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

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

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

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.

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

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

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!

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