Class News #5

We have been incredibly busy learners in 4^th grade!

In early November, we had a fantastic field trip to The George Ranch! We saw a 1830s cabin, a 1860’s mansion, and a working blacksmith! It was quite a trip! Thanks to Candice Corzo and Marie Glover for chaperoning.

We have been learning all about Texas history-beginning with Native Americans that once lived in Texas. The students made a Google presentation about the Texas Native Americans and created a newspaper that could have been published in 1825 Texas.

Writing essays is truly fun! The kids have learned about the structure of essays and they a each chose a central idea and developed it into a well supported essay. They published them using Google Docs. We are about to revisit writing narratives in preparation for STAAR writing at the end of March. The book clubs for this month have been a huge success. Everyone is enjoying their book-as well as learning how to participate in a meaningful discussion about what they’re reading.

Measurement has been the name of the game in Math in January! We’ve discussed Weight, Mass, Temperature, and Capacity along with conversions in each category. In Math workshop, the children have studied perimeter and area and equivalent fractions. We’re also using a website- www.aaamath.com to work on mental math with subtraction. We will continue working on problem solving and Math facts daily so we’re prepared for STAAR in April.

In Science we have been learning about Ecosystems and Biomes, which included the wonderful ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ posters they kids made. We hung them up in the hallway for everyone to enjoy! We will soon begin learning about Food Chains and how they are a part of Ecosystems and Biomes.

Stay tuned for more updates soon!

Class News #4

Wow! It’s been a great two weeks!

First and foremost-Congratulations to our two new MDE Student Council Officers!! Saphia Zaman and Sam Snoots were elected the 2011-12 MDE Student Council Historian and Vice President, respectively. I am so proud of and happy for both-it’s fantastic to have our class represented so well.

Here’s what we’ve been working on:

In Social Studies, we are completing a unit on Texas Regions by creating a travel brochure. Each student will present this to the class this week! Next we will begin studying Texas Native Americans and Explorers.

In Science, we are also completing a unit on Space Science. We’ve been looking at the phases of the moon, the rotation of the Earth and our planet’s tides. Next we will be looking at Earth Science.

In Language Arts, students are reading in their book clubs and working on finishing up narrative writing. We will begin a unit on Feature Articles and Nonfiction reading. Look for more information coming home about how you can help us!

In Math, we’ve been working really hard on multi-digit multiplication and division. It’s been tough, but we have persevered! J We will continue to come back to this skill as we move forward in Math.

I am greatly looking forward to seeing each of you later this week for our annual Fall Conference-I’m ready to share all the great things your kids have been doing so far this year!

And, finally-don’t forget about the Fall Festival next Friday 10/28. It’s going to be the event of the season! There are still volunteer opportunities available-please see the list outside our classroom door.

Thanks again for sharing your kids with me every day! It’s what makes me smile! J

Class News #3

Greetings Everyone! I cannot believe it's already October! What a whirlwind! Here's what we've been working on.

In Social Studies we have been studying the Regions of Texas-Coastal Plains, Central Plains, Mountains & Basins, and Great Plains. The children have enjoyed learning about all the different parts to TX-they can name natural resources and major cities!

In Math we tackled 2-digit by 2-digit multiplication-[We'll come back around to this one again!] and the start of division. We're moving into 1-digit divisor by 2 and 3 digit dividend division.

In Language Arts we have been working on writing a surprising event narrative and many different writing projects. The children have inserted showing sentences and snapshots as well as improved their verb choice and descriptive language.

We started book clubs this week! Yeah! Each student has chosen a book that they want to read, the groups set a goal and they will have their first book club meetings this week. I've been meeting with each group as they work on deeply comprehending the texts.

The children have devoured the Space Science unit! They have learned about the rotation of the Earth and its orbit within the solar system, the effects of sunlight and shadows, and the phases of the moon.

A few thank yous...

We had a very successful Open House and I am so grateful to those of you who came to learn about our class. I loved getting to put a face with each of you and match you and your child! Getting to know you, helps me know your child even better!

Thank you, too, for the beautiful flowers you sent in for my birthday! I love flowers and I appreciate you all thinking of me! The kids and I are enjoying the beautiful view and aroma!

A few upcoming events...

The week of October 17th is parent conferences. I will be scheduling those soon and will send you an email with your day/time. Some of you have requested days/times and I will do my best to accommodate you. Thursday and Friday [10/20 and 10/21] are early dismissal days-the students are released at 12 noon.

We have been using small dry erase boards quite a lot lately-I asked the children to bring an old pair of socks from home to use as erasers. If you have an old pair that you're willing to part with, we'd love to have it!

Again, thank you for the privilege of teaching your children! They are fantastic and I am enjoying our time together!

Class News #2

Hello Everyone! Over the last 2 weeks we've been incredibly busy!

In Social Studies, we have been learning about Texas land-forms and waterways and our ever-changing Texas weather! We celebrated Constitution Day on Friday, September 17th with a read aloud of We The Kids an adaptation of the US Constitution.

In Math, we rounded and estimated to 100 and 1000 and learned about multiplication using arrays and factors of 10 and 100.

In Language Arts, we've been reading and writing in Reading & Writing Workshop, completing a personal narrative and finishing up our beginning of the year DRAs. The kids took their 1st vocabulary quiz and did really well!

In Science, the kids have been so excited to learn about the Sun, Earth and Moon. This week we'll take look at the phases of the Moon.

Looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday night at Back To School Night!

First Two Weeks of School

Happy Labor Day to all! We have had a terrific two weeks of school! I cannot believe we’ve already been together 10 days-time flies! We have been busy working on:

• · map skills including directions, latitude and longitude, oceans and continents in Social Studies
• · place value up to 1,000,000, adding and subtracting with re-grouping up to 1,000,000 using modeled drawing in Math
• · pre-writing with trigger words and wet ink, capital letters and commas in writing
• · personal narratives, things good readers do, how to form a reader’s response, how to talk about books we’ve read in reading
• · our first word sort in word study

We have checked out library books from Mrs. Gabriel and heard about the 2011-12 Bluebonnet books-can’t wait to get our hands on those!

We had an introduction to EasyTech from Mrs. Stutts and we are looking forward to getting started with some of its technology features.

We meet our Kindergarten books buddies on Friday and had a terrific time sharing books and we even squeezed in time for Julia’s birthday celebration and a successful fire drill!

I will try very hard to up-date the blog every two weeks so you all know what we’re doing in school-and I will post opportunities for you to volunteer! We’d love you help!

As always, thank you for letting me spend time with your children-they are our most precious commodity and I am honored to be their teacher!

See you all soon!

Welcome to the 2011-2012 School Year

Hello All! Just wanted to say welcome to everyone! I cannot wait for everyone to arrive tomorrow and for us to get to know each other and begin our learning journey together.

You will see some empty posts on the blog-for now they are holding spots for 11 Tools. 11 Tools is a technology project that I am working on. I wanted to have all the 11 Tools posts together, but I also wanted to welcome everyone to school. So, this is my solution!

For tomorrow, please bring a water bottle. It's really hot and I want the kids to be able to get water when they're thirsty. Our water fountain doesn't work well [I've asked for it to be fixed.] so if we all have water bottles for awhile that'll work.

I would also like for the kids to bring one of the books they read over the summer to school. My plan is to have the kids share them with everyone-not sure if we'll get to it tomorrow, but we will before the week's up.

I've got my clothes laid out, my lunch packed, and plans for an early bedtime and a good breakfast in the morning! I'm ready! See you all tomorrow!

Miss Roth

11 Tools-Tool #11

I will definitely use Stupeflix for students to create short video clips. This program/website was very easy to use and students will be able to share their knowledge creatively by producing videos with music and captions.

I also will use Today’s Meet.com for students to share their thinking publically. This is a great website to use during a Science investigation where students respond on the website while making observations.

The importance of technology is immeasurable because my students are of the digital age and demand learning take place with the use of technology tools. I will continue to think about ways to incorporate technology with my lessons and with the learning outcomes of my students.

I expected this to be difficult, and in the beginning it was difficult; but with each tool the tasks became more manageable and I found them to be useful with my students.

I am so glad that I had the opportunity to participate in 11 Tools so that my students can benefit from my understanding! Thank you!!