Hello to our '4H' families!
September has gone by so fast, yet it has been so full! In the last month we have all added at least two dozen new, very important people to our lives, including each of our precious students along with several very wonderful support staff who join us daily in Room 117. It is so heartwarming and inspirational to be together every day. One day this week we welcomed a guest visitor who filled our brains with amazing dairy information and our stomachs with delicious (ha - mostly!) cheese! Vivian's mom, Renee Dahlk, came in carrying a picnic basket full of mozzarella sticks, two kinds of cheddar, pepperjack, and limberger cheeses. The kids were so receptive to trying the different kinds, more than we expected were willing to sample the limberger, and even liked it! She spread award winning butter ($400 per pound??!!) on saltines, and we finished up with a few m&m's each (they contain whey - so there!). It was a highlight in our week, and thanks again to Renee for coming and leading such a great lesson as well. We are all definitely set up and ready to go visit these cows we've been studying! We have six parent chaperones all signed up to go with us to the Dairy Expo on Tuesday afternoon, October 4th. Weather sounds like it will cooperate! Send your student to school in jeans and shoes you won't mind possibly getting a little 'soiled'!
This past week the fourth grade rooms shuffled our students around to work on Unit 2 in Everyday Math. Each day has become smoother, as students learn a few different expectations from new teachers, and we become acquainted with new 4th graders. Our classroom blog homework page will always post assignments from all three teachers daily. This unit has begun with place value and reading/writing/expanding large numbers - especially up to the 100 millions. You can give your student some extra practice by having them write and recite some numbers that go this high, and asking them what place each digit represents. Page 32 in the student journal has a helpful chart. This is a skill that needs to be secure in order to understand future concepts. We are off to a solid start. It will help you to know that I consider the student journal and studylink pages to be learning workbooks - where students can practice the concepts and skills, and not be afraid to try everything, even items they aren't sure they understand. I've told them I won't be 'grading' these problems - the items are used to experiment with new knowledge, and we discuss in class the correct way to solve them. When I believe they are ready to demonstrate their mastery, they receive small 'exit slips' with one or two problems for each new concept to show me if they need more instruction on any skill. Feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions or concerns about your child's math work.
We continue to read chapters daily in Tuck Everlasting, finally getting to learn some big secrets that Winnie, the main character, still isn't so sure she believes! It has led to some thought provoking discussions about the pros and cons of 'living forever' - and we have posted our blog comments on this topic with our partners in California again this week. Take a look! I love seeing how our students are considering some ideas deeper than they have before. They also had the opportunity to stretch their imaginations this week in their journal writing, when we picked one of our rainy days to write about "what if it rained CANDY all day?" Upon reading their writing, they are giving me all kinds of lessons to prepare for them regarding sentence and paragraph structure, basic writing mechanics, as well as idea development. We also began recording all the books we are reading in a Reading Log. It will be impressive for them to see how many and what kinds of books they will have read by the end of 4th grade. We have such readers in our room - and I must confess that I have some catching up to do to become acquainted with some popular series and authors that I see them very excited about! (Fourth grade isn't about Caddie Woodlawn anymore!) And thank you for the donations of books for our classroom library that some of you have sent to us. I am close to asking Mr. Jerry for one more bookshelf so we can better organize our beautiful collection. One more note about literacy: I will be sending home Scholastic Book Order forms once per month - usually the first week of each month. We received our September order this past week, and on Friday I handed out the October forms. They will be due back by next week Friday, October 7. We've learned it takes a week and a half for our order to come back. The students can't wait to get their new forms and then see that box get delivered with shiny new books.
Until next note, GO Badgers, Packers, and Brewers!!! What a time to be a Wisconsin sports fan! Melanie Hannam
No comments:
Post a Comment