Friday, March 19, 2010

~~ More March News ~~

** Please send in empty 2 liter soda bottles to be used in Science Class **

Upcoming Dates:

  • · 3/22 – 3/26 Nourish to Flourish Theme Week
  • · 3/19: Student Council Fantastic Fridays kicks off
  • · 3/27 – 4/4: Spring Break - No School

Nourish to Flourish Theme: Nutrition and portion size

Next week, we will have:

1. Eat and wear the color of the day.

Mon: blue/purple (ex. eat grapes and wear purple high heels)

Tues: White (eat a banana and wear white leg warmers and tube socks)

Wed: Red (eat a red apple and wear red MC Hammer pants)

Thurs: yellow/orange (eat carrots and wear orange capri pants)

Fri: green (eat celery and wear green Keds/Tretorns)

2. Student activity: record number of fruits and veggies eaten at lunch.

Student Council: Fantastic Fridays (some upcoming dates)

Stuffed Animal Day (March 19)

Mismatch Day (March 26)

Nerd Day (April 9)

Blast From the Past Day (April 16)

Curriculum Notes:

Writing: In writing class students are currently studying fictional narratives. We have recently been reading a variety of stories in class together in order to prepare for this genre. After reading each story, we have dissected the plot into a variety of components including the grabber, problem/challenge, action of the story, solution, and takeaway ending. This week students have been taking their own story topics and mapping out their ideas in a graphic organizer.

Next week we will begin drafting our stories. Writers will continue to use their skills in organization, elaboration, and sentence fluency when drafting. Students will also strive to become more independent when revising and editing their work. We look forward to having these fictional narratives published when we return from spring break.

Reading: Next week we will continue our study of Unit 4, reading the story, McBroom and the Big Wind. In this Survival Unit, the students will read various fictional and true stories about extreme situations. Our discussions with the different stories will center around how the characters stand up to the situations, and how we might respond if we were in their place. Please see the attached reading newsletters for your child’s homeroom, highlighting the upcoming vocabulary.

Math: Students will be finishing Unit 8 (Perimeter and Area) next week. The main objectives of this unit are to review perimeter and area concepts introduced earlier in Everyday Mathematics; to develop formulas as mathematics models for the areas of rectangles, parallelograms, and triangles; and to explore applications of area with the help of scale drawings.

Social Studies: Mr. Smith and Miss Carter’s classes have started their State Reports. Students will research their chosen state and complete a final report to be turned in on April 15. The first Due Date for the report is: completed research forms, due Thursday March 25. Report requirements and the project timeline were sent home for review, and can also be viewed on Mr. Smith’s blog: http://msmithop97.blogspot.com. There are also state research website links available on the blog.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

~ State Reports have begun ~

Mr. Smith's and Miss Carter's classes have started working on State Reports in Social Studies. The first check point (due date) is Thursday, March 25. Report research forms should be completed by then. The final project is due on Thursday, April 15. Check the requirements document and timeline for more details. (see links to these documents in the left margin of this blog)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

~ March ~

ISAT week starts this week, Tuesday, March 2.

Please help your child be successful by following the ISAT tips listed below.

The 4th grade testing will continue into next week, Monday and Tuesday, with our final test Tuesday afternoon.

A special Thank You to all of the parents who generously sent in snacks and juice during testing week.