March 29th - A Week In Review

Report Cards
Report Cards are now available in Family Access.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns about the report card.  I talked with your children about how a report card shows growth toward 4th grade standards.  We talked about what that means.  I explained how proud I am of them.  Each one of the children have taken ownership of their learning and are working toward better understanding.  Just today, we were working on a new piece of writing.  Two students thought to open an old piece of writing that they felt good about, so that they could use it as a guide for the new piece.  We had a nice conversation about how that shows self regulation and a strong understanding of wanting to be better!

Science Day
On Tuesday, the Walled Lake Outdoor Education Center came to WLE with many different science activities for your child to participate in.  I think the pictures show it all:)  They had such a great time.





Read In - Literacy Updates
Today was our read-in to wrap up our March is Reading Month festivities.  I think your children had a great time.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
This was my first time reading this book with students!  It was amazing.  We laughed, we cried, and The Chronicles of Narnia.  Every local library will have them!  If you like to read with your children, this might be a good series to read with them.  Lots of opportunities to stop and talk - great life lessons.
we cheered.  I am hoping it ignited a spark in them to try to read more and more.  The best part about this book is that there are many books in the series.

Kindergarten Buddies
This week we had the opportunity to create a project based on Dr. Seuss' book I Think I Saw it on Mulberry Street with Ms. Flowers kindergarten class.  I wonder if your students shared a 'minnow' or 'whale' story with you.  All round it was a great time.  The 4th graders really took the role of being a role model very seriously!

Week in Review: March 3, 2018

Hello Families,

Spring is just around the corner.  I can hardly wait.  March is Reading Month is kicking off this week.  Please encourage your child to join in on the fun.  We have a calendar of events planned for the month during the school day!  If you catch your son or daughter reading in a cozy spot around the house, snap a picture and email it to me.  I am going to start a "caught reading"  board.  A fun way to bring home into the classroom.   I also wanted to take a moment to tell you how awesome your children are.  They work hard, they are kind, and they make our classroom a fun place to be.  Nine and ten year olds are at such a critical time in their lives.  They are learning about how the world works around them, they make mistakes, and they learn how those mistakes affect other people.  However, I am so proud of how they work together and try to help lift each other up.

Reading and Writing

Right now in reading an writing, we are starting new units.  Your children are learning how to read a text closely to think more deeply about a text.  I have had such great conversations with your children this week.  We have been rereading a book called Fox.  Today we used the phrase "This makes me realize".  As we were reading our thoughts about the character Magpie, the children agreed that the story helped them realize that good friends are hard to find.  So that means we need to treat them with respect.  I have included the questions that we are using below.  Consider asking your children some of these questions about the books that they are reading at home. 

I hope that your child's writing about history writing made it home.  I am so proud of their hard work.  We worked together to set goals on next steps for writing. 

Math

We are in the middle of our fraction unit.  We have been working a lot with self reflection lately.  This week your child has been thinking about the learning targets and showing evidence of their learning.  We have had some really great conversations about what they understand and what they need help with.  Additionally, I have been having the kids write a problem similar to what we have been doing in class in their planners.  I suggested that they solve the problem at home and tell you what they learned in class that day.  We will finish up the unit next week and the BA will be on Monday, March 18th.  A study guide will go home next week.

Social Studies

We are continuing our United States Government this week.  We learned about the purpose of government and the Constitution last week.  This week we learned about the 3 branches of government and the powers of federal and state governments.  Next week we will be discussing the rights and responsibilities of citizens and the Bill of Rights.  The kids are super interested in these ideas. 

March WLE TV

March 5th:  https://youtu.be/nOXmmtJn-SU
March 6th:  https://youtu.be/eIZQPd8uCSY
March 7th:  https://youtu.be/sb88lJs-PAM

March 12th:  https://youtu.be/3S0NgyVHQGs
March 13th:  https://youtu.be/B7nRthruCZ8
March 14th:  https://youtu.be/3h1AbS0XwXw

March 19th:  No news
March 20th:  https://youtu.be/-gRiObdOKhQ  (Last Day for Wed Crew)
March 21st:

March 26th: https://youtu.be/bnTVlzXvznw
March 27th:  NO NEWS TODAY
March 28th:  https://youtu.be/bKu-SOWjwBo