Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, March 1st*

Math - 9.5 - We worked to solve word problems using money today.

Science - None - We took our chapter 8 test today.

Language Arts - None - We continued reading about earthquakes today, and discussed words with multiple meanings.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

*Please note:  These plans are tentative.  I am out of town for a doctor's appointment today.

Lessons & Assignments Tuesday, February 28th

Math - None - We related fractions, decimals, and money today.

Science - None - We finished reading about fossils, and played our test review game.  We will be taking our open book chapter 8 test tomorrow.

Language Arts - None - We continued reading about earthquakes today, comparing and contrasting the various tools scientists use to measure earthquakes.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

Reminder:  SIP early dismissal tomorrow.

Monday, February 27, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Monday, February 27th

Math - None - We practiced finding equivalent decimals and fractions today using tenths and hundredths.

Science - None - We watched a Discovery Education video on fossils today, and completed a response sheet.

Language Arts - None - We continued reading about earthquakes.  We discussed using text evidence, finding the main idea and details, and close reading strategies.

Social Studies - None - We worked on our daily geography packets, and previewed unit 4 on the Civil War.

Friday, February 24, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Friday, February 24th

Math - None - We completed lesson 9.2 today on relating decimals and fractions.  Today we focused on hundredths, relating 87/100 to 0.87.

Science - None - We continued reading about what causes changes to landforms today, and started our next lesson on fossils.

Language Arts - None - We continued reading about earthquakes today.  Students wrote opinion responses using text evidence to support their opinions about earthquakes.  We studied multiple meaning words and vocabulary as well.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

Thursday, February 23, 2017

Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes

Book review by Aidan:

To start off, the author of the book is the person who wrote Because of Winn Dixie, and I know you all read that.  It is also pretty funny.  It is about Mercy going to a movie called When Pigs Fly. She doesn't watch the movie because she loves butter, and at the movies there’s buttered popcorn!


Lessons & Assignments Thursday, February 23rd

Math - 9.1 - We started chapter 9 today, which will cover decimals.  Today we related fractions to decimals using tenths.  We learned that 7/10 is the same as 0.7.

Science - None - We continued our conversation from yesterday about earthquakes and volcanoes.  We watched a Discovery Education video about volcanoes and strike-slip faults.

Language Arts - None - We started our story on earthquakes today.  We read the first few pages, practiced using text evidence to answer questions, and discussed multiple meaning words.

Social Studies - None - We continued working on our unit 3 tests today.

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, February 22nd

Math - None - We spent the first half of our math block correcting last week's chapter test.  We also started chapter 9.  Students completed a problem of the day, and we did a chapter introduction page together in class, focusing on the vocabulary we will encounter in this chapter.  For chapter 9, we will be relating fractions to decimals and money.

Science - None - We continued reading about the layers of the earth.  We watched a quick Discovery Education video clip on volcanoes and the eruption of Mount St. Helens.  We also did a reading comprehension packet on the layers of the earth.

Language Arts - None - We are piloting a new reading series for the next couple of weeks.  For this unit, we will be reading about earthquakes.  This is perfect, since we are also studying earthquakes in science!  We spent today building up some background knowledge.  We watched two Discovery Education videos on plate tectonics and earthquakes.  We also completed a reading comprehension packet on the tools that scientists use to study earthquakes.  We practiced identifying the main idea and details of this article.

Social Studies - None - We took our unit 3 test today.

Babymouse: Beach Babe

Book review by Alexis:

Today I finished the book Babymouse Beach Babe. In this book, Babymouse is a surfer, but she isn't very good. Her little brother Squeak was mad because she said that she had no one to play with. But, she had her little brother. I really like this book because I love surfing.



Thursday, February 16, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Tuesday, February 21st*

No homework today - 
We took a field trip to the QC Symphony today!

*Please note:  These plans are tentative - I took a personal day Tuesday.

Lessons & Assignments Friday, February 17th*

Math - None - We took our chapter 8 test today.

Science - None - We read about the layers of the earth's crust today.  We made diagrams of the layers for our science journals.

Language Arts - None - We took our reading, spelling, and vocabulary tests today.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

*Please note:  These plans are tentative.  I took a personal day Friday.

Lessons & Assignments Thursday, February 16th

Math - None - We reviewed for tomorrow's test on chapter 8.  Students were given an optional review sheet to complete at home tonight for extra practice.

Science - None - We started a new chapter today, and read about landforms.

Language Arts - None - We studied our spelling and vocabulary words today.  We read a poem about Amelia Earhart, and read two other stories about famous pilots.  We also played a Kahoot review game on homophones.  Our spelling, vocab, and reading tests will be tomorrow.

Social Studies - Chapter 6 review sheet - We used our class time today to complete the chapter 6 review sheet.  Those students that were unable to finish need to get it done for homework tonight.  Our unit 3 test in will be on Wednesday, 2/22.


Hilo: Saving the Whole Wide World

Book review by Kaleb:

Hilo is a superhero robot that fixes bad robots to be good robots. I thought it was not going to be good, but it was a 100% better than it looked. His friends are nice to him and he discovers more powers on the way to defeating his nemesis. He used to be a bad robot to but someone fixed him. It is 1.0 point on AR so I took a quiz and got a good score. I think it is the best book I ever read.




Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, February 15th

Math - None - We completed lesson 8.5 today, which was an extension of yesterday's lesson.  We continued multiplying whole numbers and mixed numbers today.  We will review in class tomorrow, and take our chapter test on Friday.

Science - None - We took our chapter 7 test today.

Language Arts - None - We reread our weekly story, and completed a spelling and grammar page in class today.  We reviewed our graphic organizers, and had some AR time.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

JRFH & Valentine's Day

We did Jump Rope for Heart today, and had a blast!  The students also celebrated Valentine's Day with our class party and card exchange.  Our class got to compete with the other 4th grade classes to have a balloon race, and a candy and spoon race.  We went back to the class for cupcakes and ice cream, as well as a fun guessing game.  Thank you to all of the parents that volunteered time and materials to make our party successful!  We really appreciate it!







Lessons & Assignments Tuesday, February 14th

Math - 8.4 - We combined several skills that we've learned so far to multiply whole numbers and mixed numbers today.

Science - None - We did a quick review of the chapter in class, and will take our open book test tomorrow.

Language Arts - None - We did not have language arts today.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

Kung Pow Chicken: Bok! Bok! Boom!

Book review by Brenden:

I just finished the book Kung Pow Chicken Bok! Bok! Boom! This is the second Kung Pow Chicken book. In this book you see a bit more of his daily life. Kung Pow Chicken gets more tools in this book. I like how there's a Jonah Jameson like character from Spider-Man.


Monday, February 13, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Monday, February 13th

Math - None - We learned how to multiply a whole number and a fraction today.

Science - None - We had Ag in the Classroom today, where we learned how to read food labels.

Language Arts - spelling/grammar worksheet - We worked on a spelling and grammar worksheet in class today.  Those students that were unable to finish need to do this for homework tonight.  We read a short autobiographical passage today, and practiced determining the author's perspective using text evidence.  We reread our story about the Wright brothers, and completed a graphic organizer to help determine the author's perspective.

Social Studies - worksheet p. 34 - We started a new geography packet on reading and using map scale.  We also finished up our lesson on growth and technology in early Illinois.  Students need to complete the lesson review sheet for homework if they were unable to finish in class today.


Player of the Week

Kaleb is our Player of the Week this week!


Friday, February 10, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Friday, February 10th

Math - None - We completed lesson 8.2 today on multiples of fractions.  The skip counting we did in 3rd grade really helped out with today's lesson!

Science - None - We read about soil layers today, and finished our chapter.  We will review on Tuesday, and our test will be on Wednesday.

Language Arts - None - We completed a spelling and grammar page in class today.  We reread our story about the Wright brothers, and continued discussing author's perspective.  We read 3 versions of Little Red Riding Hood today.  One familiar version, one from the wolf's point of view, and one from China.  We compared and contrasted the stories, and discussed how the author's perspective changes from one story to the next.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

Kung Pow Chicken: Let's Get Cracking

Book review by Brenden:

I just finished the book Kung Pow Chicken:  Let’s Get Cracking! It is about a chicken that works at his uncle’s secret lab. Until Benny and Gordon fell in toxic sludge. Now they fight crime as Kung Pow Chicken and Egg Drop.The things that I like about it are that it is a hard cover comic book that you can read in school and you can take an AR test on the book.


Thursday, February 9, 2017

New Classroom Books

For this post, I welcome our guest blogger, Grace W.  The students submitted their descriptions of our activity today, and Grace was awarded the spot of our guest blogger today.

Today we took out the books that donors donated to us and I was super excited. We all got to choose a book and we all were having fun. I'm really excited for the Baby Sitters Club books. Most of my classmates are excited about the books.
I'm really happy about the grant and I was excited when I heard about Donors Choose website. We also got 31 books! We also made cards and took pictures it was so much fun! :) We are all so grateful. -Grace W.



Lessons & Assignments Thursday, February 9th

Math - None - We started chapter 8 today, learning about multiplying unit fractions to make mixed numbers.

Science - None - We read about soil layers, or horizons today.

Language Arts - None - I recently received a grant for some new books for our classroom library.  We got out the books today, explored them, and picked out which ones we wanted to read first.  I had the students practice writing a blog post to explain the project and the books, and will be posting that sometime tomorrow.

Social Studies - None - We finished our DG packets, completed our journal timelines, and read about the development of the reaper.

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, February 8th

Math - None - We took our chapter test today.  Results were sent home with students this afternoon.

Science - None - We read about weathering and erosion today.  We watched a Scholastic Study Jams video on these processes as well.

Language Arts - None - We finished reading our weekly story, and read two different versions of The Three Little Pigs to compare author's perspective.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

Classroom Visitor

Kiera's mom visited our classroom today, and told us all about her homemade sugar scrubs.  She even brought samples for everyone to try!  The kids had lots of questions, and were dying to order more from her.


Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Tuesday, February 7th

Math - None - We reviewed for tomorrow's test today.  Students have an optional review sheet that they can practice with at home tonight.

Science - None - We watched a video on the sinkhole that formed at the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY, and saw a few pictures of mine from my vacation there last summer.  We also read about how water causes weathering.

Language Arts - spelling/grammar worksheet - We sorted our words based on spelling patterns today, and talked about homophones.  We also started reading our weekly story, where we discussed author's perspective and used the illustrations to help us better understand what we were reading today.

Social Studies - None - We did not have social studies today.

Reminder:  SIP day tomorrow!

Monday, February 6, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Monday, February 6th

Math - None - We practiced some multi-step fraction problems today using models, and completed the spiral review section of our worksheet in class.

Science - None - We read about weathering today, and how sinkholes form.

Language Arts - None - We reviewed our new spelling words and vocabulary words today.  We completed our vocab packets in class, and read a story about the history of airplanes.  We also watched a Discovery Education video on the Wright brothers to build some background knowledge for this week's story.

Social Studies - None - We worked on our daily geography packets, and read about life on the frontier in early Illinois.  We started a timeline project in our journals.

Vocabulary Slide Show

Click HERE to see this week's vocabulary words.

Player of the Week

Kiera is our Player of the Week this week!


Thursday, February 2, 2017

Lessons & Assignments Thursday, February 2nd

Math - 7.9 - We used some mental math strategies and addition properties to add fractions today.

Science - None - We used our science time for extra math practice today.

Language Arts - None - We reviewed our vocabulary words today by making vocabulary squares.  We reviewed possessive nouns today with a quick partner activity.  We also worked in guided reading groups to discuss expository text features, possessive nouns, vocabulary, and adaptations.

Social Studies - Chapter 5 review sheet - We worked on the chapter 5 review sheet today.  Those students that were unable to finish in class need to finish it for homework tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

Main Idea & Details

Our 4th graders have been reading an informational story about spiders while studying main idea & details.  We created main idea & detail spiders for a hallway display today.


Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, February 1st

Math - lesson 7.8 - We learned how to subtract fractions with regrouping today.

Science - None - We continued reading about the rock cycle today.  Some friends shared their personal rock collections, and we read an Epic book on rocks.

Language Arts - None - We finished up our main idea and detail spiders today, and worked on writing thank you notes for a grant our classroom recently received.

Social Studies - None - We started our chapter 5 review sheet today.