Wednesday

Language Arts~ We read chapters 13 and 14 in Frindle.  Only one more chapter to go!  We worked on vocabulary and comprehension.  We also worked on grammar and handwriting today. 
Tomorrow we will finish the book and take the quiz over chapters 13-15.  Final test and Make a Frindle will be on Friday.

Math~ We tested over unit 6 concepts. 

Science~ We took our final test over biology concepts.

Mini-mall is tomorrow afternoon!

Tuesday -

LA~
We had gym today.  We came back to the room and read chapter 12 in "Frindle."  We did the comprehension questions and then took a quiz over chapters 11 and 12. We are almost finished with the book.  3 chapters to go.  We will be making frindles and taking the final test on Friday.  We had vocabulary vine.  This week we are reviewing vis, struct, therm and photo.  We are learning about aud (hear).

Math~
We reviewed angles and long division for our test tomorrow.

Science~
We took our test over the biology unit.

Monday

LA~
We attended the play about Shakespeare that Mrs. Doms and and Mrs. Ruthig's classes put on.  What a great experience!

Science~
Today we reviewed how we categorize animals, the predator-prey relationships and how rain effects and ecosystem.  Grannan's class has a science test tomorrow.  Woods' class has a science test on Wednesday.

Math~
We went over the partial quotient algorithm using 2 digit divisors.  Tomorrow we will review for the test.  The test will be on Wednesday of this week.  We are moving it up a day so that students aren't distracted by the mini-mall on Thursday.

"Blue Ribbon" Thursday

Today was an exciting today day to be at NP.  We all have new t-shirts and we had a great assembly to celebrate our accomplishments! Congratulations NP family!

Language Arts~
Today we went to music class.  We then worked on our handwriting while we waited to be called to the assembly.  We came back and took a quiz over chapter 6-8 in Frindle.

Math~
Today our focus was on measuring and drawing angles using a half protractor.  We did the study link at school because most of the students said that they did not have a protractor at home.

Science (Woods)~
Our focus today was the living things in an ecosystem.  We learned about producers, 3 different types of consumers (herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores), and decomposers.  We also learned about food chains and food webs.  There was a food web worksheet but I do believe that most people got it finished in class.

**Don't forget that science proposals are due on Wednesday, December 15th.  You can find the proposal on the last page of the science expo packet.**

Wintery Wednesday

I am beginning to think that we live in a snow globe. 

Tomorrow is our Blue Ribbon Assembly.  The t-shirts still haven't arrived.  They are supposed to arrive tonight.  The shirts will be passed out tomorrow before the assembly.  

Language Arts~
We started out our day with Reading MAP testing!  I am so proud of everyone.  Most people worked slowly and carefully.  Way to go, 4th graders!  Our reading buddies visited us today.  We worked on handwriting and did some grammar work. 

Math~
Today we learned to measure and draw angles using a full circle protractor.  I figured most families don't have a full circle protractor at home so their is now homework tonight.

Art Smart~
Thank you to our wonderful parents for teaching an amazing lesson today about Egyptian Art.  The kids got to draw Egyptian portraits and also work with hieroglyphics. 

Toasty Tuesday

I am almost positive that I saw sunshine today.  I hope everyone is staying toasty warm!

*****Presents for the giving tree are due on Friday!  If you took a star off the giving tree and are planning to donate a gift, the presents need to be at Northpoint on Friday.  If you would like to donate and didn't take a star, there is a need for gift cards to Walmart, Target, or Kohls.******

***** Tomorrow is Variety Day.  Students may pick a Spirit day tomorrow.   Stars in Service is collecting $ donations for Riley Hospital.  Students may wear hats, or p.js. or backwards day or whatever they feel like tomorrow.******

Language Arts~
Today we did a reflective writing on ideas that could make our school better.  We also pretended to be Nick from Frindle in order to learn more about his character.  We read chapters 7&8 and did the worksheets as well as venturing into vocab.  We took a vocabulary vine quiz over last week's root words.
No homework tonight.  Map testing first thing tomorrow!!

Math~
We Map tested today.  Some students are still testing.  I am very proud of how students are doing their personal best.

Science~
Today we looked at how living things interact with their ecosystems.  We learned about producers, consumers, decomposers, food chains and food webs.


It was a busy day.....

Walking in a Winter Wonderland!

I hope everyone is warm and dry this afternoon!  PTO is hosting a swim night at Penn this Wednesday.   Note went home today with youngest and only.

LA~
Today we had music and IMC.  We came back to the room and took an open book quiz over chapters 4 & 5 in Frindle.  We also read chapter 6.  We discussed developments in the books plot, author's craft, and figurative language.  We did venturing into vocab.

One of our awesome parents has found that the Fimo clay we need for our end of book project is on sale this week at Michael's for 4 for $5.  That is half price! We could still use some more. 

Math~
Today we talked about measuring angles.  Our focus was on the 360 degrees in a circle and how that compares to a standard, analog clock.  We used kinesthetic learning techniques to learn this by standing up and being the circle/clock.
No homework today.

We will MAP test in math tomorrow.

Science~
Today we looked at ecology.  We learned about ecosystems, habitats, communities, niches, and populations.  We also talked about metamorphosis. All students received a biology study guide.  Grannan will take the test on Tuesday and Woods will take the test on Wednesday. 

Did you see the Science Expo papers?  Just as a reminder the expo proposal is due a week from Wednesday.  Students will be graded on their completion of the science journal that came home on Friday.  Students are encouraged to come talk to me about any questions they have regarding completing the science journal.

Wintery Wednesday

Language Arts~
Today we read chapter 3 in Frindle.  We created wanted posters that showed the character traits of the main characters.  We visited our reading buddies.  We did comprehension questions and vocabulary.  What isn't done is homework!

Math~
Today we worked on long division.  We are using a partial quotients algorithm.  Have your child try to teach it to you.  Pages 144-145 and study link 6.was given for homework.

Science~
Today we talked about photosynthesis and how plant and animal cells are different.

Totally Tuesday

Language Arts~
Today we went to gym and then came back to the classroom and got really busy!  We started out by doing a grammar worksheet.  We corrected spelling, usage, capitalization and punctuation mistakes.  We then went over the comprehension questions from the chapter 1 of Frindle.  We read chapter 2 all about Mrs. Granger.  We discussed at length the characters and what we could learn about them.  We did a character cop activity for Nick, our hero.  We reflected by writing about the chapter.  We also did some vocabulary work and comprehension questions for chapter 2.  In vocab vine we worked on a packet of root words.
Homework is anything that did not get done in class.

Math~
Ahhh division.  The highlight of my math class for me was when a student exclaimed, "Hey, this is fun."  Today we did division problems by using multiples of 10.  You can see examples of our process by looking at today's study link 6.2. (It's tonight's homework)

Sciene (Woods)~
Today we continued to work on our biology unit.  We observed our lima beans.  We also took a closer look at our celery.  We were able to identify the xylem and phloem tubes.  We then took apart the celery and actually removed the tubes.  Next we read about the different parts of a flower and briefly discussed how the different parts make seeds.  We labeled the different parts on a worksheet and colored in the worksheet.
No homework today.

Welcome back!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend!  I don't know about you, but I'm still stuffed!

Language Arts~
We started our day with specials.  Then we came back to the room eager to jump into our novel study.  For the next 3 weeks, we will be reading Frindle by Andrew Clements.  We will be doing vocabulary, grammar, comprehension, and writing activities all centered around the novel. Today we passed out our materials, made predictions about the novel, and read chapter one.  The students had time in class to complete the following 2 activities.  If they did not get done, it is homework.
*1  Write 2 paragraphs that answer the following questions:  Would you say that Nick is a troublemaker? Why or why not?  How would you define the word troublemaker?
*2 Answer the comprehension question about chapter 1.  Use complete sentences and answer all parts of the questions.

HW Note:  There will be no weekly homework or spelling tests during the novel study.



Math~
Today we started unit 6.  This unit has to do with division, measuring angles with a protractor and coordinate grids.  Our focus today was division story problems.  Students needed to do journal pages 138 and 139.  Journal page 140 was a review.  They also needed to do math boxes 6.1 and study link 6.1   All pages are due tomorrow.

Science (Grannan)~
Today we continued to work on our biology unit.  We observed our lima beans.  We also took a closer look at our celery.  We were able to identify the xylem and phloem tubes.  We then took apart the celery and actually removed the tubes.  Next we read about the different parts of a flower and briefly discussed how the different parts make seeds.  We labeled the different parts on a worksheet and colored in the worksheet.
No homework today.

Thankful Tuesday

Wow - Today went by so fast!

LA~
We went to gym.  We had a mini-lesson about terrific word choice.  We created poems in small groups about winter.  We worked really hard not to repeat any words.  It was tough!

Math~
We practiced for our test tomorrow. 

Science~
Today we talked about the life cycle of a plant.  We also started an experiment about how water moves through a plant using a stalk of celery.

Monday's News

Good Afternoon!  I hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend.  Short week this week.

Language Arts - Let's start with the important stuff.  No homework or spelling test this week.  Also there will be no assessments on Wednesday. We will be using this short week to do some projects and complete some work.
We had specials this morning.  We spent some time working on handwriting.  All cursive, all the time will start after winter break.  We went to hear what Mr. Glassman had to say about soils.  We did read aloud.

Math - We worked on comparing large numbers today.  The students seemed to have a good handle on it.  The test will be on Wednesday of this week.  I don't want the students to have to worry about a math test over the long weekend.  Homework:  Study link 5.11

Science - Today we talked about the life cycle of a plant.  We also started an experiment about how water moves through a plant using a stalk of celery.  NO homework.

Monday

Welcome back to school!  I hope everyone enjoyed their weekends.

Thank you for all of the food you donated during our food drive.  The food will be distriubed to needy families later this week.  We soooo appreciate your generosity!  On that same note, we currently have a giving tree set up in the lobby of our school.  Each year we help needy families in the PHM area have a great Christmas.  Instead of each class adopting a family this year, we are using the giving tree.  The tree has stars decorating it.  On each star is a need.  Check it out!

Language Arts~
After specials this morning, we took our spelling pretest.  We then worked on the grammar skill of linking verbs.  we had a great discussion about this week's vocabulary and vocabulary skill (homophones-sounds alike, spelled and means something different).  Our words for the week are sores, loosened, mysterious, amazement, midst, responsibility, and patchwork.  Our comprehension skills are summarizing and sequencing.  We are reading the story "Mystic Horse."

Our Rit words for the week are.
Antithesis- Saying the opposite of whatyou really mean, for effect.  That was a cool move, man!
Aphorism- A statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life.  Life is short
Conflict- The struggle found in a story.
Characterization- The method used by a writer to develop a character.
First Person Point of View- When the narrator tells his own story.  I went to the mall and bought shoes.

HW:  Book orders are due tomorrow and weekly homework went home today.  Due Friday.
Math~
Today we finished up Thursday's lesson on estimating answers to multiplication problems.  We estimated the numbers to the nearest multiple of 10.  9 X 23  becomes 10 X 20.  We also found magnitude estimates.  That is a rough estimate where the answers is just to place value.   The magnitude answer for the above problem would be 100s because 10 X 20 = 200. and that is in the hundreds place value. 
HW: Math boxes and study link 5.4

Science (Woods)~
Today was a catch up on daily morning work day.  We graded some packets.
No HW.

Tuesday's Notes

We are still collecting food for the food drive.  We will be collecting until Friday.

Blue Ribbon Update - PTO has graciously offered to buy each student a blue ribbon t-shirt.  Order forms went home today.  It is very important that all order forms are turned in by Friday.  I did tell the kids that a bonus would be handed out if everyone had their order forms turned in tomorrow.  Check those take home folders.

Language Arts~
We went to PE today.  We also had hearing screening today.  We came back to the room and sorted spelling words by silent letter.  We reviewed possessive nouns.  We also talked about past, present and future tense verbs.  We went over this week's RIT words.  We also talked about a RIT Quiz that will be next Tuesday.  The Quiz will cover RIT words from this whole school year.  Start studying now!  We read our story and took a Vocab Vine Quiz.

Book orders went home today.  This will be the last book order until January, so it's a big one.  It's a great way to buy small gifts.  If you want to surprise someone with an order just email me or send me a note and I will make sure not to send the book home with the student.  Book orders are due on Monday!

Math~ Today we learned a fun way to multiply 2 digit numbers.  It is called multiplication wrestling.  Directions can be found on page 253 of the SRB.

HW:  Mathboxes and Study Link 5.2

Science (Grannan)~
Today we made a model of the relationship between the moon, earth and sun.  We studyied the phases of the moon.  We also did a crossword puzzle and worksheet.

Monday, Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend!!  Don't forget that we are still collecting food for the food drive this week.  I told the kids that I would pay them $5.00 mini-economy money for every can/item that they bring in this week.

Language Arts~ After music and IMC, we took our spelling pretest.  This week's focus is words with silent letters.  We also went over past tense verbs.  We reviewed our vocabulary for the week: unfair, ancestors, numerous, segregation, unsuspecting, avoided and injustice.  Our vocabulary skill is prefixes.  We also talked about author's purpose again.  That is our comprehension skill.  We listened to our story for the week, "My Brother, Martin."  This week is Random Act of Kindness week.  We discussed what this means and made posters advertising the event.

RIT Words
Setting - Where a story takes place
Supporting details - The details and examples that support a main idea in a paragraph.
Synecdoche - When one uses one part to represent the whole.  For example. I like your new threads means I like your new clothes. Hey is that a new set of wheels?  Lend me your ears.....
Sarcasm - a form of sneering criticism in which disapproval is often expressed as ironic praise.  Example:  Jason was walking away from the lunch counter and dropped his tray.  A stranger nearby said, "Well, that was really intelligent."
Stanza - A unified group of lines in poetry.  A verse.

HW:  Weekly homework went home today.  It is due on Friday.  My Random Act of kindness for the day was to tell the students that they needed to answer 4 out of the 5 think and compare questions.

Math~
We started unit 5 today.  Our focus today was solving extended math facts.  4 * 8 = 32 than 4 * 80 = 320.
We also played beat the calculator to practice our math facts.  Students should also be bringing home a unit 5 math preview.  This is a large packet of papers that goes over the types of problems that we will be solving this unit.  It is not a worksheet and does not have to be turned back in to me.

HW:   Mathboxes and Study Link 5.1.  Please remember to sign the study link.

Science (Woods)~
Today we went over last week's morning work.  We then read a section in our sciencesaurus and answered questions about the moon and seasons.  It is homework if it isn't finished!

Thursday's News

Language Arts~
We had music today.  We reviewed noun/verb agreement.  We also took our grammar test for the week.  We looked at the meanings of our spelling words.  We reviewed foreshadowing and symbolism.  We also looked at the vocabulary for the story and reviewed author's purpose.  We also did a practice ISTEP writing prompt.

Math~
We took the unit 4 test.  :)

Science (Woods)~
We began a short unit on space today by watching 2 Bill Nye science videos about the moon and about seasons.  These relate directly to Indiana Academic Standards. 

Monday's News

I hope everyone enjoyed the long weekend!

Northpoint is collecting non-perishable food items for the next two weeks.  This food will be distributed to families in need in the PHM district.  Please send in your donations with your child.  Friday is Hawaiian Day.  Your child can dress Hawaiian.  Instead of collecting money, we will be collecting can goods.

Language Arts~
We had double specials today.  We went to music and to IMC.  We took our spelling pretest.  We are still having trouble grading correctly.  Students have been given several warnings to grade carefully.  There was $10.00 mini-economy fine today for every word that wasn't graded correctly.  We previewed our vocabulary for the week.  Our skill is synonyms and our words are interfere, awkward, proclaimed, agile, guardian, and tottered.  The students did a great job today paraphrasing the definitons and putting them in their own words.  This is a skill we have been working on.  Our comprehension skill for the week is author's purpose.  Authors write to entertain, to persuade, and to inform.  It helps comprehension when we realize why an author is writing.  We read our story, "Roadrunner's Dance."  We also started learning about verbs.  Verbs are action words.  Today we also talked about present tense and subject/verb agreement.  We also worked on handwriting today.    Handwriting will become a major push this quarter as we try to get ready for 2nd semester when we go to all cursive, all the time. Some students may have some handwriting homework this week.  It is my expectation that students do only one page of handwriting at home.  We will also be working on handwriting here at school.

The 2nd quarter reading project came home today.  We will be working on biographies.  It is a fairly involved project.

HW:  Weekly homework came home today.  There is a new component to the weekly homework.  It is called think and compare.  Students will need to answer the questions in the think and compare section at the end of each week's story.  The answers will need to be written in complete sentences and also completely answer the questions.

RIT Words~
Mood - The emotional attitude of the story.
Paraphrase - To rewrite something in your own words.
Interjections- A part of speech that usually expresses emotion and is capable of standing alone.  "Yes!"
Symbolism- This is when something represents more than what it is in a literal sense.  An example would be a dove representing peace.
Suspense- When the author builds up anticipation for what will come next in a story.

Math~
Today we worked on measuring with personal measurements and comparing that to the metric system.
HW:  Study Links 4.9 and Math boxes 4.9 was assigned as homework.  There was also a change in policy today.  All study links must be signed by a parent before they are turned in.  Students may still complete them at school but must take them home and share them with an adult at home before turning them in.  Head's up:  Unit 4 test on Thursday.

Science (Grannan)~
We began a short unit on space today by watching 2 Bill Nye science videos about the moon and about seasons.  These relate directly to Indiana Academic Standards.  Head's up:  We will be going to the planetarium on Wednesday.

Wednesday's News

Tomorrow is wear a jersey day!

Language Arts~
Today we went to computer lab and worked on Odyssey.  We reviewed plural and possessive nouns in our grammar workbook.  We read and discussed "Dear Mr. Winston."  We visited our reading buddies.  We worked on a writing prompt about how staying drug free can help us in the future.  We learned that "par" means to set or get ready.
HW:  Weekly homework and Assessments are tomorrow.

Math~
Today we worked on measuring and conversions between measurements in the metric system. 
HW: Math Boxes and Study Link 4.8.  Many students are done.

Science~
Mrs. Woods's class took their landform test.

Thunderstorms and wind and rain, oh my!

Today was wear red day in honor of DARE.  Tomorrow, students may wear a hat.

Parent Teacher Conferences are today and tomorrow!

Language Arts~
Today we went to PE.  We came back into the classroom and sorted our spelling words.  We previewed object pronouns and reviewed plural and plural possessive nouns.  We also practiced safety by going to our storm locations.

Math~
Today we talked about the thousandths place value.  We did journal pages 93, 94, and 95.  We also completed study link 4.7.
If this didn't get done it is homework.

Science~
We went to the gym for a Red Ribbon Week assembly.

Mismatched Monday

We kicked off our Red Ribbon Week celebration by wearing mismatched clothing today.  Tomorrow is wear red day.
Parent Teacher conferences are tomorrow and Wednesday.  Check those times.....

Language Arts~
Today was double specials day.  We had music and went to the library.  We came back to the classroom and started off with a spelling pretest.  We then talked about subject pronouns and reviewed plural and possessive nouns.  This is still giving a few of us some issues.  We read a short story that introduced our vocabulary and comprehension skills for the week.  Our vocabulary includes: weekdays, cardboard, slithered, genuine, apologize, harmless and ambulance.  Our comprehension skill is to make inferences and generate questions.  We then listened to our story, "Dear Mr. Winston."

RIT Words
Consonance - The repetition of a consonant sound in a phrase.  (It doesn't have to be at the beginning of the word.
Couplet - A 2-lined rhyming poem
Connotation - The feelings a word evokes.
Denotation - The dictionary definition of a word
Dialogue - A conversation between 2 or more characters.

HW:  Weekly homework is due on Thursday this week.  We will be having all the normal assessments on Wednesday this week.

Math~
Today we continued our work with decimals.  We used the example of a savings account to practice adding and subtracting decimals.
HW: Mathboxes and Study Link 4.6

Science~
Landform test today.  It was a long test.  Many students have yet to complete it.  We will keep working on it.

Friday

This week went by so fast!!!  Next week is Red Ribbon Week.  Monday is Mismatch Day.
Language Arts~
We went to PE.  We took our spelling test, selection assessment, and weekly assessment.  We wrote concrete poetry.
Math~
We worked on Odyssey.  We also worked on problem solving.
Science (Woods)~
Reviewed for science test on Wednesday.  The test will be open note but students should still study.  They received two study aides today.

Busy Day

LA: Reviewed skills.  Weekly Homework is due tomorrow.
Math:  Addition and subtraction of decimals.  Journal Pages 87-89 and study link 4.5
Science:  Reviewed for science test on Monday.  The test will be open note but students should still study.  They recieved two study aides today.

Wednesday

What a busy day!
Language Arts~
We went to the computer lab and worked on Odyssey.  It is amazing how quiet and focused the kids are during this time.  I'm very proud of them.  We came back to the classroom and worked on grammar.  We reviewed plurals, possessives and talked about what to do with titles.  Basically a major work gets underlined and something that is a part of another work gets quotes.  We reviewed the meanings of spelling words.  Next we went down to first grade and listened to our buddies read.  We came back to the room and heard more reading projects.  We shall finish those up tomorrow.
HW: Keep working on Weekly Homework.

Math~
We did centers today.
*Miss Grannan - We worked on estimating decimals.
*Miss Claire - We played decimal top it
*Odyssey - We worked on the math part of Odyssesy
*On Your Own - We read page 27 in our Student Reference book and did math boxes and study link 4.4
HW:  Math boxes and Study link 4.4 (If not already completed)

Science~
We reviewed profile maps, contour lines, contour intervals, benchmarks and other information having to do with mountains. No homework

Tuesday

Picture retake day is tomorrow.  Look for a note to come home with your youngest child. Old picture packets need to be returned to the photographer at the time of the retake.  If you were absent on picture day, new picture packets are in the office....

Language Arts -
We had PE today.  We did a grammar minute that reviewed plurals.  We learned about plural possessives.  We sorted our spelling words and wrote some of them in alphabetical order.  We also read our story with a partner.  We watched a video on bus safety and listened to more reading projects.
HW:  Continue working on weekly homework.

Math
Today we continued to work on decimals. 
HW: p. 83 and 84.  Study Link 4.3

Homeroom
We practiced bus safety.

Culver's Night and Skate Night at USA both tonight.

Monday

Picture retakes - Picture retakes are this Wednesday.  If you want to retake pictures, you need to return the entire package.  If you missed picutures the first time around, there are picture forms in the office.

Language Arts -
We had music and IMC today.  We took our spelling pretest and began learning about possessive nouns.  We previewed our story vocabulary: hilarious, convinced, mischief, independence, come in handy, dizzy whirlwind and nowadays.  Problem and solution is our comprehension skill for the week.  We listened to our story: How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning.  We began listening to our reading projects.

HW:  Get started on weekly homework.

RIT Vocabulary:
Appositive -  When you rename someone or something.  This is often not needed information.  For example:  Sadie, my dog, is fluffy.  My dog is the appositive that renames Sadie.
Bias - A preconceived opinion about something.  A writer might have a bias about what he writes about either for or against.  That bias will affect his word choice and tone.
Caricature - A distorted character resulting from the author deliberately exaggerating a trait (or traits) of a personality.
Character - A person in a literary work.
Cliche' - A familiar word or phrase that has been used so much that it is no longer a good way of saying something.  For example: red as a beet, cool as a cucumber, dumb as a box of rocks......

Math -
Today we reviewed decimal place value.  We talked about what tenths and hundredths represent.  No Homework.

Science -
We reviewed profile maps, contour lines, contour intervals, benchmarks and other information having to do with mountains. No homework.

Thursday......

LA~
Today we....
reviewed spelling and vocabulary skills,
took our grammar test,
reread our story,
reviewed story vocabulary and comprehension skills and
wrote a journal entry about losing a favorite object.
We also had DEAR time and went to music.
Weekly homework is due tomorrow!

Math~
Today we reviewed place value and began discussing decimals.
We did math boxes and study link in class.
No Homework.

Science~
We took our topographic maps and used them to make profile maps.  We also discussed peak, bases, contour lines and contour intervals.
No Homework

Totally Tuesday

Another busy day at NP.
Language Arts~
We went to PE.  We also....
sorted spelling words
reviewed common and proper nouns
spelled irregular plural nouns
reread our story
discussed fact and opinion
learned about quatrains, stanzas and rhyme schemes.
wrote poetry
learned Greek and Latin roots
read about Bad Kitty
HW:  Read at least 20 minutes and finish working on weekly homework.

Math~
We have a test tomorrow.
We reviewed......
multiplication and division facts
true, false, and tricky number sentences
open sentences
problem solving
graphs and diagrams
HW: Study for the test!

Science~
We began learning about mountains and topographic maps.
HW: None

Busy Monday

I hope everyone enjoyed the summer-like weekend!

Language Arts~
We started our day with music and IMC.  We took our spelling pretest and organized our homework.  We reviewed nouns and talked about uncommon plural spellings. Our story this week is "Focus on China" and Stealing Beauty."  We introduced our story vocabulary: temples, dynasties, heritage, preserve, and overjoyed.  We discussed our comprehension strategy, fact and opinion.  We discussed strong adjectives and other clue phrases that help us identify opinions. We worked on cursive handwriting.
Our Rit Words
Declarative sentence - A statement.  (The fluffy dog barked at the fence.)
Imperative sentence - A command (Please let the dog inside.)
Interrogative sentence - A question (Who does the dog belong to?)
Exclamatory sentence - An exclamation (The dog scared me!!)
Appendix - Found in books, contains extra information like maps, tables, lists etc."


Math~
Today we discussed open sentences.  An open sentence contains a variable.  When you solve for the variable you find the solution.  For example 24/A =6 is an open sentence. A=4 is the solution.  The solution always makes the number sentence true.  We did pages 74-76 in our journals and Study Link 3.11 is homework.  Test on Wednesday!

Science (Woods)
We saw how a flood can affect the stream tables.

Glad to be back!

It was good to be back in the classroom after being out yesterday at a meeting.

Language Arts:
We assessed skills today in spelling, grammar, and reading
We visited with our reading buddies
We went to gym.

Math
We worked on a cool computer program called Odyssey.  Kiddos can work on this at home.  Go to the website:  compass.phm.k12.in.us
 We worked on problem solving and writing in math.
We worked on computation.

Science
We saw how a flood can affect the stream tables.

Have a great weekend!  Enjoy the good weather.

Totally Tuesday

ART SMART tomorrow!

LA
Today we went to PE.  We sorted our spelling words by consonant cluster.  We reviewed common and proper nouns.  We discussed singular and plural nouns.  We reviewed which nouns get an es when you make them plural.  We read and discussed My Diary from Here to There.  We wrote diamonte poems and reviewed RIT vocabulary.

Book Orders are due tomorrow!

Math
We worked on problem solving strategies.  Pages 66-68 in journal 1 was assigned.  Study link is 3.8.  We will be doing study link 3.7 tomorrow in class.

Science
We continued to work with stream tables.  Today we investigated if the slope of the stream table effects the formation of a canyon and delta.

Marvelous Monday

Welcome back to school.  I hope everyone had a great weekend.

The Make-A-Wish Golf Outing and Silent Auction was a great success!  Thank you so much for all of your support.

Art Smart is this Wednesday!

Language Arts

Book orders are due on Wednesday.  Online ordering is open.

Mondays are always busy days as we introduced the vocabulary and skills that we will be reviewing throughout the week.  Today the students went to music and IMC.  We came back to class and got straight to work.  We took our spelling pretest and got our homework for the week together.  We reviewed run-on sentences during grammar minute.  Our grammar skill of the week is singular (single) and plural (plenty) nouns.
We then introduced our story vocabulary:  overheard, opportunities, border, unions, strikes, citizen and boycotts.  Our comprehension skills for the week are generating questions and making inferences.  Our story is My Diary from Here to There

RIT Words.
Consonance - The repetition of consonant sounds.  Although iti s similar to alliteration, consonance is not limited to the first letters of words. 
Irony - An expression in which the author says one thing but means just the opposite.
Anecdote - A brief story used to make a point.
Parallelism -  Repeating similar word or phrases to give writing rhythm
Allusion - A reference to a familiar person, place thing or event.

HW:  Weekly Work

Math
Today we continued on the World Tour in Math.  Our goal today was to establish routines we would use throughout the year.  Students used their student reference books to find information about Egypt.

HW:  SL and Math Boxes 3.6

Science (Woods)
Today we reviewed the concepts of rocks, minerals, erosion and deposition by reading our Sciencesaurus and and answering questions.

HW:  None

Thursday -

Tomorrow is gum day.  Bring $1.00 and you can chew gum during class.

Golf and dinner reservations for Sunday's fundraiser are due tomorrow.

Language Arts
Book orders went home today.  They are due on Wednesday, October 6th.  You can order online.  Don't forget to look back in the blog for the ordering information...

We had music this morning.  We also reviewed the following skills:
nouns - common and proper,
phonics - spelling the ch/tch sound,
story vocabulary,
context clues,
author's purpose,
how to write a constructed response,
reading a table,
the story.
We also revised our persuasive letter.
HW: Weekly Homework is due tomorrow.

Math
We took the MAP for math today.
HW: None

Science (Woods)
Today we....
 - did a response sheet about erosion and deposition.
 - read about the people who live and lived in the Grand Canyon.
HW: None

Wednesday's news

Don't forget gum day for a dollar on Friday!

Even if you don't golf, you can still come to the Make-A-Wish event on Sunday for dinner and the auction.  The baskets are amazing!!!!

Language Arts
Today we....
 - finished our unit 2 reading test.
 - used spelling words in sentences.
 - reviewed compound predicates.
 - visited with our reading buddies.
 - read our story with a partner.
 - wrote the first draft of a persuasive letter.
 - learned that cur means attention.

HW:  Work on Weekly work.

Math
Today we.....
 - reviewed multiplication facts
 - did 2 study links in class.
 - played around the world.

HW: None

Science (Grannan)
Today we....
 - We did a response sheet about erosion and deposition.
 - We read about the people who live and lived in the Grand Canyon.

HW: None

What a day!!

Friday is Gum day for a $1.00.  Money raised goes to support the PTO!

Make-A-Wish golf outing and auction is next Sunday!  You don't have to golf to participate!  You are welcome to come for dinner and to check out the baskets.  Contact Mrs. Stephan or Mrs. Woods for more information!

Language Arts
Today we went to PE.  We sorted spelling words by the ch/tch spelling.  We sorted nouns into proper and common groups.  We read the story, "Mighty Jackie," and discussed the author's purpose. We looked for clues in the story.  We began our reading test.  We had vocab vine and learned that auto means self.
HW: Weekly Homework

Math
Today we reviewed everything we know about multiplication facts.
HW: None

Science (Woods)
We worked again with the stream tables.  We reviewed erosion and watched for deposition.  We learned that heavier particles will drop out (deposit) first.  We also learned that the particles that deposit (drop out) are called sediment. Water will take the easiest way out.  It flows to the lowest level first.

HW: None. 

Back to work.....

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend!

Friday is Gum day for a $1.00.  Money raised goes to support the PTO!

Make-A-Wish golf outing and auction is next Sunday!  You don't have to golf to participate!  You are welcome to come for dinner and to check out the baskets.  Contact Mrs. Stephan or Mrs. Woods for more information!

Language Arts
We had music and IMC today.  We came back to class and took our spelling pretest and filled out our weekly homework.  We reviewed nouns in grammar and spent some time identifying common nouns in sentences.  We introduced the vocabulary for this story: legendary, muttered, gaped, snickering, insult, fluke and flinched.  We also discussed author's purpose, this week's comprehension skill.  We spent some time discussing that you have to use clues from the story to back up your answer.  So if the author's purpose is to inform, there should be facts in the story.  We listened to the story, "Mighty Jackie."  We began to brainstorm ideas for a persuasive letter.  We need to know who (the audience) what (What we are asking for) and why (the reasons someone should give it to us.)  We also read No talking.  We are almost done.  One more chapter to go!

RIT Words:
Personification - Giving a non-human object human characteristics.  The pencil danced across the page.
Pathetic Fallacy - A lot like personification but has to do mainly with nature.  The clouds wept tears over the empty school.
Pun - a phrase that uses words that sound the same in a way that gives them a funny effect. At a hearing aid center: 'Let us give you some sound advice.'
Slang - A casual spoken language which differs from formal speech. Chat speak is a form of slang.

HW:  Get started on weekly homework.

Math
Today we reviewed mental math.  We also reviewed polygons.  The main focus of our lesson was on how function machines work: A number goes in (input) something happens (the rule) and a new number comes out (output).

HW:  Journal pages 53-55 and study link 3.1

Science (Grannan)
We worked again with the stream tables.  We reviewed erosion and watched for deposition.  We learned that heavier particles will drop out (deposit) first.  We also learned that the particles that deposit (drop out) are called sediment. Water will take the easiest way out.  It flows to the lowest level first.

HW: None.

Thriving Thursday

Another busy day!!

Fall Carnival is tomorrow.

We are still signing up golfers for the Make-A-Wish event.

Language Arts

Don't forget that all items for the Make-A-Wish basket are due tomorrow.

We had Music today.  We then did a grammar minute and reviewed the phonics and vocabulary skills for the week.  We also reviewed character traits  and read our leveled readers.  We also typed our Haiku for a special art project.

HW:  Weekly work due tomorrow.

Math

We had center day today.  We reviewed unit 2 skills for the test tomorrow.

HW: None

Science

Today we made a simulation of the Colorado River Plateau and discovered how the Colorado River helped to make the grand canyon.  We learned about different landforms such as deltas, canyons, etc.  We also learned about erosion.

HW: None

Wonderful Wednesday!!

Where does the week go? We are already through Wednesday!!

PTO Fall Carnival is Friday Evening!
The Make-A-Wish Golf event is still looking for golfers!
Stars-in-Service Reps: We have a meeting tomorrow after school.

Language Arts:
Today we wrote some more Haiku. We looked at the meanings of our our spelling words. We practiced proofreading in grammar. We hunted for punctuation and grammar mistakes. We also fixed sentence fragments. We also read a Social Studies article about swamps and compared that to our reading story. We talked about maps. We also visited our reading buddies and reviewed subject and predicate.

Book order: Did you order a book order but didn't get your books back yet? I got a special order box with $17.00 worth of books in it. The titles seem like girl books to me. Could they be your families? Please contact me if they are!

Math
Today we worked on subtraction of 2-4 digit numbers. Math Test on Friday!
HW: Study Link 2.9 (both sides)

Science (Woods)
We turned our model into a map.
HW: None

Talkative Tuesday

We are still working on getting quiet!

*Don't forget PTO's Fall Carnival is this Friday Night!!!
*We are still taking golfers for the Make-A-Wish event on October 3rd.

Language Arts
We had PE today followed by a grammar minute about sentence fragments. We sorted spelling words by long 0 spelling. We fixed run-on sentences by adding conjunctions. We read "The Raft" in partners and listened to a read-aloud about Haiku. We then practiced writing Haiku. We had vocab vine and learned ann/enn means years or yearly and centi means hundred or hundredth.

HW: How are the reading projects coming? You have less than two weeks to finish reading the book. Continue to work on weekly homework.

Math
We worked some more with data collection and analysis. Math boxes and study link 2.8 are homework.

Science
We turned our model into a map.
HW: None

Marvelous Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Don't forget Fall Carnival is this Friday. Look for a a flier about pre-buying tickets in your youngest or only child's blue folder today.

Also don't forget about the Make-A-Wish golf outing and silent auction. All items for our basket are due on Friday. There is still room for people who want to register to golf.

Language Arts
Double specials today! Music and then IMC. We came back to class and took the vocab vine quiz followed by our spelling pretest. Our grammar minute and grammar skill both had to do with run-on sentences. Our story for the week is "The Raft" Our vocabulary: disgusted, raft, scattered, cluttered, downstream and nuzzle. Our comprehension skill is making inferences about a story based on setting.

RIT words
Haiku - A Japanese form of poetry, consisting of 3 unrhymed lines of 5-7-5 syllables. traditionally about nature or the seasons.
Analogy - A comparison of certain similarities between things which are otherwise unlike.
Colloquialism - an expression that is usually accepted in informal situation and certain locations.
exaggeration - to represent something as greater than it actually is.
oxymoron - A statement with 2 parts which seem contradictory. (yelled quietly)

HW: Get started on weekly homework.

Math
Today we reviewed two ways to add numbers. In partial sums you add each place value and then add your answers. In column addition you add each column of numbers and then regroup. Student Reference Books will come in handy tonight.

HW: Study Link 2.6 and 2.7. Math boxes 2.7 Journal pages 42 and 43 were done in class. Word to the wise: Study Link 2.7 has a front and a back. :)

Science (Woods)
Today we began the map-making process of our school yard models. We discussed bird's eye view, cartographers, maps, and grids.

HW: none.

Thursday

What a busy day!

Language Arts
We had music today. We came back to class and got to work! We did our grammar minute about exclamatory sentences. We worked on handwriting. We edited complex sentences. We read our story one last time. We also worked on the comprehension questions at the end of the story. We did another writing marathon today on animals or sports. We played SWAT to practice our Greek and Latin roots. Boys won today, but the girls want another shot at it tomorrow. Don't forget the quiz is on Monday!

HW: Weekly homework is due tomorrow.

Math
We practiced our math concepts through games today. We worked on place value and computation.

HW: None

Science (Woods)
We got to play in dirt today! We made models of the playground! we discussed models, structures, and boundaries.

HW: None

Wednesday

Wow! We were talkative today!

Language Arts
Today we had computer lab. We practiced our skills using Study Island. We did our grammar minute. We needed to decide if a sentence was declarative (telling) or imperative (commanding).
We used spelling words to complete analogies. We practiced writing complex sentences. We visited our reading buddies. We read our story with partners and also wrote in a mini-writing marathon. Today's subject was cheese!

I reopened the online book order process until next Tuesday because of the online order confusion of last week. If you want to order from the online book orders please see last Wednesday's blog entitled: Updated book order information.

HW: Read for 20 minutes and work on weekly homework.

Math
Today we guessed, estimated, and counted the number of raisin in a small box. The guess was based on no information. The estimate was based on the number of raisin you could count when you opened the box. We then found landmarks for the data: maximum, minimum, range, mode.

HW: I think everyone got done but just in case they didn't: Math Boxes and Study Link 2.5

Science (Grannan)
The dirt arrived and today we began building a model of our school yard. The next few weeks in science are going to be messy!

HW: None

Totally Tuesday

Don't forget that Friday is PJ Day. Bring $1.00 and you can wear PJs......

Language Arts
Today we had PE. We came back and did our grammar minute. We sorted long i words by the way that the long i is spelled. We wrote complex sentences in grammar. We read our story as a whole group and looked for ways that what a character says and does help us learn about the character. We practiced writing emails. We used fake addresses. In vocabulary vine we learned that gon means angle and that poly means many. We will have a vocab vine quiz on Monday over the first 20 root words.

Bio - life
tele - far away
phono - sound, voice
peri- around, near
gamy - marriage, union
arc, arch - ruler, principal, first
thermo, therm - heat
the, theo - God, a god
bi- twice, two
geo - earth
meter, metry - measure
dia-, di- - thorogh, through, across
log, logue - speech, study of written work, word
poly - many
graph, gram - to write: or something written
micro - small
scope- watch, view, examine
gon - angle
cracy, crat - rule, government
mono - one, single

HW: Read at least 20 minutes and continue working on weekly packet.

Math
Today we continued our investigation into place value. Today we used calculators to help us. For example: If we wanted to change 574 to 504, we would need to subtract 70. (not 7) We learned a new game called fishing for digits. It can be found on page 242 of your student reference book.

HW: Math boxes 2.4 and study link 2.4

Science (Woods)
Today we finished up working on our webquest. We used a cool webbing tool to make a flow chart.

HW: None

Marvelous Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Friday is PJ day. PTO is using this as part of the their fund raising campaign. Students who bring in $1.00 can where their PJs to school. They may also bring slippers for when they are in the classroom.

Language Arts.
Double specials today! Music and then IMC. We then came back and took our spelling pretest. We wrote some complex sentences during grammar. We reviewed our vocabulary: endless, realistic, universe, astronaut, sensible, protested and paralyzed. We also talked about characters and inferences. We learn a lot about characters by what they say and what they do. We listened to our story: The Astronaut and the Onion.

RIT words
Tone - The overall feeling or effect created by a writer's use of words.
Ballad - A narrative poem, often set to music, a story told in song.
Point of View - The vantage point of the narrator from which the action is related.
Epic Poem - A poem written by someone that might be considered a hero or someone that other people might look up to.
Fable - A short, animal tale, most often told or written with a moral tagged on in the form of a proverb

HW: Get started on weekly homework.

Math
Today we looked at place value to the hundred millions. We talked about the difference between whole numbers and digits. We also discussed that how much a digit is worth is based on its place in the number

HW: Journal pages 33 and 34. Math boxes and study link 2.3. Students may have completed this in class.

Science (Grannan)
We continued to research our landforms and began working on our flow charts.

HW: None

Friday!

Wow! Friday already!

Language Arts.
Today was assessment Friday. We started our day with PE. Next came a spelling test and a grammar test and test over the story and a test over reading skills. We also wrote some poetry and read independently.

Math
We played games in small groups. Our groups were Study Island - Math, Top-It, Polygon Pair up, and Name that Number. Students rotated through all the stations.

Science - Woods
We went over morning work and began work on a landforms webquest.

No homework today.

Have a great weekend!!!!!!

Thursday.......

Good afternoon everyone!

Language Arts: Today we went to Music. We practiced identifying declarative (telling) sentences. We used context clues to put our spelling words into sentences. We combined simple sentences into compound sentences. We reviewed our vocabulary words and how to identify main ideas and details. We also practiced writing to a prompt. Students were asked to write 2 paragraphs on whether or not returning elk to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park was a good idea or not. They were to use at least 2 details from their story. This was homework if they didn't get it done. Weekly homework is due tomorrow. Please make sure that parents sign the packet and initial the reading minutes for each day.

Tomorrow is the last day for book orders. I plan to submit the order around 8:00 tomorrow morning.

Math: Today we practiced finding equivalent names for numbers. Study Link and Math Boxes 2.2 was assigned for homework.

Science (Grannan): Today we began a landforms webquest. No homework.

Have a great evening!

Wednesday......

Wednesday already?

Language Arts
We went to computer lab this morning and practiced our typing skills. We sorted our spelling words by the way that we spell the long e sound. We continued practicing combining sentences in grammar. We visited our reading buddies. We also reread our story. We had vocabulary vine today as well.

Homework is just continuing to work on homework packet.

We also talked about a service project that we will be working on in class. We are putting together a family night basket to be raffled off for the Make a Wish foundation. Look for a letter to come home tomorrow.

Math
Today we looked at all the different ways that we use numbers. We count, measure, compare, use as a reference and as codes. Homework is Mathboxes 2.1. Study Link was not assigned and most students finished the math boxes at school.

Science (Woods)
We watched a movie about different land formations and then took a walk outside to plan our models of the school yard.

No homework.

Updated book order information

New Due Date - Friday, September 10, 2010

Online Ordering Information
Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs
Class Activation Code: GWKZW

Dear Parent,

Now it's easier than ever to find the right books for your child — and help us earn FREE books for our classroom library at the same time!

With new online ordering from Scholastic Book Clubs, you can choose from a much wider selection of books than in the printed flyer. Plus, you can send your orders directly to me online and use your credit card.

Best of all, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent places their order online.

It's so simple! Here's how it works:

• SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown above. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.


• SELECT the books you'd like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.


• SEND your order to me online by the due date. Books will be delivered directly to our classroom, as always.

Of course, you can still order using the form from the printed flyer. But why not experience for yourself how convenient it is to order online?

Ordering online is fast, easy, and secure. Plus our whole class benefits thanks to the FREE books we'll earn with every parent online order.

Go to www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs now to get started.


Thank you,
Jen Grannan

Back to school we go....

I hope that everyone had a great long weekend!

Language Arts
We went to PE this morning. We had our spelling pretest. Our focus this week is on the long e sound. In grammar we worked on combining two short sentences into one compound sentence. We also talked about our vocabulary words for the week: roamed, completed, journey, natural, and wildlife. Our comprehension skill for thew week is still main idea and details. Our story for the week is Animals Come Home to our National Parks.

Our RIT words....
Flashback - When an author stops the action in a book and goes back to explain an earlier event.
Foreshadowing - When an author hints at what is going to happen later in the story.
Idiom - A phrase that does not mean what the words actually say. It is raining cats and dogs.
Climax - The most exciting part of the story.
Alliteration - The repetition of the beginning consonant sounds. Silly Sally selected seashells.

Don't forget book orders are due tomorrow.

HW: Get started on weekly homework. It's still due on Friday. Don't forget to write down your reading minutes.

Math
We took our unit one test.
No H.W.

Science (Grannan)
We went over morning work from last week and watched a movie about landforms.
No H.W.

Say Cheese!

Everyone looked so good this morning for picture day!!!

Language Arts:
Today was assessment Friday! We took a spelling, grammar, and reading tests today. We also practiced writing a cinquain.

Students have a note about conference scheduling in their folders. It is bright orange. I know that everyone likes the evening appointments, but they feel up fast. Please mark down all the times that you are available to meet with me. I will schedule the exact times soon.

Book orders are due next Wednesday, Sept. 8th!

Math:
Today we played polygon pair ups, reviewed regular polygons, and did a math and art project.

Science (Woods):
Today we went over our science morning work and got our pictures taken.

Have a great 3 day weekend!!! No school Monday!

Thursday.....

How in the world did we get to Thursday?

Language Arts
We had music today. We then reviewed context clues and long a words. We discussed compound predicates and proofread an advertisement looking for sentence fragments, capitalization and punctuation errors. We finished the main idea and detail graphic organizer that we started yesterday. We finished our portrait poems and rewrote them on lined paper. The graphic organizer and the poem are homework if they were not finished in class.

Students also got a book order today. The orders are due to me on Wednesday, September 8th. I tried to set up the online ordering page and that is not working right now. I will try again from home. Paper and check orders can just be sent into school.

Math
We reviewed for the Unit 1 test today and did math boxes 1.9. We also played Polygon Pair Ups.
Math boxes are homework (if not done already).

We also discussed moving the math test to Friday. The kids feel very prepared. Sadly My homeroom has a Social Studies test tomorrow. So the test in math will be on Tuesday!

Science (Grannan)
We read about maps and watched a science video on streams and landforms.
No homework.

Picture day is tomorrow!
Social Studies test tomorrow!!!

Wednesday.....

Good Afternoon,

Language Arts
Today we had computer lab. We also worked on the meanings of spelling words, subjects, compound subjects, and predicates. We visited with our reading buddies and reread our story. We had vocab vine.
HW: Continue to work on weekly homework.

Math
We continued working with compasses.
HW: Journal Page 25, Mathboxes and study link 1.8
Test will be on Tuesday of next week.

Science (Woods)
We talked about all the different tools that a scientist may need.

Don't forget picture day is on Friday!

Tuesday......... Part 2

Another day has flown by! Don't forget that picture day is this Friday.......

Language Arts
We had PE this morning. We then worked on grammar. Our focus today was predicates. We sorted our long a spelling words by the way the long a was spelled. We practiced our handwriting. We also talked more about assonance. (Rit Word) We stood up every time we heard the short a sound in Green Eggs and Ham. We read our reading story together and discussed main ideas and details. We worked on a portrait poem. In Vocabulary Vine we learned these roots: scope and micro. We read more about the unshushables in No Talking by Andrew Clements.
HW: Continue to work on Weekly Homework.

Math
We continued working with compasses. We talked about concentric circles. It's been fun.
HW: Math boxes and study link 1.7. Test will be next Monday!

Science
We talked about the different tools that scientists use.
No homework.

Ooops

I am so sorry that I forgot to blog yesterday. So I thought I would blog this morning and this afternoon. I also have a big note on my computer this morning reminding me to blog.... Just have to get back into the routine.

Language Arts.
After IMC and Music today, we had a lot to do! We had our spelling pre-test to determine what lists everyone will be studying this week. Please note that it may not be the same as last week! Don't forget the final spelling test over these words will be given on Friday. We also introduce 5 RIT words this morning. Each week, we will be studying 5 words that will help our vocabulary, writing and MAP testing knowledge. This week we are focusing on assonance, onomatopoeia, hyperbole, simile and metaphors. In addition to studying those literary terms, we will also be focusing on our story vocabulary words this week, which are: shimmer, eerie, lurk, swallows, climate, silken and lumbering. Our comprehension skill of the week is main idea and details. In grammar our focus is subjects and predicates.

We also went over Weekly Homework today. Please remember to do all sections (write in spelling words, read our story out loud to an adult, read independently each night and complete the page attached to the back). This packet is due Friday.

HW: Weekly homework is due Friday. Spelling test will be given on that day as well as reading and grammar assessments . Be on the lookout this week for a book order.

Math
Today we worked with compasses. It was fun. We will continue to work with them tomorrow. Right now it looks like our first math test will be on next Monday.... We will review at the end of this week.
HW: Math boxes and study link 1.6

Science (Woods)
Today we finished looking at famous scientists and their contributions to science. We learned that science has been going on for centuries and many people have contributed knowledge. Next we move on to different scientific tools.
HW: No homework.

Full Friday

Wow! Friday already! Thank you parents who have sent me your email addresses. I do appreciate it.

A note about the post times for the blog. For some reason these times are never accurate.

School Picture information is coming home today. Check those folders.

Language Arts.
Today was assessment Friday. We started our day with PE. Next came a spelling test and a grammar test and test over the story and a test over reading skills. This sounds like a lot but most of the tests are very short and students have as much time as they need to complete the tasks. Students also had time to read independently and to work on finding books for the book project.

We also practiced emergency drills today. The students did a fantastic job!

Math
We played games in small groups. Our groups were Study Island - Math, Top-It, Sprouts, and Concepts review with Ms. Grannan. Students rotated through all the stations.

Science - Grannan
We continued discussing famous scientist and their accomplishments.

No homework today.

Have a great weekend!!!!!!

Thinking Thursday

Today was a busy day!

Language Arts
We started our day with music class. Next we came back to the room and worked on handwriting. We had a fire drill. The kids were great! They were quiet and respectful. We practiced proofreading a paragraph. It was a challenge because it had no ending punctuation. Next the kids read independently while I wrote note cards with the students lexile levels on them. They are anxious to start those book projects. As a teacher, I am most impressed. We worked on how to answer a question using complete sentences and details from a story. We also discussed character traits. We worked on writing our problem and solution stories. We learned two new greek roots. Peri (around) and Graph, gram (write). No homework.

Math
Today we investigated polygons. We learned about concave, convex, and regular polygons. We worked hard and finished up the study link in class. No homework.

Science - Woods
Today we looked at science throughout history. We discussed who is a scientist and what are some things that all scientist do. We also looked at some historical scientific discoveries and some famous scientist. No homework.

Welcome to 4th Grade

Thank you to all of the parents who came to our Parent Information Night last night. It was wonderful to see all of you. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

I did realize that I did not hand out the schedule for this year. My language arts class has specials on the following days.

Monday 8:00-9:30 Music followed by IMC
Tuesday 8:00-8:45 PE
Wednesday 8:00-8:45 Computer Lab
Thursday 8:00-8:45 Music
Friday 8:00-8:45 PE

Also if you could shoot me an email so that I have a way to contact you that would be helpful.


Language Arts
Today we went to computer lab and worked on Study Island. Study Island is a great learning and game site that is aligned to Indiana Academic Standards.

We came back to class and used short vowel words (spelling skill) in sentences and reviewed upper case letters and ending punctuation in Grammar.

We visited for the first time with our first grade reading buddies. We will be spending 20-30 minutes each week reading with first graders.

We re-read The Case of the Missing Lunch with partners and started to answer the questions at the end of the story. We answered questions whole group today and stressed that all answers must be in complete sentences, answer the question and provide details and examples.

We had Vocab Vine. Today we reviewed the root tele (far away) and learned the root phono (sound, voice)

We also went over the reading project for the first nine weeks. Look in your child's take home folder for the paperwork.

No homework today.

Math
Today we talked about parallel lines and different ways to categorize polygons. We also did math boxes and the study link.

If your child did not complete math boxes 1.3 and 1.4 and study link 1.4, they will need to finish it for homework.

Science (My class today) Today we talked about what scientist do. (observe, measure, classify, predict and experiment) We discussed that we are scientist because we do those things. We also looked at different scientific accomplishments in history.

No homework.

Tuesday, May 11

Language Arts -
Today we had a strange schedule. We started our day with specials. The 5th graders are busy practicing for promotion. We then had some work time to get caught up with our written work for Island of the Blue Dolphins.

Floats are due tomorrow.

Math
Today we investigated circumference of circles. Tomorrow we move on to area. Study Link 10.8 and math boxes 10.8 are due tomorrow.

Health
Today we learned about the food pyramid and how we can eat a balanced meal. Lesson 3 check up is due tomorrow.

Magical Monday

I hope everyone had a marvelous Mother's Day!!!

Language Arts:
We did morning work based on our novel. We also started unit 2 in Vocabulary Vine. Our word parts this week include: loc (place), sign (mark), nat (born), cogn (know) and ped (foot). We also read and discussed the next section in our book.

We have many students who are redoing part of the novel study because they did not follow directions about complete sentences, cursive and using the vocabulary word in an original sentence.

Math
We reviewed how to read graphs and charts. We also took a pop quiz over unit 10 concepts. No homework tonight.

Health
Today we reviewed the different nutrients our bodies need. We also looked closer at proteins, vitamins, and minerals and how they help the body. We did worksheet 24 together in class. Students had worksheet 25 to do for homework.

Supplies Galore

Thank you for all of the wonderful school supplies. It was just what we needed as supplies are running low this close to the end of the year. Thank you again for your generosity.

Discovery shirt order forms. We need those order forms turned in tomorrow. PTO is ordering all 5th graders a Discover PE shirt for promotion. We need to know what size to get.

Language Arts
Penn Robotics came and did a very cool demonstration with their robot. They also passed out invitation to their summer camp. We worked for a little bit on our novel study work from yesterday. We went to music and gym.

Math
We worked on algabric expressions. If Michael is 2 inches taller than Sarah, than we can express that mathematically by saying S+2. Our homework was pages 349 and 353 as well as study link 10.3

Health
We took the chapter 3 test today.

What a Flowerful Day!

Thank you everyone for the beautiful flowers. They are so cheerful and bright! I really do appreciate them.

Language Arts
Today we started working on our last novel study. We are reading Island of the Blue Dolphins. Today we read chapters 1-3. We found many instances of similes, metaphors, and imagery. We also talked about the mood of the writing and how the author is building suspense. Homework tonight is to finish the imagery picture. Students may also work on questions 1-8 and the vocabulary for this section.

We also talked about prepositions. These are words that show relationships with other words. For example: around the bend, over the hill, and beside the stream.

Our vocabulary vine focus is on 5 roots. There will be a quiz on Friday. Aqua - water, bio - life, mater - mother, spec - to see, and gen - birth or beginning.

Math - Today we worked on double pan balance problems. The focus was figuring out one weight and the substituting that to figure out the other weight. In class we worked on pages 344-347. Homework is pages 348 and study link 10.2

Health - We reviewed for tomorrow's test. Then we went outside and began working on a project. The students are designing a fitness walk on the playground. They have a rubric for how their walk is going to be graded.

What a Wednesday!!

ISTEP is 2/3 over. Tomorrow we take our last two tests!

Language Arts - Today we took two language arts tests for ISTEP. We reviewed language arts skills, sorted spelling words, reviewed vocabulary and comprehension skills and reread the story.

Math - No math today due to ISTEP.

Health - Today we discussed the benefits of exercise. Lesson 5 check up was assigned.

Tarzan Tuesday

Tonight from 6:30-7:30 their is a parent/student orientation meeting at Discovery. The principals will be available for questions and you will have a chance to tour the school.

Last day for AR tests is Friday.

We didn't have language arts today. The students did have music and p.e.

Math: We took two ISTEP tests. We also did some review work.

Health: We learned about what it takes to be a smart health consumer.

Mad Hatter Monday

Good Afternoon! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It's our final ISTEP week of the school year. Students will be taking 6 tests over the next 3 days. It's very important that students do their personal best on these tests. You can help us out by making sure the students are well rested and eat a healthy breakfast tomorrow. We won't have homework this week, not even spelling words! Students may also bring gum to chew during the tests.

Language Arts
We began our last story in unit 5 today. That means that we will have a unit test on Monday of next week. Our story is The Gri Gri Tree. Our comprehension skills are asking questions and summarizing. Our vocabulary skill is root words. These are our vocabulary words: ventured, emerged, unreasonable, attraction, inquire, discussions, sprawled, and focused. Our grammar skill is comparing good and bad. (think good, better, best, bad, worse, worst)

Math
Today we corrected our unit 9 math tests and worked on a fraction, decimal, and conversion review. Tomorrow we ISTEP.

Health
Today we learned about how we see and hear. We also learned ways to keep our vision and hearing safe. We did activity sheets 18 and 19.

Tuesday's News

Good Afternoon,

Don't forget that camp forms are due on Friday.
Testing will continue for the next 3 weeks.
PTO Swim night is on Thursday at the high school from 7-9 pm.

Language Arts
We reviewed language arts skills. We also reviewed the Latin root phono which means sounds. We sorted spelling words by the prefix and reviewed this week's RIT words. (See below) We reread the story, "A Historic Journey" and looked for examples of cause and effect. We went to music and gym.

Math
We continued reviewing area of rectangles, triangles, and parallelograms. Homework is study link 9.6.

Health
We learned about the different nutrients our bodies need to be healthy. Activity Sheets 24 and 25 are homework if they don't get done at school.

Welcome Back!

I hope everyone had a great Spring Break! There is lots of things going on now that Spring has sprung.

Testing: We start our final rounds of testing this week. Look at the earlier blog posting to see our testing schedule fro 5th grade.

Camp: Camp paperwork and payment is due on Friday, April 16th.

Silver Mile Moves: Silver Mile Movers has been canceled for this week.

Language Arts
We got right back into our routine this morning. We reviewed language arts concepts and then had vocabulary vine/triumphs. We then took our spelling pretest for the week. Our focus is on prefixes. We then learned about comparative and superlative adjectives. Comparative adjectives compare 2 things and end with the suffix -er. Superlative adjectives compare more than 3 things and end with the suffix -est. Our day continued when we looked at our vocabulary words for the week: instill, combined, naturalist, vacant, and diverse. Our vocabulary skill is analogies. Our reading skill for the week is cause and effect. Our story is "A Historic Journey." Weekly homework was assigned and is due on Friday.

Weekly Rit words. Our focus this week is on point of view of stories:
First Person - The narrator is a character in the story
Omniscient - The narrator knows everything about the characters including thoughts and feelings of the characters.
third person - The narrator of the story is an observer of the story, not a participant.
Persona - A voice or character representing the speaker in a story
Point of View - The vantage point of the narrator from which the action is related.

Math
We continued looking at area of rectangles today. We added in areas of triangles and parallelograms. We learned two more formula: The area of a triangle is 1/2(base X height). The area of a parallelogram is base X height. Homework is studylink 9.5

Health
Today we began looking at nutrition. We learned how our digestive system works and what our bodies need to be healthy. Homework was Chapter 4 Lesson 1 check up.

Have a Great Spring Break!

Enjoy your week off!

Windy Wednesday

We went outside for part of health class. Wow, it's windy out there.

Language Arts -
We reviewed our Greek and Latin roots. We went over language arts concepts. We figured out which homophone works in certain sentences. We learned when we use colons and corrected some articles that were misused. We read our story with a partner and went to reading buddies. We talked about online encyclopedia entries, key words and hyperlinks. We wrote about what hybrid plant we would develop if we had the chance.

Tomorrow is our test day. Weekly homework is due tomorrow. We are also having a status update on our states project.

Math -
We took a quiz over coordinate grids. We began learning about how to find the area of a rectangle. Some of the shapes we looked at today were made up of different rectangles. That was a little challenging. Study link 9.4 is due tomorrow.

Health -
We went over our test from yesterday. We went outside and began designing a fitness walk.

SPRING TESTING SCHEDULE

Our Spring Testing Schedule

Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Suddarth, Mrs. Doms and Miss Grannan's Classes

Listed below are dates of our spring testing. Please make sure your child gets a peaceful night's sleep and eats a healthy breakfast prior to each testing session. Of course, we encourage your child to bring a healthy snack to school the day of each testing session. Chewing mint flavored gum during testing is a brain-researched strategy that we use so please feel free to supply your child with gum! Lastly, please encourage and "pump up " your child so personal best efforts are given during our testing sessions.

MAP Spring Testing

Wednesday, April 14 - Reading MAP 9:15-10:25 Suddarth

Thursday, April 15 - Reading MAP 8:05-9:10 Woods

Friday, April 16 - Reading MAP 9:15-10:25 Grannan

Tuesday, April 20 - Math MAP 8:05-9:05 Woods

Wednesday, April 21 - Math MAP 8:05-9:10 Grannan

Friday, April 23 - Math MAP 8:05-9:10 Suddarth

Tuesday, April 13 - Reading MAP 9:15-10:25 Doms

Thursday, April 22 - Math MAP, 8:05-9:10 Doms

Fifth Grade ISTEP

Tuesday, April 27

8:15-9:00 Session 1 Math

11:05-11:50 Session 2 Math

Wednesday, April 28

8:05-9:00 Session 3 E/LA

11:00-11:50 Session 4 E/LA

Thursday, April 29

8:05-8:50 Session 5 Social Studies

11:05-11:45 Session 6 Social Studies

Monday

I hope everyone had a great weekend.

Language Arts.
We reviewed language arts skills. We had vocabulary vine today and learned about different Greek and Latin roots that mean run: curr, curs, and cours. We didn't take a spelling pretest today. Instead everyone will be learning the O list.

Our story for the week is a fantasy called Westlandia. It is about a boy, Wesley, who develops a whole civilization based on a plant. Our comprehension skill is characterization (figuring out a character based on their actions and words). Our vocabulary includes shortage, bedlam, outcast, reflected, strategy, civilization, traditional, and complex. We are looking at word parts this week. Our grammar skill is different types of adjectives.

There is weekly homework this week. All tests will be on Thursday instead of Friday.

Published books are due on Wednesday. Published book orders are due tomorrow. Please send in an order even if you don't intend to buy. Just check no at the bottom of the sheet and sign it. If you do order books don't forget to add money for shipping and handling.

Math
Today we continued to review coordinate grids. Homework is study link 9.2

Health
Today we reviewed for tomorrow's health test.

Thorough Thursday!

Good Afternoon!

Language Arts:
Today we reviewed language arts skills. We reviewed bi and du means two during vocabulary vine. (test over this tomorrow) We reviewed prefixes, suffixes, root words, the soft g sound and primary sources. We went to music and gym.

Math:
We reviewed what we knew about coordinate grids and played a coordinate grid game called Hidden Treasure. Study Link 9.1 is homework.

Health: We learned why exercise is good for you! Test over chapter 3 will be next Tuesday.

Wednesday's News

Camp permission slips went home yesterday. They are due on April 16th. We are currently looking for a qualified medical person to be our nurse/go to person at camp. Please contact me if you are interested.

Language Arts
Today we worked on problem and solution. We also reviewed language arts skills and worked on our spelling. We visited with our reading buddies and worked on our published books.

Students are bringing home a published book order form tonight. If you wish to order please don't forget to include shipping and handling. If you don't wish to order extra copies, just check the no box on the bottom of the order form, sign it and send it back to school.

Math
We took the unit 8 test today.

Health
We learned why exercising is good for our respiratory and circulatory systems. We went outside to start planning our exercise walks.

March Monday

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

Don't forget that our parents are invited to a meeting with Mrs. Harper and other Discovery principals today at 7:00. The meeting will take place at Northpoint.

Language Arts
Today we started Unit 5. Our story is nonfiction. It is called the Spirit of Endurance. It tells the story of a ship and crew in Antarctica in the early 1900s. Our comprehension skill is problems and solutions. The crew faced many hardships after their boat fell apart. They did many things to solver their problems. Our vocabulary skill is word parts. Knowing the root, prefix, and suffix of a word can help us figure out what unfamiliar words mean. Our vocabulary words are frigid, treacherous, triumph, uninhabited, expedition, dismantled, and abandon. We also took our unit 4 test today and we visited the IMC. Many students found books on their states.

We also have RIT words this week:
Exposition - The background knowledge that an author gives you.
Object pronoun - The pronoun that receives the action of the subject. My parents waited to pick me up after school.
Primary Source - Something that was created by the person being researched. Or created at the same time as something being researched. For example: The Gettysburg Address is a primary source for someone researching Abraham Lincoln.
Theme - The overall message of a written work. It may also contain a life lesson.
Tragedy - A story with a sad ending or a great loss.

Math
Today we began reviewing for our chapter 8 test on Wednesday. Tomorrow we will continue to review. Problem of the week came home today. The strategy is guess and check. The key is to write down how many customers each cashier had in relation to Chuck. Add up those totals and see how close to 97 it is. Then adjust your guess for Chuck. POW is due on Friday.

Health
Today we read about eyes and ears. We learned how they work and how to protect them. We also did two worksheets. It looks like the test for health will be next Tuesday.

Thursday

Don't forget about Galaxy Gallery tonight from 5:30-7:30.

Language Arts
We reviewed language arts skills. We also reviewed the use of possessive and contraction homophones: your, you're, their, they're, it's and its. We talked about fables, metaphors, and morals. We discussed the author's purpose in writing Catch of the Day. We decided that it was to entertain us and also to educate us. We went to music and to PE.

Math
We continued to practice finding a whole number when we are given a fraction or a percent. For example: Grandma baked cookies. 21 of them were oatmeal raisin. The oatmeal raisin were 3/5 of the cookies she baked. What was the total number of cookies? We figured out that you divide by the numerator (21 divided by 3) and then multiply by the denominator (7*5) The answer is the whole number (35). No homework tonight. The test will be next Wednesday.

Health
Homeroom came back for health today. Our current chapter deals with keeping fit and healthy. Homework tonight is to make a poster that promotes sunscreen. It must have a healthy message.

Monday's News

I hope everyone had a restful weekend.

The Discovery principals and a few 6th grade students came to visit us today. The told us all about Discovery. There is a yellow packet coming home today with a ton of information in it. Please go over this information with your child. The first page is your enrollment form. This must be returned to me by Friday, March 26th.

Language Arts:
Today we reviewed language arts skills and took our spelling pretest. We went to the book fair. We finished up almost all of our reading projects. We do have weekly homework this week.

Math:
We talked about finding the percent of a whole number. The easiest way to do this is to change the percent into a fraction or decimal and then multiply. Homework is study link 8.9. Problem of the week also went home today. This week's skill is to look for a pattern.

Science:
We took our final test over rocks and minerals.

Art Smart:
We have art smart on Wednesday. We will be painting bottles. The paint will not come off clothing! Wear old clothes.

Wednesday's News and Notes

Language Arts
Today we reviewed language arts skills. We went over the definitions of our spelling words and reviewed possessive pronouns. We also discussed when it was appropriate to use hyphens. We read more or our story "Hurricanes." We visited with our reading buddies and worked on typing our published books.

Math
We reviewed how to multiply fractions. We took a quiz. I didn't count the quiz as a grade because it was evident that many of us need more practice. Some things to remember: always put mixed numbers into improper fractions, use the cross canceling method to make reducing easier. There will be a quiz tomorrow that looks just like the one they did today. They should have the quiz to review.

Art
We did the school-wide art project today.

Don't forget the science test will be on Monday. Keep reviewing.

Terrific Tuesday

Language Arts
We sorted our spelling words by endings. We also reviewed our vocabulary words and our comprehension skill. We began reading our story. We went to music and PE.

Math
Today we learned to multiply mixed numbers. The key is to turn mixed numbers into improper fractions.

Science
Today we applied all the different tests to figure out what minerals were in a piece of granite. The test will be next Monday!!!

What a beautiful Monday!

I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend. It has been a busy day here at Northpoint.....

Language Arts
We watched a video of coming attractions today. The book fair opens a week from today in the IMC. It looks like they will have a lot of great books this year. Students will visit the book fair during their regular IMC time. So my class will need to be prepared on Monday. The book fair is open after school all next week as well.

We spent part of the morning taking last week's assessments. We also took a pretest over this week's words in spelling, discussed the use of possessive pronouns in grammar. We introduced this week's vocabulary words: damages, atmosphere, property, destruction, available, hurricanes, contact, and surge. We listened to the story on on CD. This week's comprehension skill is analyzing text structure. The story describes hurricanes and uses time order words to organized the text.

We went to IMC.

Math
Today we talked about multiplying fractions. All we have to multiply the numerators and multiply the denominators. Sometimes we have to reduce or simplify the answer. Our homework is study link 8.6 and8.7 (Don't do problems 1-3 on 8.6) Study links are due tomorrow. Problem of the Week was also assigned for this week. It is due on Friday. The key to the Problem of the Week it so make a list of all the possible combinations. It also helps to make the list in order. Start with the biggest coins and work toward the smallest coins.

Science
Today we confirmed that calcite was present in marble and limestone. We did this by looking at the residue that was left in the evaporation dishes after the vinegar was evaporated out. Our science test will be next Monday. Students have notes from each investigation. They should be reviewing those notes daily.

Working Wednesday!

Good afternoon,
Language Arts
We took another ISTEP test this morning. We had to read a story and answer questions. We also had a smaller writing prompt.
We finished up our I love to Read Challenge raffle. Congratulations to all our winners. I think our readers were the real winners! We visited with our reading buddies and worked on grammar and spelling. We also began a creative writing assignment about characters.

Math
Today we worked on comparing fractions and mixed numbers. We also worked on figuring out a fraction of a number. Hint: Divide the number by the denominator and then multiply your answer by the numerator (4/5 of 20 = 16)

Science
We continued working on our Calcite Quest. We are going to look for further evidence by evaporating out the vinegar and seeing what is left in each of the dishes. We also hava control group of calcite and of vinegar.