December 14, 2015

Reading: This week we are focusing on nonfiction text structure and understanding.  Students will have the opportunity to read a book of their choice for part of reader’s workshop.	Science: . We are finishing the animal classification unit this week.  Students received a study guide for the animal classification test. The test is on Thursday.
Math: Fractions, fractions and more fractions. We are exploring many and different ways to use fractions. Many students are enjoying ST math for part of their nightly homework.	Writing: Christmas writing is our focus for this week. It is due on Thursday.
Spelling: Words for this week are words are holiday words. The words are Santa Claus, jingle bells, snowman, chocolate, alleluia, shepherds, presents, ecstatic, peace, season, evergreen, ornaments, reindeer, tranquility, cuisine, Christmas, poinsettia, festoon, Hanukkah and menorah **There is only one test this week, it is on Thursday.	Reminders: We are having our pizza party on Wednesday at 1:30.  This is our reward for collecting the most food items in grades 4 -6. The Christmas sing is December 17 at 9:30.  Students can wear Christmas colors and bring a Santa hat. All late work, book reports and poetry are due on or before Friday.

Reading: This week we are focusing on nonfiction text structure and understanding.  Students will have the opportunity to read a book of their choice for part of reader’s workshop.	Science: . We continue to study animal classification. We are focusing on  reptiles and amphibians this week
Math: Fractions, fractions and more fractions. We are exploring many and different ways to use fractions. Many students are enjoying ST math for part of their nightly homework.	Writing: Christmas writing is our focus for the next two weeks. Students will be sharing their essays and talking about the strengths and weaknesses in their writing.
Spelling: Words for this week are words with prefixes. nonabrasive, unaesthetic, uncoordinated, predestination, disputable, recede, rebuttal, predominant, unaffiliated, nonporous	Reminders: Thanks to everyone who helped with our field trip.  We enjoyed a great day watching the dancers and studying the animals at the museum. The Christmas sing is December 17 at 9:30.  Students can wear Christmas colors and bring a Santa Hat.

Reading: This week we are focusing our reading on social studies, specifically Native Americans. Students will have the opportunity to read a book of their choice for part of reader’s workshop.	Science: . We continue to study animal classification. We are focusing on fish, reptiles and amphibians this week
Math: We have completed our factor and multiple activities. We are moving on to fractions for the next two weeks.  Many students are enjoying ST math for part of their nightly homework.	Writing: Animal reports and posters are due on Wednesday. Students will be sharing their essays and talking about the strengths and weaknesses in their writing.
Spelling: Words for this week are Words with ou or oi : sprout, trout, pronounce, mound, foul, ounce, choice, avoid, coin, sound, aloud, noise, sour, allow, annoy, frown, devour, trousers, ointment, blouse BONUS: atlatl, shaman, travois, qualitative, quantitative	Reminders: Friday, December 4 is a COMMON START.  All students attend school from 8:00 until 2:15. Students who did not order a school lunch need to bring a sack lunch.  We are looking for volunteers to help us at the Bean Museum.  If you would like to help, please text or email me and I will add you to our list.

Reading: We continue to work on our comprehension skills.  We are focusing on cause and effect. The students are reading Naya Nuki. .	Science: The environment tests went well. Many students had a perfect score! We begin our study of animal classification this week.
Math: This week we begin out study of factors and multiples.  It is a fun unit. Students who scored   80 percent or less on the long division quiz have some extra homework.  Please review the process with your child if they have pink division sheets.	Writing: The animal reports are progressing well.  The rough drafts will be written and edited in class. Students will need to type the final copy at home.  These will be due before the Thanksgiving break.
Spelling: Words for this week are Thanksgiving words; gratitude, yams, cranberries, pilgrims, potatoes, squash, Indians, appreciation, gravy, marmalade, Thanksgiving, applesauce, muffins, hungry, stuffing, broccoli, salad, leftovers, blessings, turkey BONUS Pueblo, Paiute, Goshute, Navajo, dichotomous There will not be a spelling list next week :)	Reminders: November poems are due before Thanksgiving. Our class is attending The Secret Garden this Wednesday, November 18. Be sure to return the red permission slip to school.   The students will need to bring a lunch from home. We are collecting food for the food bank.

Reading: Students have been working comprehension skills with book of their choice.  The skills we have been working on are inference and questioning.  Next week we will begin a class book, we will continue to work on comprehension strategies.  The book report for this month, is to research an assigned Utah animal.	Science: We are focusing on the adaptations that plants and animals have so that they can survive in their habitats.  Students will finish their wetland studies and move on to deserts.
Math: Students are working with remainders this week.  We are learning how and why remainders are important in real world math.  Please continue to practice multiplication facts if your student has not passed their facts off.	Writing: Students are finishing their personal narratives about a memorable moment in their lives. As part of the book report students will write a 5 paragraph essay about their assigned Utah animal.  In order to begin the writing process all research should be complete by November 10.
Spelling: This weeks words are words with prefixes. The words are disappoint, unaware, unlucky, disappear, unfortunate, dishonest, mismatch, misbehave, unknown, recycle, unusual, misspelled, uncommon, unprepared, prepaid, review, rearrange, preschool, unfriendly, disagree, hypothermia, tentative, collaboration, gracious, professionalism	Reminders: Our class won the sock drive! Please remember to send inonperishable food items for the food drive. Animals for animal reports were assigned today. Research is due on November 10.  The finished report and poster are due before Thanksgiving. We will be attending The Secret Garden at Lone Peak on Nov. 18. Students will need to bring a lunch from home on that day.

Reading: This week students will continue to work on writing 5 finger summaries. We have been working on writing thick questions that correspond to our reading text.  Students took a test on poetry, prose and drama today.  Everyone did a great job!	Science: This week we continue our study of the environments found in Utah. We will be focusing on forests and wetlands.  Students are welcome to bring leaves or needles from trees in their yards to add to our study of Utah trees.
Math: This week we will finish learning different ways to solve large multiplication problems.  Students should be able to solve (and explain) several ways to solve multiplication problems.   We continue to work on multiplicative comparisons-they are still a little tricky for most of us.   If you students has not passed off their times tables, please make sure they are practicing at home.	Writing: The class’s narrative stories are coming along really well! I have been very impressed with each students writing style and creativity. We will are working on adding details to make our stories more interesting.
Spelling: This week our words focus on changing a y to an i and then adding a suffix.  The words are:  terrified, dizziness, loneliest, funniest, memories, hurried, replied, hobbies, emptiness, ugliest, multiplied, earlier, deliveries, readiness, remedies, shadiness, summaries, crazier, angriest, carries  Bonus Words: invertebrate, bulrush, riparian, poikilotherms, phonemic  We have finally begun our  study of greek roots. :)	Reminders: ∙      Book Reports are due on October 30 ∙      Memorized poems due by October 30 ∙      REFLECTIONS ENTRIES DUE ON THURSDAY, October 22 ∙      Remind your student to keyboard at least 45 minutes per week

September 28, 2015

Reading: Our study of story elements continues. Students have begun novel discussion groups. Students read an assigned part of their book and write a detailed response to what they have read.	Social Studies: Students enjoyed making cake maps last week.  This was a culminating activity to our Utah Geography unit.  Students received a study sheet today to help them prepare for the end of unit test. The test includes labeling a map of Utah with major geographic features.
Math: Students continue to explore a variety of ways to multiply larger numbers. They learn several strategies that help deepen their understanding of place value and math properties. We are also continuing to work on multiplicative comparisons Please continue to help your child learn their multiplication facts!	Writing: Students are working on 5 paragraph essays about Utah’s land regions. They are using the information from Social Studies to complete their essays.
Spelling: Spelling words this week are plural words with ves. elf, elves, leaf, leaves, life, lives, wolf, wolves, shelf, shelves, wife, wives, half, halves, loaf, loaves, knife, knives, yourself, yourselves, nomadic, Anasazi, paleontologist, archaeologist, reservoir We will begin our study of Greek and Latin stem and roots this week. Bi, sub, de, pre, super	Reminders: ·      Book Reports and monthly poems are due on Wednesday ·      Please sign up for Parent Teacher Conferences if you have not already

September 14, 2015

Reading: This week we begin our study of story elements. Students will study character, plot, setting and the theme of the story. Students will complete their DRA testing this week.	Social Studies Students continue to work on map skills. We are beginning to learn about Utah's geographic regions and physical features.
Math: This week  we begin our study of multiplicative comparisons. It is in to using algebra to solve multiplication story problems with missing information.  Students should continue to practice their math facts at home.	Writing: Students will complete their essays about themselves. We will continue learning how to structure a five paragraph essay.
Spelling: Students take a pretest on Monday.  We have our first test on Thursday, if students spell all of the words correctly they don’t take the Friday spelling test.  If students miss any words they have another chance to improve their score on Friday. Words this week are sounds of “s” and “j” List: prove, groovy, whoop, would, through, proud, taught, thought, author, crowd, detour, dawn, bronco, corral tough, coral, coyote, avoid, fowl, flour Bonus: chinook, global, auroras, doldrums, pollution	Misc. Wolf Walk is this Friday :) Students should practice their monthly poems.  They are due on September 30. Book reports are due on September 30. Feel free to contact me at any time.

September 8, 2015

August 24, 2015

Welcome back to school! It has been fun getting to know each of the students and their abilities. I hope your child is enjoying school so far and making new friends.

Spelling Words
grasp                     grocery           Bonus Words
amazement           niece               *highway
laugh                    meant              *geography
great                     quench            *peninsula
graduate               peculiar           *scenic
value                    vein                 *information
strait                     janitor
accidentally         incredible
decent                  resent
effect                   breathe

Science 
This week we will focus on classification.  We will complete a short fingerprinting unit. Students will take their own fingerprints, sort them, and use the information to solve a crime.

Math
Math this week will focus on place value. We will also participate in review and enrichment activities.

Reading
Students are reading Fourth Grade Rats and completing comprehension related activities.  We are practicing making good connections. DRA testing starts tomorrow.

Writing
Students are reviewing how to write a good sentence. They are also reviewing rules of capitalization.

Reminders
*Please remember to review and sign your student's planner every day.
*Please remember to return all of the forms from the Open House.

Other
Thank you for all of the supplies and donations we have received.  They will help make our class more successful this year. If you have questions or concerns, feel free to contact me.

Welcome!