NECAPS NEXT WEEK!

Bailey and Lauren bug hunting!

    Greetings from the classroom!  Guess What! 

                   NECAP’S ARE COMING!
    Yes,  our beloved tests return next week.  We will be testing on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  We will be testing once in the morning each day and once in the afternoon.  How to plan for them?  Well, you can do your part for your child’s success by reminding them to do these simple things:
    a.  Try to get a good night’s sleep.
    b.  Have a good breakfast at home or here at school.
    c.  Be positive about the test.  Do your best!
    d.  Keep your cool.......you will do fine.
    e.  Bring a really good book (or books) to read after your test is completed.

    I will have treats to pass out during the test, and we will be reviewing some previous test items today(Thursday) and Monday.   We will miss a few specials, but only for this week coming up.  While it will be a bit different in the classroom, we will maintain some sort of normalcy. 

    Again, together we can do our best and that is all that we ask!

    In other news, we had a great time at the Garbage Monster puppet show.  It was all in Turkish, but the puppets and scenes were quite interesting.  We had a great walk to the college and one back...and no rain!
    Our first 4th grade math unit is completed, we have done the unit assessment,  and we will be moving on to the next unit probably after the NECAP’s.   The Factors and Arrays concepts will be reviewed again as the year progresses, as are all the other units’ concepts.
    We are on our last few chapters of the Trumpet of the Swan.  I am impressed by the students’ interest in the book as well as how much we are learning about trumpet swans.  We are using some of the information to practice looking for details in non-fiction text. 
    As you know, science and social studies are tied into the trumpet swan book.  We went out into the school forest to sketch an ecosystem, and then created a class sketch on the new Starboard we have in the class.  It is a bit rough, but we are getting used to it.  The kids were excited to start using it as they created this “techie sketch”.

    Well, bye for now,  Have a good weekend and thanks for all your support so far this year.

                Mr. B and Ms. Deb

 PS:  Look at the eight pictures from the 4 Winds afternoon session below.

Maggie on the lookout for bugs!

Ramona wraps up the session in the shade!

Itsy bitsy spider?

Amity......did she catch it?

Max takes a closer look.

Ms. Deb hunts with the boys.

Scanning the data sheet.

News from the Class

Greetings! 
    So we finished our first complete week of school!  Yay!  The class is doing so well with our routines and their ability to follow class guidelines that help them learn.  Yay 4/5 B!

    Reminder:  Our first field trip to Landmark College for the Puppet Show is on September 26th, a Wednesday.  Please send in the $5 for your child’s ticket if you have not already,  or email me if there is any problem regarding this. 

    This week in school we continued the class reading of The Trumpet of the Swan.  I have incorporated many other subject areas into this reading.  We have worked on writing haiku poems about trumpet swans, started looking at maps to learn and review map skills, worked on aspects of fiction verses non-fiction, and also are honing the skills needed to write a chapter summary.  Most if not all of the students have completed their swan habitat models as well.  We are enjoying the book and learning quite a lot about trumpet swans. 
    We did our first 5 minute write in Writing this week, and also wrote a haiku poem in that journal booklet.  Ms. Deb has been putting a haiku poem on the board each day for us to read and reflect on.

    Our 4th grade math class has been working in factors and arrays, as we set the context for working on multiplication.  Many of the students are very good with their multiplication combinations (facts).   Our array work basically helps explain what multiplication is as we learn about factors, multiples, squares, prime and composite numbers.  The 5th grade class is exploring number concepts as well.  Please talk to Karen Saunders if you would like more specific details of that group or you have any questions of the 5th grade math class.

    Our overall science unit at this point includes adaptations and habitats (4th grade) and will also include the 5th grade ecosystems.   We will look more in depth at the habitats and ecosystems around the trumpet swans for these units starting next week.  As I mentioned above, I started working with maps for social studies, and we started with an overview of the world map, the U.S. map, and then began some map reading and legend work on a map of the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Montana....(guess what, a refuge for Trumpet Swans is there).  Well, it is all related!  We have also been visited by the new Thai intern, and we will soon be having her come to the class for weekly sessions.

    Ok, so that’s all the news for this week.  Have a great weekend and enjoy the sunny weather!

                            Mr. B and Ms. Deb!

Greetings!

 Greetings from 4/5 B!

    So here we are at the end of the “almost a full week” of school.  And here are a few pieces of information about what we have been up to! 
    The students, and Ms. Deb and I have been busy getting to know each other, looking at our class routines and guidelines, and just “doing” school.  We have started regular instructional times, and by now you should have seen the specials schedule come home.  Next week we will have our first Music class with Mr. Dan, and it will also be our first full week of school.   I sent home information yesterday about our first field trip to see a shadow puppet show at Landmark College on Wednesday, September 26th.  The cost is $5 per student, and we will walk there rain or shine.   The Healthy Snack program is just starting to gear up, and we have been harvesting vegetables from the school garden as well to eat during the day.  The 4th graders have begun to get math homework as you have seen. The first unit is about Factors and Arrays.   Remember to contact me if there are any questions about it. 
    We have begun a literature block with an oral reading of the Trumpet of the Swan.  The students are learning about summarizing, good listening skills, and looking for details.  We are connecting the book and trumpeter swans to our science studies,  The students have been building swan habitats, and will also be putting together information about these swans.  We will soon be doing spelling inventories, Aimsweb assessing, and soon..........NECAPS (okay, but not until October sometime).   We are also going to be “reading buddies” with Mrs. Ward’s class!
    Soon the 4 Winds Program will start.  Any parent volunteers out there interested in doing puppet shows and helping out with the program in our classroom?

    Well, more to come this year.  Have a great weekend!  Mr. B and Ms. Deb

Yes, there are more pictures below!  Enjoy!