LA and SS 1/20-1/23

Reading

We send home our first STAAR-like homework on Tuesday.  Students will have until Friday to read the poem, jot down notes and answer questions.  We will check the answers and use the poem for discussion in class on Friday.

Writing

We will continue to look for similarities and differences as we move from writing narratives to working on expository pieces.  Students will create their first kernel expository essay (pre-writing) on the topic of something they couldn't live without!

Spelling

Spelling continues this week.  Spelling homework is due 1/20.  Spelling tests will be given on 1/21. New words will come home on 1/28.

Social Studies

During Story of America we will begin to focus on explorers.  This week we will focus on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

NRT testing continues on Wednesday and Thursday.

LA and SS Week of 1/12-1/16

Reading

We will learn how to attach poetry this week.  We will look into what work and thinking can help us answer reflection questions about poetry.  Our hope is that this kind of analysis of poetry will then start to spill over into your child's work in fiction and expository.

Writing

We LOVE Mrs. Bolton.  The WITS program has been a joy to be part of at HCE.  Mrs. Bolton visits every Tuesday.  Last week she helped us realize that there are many things a good writer carries in his or her writing toolbox.  Students got a chance to dig deep into similes.  Some of my favorite that they created and shared were---

Yellow is as excited as me on a field trip.

Pink is joy like a seal with a squeaky toy.

Blue is as sad as a woman who has lost her husband.

Orange is exciting like a UT football win!

This week we will work on understanding and creating metaphors with Mrs. Bolton.

With me students will begin to compare narrative to expository writing.  We will look for similarities and differences as we move from writing narratives to working on expository pieces.

Spelling

Spelling will resume this week.  Look for new words to come home on Wednesday.  Homework is due Tuesday, 1/20.  The spelling test will be Wednesday, 1/21.

Social Studies

We have begun a new unit of study in Social Studies.  (This is by far my personal favorite!)  Over the next 9 weeks, students will learn about pieces of American history through the lives of famous American's who made or continue to make a lasting contribution to our country.  To help students understand the wide range of time our nation's history covers, we begin the unit week learning about time lines.  

Vocabulary that you can discuss at home: time line, year, decade, century, past, present, future, and chronological order

This week we will focus on the life and service of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Math and Science Week of January 12th

Parents,

We have reached the week of NRT (Norm Reference Testing).  Your child will be taking different sections of the test this week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Make up times will be scheduled the next week or the week of the 26th if your child must be absent.

In Math this week we are still studying pictographs, bar graphs, tally charts, and dot plots.  The students will be taking information in tally charts and pictographs and creating bar graphs and dot plots to match the information.  A test question to access this skill might look like this:

A dot plot graph looks like this:

Although we only have HW on Monday night, please continue to study fast facts.  Your child will have a fast facts test this Friday and it will be inputted into the grade book.  There is no Problem of the Week this week.

In Science this week we will be focusing on a new typing curriculum.  Your child will utilize the typing machines that third grade has to increase their WPM while typing.  The students will learn about the "home row" keys and the proper placement of their hands while typing.  We aim to avoid chicken pecking!!! 

It's going to be a busy week with testing and new typing curriculum!  Wish us luck!

Ms. S

Happy New Year!

Reading
We will discuss poetry vocabulary and spend time reviewing and identifying parts of a poem.  We will then look for the hidden messages that we have to infer in our reading.

Writing
Our WITS writer, Mrs. Bolton, will join us again on Tuesday to get the kids thinking more about their portrait poetry and share about their holiday break.

Spelling
There will be no spelling work this week.

Social Studies
The third 9 weeks brings us to a study called Story of America.  It's our chance to look into American history. We will start this week by reviewing timelines. The following vocabulary words will be helpful to review and discuss at home: timeline, past, present, future, year, decade and century.

Math and Science Week of January 5th

Welcome back friends and family to 2015!  We hope you had a wonderful holiday break and feel refreshed and restored!  It is time to get back to school, work, and fun!

This week in Math we will study pictographs, bar graphs, tally charts, and dot plots.  The students will start the week out on Tuesday reading a simple pictograph where each symbol only means one.  Starting Wednesday, the key for each symbol will mean something different like below:

Our kids are required to first label, and then answer a series of questions based upon the information provided.  Such as:

1. Which two boys have a sum of 27?

2. How many few pencils does Mike have than Henry?

3. How many pencils do George and Henry have?

4. Which two boys have a difference of 3?

5. How many pencils are in this pictograph?

The kids will also have to become very familiar with bar graphs and how to decipher the scale on each one.  Some bar graphs are created with a scale of five or ten, but other more complicated bar graphs have scales of nine or twelve.  All the bar graphs below have different scales.

 

The kids will of course learn how to read and transfer data from tally charts and dot plots to bar graphs and pictographs and vice versa:

      

We are BACK TO FAST FACTS this week already!  Your kids will bring home their last facts facts test from December this Tuesday.  Please take 5-10 minutes a night to master whatever level your child is on in multiplication.  It is a major stepping stone to success in 4th grade math.  There will be a FF test this Friday.

There will NOT be a Problem of the Week (POTW).

In Science we are starting a new unit on weathering and erosion!  We will begin the unit by watching a Science video on how rocks are made from weathering.  What is weathering?  Weathering is the breaking down of rocks.  We will study the agents of weathering such as wind, water, air, people, etc... This will lead to further discussion towards the end of the week about soil.  Soil is created from weathered rocks as well as dead plants and animals.  We hope to get in the four types of soil by the end of the week and which soil is best to plant crops in.

It's going to be a fast and short four day week with LOTS of learning!

Love, Ms. S

Math and Science Week of December 15th

Dear Parents,

This will be a fast and furious 4 1/2 days!  There is still much to learn :)

Last Friday in Math your child took a Math test on Multiplication and Division.

On Monday, I will be teaching them a strategy called "The Picture Method," to solve two digit by one digit multiplication problems.  A picture is worth a thousand words so see below:

On Tuesday we will review the picture method and solve problems that end in zero.  For example:
8 x 5 = 40
8 x 50 = 400
8 x 500 = 4,000

On Wednesday and Thursday we will work on another strategy called expanded method to solve two digit by one digit problems.  It looks like this:

The kids will learn the regular algorithm later on in the year.

The Fast Facts test will be given on Thursday and will be for a grade.

In Science we are trucking right along learning about force, gravity, and magnetism.  The kids will perform a fun Science experiment on Monday about how using the simple machine pully will help make work a lot easier.  On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we will continue working and studying gravity in depth.  We have a fun Magic School Bus video about gravity in our future as well as great notes to write in our Science Journal.

This is our schedule on Friday:
8:00 Announcements
8:10 Movie in class
9:30 Sing A Long
10:20 Lunch
10:50 Recess
11:15 Party
12:00 Dismissal

So Exciting!  I hope to see you at the Sing-a-Long and party!

Love,
Ms. S

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We are in the home stretch, yet we are going to still be working hard this week!

Reading
We will discuss poetry vocabulary and spend one whole day this week immersed in identifying parts of a poem.  We will then look for the hidden messages that we have to infer in our reading.

Writing
Our WITS writer, Mrs. Bolton, will join us again on Tuesday to get the kids thinking more about their portrait poetry.
Then, we will spend the rest of the week publishing our narratives and landform poetry to share with you at Publisher's Picnic this spring!

Spelling
There will be no spelling work this week.

Social Studies
Students have a map skills quiz on Thursday, 12/18.  The review sheet went home last week and is linked here.

We will spend one day with students working in pairs and groups of three to complete research and create an online book about a cultural holidays.  I hope their investigations spark some good conversation in class and at home!