If you haven't heard already - Abe Lincoln came to visit us on Thursday morning! The kids were totally surprised and awesome listeners! He shared his life story in 15 minutes, told kids to be nice to one another and answered some questions. It was such a fun experience! I'm not sure how next week can top this one!
Here's what we have to look forward to though: In Cougar's Call on Monday and Wednesday we will work on vocabulary and spelling work. On Tuesday and Thursday students will have targeted math instruction which focuses on fractions. In Math this week we will begin exploring fractions as decimals. The beginning of the week will focus on vocabulary associated with decimals (tenths, hundredths, thousandths, etc) and how to say decimals as fractions. By the end of the week we will be comparing decimals. In Literacy we are continuing our realistic fiction book clubs. This week we are focusing on retelling the story using characters name and necessary background information that we have learned through previous chapters. Encourage your child to retell stories at home. Not only will this increase their confidence, it will help them gather thoughts so they will be better writers! In Integrated Studies we are finally beginning our new unit! Our big question is - "Are you adept at adapting?". The central idea of this unit is to learn how living things are affected by environmental stresses. We will learn how some of Earth's stressors which include erosion, hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, the greenhouse effect, ice age, forest fire, earthquake, and pollution. Students will pick a stressor that they are interested in to investigate. They will research the cause and effect of their stressor and present a "weather forecast" to the class on Friday/Monday. HOMEWORK: -Read two and a half hours and log it in agenda -Math Study Guide (2 weeks to work on - due 3/10) -Literacy Packet (due 3/3) ANNOUNCEMENTS: 2/28 - Progress Reports go home! Please sign and return on Wednesday -Living Rhythms Assembly 3:05-3:55 3/1 - Early Release Day @ 1:15! 3/2 - Character Dress Up Day for Read Across America Day! 3/3 - Last day to turn in Raleigh Permission Slip & Money 3/15 - School Pictures (no uniform required) I hope you all are enjoying this weather! As it is getting warmer both outside and inside the classroom (they still haven't turned on the A/C) our classroom is starting to get a little...ripe smelling. Please continue to remind these lovely children of the importance of hygiene. If you have any extra good smelling glade plug ins, send them my way! We're also in need of some snacks! If you're in the giving spirit, pass those along too! Let me know if I can help you with anything as well! Best, Tomi
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Happy President's Weekend to you all! I hope you are enjoying this beautiful weather! Remember tomorrow there is no school! See everyone on Tuesday.
In Cougar's Call this week we will switch on Tuesday for fraction group. Wednesday and Friday will be used for vocabulary, word work, spelling and/or cursive practice. Our monthly spelling test will be this Friday! On Thursday we have a special guest visiting us! I'm keeping it a secret until then though :) In Math this week we will continue working with fractions. Now that students are comfortable with fractions, we are starting to move a little more quickly. Make sure your child is comfortable with simplifying fractions, and converting mixed numbers into improper fractions and vice versa. Let me know if your child needs additional practice! This week we will add and subtract fractions with like denominators. On Friday we will subtract mixed numbers. Because each day is a new mini-lesson, students have been completing multiple worksheets and exit ticket quizzes over the past week. If your child has been out of school recently, you may want to double check powerschool with your child to make sure they are not missing any assignments. As we move closer to the end of the year, I'm starting to give students more responsibility to prepare them for fifth grade. It's going to be up to them to make up work and get it in on time! In Literacy on Tuesday we are wrapping up our informational nonfiction unit. Students have been doing GREAT with this unit. We will have a formal literacy test to wrap up this unit before moving into character analysis book clubs! If your child wishes to prepare, have them walk you through the steps of close reading. Ask them how to chunk and annotate text to understand what the article is about. Additionally, we have been using the acronym RACE to help with open-ended writing responses. It really helps students gather their ideas, and answer using complete sentences. Here's how to use the RACE strategy: R - restate the question A - answer all questions asked C - cite evidence E - explain your answer In Integrated Studies this week we will finish up our IB unit, "How We Express Ourselves" by completing their class North Carolina Projects. Friday will be a club day! HOMEWORK: -Read two and a half hours and log it in agenda -Literacy Packet -Math Packet ( adding fractions) -Study Spelling Words - Test Friday, 2/24 **I have also started a competition in class to increase Compass Learning time! The top five students that log the most hours on Compass Learning by the end of March will receive a pizza party in the classroom with me! If your student has free time, encourage them to log their hours on Compass Learning! If they log on from home and wish to work on Math, have them click on their name with MOY. (E.g. Tomi MOY) I updated their math based on their recent MAP scores so compass learning is specifically made for each student in class to achieve their goals! ANNOUNCEMENTS: -2/20 - NO SCHOOL -2/21 - Career Day during Connect -2/24 - Friday Clubs -3/1 - Early Release Day @ 1:15 -3/2 - Character Dress Up Day & Meet & Eat International Night @ 6 I have to start this week's update with a huge THANK YOU! From gifts and treats, to cards, school supplies, and helping out in class, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you and getting to spend 5 days a week with your children. I am truly blessed to have you all as my first Cotswold families. Thank you!
Here's what's going on this week: In Cougar's Call on Monday and Wednesday we will be working on word work, spelling, and cursive. On Tuesday and Thursday morning we will swap for Fraction targeted learning groups. Friday morning we will take our social studies test on the American Revolution and Civil War. This test will wrap up our Social Studies unit before we move on to our "Living Things" unit in Science. In Math we left off Friday talking about landmark numbers for fractions (0, 1/2, 3/4, 1, etc.) On Monday and Tuesday we will continue talking these landmark fractions and how they can be placed on a number line. On Tuesday we will have a quiz in which students are able to place fractions on a number line from least to greatest. On Wednesday we will take a look at mixed fractions such as 1 1/2. We will talk about making mixed fractions into improper fractions. This will lead us straight into multiplying fractions on Thursday and Friday. During Literacy we have been reteaching and reviewing skills needed for close reading of informational nonfiction text. Our team has also decided to put more emphasis on written responses. We would like students to get better at answering questions in complete sentences and using their words rather than numbers, bullets, or simple yes or no answers. My Literacy group is even being encouraged to rephrase the question in a sentence. We have been practicing this in our Friday Morning Meetings and during Literacy group shares. You are more than welcome to practice this skill at home as well! I tell the students they sound like they're in college when they reply with a full sentence :) In Integrated Studies this week we are wrapping up our North Carolina history unit. On Friday students were given a class project called the "How We Express Ourselves Contract." The first part of this multi-step project allows students to write a letter to an official about an issue or concern that is important to them at our school, city or state. Next, students have the option of creating a poster or alphabet book about North Carolina. This encourages students to show what they've learned about North Carolina over the past few months! Finally in the last step, students can create a class constitution, government tree (which looks like a family tree except this one has the three branches of government), state seal (their own version!), or a 10 question quiz on Kahoot on famous North Carolinians. This is a project that must be completed in class over the week. It will be due Friday afternoon and is worth 100 big points! HOMEWORK: -Integrated Studies Study Guide (Due Thursday 2/16) -Math Packet (Due Friday 2/17) -Read two and a half hours and log it in agenda ANNOUNCEMENTS: 2/14 - Friendship Party at 2! Come join us! 2/17 - Regular School Day, House Meetings @ 3, & Social Studies Test 2/20 - No School 2/24 - Friday Clubs Here is a message from Mr. Clutts: On Thursday during recess, your child had the opportunity to play soft-stick lacrosse! Coach Andrea, Providence High School Head Girls’ Lacrosse Coach and Co-Founder of TEAM Lacrosse Academy, set up the goals and gave the kids a chance to pass, catch, and shoot on goal. There was some interest to continue playing so Coach Andrea is offering a discounted-price beginner clinic for girls and boys in 1st-5th grade, next Sat. 2/18. The clinic will be held at Providence Baptist Church’s field, located at 4921 Randolph Rd. from 12:30-2pm. If your son or daughter is interested, please click on this link or register by going to http://www.teamlaxacademy.com/events. Also, I am happy to announce that I will be coaching Girls on the Run this season after school on Tuesday and Thursdays! It is a wonderful way to boost confidence and lead a healthy lifestyle! If any girls from my class are interested, we still have a few slots on the roster and I would love to spend more time with my own kiddos! Let me know if your child is interested and we can get her signed up! Whew, this was a long one, sorry! If I left anything out, I will be sure to send out a reminder. Until then, have a great weekend! Tomi It looks like we're done with testing...for a few weeks anyway. Your children have been wonderful and worked so hard these past few weeks! They definitely deserve a treat! Here's what's going to be going on this week:
In Cougar's Call Monday we will catch up on discussing the Civil War and the Reconstruction period. Going through time and discussing major events so quickly can get confusing for 4th graders. If you have time, discuss with your child the differences between the American Revolution and the Civil War. I am in the process of creating a visual timeline for students to see how much time was between the two major events, but it can still be a difficult concept to grasp. On Tuesday and Thursday students will swap for targeted Fraction instruction. Wednesday and Friday will be used to introduce the new February spelling words, have some cursive practice and work with vocabulary. The spelling test will be on Friday, February 24th. Here are our February words: mountain, debug, different, employee, international, invasion, embarrassed, and signature. In Math we are beginning to add fractions with uncommon denominators. This unit skips adding fractions with common denominators and instead builds on third grade material. I strongly encourage working on khan academy if you child is struggling with the homework. ( https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-fourth-grade-math/cc-4th-fractions-topic ) Please talk to me if we need to revise your child's homework workload. By the end of the week we will start learning about fractions and where they fit on the number line between 0 and 1. In Literacy we are continuing nonfiction. When I met with students for conferences on Friday, many students expressed their desire to read more nonfiction text at home to practice some of the strategies we talk about in class. I am glad to send students home with some of the books from our library, but I also recommend checking out the nonfiction section of the library or book store if your family has some time! In Writing we are finishing up our persuasive writing. This week we put the final touches on our work and have a publishing party! Integrated Studies this week is focused on the question, How do citizens take action on the issues around them. To prepare for our field trip to Raleigh, we will take this week to discuss the branches of government in North Carolina and the rights and responsibilities we have as citizens. We are wrapping up with the social studies portion of the year and will soon be moving on to Science! On Friday I will send students home with a study guide as homework. To wrap up the social studies unit, we will have a final test. I'll explain more next week! ANNOUNCEMENTS: -2/6 Report cards go home -2/8 Staff Appreciation Lunch (Thanks Sarah and Veronica for taking over the class!) -2/10 Daddy Daughter Dance -2/14 Friendship Party -2/17 Regular School Day/Make Up Day -2/20 No school *At our staff meeting last week we were told to remind parents that if they come for lunch they may only sit with their child. Please do not bring other buddies to come sit with you at the parent table due to legal issues. *Also, due to recent events, if I am absent, I will inform you on the remind app or on here that I will be gone for the day and a substitute will be present. You are welcome to get in touch with me if you have any questions. HOMEWORK: -Read two and a half hours and log it in agenda -Math Packet -Literacy Packet (time spent on this can go towards reading time for the week) Have a wonderful rest of your weekend! Thanks for all your support! Tomi Report Cards: Please sign the parent signature card. Leave any comments that you have as well. The actual report card is for you to keep!
Map Scores: You'll want to go all the way to the WI17. This is the test they just took a few weeks ago. The darkest box is their score on the test. The lighter box next to the dark is the district average. You can also see if their score increased or decreased by comparing to the previous score (FA16). Let me know if you have any questions at all! I had conferences with students on Friday to show them their scores and talk about their 4th grade goals. If you have a specific 4th grade goal for your child, let me know so I can work with your child to achieve it! Tomi |
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