Door Decorating Contest

This year, every grade level was assigned a different sport.  4th grade has soccer.  We incorporated this soccer theme into our door for this week's door decorating contest.  Check out our entry below!

Sentence Types

We've been reviewing sentence types in language arts this week. 

Today we rotated around the room and identified sentences on task cards.

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, August 31st

Math - subtraction practice - We spent our math blocks today reviewing subtraction with 6-digit numbers, especially subtracting with zeros.  We did a ton of practice together in class, and students have a practice sheet to complete tonight for homework.

Science - None - We used our science time to review math today.

Language Arts - None - We read our weekly story today, reviewed sentence types with task cards, and learned about a new reading strategy called "Aha Moments."  Learning about Aha Moments prompts kids to search for those moments in a story when a character finally realizes something.  This signals a change in the character or character development.  We practiced identifying these moments in a few picture books today too.  Students also had some time to continue working on their brochures.

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

LA Links

Village of Erie

Erie Info

Erie Schools

Lessons & Assignments Tuesday, August 30th

Math - 1.7/corrections - We worked on lesson 1.7 today on subtracting whole numbers.  This lesson was more challenging than I expected.  We know our basic subtraction facts, but seem to be stumbling over regrouping (or borrowing), lining up the problem correctly, or subtracting from bottom to top instead of top to bottom.  Most of the students are bringing home corrections tonight.  Please go over the corrections with your child and initial that you checked it over with them so they can get a better score in the grade book.  Thanks!

Science - None - We used our science time to continue working on subtraction today.

Language Arts - None - Since we have been reading about characters that were afraid to move to a new place, we started making brochures for people that might be scared about moving to Erie.  Students are writing about all of the things that make our town great!

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

Reminder:  SIP early dismissal tomorrow!

Lessons & Assignments Monday, August 29th

Math - 1.6 - We skipped small groups today so I could get students caught up with corrections and make up work.  Today's math lesson was on adding whole numbers.  Of course we all know how to add, but working with 6-digit numbers can be a bit more complicated.  We used grid paper to help keep our addends in line.  This is the biggest challenge when working with larger numbers.  Students that were unable to finish today's assignment in class today need to finish it for homework tonight.

Science - None - We finished up investigation 1 today, and decided that paper towel A was the strongest.  We made our observations and a hypothesis on investigation 2 today, and will start testing for absorbency tomorrow.

Language Arts - None - We reviewed our short vowel sound spelling words today, and read/listened to our weekly story on the iPads.  We answered some comprehension questions, and read an expository story about Cesar Chavez.  In small groups, we read our leveled readers and reviewed vocabulary.

Social Studies - None - We worked on our daily geography packet today, and started chapter 1 on the geography of Illinois.  The students had some class time to preview vocabulary words and work on a vocab page.  We will finish this in class tomorrow.

Paper Towel Lab

We have been reading about inquiry skills and the scientific method in our books, and decided to put them into practice today.  Over the next few days, we will be testing the strength and absorbency of 3 brands of paper towels while practicing the steps of the scientific method.  Today we made observations and asked questions, made a hypothesis, designed an experiment, and started to conduct an experiment.  We are starting with the strength of the paper towels, which is tested by how many pennies it can hold while wet.  Stay tuned for our results!

Lessons & Assignments Friday, August 26th

Math - None - We took our mid chapter quiz today, and completed lesson 1.5 on renaming numbers.   We practiced renaming numbers using base 10 blocks, and place value charts.  This was a challenging lesson, so we did most of it together.

Science - None - We did a lab activity today to test the strength of paper towels.

Language Arts - None - We discussed the importance of proofreading and editing today, and practiced these skills with our spelling words and grammar targets.  We listened to our weekly story on the ipads, and discussed how to focus on one moment in our writing.

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

Lessons & Assignments Thursday, August 25th

Math - None - We completed lesson 1.4 today on rounding numbers.  In small groups, we practiced rounding numbers to the nearest thousand, ten thousand, and hundred thousands place.  We used the ipads, grid paper, and place value charts in order to practice this skill in many different ways.  The students were also given a rounding poem for their math journals to help them remember the steps.

Science - None - We read about the five steps of the scientific method today.

Language Arts - None - We finished reading our weekly story today, and made inferences about the main character based on the clues in the story.  We discussed context clues as we reviewed our spelling words, and we talked about using capital letters and the proper punctuation in our sentences.  We read in small groups today, focusing on comprehension of a historical fiction story.  My independent groups reviewed spelling patterns.

Social Studies - Where I Live worksheet - We worked on our daily geography packet today, where we learned about cardinal and intermediate directions, as well as map parts such as the legend and the compass rose.  We also began talking about where we live.  Most students didn't know their home addresses, so their homework tonight is to finish their worksheet by adding their addresses.  I explained how important it is to know your address if there is ever an emergency.  Please review this with your child tonight.

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, August 24th

Math - 1.3 #1-13 - We learned about comparing and ordering numbers today.  We used number lines and place value charts to compare numbers.  Students need to complete numbers 1-13 on the front side of their papers for homework tonight.

Science - None - We read about the inquiry skills that we would be using this year such as observing and asking questions, communicating data, and classifying material.

Language Arts - spelling/grammar worksheet - We reviewed our vocabulary words today, read the first half of our weekly story, discussed spelling patterns and conducted a word sort, and talked about 4 sentence types (command, exclamation, question, statement).

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

Lessons & Assignments Tuesday, August 23rd

Math - 1.2 - Today we learned about reading and writing numbers in standard form (10,263), expanded form (10,000+200+60+3), and word form (ten thousand two hundred sixty-three).  We worked in small groups for the first half of our class, and whole group for the lesson.

Science - none - We finished reading about the tools scientists use for inquiry.  We had a chance to use the hand lens, spring scale, magnifying box, pan balance, and microscope today.

Language Arts - none - Since I was gone yesterday afternoon, and again this morning, I used our language arts time to catch up on everything that didn't quite get finished when I was gone.  During these first few weeks of starting class, our routines take a bit longer.  Rest assured, soon we will be getting all of our lessons finished in our allotted time.

Social Studies - none - We do not have social studies class on Tuesdays.

Lessons & Assignments Monday, August 22nd

Math - None - We started our math lessons today.  The first half of our math class is spent in small group rotations.  We discussed place value today, and how the value of the digit changes depending on where it is located in a number.  Our small groups worked with base 10 blocks and ipads today.  We completed lesson 1.1 on place value today.

Science - None - We read about some of the tools we will use this year for inquiry in science.  We will continue learning about these tomorrow, and have a chance to try some of them out!

*Language Arts - None - We discussed the spelling pattern of this week's spelling words, and were introduced to our new vocabulary words.  Students had some time to start their vocabulary packets today using a teacher created slide show.

*Social Studies  - None - We worked on a daily geography packet, and did a non-fiction text feature search to introduce our new social studies book.

*These plans are tentative, as I had to leave at noon for a doctor's appointment.

Vocabulary Slide Show - My Diary from Here to There

Please click HERE to view this week's vocabulary slide show.

Lessons & Assignments Friday, August 19th

Today we continued practicing math on the iPads to get us ready for math groups next week.  We also played a place value game, since we will be studying place value in chapter 1.  We took some time this morning to organize and explain our classroom library, and practiced checking out and returning classroom books.  Last week the kids interviewed one another, and today we used the ChatterPix app to share what we learned.  During our language arts time, we worked hard on getting our journals ready.  We discussed reference materials, syllable patterns, and informational text structure.

Lessons & Assignments Thursday, August 18th

We finished up our beginning of the year assessments today.  Whew!  Our ipads were ready today, so we took some time to organize apps, and practice logging in to our various accounts.  Hopefully this will save us some time later in the year!  We also did a funny following directions activity today.  We are looking forward to getting our regular classes and lessons started next week!

Lessons & Assignments Wednesday, August 17th

We continued working on beginning of the year assessments today.  Today we completed our expository/informative writing assessment, and took our science and social studies quarterly pretests.  We got moving with Go Noodle, and did a MadLib to break things up a bit.  We also learned about some new reading strategies that I'm trying this year, and discussed the 6 syllable patterns.

Lessons & Assignments Tuesday, August 16th

We started our day by taking our first quarter math pretest.  After P.E., Mrs. Jacobs came in to do some testing with our class for about 30 minutes.  We spent our science time today finishing up our science book scavenger hunts with our groups.  We also had SEL, music, and computers today.  Mrs. Livengood stopped by to welcome our class back to school and read a special story.  We had a busy day!!

Lessons & Assignments Monday, August 15th

We will not have any homework this week, as we get used to our first full week of school.  My blog posts will be organized by subject area once we get going on our regular routine.  Today we started some of our beginning of the year assessments, and played a fun back to school scoot game.

Lessons & Assignments Friday, August 12th

We finished learning the rules, routines, and procedures for our classroom today.  When we finished, we played a fun Kahoot review game on the iPads.  We did an interview activity with partners, and completed a reading interest inventory.  The students also wrote about their first day of school.  We will start our beginning of the year assessments next week.  Have a great weekend!

Lessons & Assignments Thursday, August 11th

We had a great first day in 4C!  We started learning/practicing our classroom rules and procedures, and got to know one another.  The kids were challenged to stack cups without their hands, requiring them to work as a team.  We learned that when we laugh, communicate, problem solve, and work together, we are more successful!  We will not be having any homework this week or next week.

Reminder:  1:50 dismissal tomorrow!

Back to School

Thank you to everyone that attended tonight's Unpack Your Backpack Night.  It was so nice to meet all of you, and I'm looking forward to seeing the kids again tomorrow.  These special treats are waiting for them on their desks, and we'll have a great time learning what to expect in 4th grade.

Class Schedule

School Supply List

The following list was posted on the district website:

FOURTH GRADE- student planner - purchased at registration, headphones to leave at school, (a pair is provided, but you can send a more comfortable pair) 4 wide ruled spiral notebooks, 1 small package each: thin markers, Twistables colored pencils (require no sharpening), erasers, kid friendly scissors, Elmer’s Glue-All liquid glue - any size, several pre-sharpened or good pump pencils, tennis shoes & socks to leave at school, (canvas pencil bag or box & 2 pocket folder in 4A & 4B only - pencil box & folder provided in 4B) Please do not Send to 4th Grade: personal pencil sharpeners, rulers, protractors, calculators, pens, book covers, kleenex, highlighters, trappers. Teachers will be posted in A

Please note specific directions for our classroom:

• You can label the following items:  markers, colored pencils, erasers, scissors, pencils, pencil box/bag
• Labels will be provided for the following in class:  planners, spiral notebooks, pocket folder
• Glue will be placed in a classroom supply bin to share

**My class is 4C:  You will need a pencil bag/box and a 2-pocket folder.