Skill Review Friday

• Started the day reviewing the take home practice test from GoMath books.  After discussing all the problems, checking for misunderstandings, we moved desks around so students could do assessments.
• Unit 1 Math Test - 25 multiple choice questions (Scores are already on Teacherease!)
• Unit 1 Math Performance Task - One Task, show your work and explain
• Writing - The focus today was words that fourth graders should know how to spell.  We went over the list.  I gave them a copy to put in their writing folder for future use.  We talked about how I am seeing lazy writers who are not capitalizing names and places.  Writers who are not being focused or worrying about neatness.  If a name is in the title, and you misspell it right below the title, there is a problem.  We finished reading Dear Mr. Henshaw.  We will review it and take our AR Test on the book on Monday.
• Reading - Ms. Montalvo, the reading coach, did a workshop with the kids using Time For Kids as the guided reading lesson for the day.  The students got to read about looking for a new Supreme Court Judge, a proposed Mission to the Moon, and even about kids and games.  They watched on online video, read together, and worked on some skills.
• The students ended the day with Mr. Hoffman in Gym.

Homework

1. Reading Log 
2. 9 students have Math Reteach packets to do - We will review Monday and take another Unit Test because they didn't study for the first one!
3. Parents - Check Teacherease for student grades!

Slowly Seeing Progress - So We Did Recess Today!

Subtraction using bar model 

addition using bar model

Thursday, September 27th

• While the students ate breakfast in the classroom, we went over page 3 of their ELA homework packet and read the story they will be using tonight for their assessment.  
• Our focus today in Reading TC 3.9 was predicting as we read.  We discussed how we don't just make guesses... we use what we have learned, go back to what we already know, and even take into account what we know about the structure of stories to make educated guesses.  Then we read to make sure those guesses are correct.  We practiced this skill as we read Chapters 3 and 4 of Stone Fox.  We also started talking about how authors are able to make you feel a certain way about characters based on how they "SHOW" them.  Students were then asked to make predictions in their reading and add comprehension post its as they read on a higher level.

• Today the kids had ART with Ms. Arbelo.  They finished one project and started working on another project that relates to our book "Stone Fox".
• Math was all about the Chapter 1 review.  We went over section 1.8's homework and made sure students understood all the questions.  Then we talked about the 4 page, end of unit practice test that they would work on for homework.  We spent the rest of the math block going over review items from each of the sections that would be on the test.  These pages went into their math folders so they could use them to work their practice test.

• The kids did such a good job today I picked them up 25 minutes early and we went out to recess on the third floor playground.
• In writing, we focused on how making plans and setting goals can help a writer.  This means you don't just write, you think about it and plan your work.  In our case, we will use our writers checklist and rubrics to make sure we are including all the elements that we need when writing.  This connected to what we read in Dear Mr. Henshaw.  He had a writing project due in 24 hours and he hadn't made a plan.  In turn, instead of winning he only got honorable mention.  Writing is about planning, writing, checking, rewriting, and making it better each time you rethink and visit it.  We read until we had just enough of the book left to finish tomorrow.We used what we learned in reading to make predictions on how Dear Mr. Henshaw will end.
• In science we reviewed the differences between an animal cell and a plant cell.  Tomorrow we will use the model to color and label an animal cell.

Homework:

• Math: 
• End of Chapter Test (Math Unit Test and Performance Task Tomorrow)
• ELA: 
• Read Text in ELA packet, answer multiple choice and short response questions for grade
• Reading: 
• Reading Log (Practice comprehension and predicting post it notes)

Wednesday, September 26

• Math
• After checking homework, we moved into the last lesson in the GOMath for chapter 1.  The focus on Lesson 1.8 was working addition and subtraction math problems with large numbers.  Thursday is review and Friday is the unit test and performance task.  If you have time to review, go to the following link: Chapter 1 Review on Khan Academy  Homework is the 1.8 homework page.
• ELA
• Our focus today was reading closely to see how authors "paint pictures" or "give you facts" when they write.  When they paint a picture, you actually create a movie in your head of what is happening. We read chapter 2 of Stone Fox and stopped to say... "This did created a picture, or was the author just trying to move the story forward by giving you information.  After finishing chapter 2, students went to their independent books to read.  They were asked to find a "movie" in their book and a place where the author just shared information to move the story.  Tonight for homework they have to read their IR books and find 2-3 places where the author creates a movie and to sketch what the movie looked like on post it notes.
• Writing
• Today's focus was learning to "show" the picture, not "TELL" when writing.  We read more of  Dear Mr. Henshaw and pointed out places where the author did a great job SHOWING what was happening.  

Great Example of SHOWING

• Social Studies:
• Continuing our introduction to our unit on Geography with a focus on New York City and New York, we took a look at what makes the city great and then three different vacation spots in New York.  The students were put into groups of three and given three different cards to study.  We ran out of time, but tomorrow they will compare these cards to New York City to see what they have in common and how different they are to highlight that New York State is a diverse place in terms of both land and people.

Homework

• Math 

• Lesson 1.8 GoMath Homework

• ELA Packet

• ReRead page 12

• Answer thinking questions page 15

• First Read article for Tomorrow's homework

• Reading Log

• Read for 30 - 40 minutes with a focus of looking for "MOVIES" in your text.  Use Sticky notes to sketch 2-3 different movies you see in your reading.  Remember to do comprehension sticky notes at the end of each chapter.  Many students have still not taken a AR test in September.  I will be sending home letters on Friday for students who are not reading and taking AR tests.  One of our classmates has already read and passed five books.  

Tuesday, September 25th

• The day started with Music in the auditorium with Ms. Young.
• Then we had a quick trip to the library so students could check out and return books.  I noticed a lot of kids returned books but only a handful have taken online AR tests for the books.  
• Pick out a Book, Take it Home to Read, Take Test at School, Return, Pick a New Book
• ELA:

• We started by going over the ELA packet and day 1 homework.  We read the text together and then answered the summary and vocab questions.  Next, we started our Chapter Book "STONE FOX".  Our learning target today was focusing on what is comprehension and how do we show it.  WE read all of chapter 1 and part of chapter 2.  Students worked on WHO the section was about, WHAT or WHY they were doing what they were doing, and IS IT CONNECTED or IS IT NEW to what they were already reading.  We practiced with Stone Fox and then students did independent practice when they were doing independent reading.  They had to stop after each chapter and write a comprehension sticky note.  Tonight when they read, please ask them to see their end of chapter sticky notes.
• Math 
• We went over the homework from last night.  Students seem to be getting the estimating to check if your answer is reasonable.  Then we moved into subtracting large numbers.  WOW!  Parents - do me a huge favor - please make sure you are checking in with your students during math.  More than half the class didn't remember how to subtract correctly across zero's or were reversing the order of subtraction instead of regrouping.  We spent a LONG time on math today trying to refocus and stomp out these misunderstandings.  Today we estimated with subtraction as well as just subtracted large numbers and then checked our subtraction with addition.  Here is a video to help you remember the skill:  Subtracting large numbers with regrouping
• Writing:
• We focused today on "what to do if you get stuck and don't know what to write?"  Some ideas were think about the character, draw a sketch of the setting, set goals, look at other examples, look at charts in the room.... these are all great ideas of what to do if you get stuck when writing.   We read pages 90-98 in Dear Mr. Henshaw and made connections with our comprehension focus in reading and getting stuck with writing which is what is happening to the main character in Dear Mr. Henshaw as he is writing a story for a contest.
• Social Studies:
• What is geography was the theme of the day.  Geography is the study of people and places.  We read the first section of our Social Studies book to get some basic information before our first learning task.  

Homework:

1. GoMath pages 47-48
1. PLEASE CHECK TO SEE IF YOUR CHILD IS SUBTRACTING CORRECTLY
2. ELA Packet 
1. Read the text again on page 12
2. Answer the RIGHT THERE questions on page 14
3. Reading Log
1. Read your IR book for 30 minutes
2. Use sticky notes to show comprehension as you read
3. Fill out reading log

Monday, September 24th

• Math lesson 1.6 was the focus today.  We did addition with estimation to see if answers were reasonable.  Since rounding is still an issue for some students, I encourage you to check homework and work with your child if you see any misunderstandings.  It is easier to learn something than it is to UNlearn something.  Doing problems wrong will just make it worse.  Here is a video to refresh your understanding of rounding : Rounding To Nearest Thousand Video
• Reading TC Lesson 3.6 was our focus yesterday.  We learned the power of a partner when reading to check in on your progress, make suggestions, keep you accountable for reading on a daily basis, and just having someone to talk to about your book.  I encourage you to be your child's partner in reading at home.  Ask them what they are reading.  Check their reading log.  Read with them, to them...  While students were doing independent reading I was doing running records with students.
• In writing we read more of Dear Mr. Henshaw.  We are all the way up to page 86 now.  The students are really enjoying the book and I think starting to understand the difference between internal and external with characters.  After reading they were given more time to work on their characters, but today's focus was thinking of a problem/situation that their character had to face and write the scene of them facing the problem and what happened.  They had to use what they know about their character to have them face the problem and react to it.
• We ended the day looking at our social studies book and discussing the units that we would be covering!

Homework:

• Math Lesson 1.6 pages 41-42
• ELA packet 
• The pages were copied out of order
• Read page 12 (text)
• Do page 13 (summary and vocab)
• Reading Log - 30 minutes of reading

Friday, September 21

Fun Friday has begun....

• In math we started the morning with problem of the day.  After discussing the answer and ways to solve it, students went to their seats and worked on the Mid-Chapter Checkup.  We went over each question to make sure that they understood what we have covered in lessons 1-4 of chapter 1.
• We then did Guided Friday with stations.  One station they worked on a review page of the lessons we covered.  The next station they worked on a task as a group.  The next station they took a Friday quiz from the first 4 sections.  And the last station was with me and we went over anything they didn't understand so far.  The big issues I am seeing are ROUNDING and recognizing place value.
• Next we did Writing through Dear Mr. Henshaw.  We read up to page 62 and then discussed characters.  We talked about INTERNAL and EXTERNAL character traits.  Their writing assignment was to start developing their character by picking the external characteristics of their character and the internal (how they are feeling and why).  
• After finishing writing, Mr. Nunez and Ms. Young walked them through Guided Friday in ELA.  They read a text together on KING LEAR (4th grade version of course) and then answered questions on parts of a story and the characters.  The focus was to continue to read like the text was gold (read with enthusiasm) as well as reading closely to answer questions.
• For science, Mr. A walked them through the first section of the science book on cells.
• Due to CPR training, gym was cancelled but they got Mr. A and he did my Cell mixed with some of his HEALTH class.

Homework

• Reading Log 
• Study any math you don't understand

Thursday, September 20th

• While students had breakfast in the classroom, we went over the homework in the ELA packet from last night.  We also did the next section together (the thinking questions) since it was our first time and they had yesterday off.  Tonight they read the last story, answer the 6 questions, and give me one super paragraph answering the reading prompt.
• Reading
• Today's focus in reading was how do we locate, read, and share "GREAT BOOKS" with our classmates.  We talked about different ways, went over a list and then decided today that when they finished reading a great book, they would write a quick review on a sticky note and place it inside the front cover to share with others.  We broke for Independent Reading - while they read and quizzed, I pulled three different students to do running records on to check reading level, fluency, and comprehension. 
• ART - during art, we had our second fire drill and the school all exited the building in just 4 minutes!  Way to go!  They are working on a pretty neat art project from what I saw when I picked them up.
• Math
• After doing the problem of the day (a comparing word problem), we went over the homework.   Then we discussed how numbers can have different names based on place value.  We used base ten cubes and flats to look at different ways to say numbers...
• 2000 can be 2 thousand or 20 hundreds, or 200 tens, or 2000 ones... all dependeing on the place value you associate with the number.  Each place value move is a multiple of 10.  After working problems and practice, we wrapped up and looked at the homework.

• Writing
• We started writing by reading Dear Mr. Henshaw.  We read from pages 54 - 64 and then moved into Teacher's College Writing lesson 4.3.  Our focus today was to learn how to put thoughts about your characters down on paper to help you develop your story.  After reading students came up with a story they thought of last session, and today they started to develop the character.

• Science
• Introduced the themes for the science and started looking at Chapter 1 in our science book.  We are starting with Kingdoms of Life and will move into ecosystems.  I love this unit!

Homework

1. ELA Packet
1. Read last text, answer multiple choice questions and write a super paragraph short response
2. Math:
1. GoMath pages 35-36 to practice rounding
3. Reading:
1. Read for 30 minutes, log your reading, and doing first RRJ (will be checked Thursday)

Sample RRJ

Tuesday, September 18th

• The students started the day with Ms. Young in Music.
• Ms. Sestak, the Librarian, has arranged for us to come up to the library for 15/20 minutes on Tuesday after Music so they can return and check out books.  We don't have library on our schedule, so we are very appreciative that she fit us in her open period.  THANK YOU!
• Our reading lesson today was TC 3.4 and it focused on how do we monitor our reading progress.  We talked about different ways like checking our reading log, taking AR tests, talking to our friends about our books, keeping track of books we made higher than an 85% on AR.  We even looked at reading logs to see if we can see patterns like when we read, where we read, how much... I met with 1/3 of the class to check their reading logs and to listen to them read to make sure they had "just right"books.  

• Math we reviewed our homework.  We went step by step on comparing numbers.  Look and see if they have the same number of digits... if one has more digits, it is bigger.  IF they have the same number of digits, then you start with the highest place value (numbers on left) and you compare one place value at a time until you find a difference.   Then you can decide which number is < or >,  If all the numbers are the same then they are =.

• Then we did today's lesson - GoMath 1.4 which was rounding numbers up to 100,000.   We spent a great amount of time going over the steps and even played a game.  I put different 6 digit numbers on the board and teams used their dry erase boards to try and round to the place value I underlined.  It took a lot of practice, but I can see they are starting to get it.  If you need a refresher, he is a great video to watch to help:  https://www.khanacademy.org/

• We ended the day with reading Dear Mr. Henshaw pages 39- 48.  Then we did lesson TCW 4.3 with a focus on picking a character to write about and writing down information about them.  They had reminders of what kinds of things to write about their character to get them started.

Homework:

1. ELA Packet
1. Read text for 2nd time, answer page 2 questions (will be checked in class)
2. Math:
1. GoMath pages 27-28 to practice rounding
3. Reading:
1. Read for 30 minutes, log your reading, and doing first RRJ (will be checked Thursday)

Monday, September 17th

• Our first Monday of the school year... students started the day with Mr. Nunez in Dance.
• Math Block
• We went over the math homework and checked for misunderstandings.  Then we moved into lesson GoMath 1.3 which was comparing and ordering numbers.  After doing our mini-lesson, we worked several problems together before students went off on their own to work.  We came back together to check our work and share answers.  
• 

• Next we worked on setting up our portfolios for ELA and Math.  We started by going into our 3rd grade portfolios and pulling out one best sample of math and one best sample of writing.  Then we looked at last years work to see what goals we wanted to make to improve on our work from 3rd grade.  We added our new reading and math levels to start the year and filed our portfolios for easy access.
• CGI - We set up our CGI notebook and went over the different types of questions.  Then we looked at our first CGI question and worked it out and then figured out what kind of question it was.  We will be going back and forth between CGI and Number Talks.
• Reading Block

• Today we did Lesson 3.3 in Launching Reading Workshop.  Our focus today was "JUST RIGHT" books.  We went over how to pick out just right books by looking at how you read, how many words you don't know, how you sound when you read aloud.... then we practiced together with volunteers and then with buddies.  Afterward, students picked out new books and we started our reading baggies.
• Writing Block:
• We continued reading Dear Mr. Henshaw. (pg 30-38)  We then did TC Writing lesson 4.2 about setting the stage for writing by thinking of ideas for writing.  What would you like to see more things written about?  What do you know a lot about that you could share with others?  What experiences have you encountered that might help others by writing about? What can you add?   From there, we looked at what the character in the story we were reading might want to right about .... "His father being so far away"  "His father not calling him often"  "Someone stealing from his lunch"... these are things that character knows about and can write about easily.  
• We started talking about our nightly reading response and I modeled one based on what we did in class.  Tomorrow we will model another one and then students will write their first Reading Response in their RRJ.

Homework

• Math - Go Math Pages 21-22
• Reading - Read for 30 minutes and fill out Reading Log
• ELA - ELA Packet - Read Text answer Page 1

Friday September 14

We have been busy learning rituals and routines, and I can say that today was the first day I can see that things are starting to come together.  We did our first group work activity.  We didn't have as many interruptions with talking.  Two things we are working on right now that I would like for you to reinforce at home:

Staying focused and completing your work

There is a time to talk, and a time to listen

We are wasting a lot of time waiting for people to stop talking and repeating instructions because students are not listening.  Summer is over :-(   It is time to get back in the swing of things and LEARN!

• Math Review
• Today we went over the math homework and made sure that all questions were answered.  Then we discussed our Math STAR results and math groups.  Finally, we broke into groups and did our guided math review.  Students switched centers every 10 minutes and were able to self check and peer review their work.
• We were interrupted with our first Fire Drill, but we made it out safe and everyone was accounted for.
• Writing
• Students buddied up and shared their writing entries from last nights homework.  Then we read the next 10 pages of Dear Mr. Henshaw which gave way to the next writing assignment, 6 more questions to answer about "yourself".  This is a great book that shows how to do entries in journals and in answering the questions, it helps me get to know the students.
• Students worked on their Writing Benchmark Assessment.  They had to pick ONE moment from summer and write me a narrative that focuses on why that moment was memorable and tell me the story from the beginning, the middle, to the end. 
• Reading
• We looked at the reading strategies we came up with on how to be a successful reader (student).  Students then wrote down 3 ways to be successful and three goals they have for 2018-2019.  We talked about making reading "Like Gold" and then went over the reading results from our STAR READING and what the reading groups looked like.  Students then had time to silently read and fill out their reading logs.

Homework:

1. Math Review - Take Home Test (double sided) from Friday Skill Review
2. Writing Notebook - Questions 5-10 from Dear Mr. Henshaw
3. Reading Log - Read for 20 minutes and fill out log

Thursday - September 13th

• Reading:
• Today was a busy "business" day.  We took our STAR Reading Test and scores will be posted tomorrow. Make sure to ask your little ones what their reading level is.  We also finished writing our Winter Wishes letters so they can be turned in and checked over before the 21st deadline.
• Math:
• We checked homework and then moved into lesson 1.2 which is all about representing numbers up to 100,000 in different forms.  We worked with standard form, expanded form, and written form.  We  had to slow down because the kiddos didn't seem to remember what they learned last year.  We will keep working on this skill through the unit.  Some helpful things to remember are below: (click on poster to enlarge)

                 

            

                          

• Writing:
• We continued reading our text for writing "Dear Mr. Henshaw".  In the text today we saw the main character answering some questions Mr. Henshaw asked of him.  We studied this responses and discussed how the answers were full of details and description and full. 
• We started our Writing Notebook today.  (Some students haven't brought supplies yet, so they had to use loose leaf paper).  We went over how to head our paper and wrote down the four questions they have to answer tonight for writing.  These are the same questions our character Leigh Botts answered today, so they have to try and have a lot of details and descriptions and write full responses to each question.. not just an answer.  They have to RESPOND.
• Organization:
• We spent the end of the day talking about setting ourselves up to be productive students.  We wrote down homework in our homework notebook or planner (some kids didn't have one)... I checked to make sure everyone wrote down homework and that they had all the books and folders they needed in their backpacks.  We are going to have to buckle down and start focusing on learning!  SETTING YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS!

Homework:

1. Math - GoMath Pages 15-16
2. Reading - Read 20 minutes and fill out Reading Log
3. Writing - Questions 1-4 in writing notebook from Dear Mr. Henshaw
4. All About Me Poster Project - Several students didn't finish project from weekend

Online Book Orders

Welcome Back Wednesday!

• What a busy day!  The students started the day by taking the STAR Math assessment test on the computers.  Then we did our first Math Journal entry and Problem of the day and put our vocabulary words in for this math unit.
• Next we did lesson 1.1 in GoMath.  We did the interactive lesson online and then moved to the document camera and worked the WE DO problems together before they did the YOU DO problems on their own.  We checked work and they looked at their homework in the GoMath Books - Pages 9 and 10.
• We had Gym today with Mr. Hoffman.  We will see him Wednesdays 4th period and Friday 7th period.
• We started reading our novel for Writing called "Dear Mr. Henshaw".  We did a mind look at the pictures to realize that we already know a lot about the book by looking at the cover illustrations and made a bunch of predictions.  As we read pages 1-11, we were able to check some of our predictions and make some new ones.
• After lunch, we talked about building a powerful reading life and what it means to set yourself up for success when you read.  After the discussion, we passed out reading logs and made goals for being a successful reader.  Next week we will add Reading Response Journals to our reading routine so make sure all supplies are in.
• We ended the day talking about our writing beginning of the year benchmark and what they will be asked to do over the next couple of days. 

Homework:

• GoMath pgs 9-10
• Reading - Successful Reader at Home (Reading Log)

Welcome to 4th Grade

Today was our first day!  It was a paper work, get to know you first day!  We will be doing some fun activities this week, as well as starting our pre-assessments and working on rituals and routines.  We will also be starting our first class novel. 

Stone Fox is a great realistic fiction novel.  We will be using that for Reading instruction. 

We will also be starting another novel for writing called "Dear Mr. Henshaw".  This is a great book to start with because it models writing friendly letters as well as journals.  I know the students will love it just as much as I do!  I am excited to start a new year and look forward to meeting you all on Monday, September 17th for open school night.