March 7-10

Reading:  We continued learning about text structure.  They did a good job deciding which text stucture each article was and defending their answers.

The students received new Latin/Greek words on Monday and had a spelling test on Thursday.

Writing:  The students continued their expository writing on Native Americans.  We will finish up next week and move on to a different style of writing.  

Grammar:  We reviewed possessive and plural nouns.

Projects:  The students continued working on their continent projects.

Misc:  If you have not signed up for your conference time yet please make sure you do.  You should have gotten an email with a link for signing up.  These are student led conferences so your child must attend with you. We will be practicing this week so they will be ready on Friday.

February 22-25

Reading:  This week in reading we started learning about text structure. This is how the author organized the text.  We will continue with this next week.

The students received new Latin/Greek words this week.  They also had a spelling test.  They will receive their new words on the 29th.  Some of the groups will have the same patterns or words because the students did not do well on the test this time.  Remember to help them practice their spelling words and new pattern.  

Writing: The students continued working on their country reports.  We are almost finished with these.  They have learned a lot of interesting information.  The students also worked on an opinion piece throughout the week to help bring up their opinion writing score.

Grammar: We reviewed the different types of sentences: simple, compound and complex.  We also reviewed coordinating and subordinating conjuntions.

Projects: The students continued working on their country project.

Misc:  It is already almost the end of the 3rd quarter!  Be on the lookout for information about conferences.

Don't forget to order a yearbook!  

Feb. 15- 18

Reading:  The students received 2 articles and together we highlighted important information.  Then independently they each took the information to write a paragraph.
They received their new spelling words on Monday.  I gave them the challenge again that if even gets a 3 on the test I will bring in a treat.  They also had a Latin/Greek test on Thursday.

Writing:  They continued researching and writing on their continent.  They are still having a hard time determining the difference between a continent, country and a state.  As we continue our writing and our project I'm hoping they grasp this topic more.

Grammar:  This week they learned how to correctly capitalize a title and where commas go in an address.

Projects:  We finished up the autobiography maps and now are returning to the continent research.

MISC:  I am going to be sending home a bookorder on Monday.  It says I will submit on Thursday.  I can wait until Monday 2/29 if anyone needs me to.

In reading, as a whole, the class is not going back into their text to find their answers and therefore they are getting them wrong.  I am making them redo their papers when this happens.  Some are having to go back a third time.  Will you please stress to them the importance of always going back and finding the answers and not just guessing.

February 1-4

I can't believe it's already February!  This year has flown by!! 

Reading: In reading this week we continued reading non fiction text using Scholastic News.  I love how these are current event articles that really capture the students' attention.  We looked at text features, found the main idea and supporting details, and talked about author's purpose.

The 3rd graders are also learning how to pull information from 2 texts to write one piece.  We did one together this week about being a fit kid.  The 4th graders are working in partners to pull information from two articles on the same subject.  They will then put their information together and present it to the class.

We have a spelling test this week.  I told the students in both classes that if everyone in their class received a 3 on the test I would bring them a treat!  Let's hope everyone is studying!! 

Writing:  We started a new writing project this week.  The students each chose a country to research.  The research for this writing assignment is much easier than our last one.I can't wait to find out all the fun things they learn about their different countries.

Grammar: We finished up with possessive nouns and took an assessment.  We then worked with collective nouns.  

Projects: We presented our severe weather projects to the 2nd graders on Monday.  Then we started our new project.  The students are working in groups learning about the different continents.  They will then create maps to represent each continent.   

Jan 25- 28

Reading:  We have been reading Scholastic News and focusing on the text features.  We have also been determinig the main idea and supporting details, and the author's purpose.

A fun new things we have started is Debate it! The students are given a questions and come up with their own opinion from that of the author.  The class then has a discussion on how they feel.  We discussed using accountable talk to ensure everyone is being respectful.  There is a a bulletin board outside our classroom with the newest Debate It question.  The students will be posting their opinions on the board during the week.

We had a spelling test this week.  Next week we will have a Latin/Greek test.

Writing:  The students finished up their deep sea creature writing and foldable.  This is always such a fun writing to learn about all these strange creatures.

Grammar:  We learned about when to use an apostrophe.  There are only 2 times.  When the word is a contraction and when a word is possessive.  The students then practiced making words possessive.  They need to break the habit of putting an apostrophe everytime they add an S to a word!

Projects:  We finished up our severe weather projects.  They students will be presenting them to the 2nd graders on Monday.


** The class as a whole has been having a problem with behavior since coming back from Christmas.  I think part of the problem is everyone is very comfortable in the classroom so they are forgetting to follow the rules. This week I had to be much more strict. Usually if a clip gets moved down to the bottom I send an email to parents, but I let them know ahead of time I was having them move their clips this week just so they could become aware of their behavior. On Tuesday there were a lot of clips moved down but by Thursday there were only 1 or 2. Hopefully by Monday we will be back on track! If you could have a chat with your child about the importance of following the classroom rules and being respectful of others, that would be great!

Jan. 11-14

Reading:  We have moved on to reading non-fiction text.  The third graders are working on finding their answers in the text and highlighting.  Then they have to restate their questions when answering.  The fouth graders need to also use evidence based terms when answering.

We took a spelling test on Thursday.  Look for new spelling words on Monday.  We will be taking a Latin/Greek test on Thursday 1/21.

Writing: The students continued working on researching their deep sea creatures.  Most finished up on Thursday and are moving on to writing their paper.  These creatures are so much fun to learn about!!

Grammar: We finished up learning about simple, complex and compound sentences.  The students also know about coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.  We took an assessment on this on Thursday.  

Projects: The students are coninuting working on their severe weather projects.  They have finished up their presentations and are now working their models to go with their projects.

Misc.

* The students received new book orders.  I will be submitting on January 21st.  If for any reason you would like to order and need me to hold of on submitting the order please let me know.

*  We are out of paper towels.  I have the students wash their hands ever day before lunch to help prevent sickness so we go through a lot of papertowels.  If you would like to donate a roll or two that would be great!

Thank you!!

Thank you for the wonderful Christmas stocking!  It was filled with all my favorites!  I am having so much fun with this class.  They have the best personalities, and keep me laughing all day long!!

Have a wonderful Christmas!