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PLEASE make sure to send back the bright green conference letters sent home on Tuesday in red Home Folders. If we need to reschedule for any reason, the sooner I know, the easier it will be to make changes. Thanks so much! Looking forward to speaking to all of you soon!
REMINDER: Conference week is EARLY RELEASE for ALL students.
Report cards will be distributed at parent/teacher conferences the week of October 24-28th.
Math - We are still working on multiplication of larger numbers and will be having an assessment on Thursday. The students will bring home a review sheet and their math notebook so they can review vocabulary and strategies (area model, partial product). We will be moving on to division, BUT will revisit mutliplication often in centers, as morning work, etc. The students ALL need to continue practicing their multilication facts. In 4th grade they need to be fluent 0-12.
As we move on to division, we will be using partial quotient to begin wtih. I put up some examples on the blog for parents and students to use as a resource. You will see a video and a slide show. We have not begun this yet, but will be working with partial quotient soon.
Social Studies - This week we have continued our study of Native Cultures. Students are conducting research on specific tribes to learn more about culture, environment, etc. Students will choose a final project as a way to share what they've learned with their peers. Some choices may be: tri-boards or posters, Photo Story presentations, dioramas, etc. Let the creativity begin!
Writing - We have continued to work on descriptive and narrative writing. We have made progress, but writing is definetely an area of weakness that we will continue to work on in class. For the 2nd 9 weeks, our focus will change to response to literature, but we will continue to draw upon other skills and strategies we've used so far this school year.
Science - We will be moving on to force and motion soon. This is an exciting unit for students and they will have a fun take home project soon. Details will be arriving home in the next few weeks. :-)
English/Spelling - We are working on common & proper nouns, singular and plural nouns and will be moving on to pronouns. Next week will be begin Sort 6. The final spelling test for Sort 5 is this Friday.
Click on the link below to access the word list I've entered for home practice. Sort 5 is ready to go now. :-)
Lynn McGee Blackwell Elementary School Vocabulary and SpellingCity.com.
From the Smithsonian Institute, Digging for Answers is a quiz game that allows students to test their research skills. If students answer incorrectly, they are prompted with a link to background knowledge that will help them to find the correct answer.
Digging for Answers provides a great example of an activity that encourages the acquisition of new knowledge by supplying access to appropriate background knowledge.
http://smithsonianeducation.org/idealabs/digging_for_answers/index.html
