Ideas

Today we started the 6+1Writing Traits program. Our first step was to look at the rubric or scoring guide for the trait of ideas and to translate this into “kid-friendly” language. We did this by making posters. Many students are still working on them, but here are a couple of the best that have already been done.

Otherwise, a pretty normal day.

Homework:  (1) Write all spelling words twice in best cursive. Also write a sentence for words 1-7. (2) Do pages 58, 59, and 60 in the Practice Book. (3) Do Island of the Blue Dolphins chapter 16 study questions. (4) Do the Three times One multiplication skill sheet. (5) Do “Division,” apges 71-72  and “Algebra” page 73 in the math book.

Children Playing

One of the nice parts of having a full week of school is that we have time for things like art. Our district adopted art curriculum for fourth grade is pretty good, and it allows people like me who have some background in art – but not a whole lot – to provide the students with some good lessons in this area.

Today we focused on both line and perspective. The students looked at several pictures on the theme of children from different periods. Their favorite was Children Playing by Pieter Breugel. This illustrated the “bird’s eye” perspective since the artist appeared to be observing the scene from above.

We used this painting as the inspiration for the lesson. I divided the class in half. We went out to the playground. First, some students played games of their own choice.

While they did this, other students drew them playing. They were encouraged to sketch quickly and to draw as many different play scenes as possible. 

After about 10 or 12 minutes, the groups switched.

When both groups had switched we went back to the classroom. On a piece of good paper, the students combined elements from their sketches to create a line drawing of our play ground.

Not Pieter Breugel, but still pretty good, I think!

Other than that, it was a pretty typical day.

Homework:  (1) Do spelling sentences for words 16-20. (2) Do “Complex Sentences,” pages 55-56 in the Practice Book. (3) Do the “Astronaut Review questions. (4) Do Island of the Blue Dolphins study sheet for chapter 14. (5) Do the multiplication worksheet. (5) Do “Factors” pages 65-67 in the Math book.

Hectic

Sorry for posting the homework so late, but there was a lot going on after school today!

We had a most productive day. I’ll post some of their “life maps” tomorrow. For now, here’s what they need to be doing tonight.

Homework:  (1) Do spelling sentences for words 11-15. (2) Do “Metaphor,” page 51, “Dictionary” page 52, and “Long I” pages 53-54 in the Practice Book. (3) Do Island of the Blue Dolphins study sheet for chapter 13. (4) Do the multiplication worksheet. (5) Do “Properties” pages 62-63 in the Math book.

Thanks for Coming

Homework:  (1) Do the cursive Y and Z papers. (2) Write a sentence for words 6-10 on this week’s spelling list. (3) D pages 43-44 in the Practice Book. (4)  Do the Two Times 2 worksheet. (5) Do “Patterns for Facts,” pages 60-61 and “Patterns, Patterns Everywhere” on the back of the answer sheet.

Fast and Good

Today just rushed by, but it was so productive. We started off with work on descriptive writing and simple sentence with compound predicates. We reviewed long i patterns in spelling – that will be the bulk of this week’s spelling words – and looked at the vocabulary words for this week’s Treasures story, “The Astronaut and the Onion.”

We spent a good bit of time working on our books. Most of the students will have these on their desks tomorrow for Back to School Breakfast. These completed our work on our eight Thinking Maps. The students wrote an illustrate the books; I bound them; and for the most part they look great.

Our students went to Mr. Pratt for Social Studies today where they began work on Native California tribes and their environment.

During mixing time today, I worked with students from all four fourth grade classes on the inside dribble.

Homework:  (1) Do the cursive W and X papers. (2) Write a sentence for words 1-5 on this week’s spelling list. (3) Do “Long I,” page 46, “Vocabulary,” page 47, and “Character” page 48, all in the green Practice Book. (4) Read chapter 12 in Island of the Blue Dolphins and answer the study sheet questions. (5) Do the Two Times 1 worksheet. (6) Do “Meaning of Multiplication,” pages 57-59 and “Hurray Array” on the back of the answer sheet.

You can find most of the handouts for the week here.

Scratch Test

Today we did a couple of particularly interesting things. After all our usual opening business like journals and correcting homework, we worked a bit more on our Thinking Maps. Today we focused on the Bridge Map. This is a great graphic tool for introducing analogies to children. We used some easy ones at first like kitten is to cat as puppy is to dog.

Our writing assignment based on this is one of the most interesting of the unit. The analogy is based on “taking care of.” So the students have to think, “Who takes care of me?” and Who do I take care of?” This lead them into writing a two paragraph reflection on these questions.

After recess, we work more in Science on the idea of hardness as a property of minerals. The students took their four mystery minerals and scratched them – or at least attempted to – with a fingernail, a penny, and a paperclip.

Based on the results they were able to identify the minerals correctly as calcite, quartz, gypsum, and fluorite.

In the afternoon, we read a chapter of Island of the Blue Dolphins, started looking at body percussion in music, and discussed how graphic organizers can help them solve word problems in math.

Homework:  (1) Study spelling. The test will be tomorrow. (2) Do the cursive U and V papers. (3) Do the “Kid Reporters” review questions. This will prepare the students for all the quiz on these reading selections tomorrow. (4) Do the Island of the Blue Dolphins chapter 10 review sheet. (5) Do “Draw a Picture,” pages 44-46 and “Test Prep,” pages 48-49 in the math book. Also do “Flying High” on the back of the answer sheet.

Rocks on our Minds

Today was a strange kind of early September day. It looked like it was going to be yet another blazingly hot day in the early morning, and then all of a sudden it became cool and humid and cloudy. It was even sprinkling at the beginning of recess. The students were all hoping for rainy day schedule; the teachers were all praying for a regular recess. And we teachers had our wishes granted for a change!

We worked for a bit on descriptive writing this morning and we also worked on the difference between the simple and complete predicate in a sentence. We checked and corrected our math homework. We read a short informational article called “Kid Reporters” in the Treasures book. The third story in each unit is taken from back issues of Time for Kids. This story was about two young reporters from the magazine. One went to the UN Special Session on Children, while the  other interviewed a talented young boy who had started a charity for children in the Third World. This helped us work on our skills of comparing and contrasting as well as drawing out inferences. We worked some more on our Thinking maps. We worked on the Brace Map today.

The students wrote about their favorite meal and they broke down the foods into different component parts, e.g., pizza as flour/water, tomato/onion/spices, and mozzarella cheese.

After recess, we started our second part of our rocks and minerals unit. Here the students were examining four different mystery minerals.

They focused today on just the visible properties.

Tomorrow they will be looking at hardness and the scratch test. This will lead up to learning to use the Mohs Hardness Scale.

In math we worked a bit more on subtraction.

Homework:  (1) Study the spelling words. (2) Do the S and T cursive worksheets. (3) Do “Library,” page 38, “Writing,” page 39, and “Antonyms,” page 40 in the Practice Book. (4) Complete the rough and final drafts of “My Favorite Meal.” (5) Do the “Mining for Minerals” study sheet. Students had ample time to work on this after lunch. (6) Do “Zeroes,” pages 42-43  in the math book and “Transportation Conclusions” on the back of the answer sheet.

After Labor Day

It’s hard not to think that this should have been the first day of school, isn’t it? Well, despite starting so ridiculously early, we are doing quite well (other than the heat!)

We started out today with the Tech Center. After that, we discussed simple and complete subjects in sentences and we worked on our journals. We read a short story in the Treasures book. In Science, the students completed their observations on “mock rocks” and started reading and doing some study questions on how mock rocks help us understand what real rocks are like.

In the afternoon, we worked on the tree map. This one is familiar to adults since it looks like a corporate organization chart. Students were writing about “My Stuff” on this. They will be finishing this for homework tonight.

The subtraction quizzes are in the gradebook. Many of these were great, but there were also quite a number of low scores. If your child did not score well, please go over the math homework with him or her tonight. I will give the students a second chance to show their prowess at this skill.

Homework:  (1) Study spelling words. (2) Do cursive Q and R practice sheets. (3) Do pages 33, 34, and 35 in the Practice Book. (4) Do “Subtracting” pages 40-41 in the math book.

Additionally, students will need to finish their Science packets for Investigation One. They also need to finish rough and final drafts of the “My Stuff” composition.

We’re Melting!

Today was just too hot! We all felt like we were melting.

We worked on descriptive writing and on subject and predicate first thing, and then we read and discussed an informational article about the origins of The Arabian Nights. This was paired with our story of “Ali Baba Bernstein”. Some of the students left for CELDT testing, so I gave those who remained the opportunity to start on the reading review questions.

Our students went to Mr. Pratt for History where they learned more about reading maps and the different areas of California. After lunch recess, they listened to a really great chapter from Island of the Blue Dolphins and they practiced their food chants in music. They’ll be performing those tomorrow, and I will put a few of the best on the blog.

Students went to Mixing, and we worked on identifying too much or too little information in math problems.

Homework:  (1) Study spelling. Test is tomorrow. (2) Do the cursive  worksheets to practice O and P. (3) Do pages 30, 31, and 32 in the Practice Book. (4) Finish the review questions for “Ali Baba Bernstein.” All the material that will be on tomorrow’s quiz is on this review sheet. (5) Do the final subtraction with regrouping. (6) Do “Too Much, Too Little” on pages 34-35 of the Math book.

Quick Post

Just the homework for now.

Homework:  (1) Study spelling. (2) Do pages 23, 26, and 27 in the Practice Book. (3)  Do “Estimating Larger Numbers” on pages 32-33 of the math book.  (4) Do the subtraction worksheet.

In the Groove

We’re definitely in the groove right now. Today went pretty smoothly other than having to have all the students’ heads checks for the pesky little things this morning. (I’m happy to say that there were no unpleasant surprises.) We worked a bit on descriptive writing and we learned some new vocabulary words. The students went to Mr. Pratt for the first time for History and his class came to me for Science. In the afternoon, we read a rather heartrending chapter of Island of the Blue Dolphins and we studied mental math.

Homework:  (1) Study the spelling words. (2) Practice cursive M and N on the worksheets provided. (3) Do “Long A” page 21 and “Vocabulary” page 22 in the Practice Book. (4) Do Island of the Blue Dolphins chapter 7 review sheet. (5) Do “Using Mental Math” on pages 28-31 of the math book. (6) Do the “Subtraction with Regrouping” practice sheet.

After the Big Night

We had a great turn out last night! 22 out of 27 families were represented, many by more than 1 parent. Several people asked if I could put my PowerPoint online for reference and for the parents who could not attend. A big thank you to Jake’s dad for showing me how!

 

Go to Meeting Day

Hope to see all parents tonight at our Fourth Grade Orientation Meeting. We will start promptly at 5:00 and end by 6:00 – a friend has invited me to the Bowl this evening and much as I love talking to our families I’m not going to miss dinner in the box!

Students had MORE THAN ENOUGH TIME to finish all homework assignments. They really should have nothing tonight. Of course, it never hurts to double check the work.

Homework:  (1) Study the spelling list. There will be a test tomorrow. (2) Do the cursive K and L pages. (3) Do the “Addition with Regrouping 4” worksheet. There will be  a quiz on this skill tomorrow. (4) Do “Understanding Rounding” on pages 24-25 of the math book and “Animal Speeds” on the back of the answer sheet.

Mock Rocks

Today we did a couple really fun things – in addition to the usual stuff.

We started working in Science groups today and we did our first science investigation. We worked with “mock rocks.” A mock rock, as seen below is a fake rock that helps that students to understand what rocks are.

Today the students worked in groups to examine each mock rock. The observed it and carefully drew it. They measured its diameter, circumference, and depth in centimeters and they used scales to measure its mass in grams.

Tomorrow they will be breaking the mock rock up for further examination and dissolving some of its pieces in water to help determine what it is made of.

Another fun thing we did today was to start on Hands-on Equations. This program helps introduce Algebra concepts and procedures in an age-appropriate way to students. They use pieces that look like pawns from a chess board to represent “x” and they use number cubes. They are placed on either side of balance. The balance imagery helps them to understand that what they do to one side of an equation they need to do to the other side as well.

We also read selections from the Treasures book and from Island of the Blue Dolphins. The students worked some more on identifying complete sentences and fragments. They also took a math test. We will grade that tomorrow.

Homework:  (1) Study the spelling list. (2) Do the letter I and letter J cursive review papers. (3) Do “Short Vowels” on page 17 and “Sentences” on page 18 of the Practice Book. (4) Do Island of the Blue Dolphins chapter six study sheet. (5) Do the “Addition with Regrouping” worksheet.  Since we had a test today, there is no homework from the math book.

Computerwise Kids

Today was our first day in the Tech Center. We have a new teacher there this year, Mr. Riko. He works for a company called “Computerwise Kids” that Friends of Third hired to run the computer lab. He was quite amiable and kept the class focused on learning skills. I think it will be a great year in Tech Center.

Other than that, a pretty ordinary day. We worked in our journals, read a story called “My Diary from Here to There” from the Treasures reading book, and worked on making lists as a problem-solving strategy in math.

Homework:  (1) Study the spelling list. (2) Do the letter G and letter H cursive review papers. (3) Do “Making Inferences” on page 11 and “Time Lines” on page 14 of the Practice Book. Skip pages 12 and13. (4) Do Island of the Blue Dolphins chapter five study sheet. (5) Do the “Addition with Regrouping” worksheet. (5) Do “Making an Organized List” on pages 16-17  and “Test Prep” on pages 18-19 of the math book. Also do "Separate the Dogs" on the back of the answer sheet. There will be a math test tomorrow.

Quick Post

Just the homework for today….

Homework:  (1) Study the spelling list. (2) Do “Phonics” on page 9 and “Vocabulary” on page 10 of the Practice Book. (3) Do Island of the Blue Dolphins chapter our study sheet. (4) Do the “Addition with Regrouping” worksheet. (5) Do “Understanding Zeroes” on page 14-15 of the math book and "Number Game" on the back of the answer sheet.

Double the Fun

Today with our Thinking Maps we focused on the Double Bubble Map. This is an updated version of Venn Diagrams used to indicate similarities and differences. We began by having a class discussion comparing and contrasting two favorite foods:

After this, the students did their own double bubble maps comparing themselves and a friend. They wrote rough and final drafts of “My Friend and I”.

After recess, we finished the art project that we had started yesterday. The final results of the gesture drawing were pretty impressive!

In the afternoon, we listened to another chapter of Island, and studied comparing and ordering larger numbers in math. Students were given a lot of time to finish any assignments.

Homework:  There really shouldn’t be any. But a few people are still finishing up the math and the Island of the Blue Dolphins study sheet.  The math pages were 11-13.

Thursday Thoughts

What a great day!

We started out reviewing homophones. After that, we checked and corrected our math homework. In our work with Thinking Maps, we reviewed the Circle Map and then went on to look at the Bubble Map. The Bubble Map is used for description. The students wrote rough and final drafts of a paragraph about “My Character.”

After recess, we started on another art project. We’ll use this time starting next week for Science and Social Studies and we will be working jointly with room 18 on these areas. Our work today – which we will finish tomorrow – was on gesture. The students studied some artists’ work here. They then posed for each other and drew quick line sketches.

At 11:00, when second recess was over, we went out and played kickball with room 18. We’ll start regular PE next week. I hope it is a little cooler then!

In the afternoon, we read another chapter of Island of the Blue Dolphins. We did some activities to develop the ideas of beat and meter in music. And, in math, we looked at the millions place.

Homework:  (1) Do the letter E and letter F cursive review sheets. Letters should be written 9 more times, sentences 5 more time. (2) Do the Island of the Blue Dolphins study sheet. Please put answers on a separate sheet of paper. (3) Do “Millions” on pages 8-9 of the math book, and “Puzzling Place Values” on the back of the answer sheet. There is a mistake in page numbers on the answer sheet; the students were told to correct it. (4) Practice the multiplication and division facts on the sheet. Remember, this is the same paper that will be given as a quiz on Friday.

First Real Day of School

The second day of school is the first day in so many ways. This is when the students start using the textbooks; this is when the real work of fourth grade begins.

We had a pretty good “real first day.” We started working on Thinking Maps. These are graphics which help students become aware of 8 essential thinking skills and to use these cognitive skills throughout the curriculum. Today we worked on the Circle Map. This helps students work on brainstorming. We used it to help write a paragraph called “All About Me”. As we do each of the eight maps, students will complete some short writing assignments. These will be compiled into a book the students will proudly show their parents at Back to School Breakfast next month.

We also worked on an art project dealing with different types of lines. After looking at the work of a couple contemporary American artists and discussing how they used lines in their paintings, we practiced making the five different types of line – horizontal, vertical, diagonal, zigzag, and curved. The students were then challenged to create posters for a favorite cause and to use as many of these types of lines as they could in their drawings. Here are a couple examples.

We also began reading Island of the Blue Dolphins. and looked at the thousands period in numeration in math.

Homework:  (1) Do the letter C and letter D cursive review sheets. Letters should be written 9 more times, sentences 5 more time. (2) Do the Island of the Blue Dolphins study sheet. Please put answers on a separate sheet of paper. (3) Do “Thousands” on pages 5-7 of the math book, and “Changing Places” on the back of the answer sheet. (4) Practice the multiplication and division facts on the sheet. Remember, this is the same paper that will be given as a quiz on Friday.

Welcome

I would like to welcome all our students and families to the 2012-2013 school year.

We had a most productive first day. I had a chance to meet many of the parents as the day began, and while I was talking to them and doing the usual paperwork the students completed information sheets and and interest inventory. They also completed a reading skills test that we will correct tomorrow. We went over lots of rules and procedures. The students interviewed each other. They went used the information from their interviews to writer short compositions. We did rough and final drafts.

The students also drew each other and used oil pastel for color. Many of the results were excellent!

In the afternoon, the students finished their portraits and worked on a math placement test.

I want to make sure all the parents know about the evening orientation meeting on August 23 at 5:00 pm.

Homework:  (1) Do the A and B cursive review sheets. (2) Do the multiplication and division practice sheets. The students will do these papers for homework today, tomorrow, and Thursday. They will have the same paper for a test on Friday. It will be timed then.