Weekly Update

This has been a week full of lots of fun and learning. We began the week celebrating the girls earning 25 compliments. On Monday, I brought the girls a chocolate chip cookie sandwich and on Tuesday, we went outside for extra recess. The girls enjoyed being the only class on the new playground!

On Thursday, we had our first meeting of the year with our big sisters from Mr. Berry's 8th grade advisory. We played an ice breaker game in the classroom and then went out so the "big" girls could explore the new playground. It was a blast! Here are some pictures from the event.

Today, the girls did a fantastic job leading chapel. We introduced a service project called Lend a Helping Paw. There is a flyer in the Friday folder with information about it. Our class will help by going to other classrooms to collect any donations. They girls are very excited! Here is a link to watch the chapel in case you were unable to attend.

Curriculum Updates

Math: We are at the end of unit 1. This unit is full of complex math skills and we encountered one this week. We learned order of operations using an acronym called GEMS.

This is a helpful way for the girls to remember which step comes first in a multi-step expression. This was overwhelming for many girls so we will continue to practice this skill next week. It will also be the computation focus on next week's Pick 8. From my observation, one source of errors was in recalling basic facts. It is essential that the girls become adept at addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division basic facts. Several students have their basic facts memorized, but many students still need daily practice for automaticity. This is why their only math homework during the week is the facts contract. We will be wrapping up unit 1 next week and reviewing for the test. Once I finalize the date for the test, I will the girls know.

Language Arts: We are all loving our class read aloud, Fish in a Tree, including me! The girls have all finished their Buncee presentations and they are under Clever Classwork on the blog. On Monday, the girls need to bring in their notes on their book project book. We will create a Buncee in class on the story elements from their novel. We mixed emojis and writing this week and it was a hit. Using this site, the girls wrote sentences using their Wordly Wise words. This was a very popular activity and one we will complete again! We began our second writing lab which focuses on turning a simple sentence into a descriptive paragraph. We will finish this up next week.

Reminders and Announcements

• Blessing of the Animals- Monday@ 8:15 on The Green (a note went home in today's folder)
• Swimming starts Tuesday! Our class will have our swimming unit in PE from October 2 - 12 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of each of those weeks. Information here.
• Science Atom Project due: Friday, Oct. 12th 
• * We have decided to cancel our Parent Technology Night since attendance was going to be sparse. We want to keep everyone in the loop regarding our instructional technology practices in fourth grade. Click here for our "how to" videos.   
• Information about volunteering in the community garden
• Scavenger Hunt!

 

Weekly Update

This has been a week to remember with Monday's storm. The girls handled the situation so well and stayed calm throughout the sheltering and I am proud of them. They earned quite a few class compliments from me as well as individual stickers. In fact, we have reached our first class goal of 25 class compliments. On Monday, we will celebrate with extra play time on the playground with just our class and we will have a treat! Bravo to the girls!!!

Math: We continued to practice rounding this week and discussed factors and multiples. We used rainbows to help us factor various numbers. The girls really like Musical Moments so we completed another one on the song Happy by Pharrell. We also watched two short video clips on showing kindness to others and then solved quick problems to jump start our lessons. Here is one of the single EdPuzzles. Next week, we will work towards the end of unit one and focus on order of operations, computation practice of all four operations, and word problems.


Language Arts: We started our next class read aloud and we are reading Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. So far, we all love learning about the intriguing character of Ally. She does not like school and struggles with her learning and we look forward to seeing what is next in her story. The girls have just about finished their Buncee presentations on Because of Winn-Dixie. The finished presentations are here and will also be posted under Clever Classwork. Yesterday, the girls took their first Wordly Wise vocabulary quiz independently and I sent it home in today's folder. They took one part on Quia and the other was a handwritten fill in the blank activity. They did a nice job. We completed our first writing lab and they are on display on the bulletin board outside the classroom. They look great!

Reminders:

• Scholastic book order is due by Monday, September 24
• Our class will be leading chapel on Friday, September 28 
• Science Atom Project due: Friday, Oct. 12th (projects guidelines were distributed in science class on Friday)
• Our class will have our swimming unit in PE from October 2 - 12 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of each of those weeks. More information to come.
• * We have decided to cancel our Parent Technology Night since attendance was going to be sparse. We want to keep everyone in the loop regarding our instructional technology practices in fourth grade. So be on the look out for weekly "How To" videos. 
• Blessing of the Animals- 10/1 @ 8:15 on The Green
• Information about volunteering in the community garden
• Scavenger Hunt!

Weekly Update

Our first full week of school went well! The girls are working hard, learning routines, and getting comfortable with each other as well as me.

Here are some curriculum updates and other important information.

Math: We worked hard in unit 1 this week focusing on place value, rounding, number and shape patterns, and comparing and ordering numbers. We also began reviewing geometry concepts. We completed our first musical moment and the girls loved the combination of music and math. See below for the computation we completed to the song Fight Song. The girls did a nice job on their second facts contract. I did notice a lot of computation errors on their Pick 8 this week with the multi digit addition and subtraction problems so we will continue working on this.


Language Arts: This week, we started our first writing lab in which the girls write a descriptive paragraph about themselves. We are reviewing how to write a proper paragraph and focusing on varying the beginning of sentences. We will continue revising our writing and finish this first writing lab early next week. We finished reading The Hundred Dresses and each girl will design her own life sized dress to include an encouraging saying. The fourth grade will display the dresses around the Lower School.

Social Studies: We spent some time reading about Miss Jennie, the founder of St. Catherine's. The girls worked in pairs to read through essential items for our school chapels, using the History4Fourthies website.

Reminders:

• Next week’s carpool helper is Tilden
• Picture Day for our class is on Monday at 10:30 am 
• Our class will be leading chapel on Friday, September 28
• Our class will have our swimming unit in PE from October 2 - 12 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of each of those weeks. More information to come.
• This afternoon, the girls heard from the teachers who run the Outreach and Inclusion clubs. Here is the form to complete if interested.
• In today's papers, I sent home a Scholastic book order, which is due by September 24.
• Information about volunteering in the community garden
• Scavenger Hunt!

Weekly Update

Thank you to everyone who attended Parents' Night last night. I am excited for the year ahead and our partnership to make this the best year yet for your daughter! If you were unable to make it last night or would like to look at my presentation again, here it is.

The girls made my birthday a very special day and I love the beautiful flower bouquet and kind poster from the class. Many thanks!

Here are some curriculum updates and reminders.

Math: We have jumped into our first unit which reviews reading and writing large numbers, estimating, and working with factors and multiples. Additionally, we will review key geometry terms and introduce several new concepts. The girls did well completing their first facts contract and Pick 8. This will be the math homework each week so we are establishing the routine now. Next week, the facts contract focus will be on subtraction facts. Today, we used a site called That Quiz and took a quick addition facts quiz. This will be a normal Friday activity.

Language Arts: We reviewed the literary elements found in any fiction book as we discussed their summer reading book, Because of Winn Dixie. They have started creating a digital presentation on the story elements using a site called Buncee. We will continue this next week and hopefully get them finished. When we do any sort of digital work, I will post the final products on the blog page called  'Clever Classwork.' We took our first Wordly Wise test on Thursday and our first spelling test today. I will always note the test dates on the homework sheet attached to the blog. Lastly, the girls and I are enjoying our class read aloud of The Hundred Dresses.

Reminders and Important Information

• Next week’s carpool helper is Abby
• Picture Day for our class is Monday, September 17 at 10:30 am
• Our class will have our swimming unit in PE from October 2 - 12 on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday of each of those weeks. More information to come. 
• Special Week sign up
• Each week, I will be post the homework for the upcoming week on the blog so that your daughter may work ahead as necessary. There is a link to homework on the right side of the blog. 
• Scavenger Hunt!