Week Three

I can't believe we are moving into the fourth week of school.... where does time go? It was another super week in the classroom.

It was great seeing many of you at Curriculum Night.  If you were not able to make it, I understand and will look forward to seeing you soon. 

If you attended Curriculum Night, I provided you with a sheet where you could make a donation to the classroom to help with the cost of me purchasing each child a subscription to Time Magazine for Kids.  On the sheet, I said you could pay with cash OR write a check to Burnette.  I need to correct that.  In talking with our bookkeeper, it is going to be best if you send the $4.50 in CASH.  This has something to do with me already having ordered the magazine and the school not being able to now write a check for it out of school funds.  Please do not feel obligated to make a donation, as your child will receive the magazine regardless.  For those that have given money, I do appreciate  it.  

In your child's Friday folder, you will find a fundraiser envelope.  Please review the information.  We had a pep rally on Friday to kick off the fundraiser, so I think the kids are pretty excited.  Your children benefit in so many ways from the money that is raised, so I thank you for encouraging them to participate by getting pledges from family and friends.

Some Topics of Study
* Finished US Land Features (TEST on Wednesday of next week)
* Starting Native Americans
* Starting Rounding/Estimating
* Water Cycle (with Mrs. Howell)
* Subject/Predicate, types of sentences
* Reader's workshop- Responding to literature, Character Traits
* Much More

Please note that your child was instructed to bring home their SS journal this weekend to start studying the vocabulary and locations of important land features.  They were also instructed to write this in their agenda book. 

I would still love any donations towards our Token Economy auction.  It has been postponed one more week due to lack of donations.  Please send in any trinkets or Dollar Store items that you think would be of interest to a child. Next Friday, we will plan to do it regardless of donations, there just simply won't be many items to bid on.  It is a lot of fun, so I am looking forward to the first auction!!

Please help your child to remember that our media center day is MONDAY of each week.  Because we go as a class, there will not be many opportunities to go individually.  Students have been taught methods of choosing 'just right' books, so they need to be utilizing those when selecting books.  Because we have sustained silent reading each day, students need to have a chapter book.  They can select this book from the media center, the public library, home, or my class library.  I have books for all reading levels in my class.... even up to sixth-seventh grade and as low as first and second grade, so there is something for everyone. There is never an excuse to not have a book. 

A new spelling page has been added to the class blog.  When you click on the link, you will see the fourth grade words that your child is responsible for this year.  In addition, if you scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see words from first-third grades.  These are the words your child should have already mastered.  The kids usually enjoy the activities for each unit, so let your students try them out.

Have a great weekend, and if I have forgotten anything, I will come back and post again.

Please excuse any typos. Thank you!

Sweet Second Week

We have had a terrific second week of school.  Lots is happening in the classroom.

Important Dates 

Pictures- August 24th

Curriculum Night -August 25th (PTA starts at 6:30)

Media Center- We visit each Monday.

Upcoming Tests

Place Value- most likely THURSDAY.

Spelling Tests on Fridays.

The next SS test will be on US Land Features/Forms

Topics of Study

Subject/Predicate

Setting up reader's and writer's workshop

Map Skills

Landforms/Features of US

Water

Weekly Folders

Please review the papers in the Friday folder.  Although there are two pockets inside the Friday folder, I tend to use only one.  It is much easier when filing papers to simply put everything in one pocket.  Thanks for understanding.  With that said, you will find papers that need to be signed, forms that need to be filled out, as well as work that we have completed.  If a child has received a poor grade, a graded paper may need to be signed and returned.  I thank you for going over the papers carefully. 

In this week's folder, you will find things like picture form, clubs offered to 4th graders, money form to order a recorder for music, a communication sheet about email addresses, and a few other things. 

You will also find the choice card.  This needs to be initialed and returned on Mondays.

Token Economy

Our choice cards are directly related to our Token Economy. Our token economy is where kids earn 'money' to use towards purchasing things in an auction setting.  I hope to do our first auction in the next week or two depending on how many donations I receive.  I have not received many donations, although I have purchased a few things myself.  We simply need more in order to get it started.  If you are at the Dollar Store, Wal-Mart, or Target, or where ever else you think you can find cheap items, I would greatly appreciate any donations. 

Math Classes

Your child should have brought home a note earlier in the week stating who their math teacher is.

Science/Social Studies

Mrs. Howell (another 4th grade teacher) and I now team for social studies and science.  I will be teaching social studies to her homeroom and mine, and she will teach science to both classes.  It has worked nicely for the first few days.

Tests

Please check your child's agenda for upcoming tests. A study guide will typically be provided for tests.

We pretty much test every Friday for Spelling.

For spelling tests, students are given 5 new words per week.  The tests actually include more than 5 words.  Please note that the 5 new words are actually new 4th grade words (introduced in 4th grade).  The other words were actually introduced in the third grade using the same spelling program. Therefore, they should have already mastered those words. For now, the words are given as a dictation test.

Homework

Your child may not have homework every night. He/she is given a spelling sheet at the beginning of the week and it is due on Friday.  They will probably have math several times a week and possible some SS or science here or there.  They will also need to study for upcoming tests as the dates are given out.

Remember, please subscribe to this blog, so you will get emails when I update it. 

Have a super weekend.  I am looking forward to spending it with my family.

Please excuse any typos.  Thank you!



Awesome First Week

Wow!  The school year is off to a great start.  I am so pleased with the students' behavior and desire to learn.  They have been active participants in the classroom lessons and seem to be excited about the school year.  Of course, this makes it fun for me.

What have we done this week?  Here are a few of the activities:

We have been busy bees!

• Learned the rules and procedures for 4th grade
• Set up our reader's notebook
• Got 5 new spelling words and weekly homework, Tested on Friday
• Reviewed place value, will continue with this next week.
• Discussed vocabulary for maps and globes, continue next week.
• Introduction to our unit on water
• Learned how morning work procedures work- review of grammar skills
• Beginning of the year writing assessment
• Beginning of the year math benchmark
• Beginning of the year reading benchmark
• Beginning of the year language arts benchmark
• Reading Calendar expectations
• Agenda book expectations
• MUCH more!

Thank you so much for supporting me in using the nightly reading calendar.  This is a great way to hold students accountable for nightly reading. Please sign it Monday-Thursday nights along with the agenda book. 

In addition to the reading calendar, I ask that you also sign the agenda book.  In the agenda book you will be able to see some of the topics we studied for the day. The students write this in the specific subject areas. In the white box at the bottom of the page, you will see homework for the night.

The first Friday folder went home today.  Please sign and return the choice card located inside the folder, and send the folder back on Monday. Inside the Friday folder you will see a vocabulary study sheet for our upcoming map test.  The test will be next Thursday.  We are still working on the unit, but the students can be studying at home while we finish.  You will also find a "Memory Bag" parent letter in the folder. 

I am looking for donations for our upcoming auction. This is the reward that goes along with our classroom economy system.  The items can be any kind of trinket that kids would like.... candy, small toys, pencils, erasers, stickers, notepads, basically a range of Dollar Store type items.  Thank you for helping with this. 

Just to let you know, if you subscribe to this blog using the email subscription on the sidebar to the right, you will be sent an email when I update the blog. :-)

I think that about sums things up. Once again, we had a super first week of school.  I am looking forward to a very successful school year.

Please excuse any typos. Thank you!

Meet Your Teacher Day



It was very nice meeting you at "Meet Your Teacher Day".  I appreciate you taking the time to come in and do all of the necessary paperwork.  The one plus for this year was the online registration.  This saved each of you a lot of time, and I heard many positive remarks about that system.

I hope you have had time to look through all of the papers I sent home with you on registration day.  Of course, if you are already visiting this website, it's probably because you found the web address in the paperwork I sent home.  :-)  In addition to the welcome packet from me, I hope you found the first assignment for your child.  He/she is supposed to bring in pictures to decorate their writer's notebook.  These are due by Wed. of the first week of school.  Thanks so much for helping with this.

For the last several years, I have used a blog type website to share classroom news with parents. I plan to do the same this year.  Basically, this sort of goes along with Burnette being a paperless school.  The weekly blog postings will serve as the class newsletter, as well as a means for me to communicate to parents throughout the week if I feel it necessary.  I would recommend that you subscribe to the blog so you will know when updates have been made. Please visit often in order to stay updated on the classroom happenings.

I am looking forward to a happy and successful school year.... one that is filled with lots of learning!

Please excuse any typos.  Thank you!