, March 29th - Reading Logs are Due </li>
<li>Spring Break - March 30 through April 7th! Enjoy the time off! </li>
<li>Monday, April 8th: Book Report Presentations Begin - Your child has their presentation date written in their agenda. </li>
<li>Friday, April 12th - Field Trip to Festival of the Arts. 4th Graders across the district are invited to the Costic Center to attend the Festival of the Arts. Since this is a shorter field trip, we will not need any parent volunteers. Field trip slips will be going home next week. </li>
<li>Friday, April 19th - No School (Good Friday)</li>
</ul>
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<u><b>Instrumental Music</b></u>: Anderson Music will be here on Wednesday, April 24th to fit kids with instruments. I imagine many kids are very excited about the opportunity to play a musical instrument next year! In 5th grade, students will have the opportunity to participate in instrumental music twice a week before school. More information will be coming home at a later date. </div>
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<u><b>Math</b></u>: We're making a lot of progress with our Fractions unit! We've been spending a lot of time building on the concepts we know so we can learn additional fraction concepts such as line plots, reducing fractions, and as always we're tackling a lot of word problems. Kiddos are doing great with the skills! Mrs. Whisenhunt, our Math Interventionist is always an incredible support during this time. We'll be finishing up unit 5 early next week and we'll be preparing a Math test probably late next week. Keep your eyes peeled for a math review to come home Tuesday or Wednesday.<br />
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<u><b>English Language Arts</b></u>: We're officially finished with our Persuasive unit! I should have persuasive papers graded next week. I'm still working on getting them finished up and back to the kiddos. You will be very impressed with their final writing piece! Their writing skills have come a long way and I'm proud of their hard work! Our next writing unit is research. This is a bigger unit! Students will be assigned an animal that they will be researching over the course of the next few weeks. All of the research will be done here at school and I will be guiding them through the process of how to take important ideas and turn them into paragraphs. There many be days where your child will have homework in writing but it will be merely finishing up what we did in school that day. There's a lot of hard work ahead of us but we're up for the challenge!<br />
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<u><b>Social Studies</b></u>: We're just wrapping up our Geography unit and we will be testing next week. Your child has a vocabulary sheet that they have been keeping as we've worked through the unit. There are many vocabulary words associated with this unit so please remind your child to study for the test.<br />
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<u><b>Science</b></u>: In science, we just finished up our last part of this unit which focuses on propeller driven vehicles. Kids had an awesome time making their vehicles and testing them! Science quizzes will be sent home next week in Friday folders.<br />
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<br />Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-66053729188715847952019-03-01T05:15:00.002-08:002019-03-01T08:57:58.504-08:00Week of March 4th<b><u>Important Dates to Remember</u></b>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Friday, March 15 - 1/2 Day: End of Trimester </li>
<li>Friday, March 29 - Spring Break begins at the end of the day </li>
<li>Friday, March 29 - Reading Logs are due </li>
<li>Monday, April 8th - Book Report presentations begin. Check with your child to see what day they were assigned. The date is written in their agendas. </li>
</ul>
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A big thank you to many parents who came to help out at our Valentine's Day party! We couldn't do it without your donations and help! Thank you to Judy Kao, Wes O'Leary, Kristen Forster, Kimberly Kilgo, Elly Switzer and Kristianna's grandma! The many donations we received for the party were perfect and we had such a wonderful day because of your hard work! </div>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Book Reports</u>: Book report requirements were handed out on Wednesday and all students should have selected their books. Please take a look at the packet that was sent home and send back the contract on Monday if you haven't already done so. There were many great questions and I went over the packet in detail. Feel free to reach out if you have any additional questions. I emphasized to the class that there are many parts to this project and to use the book report guide that I sent home to guide them through all the parts.<br />
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<b><u>Math</u></b>: We finished up our Multiplication unit right before break and this week, we've been working through unit 5 as well as finishing up the tests. We took 2 tests for unit 4 - a cumulative test that covered concepts from unit 1 to 3 and a unit 4 math test. I'll be finishing up grading these tests over the weekend and I'll send them home next week in Friday folders. In unit 5, we're digging deeper into Fractions and focusing more on mixed numbers, improper fractions, decimals, finding equivalent fractions and as always, word problems. The groundwork we lay in this unit will be very important for what they are expected to next year in 5th grade math.<br />
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<b><u>Language Arts</u></b>: Most days, we do 2 blocks of reading. In our first block, we have been focusing on summarizing nonfiction text within our IST groups. We start by reading and analyzing the text, then pulling out the main idea as well as important ideas the author is trying to convey. When we analyze the text, we decide what the important details are in the piece so we can make sure to include them in our summary. This work will important as I begin sitting down with students and doing some F and P assessments. In our second block of reading, we're reviewing character traits, point of view, theme, and summarizing the text. We'll be doing some book clubs after we get back from our spring break!<br />
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In writing, we're chugging right along with our persuasive essay unit. We're currently working on our second piece and others are beginning their third piece. Our goal for next week is to finish typing our second essay so they can share it with me and their writing partner to get additional feedback. We're nearing the end of this unit and we'll be working on a final write the following week. Our next unit of study is our informational writing unit where we'll be researching a topic and writing an essay.<br />
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<b><u>Social Studies</u></b>: In Social Studies, we're continuing to work through our Geography unit. Our next topic of study is landforms. This is a review from previous grades so the kiddos always do really well with this topic. After this, we'll be wrapping up the unit and preparing for a test.<br />
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<b><u>Science</u></b>: The kids are loving the Motion and Design unit and they're picking up many great skills while testing their vehicles!<br />
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<br />Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-83379804871088440872019-01-25T05:13:00.001-08:002019-01-25T05:17:22.156-08:00Week of January 28th <u><b>Important Dates to Remember</b></u>:<br />
<ul>
<li>Friday, January 25th: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40</li>
<li>Wednesday, February 6th: Music Instrument Demo for interested 4th graders - 4:00-5:00. </li>
<li>February 12-14: Book Fair</li>
<li>Friday, February 15th: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40</li>
<li>February 18-22nd: Winter Break </li>
<li>Monday, February 25th: Return to School </li>
</ul>
<b style="text-decoration-line: underline;">Valentine's Day Party</b>: The Valentine's Day Party is fast approaching and will take place on Valentine's Day at 10:00. I think we have most of the activities planned but could use another 10 minute activity to fill the time. I'll be sending out the Sign Up Genius for food items and I'll use some of the money collected in the beginning of the year to purchase prizes for the games. I kept the food pretty light because the party is right before lunch. Your child won't need a snack that day since we'll be snacking at the party.<br />
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<u><b>Math</b></u>: Our Multiplication unit is well underway and we're learning many multiplication strategies to solve problems. Partitioned rectangles and partial products are introduced early and will lay the groundwork for longer multiplication problems coming in later units. We are working in class with partners to have quick recall and accuracy and we'll continue testing on our basic facts once a week. There are several places in this program where we work on word problems. Many of these problems are multiple step problems so we start by circling the important information, underling what the problem is asking, making a number model, showing our work and restating the answer in a complete sentence. I know these problems can be very tricky but we're getting good at figuring out what operation to use and how to solve the problems.<br />
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<u><b>Reading</b></u>: On most days, we do two reading blocks. One block is focused on IST and the other block we're doing our read aloud and working on fiction strategies. For IST, our main focus has been nonfiction summarizing. This has not been an easy skill but the organizer we're using makes our work a little easier. Most of this work has been guided and soon, the kiddos will be completing a summary independently. After we get really good at nonfiction summarizing, we'll move onto summarizing fiction pieces. This will be a very helpful skill as I will beginning reading assessments again in late February.<br />
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In writing, we're rolling right along with our persuasive unit. We have analyzed persuasive texts, discussed the audience, topic, and the importance of having strong evidence and examples to back up our claim. We just finished writing our first piece together and we're finally ready to tackle a piece independently. When they are finished writing their first piece, they will bring it home for you to review. You can decide if their evidence was convincing enough and if they had enough supporting evidence to back up their opinion. <br />
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<b><u>Social Studies</u></b>: In Social Studies, we're continuing to move through our Geography unit. This unit also has many vocabulary words the kids will be responsible for so we've started writing them down so they're easier to review. Some of the things we'll cover in the next couple of weeks are latitude/longitude, relative location and landforms. I have some fun hands on activities to help reinforce the concepts.<br />
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<b><u>Science</u></b>: We're in the midst of our Motion and Design unit. This is an engaging unit where students work in design teams to create vehicles according to a given set of criteria. They modify their vehicles each week based on the scientific principles introduced. Students have to work together cooperatively in order to solve the problems at hand. This unit is definitely a favorite for most!<br />
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<br />Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-36655401795938902082019-01-02T13:00:00.000-08:002019-01-03T05:23:08.203-08:00Week of January 2nd<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><u><b>Important Dates to Remember:</b></u> </span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thursday, January 3rd: Reading Logs are due. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Tuesday, January 8th: NWEA - Math </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Friday, January 11: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Monday, January 21: No School - Martin Luther King Jr. Day</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Friday, January 25: Half Day - Dismissal at 11:40 </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Friday, February 1: Reading Logs are due </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Math</u>:</b> We're just finishing up our Fractions and Decimals unit and we'll be ready for a test on Monday. We'll be reviewing the rest of the week. Review sheets will be sent home tomorrow so you can work with your child on the skills they might need help with. Our next unit is Multiplying larger numbers so knowledge of those facts will really help with this unit!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Report Cards</u>:</b> As you know, report cards were sent home before break. Our Math program has changed and the district is communicating the following information to parents regarding the grades you might be seeing on your child's report card. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Farmington Public Schools has adopted the </span><span class="m_6898528042069443828gmail-il" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Everyday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span class="m_6898528042069443828gmail-il" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Math</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> program this year. </span><span class="m_6898528042069443828gmail-il" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Everyday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><span class="m_6898528042069443828gmail-il" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">Math</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> </span><wbr style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"></wbr><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">incorporates distributed learning of the </span><span class="m_6898528042069443828gmail-il" style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">math</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"> standards over time. Because the standards are visited frequently throughout the school year, the level of proficiency toward a standard looks different for teach trimester. Students can still achieve a proficient mark for each trimester based on the mastery expectation at that point in the year. Because each trimester has a different level of mastery, your child's level of proficiency may vary throughout the year as they work toward achieving each standard. </span></span><br />
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<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If your child is at a developing (D) for first trimester, the standard will be revisited at some point during the year. </span></li>
</ul>
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<li style="margin-left: 15px;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If your child receives a developing (D) or a not yet (N) for first or second trimester, he or she will still have the opportunity to master the standard in third trimester.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Timed Tests</u>: </b> Timed tests are going great! Kids are moving through their facts and I'm so proud of their hard work. Keep up the great work at home! It's helping!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Language Arts</u>:</b> In Reading, we'll continue moving through our character unit. We'll continue working on strategies such as inferring, questioning, predicting, and visualizing as we connect and empathize with our characters. In our Tiger Rising books, we're talking about different character traits that the characters have as well as supporting them with details and examples from the text. Next, we'll also be working on some close reading strategies. In addition, we'll be starting our IST groups late next week. In our groups, we'll be working on summarizing non-fiction text.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In Writing, we've just started our Opinion unit. This is a fun unit because kids get to pick a topic that they care about and persuade someone to see their point of view. We'll take a look at different persuasive letters and talk about whether or not the author has included enough persuasive evidence to persuade their reader. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Social Studies</u>:</b> In Social Studies, we're moving on to our Geography unit. We'll start by focusing on continents and oceans and looking at where the United States is in relation to other areas of the world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><u>Science</u>:</b> Now that our science kits have arrived, we have officially started our Motion and Deign unit! In this unit, students explore concepts related to the physics of motion. Students work in teams to design vehicles using K'Nex rods and connectors that meet certain requirements. This unit is a lot of fun and the kids love it! </span></div>
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Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-74022931037575572212018-11-30T10:02:00.001-08:002018-11-30T10:05:14.928-08:00Week of December 3rd <u><b>Important Dates to Remember</b></u>:<br />
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<li>Friday, November 30th: Half Day - Records Day</li>
<li>Monday, December 3rd: Reading Logs Due</li>
<li>Friday, December 21st: Winter Vacation begins - end of day </li>
<li>Wednesday, January 2nd: Return to School </li>
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Here's the plan for the next two weeks...</div>
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<u>Language Arts</u>: Over the course of the last few weeks, we have been spending a lot of time reading about what we're learning in Social Studies. We'll be spending a little more time on inferring and then digging into theme a bit. Inferring is a higher level reading skill and has been easy when guided but can be difficult when kids read on their own. How can you help at home? When you're reading with your child at home, point out places where they can infer character emotions based on what they say or do. I'm sending home a corrected reading assignment in Friday folders this week where kids did a lot of inferring. We're working really hard and coming a long way! </div>
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In Writing, we'll be wrapping up our Narrative writing soon and writing our final pieces. Students will be expected to type their writing piece and they will be sharing it with their writing partner next week for some additional help with editing and revising. We have a Writer's Cafe planned the week we return from Winter Break. We'll be sipping hot chocolate, eating a snack and listening to students share one of their writing pieces. They are looking forward to it! </div>
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<u>Math</u>: We're making a lot of growth with our multiplication facts! Knowledge of these facts have been making our Fractions unit much more manageable. Keep up the good work here! We've just started our Fractions unit and it's going quite well. We tend to slow things down a bit in this unit because the groundwork we lay this year will be very helpful as your child moves to more difficult concepts in 5th grade. If there's anything you can do at home to make fractions more meaningful, please do so. Cutting up food, talking about what each fractions means and also discussing equivalent fractions will really help a lot! </div>
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<u>Social Studies</u>: We are just about finished with our Government unit. We have been busy focusing on the purpose, levels, and types of government we have in the United States. This week, the students participated in a simulation to help them learn more about our 3 branches. All students were assigned to a different branch of government and were given many scenarios to help them learn more about the responsibilities each branch has and how they check on each other to ensure no branch has too much power. We will be reviewing next week and the test will take place the week of December 10th. </div>
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<u>Science</u>: The kids are learning so much with our Magnetism and Electricity unit! We have been creating electrical circuits using D-cell batteries, wires, light bulbs and small motors. We recently solved "The String of Lights Problem." Students came up with a solution to the problem of keeping a strand of lights lit, when when bulb goes out by building the circuit in parallel instead a series circuit. As them to tell you about it! We are concluding the unit with a final assessment next week. A study guide will come home on Tuesday and the test will be on Thursday. Our next unit of study is Motion and Design!<br />
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Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-57357624595473509082018-11-05T13:04:00.000-08:002018-11-05T13:10:39.290-08:00Week of November 5th <u><b>Important Dates to Remember</b></u>:<br />
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<li>Canned Food Drive until November 20th: I will give students money in their bank account for every can they bring in. :) </li>
<li>Tuesday, November 6th: No School - Voting Day </li>
<li>Friday, November 9th: Picture Retake Day</li>
<li>November 13th, 14th, 15th: Scholastic Book Fair held during conference time. We will be shopping as a class on November 14th. </li>
<li>Thursday, November 15th: Half Day - Parent/Teacher Conferences</li>
<li>Wednesday, November 21, - 23rd: No School - Thanksgiving Break</li>
<li>Friday, November 30th: Half Day - Records Day</li>
<li>Monday, December 3rd: Reading Logs Due</li>
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<u style="font-weight: bold;">Multiplication Timed Tests:</u> Our multiplication timed tests are going quite well! The kiddos meet about once a week with their multiplication buddies and work on facts that they need for the following week. On Wednesday, I will be giving the 5's to some kids and 4's to others. Thanks for your support with this! The facts have been essential for unit 2 so we're glad to have them in our back pockets! </div>
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<b><u>Math</u></b>: We're rolling right along with our Multiplication and Geometry unit. The important highlights of this unit have been factors, multiples, prime and composite numbers, and characteristics of triangles and quadrilaterals. This week, we'll be wrapping up unit 2 and will be reviewing and gearing up for a test. Once I have a more firm timeline of the test, we'll write that in our agendas.<br />
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<u><b>Language Arts</b></u>: In Reading, we'll continue to focus more on types of inferences which focus on small ones like meaning of words to larger ones like inferring theme and character emotions. We have been working together on the rug and I've showed the class how to look for "clues" so they can make a proper inference. Soon, we'll be moving through our character unit and continue inferring traits, emotions, and theme using action and dialogue. We'll also be using some of our reading time to focus on reading genres.<br />
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In writing, we have been working hard on our narrative strategies. We've been working hard to add transitional phrases to help our writing flow better as we move from one part of the story to the next. The kiddos are also working hard to add sensory details to their writing pieces. This week, we'll begin publishing our current writing piece on the computer so I can begin giving feedback on their strategies. </div>
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<b><u>Social Studies:</u></b> Over the last few weeks, we have been discussing the Constitution, Preamble and democracy. This will set us up nicely for our study of the different levels of government and the 3 branches. I have some fun activities I will do with the students as we learn about these interesting concepts. </div>
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<b><u>Science</u></b>: We just wrapped up our first investigation on magnetism and next, we'll be doing some fun experiments on electricity. Electricity is always a fan favorite! </div>
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Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-4209804383175854792018-10-19T09:11:00.001-07:002018-10-19T09:14:42.938-07:00Week of October 22nd <u>Important Dates to Remember</u>:<br />
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<li>Friday, October 19th: Half Day </li>
<li>Wednesday, October 31st: Halloween Party 2:15-3:25</li>
<li>Thursday, November 1st: Reading Logs are due</li>
<li>Tuesday, November 6th: No School - Voting Day </li>
<li>Wednesday, November 21, - 23rd: No School - Thanksgiving Break</li>
<li>Friday, November 30th: Half Day - Records Day</li>
</ul>
<u>Halloween Party</u>: Halloween is fast approaching and we have a committee of parents who have been busy preparing fun activities to do during our party. The party will take place at 2:15-3:25 on October 31st. Look for a Sign-Up Genius to come home soon. Your child may bring their costume to school that day and we'll be putting them on in the afternoon. Please join us if you're available to come during that time! We would love to see you! I believe we still need a few parents to run activities, so if you're interested, please email me.<br />
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<u>Language Arts</u>: The kids are doing a great job keeping track of their reading minutes on their Reading Calendar! I will be collecting these at the beginning of every month. The goal is to read 30 minutes most nights or 600 minutes a month. We have many very focused readers here and I'm proud of their hard work in this area! In Reading, we have been working hard to make inferences while we read. We will be starting reading rotations next week so I'll have more time to dig deeper with small groups of students. This week, we spent time reading short paragraphs, pulling out inferences and supporting our claim with evidence from the reading.<br />
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Our spelling tests have been looking really good but I've been noticing the kiddos are not integrating those words into their daily writing. I've been using some of our writing time to teach sentence structure lessons. I have been also doing some reteaching and the kids have been going back to fix up some of their work. I think this will be really helpful as we move through our writing units this year. We're continuing with our Realistic Stories unit. This week, we worked hard to "hook" or reader with grabbers and we talked about the components of a strong introduction. Next week, we'll start digging a little deeper as we work on organization. We'll be thinking of the end in mind as we learn the beginning, middle, and end strategy. Adding details, revising, and editing will also be implemented along the way.<br />
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<u>Math</u>: We have started practicing our multiplication facts more regularly and will be taking timed tests once a week. This week, we took a baseline assessment of all the facts. I like to give this test early in the year so we can chart our progress and set goals. As the year progresses, we'll notice these scores improving as we begin to master our facts. This week in Friday folders, you will find your child's baseline assessment and their 2's timed test. If they received a score of 90% or more, then they should begin studying their 3's. We'll test every Wednesday.<br />
We have finished up our Place Value unit. I will be sending home corrected tests next Friday. We're currently working through our Multiplication and Geometry unit. Some of the big skills we're focusing on are factors, multiples, and prime and composite numbers. Quick recall of our multiplication facts are really important in this unit and will make learning these concepts a lot easier.<br />
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<u>Social Studies</u>: We're working through our Government unit in Social Studies. We started by looking at the Constitution and analyzing the Preamble. We've been discussing the many rights and freedoms we have because of the constitution. Next week, we'll focus on Democracy and begin looking at the many services our Government provides for us.<br />
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<u>Science</u>: The first investigation is all about magnetism. So far, the students have discovered that magnets stick to objects made from iron or steel. After they explored how magnets interact with each other, they experimented with induced magnetism and temporary magnets.Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-59549665245958856682018-09-28T09:01:00.000-07:002018-09-28T09:01:09.485-07:00Week of October 1st Hello Parents!<br />
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We're settling into our routines nicely and the kiddos are doing great! Now that these routines are in place and we have established behavioral expectations, we can really start digging into some fun learning! We're doing an amazing job completing homework at home as well! Thank you for your help with this! Here's our plan for the next two weeks:<br />
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<u><b>Important Dates to Remember</b></u>:<br />
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<li>Wednesday, October 3rd: Picture Day</li>
<li>Friday, October 12th: Fun Run</li>
<li>Friday, October 19th: 1/2 Day: Staff Development</li>
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<b><u>Spelling</u></b>: Spelling words have been introduced! You may have noticed a Spelling pre-test in last week's Friday folders. I normally run two spelling groups...a group that focuses on high frequency words and another group that focuses on patterns. If your child already has many of their high frequency words in place, they will begin in my spelling patterns group. Keep in my that the groups are flexible and if I notice a particular student doing really well on spelling tests and daily writing, I may move them up to the patterns group. We will receive new words on Monday and we'll test on Friday.<br />
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<b><u>Math</u></b>:We are rolling right along in the Place Value unit in our Everyday Math program. We have reviewed writing the value of numbers, writing number in word form, expanded form and have also worked on rounding numbers. A big piece of the Everyday Math program is the spiral piece which means that when a concept is introduced, it will circle back many times before the concept is mastered. This program also focuses heavily on mental math and the introduction of many different strategies to solve a problem. One of the things that have been holding us back lately is our math facts including addition, subtraction and multiplication. I will be sending home corrected timed tests in next week's Friday folders and we'll begin working on our math facts more heavily because as you know, this will really help them as new concepts are introduced.<br />
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<b><u>Language Arts</u></b>: Over the next two weeks, I'll be incorporating several lessons into Reader's Workshop such as choosing "just right" books, setting reading goals, and keeping our eyes and mind in the book. During reading time, we'll also be working on fluency. I'll be introducing a fun fluency activity called Fluency 1,000 which takes about 5 minutes but really helps with word accuracy skills. We also started discussing two important reading strategies...making connections and inferring. We've talked about how making meaningful connections helps us understand how characters feel and helps us to understand the story better. I've also started assessing students to determine their Fountas and Pinnell reading level.<br />
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In the area of writing, we have been working to identify fragments and run-on sentences. This will help us as we get more into our writing units. The first writing unit is called Launching with Realistic Fiction. In the next few weeks, we'll be focusing on important parts of our narrative writing piece such as how to organize our writing piece, adding a catchy grabber, developing a strong introduction, and we'll also be using a story mountain to ensure we have included all parts of our story. <br />
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<b><u>Social Studies</u></b>: Our first unit in Social Studies will focus on the United States Government. We'll begin by talking about the purpose of government and the many services the government provides us with. There are many tricky vocabulary words associated with this unit so I'll be adding some fun activities to help the kids understand the concepts better. <br />
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<b><u>Science</u></b>: We will also begin switching for Science and Social Studies and Mrs. Lindenberg will be teaching the Science curriculum this year. The first unit focuses on Electricity and Magnetism. We will actually be making electrical circuits using D-cell batteries. It's a very fun, interactive unit so we're all looking forward to it!Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1895230557705483619.post-39115064037284739432018-09-14T08:45:00.002-07:002018-09-14T13:05:06.321-07:00Week of September 17thHello Parents!<br />
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Thank you for visiting our classroom blog! This will be a great resource for you so you can hear about all of the things that we're learning in our room. I typically update the blog every 2-3 weeks and I will always send out an email (typically on Friday) to let you know it's been updated with new curriculum. As you look around, you'll notice there is a calendar for the year. I've noted half days and breaks on the calendar and will also be noting upcoming tests and quizzes. There is an area where I will list the homework just in case your child has forgotten to circle their homework that day. You will also have access to the Math homework (home links) just in case your child accidentally misplaces it and needs another copy.<br />
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Homework has been going quite smoothly. The kiddos are doing an amazing job managing their materials and bringing back their homework the next day. Thanks so much for your help with this! Your hard work shows! I'll continue assigning homework Monday through Thursday and will try to reserve Friday for time to catch up on things.<br />
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<u>Reading</u>: Please try to remind your child to read each night. It really helps build those reading skills. In the month of September, we do not have a formal reading log but I will begin to assign those in October so we can keep track of our minutes.<br />
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<u>NWEA</u>: We were experiencing some connectivity problems with the NWEA today so we'll resume testing next week. I'll plan on finishing our Reading portion on Monday and we'll be doing Math on Tuesday and Wednesday.<br />
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Next Friday is our first half day. Dismissal is at 11:40.<br />
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If you were unable to make Curriculum Night last night, I have placed the packet in your child's Friday folder. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.Mrs. Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11645486130315920488noreply@blogger.com1