Fourth Grade Art

Fourth grade created mobiles inspired by the 20th century American artist Alexander Calder. Now we are building a class circus in the style of this talented icon. Please send a shoebox if you have available. Thank you!

Fourth grade continues to expand on their writing using the SMILE writing program. The class has been expository writing from prompts given to them. They have also been journal writing and doing very challenging edits on their DOL paragraphs. In addition to the writing, I will be in a SMILE writing workshop on Monday therefore the fourth grade will have a substitute for general studies.

Next week there will be a Wordly Wise test over Lesson #4 on WEDNESDAY. Due to a short week I am working the Wordly Wise with the students in class so that by Sunday they can begin studying the lesson.

The class did a fantastic job on their multiplication test, and is moving on to multiplying 3 numbers or more to double digits. Please remember to study multiplication/division facts every evening.

Next week I will be handing out writing/project guidelines for the invention convention students will be completing.

I am looking forward to meeting with you next Wednesday evening. Have a restful weekend! MB

Mrs. Markson's Technology Class

4th graders took a pre-test for keyboarding. Most discovered they could type ok if they could see the keys. Most were not able to type if the letters on the keys were covered. We also talked about homerow. Next week we'll begin working on homerow. In the future, 4th graders will have keyboarding homework to reinforce what we did in school. The homework will be on their flash drives, so they need to bring them to class every Monday.

There will be a math test next Wednesday over double digit by double digit multiplication. Students have picked up quickly on the concept but the delay comes in readily knowing their math facts. Please be working at least 15 minutes per night on addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts. The students will begin to take math drill tests that will be graded, so please be working on these facts.

Next Tuesday is Wordly Wise Test #3 and then they will receive a spelling list for the following week.

Email is my best contact, so if you have anything you need to ask about please contact my work email.

Fourth Grade Art

Fourth grade is busy creating collages for the fundraiser art project. We are having a great time!

Technology

Last week we created pdf  files (portable document file) of a cover that was created in Publisher and saved them to flash drives. This week we made sure we could open the files and students took their flash drives home to show their project to a parent. (the file opens with the free program adobe reader) A parent needs to sign in the agenda book on 9/20 to acknowledge seeing the file.

We talked about what makes a good pw (not easily guessed, having numbers and letters). We also signed into Kerpoof.com and reset passwords for those who had forgotten their pw. Kerpoof is accessible from home or school.

Oddly a book on my shelf in the classroom sparked the interest of several students. The book is named Mary, Bloody Mary about Queen Mary, sister of Queen Elizabeth. Ironically over the weekend I came across a book about the war of wits between Queen Mary and her half-sister, Princess Elizabeth. We discussed the history of King Henry and his quest for a son. We then chatted about the lengthy reign of Queen Elizabeth and how she affected upon the country and history. The kids also did not understand why it was such a big deal that not only that she reigned for so long (44 yrs) but lived a long life (almost 70 yrs). We spoke about life expectancy in those days and how blessed the kids are nowadays to have such good sanitation and be able to eat healthy and get shots to keep them well. It was a truly enlightening conversation!

In math the students are mastering mulitplying double digit numbers by double digits. Wednesday we will begin triple numbers by double and I foresee a test by next Wednesday over the concept. I will keep you updated.

In science we continue to classify types of living organisms. We are currently growing fungi in the classroom in secret dark spaces...eeeewwww and have discussed vascular vs nonvascular plants and seeds vs spores. The students will learn about animal life cycles and the key vocabulary will be: trait, heredity, gene, life cycle, direct development and metamorphosis.

In reading we will be reading the trade book Helen Keller. We are going to study the extraordinary life of Helen Keller and we will watch The Miracle Worker. We have also been reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's On the Banks of Plum Creek. This is all tied into our unit on biographies.

BIG oooops on my part. Last week when I gave the Wordly Wise test I did not give the WW spelling portion therefore tomorrow I will give Lesson #2 spelling portion. I also have mentioned that WW will be rotated with a formal spelling list however per my lesson plans I had scheduled this to be the week of WW#3 and next Tuesday to be the WW#3 test and then will begin the rotation with formal spelling. So please be aware that you will see WW this week, test next Tuesday and then a list will go home for spelling next week.

In history we continue to outline the first Chapter over ancient North American civilizations. At the end of this week the class will begin to make salt dough to make individual Texan salt dough relief maps which we will work on next week.

Please make sure to be checking your child's binder. Since there are no longer Friday take-home folders and all work is filed away please be checking for graded work in the binder along with updates in their agendas.

Pluralistic Judaics Update

Shana Tova!!

I am excited to announce that I am finally up and running with the blog. I apologize for not being in touch sooner. Fourth grade started this year reviewing what they know about Rosh HaShana, focusing on the symbols, foods, and objects that we use during the holiday. We also learned the 7 Steps of Complete Tshuvah according to the Rambam. As you many of you know we are working with the Tal Am Curriculum. At Meet the Teachers Night, I said that I would not be sending the books home. However, I would like you to see how your child is progressing. After the holidays, I will start to send the books home at regular intervals. I ask for your cooperation in making sure your child is using their time to work in class effectively, as well as to make sure the books MAKE IT BACK TO SCHOOL!

I look forward to reaching out to more of you individually, just as soon as the craziness of the new school year and all the holidays dies down a bit. As always, I encourage you to contact me at millerr@eka-sa.org with any questions or concerns.

I wish you and your families a happy, sweet, and healthy New Year, as well as a year of successful learning together for all of us!

Fourth Grade Art

Our class enjoyed hearing the fun children's book, The Dot. Using the story as inspiration, students had the chance to paint their own versions of dots on large paper with watercolors.

Tuesday

Shortest school week this year! Today was our "Monday" and tomorrow is our "Friday!"

Today students worked on their "Who" expository paper. Webbing their information and will put it into sentence form tomorrow. Next week we will be expanding on the information and will create their first paper.

In science they learned about Alexander Flemming's discovery of penicillan. The lab today consisted of beginning to grow our own mold and making hypotheses on the best places in the room to grow mold (eeeewwwww!!). We will be using petri dishes soon to swab and observe bacteria in the school.

In math we worked on number patterns with large numbers.

***Wordly Wise #2 TEST TOMORROW***

Due to the students having binders they will not have Friday take home folders, however I am sending home the binder so you can see their work from the week. Please check over their binders and agenda to wrap up the week.

Notes from the Music Room

Following our vocal and rhythm warm-up, we read about the history of the recorder. Recorders were originally folk instruments in the 12th century. During the 16th century, Bach and Handel composed music for the recorder. Today more than 3.5 million recorders are manufactured each year for use in classrooms. We are focusing on playing the notes B, A, and G with a quality tone.

Since the class has been taken through a full Wordly Wise lesson and test they will now be assigned Wordly Wise #2. Normally I will assign it on Tuesday and have sections A-E due on Thursday, however this week I am assigning it today (Wednesday) and it will be due Friday. They will work at home on Lesson #2 and sections A-E are due Friday and the students will be tested next Wednesday over the vocabulary. Tuesdays normally would be the tests, however since Monday is Labor Day I pushed it to Wednesday. If you would like your child to also spell the words please be practicing, however it is not a requirement for the students to spell the words.

The writing focus has been expository. This week we took word bites, which are quick words that define a topic. For instance: Summer could be the topic; the word bites could be: pool, hot, friends, icecream, sun, drought...
From there we will expand on these word bites and create our first expository writing.

From the reading book they have been reading expository text about weather. This past week we read about volcanos, tornados and earthquakes.

In math we have been working on multiplying double digits by double digits. We will continue to practice this into next week. Please remember to practice math multiplication and division facts through 12s.

We have continued to study the ancient peoples of Texas and their ways of survival.

In science students have been experimenting with vascular and non vascular plants. They are studying fungi and bacteria and next week we will be completing a lab using yeast.