Dear 4th Grade Families,
We have completed our first 5 day week of school! We are all appreciating the extra 10 minutes we have added to our daily math hour - more time to work on assignments (meaning less homework!) and more time to practice and ask questions. We completed the first unit - Geometry - today, and next week we will spend some days reviewing the new concepts and vocabulary (we have collected 23 new geometric terms on our whiteboard!) before we take the unit test. The students are proud of their improving ability to manipulate a compass (but we also learned that it wasn't a good idea for Mrs. Hannam to buy the cheapest compasses from the school supply catalog!).
You missed out if your student didn't share with you a few new and kinda icky, yet amazing, facts about cows this week! This information provided an effective kickoff to our dairy unit - everyone dove enthusiastically into a little research project identifying the characteristics of 6 different kinds of cows. They should be well prepared to see the real thing up close when we go to the Dairy Expo at the Alliant Energy grounds on October 4th. Remember to let me know if you would like to join us as a chaperone. Three parents from our room have volunteered already, and all are welcome (with carpooling, we have no limit on this trip). We will be expanding our dairy unit to include some delicious cheese tasting soon, and explore other Wisconsin agricultural products and practices in the coming two weeks. Our first science unit is starting soon - electricity and magnets. My homework is to test a couple dozen batteries and untangle yards of wire in preparation for our first experiments - aauughh!
There was excitement this week when I announced that our class will be taking part in the second annual Global Read Aloud. Starting next week, for four weeks, our class will be reading aloud together and discussing the award winning book, "Tuck Everlasting". We will be joining over 4,000 other 4th and 5th graders from around the WORLD who will be reading the same book and the same chapters in the same time frame! Not only that, I have made a connection with another 4th grade teacher and her class in Cupertino, California (just south of San Francisco), and our two classes will be 'discussing' their predictions, ideas, questions, and impressions of this thought-provoking book with each other. We will do this through our classroom blog. You will see that we have added a page to our blog just for this book, and you will be able to read the comments that our students will post as the weeks go on. Today we started with their predictions about what this book might be about, with just a very few hints to get their thoughts going. See the Tuck Everlasting page on our classroom blog, and read what our 4th graders predicted. There are several in our room who know the story, and they have been sworn to secrecy not to give away the surprises in this book. This is a first attempt to stretch our classroom walls outward into the world a little farther, and we will see how it enhances our 4th graders' thinking, reading, and writing skills. It has definitely already spurred their enthusiasm!
Today we had the honor of being the LAST class in the whole school to get our pictures taken, but shiny hair and colorful clothing survived the wait. If you want to order a package, you have one week to return your order form to school, and if you want to have pictures retaken, hang on to your proof envelope which came home today, and there will be a retake day in October.
Next week on Wednesday, we have our first CRT (collaborative release time) day. There will be 5 such days throughout the school year. Students will board buses for home again at 11:00 am. They have the option of ordering a sack lunch as their 'hot lunch' if they want, but must take it home and eat it there if they do (so our brief instructional time that day is not further reduced).
With the coming week, my goal is to post daily on the blog's HOMEWORK page, for parents' information and for students to double check their assignment notebook page. We have eased slowly into the serious responsibility of doing and returning homework on time. The students are learning that their assignment notebook is for THEM to use as an important tool for organization and memory. Just ask them about how Mrs. Hannam uses lists everywhere to stay on top of reminders, jobs, and assignments! This assignment notebook is their most important 'list'. In addition to a longer math class, we are making good use of our 'resource time' at the end of the day to get caught up on unfinished work as well as take time to ask questions and practice new concepts again. If students make good use of this time, the homework load will stay minimal. This will give students time to READ each evening, which appears to be a great pleasure for most everyone in our book loving class! At this time, the expectation is to read at least 20 minutes at home each day.
I will post news, events, and updates on the blog's appropriate pages (and the calendar) as they occur, while continuing to send out this weekly update by email (do let me know if any email addresses need to be adjusted or added). As always, I appreciate any contacts from you by email or phone (or a visit at school) whenever you need and want to keep me informed about anything at all. It is such a pleasure to come to school each day and learn together with this exceptional group of 4th graders. They are demonstrating daily kindnesses and helpfulness, offer some awesome thoughts and ideas in our discussions, and best of all, their enthusiasm for our work blows me away - and keeps me inspired!
Mrs. Hannam (my phone message system is now in working order!)
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