Hello, everyone. In many ways, the past week was a very satisfying one. It seemed like the kids felt the same way I did - that it just felt good to get back into our routine after our testing from the week before. We settled right in and got busy on completing the Unit 3 material in math, we dug in with our science and reviewed the final concepts of our electricity unit, we wrote two stories (turkey, anyone?), and finally found time to begin exploring our brand new social studies textbook. We also decided to tighten up our general classroom behavior - we are back to a quick and quiet response for attention, and our lines are looking good! Oh, and twice this week we won the "Golden Shoe" award! Ha - ask your student about that one! Speaking of awards, we are all still hot on the trail in our search for BOX TOPS FOR EDUCATION! After taking second place the first week with 300, we fell down in the rankings the second week with only 60, but this week we rallied to collect 292 box tops! We don't know where that puts us now, but other classes are right up there with us, so don't be surprised to find your child rummaging in your pantry at odd hours of the night! :) We hope family gatherings at Thanksgiving will yield more help from the relatives! Thanks for helping us out until December 2nd.
We took the Unit 3 math test on Friday. On Monday we will review those tests with our groups, and you can look for the tests to come home for your signature. I keep these tests for reference, so please return them right away - thank you! On Tuesday, we will all take the pretest for Unit 4, and by the next week, new groups will be formed with possibly a switch in teachers as well.
I must say how pleased I am at the initiative and motivation of a number of our students. When we explored our new social studies textbook about Wisconsin, we discovered some pictures and brief information from 1904 when our Capitol building burned down. I challenged the students to dig deeper if they chose to do so, and, on their own, find out more details and information to educate the rest of us. Within the week, several students brought in posters and pictures and typed up information on this topic. We have mounted these on the wall along with our extra information on ginseng, turtle eggs, dairy cows, sea life, geometric shapes, Norwegian culture... it is endless how much extra information we can fit into our curriculum when our students are fired up about a topic and take it down a new path that interests them. I plan to grow this aspect of our 4th grade education as the year moves along.
In preparation for the West Middleton Spelling Bee on December 9 at 8:40 in the multipurpose room, we began some classroom rounds this week to determine the four representatives from our room. We have conducted 6 rounds so far, and will have time for a few more before our deadline on November 30. The words are so random, with easy ones mixed in with tougher ones, so doing many rounds makes it as fair as possible to give everyone several chances to rise to the top. The kids all seem quite excited to do this, and plead for time for more rounds, so this endeavor has become quite motivating. I want to ride this 'spelling wave' and begin giving our class some weekly spelling tests. I have a growing collection of words I have found as we edit our writing projects that will be perfect for their weekly lists. These are words not chosen by a textbook publisher, but are words used by our fourth graders - words they want and like and need to use, but stumble on the spelling! Creative ways to practice these words will in turn be excellent opportunities to give our students more writing experiences as well! I can't wait! :)
I sent in the November Scholastic Book Order last Monday. I plan to give out the new December offerings this coming Monday, in order to give ourselves enough time to receive our new books before the Christmas Break. Therefore, I would like to make a deadline of November 29 for you to hand in all December orders. This time, you will see three sets of choices -- Arrow, Tab, and also a special Christmas edition with even more books! Good luck deciding!
It was such a pleasure to meet everyone's families at conference time! I thoroughly enjoyed our visits. Our first trimester ends on November 30, and you can expect to see your student's report card within the following week. Do check the classroom website for other updated calendar events coming up, and make use of the homework page, which I add to every day after school. Remember that the coming week is brief - we have full days of school on Monday and Tuesday, and then Wednesday's CRT day means buses will be taking kids home at 11:00 am that day. May your family enjoy a wonderful holiday weekend. Sincerely, Melanie
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