Weekly Newsletter, November 26 to 30

Writing:
During Quarter 2, we will focus on writing realistic fiction. We will begin by applying pre-writing strategies to write story blurbs to generate ideas for fiction writing.
This week we will begin to draft our realistic fiction stories.  We will use our character attributes web and our story mountains to write our rough drafts.  We will focus on writing interesting leads that hook the reader and make them want to read more of our story.

A link to a website for information on the 6 Traits of writing is below:
http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/post_its.htm

Natural Reader:
This tool can be downloaded on your home computers to assist students with reading text that may be challenging. We use this in class for webpage research and for revising our writing. Students can listen to what they have typed and determine if it sounds right to revise. In addition, when gathering research, this tool allows them to read difficult text. We have this program at school, but it is a great tool for home use as well:
www.naturalreader.com

Social Studies: Impact of Geography
In this unit, students will demonstrate their understanding of using maps and how humans adapt to their environment. We will determine where the major population centers are in Maryland today and predict why people live in certain areas. We will review the three different kinds of maps:
physical: show land elevations, sea levels, mountains and other physical features
thematic: use to show one topic (crops, pollution, population, etc.)
political: show boundaries between states/countries

We continue to review geography vocabulary and will have two quizzes this month.  The first quiz will assess student's knowledge of the elements of a map on December 7.  The second quiz will take place on December 20.  It will be on the vocabulary sheet given out this week.

This week we will introduce a Map Project.  This map is to be made at home and is due on December 13.  We will present them in class. 

 Math 5: Unit 2 Geometry
This week we will classifying shapes based on angles and length of sides.  We will determine if the shapes are right, acute, obtuse, scalene, isosceles, and equalateral.  We will classify different quadrilaterals based on their sides.

Looking Ahead: Unit 2 Assessment December 5 (Mrs. Dynda's Class)

 

Math 4:
 

Unit 2 Topics Include:

Demonstrate mastery of basic multiplication and division fact families

Identify and apply multiples and factors of numbers.

Solve for the unknown or variable in an equation.

Generalize a pattern by stating a rule.

Write and simplify numeric expressions using number properties.

Complete a function table using a given rule.

Our focus will shift to using our knowledge of multiplication and division by solving for the unknown.  We will use Hands On Equations to begin this study.
Some important questions:
*What is the known in the problem?
*What is the unknown?
*How can I write an equation to show the relationship between the known and unknown quantities?
*How can I solve the equation?
*What does my solution tell me about the unknown?

Looking Ahead: Unit 2 Assessment, December 12 & 13

*A great website that allows students to work at their own pace on word problems/real world application of multiplication & division:
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/

We continue to use the Khan academy website to help practice our math at home. This is a great site where students (if a log in is created) can track their progress and have example problems to work on. It has been featured in CNN as an up and coming way for teachers to assess individual students learning.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Reading:
Our focus will be building theories about characters. We will start by teaching recognizing that in life, as well as in books, we watch how people act, noticing especially how they respond to events. From this we formulate theories about their character traits. Good readers pay attention not only to what a character does but how the character does these things. We will think beyond an event to understand a character's actions and motivations. This will lead us to notice how a character changes throughout a book or story.

This week we will conclude our focus on characters by studying their motivation.  What's behind why a character acts the way s/he does?  Does their action surprise you?  How does a character change from the beginning of a story to the middle to the end?

Spelling:
*Our spelling program involves the use of developmental word study rather than traditional spelling books. This“Words Their Way” approach allows students to practice target spelling patterns that best address their individual needs as a speller.

Jeff Kinney Webcast

Today students in grades 4 & 5 participated in a Webcast with Jeff Kinney to celebrate the release of his latest Diary of  A Wimpy Kid Book.  The purpose was to listen to a writer discuss the writing process and the importance of all steps in the writing process.  Students are beginning to draft their fiction writing pieces next week.  Our focus up until now has been the pre-writing development of our ideas about characters and the plot/emotional journey for our stories.  Fiction writing in fourth grade should be 3-5 pages in length so the development in the pre-writing phase is critical.

To view again, please click on the link below:
http://event.on24.com/eventRegistration/console/EventConsoleNG.jsp?uimode=nextgeneration&eventid=538254&sessionid=1&username=&partnerref=&format=fhvideo1&mobile=false&flashsupportedmobiledevice=false&helpcenter=false&key=9176638541CE006F76E4EFBB0A1DABB7&text_language_id=en&playerwidth=1200&playerheight=750&overwritelobby=y&eventuserid=72119866&contenttype=A&mediametricsessionid=58112887&mediametricid=972845&usercd=72119866&mode=launch#

Be sure to look for the DOAWK float on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tomorrow!

Weekly Newsletter, November 19-23

Writing:
During Quarter 2, we will focus on writing realistic fiction. We will begin by applying pre-writing strategies to write story blurbs to generate ideas for fiction writing.
This week we will continue the pre-writing stage by focusing on character and plot development. We will use various graphic organizers to focus on 2-3 main characters and their attributes. We will create story mountains to think about the elements of setting, conflict, resolution.

A link to a website for information on the 6 Traits of writing is below:
http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/post_its.htm

Natural Reader:
This tool can be downloaded on your home computers to assist students with reading text that may be challenging. We use this in class for webpage research and for revising our writing. Students can listen to what they have typed and determine if it sounds right to revise. In addition, when gathering research, this tool allows them to read difficult text. We have this program at school, but it is a great tool for home use as well:
www.naturalreader.com

Social Studies: Impact of Geography
In this unit, students will demonstrate their understanding of using maps and how humans adapt to their environment. We will determine where the major population centers are in Maryland today and predict why people live in certain areas. We will review the three different kinds of maps:
physical: show land elevations, sea levels, mountains and other physical features
thematic: use to show one topic (crops, pollution, population, etc.)
political: show boudaries between states/countries

Math 5: Unit 2 Overview:

Identify lines (perpendicular, parallel and intersecting)

Identify points, lines, line segments, rays

Identify angles (obtuse, acute, right, straight)

Identify the vertex

We will learn to measure the circumference of a circle using diameter and radius.

Looking Ahead: Unit 2 Assessment December 3 & 4 (Mrs. Dynda's Class)

Math 4:

Unit 2 Topics Include:

Demonstrate mastery of basic multiplication and division fact families

Identify and apply multiples and factors of numbers.

Solve for the unknown or variable in an equation.

Generalize a pattern by stating a rule.

Write and simplify numeric expressions using number properties.

Complete a function table using a given rule.

Our focus will shift to using arrays to undestand and identify factors of numbers.  We will use line plots, arrays, cubes, and fact triangles to demonstrate understanding of multiplication.

Looking Ahead: Unit 2 Assessment, December 12 & 13

*A great website that allows students to work at their own pace on word problems/real world application of multiplication & division:
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/

We continue to use the Khan academy website to help practice our math at home. This is a great site where students (if a log in is created) can track their progress and have example problems to work on. It has been featured in CNN as an up and coming way for teachers to assess individual students learning.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Reading:
Our focus will be buidling theories about characters.  We will start by teaching recognizing that in life, as well as in books, we watch how people act, noticing especially how they respond to events.  From this we formulate theories about their character traits.  Good readers pay attention not only to what a character does but how the character does these things.  We will think beyond an event to understand a character's actions and motivations.  This will lead us to notice how a character changes throughout a book or story.

Spelling:
*Our spelling program involves the use of developmental word study rather than traditional spelling books. This“Words Their Way” approach allows students to practice target spelling patterns that best address their individual needs as a speller.
*Our next spelling test will be on November 30.  We will select new words based on new patterns on November 19.  Our next test will be on November 30. 

Weekly Newsletter, November 12-16

Writing:
During Quarter 2, we will focus on writing realistic fiction. We will begin by applying pre-writing strategies to write story blurbs to generate ideas for fiction writing.
This week we will continue the pre-writing stage by focusing on character and plot development.  We will use various graphic organizers to focus on 2-3 main characters and their attributes.  We will create story mountains to think about the elements of setting, conflict, resolution. 

A link to a website for information on the 6 Traits of writing is below:
http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/post_its.htm

Natural Reader:
This tool can be downloaded on your home computers to assist students with reading text that may be challenging. We use this in class for webpage research and for revising our writing. Students can listen to what they have typed and determine if it sounds right to revise. In addition, when gathering research, this tool allows them to read difficult text. We have this program at school, but it is a great tool for home use as well:
www.naturalreader.com
 

Social Studies: Impact of Geography
In this unit, students will demonstrate their understanding of using maps and how humans adapt to their environment.  We will determine where the major population centers are in Maryland today and predict why people live in certain areas.  We will review the three different kinds of maps:
physical:  show land elevations, sea levels, mountains and other physical features
thematic:  use to show one topic (crops, pollution, population, etc.)
political: show boudaries between states/countries

Math 5: Unit 2 Overview:

Identify lines (perpendicular, parallel and intersecting)

Identify points, lines, line segments, rays

Identify angles (obtuse, acute, right, straight)

Identify the vertex

We will learn to use a protractor to measure and draw angles. We will use angles to classify polygons.

Looking Ahead: Unit 2 Assessment December 3 & 4 (Mrs. Dynda's Class)

 

Math 4:
 

Unit 2 Topics Include:

Demonstrate mastery of basic multiplication and division fact families

Identify and apply multiples and factors of numbers.

Solve for the unknown or variable in an equation.

Generalize a pattern by stating a rule.

Write and simplify numeric expressions using number properties.

Complete a function table using a given rule.

Our focus will begin by reviewing addition and subtraction strategies so that students can look for the relationship between addition and multiplication and division and subtraction.  This week we will work on subtraction strategies.

Looking Ahead: Unit 2 Assessment, December 12 & 13

*A great website that allows students to work at their own pace on word problems/real world application of multiplication & division:
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/

We continue to use the Khan academy website to help practice our math at home. This is a great site where students (if a log in is created) can track their progress and have example problems to work on. It has been featured in CNN as an up and coming way for teachers to assess individual students learning.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Reading:
Our focus will be to make predictions before we read, confirm the predictions as we read, or change the predictions based on what we read.  We will continue to use our current novels to make predictions about the outcome of the book based on what we have read so far.  Students will make a prediction and support their thinking based on evidence from the text.  They will then read further to determine if the prediction actually happened.  They may also need to revise their prediction and continue reading to confirm.

Spelling:
*Our spelling program involves the use of developmental word study rather than traditional spelling books. This“Words Their Way” approach allows students to practice target spelling patterns that best address their individual needs as a speller.
*Our next spelling test will be on November 30. Students will continue to practice the words in the patterns already assessed at this time. We will select new words based on new patterns on November 19. That way our next test will be on November 30. Happy Turkey Day!

Weekly Newsletter, November 5-9

Writing:
During Quarter 2, we will focus on writing realistic fiction. We will begin by applying pre-writing strategies to write story blurbs to generate ideas for fiction writing. 
We will begin the week with a pre-assessment asking the students to write for an extended period of time about a small moment (scene or vignette) from a larger fiction story. Teacher's will be gathering information to look to see if students rehearse or weigh options, have strategies for getting started, get their pens to paper right away, storytell rather than summarize, use any organizers to get started, and whether they develop compelling characters and detailed settings.  This data will allow us to plan mini-lessons to best meet the needs of the writers in our classes.
We will look for elements of realistic fiction to create story blurbs.  Writers pay attention to moments in their own lives that they can use as ideas for stories.  A story blurb is a writing plan, a series of short statements, or jots that tell a story.  An example is the blurb on the back cover of a book.
We will also continue focusing on the work of author Ralph Fletcher.  He has many great ideas for writer's to help them use their writer's notebooks to develop story ideas.

A link to a website for information on the 6 Traits of writing is below:
http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/post_its.htm

Natural Reader:
This tool can be downloaded on your home computers to assist students with reading text that may be challenging.  We use this in class for webpage research and for revising our writing. Students can listen to what they have typed and determine if it sounds right to revise.  In addition, when gathering research, this tool allows them to read difficult text.  We have this program at school, but it is a great tool for home use as well:
www.naturalreader.com

Life Science:

We will finish our science quarter with a cooperative learning activity to examine how different groups of people affect the health of the Chesapeake Bay.

We will study Social Studies during quarter 2.  Due to Hurricane Sandy, we will focus on concluding our science unit this week before moving on to social studies.

Math 5: Unit 2 Overview:

Identify lines (perpendicular, parallel and intersecting)

Identify points, lines, line segments, rays

Identify angles (obtuse, acute, right, straight)

Identify the vertex

 

We will learn to use a protractor to measure and draw angles.  We will use angles to classify polygons.

Math 4:

Unit 2 Topics Include:

Demonstrate mastery of basic multiplication and division fact families

Identify and apply multiples and factors of numbers.

Solve for the unknown or variable in an equation.

Generalize a pattern by stating a rule.

Write and simplify numeric expressions using number properties.

Complete a function table using a given rule.

 

Our focus will begin by reviewing addition and subtraction strategies so that students can look for the relationship between addition and multiplication and division and subtraction.

*A great website that allows students to work at their own pace on word problems/real world application of multiplication & division:
http://www.thinkingblocks.com/

We continue to use the Khan academy website to help practice our math at home. This is a great site where students (if a log in is created) can track their progress and have example problems to work on. It has been featured in CNN as an up and coming way for teachers to assess individual students learning.

http://www.khanacademy.org/

Reading:
Our focus will continue to be using the visualization strategy to monitor our understanding when reading. This strategy involves making a mental movie as you are reading/listening to text. Last week we shared many stories and had students sketch pictures of what the images are in their heads based on the author's details. This led us to our small group work in our novels to point out where authors are creating visualizations for the reader.

Suggested Books for Visualization:

Charlie & the Chocolate Factory

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Abel's Island

A Cricket in Times Square

The Castle in the Attic

The People in Pineapple Place

Matilda

The Flying Dragon Room

 

Spelling:
*Our spelling program involves the use of developmental word study rather than traditional spelling books. This“Words Their Way” approach allows students to practice target spelling patterns that best address their individual needs as a speller.
*Our next spelling test will be on November 30.  Students will continue to practice the words in the patterns already assessed at this time.  We will select new words based on new patterns on November 19.  That way our next test will be on November 30.  Happy Turkey Day!