Mr. G's Blogspot

Homework for 10/10/11

2011-10-10T12:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the homework for Monday Oct. 10--

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Multiplication Worksheet. Use the Box or Break Apart method to solve the 4 problems
Language Arts: Page 64 & 65 in floppy workbook
Science: Bring in a leaf

Homework for 10/3/11

2011-10-03T10:52:00.001-07:00

The following are assignments for Monday Night

Reading: 20 Minutes
Language Arts: Do a practice spelling test at home. Finish page 62 in floppy workbook.
Math: Page 146. Do numbers 1-11. Remember to use the Zero Shortcut to make it easier.

Spelling Words: highway, flashlight, basketball, anyone, headline, sometimes, shellfish, doorbell, eyesight, handlebar, worldwide, outline, footprint, waterfall, brainstorm, nowhere, whenever, sunscreen, homework, coastline

Curriculum Update

2011-10-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Below will be some information on what we will be working on this week:

Reading: We will be finishing up Imagine It story Daedalus and Icraus. This will also carry us into Poetry study starting Wednesday. The class has also been working on an Imagine It Study Guide that helps them with the end assessment.

Writing: We are starting our Narrative Process. The beginning of this is focused on just the first paragraph and how to construct it. We will also be working on more descriptive writing throughout our stories.
The students will start the Haunted House story this week.

Math: Our calendar math is still going strong. Please remind your child to take their time and check over their work. We have started working on Multiplication using 10s, 100s and 1000s. The class seems to be picking up on this pattern pretty well.

This week, our class will be eating lunch at 1:35 due to lower grade testing. Please send a snack with your child. This will help them to concentrate and not be as hungry by the end of the day.

Homework for 9/29/11

2011-09-29T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here are the following Assignments for Thursday night:

Reading: 20 Minutes
Language Arts: page 59 & 60 in Floppy Work Book
Math: Finish 6-12 in the Math Quiz Sheet
Social Studies: Work on Monday-Thursday of Social Studies Weekly #6. (We will do Friday's in Class)

DO YOUR ASSIGNMENTS!!!

Homework for 9/28/2011

2011-09-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

Homework assignments for Wednesday Night:

Reading: 20 Minutes
Language Arts: Page 53 and 54 in Floppy Workbook
Math: Page 367. Numbers 1-6. Do NOT do the "Mean"

Return Wednesday Folders in the morning.

Homework for 9/7/11

2011-09-08T11:39:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Use your magizine picture to tell what RISK is being taken.
Math page 43 Quick Check. Numbers 1-10
Social Studies Weekly #3 is due tomorrow morning
Science: Quiz tomorrow!!!!!!
Other: Spelling Prefix activity. Put the words into 4 catagories

Homework for Wednesday 9/7/11

2011-09-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Worksheet Practice 2.5
Social Studies Weekly #3 is due Friday
Science: Write down 3 facts you heard from the video.

Return Wednesday Folders!!!!!!

Homework for 9/6/11

2011-09-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the homework listing for Tuesday, September 9th

Reading: 20 Minutes and bring in evidence of a risk and consequence from home.
Math: Page 39. Numbers 1-11: Please make sure you read ALL the directions.
Science: Answer the questions from our notebook
Social Studies Weekly #3 is due on Friday!

Coming Up for the week of Sept. 6

2011-09-02T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here is some of the things that we will be going over during our week of instruction:

Imagine It Reading: We will do a second read with Island of the Blue Dolphins. There will be a reading assessment on Wednesday. We will begin a new story on Thursday. Remember that the theme for this unit is "Risk and Consequences." Please remind your child that any time they see a risk or a consequence (on TV, outside, etc) to please write down what they saw to post on our concept board.

Math: Our math instruction will be focused on rounding and estimating numbers to the underlined digit or the place value. Rounding is a big part of our 4th grade math and continues to be seen through out the year.
**Reminder: Each Friday, there will be a 10 problem math assessment that covers much of what's been learned during the week.

Social Studies. We are starting in with Citizenship in NC. This lesson will take us to the three branches of government and how each one works with the other.
Along with our lessons, we will be intergrating a writing piece called "ABCs of North Carolina." This is a project that will take a bit of time and research, all of which will be primarily done in class. Be on the lookout for more information soon.

Science; Phases of the Moon and the Rotation of the Earth. The kids are working on note-taking and will hopefully be having some hands-on experiments and demonstrations.

Writing: Starting Tuesday, our class will be having a writing menu that takes place during their workshop time. The writing menu is a simple writing activity that allows the students to make the choice on what writing assignment they complete. All writing menus will be completed in class and graded using a standard rubric.

Spelling List will start on Thursday, September 8 and carry over into the following week. Spelling list are designed to go along with our Imagine It reading program. Spelling Test will be given on Wednesdays.

Homework for 8/31/11

2011-08-31T11:50:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY'S HOMEWORK:

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Pages 7 & 8 in textbook, Numbers 17-32
Read ALL the directions.
Social Studies: 3 facts for the Coastal and Piedmont Regions. Put facts on your Tri-Fold Paper.

**Social Studies Weekly #2 is Due Friday Morning.

SchoolTube - Phases of the Moon Music Video

2011-08-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

SchoolTube - Phases of the Moon Music Video

Homework for 8/29/11

2011-08-29T10:17:00.000-07:00

Here is your homework for Monday Night:

Reading: 20 Minutes,
         Bring in your favorite book and be
         ready to dicuss why it is your
         favorite.
Math: Expanded and Standard Form; 10 Questions
Science: Phases of the Moon WS

Welcome to 4th Grade!!!!

2011-08-16T15:01:00.001-07:00

Dear Parents and Students,

Welcome to a new school year! I hope you enjoyed your summer vacation. I would like to take a few moments to introduce myself. My name is Mr. Gordon and I will be your child's teacher this school year. This is my 9th year teaching, I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education from Appalachian State University. As an educator, I value my job and the opportunity that I will have to teach your child the requirements he/she will need to complete by the end of this school year successfully.

Fourth Grade is a challenging year that asks students to not only increase his/her skills and knowledge, but to also independently demonstrate skills that he/she has acquired, explain the strategies that he/she used, and support his/her ideas with references from the text and other resources.

Your child will be assigned a couple of major projects that he/she will work on at home and at school. Students will have a writing journal to put down ideas and complete rough draft pieces. Students will also be required to complete four writing assessments throughout the year; two narrative and two expository.

The class will keep a math notebook to use as a reference for their homework and as a study guide for assessments. Math notebooks can be taken home but should be returned to school and kept up-to-date with each day's daily notes and practice work.

I typically give homework in math, reading and spelling. Homework assignments will be written in their planners as well as on my blog: http://gordonshelpfulhints.blogspot.com/. Assignments are to be turned in the following day. Points will be deducted on late assignments and it is the student's responsibility to turn in any late work.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me at 336-922-6612 or btgordon@wsfcs.k12.nc.us. (Email is usually the best way to contact me.)

Sincerely,

B. Gordon

Homework for 5-31-11

2011-05-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Page 461 numbers 1-10 Perimeter and Area of Complex figures
Social Studies: Read about the NC Flag.

Remediation starts tomorrow: 9:00-10:00 Math; 11:00-12:00 Reading.

Remember that School does not end until June 14th. PBIS Rules STILL apply.

Homework 5-19-11

2011-05-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Spelling: TEST Tomorrow--Study Words
Math: TEST 4
Social Studies Weekly 24 Due Tomorrow

Spelling List: Lima, record, erupt, reflect, mobile, refuse, disrupt, flexiable, moped, sewer, manual, remove, produce, wound, manicure, mobile

2011-05-18T11:31:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Spelling: complete one of the 9 activities
Language Arts: Page 89 and 90
Math: Test 3

Homework: 5-16-11

2011-05-16T11:34:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Test 1 (Front Only)
Social Studies: Weekly 24 (at least Tuesdays)
Spelling: 8 Syllable forms (If you missed any do those)

Field Trip: Bring Bag Lunch, Rain Gear, Clean out your Ears and your bring your Brain.

Homework 5-12-11

2011-05-12T11:34:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Page 482 and 483 numbers 1-10
Language Arts: "Meet Komodo Dragon" Worksheet
Social Studies: Fill out Tree Map on the back of Graphic Org.

Money and Out of County Permission forms are DUE TOMORROW!!!!!

Homework 5-11-11

2011-05-11T11:21:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Packet #7 EOG Review 1-10
Social Studies: Fill in Graphic Organizer for the Branches of Gov. Use pages 170-175

Please Turn in Money and Out-of-County Permission Form for Camp Hanes by Friday!

Homework 5-10-11

2011-05-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: page 447 Quick Check 1-10
NO SPELLING
Social Studies: Finish up the Textwork questions for tomorrow

Turn in money and premission slips for Camp Hanes Trip

2011-05-09T11:46:00.000-07:00

Parents:
Please send in permission slip and the $20 for our field trip to Camp Hanes.
The school cannot fund students that have not paid for the trip. Out-of-County permission forms must be turned in for your child to be able to accompany us.

If you are unable to pay, please send a note to me or Mr. Davis expressing this.

Homework

2011-05-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Problem Solving 17.2
Social Studies: Read page 172-175.
Spelling Test Tomorrow

TURN IN MONEY AND PERMISSION FORMS FOR
CAMP HANES.

2011-05-05T11:34:00.001-07:00

Reading 20 Mins
Math: Symmetry Worksheet 17.4
Social Studies Weekly 21 Due tomorrow
Spelling Test Tomorrow

YOUNG AUTHOR'S DAY!!!!!

Monday, May 2nd

2011-05-02T11:30:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 mins
Math: page 405 numbers 1-16
Social Studies Weekly 22 Due Friday (We are checking Monday's tomorrow)
Language Arts: page 65 & 66 in Reading Floppy WorkBook
Spelling: Syllable Form of the Last 8 Words

Assignments for Thursday!!!!

2011-04-28T11:01:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Spelling: TEST Tomorrow. Study your words
Language Arts: Complete the rough draft of your Island Story
Social Studies Weekly #21 Due in the morning
Field Day Tomorrow from 9:45-11:45

2011-04-27T11:36:00.000-07:00

reading: 20 mins
math: congruant shape worksheet
social studies weekly #21
Do the Three living in the regions. Coast, piedmont, mountain
Spelling: one of the nine spelling activities

Homework for Tuesday 4-26-11

2011-04-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Page 85 & 86 numbers 1-24. (Follow directions in the book)
Social Studies Weekly #21
Page 154-157. Do the rest of the Textwork Questions.
Spelling: Pick One of the Nine activities for tonight's assignment

2011-04-25T11:47:00.001-07:00

Homework for 4-25-11

Reading 20 Mins
Math: Code Breaker Worksheet
Spelling: 8 words in Syllable form...NO CONTRACTIONS
Social Studies Weekly #21

Homework and Reminders

2011-04-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Homework for 4-18-11

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Work on the one math problems and be ready to teach it to
            us in the morning.
Language Arts: page 39 and 40 in floppy book
Social Studies: Continue working on SSW #20
Spelling: Pick one of the nine activities to do for assignment.

Reminders: Money for Field Trip to Camp Hanes is due ASAP (or by May 10th)
                  Any missing/forgotten assignments can still be turned in for credit. Please do leave it as a
                  zero/incomplete.

Homework for 4-18-11

2011-04-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

READING: 20 minutes
MATH: Ratio worksheet (3 problems)
SPELLING: 8 syllable words

Homework for 4-13-11

2011-04-14T11:35:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: page 613 Set C numbers 1-7
Language Arts: Write your poem out for reading tomorrow. If it's done, then don't worry about it.
Spelling: TEST IS TOMORROW
Social Studies Weekly is Due in the morning.

Homework for Wednesday 4-13-11

2011-04-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: None, Unless you did not do page 611 Quick Check
Writing: Come up with a new Poem to share in class tomorrow
Spelling: Work on one of the choices.
** Bookfair time is tomorrow....bring in your money.
**Wednesday folders need to be returned with your report card enveolpes.

Homework for 1-27-2011

2011-01-27T11:31:00.000-08:00

Thursday's Homework Assignments:

Reading: 20 Minutes. AR is done tomorrow....we still have a chance.

Math: Page 496 Numbers 32-39

Language Arts: finish Homophone sentences

Homework for 1-26-11

2011-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

Wednesday's Homework:

Reading: 20 Minutes--try to make it an AR book that will be worth some points. Mrs. Rieger's class is beating us, so we need to READ READ READ!!!!!
Math: P 9-3 Equivalent Fraction Worksheet (use cross multiplication to see if the fractions are equal)
Language Arts: 3 Branches of Government Worksheet
(Use Reading book if necessary)
Social Studies: Blackbeard main idea reading sheet.

Wear Red to Support Public Ed!

2011-01-25T11:56:00.000-08:00

Parents and Students,
Please wear a red shirt/sweater/jacket tomorrow to help support Public Education. We are in a crisis and need help raising awareness to our Government Officials.

Wear Red to Support Public Ed.

Homework for 1/25/2011

2011-01-25T11:40:00.000-08:00

Tuesday's Homework:

Reading: 20 Mins
Math: Simplify and Create 5 Equivalent Fractions
Science: Answer the Question in Notebook
Language Arts: Nothing
**Wear Red for Public Ed!
(Wear a red shirt)

Homework for 1-24-2011

2011-01-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

Homework for Monday Night (1/24/11)

Reading: 20 Mins (Can be an AR book)

Math: page 491 numbers 14-24

Language Arts: Nothing

Social Studies: Blackbeard Main Idea Sheet (Prof in Piracy)

AR STARS!

2011-01-24T07:45:00.000-08:00

Congrats go out to:

Kailah, Marie, Noe, Esmeralda, Kayla, Sydni, and Amya for meeting their AR Goal during 2nd quarter.

Great Job!!!!

Welcome to 3rd Quarter

2011-01-24T07:39:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone,
We are starting our 3rd quarter and are off to a great start. Our class is working on some new concepts in math (fractions) and seem to be comprehending them. This is doing a lot of hands-on learning so, I am looking forward to some success with this.
We are also doing "The Changing America" in our Imagine It reading series. We are tying this into our writing and social studies. The students will be working in groups to answer questions about the History Journal that they will be keeping. At the end of this they will present, as a group, what they have learned. All of this will be worked on in class.
In social Studies we are learning about Pirates in NC; specifically Blackbeard. The kids seem really excited about this topic and some have already checked out books on the subject.
Science is going to be shocking since we are working on notebooking with Electricity. There will be some hands-on experiments and demonstrations that will help the students understand what we were going over.

AR for 2nd quarter will continue till Friday. A lot of students are reading and working hard to meet their goal and the average of 85%.

As always remember to look at your child's homework each night. Everyone has a blank slate so please remember to get homework and assignments turned in. Even a Late Grade is better than a zero.

Thanks,

B. Gordon

Homework for 1-6-11

2011-01-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

Homework for this evening:

Reading: 20 Minutes
Language Arts: Take home Weekly Reader and finish Total Recall Workseet. Use "One Year Later" story to answer the questions.
Math: Reteach 18.3 (Do Both sides of the worksheet)

Homework for 1-4-2011

2011-01-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Here is the homework listing for today. Just some reminders:

Please put your name on your work
Take your time and do not rush.

Reading: 20 Mins
Math: Practice Sheet 12.7
Language Arts: Page 115 and 116 in Workbook

Measuring with Metric Steps

2011-01-03T10:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a photo of the notes that we took in class. If your child needs help with the math assignment, feel free to click on the image to make it larger.

Welcome Back to 2011

2011-01-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

I hope that all of you had a wonderful holiday and had a great start to the new year. 2011 promises to be a great remiander to our 4th grade year. I have explained to the students that eventhough our year changed, our rules and procedures have not.
As the year has progressed, we are in great need for pencils and boxes of tissues. We have been doing lots of writing, note taking, and nose blowing, so please help by sending in packs of pencils and tissues.

Here is our Homework for
Monday, January 3, 2011

Reading: 20 Minutes
Math: Metric Measurement worksheet (Students have taken great notes to help them with this.)
Language Arts: Page 127 in workbook "compound sentences" using AND, BUT and OR. Combine each of these pairs of sentences into compound sentences.
Sign and Return Planner

Holiday Celebration and Dirty Santa Game

2010-12-16T14:51:00.000-08:00

Hey Parents,

You're all watching the skys and the bottom of the News so you know that winter weather is here. Just wanted to let you know that if we are going to school tomorrow (even with a delay) we will still have our celebration and dirty santa game.
Whatever you put on the permission slip to bring in is fine with me. I know that we already have plenty of chips and some drinks, so Cupcakes, brownies, Cookies, candy canes, etc, are greatly accepted...and devoured. :-)

If you're child does not plan on participating (which is totally fine) then I will send them to the media center or computer lab to have some fun on their own.

Please be safe while you're out and about. If you don't need to leave the house....STAY INDOORS.

All my best,

Mr. Gordon

Homework for 12-15-10

2010-12-15T11:32:00.000-08:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Spelling: Drawing two meanings for your one spelling word.
Math: Page 131 Set A, Set B and Set D

Homework for 12-14-10

2010-12-14T11:31:00.000-08:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Language Arts: Pg. 117 & 118--Vocabulary Review
Math: Order of Operation Worksheet
Social Studies: Finish Pages 50 - 53 Textworks 1-7

Dirty Santa Game is Thursday
Holiday Celebration (food) is Friday

Homework for 12-13-10

2010-12-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

Reading: 20 Minutes
Spelling: Pg: 125 and 126. (Homographs: words that are spelled the same way, but they have different meanings. They may also be pronounced differently)
Math: pg: 86 numbers 10-18; Solve and name property for each problem.

Homework for 12-9-10

2010-12-09T11:33:00.000-08:00

Here is the homework for today:

Reading: 20 Mins

Math: pg 121 Quick Check numbers 1-10

Spelling: TEST TOMORROW

Social Studies: pg 50 & 51 Textwork 1, 2, 3, and 4

Dirty Santa and Holiday Celebration

2010-12-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

Parents,
Some of you have seen the letter that went home about our Dirty Santa party. We will be doing the Dirty Santa game on Thursday and Friday will be our Holiday Snack. The snacks will be after our lunch period and we will be viewing "The Best Christmas Pagent Ever" during that time.

We are looking forward to a great holiday celebreation.

Homework for 12-8-10

2010-12-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

Homework for Wednesday 12-08-10

Reading: 20 minutes

Math: page 111 numbers 5 - 16

Spelling: Create a sentence on the sentence strip. Be prepared to show it tomorrow.
Try to use at least 1 or 2 words in your sentence.

Social Studies: Draw Native Americ. Symbols for sentence.

Happenings this week 12-6-10

2010-12-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Hey there parents!

Our school year is moving fast and we are having to move just as quick. Here are somethings that we will be working on this week:

Reading: Our theme continues with "Rot." I think the kids will enjoy this cause it's about gross stuff and things becoming moldy and rotten. We are reading this to apply it to our theme of "Nature's Delicate Balance." We are also working on antonyms for our vocablulary and spelling. Antonyms are opposites!

Math: Our class is working on Order of Operations. It seems that the students are understanding this concept but we will continue to work on it throughout the week.

Writing: Our writing for the next couple of days, takes us into the world of Mad Libs. I have posted a link to the side that has TONS of online Mad Libs that your child can work with at home. Mad Libs are great for showing students Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives and Adverbs (among others). We will be doing a Holiday Mad Lib and then creating a final copy for posting in the hallway.

Social Studies: We are working on Natvie Americans in NC. We have reviewed the first lesson and are now looking at Native American symbols and how they were used to tell stories. We will be making buffalo hides out of paper bags and using them to draw our Native American symbols.

Spelling List for this week: Insult, compliment, silent, noisy, proud, ashamed, positive, negative, friend, enemy, predator, prey, build, destroy, divide, untie, inside, outside, comedy, tragedy, **brittle, **flexible

Happenings This Week...10/18--10/22

2010-10-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

We are close to ending our first quarter. Hard to believe that we've been in school that long and already have learned so much.
Here is what we will be looking at this week:

Field Trip: Friday we will be taking our 4th graders to Horne Creek Living Farm. If you have not paid the $6.00 fee or turned in the permission slip, please do so ASAP. Money must be turned in by Wednesday the 20th.

Reading: Imagine It Lesson 4- We will be looking at words ending in -ed and -ing. Our story this week will deal with Langston Hughes: Poet of the People. It is a play format, so the student will be able to read different sections. This also deals with our Concept Board "Risk and Consequence."

Math: We are reviewing all week for the upcoming end of quarter test. A great way to help is to review multiplication facts each night with your child. Multiplication is something we've been over in class so they are sure to see it on the test.

Writing: We continue on to our note taking activites and how to put those notes into a report format. The kids will choose their animal that they plan to research and present.

Science: We will look at plants and the fall leaves; answering the question, "Why do the leaves change their color?" The class has been doing a great job of note taking in their science journals. We have done a lot of discovery, and this is a great tool to use for review.

Spelling; The words for this week are: pleading, building, painting, finished, worried, unplugged, opening, insisted, controlled, leaving, danced, shedding, rating, striped, stripped, fitting, ringing, setting, bleached, curved.
Spelling test will be given on Friday. There will also be some sentence assignments this week.

**Please make sure you sign your child's planner each night. This ensures that you are seeing that the homework is getting completed. Any uncompleted assignments will result in a zero.

Breaking Apart our Multiplication

2010-10-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Parents,
I wanted to post a visual for you guys to look at tonight for homework. We are currently working on Multiplication and there are many of us who are struggling with our multiplication facts.
We are moving into multiplying 2 digit by 2 digit. Below is the step by step process for doing an easier "Break Apart" method. I have taught them three different ways (one being the traditional "up and down" that we all learned back in the day).

Please review over this and look at it if you need assistance.

Using Dynamic Dominos

2010-09-30T08:06:00.000-07:00

Here is what we worked on today using our Dominos.
This is a great way to work on multiplication and having something hands-on.

Upcoming items and reminders.

2010-09-28T08:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Parents.

Just wanted to let you know of some things that are happening here at Gibson.

September 30: 4th Grade Curriculum Night from 6:00-7:00. It will be held in room 304. There will be a powerpoint presentation discussing the curriculum. Afterwards, if you have any questions for your child's specific teacher, there will be time.

Tutoring is starting. Some of you are getting a envelope with information on tutoring for your child. If you do not recieve on and would like for your child to be in the Tutoring Program, please contact the office with your request.

Scholastic Book Orders are due on September 30th. Please remember to make checks out to "Scholastic." They will not accept cash. The more books you get for your child, the better it is for our class.

That's all folks!

Creating your own Graphic Novel

2010-09-27T20:35:00.001-07:00

Hey Friends,
Here is a great site for creating Graphic Novels. It's amazing and totally creative.
Take a look @

http://www.comicmaster.org.uk/

Enjoy!

Here's what's happening.....Week of 9/27/2010

2010-09-27T12:10:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,
September is at an end. Hard to believe that we have been in school for a full month and have covered so much. Here is a run down of what we will be looking at this week:

Reading: We have started our Imagine It book. The series covers a lot of reading, writing, vocabulary and spelling. We have 150 minutes to cover the material so please remind your child that focus is essential for understanding and coverage. Our story this week will be from "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell.
Our theme is "Risk and Consequence" and how it can be positive or negative.

Math: Our math is covering multiplication. We have starting with Strategies for multiplying and will lead into multiplying 2 digit by 1 digit numbers. We will also review our estimation with multiplication and how it helps with solving the problems.

Writing: Our writing menu is up and running for the 1st quarter. The menu is a great way for students to take responsibility for their work as well as their writing. The due date is October 28th so please do not procrastonate till the last minute. Late work will not be accepted.

Science: Our class has started working in our Science Notebook. This is a great way for students to journal science concepts and illustrate to better understanding. The Science Notebook should not have any pages torn out. It is for student journaling only.

Finding the Median, Mode and Range using Skittles.....Yum!

2010-09-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a data activity using our Skittles. The kids loved it!

Here's an idea of what Wordle.net can do!

2010-09-20T13:01:00.000-07:00

Click on Image to get full size

September 20-24th...Look at what's happening.

2010-09-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Hey there parents,

We are quickly wrapping up the September month. It's crazy how fast things have moved this school year. We are doing a great job showing our Gibson PRIDE.
Here is what we're working on this week:

Reading: We have started our Imagine It series. This week, our class is looking at the "Getting Started" section. This is dealing with word structures, suffixes, and lots of writing.

Math: This week we are taking our previous knowledge and looking at data using Mode, Median and Range. This is a pretty easy concept but the word problems might cause some difficulty. We are going to work on this all week, using skittles and other candies to show our Line Plots, and our data entries.

Writing: This week our class is working on Note Taking. This is a new concept for us, since we are so used to taking information at face value. We are working on paraphrasing and combining knowledge to construct our own sentences.
**Thursday @ 9:00 is our first "On Demand" writing test.**

Here are a few links that we have used in our classroom:
Math: www.eduplace.com/math/
Language Arts: www.wordle.net ; this is a great site to use when creating word list and making them into art.

Remember to create Rigor in everything you do.

What's Happening Sept. 13-17

2010-09-14T07:46:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
This is only our 2nd full week of school, so a lot of us are getting into the swing of a schedule and a routine. As this progresses, please remind your child to focus. We have some day dreamers in our class....it's time to wake up to some learning!

Here is a look at what we will be doing this week:

Reading: Our Imagine It books have arrived, but we are going to finish our chapter book, Frindle. The students seem to be discovering a lot about what kids their age can accomplish when they have determination. Next week we are starting our Imagine It book with all it's fancy bells and whistles.

Math: We are working on creating and reading Line/Bar graphs. The bar graphs seem to be pretty simple for students to understand. Our snag is when we have to organize data and make it into a graph. Setting up our graph is also a problem, so we will continue to work on this to help make it successful.

Writing: We are wrapping up our final copy of the "Picture Day" story. The students are going to have a "gross" illustration to add with their work. We will have these posted, so feel free to come on by and check out their work.

Social Studies: This week we are doing a mini-project in class on NC and it's three regions. Some of the work that students have to do is their responsibility. They must take the initiative to read and discover the information for themselves. This project will end on Wednesday and lead us into our 2nd mini-project, Making a Pamphlet on one of the NC Regions.

No Spelling/Vocab this week. We will start that once the Imagine It books are in use.

Please remember, that late work is not acceptable. If students loose an assignment, they need to be responsible enough to complete it. I will deduct one letter grade for each missing day. If it is never turned in, it is an incomplete and a zero.
Please get all work in on time!!!!

Have a Great weekend.

2010-09-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend, please remember to READ! We are working hard with creating rigor in their reading. Students can read anything....so long as they are reading and comprehending.

If you have not turned in packets of information, please see that it gets to us on Monday. A lot of those papers are needed in the front office for contacts, medical, etc.

As always, thanks for all you do in creating a great learning environment.

See you Monday!!!!

Wednesday Folders and Progress Reports

2010-09-08T07:50:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,
Today is the first day that our Wednesday Folders are coming home.
Inside you will find school-wide information and student work samples from the previous week. Please return the stapled work. I will keep this in a folder for review if there is ever any discrepancy.

Since we have only been in school for a short time, there has not been that much work to put in the folders.
Also, work that is graded has not been put into the NCWISE grading system. It is basically just for you to see the progress of your child and where help may be needed.

Progress reports are also coming home today. You do not need to return them. They are for your records. I have a copy here at school incase you ever need to know the progress of your child.

Thanks for everything you do to make this a successful 2010/2011 School year.

Weekly Update Sept. 6-10

2010-09-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I hope that all of you had a great holiday break and didn't do too much labor on the holiday. We are jumping right in this week and working hard. Our Imagine It books are in, but we are still waiting for them to be coded for distrubution. Here is a look at what we will be working on for this week.

Math: Ordered Pairs. I have explained to the students about Ordered Pairs and how it is like the game, Battleship. "Over and Up" is the key phrase. We are also looking at how to find points, and creating shapes with Ordered Pairs. This is really a higher level Dot-to-Dot.
**I have given students a CD that has some background music. They are learning rhymes that can help them remember steps in Rounding and Ordered Pairs. Using music is a great way to learn things.

Reading: Since we are still waiting for our Imagine It books, we are going to start reading from Frindle, by Andrew Clements. This is a great starting book for our class. It relates to their age level and shows them that all things can be accomplished when they are persistant.

Writing: We will be finishing our first narrative entitled, "Picture Day." The students are working hard to make the story their own work.

Social Studies: We are still working with the regions of NC. We will be specifically looking at Location and Cultural aspects of the regions.

We are going to hold off on spelling this week. There may be some vocabulary activities for them to do, but nothing for them to memorize.

Great Start to the School Year!

2010-09-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Gibson Friends and Family,
Just wanted to let you guys know that we have had an amazing start to our 4th grade school year.

Just a few reminders:

Please remind your child to follow our Gibson PBIS policy. Review it at home if necessary.
Remember that each night your child should be reading for at least 20 minutes.
Constantly work on multiplication facts- this is going to help with our math later on in the year.

Have a great Labor Day.

Here's What We're Doing...August 30-Sept. 3

2010-08-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
I hope that all of you had a great weekend.
I am please to announce that we have had a fantastic start to our 2010/2011 School year. The kids are working hard and are showing their Gibson PRIDE!!!!! Awesome Job, guys!

Here is a quick look at what we will be working on this week:

Math: Finding the Place and Value of numbers, comparing numbers and putting them in order. We are also going to be working on Rounding/Estimating. This is a hard concept for some students so we will be practicing A LOT.

Reading: Since we still have not received the Imagine It reading series for our classes, we are working on "The Twits" by Roald Dahl. The students really enjoy reading this because it has funny plots and twist to the story. We will hopefully have this chapter title finished by the end of the week.

Social Studies: Our social studies is focusing on the 3 regions of North Carolina. We are also looking at the geography of NC and how it's different from where we live.

The spelling list for this week will focus on using -ed and -ing suffixes. We will also discuss root words and the changes that have to be made for them to make sense.
LIVED, LIVING, RATTLED, RATTLING, STUDIED, STUDYING, TRAVELED, TRAVELING, CHANGED, CHANGING, APPEARED, APPEARING, RACED, RACING, HOPED, HOPING, WRAPPED & WRAPPING.

AR is up and running so please encourage your child to READ, READ, READ!

Homework for August 26th

2010-08-26T07:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,
Here is a little bit of what we're doing for homework. Next week will start our bigger routine with homework/planners and updates to the blog.
We have had an awesome first couple of days. Our class is very well behaved and is showing GREAT Gibson P.R.I.D.E.

Homework for tonight is:
Reading: 20 Mins
Math: 10 expanded/standard problems

Couple of things to follow:
Please make sure homework is done in pencil.
Remember to PUT YOUR NAME ON YOUR PAPER.

Gearing up for 2010/2011

2010-07-18T20:01:00.000-07:00

Hello parents and upcoming 4th graders.

I hope that all of you are enjoying your summer with relaxation, reading and just all around fun. The new school year is approaching and I know that some of you have seen the supply list at local Targets and Walmarts. Some of the items on the supply list are not needed in class:
This year please send with your child:
1 box of colored pencils (They last longer than crayons)
4 glue sticks
2 packs of loose leaf paper (wide rule)
1 pack of # 2 pencils
1 box of tissue
1 pencil pouch / zippered or box
2 pocket folders
3 ring binder, 1 inch (White with the Clear sleeve in the front)
1 book bag/back pack (no wheels)
Hand sanitizer (Purell/Dial/GermX)

I have purchased notebooks for each student for their writing, so they do not need any extra notebooks in class. Any extra notebooks, crayons, etc. should be kept at home so students will have access to supplies if they forget items at school.
The 3-Ring Binder will be the student's primary use. They will be able to keep a lot of papers orgainzed and hopefully not loose them.

I am looking forward to a productive year full of learning.

See you soon!

end of year.

2010-06-12T20:57:00.001-07:00

I hope everyone has a great Summer. remember to rest up and read. Find something you're interested in reading and get hooked.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.3

End Of the Year!

2010-06-07T05:26:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone.
Well, We've Made It!!!!!

It's hard to believe that on August 25th our students came in as beginning 4th graders and now, they are preparing to leave as prepared 5th graders. Even though this is the last week of school, there are still a few activities that our class will be involved in.

Reading: We are going to work on Mystery at Biltmore House this week. I am not sure if we will wrap up the story by Thursday but we will give it our best.

Math: We are going to work on some of the higher multiplication problems as well as division. This is something that students will be doing in 5th grade, so a little extra wouldn't hurt.

Science: We are continuing to look at Force and Motion. I am planning on doing some demonstrations with the class to help illustrate the concepts.

Spelling this week is going to be taken from our Wordbuilder activity books.

As always, thank you for your help in making our students successful.

End of School is June 10th

2010-06-04T12:25:00.000-07:00

Dear Parents,

As we draw closer and closer to the end of the school year, our students are getting more and more "energized." Please help us teachers remind our students that the last day of school is officially June 10th. We have some exciting things lined up for the end of the school year, but students are still required to follow the PBS rules set by Gibson Elementary.

Thanks for you support in this matter,

B. Gordon

This week April 19-23

2010-04-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone.

I'm sure that most of you have noticed that your child is bringing home information regarding the upcoming EOG. 3rd, 4th and 5th grade classes are doing a count down to the EOG in preperation for the test. Each day we will be working on a topic from Reading/Math.

Currently, we have 19 days until the EOG.
Along with this, the students in 3rd-5th grades have signed a Student Contract which is shown below. This contract is asking for students to give 100% in preperation for the EOG. We will review over this contract daily so please do the same at home.

Reading: We are finishing up our Sister's Grimm story. I am pleased that the class has found a new series that they are interested in.

Writing: Our class is wrapping up our third story entitled "Mr. Potato Head." Just as a reminder, our stories are modeled up on the smartboard so everyone is following along and creating the same theme....but we work to put it in our own words.

Math: We will continue to work on Math EOG Prep as well as new concepts in Probability and outcomes. At home, it would be awsome for you to continue to work with you child on math facts. Simple division and multiplication will greatly help in their understanding.

Wordbuilder: We have started "acting out" our words. Each week, Wordbuilder starts us on new root words. Our job is to apply the suffix or prefix to he root word to recreate something new.
Our prefix for this week is "SUPER--" which means "Over or above; beyond."

The Week of 3/1/2010

2010-03-02T05:57:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
Another week and we are at the beginning of March. We have a lot of things on our plate right now and we are gearing up for a lot of working. So....here goes:

Reading: We are still working on Bud, Not Buddy and the kids have discovered the turning point. We are also dealing with Comparing and Contrasting characters, setting, etc. The students will be introduced to metaphors and similies this week. We are tying that into our writing.

Math: We have journeyed into the world of decimals. We are also tying the work these decimals into Fractions. This is going to provide the students with extra fraction experience as well as working with calculators to figure out changing fractions to decimals.

Writing: The next couple of weeks, the students will be working with their Young Author Day books. These are the same type of books that the students did in 3rd grade. They are the author and illustrator so their creativity is key to this process.

And that's it. It doesn't seem like much but our days fly by way too quickly and time is something that we cannot get back.

Water Water Everywhere....except in Hati

2010-02-24T05:39:00.001-08:00

Hi parents,
Just a reminder to please send in bottles of water for Hati. We are collecting this bottles at the front office and in the classroom.

Thanks for you support.

Week of February 22-26

2010-02-21T17:01:00.000-08:00

Hi there,

I hope ya'll had a great weekend and rested up for some more exciting learning.
This week will be somewhat of a recap from last week. Here's what we're doing:

Reading: We will continue working with Bud, Not Buddy in our Teacher Directed Reading. The kids seem to love the little antics that the character "Bud" gets into. We are also tying in The Great Depression for social studies; learning about what kids would do during that time period and how things have changed since then.
We will also be starting some EOG prep reading on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We will be working on stratigies for finding information in the reading.

Math: We will work on Changing improper fractions to mixed numbers and then continue with Adding, Subtracting and Reducing fractions. We will continue to take notes and practice problems. Please encourage your child to take good notes to review at home.

Science/Writing: We are working on Report Writing for our content piece. I am modeling how to write for the next couple of days. The students will start their piece by choosing their own particiluar animal. This will lead us into our Animal unit for science. Again, note taking is going to be the key to their learning.

Spelling List for this week: cinder, circle, cardinal, cereal, cycle, concert, dancer, celebrate, twice, dangerous, strange, ledge, damage, geography, gentle, signal, regular, sugar.

**Progress Reports were sent out last Thursday and some students have not turned in assignments. Please review over what your child has not turned in. It is their responsibility to get their work to me.

The Week of Feb. 15-19

2010-02-15T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone.
I hope this finds everyone reading it well and eager to start a new week at Gibson!
We have a lot of things coming up and not a lot of time so being focused and prepared is essential to our learning.
Here's what we are getting in to this week:

Reading: Our class just wrapped up the Chocolate Touch. We enjoyed learning a little about chocolate and tasting it. We have moved on to Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. I LOVE THIS BOOK. The characters are so lifelike and funny that it's hard to put done. Please ask your child what he or she has read so far.

Math: We are starting on Adding and Subtracting fractions. I know that this sounds like a HUGE ordeal, but really it's quite simple. The add and subtracting also allows us to practice more reducing fractions. In "addition" (no pun intended), students should continue to work on their multiplication facts. This will help greatly with fractions.

Scholastic Studies Weekly: We are going to start using the Scholastic Magizine for our Science as well as social studies. It is very kid-friendly and has some interesting articles that they can relate to. I will be collecting them at the end of the week so please make sure they are taking good care of them.

Spelling this week deals with the "aw" sound--also, bought, cough, almost, false, officer, soft, stalk, halt, faucet, saucer, caution, lawyer, awesome, stall, crawl, awful, because.

February 15th, 2010

2010-02-12T05:49:00.000-08:00

Hi Parents,
Just letting you know that we will be having school on Monday the 15th. This is a snow make-up day so we won't be missing any Spring Break...as of right now.

Enjoy your weekend.

New Look on Reducing Fractions

2010-02-09T12:09:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. Our class discovered a pretty cool and easy way to reduce fractions.
Look at the image below to get a general idea.

Reminder: It may not work for all of the fractions....

so be careful.

Signing the planners

2010-02-09T06:00:00.001-08:00

HI there!
Just a reminder to PLEASE SIGN OR INATIAL STUDENT PLANNERS EACH NIGHT. This way I know that you, the parent, have seen the student's work and know that they have completed the assignments.
Thanks,
Mr. Gordon

ATTENTION!!!!

2010-02-08T11:45:00.000-08:00

Report Cards have been sent home with student planners (2/8/10). Please make sure you review over your child's grades/conduct.
Only return the Report Card Envelop. The Report Card is for you to keep.

Re: The week of 2/8/2010

2010-02-08T10:31:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,
It seems like ages since we've been here at school, what with the weather being nasty and cold. I hope all of you are staying warm and working hard. Here are the things we will be working on this week.

Reading: We are continuing our Chocolate Touch Theme. Later this week we will be writing to different chocolate companies to see if they would send us any freebies! Free is good! The students are also noticing the difference in certain types of chocolate. We are working on Inferring with the information that we know. This is helping us to make an educated guess.

Math: Fractions are the name of the game this week. We are working on reducing fractions as well as finding missing numerators and denomanators to make our fractions equivalent. We will hopefully be playing a fraction math game later this week to help us better understand comparing fractions.

Writing: Our writing menus are out and the students are going to start working on those. We are also working on our in class Young Author's Books. This is a project that we will do in school. The Writing Menus will be done in class as well.
Writing Menus are due: March 23

Spelling this week focuses on changing singluar words to plural form by adding an --ves, --ies, or --es
The words for this week are: leaf, leaves, wolf, wolves, potato, potatoes, roof, roofs, family, families, library, libraries, journey, journeys, hero, heroes, ditch, ditches.

Please Remember that all assignments are due the next day. If assignments are failed to be turned in, then it is the student's responsibility to make it up and turn it in to me.

Please Check out Adopt-a-Classroom to help out our class.

2010-01-27T06:23:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,

I have recently posted a "wish list" to Adopt-A-Classroom.org.
The steps are pretty simple:
1) Just go to the website, http://www.adoptaclassroom.org/
2) Pick our 4th grade classroom.
3) 100% of your donations go toward the teacher
4) I can purchase the resources for classroom.

Teachers spend an average of $1,200 of their own money each year purchasing materials for their classroom.
Every teacher affects 3,000 students in their professional lifetime.
50% of teachers leave the profession within the first five years.
Teachers cite lack of support as the top reason for leaving their profession.

Again, If you feel the urge to contribute please check out http://www.adoptaclassroom.org/

Thanks for all you already do to help our children succeed.

For the week of January 26th, we will be serving...

2010-01-25T12:28:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
This week we are getting into some "tasty" work. The students will be starting the reading unit comparing and contrasting certain types of information. What better way to do that than with CHOCOLATE! Here's how this week will be broken down:

Reading: We are starting The Chocolate Touch and relating it to the history of Chocolate. We are also going to tie-in letter writing with our story. The students are going to write letters to different chocolate companies requesting any form or information that they can give us. (hopefully free samples, YUM!)

Math: Fractions are the name of the game. We are working on identifying fractions, comparing and ordering them. There will be a little bit of multiplication involved but it's nothing that the students can't handle.

Social Studies: We are working on moving from the Civil War and Reconstruction to New Challenges NC faced as a new state. We will look at World War I, The Great Depression, and WWII.

Reminders:
Thursday is will be our Den Dollar Store day.
Thursday, January 28th: McTeacher night at McDonald's on University Pkwy.

***Congrats to the following AR Goal Winners!***

--Kamille, Jordyn, Kamesia, Stephanie, Tre', & Jasmine

GREAT JOB!

Progress Reports!!!!!

2010-01-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

Attention!!!!!!

Progress reports are stapled in your student's planners. You do not have to return them to school, but please review them and discuss with your child ways to improve his/her grade.

Thanks!

Week of January 19-22nd

2010-01-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, It's been quite awhile since the blog has been up and running. BUT...we are back in action and ready to keep you posted as to what we are doing in class.

Reading: We are in the middle of Secret of NIMH but we are also going to start reading The Chocolate Touch. We are reading this with the each 4th grade class. It's a short book that's going to introduce the students to the history of chocolate and what can become of a character when they over induldge.

Math: We are going to start working on FRACTIONS!!!! I like to make math hands-on when it comes to fractions so there will be a lot of in-class, mini-projects that deal with their math concepts. Fractions take up half of the 3rd quarter so we will have plenty of time to get this under our belt.

Writing Project: When we get back on the 26th, our 3rd quarter is going to start off with learning about Chocolate and how certain candies were created. The project is not a huge one but it is going to count as a writing grade. The students will work on this in class and with Mrs. Charpentier in Media.

**Upcoming Events: Jan. 28th--Gibson Store
Jan 28th-- McTeacher Night @ 5:00

Short Week but lots to do.

2009-11-23T06:00:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone!!!

I hope that all of you are gearing up for a great holiday break. We all have a lot to be thankful for so these next couple of days are a great way to show your thanks! ...and with food no less. What could be better?

Eventhough we only have a couple of days, we are still going to be working hard and catching up on some things that might have slipped through the cracks.

Reading: We are still working on the Wishgiver. We are now looking at a new character that is involved with a "treeman." Kinda spooky but we'll have to wait and see what that chapter holds for us. Hopefully we will complete the book the week after our Thanksgiving break.

Math: Once again, division is taking over the math time. We are going to work on dividing with a calculator. This will help prep the students for the EOQ when they are allowed to use calculators. I still want them using their brains and not relying on the calculator so much. The best practice at home is to work on Times Tables and Division facts. Simple facts will make a world of difference.

Social Studies: We are getting LOST...with the Lost Colony. We are going to take a couple of days to look into North Carolina's oldest mystery and see if we can learn any insightful things. Who knows...maybe someone in our class will solve the Mystery of the Lost Colony.

Science: We are working on the Earth....it's a big job. The students are going to being learning about Volcanos, Earthquakes and other natural disasters that shape and change our earth.

There is no spelling this week but we will be working with our Wordbuilders Activity books. This is helping the students get insight to new words and how to use endings such as, --er, --ed, --ing, etc. Wordbuilders is a great program and the students really enjoy working together with each other, discoverying new words.

** REMINDER!!!! We will be having our Terrific Tuesday tomorrow (Tuesday). Please remember to send in Chex-Mix, BBQ Chips, etc. We are making our theme around Thanksgiving.

I'm BAAAAACK!

2009-11-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,
It has been a wild couple of weeks lately. I've had the flu, which of course turned into pnumonia (which I don't know how to spell). But I'm back in the saddle (so to speak) and we are picking up what was left off and are running with it.

Here's a look at what we're working on for the week of November 16-20!

Reading: Are reading groups are still working hard. We are really into reading to ourselves and working on retelling information to our group leaders. We are also working on finding the facts in the story. This will help the students hunt for their information during the EOG at the end of the year.
We have also shifted gears and are working on a new Chapter Book in class. The title of our story is The Wishgiver by Bill Britian. I have always enjoyed how funny this book is but also tells how you should be careful what you wish for. We will be working with sequencing from the stories that are told from the point of view of the three characters.

Math: We are going to continue working with Division and making sure we have the concepts. We MUST keep working on our multiplication facts. We still have a few people who are struggling with division because they are not sure of their math facts. We are going to work on longer division (dividing 3 digits by 2 digits) and estimating then dividing.

Social Studies: We are wrapping up our lesson on Native American's in NC. The students will be report writing for a grade using the facts and information they find in the chapters. We will continue on with our writing and reading of social studies.

Science: This week we are looking at the layers of the earth. We are going to use our new Science Studies Weekly papers to help get a better understanding. We are going to be working with some measuring, experiments and other cool, hands-on activities.

Spelling List for the week: across, alone, among, brother, again, front, banana, appear, compass, pedal, given, heaven, mountain, ocean, cousin, purchase, often, color.

Remember that all homework is due the day it is assigned.

It is YOUR responsibility to get any late assignments to me. I will not "hound" after you to turn in your work. Any work that is not turned in stays at a 50%. Please me sure you get the work into me!

1st Quarter Writing Menus

2009-10-27T08:26:00.000-07:00

REMINDER!!!!!

Writing Menus will be due tomorrow morning.

Each student will be allowed to come up and present what they worked out and show the rest of the class. This has been a writing project that also includes Reading and Social Studies.

Late assignments will not be accepted since the starting date was October the 1st.

I'm looking forward to some great ideas from the students.

Short Week but Full of Learning.

2009-10-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
I hope you're all enjoying the fall colors and the nice weather that we've been receiving. This is our short week leading into our Fall Break on Thursday and Friday. Just a reminder, School will not be open on Thrusday or Friday. Enjoy your Fall Break and come back rested and redy to go.

Here is a look at what we'll be working on these next three days.

Reading: We are starting Stone Fox and working on Sequencing. We are also going to touch on Cause and Effect. This is a different genre than the kids are use to. It's realistic fiction, and not really the funny, fantasy type that we started off with. It's a nice change of pace.

Math: We are working on Multiplying bigger numbers, such as 3 digit by 2 digit. This is working pretty well and the students are able to relate the information back to what they learned last week. I"m impressed at how quickly they have learned this new concept. Below is a picture what what we worked on today.

Science: We are still shocked by our electricity unit. The students did a great job last week of making their batteries work with their lightbulbs. I hope to preform a few more experiments where the students can have some hands on "playtime."

Spelling this week: Our class is working with the vocabulary from Stone Fox. The students are working hard and making a great effort.

** Upcoming Dates: Field Trip to Heritage Theater on November 10th. Cost of trip is $6.00.

Our "Bright" Students!!!!

2009-10-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Our class worked on electricity during Science. I'm extreemly proud of the way they worked on making their bulbs light up.

Here are a couple of pictures of some successful experiments!

Question of the Week (10/22)

2009-10-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

Dear Students,

Here is our question of the week. We will be having one of these each week, so please make sure you answer the question by the end of the week.

Here is our Question!
* Martin has 24 baseball cards in his collection. If he collects the same number of cards for 3 months, approximately how many baseball cards will he have?

Please answer in the comment section. Remember to Sign Your Name so I'll know you answered.

New Way to Look at Multiplying 2-Digit by 2-digit

2009-10-21T06:38:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
Our class has recently started working on multiplying and we are coming up with different stratigies to help us understand better.

One way discovered yesterday was the Latice Format.
The process:
1) break the two factors (52 and 39) into two seperate numbers. One ending with a zero.
2) Multiply to get answers in the boxes (post-its)
3) Once you have your products, then add across.
4) The final step is to add your remaining numbers for your final product.

The students find this method easier to do and understand because it breaks down numbers visually.

Hope this helps!

What do you think?

2009-10-19T08:29:00.000-07:00

Stone Fox takes place in Wyoming. What can you infer is going to happen in the story since there are Dog Sleds and Native Americans?
Remember. No answer is wrong. What is your best guess?

Interactions! (Oct. 19-23)

2009-10-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
I hope all of you had a pleasent weekend and rested up for another week of school. We are coming close to the end of our 1st quarter. Hard to beleieve that we've been in school a total of 39 days...Time does Fly!
Here is a list of what our class will be working on.

**End of Quarter Test. Yes, it's that time of year again where we are having to take the EOQs and assess the students on their reading and math skills for the 1st quarter. Quarter testing will be on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. We will be holding off on Reading and Math instruction since we are going to be working with the test. Please remember to be on time to school during these testing days.

Reading: We started Stone Fox by looking at some differences between North Carolina and Wyoming. The students were introduced to a new state that we really didn't know anything about. On Friday we are going to start reading the story and applying sequenceing and Main Idea.

Math: We are continuing to look at multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit. The students are slowing getting the process and we continue to work on it in class. Keep practicing at home and get better. Practice makes perfect.

Writing: The students are finishing up there Writing menus in class. The final due date for the menus is October 28th. No late projects will be accepted since we've been working on this for the past 2 weeks. I have seem some great items that the students have been working on. I am really impressed by some of their creativity.

Science: This week we will be working on Science and learning a bit about Static Electricity. We will work on different aspects and how it applys to the everyday life. We will try to have a few grades for science to put on the Report Cards for the end of the quarter.

Spelling words for this week are: follow, matter, summer, million dollar, scissors, cattle, address, office, suppertime, blizzard, penny, wrapper, wallet, occurrence, village, collide, battle
The words this week all deal with double syllables (letters)

I want to know what you thought about...

2009-10-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hey students,
As you all know we just finished reading "The Twits." I know that all of you enjoyed reading the funny pranks that Mr. and Mrs. Twit played on each other.
In the comment section, please feel free to talk about what you loved about the book. Remember to be specific because other people might enjoy hearing about your opinion.

Till Then, Keep on Reading!

Mr. Twit as he gets ready to use the
Hugtight Glue on the Big Dead Tree!

Check Us Out!

2009-10-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a glace at what we are working on the week of
10/12-10/16:

Reading: Our guided reading groups has gotten off to a fantastic start. Many thanks to Mrs. Harwell for her working in making the first day of Guided Reading a success. Our Teacher Directed reading focuses on a new (shorter) chapter book entitled, The Twits by Roald Dahl. It is a funny book that shows the kids a new genre of literature. Our focus this week is sequencing within a story along with the meaning behind the text.

The Twits sitting down to a "tasty" meal.

Math: Last week was very successful with our estimation multiplication. The students really found it easy to bring the zeros down and solve simple multiplication problems. This week, we are working on multiplying 2-digit by 2-digit. This is a harder concept but we are using the "break it down method" otherwise know as the Distributive Property. I will post pictures/video of our lessons on this topic to better help you at home. Since this is an essential part of 4th grade math, we will contiune to work on our multiplication. Please make sure you are reviewing facts at home.

The follow shows the steps in the Distrubutive Property

Writing: Our writing menus have taken off and the students are looking for any reason to work on them. As a teacher, THIS IS AWSOME!!! I am extreemly excited that the students are being creative and love writing about topics that they can pick from. Remeber, the due date for the final pieces is October 28th.

Social Studies: We are continuing to work on the Three Regions of NC. The students will have a test on the Unit, Wednesday, October 14th. I will allow the students to use their book to find the information (much like using the text on the reading portion of the EOG).

http://www.nccommerce.com/en/BusinessServices/LocateYourBusiness/Presentations/NCOverviewVideoPresentation.html This is a great site that shows an 8 minute video of North Carolina and it's regions. Great Video!

Spelling Words for this week focus on the short "u" sound as in "Cup" and the long "u" sound as in "Use."
blush, crutch, crunch, grumpy, much, umpire, uncle, none, does, fuel, cute, cubicle, human, future, usual, uniform, used, beautiful, **Factors, **Products (**are extra credit words)

New Month...New Stuff

2009-10-06T12:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone.
Well, it's October and Autumn is in the air. We are well on our way to learning new information and applying it everyday.

Here is a look at what we will be working on.

Reading: Again, we are working on the Lightning Thief. I hope to have this book completed before the end of the week. The students have really gotten into the novel and some have even read ahead and finished. Great Job guys!
We will also be working on Teacher Directed Reading as well as Guided Reading groups in the coming week.

Math: We are jumping into some bigger multiplication. On Monday and Tuesday we have worked on multiplying with 10s, 100s, and 1000s. We have learned about the "zero shortcut." The students have found that this is a really easy process, but they must know their regular multiplication tables. This is key to their success. We will also start looking at rounding then multiplying double digit numbers. This combines two math concepts that we have already reviewed.

Writing: This week I have introduced our first writing menu. The class can choose their own writing for each selection, Appitizer, Main Course, and Dessert. They must choose one from each. The due date for the final copies is October 28th.

Social Studies: Our class has started learning about the three regions of NC. We are tying our social studies lessons into our writing menu. This is a great way for the students to be creative and decide on their own course of action in their learning.

The Spelling list for this week:
strong, wrong, copy, cloth, problem, October, whole, explode, control, shown, bowl, bottom, smoky, coach, throat, toast, doughnut, foe, **multiply, **division

September is coming to a close.

2009-09-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone.
It is hard to believe that September is drawing to a close and October will be here on Thursday. This school year is truly flying by. Below is the list of topics that we will be working on this week in our classroom.

Reading: We are continuing reading the Lightning Thief. We are halfway through the book and the kids really enjoy reading this novel. I am pleased with the way that they have taken up the interest and are hunting for more books that relate to the topic. Great Job!
We are also working on constructing a Tree Map to help illustrate literary topics from the story. The kids really like creating to learn.

Math: This week we are moving on to Median, Mode and Range. This deals with data and creating Line Plot and Stem and Leaf graphs. This is a simple topic that does not require much calculating on the student's part. We are building them up for success with relatively easy instruction.

Writing/Social Studies: Our class has combined writing and social studies to use our time better and be able to get both subjects accomplished. We are working on comparing the three regions of NC using a Tree Map. This will help them see between Physical, Cultural, and Climate differences in each region. The students will also be writing notes from parts of our lessons to turn into paragraphs in our writing.

Science: This week our kids are going to be "shocked" by the science lessons on Electricity. We are going to work on using batteries, wires and lightbulbs to create a current, as well as illustrate how electricity works in different areas. I will be doing simple demonstrations for them with Static Electricity, Currents, Circuits, etc.

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/revision/Science/electricity.htm (great site with interactive items on Electricity)
http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/electricitycircuits.html

Spelling: The words for this week: since, which, inch, string, title, shrimp, picnic, mind, wild, decide, why, skyscraper, buy, right, lightning, write, cypress, bicycle.
The words this week deal with the long "i" and short "i" sounds. Help them remember that not all the "i" sounds will come with the letter "i."

9/21 - 9/25 at a Glance

2009-09-22T05:35:00.000-07:00

**REMINDER!!! 4th Grade FUN FRIDAY is the 25th. The theme is tailgating so please send in a towel for your child to sit on since we will be outside "tailgating." Also, please send in a bag of chips/dip, popcorn, cupcakes, etc. Also, please make sure your child has a juice box to drink...HiCi or Capri Sun will work just fine.
Thanks!!!!!!

Hi there Everyone.
This week has a lot of different things happening with our schedule. We are working hard this week on the writing process to get us prepared for Thursday Writing Test.
Here is what we will be working on:

Reading: Our class is continueing the Lightning Thief. They have started working on their brochures for Camp Half-Blood or Mt. Olympus. I have seen some great creative thinking in the process. I have also noticed that the students are getting into the story and anticipating what is going to happen next.

Math: This week we are wrapping up using graphs, specifically Bar Graphs and Line Graphs. The students will have an assessment on Wednesday. This will lead us into learning about data and how to find the Median, Mode, and Range.

Writing: We are currently working on our Haunted House story. The students are working hard and following my guide that we use in class to construct our story. This guide allows them to see how to form sentences but also to change words and make it their own.

Thursday is our Writing Test. Please make sure your child is on time to class with a good breakfast and ready to learn.

The spelling words for this week are: then, else, edge, when, tenth, empty, sketch, easy, eager, sneakers, mean, fifteen, receive, piecem believe, spelling, people, squeeze.

9/14-9/18 at a Glance

2009-09-14T09:43:00.001-07:00

Hi Everyone!!
This week is going to be packed with some fun science, engaging math and fantastic reading. Our full week or work is sure to get some great ideas and responses from our students.
Here it is:

Reading: We have started looking at The Lightning Thief by Rick Roridan. It tells the story of a boy who discovers more about himself and leads him on a great discovery of friendship, hardship and sticking with what is right no matter what. Check out the link below to get more information on Rick Roridan and his novels.

Math: This week we well be working with Ordered Pair, which students have learned in 3rd grade. I am looking for this to be a pretty easy topic for the kids. We learned our jingle, "Over and Up!" to help with remember our directions. Middle of the week will find us working on graphing with Pictographs, circle graphs, and line graphs. By Friday, we are going to work on double bar graphs...comparing data and information. This will involve a lot of hands on work that the students can be creative with. Below is a graphing site for kids that allows them to create their own graphs from information.

http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createAgraph/default.aspx

Writing: We will start a menu that gives students selections regarding The Lightning Thief, Math instructions, and Science. All of this will be incorperated into our Writing studies. The menu will allow the students to select different writing parts from Appitizers, Main Course and Desserts. I am looking forward to some great ideas and great collaboration from the students.

Science: Our class is working on creating an electromagnet. This is going to happen on Friday while we continue to learn about magnets and their properties. Later in the week we are going to see how magnets tie into electricity. Science is going to be a great way for the students to have hands-on experience with materials that will help them understand better.

Spelling: Words for this week are: fact, began, clasp, rapid, able, later, space, stranger, grade, display, main, explain, freight, neighbor, weigh, vein, April, ankle
The students have their Spelling practice for the week. This will be collected on Friday for a participation grade. If the assignment is incomplete they will have to finish it the following Monday during their lunch period.

I am looking forward to a great week of learning.