Language Arts

Reading:  We began our class novel, Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko.  This book is about a boy and his family who move to Alcatraz Island during the Depression years.  Ask your child what s/he predicts may happen to Moose, the main character, in the upcoming months. 

THANK YOU to Mr. Roberts, Ms. Bressie, Ms. Glennon, and Ms. O’Donnell for coming in and launching our reading groups with us!

Our Chris Van Allsburg author’s visit continued with the book Probuditi.  Ask your child about the jigsaw activity we do before reading these great books!

Writing:  Student have been learning how to write paragraphs with ‘power writing’, or color-coded writing.  Ask your child about the main elements of a paragraph.

Technology:  Students will be using Edmodo in our classroom.   Edmodo is a free and secure social learning network for teachers, students and schools.  It provides a safe and easy way for us to connect, share content and access homework, grades and school notices.    So far, students have had a good time talking to their classmates about the quote relating to the book Just a Dream by Chris Van Allsburg:  “We have met the enemy, and he is us.”  -Pogo.  Ask your child to reflect on the meaning of this quote.

Math

This week students continued to wrap up place value, reviewed addition and subtraction with regrouping, and began decimals.  Whew!  Thank you for taking the time to review multiplication facts with your child.  I can tell who is practicing at home!

*Thank you to Mr. and Ms. Colletto, Ms. Snyder and Ms. Gilligan for launching our first round of Math Lab on Friday!  Ask your child what games s/he played.

Social Studies  We continued to learn about the details of the 4 regions of California.  Students are putting their paragraph knowledge to work and applying it to the 4 regions.  (Ask your child what region s/he is assigned.) We have also had fun with using an atlas and learning about the 50 states.

 Science It’s finally happening!  Students will be starting ecosystems and environments next week. 

Miscelleanous:

*Next Author’s visit is this Tuesday!  (No scheduling conflict) Katherine Applegate will be here to discuss her book, The One and Only Ivan.  Look for information on our class website.    

*Thank you to the O’Donnell family for the donations to the auction box!  The first class auction will take place next week—so feel free to clean out some closets and send in any unwanted items!

*Book orders are due next Friday, October 5th.

*Our first field trip is scheduled for next week.  THANK YOU to the parents who volunteered to drive!  We will be visiting Star Route Farms in Bolinas, and learning about how (most of) the produce we eat comes from these local farms.

*Check out the photo and video gallery for pictures of classroom and school events!

Reading:  We continued reading stories with a ‘Journey’ theme.  This week, students read the story ‘Grandfather’s Journey’, about a man who considers both Japan and California his home.  Ask your child how this story and ‘Akiak’ fall under the theme of Journeys.

  Our class began an author study of Chris Van Allsburg, and to introduce his unique style of writing, we puzzled together parts of a book called Just a Dream. (Ask your child about this dramatic activity!)  We also completed our read aloud, Sideways Stories from Wayside School.  This week we’ve begun the old favorite, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  Students will be starting a new class novel next week called Al Capone Does My Shirts by local author Gennifer Choldenko.   Sign-ups for reading groups coming soon!

Writing:  Students continue to use the journalistic questions (or JQ’s:  Who, What, When, etc.) to help elaborate on their creative writing.   Bullying was one theme for a journal entry this week.  Students wrote about the power of words, and how they can hurt and heel.  We used the quote by Maya Angelou to inspire ideas:  ‘I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Students began D.O.L. (Daily Oral Language) as part of our morning writing exercises.  Ask your child about how this works!

Math:  We wrapped up our unit on place value this week.  Students mastered rounding, estimating, subtracting and adding large numbers.  Next week we are on to DECIMALS.  (Please see attached multiplication facts sheet.)   ***PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOUR CHILD IS PRACTICING HIS/HER TIMES TABLES AT HOME.

Social Studies:  Students continued to learn about geography, California regions, and the economy and landforms of each of region. 

Science:  We will begin our weekly science studies next week on Wednesday and Friday.  Students will learn about Environments and Ecosystems.  If you’d like to join us and share your knowledge on this subject, please do!  Let me know if you are interested.

Miscellaneous:

*Author’s visit: Click here for info:  Carson Ellis & Colin Meloy  --Tuesday, September 25th  




*Our fantastic Mr. Jacobson, P.E. coach extraordinaire, has an exciting assembly planned for the kids next week.  It’s called ‘Street Beat’, and it’s an interactive Stomp style show with a great message.  Click HERE for

*Mrs. Purcell invited the kids to a fun read-aloud assembly where she read the book, Thank you, Mr. Falker.  Ask your child about it!

*There will be no school for students THIS Monday, September 24th.  Staff Development Day.

Language Arts: 

Reading:  During our reading time, students learned about a dog, Akiak, who raced in the Alaskan Iditarod, as well as a few other dog races and mushers from Alaska and Canada.  These stories tie into our literature theme of “Journeys”.  Students used their comparing and contrasting skills to compare the differences between a ‘journey’ and a ‘trip’. Students have been discussing their own personal journeys, and if you have an interesting family ‘journey’ tale, you are welcome to share your story with our class!  E-mail me the times that you would be available and we’ll set up a story time.

Accelerated Reading:   I’ve conferenced with your child regarding their AR reading goals for the trimester.  See attached data sheet for more details.

Writing:  Students continue to use the journalistic questions (or JQ’s:  Who, What, When, etc.) to help elaborate on their creative writing.   Ask your child about our latest writing piece—where will s/he be in 15 years?

Students have also been reviewing subjects and predicates during our grammar exercises. 

Math:  Students continued to review place value, and learn about patterns on the 1oo’s chart.  On Friday we began our daily ‘Mad Minutes’, or multiplication facts.  ***PLEASE BE SURE THAT YOUR CHILD IS PRACTICING HIS/HER TIMES TABLES AT HOME!  It is imperative that all students know the basic times tables in 4th grade, as the curriculum requires quick recall when performing long processes, such as long division and multi-digit multiplication.   

Social Studies:  Students continued to learn about geography.  This week we discussed the 4 California regions, (ask your child about them!),  and ways to locate points on a map.  Ask your child about lines of latitude and longitude, too!

Miscellaneous:

*THANK YOU all for coming to Back to School Night.  I enjoyed seeing you and talking about what a great year this will be. 

*There will be no school for students on Monday, September 24th.  Staff Development Day.

*CONGRATULATIONS to Lola, Tessa and Wesley!! They will represent the class at our school spelling bee on September 19th!