Thursday, January 27, 2011
~ Bottles Needed ~
Beginning next Trimester, the 4th grade will be creating ecosystems in Science. We are in need of clear 2 liter plastic bottles with their cap. If you happen to come across any over the next few weeks, would you please send them into school with your child.
Friday, January 21, 2011
~~ January News ~~
Upcoming Dates:
•1/24: NO School – Teacher Institute Day
•1/31 - 2/4: Conference Week
•1/31 – 2/4: PTO Book Fair
•2/3 – 2/4: Half Days – Dismissal from school is at 11:00 a.m.
•2/4: Froebel Block workshop in class
•2/11: Field Trip - Ice Skating
•2/21: NO School – Presidents’ Day
Reminders/Notes:
• Frank Lloyd Wright/Froebel Blocks: Frank Lloyd Wright grew up playing with a set of blocks that helped to inspire him to go into architecture. These same blocks, named after the gentleman who created them, will be coming into all fourth grade classrooms the first Friday in February. Students will have the opportunity to create a number of different structures with these blocks throughout the one hour time period.
• Custom Typing: We are continuing formal keyboarding lessons and students will routinely go to the computer lab for Custom Typing. This offers the opportunity for your child to become familiar with “home row” and allows for an increase in words per minute. This program can also be accessed at home through our school’s homepage. In order to access a child’s particular screen, that can be accomplished by typing “d97username” (i.e. = d97melsmith). The password is your child’s student ID #. Students should be familiar with this process and can access the program at home for more practice.
• Take Home Folder/Assignment Books: Your child should be bringing home their assignment book and a take home (homework) folder everyday. Please check both for assignments, notes, and other information.
• District Referendum Information: Referendum information can be found at: http://www.op97.org/referendum/index.html
• District Food Service Survey: District 97 has created an online survey parents/guardians and students can use to provide feedback about our food service program. The survey features questions about a variety of topics, including the quality of the menu and overall satisfaction with the program. Links to the survey can be accessed off of our webpage at http://www.op97.org/longfellow/index.html Print versions of both surveys are also available. The deadline for completing the survey is January 26, 2011. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about our food service program, and for your continued support of District 97.
• Digital Backpack: Access the school’s digital backpack, to get papers from the school and district. If you need paper copies, please let us know. You can simply go to the district’s website and access it that way.
• PBIS: PBIS program is accepting donations from families and community partners. You can visit the PBIS blog at http://longfellowpbis.blogspot.com/ for a wish list on the right side menu; it is titled “Bears’s Den Wish List.”
Curriculum Notes:
Reading: Next week we will be focusing on modeling and practicing Literary Responses. In class we will read a short story, and then use a graphic organizer to help build each response. This additional practice will help students include details that support their answer.
Next we will be starting Unit 3: “From Mystery to Medicine.” In this unit, your child will read and discuss a variety of selections that present many concepts about medicine. This will include modern medicine, as well as folk medicine. The first story, titled “Medicine: Past and Present,” is an expository text piece that focuses on how medical practices and technology have greatly advanced over the years.
Writing: In writer’s workshop our authors will be starting a new genre in writing –biographies. For the upcoming Black History month students will be choosing one individual (past or present) that they would like to research in depth. Students will be assessed in the following traits: conventions, sentence fluency, and word choice. Students will be learning how to read information and take notes. Using a strategy called RTW (Read, Think, Write) students will learn to put printed information in their own words using abbreviations. Students will then compile all of their information to create a four paragraph essay. We ask that students choose an individual that has made strong contributions to our society. Please discuss some possibilities with your child over the weekend. Feel free to start gathering resources together for research. Students will be doing the actual research at school, but if you would like to visit the library and start gather resources to support this, please have your child bring them in next Tuesday.
Math: Students have started working in Unit 6 (Division; Map Reference Frames; Measures of Angles), which focuses on understanding the division operation, developing a method for dividing whole numbers, and solving division number stories. Students will learn a division method “Partial-Quotients Algorithm” to build up partial quotients until the exact quotient and remainder are determined. We will then practice a “Traditional” method for long division. There is also focus on numbers in map coordinate systems, and informal work with rotations and angles.
Science: In Science the students are finishing the Land and Water Unit. In this unit, students investigate the interactions between land and water. Using a stream table as a model, they create hills, build dams, and grow vegetation. Miniature valleys, waterfalls, and canyons form in the stream table as water flows over and through the soil. From these firsthand observations, students discover how water changes the shape of land and how features in the land, in turn, affect the flow of water.
•1/24: NO School – Teacher Institute Day
•1/31 - 2/4: Conference Week
•1/31 – 2/4: PTO Book Fair
•2/3 – 2/4: Half Days – Dismissal from school is at 11:00 a.m.
•2/4: Froebel Block workshop in class
•2/11: Field Trip - Ice Skating
•2/21: NO School – Presidents’ Day
Reminders/Notes:
• Frank Lloyd Wright/Froebel Blocks: Frank Lloyd Wright grew up playing with a set of blocks that helped to inspire him to go into architecture. These same blocks, named after the gentleman who created them, will be coming into all fourth grade classrooms the first Friday in February. Students will have the opportunity to create a number of different structures with these blocks throughout the one hour time period.
• Custom Typing: We are continuing formal keyboarding lessons and students will routinely go to the computer lab for Custom Typing. This offers the opportunity for your child to become familiar with “home row” and allows for an increase in words per minute. This program can also be accessed at home through our school’s homepage. In order to access a child’s particular screen, that can be accomplished by typing “d97username” (i.e. = d97melsmith). The password is your child’s student ID #. Students should be familiar with this process and can access the program at home for more practice.
• Take Home Folder/Assignment Books: Your child should be bringing home their assignment book and a take home (homework) folder everyday. Please check both for assignments, notes, and other information.
• District Referendum Information: Referendum information can be found at: http://www.op97.org/referendum/index.html
• District Food Service Survey: District 97 has created an online survey parents/guardians and students can use to provide feedback about our food service program. The survey features questions about a variety of topics, including the quality of the menu and overall satisfaction with the program. Links to the survey can be accessed off of our webpage at http://www.op97.org/longfellow/index.html Print versions of both surveys are also available. The deadline for completing the survey is January 26, 2011. Thank you for sharing your thoughts about our food service program, and for your continued support of District 97.
• Digital Backpack: Access the school’s digital backpack, to get papers from the school and district. If you need paper copies, please let us know. You can simply go to the district’s website and access it that way.
• PBIS: PBIS program is accepting donations from families and community partners. You can visit the PBIS blog at http://longfellowpbis.blogspot.com/ for a wish list on the right side menu; it is titled “Bears’s Den Wish List.”
Curriculum Notes:
Reading: Next week we will be focusing on modeling and practicing Literary Responses. In class we will read a short story, and then use a graphic organizer to help build each response. This additional practice will help students include details that support their answer.
Next we will be starting Unit 3: “From Mystery to Medicine.” In this unit, your child will read and discuss a variety of selections that present many concepts about medicine. This will include modern medicine, as well as folk medicine. The first story, titled “Medicine: Past and Present,” is an expository text piece that focuses on how medical practices and technology have greatly advanced over the years.
Writing: In writer’s workshop our authors will be starting a new genre in writing –biographies. For the upcoming Black History month students will be choosing one individual (past or present) that they would like to research in depth. Students will be assessed in the following traits: conventions, sentence fluency, and word choice. Students will be learning how to read information and take notes. Using a strategy called RTW (Read, Think, Write) students will learn to put printed information in their own words using abbreviations. Students will then compile all of their information to create a four paragraph essay. We ask that students choose an individual that has made strong contributions to our society. Please discuss some possibilities with your child over the weekend. Feel free to start gathering resources together for research. Students will be doing the actual research at school, but if you would like to visit the library and start gather resources to support this, please have your child bring them in next Tuesday.
Math: Students have started working in Unit 6 (Division; Map Reference Frames; Measures of Angles), which focuses on understanding the division operation, developing a method for dividing whole numbers, and solving division number stories. Students will learn a division method “Partial-Quotients Algorithm” to build up partial quotients until the exact quotient and remainder are determined. We will then practice a “Traditional” method for long division. There is also focus on numbers in map coordinate systems, and informal work with rotations and angles.
Science: In Science the students are finishing the Land and Water Unit. In this unit, students investigate the interactions between land and water. Using a stream table as a model, they create hills, build dams, and grow vegetation. Miniature valleys, waterfalls, and canyons form in the stream table as water flows over and through the soil. From these firsthand observations, students discover how water changes the shape of land and how features in the land, in turn, affect the flow of water.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
~ December News ~
Upcoming Dates:
• 12/10: Report Cards sent home
• 12/11: Books, Board games and Winter Bazaar; 10:00am – 2:00pm; Mini-Gym
• 12/13: Family Math Night, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, in the Gym and Mini-Gym
• 12/14: Field trip to the Chicago History Museum
• 12/17: Winter Break Class Party, 1:45pm
• 12/20 – 12/31: NO School – Winter Break; School resumes Monday, 1/3/2011
Reminders/Notes:
• Books, Board games and Winter Bazaar: This Saturday the 4th grade families are hosting a Books, Board games and Winter Bazaar to raise money for next fall's outdoor ed trip. We have lots of great books for kids and adults alike and many great games. This is a perfect opportunity to pick up 'new to you' books and games for winter break and the cold months ahead. There will also be tempting treats and treasures to find at the Bazaar. Hope to see you there. Saturday the 11th. 10am - 2pm in Longfellow's mini-gym.
• Family Math Night: Longfellow's annual family math night is scheduled for next Monday, December 13th, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the gym and mini gym. It is open to all students in grades PKP - 5, and their families. All students who attend will be entered into a special raffle, will get to be active in the gym while practicing math skills, can create geometric artwork, participate in the estimation challenge with the chance to take home the contents of the estimation jars, and much more. The homeroom with the highest attendance percentage will win a fun prize! Come on out on Monday night for an evening of fun math activities!
• Custom Typing: We have begun our formal keyboarding lessons and students will routinely go to the computer lab for Custom Typing. This offers the opportunity for your child to become familiar with “home row” and allows for an increase in words per minute. This program can also be accessed at home through our school’s homepage. In order to access a child’s particular screen, that can be accomplished by typing “d97username” (i.e. = d97melsmith). The password is your child’s student ID #. Students should be familiar with this process and can access the program at home for more practice.
• Take Home Folder/Assignment Books: Your child should be bringing home their assignment book and a take home (homework) folder everyday. Please check both for assignments, notes, and other information.
• Digital Backpack: Access the school’s digital backpack, to get papers from the school and district. If you need paper copies, please let us know. You can simply go to the district’s website and access it that way.
• PBIS: PBIS program is accepting donations from families and community partners. You can visit the PBIS blog at http://longfellowpbis.blogspot.com/ for a wish list on the right side menu; it is titled “Bears’s Den Wish List.”
Curriculum Notes:
Reading: This week we are reading our fourth story, “Food from the Hood: A Garden of Hope” in our unit: Dollars and Sense. This story tells how students worked together to rebuild the neighborhood around their school after riots destroyed the area. Their plans for a garden soon turned into a “growing” business, and they turned a small garden into the nation’s first student-run natural food company.
We will focus on the comprehension skills of identifying the Main Idea and Details as well as the author’s use of Sequence. Authors use Main Idea and Details to let the reader know what the selection is about. Students will identify the Main Idea and Details within paragraphs throughout the story. Student will also scan the passage to find the author’s use of Time and Order words to understand in which order the events took place.
Writing: In writer’s workshop our authors have been revising and editing their mysteries. We spent many lessons working on the trait of sentence fluency. Students have learned how to vary their sentence structure by using phrases and creating rhythm. We spent a portion of our lessons specifically studying prepositions in order to create phrases. Students have also studied the various types of sentences, as well as the appropriate punctuation for each.
Next week we will be hosting a brief study of poetry. Using our knowledge of prepositions, authors will write prepositional poems, as well as cinquains. We look forward to using our custom typing skills to publish a piece on the computer.
Please be on the lookout for a flyer coming home next week regarding an upcoming writing contest. Each 4th grader is required to submit a piece for the contest. It will not be due until at least one week after winter break. If students would like to get a head start on this project over the break, details will be following soon.
Math: Students started working on Unit 5 (Big Numbers, Estimation, and Computation) this week. The unit begins with two lessons that focus on extending multiplication skills, in preparation for the introduction of the partial-products algorithm for multiplication. The lattice algorithm is also introduced as an alternative to the parital-products algorithm. Unit 5 also emphasizes reading, writing, and using large numbers, including the use of powers of 10 to represent large numbers. Estimation is highlighted, both as an important step in adding and multiplying numbers and as a tool to facilitate the communication of large numbers.
Science: In Science the students have begun working on the Land and Water Unit. In this unit, students investigate the interactions between land and water. Using a stream table as a model, they create hills, build dams, and grow vegetation. Miniature valleys, waterfalls, and canyons form in the stream table as water flows over and through the soil. From these firsthand observations, students discover how water changes the shape of land and how features in the land, in turn, affect the flow of water.
Contact Info: As communication is very important, please contact me with a note or an email if you have any questions, concerns, or information to share.
• 12/10: Report Cards sent home
• 12/11: Books, Board games and Winter Bazaar; 10:00am – 2:00pm; Mini-Gym
• 12/13: Family Math Night, 6:30pm – 7:30pm, in the Gym and Mini-Gym
• 12/14: Field trip to the Chicago History Museum
• 12/17: Winter Break Class Party, 1:45pm
• 12/20 – 12/31: NO School – Winter Break; School resumes Monday, 1/3/2011
Reminders/Notes:
• Books, Board games and Winter Bazaar: This Saturday the 4th grade families are hosting a Books, Board games and Winter Bazaar to raise money for next fall's outdoor ed trip. We have lots of great books for kids and adults alike and many great games. This is a perfect opportunity to pick up 'new to you' books and games for winter break and the cold months ahead. There will also be tempting treats and treasures to find at the Bazaar. Hope to see you there. Saturday the 11th. 10am - 2pm in Longfellow's mini-gym.
• Family Math Night: Longfellow's annual family math night is scheduled for next Monday, December 13th, from 6:30 to 7:30 PM in the gym and mini gym. It is open to all students in grades PKP - 5, and their families. All students who attend will be entered into a special raffle, will get to be active in the gym while practicing math skills, can create geometric artwork, participate in the estimation challenge with the chance to take home the contents of the estimation jars, and much more. The homeroom with the highest attendance percentage will win a fun prize! Come on out on Monday night for an evening of fun math activities!
• Custom Typing: We have begun our formal keyboarding lessons and students will routinely go to the computer lab for Custom Typing. This offers the opportunity for your child to become familiar with “home row” and allows for an increase in words per minute. This program can also be accessed at home through our school’s homepage. In order to access a child’s particular screen, that can be accomplished by typing “d97username” (i.e. = d97melsmith). The password is your child’s student ID #. Students should be familiar with this process and can access the program at home for more practice.
• Take Home Folder/Assignment Books: Your child should be bringing home their assignment book and a take home (homework) folder everyday. Please check both for assignments, notes, and other information.
• Digital Backpack: Access the school’s digital backpack, to get papers from the school and district. If you need paper copies, please let us know. You can simply go to the district’s website and access it that way.
• PBIS: PBIS program is accepting donations from families and community partners. You can visit the PBIS blog at http://longfellowpbis.blogspot.com/ for a wish list on the right side menu; it is titled “Bears’s Den Wish List.”
Curriculum Notes:
Reading: This week we are reading our fourth story, “Food from the Hood: A Garden of Hope” in our unit: Dollars and Sense. This story tells how students worked together to rebuild the neighborhood around their school after riots destroyed the area. Their plans for a garden soon turned into a “growing” business, and they turned a small garden into the nation’s first student-run natural food company.
We will focus on the comprehension skills of identifying the Main Idea and Details as well as the author’s use of Sequence. Authors use Main Idea and Details to let the reader know what the selection is about. Students will identify the Main Idea and Details within paragraphs throughout the story. Student will also scan the passage to find the author’s use of Time and Order words to understand in which order the events took place.
Writing: In writer’s workshop our authors have been revising and editing their mysteries. We spent many lessons working on the trait of sentence fluency. Students have learned how to vary their sentence structure by using phrases and creating rhythm. We spent a portion of our lessons specifically studying prepositions in order to create phrases. Students have also studied the various types of sentences, as well as the appropriate punctuation for each.
Next week we will be hosting a brief study of poetry. Using our knowledge of prepositions, authors will write prepositional poems, as well as cinquains. We look forward to using our custom typing skills to publish a piece on the computer.
Please be on the lookout for a flyer coming home next week regarding an upcoming writing contest. Each 4th grader is required to submit a piece for the contest. It will not be due until at least one week after winter break. If students would like to get a head start on this project over the break, details will be following soon.
Math: Students started working on Unit 5 (Big Numbers, Estimation, and Computation) this week. The unit begins with two lessons that focus on extending multiplication skills, in preparation for the introduction of the partial-products algorithm for multiplication. The lattice algorithm is also introduced as an alternative to the parital-products algorithm. Unit 5 also emphasizes reading, writing, and using large numbers, including the use of powers of 10 to represent large numbers. Estimation is highlighted, both as an important step in adding and multiplying numbers and as a tool to facilitate the communication of large numbers.
Science: In Science the students have begun working on the Land and Water Unit. In this unit, students investigate the interactions between land and water. Using a stream table as a model, they create hills, build dams, and grow vegetation. Miniature valleys, waterfalls, and canyons form in the stream table as water flows over and through the soil. From these firsthand observations, students discover how water changes the shape of land and how features in the land, in turn, affect the flow of water.
Contact Info: As communication is very important, please contact me with a note or an email if you have any questions, concerns, or information to share.
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
~ November News 2 ~
Upcoming Dates:
• 11/17: PTO Meeting @ 7:00 p.m. – Library Media Center
• 11/23: End of Trimester
• 11/24: Teacher Institute day – NO School
• 11/25-11/26: NO School – Thanksgiving Holiday Observed
• 12/10: Report Cards sent home
Reminders/Notes:
• Custom Typing: We have begun our formal keyboarding lessons and students will routinely go to the computer lab for Custom Typing. This offers the opportunity for your child to become familiar with “home row” and allows for an increase in words per minute. This program can also be accessed at home through our school’s homepage. In order to access a child’s particular screen, that can be accomplished by typing “d97username” (i.e. = d97melsmith). The password is your child’s student ID #. Students should be familiar with this process and can access the program at home for more practice.
• Take Home Folder/Assignment Books: Your child should be bringing home their assignment book and a take home (homework) folder everyday. Please check both for assignments, notes, and other information.
• Digital Backpack: Access the school’s digital backpack, to get papers from the school and district. If you need paper copies, please let us know. You can simply go to the district’s website and access it that way.
• PBIS: PBIS program is accepting donations from families and community partners. You can visit the PBIS blog at http://longfellowpbis.blogspot.com/ for a wish list on the right side menu; it is titled “Bears’s Den Wish List.”
Curriculum Notes:
Reading: This week we are reading our second story, “Henry Wells and William G. Fargo” in our unit: Dollars and Sense. This story is a great example of how to make a successful business. Two comprehension strategies we will be working on during this story include monitoring and clarifying, and summarizing. When reading independently, your child should use these strategies. Monitoring and clarifying means to stop reading when confused and look back to understand the meanings of words or difficult ideas. Periodically ask your child to summarize what he/she just read. This helps readers keep track of what they are reading.
Writing: In writer’s workshop our authors are starting a new genre of writing – the mystery. After studying many published mysteries in class, students have become familiar with a wide range of vocabulary words including: sleuth, detective, evidence, suspect, alibi, and witness. Writers are currently organizing their individual plots based on their creative ideas. The writing traits that will be focused on in these lessons are sentence fluency, organization, and word choice. Parents and family members are encouraged to participate in writer’s workshop at any time. Please contact Ms. Carter if you would like to join us!
Math: Students have started working in Unit 4, Decimals and Their Uses, this week. This unit summarizes the concepts that underlie decimal notation and focuses on some special uses of the notation. Throughout the unit, students will solve a variety of problems involving addition and subtraction of decimals using estimation, mental arithmetic, algorithms, and a calculator. After reviewing place value for whole numbers, place value concepts will be extended to decimal numbers.
Social Studies: In social studies, this upcoming Friday, (11/19) students will be taking their test on the state capitals. Each student has a study guide/mock test in hand so they know what to expect on Friday. This will count worth four grades in reference to their trimester assessment. The final test, Chapter 2, will be given next Monday, and students will also have a study guide in hand to prepare for the test. This will account for three grades in reference to the overall trimester performance. Please make sure your child is bringing these guides home in order to prepare for each assessment. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Mr. Weber.
Homework: Homework is either work that is not finished in school or practice of material that was taught in class. If your child has a busy evening, and homework cannot be completed, remember that the Sunrise Study Hall is open every morning from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. in the library media center. Passes are available at the front office. Students may also go to the library media center at lunchtime to complete homework.
Contact Info: As communication is very important, please contact me with a note or an email if you have any questions, concerns, or information to share.
Regards,
Mel Smith
• 11/17: PTO Meeting @ 7:00 p.m. – Library Media Center
• 11/23: End of Trimester
• 11/24: Teacher Institute day – NO School
• 11/25-11/26: NO School – Thanksgiving Holiday Observed
• 12/10: Report Cards sent home
Reminders/Notes:
• Custom Typing: We have begun our formal keyboarding lessons and students will routinely go to the computer lab for Custom Typing. This offers the opportunity for your child to become familiar with “home row” and allows for an increase in words per minute. This program can also be accessed at home through our school’s homepage. In order to access a child’s particular screen, that can be accomplished by typing “d97username” (i.e. = d97melsmith). The password is your child’s student ID #. Students should be familiar with this process and can access the program at home for more practice.
• Take Home Folder/Assignment Books: Your child should be bringing home their assignment book and a take home (homework) folder everyday. Please check both for assignments, notes, and other information.
• Digital Backpack: Access the school’s digital backpack, to get papers from the school and district. If you need paper copies, please let us know. You can simply go to the district’s website and access it that way.
• PBIS: PBIS program is accepting donations from families and community partners. You can visit the PBIS blog at http://longfellowpbis.blogspot.com/ for a wish list on the right side menu; it is titled “Bears’s Den Wish List.”
Curriculum Notes:
Reading: This week we are reading our second story, “Henry Wells and William G. Fargo” in our unit: Dollars and Sense. This story is a great example of how to make a successful business. Two comprehension strategies we will be working on during this story include monitoring and clarifying, and summarizing. When reading independently, your child should use these strategies. Monitoring and clarifying means to stop reading when confused and look back to understand the meanings of words or difficult ideas. Periodically ask your child to summarize what he/she just read. This helps readers keep track of what they are reading.
Writing: In writer’s workshop our authors are starting a new genre of writing – the mystery. After studying many published mysteries in class, students have become familiar with a wide range of vocabulary words including: sleuth, detective, evidence, suspect, alibi, and witness. Writers are currently organizing their individual plots based on their creative ideas. The writing traits that will be focused on in these lessons are sentence fluency, organization, and word choice. Parents and family members are encouraged to participate in writer’s workshop at any time. Please contact Ms. Carter if you would like to join us!
Math: Students have started working in Unit 4, Decimals and Their Uses, this week. This unit summarizes the concepts that underlie decimal notation and focuses on some special uses of the notation. Throughout the unit, students will solve a variety of problems involving addition and subtraction of decimals using estimation, mental arithmetic, algorithms, and a calculator. After reviewing place value for whole numbers, place value concepts will be extended to decimal numbers.
Social Studies: In social studies, this upcoming Friday, (11/19) students will be taking their test on the state capitals. Each student has a study guide/mock test in hand so they know what to expect on Friday. This will count worth four grades in reference to their trimester assessment. The final test, Chapter 2, will be given next Monday, and students will also have a study guide in hand to prepare for the test. This will account for three grades in reference to the overall trimester performance. Please make sure your child is bringing these guides home in order to prepare for each assessment. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Mr. Weber.
Homework: Homework is either work that is not finished in school or practice of material that was taught in class. If your child has a busy evening, and homework cannot be completed, remember that the Sunrise Study Hall is open every morning from 7:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. in the library media center. Passes are available at the front office. Students may also go to the library media center at lunchtime to complete homework.
Contact Info: As communication is very important, please contact me with a note or an email if you have any questions, concerns, or information to share.
Regards,
Mel Smith
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
