Brooks' Blog

Happy after Spring Break! We are picking up speed as we roll to the CRCT. Testing will begin on April 18th and finish April 24th. Please make sure your child has breakfast either at home or eats here at school during testing. We are also asking that you send a protein rich snack during testing. Peanut butter crackers and cheese crackers are quick easy snacks.

We also ask that they children continue to practice multiplication facts at home either on myskillstutor.com, studyisland.com or multiplication.com. We are seeing a struggle with recalling the facts during our division work. Multiplication is a HUGE part of fourth grade so they need a firm grasp of the facts before next year.

Here is the Solution Squad question for February 7th. When you complete the question write your full name and Mrs. Sausville's homeroom on your paper. You turn them in at the library.

Marcy has a piece of rope that is 340 cm long. She needs to cut it into smaller pieces that are each 17 cm long. How many pieces can she make?

Here is the Measuring Penny project in case you misplace the copy sent home. Actual due date is February 13th (gives you the weekend to work on it).

Measuring Project due on
Friday, February 10th

We have just finished reading the picture book
Measuring Penny’s World …
It is now time for YOU to investigate the concept of measuring with something you want to explore!

Step 1 Pick something that you want to measure. You may choose a living or non-living object. (Except for a fish, which is our example.)

Step 2 Take measurements of your object.
Include at least 6 different measurements.
Two (2) measurements must be with non-standard units.
Non-standard units of measure can be anything that is not typically used to measure (crayons, leash) or anything that varies (an actual foot, an arm’s length).
Four (4) measurements must be with standard units.
Standard units of measure include U.S. Customary measures: inch, foot, yard, mile, pound, ounce, teaspoon, cup, pint, quart, gallon, etc. AND Metric measures: centimeter, millimeters, meter, kilometer, milligrams, grams, kilograms, liters, etc.

Step 3 Complete attached worksheet and create a poster, power point, or three-dimensional model with labels including the measurements you have taken.

Here is an example… I want to measure my goldfish, Goldie. I decide to measure her length with mini M&Ms from nose to tail. I compare her length to other fish (bigger than a guppie, smaller than an angel fish). I measure the distance she swims in a set time. I measure how much food I feed her in a day, a week, a month, a year. I measure how much water is in the bowl. I tell how old she is. (The first two measurements are non-standard, the last four are standard) Then, I make a poster I write the type of measurement, the measurement itself, and either draw a picture or include a photo. My project is complete. (You can complete the attached worksheet).

Think creatively about what you want to measure, all the ways you can measure it, and how you can share your measurements! 

NAME:_______________________________

I measured_________________________.

Nonstandard measurements (paperclips, dog bones, etc.):

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

Standard measurements (inches, feet, yards, cm)

1._________________________________

2._________________________________

3._________________________________

4._________________________________

Here is the Solution Squad question for February 7th. When you complete the question write your full name and Mrs. Sausville's homeroom on your paper. You turn them in at the library.

Marcy has a piece of rope that is 340 cm long. She needs to cut it into smaller pieces that are each 17 cm long. How many pieces can she make?

Here is the Measuring Penny project in case you misplace the copy sent home. Actual due date is February 13th (gives you the weekend to work on it).

Measuring Project due on
Friday, February 10th

We have just finished reading the picture book
Measuring Penny’s World …
It is now time for YOU to investigate the concept of measuring with something you want to explore!

Step 1 Pick something that you want to measure. You may choose a living or non-living object. (Except for a fish, which is our example.)

Step 2 Take measurements of your object.
Include at least 6 different measurements.
Two (2) measurements must be with non-standard units.
Non-standard units of measure can be anything that is not typically used to measure (crayons, leash) or anything that varies (an actual foot, an arm’s length).
Four (4) measurements must be with standard units.
Standard units of measure include U.S. Customary measures: inch, foot, yard, mile, pound, ounce, teaspoon, cup, pint, quart, gallon, etc. AND Metric measures: centimeter, millimeters, meter, kilometer, milligrams, grams, kilograms, liters, etc.

Step 3 Complete attached worksheet and create a poster, power point, or three-dimensional model with labels including the measurements you have taken.

Here is an example… I want to measure my goldfish, Goldie. I decide to measure her length with mini M&Ms from nose to tail. I compare her length to other fish (bigger than a guppie, smaller than an angel fish). I measure the distance she swims in a set time. I measure how much food I feed her in a day, a week, a month, a year. I measure how much water is in the bowl. I tell how old she is. (The first two measurements are non-standard, the last four are standard) Then, I make a poster I write the type of measurement, the measurement itself, and either draw a picture or include a photo. My project is complete. (You can complete the attached worksheet).

Think creatively about what you want to measure, all the ways you can measure it, and how you can share your measurements! 

NAME:_______________________________

I measured_________________________.

Nonstandard measurements (paperclips, dog bones, etc.):

1. ______________________________

2. ______________________________

Standard measurements (inches, feet, yards, cm)

1._________________________________

2._________________________________

3._________________________________

4._________________________________

We completed our Snowman Market project today with great success! Each student was able to be a shopper, sales clerk, and cashier. They had to use a budget to purchase the items for their snowman, be able to give correct change, and be able to count back change for purchases. They seemed to really enjoy the project, particularly today when they were able to customize their snowman and put him together!

On Wednesday February 8th we have a program about germs. Wellstar is coming to the room to teach the children how to prevent the spread of germs. The students will participate in an activity where they can "see" the germs on their hands. I think they are going to give the program two thumbs up!

2012!

We have returned and are back to our regular schedule. We have begun fractions and decimals in math with great success. Our Georgia animal reports are coming along nicely. I have learned facts about some of the animals right along with the children! Reading groups are back to the regular schedule. The smaller groups really seem to work well with the daily rotation of activities.

Calendar: 1/26 Puppet show regarding the environment
1/30 Class counseling lesson

Next week's schedule:

Tuesday 12/20 and Wednesday 12/21 students will take the post IMI mathematics test during math

Wednesday 12/21 The class party will begin at 11:50.

Thursday 12/22 Third grade sing along during specials.

The students have been studying about Frederick Douglass. The following link is for a website that discusses how slavery affected the south and has several interactive links for the students.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground_railroad/plantation

Don't forget to practice multiplication facts during the break. The children can go to www.multiplication.com and play interactive games that provide hands on practice.

Please have a restful and enjoyable holiday break!

One week to go!

One week until the Thanksgiving break. In this week we are going to continue with our response to literature in writing, we are currently responding to poetry. The children's choices of poems give such insight to their thoughts and personalities. I'm really enjoying reading their choices and their responses. Hopefully our book commercials will be finished and ready to be aired next week. I can't wait to see all the smiling faces on our morning news! In math we are will continue with mastering our multiplication facts and will be reviewing making change and elapsed time next week. Paul Revere will continue his ride in Social Studies. The children are very interested in his accomplishments and the events during his life.

Dates to remember:
November 14th- canned food drive ends. The competition between the boys and girls has been fierce! The boys have led the entire time but the girls are making a late comeback. To date, this class has donated over 200 items!!!

November 18th- performing arts during specials. If you haven't returned the signed permission form for performing arts please do so as soon as possible. We cannot allow the children to attend the performance without a signed form.

November 21-25 No school.

November 29th- Wellstar presentation on nutrition. If you haven't returned the permission form please do so as soon as possible.

Testing is Over

We made it through eight days of testing!  Next week we are back on our regular schedule. 

October 24th-28th is Parent Conference Week.  Students will be released two hours each day the entire week.  I hope to see all our parents during the week!

PICTURE DAY September 27th!

Field Trip October 4th. PLEASE return the permission form for your child this week if you haven't already done so. We cannot take them on the trip without written permission from a parent or guardian. The cost for the trip is $2.50.

We are beginning to discuss elapsed time. This is a difficult concept for a 7/8 year old child to comprehend. You can practice at home by discussing what time it is currently and what time you will be having dinner or when a favorite TV show comes on. Talk about how much time must pass before the show begins or you eat.

Students have the log in for myskillstutor.com in their agendas. This is a great website where they can go to practice their math facts. Speaking of math facts, we have a daily fact of the day (FoD) in their agenda. Each day this multiplication fact is written on the board. Every time a student writes their name on a paper they also write the FoD. At any time during the school day we may ask a student to give us the fact of the day. You can practice this at home, simply look at the daily fact and ask your child to give you the FoD. This is great reinforcement for multiplication fact recall.

Wow! Time flys when you're having fun. I can't believe We've already passed Labor Day.

We've been busy reviewing and learning new things in math. We are going to continue to work on addition, each week we are adding a new level of difficulty with daily review. This week we are adding the thousand place to our place value work. We will continue time to the five minute with an assessment on Friday. We are going to begin counting money to ninety-nine cents. We will do a baseline assessment for subtraction on Monday.

In reading we will participate in the whole group mini lesson before breaking into our small groups. Group one will work on a leveled non-fiction book and a fiction book within their reading range. We will meet on Monday and Wednesday with independent work on Tuesday and Thursday. Group two will work on a phonics program called Fundations on Tuesday and Thursday and will read a leveled book on Monday and Wednesday. On Fridays the entire class participate in various Reader's Theater productions.

We are currently working on producing a writing piece that reflects a time in the childrens' lives. They are in various stages of the writing process.

We are going to Mrs. Cook's class for social studies. We have talked about the Greeks and are beginning to discuss democracy and which type of democracy the United States government is based upon.