Friday, May 30, 2014

Last week of School!!!!

Parents!!!

We are down to the last three and a half days!  Here are our plans:


        Monday, June 2ndLET'S HIT THE BEACH!
Bring a large beach towel, Dress Hawaiian and wear your sunglasses. Get ready to watch some beach and ocean movies.  We will catch some rays outside and your teacher will provide you with a “fishy” snack.  

Tuesday, June 3rd: WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A BALL!
Bring a ball or piece of equipment from your favorite sport or athletic activity.  For example a football, jump rope or tennis racquet.   Also, wear a jersey or shirt from your favorite sports team!  We will start the day with our chariot races and play some of our favorite sports later! We will also cool off with a Popsicle snack!

Wednesday, June 4thCAMP READ-A-LOT/Talent Show!
Bring several chapter books or other favorite books from home that you have been meaning to read or you want to recommend to classmates.  Also, bring a pillow and blanket to camp out in.  Dress in “camp style” clothes.  We will have a delicious smores snack!

Thursday, June 5th: LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!
The last day of third grade will be a short one! We’ll do some end of the year wrap up, have a pizza party and then dismiss at noonYou will not need to bring anything to school the last day except your backpack!

It's really been a great year.  I hope the summer is filled with fun times and lots of rest and relaxation.  Best of luck in 4th grade to you and your child.

Love,
Ms. Skrivanek and Mrs. Ford

Friday, May 23, 2014

Science and Math Week of May 27th

Happy Memorial Day!

Every teacher will be doing something different in their classrooms trying to manage the chaos!  I personally believe that if I don't keep them challenged, I will see lots of misbehavior.  So this week we will finish up our unit on measurement by Tuesday and then do some fourth grade skills!  I have been teaching the kids very slowly two digit by to digit multiplication.  This week we will dive deeper into that.  At the end of the week I will begin with long division a bit.  I will let the kids that are not strong in their Math Facts skills use a multiplication chart to aid them.

We will take a fast facts quiz on Tuesday.  I am not putting it in the grade book.

In Science the kids will be finishing up their detailed study of the three types of volcanoes and we will be moving on to Roman Architecture.  Last week the kids were fascinated by the happenings of Pompeii and really loved making their volcano and painting it.  We decided to erupt it this Tuesday :)

Important things to remember this week:
1. The Chariot Races will be at 8:30 this Thursday, May 29th.
2. The Winds of Time Parade will be this Friday, May 30th, time is pending.

I hope to see you at these events with your camera.  It is a really neat and fun time of the year.

Ms. S

Friday, May 16, 2014

Math and Science Week of May 19th-23rd

Parents,

Next week will be our last full five day week of the year!  It will be the last week of Math Homework and the last week of fast facts.  In Math, we will go back to measurement.  We will be studying weight in the Customary system first with ounces, pounds, and tons.  Students will walk around the room and search for things that are about an ounce and about a pound.  Next, we will study weight in the metric system focusing on grams and kilograms. The latter part of the week we will work on capacity in the Customary and Metric system.  Students will learn about "Gallon Man!"



In Science, we will be studying about Volcanoes in honor of Pompeii and our Rome study.  We will be labeling parts of a volcano, building volcanoes out of model magic, painting our volcano, and erupting our volcano!  The kids are definitely excited about next week.  We will also learn the details of the destruction on Pompeii and read some interesting factual books about that event.  

I have definitely seem some improvement in the fast fact grades and I am so excited that the kids are really taking this oh so important skill seriously.  Please keep it up over the Summer. Your child's 4th grade Math success depends on it!

We will have Roman Numeral HW all next week.  Here is a fun Roman Numeral YouTube video to try :)



Can't wait to see all of you on Wednesday at Noon for Publisher's Picnic!  It will be a beautiful event and its always one of my most favorite every year.

Love, Ms. S

Friday, May 9, 2014

Math and Science Week of May 12th

Parents,

This week will be a whirlwind of events and a little wild!  

In Math this week we are taking our previous learning about multiplying two digit by one digit numbers and we will now be applying them to WORD PROBLEMS!!!  Everyone's favorite.  You will see this in your child's HW on Monday and Tuesday night.  On Wednesday next week will work on the Problem Solving Method and Thursday and Friday we will introduce using Roman Numerals!!!  Yes!!!  This is a really fun thing to learn about because that means we are starting our Winds Of Time Unit.  Have your child look around the house for something that has Roman Numerals on it.  Their HW on Wednesday night is to bring to school something that has Roman Numerals on it to show their classmates.



Yes we are still doing Multiplication Fast Facts!!!  This week will be graded so STUDY, STUDY, STUDY.

In Science we are moving on to Plants and Adaptations. This will be the last thing we study before we embark on our Winds of Time Unit concerning Volcanoes.  In the beginning of the week, we will discuss plant life cycles and then phase over to adaptations and why scientists believe they occur in plants and animals.    

Special happenings this week: 
1. Roman Soldier presentation in Library on Friday at 9:00 a.m.


Have a great week!
Ms. S

Friday, May 2, 2014

Math and Science Week of May 5th

Parents,

The kids are really enjoying learning two digit by one digit multiplication.  I showed them three different ways last week to solve this kind of problem.  On Monday of this week, they will learn the forth way and then they will be assessed mid week on these four different ways of completing a two digit by one digit multiplication problem.  Thursday and Friday we will spend concentrating on the regular algorithm that they will use to solve these multiplication problems for the rest of their life.  We will start off easy with no regrouping to get the strategy down, then in the latter part of the week we will work on two digit by one digit multiplication problems with regrouping.  Obviously a child that knows their Math Facts well will be quicker at these types of problems!!!  HINT HINT!!!



We will have our regular multiplication fast facts test on Friday.  This week will not be recorded in the grade book.  Please make sure that you are practicing with your child at least five minutes each night.  This will make a night and day difference in their success in 4th grade Math.

In Science we finishing up our Ecosystems unit.  Flash cards were given last week and an assessment in Science is scheduled for Thursday.  The kids in their free time this week will be working on an Ecosystems project in groups. 

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call or email!

Love, 
Ms. S