Lewis and Clark Activity

I found this fun activity (reminiscent of the game Oregon Trail) I think it is a great way for us to review informational about Lewis and Clark. Have fun and feel free to include this in your research!

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/west/main.html

I also found this webquest. We are currently using a different webquest, but some of the websites provided at the bottom are great!

http://www.ecarter.k12.mo.us/dept/elementary/fourthgrade/ccrites/lewisandclarkassignment.html

Lewis and Clark

This week we are looking at Lewis and Clark and their expedition. The site below provides great supplemental information! We'll also be looking at some of the videos in class!

http://www.pbs.org/lewisandclark/into/index.html

December 10

What a fantastic week we have had here in room 117! This week we have finished up several old concepts and started new concepts.

In math this week we talked about the commutative and distributive property. Next week we will be taking a look at the associative property. In math we have also been working with double digit multiplication and forgiving division. Today we missed out on our math lesson, because we had counselor.

This week Mrs. Fullerton talked about cliques and how to prevent them. We did get a little dose of math from our time test.

Today our Language Arts time was mainly focused on completeing our Achieved Goals Writing Assesment. Students worked on completeing their stories. We can't wait to share them with you. Many of the students wrote about fantastic goals they reached!

We did not get around to taking our spelling test today, because of our shifted schedule, however we did manage to squeeze in our STAR Party for students who achieved their weekly goals.

Science this week has focused on the concept of Force and Motion. We have done several nifty experiements and starting Monday we will be talking about spring scales. Students may bring objects to test the spring scales.

Next week we will be starting our Lewis and Clark Webquest. We have already dabbled in some Lewis & Clark, but this will really kick off our unit!

All and all this was a phenomenal week and I look forward to the things we have planned for next week!

December 8th

Today was a great day for our class! We were able to accomplish a lot during the day. Students completed STAR Reading and Math this week. Look for data binders coming home with new scores in them at the end of the week. 

Today we also had visitors in from Camdenton School District, to check out our students and what makes English Landing great! I was so proud of each student in my classroom. The observers commented on the students drive, determination and sense of community, I was so proud of every student. Look for more updates this weekend. 

November 19

This week we wrapped up many ideas and are ready to finish out our quarter with a bang! 

Ms. Hayes' Fourth Grade Class Presents... A Thanksgiving Readers' Theater

Where: Room 117, English Landing

When: Monday, November 22nd at 2:20pm

Why: A chance to show how we have improved our reading fluency!

Brrrr!- As the temperatures in November get colder, make sure your child comes to school prepared for the weather with coats, gloves and hats for recess.

November 12

School Picture Retakes November 18th.


Thanks to all Veteran's who participated in the Veteran's Day celebration! Our kiddos enjoyed the experience and were able to share the things that they learned later in the day. Student's sucked up the information like sponges and I was pleased to hear the discussion that took place between them. 

Our Class with CPT Brooks and CPT Hutchison

In Science we are working with Electricity still. This will be our last week in this unit. We will be taking our Electricity assessment at the end of this week. To review we will do several more experiments. Key terms for this unit are: Parallel Circuits, Series Circuits, Open Circuits, Closed Circuits, Insulator and Conductor. 

We are beginning a new unit that will cover the first Missourians. 

In Math we continue to dive into the world of 2 digit multiplication. Students are learning a variety of ways to solve the problems. It is important that we show students a variety of ways to solve these problems, to help them understand what multiplication represents. We have worked with Standard "Old School" format, Lattice and Box Method. Ask your students to show you the difference. 

This week in Communication Arts we are going to be Starting Reader's Theatres. We will be doing several Thanksgiving plays. Reader's Theatre helps students to develop their fluency as well as their oral presenation skills. We will be presenting our Reader's Theatres on Monday November 22 at 2:20pm. If you are interested in attending please let me know so that we can plan for the event. 

Thanks so much to those who have already sent in bottle caps and volunteered! 

November 7, 2010

 

THANK YOU for taking time out of your busy schedule to attend Parent-Teacher Conferences.

The Park Hill School District Parent Survey which came home was due back Friday of this week. We had a 94% return rate. In the future we will continue to strive for a 100% participation rate in school activities.

Thanks to those who signed up a relative/friend for our Veteran’s Day presentation.  That presentation will take place at 9:00 in our classroom on Thursday, November 11.

 

PTA Family Movie Night reservations were due today.  “Toy Story 3” will be shown in the gym on Friday at 7:30 pm. 

 

English Landing’s year to date daily attendance average was 97.52% with the district average being 96.17%.  School attendance does count and is calculated not only at the school level, but the district level, too.

 

Looking into next week we continue to discuss electricity, making change and time. We look towards wrapping up these units this week.

October 28th

Conference Week!
I have really enjoyed meeting with all of the families during this week. I have an amazing classroom with amazing students and meeting the parents of these students makes it all make sense.

This week we built series circuits and tested a variety of conductors and insulators. Students brought in items from home to test. The students really enjoyed working with the different materials.

In Language Arts we continue to talk about asking questions to help develop our understanding. Please continue to read with your students and encourage to ask questions about the things that they are reading. This week we also talked about the moral of a story. As a class we read and listened to The Paper Bag Princess. Feel free to ask your students what the lesson of that story was! 

As you might have noticed there is not a lot of homework coming home. Students are encouraged to strengthen their skills by utilizing the links on our classroom blog. The Learning Links section has a variety of activities for each subject. Multiplication and division facts continue to be an important key to solving more complex mathematical concepts. Please encourage your students to check out the activities!

Over the last couple of weeks we have been VERY lucky to have dads come and participate in our career share. The students are really enjoying learning about different careers. I look forward to many more visits!

Making Change

This week we have been working on the skill of making change. The websites below are great ways for your student to practice making change.


http://justkidsgames.com/play.php?MakingChange

http://www.beaconlearningcenter.com/WebLessons/MakingChange/default.htm

http://www.superkidz.com/counting.html

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/lunchlady/index.html

October 22

What an eventful week we have had! It was so nice to see some of you at Family Math Night last night! This week we focused on the skill of Questioning. Students have been asking questions about a variety of objects, including a new food. Ask them to tell you a little about Quinoa! Questioning is a great way to get students to start thinking about what they're reading.


In Social Studies this week students started a Missouri Rivers Project. Students will be working in pairs to complete a PowerPoint that shares information about Missouri's rivers. I look forward to sharing your students work with you!


Next week we will be focusing on Electricity and building a variety of circuits.


Because of our short week students will not be taking a spellinng test until Monday of next week.


Report cards are coming home today. Please look at your student's report card, sign their envelope and return it to school on Monday. Your student's conference time can be found on their grade card.

October 15, 2010

There is NO school on Monday, October 18th for students!

Touchdown Family Math Night

Where: EL

When: Thursday, October 21st 6:30- 7:30pm

Why: Play fun math games with family and friends

Please bring new kids' boxers and socks to donate to the PH Clothing Center

Our Fall Festival is right around the corner... Friday, October 22nd! Fourth Grade's theme is the 60s and 70s! Come dressed like a groovy hippy from the 60s or a disco dancer from the 70s!

Parent Teacher Conferences are October 27 and the 28th. I will send home a conference reminder and questionnaire on Tuesday the 19th. Please return the questionnaire by October 25th.

Working with Words

This week you will be getting our second round of "Working with Words". This part of the Language Arts curriculum is based on "Words Their Way" by Donald Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston. I assessed the children's knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns and then matched them with the level of word study they need. Each week your child will get a new page of sorting words, focusing on a specific letter sound or spelling pattern. We discuss the words and then sort them into groups. During the week we sort, resort, speed sort and play games to build up our familiarity with the sound or pattern. Sorting is a thinking skill which requires attention, discrimination and seeing and hearing patterns. I like this program because the children work at their own skill level, it's hands on, playful and the activities vary. Check out the activities that are listed on your child's working with words list. I will send home a list of possible sorts that you may supervise or do with your child. Practice some of the activities each night. Allow for some creative sorting and categorizing. They only take 5 - 10 minutes and it's well worth it.

IMPORTANT DATES:

Oct. 18 - No School - teacher workday

Oct. 21 - Touchdown Family Math Night 6:30-7:30

Oct. 22 - Progress Reports sent home

Oct. 27 - Parent Teacher Conferences 5:00-8:00

Oct. 28 - No School - Parent Teacher Conferences 12:00-8:00

Oct. 29 - No School

Nov. 8 - PTA Meeting 6:30

Nov. 19 - Midterm

October 12th

Today was a busy day in Room 117. This morning we worked hard to finish our Missouri research. Most of us have our research done and are ready to present tomorrow. All groups will try to  present their information tomorrow.

In reading this week we are working in small groups to identify reading skill that we need to work on. Each of your students has been put into a group. Today we focused on setting goals.

In math we continue to work with multiples and factors. Tomorrow we will be taking a review quiz (it might be a good idea to study math facts tonight!)  We have been playing multiple turnover this week to practice working with multiples and factors.

A friendly reminder that School Picture Day is Thursday.

p.s. If you have filled this information put in your planner you may pack your backpacks and line up at the door. If you can do that quietly we will play a round of my favorite game.

Updates

Week of October 4, 2010
Picture Day- October 14th! Please refrain from scheduling appointments on this day. Students, make sure to pick out your favorite shirt and bring your smile!

Science:  Check out the photos of our first science experiment on static electricity on the home page.  We'll begin making circuits next week.  After finding our batteries corroding in our science kits, we are in need our some D batteries. We also are in need of flashlight bulbs.   If you are able to donate either of these items to our electricity study we would really appreciate it.

Reading:  We read one of my favorite books, When The Relatives Came, to practice making text-to-self connections to our reading.  We're also working on author's purpose.  We read Mighty Jackie, a great  story about a female baseball player to practice.  Next week, we'll continue to work on author's purpose and then we'll take a Treasures test on author's purpose.

Writing:  For our writing assessment, we read The Mysteries of Harris Burdick.  After reading, each fourth grader chose one of the illustrations from the book as a story starter.  Students have worked super hard on their prewriting and rough drafts so far.

Spelling/Word Study: 
This week you will be getting our second round of "Working with Words". This part of the Language Arts curriculum is based on "Words Their Way" by Donald Bear, Marcia Invernizzi, Shane Templeton, and Francine Johnston. I assessed the children's knowledge of phonics and spelling patterns and then matched them with the level of word study they need. Each week your child will get a new page of sorting words, focusing on a specific letter sound or spelling pattern. We discuss the words and then sort them into groups. During the week we sort, resort, speed sort and play games to build up our familiarity with the sound or pattern. Sorting is a thinking skill which requires attention, discrimination and seeing and hearing patterns. I like this program because the children work at their own skill level, it's hands on, playful and the activities vary.   I will give kids their new words on Monday and then the test will be on Friday. 

This is an example of one of our multiplication stories.

Math:  Students are writing multiplication stories and are showing two ways to solve the problems.  We also began taking multiplication tests.  This week kids took O's/1's and 2's.  Each child will work their way through all the problems.  When they complete multiplication, then they'll begin on division!  

Social Studies:  This week we have been working complete our Missouri Webquest. Next week we will be taking a series of small assessments to test our knowledge. 

Welcome!

I am so glad that you have found our classroom blog. Under the Online Learning Links you will find web links and resources that take our classroom learning a step further.

Check back later this week for updates and photos!