Week #5 Update!

The girls worked so hard this week, and we had a lot of fun as well! During Chapel on Wednesday, Mary Mitchell played Fur Elise by Beethoven! We were so proud of her and greeted her with hugs and cheers when she returned to the classroom!

On Thursday, we had our Big Sister/Little Sister Kick-off activity. The girls got into groups of 3-4 and wrote on index cards things all of their group members have in common. Then, they competed against the other groups to build the tallest card tower. The competition was fierce, and if I remember correctly, the winning group's tower measured over 30" tall! The girls had a great time getting to know each other. Click here for some additional pictures from that event.

In math, we spent Monday-Wednesday reviewing for the Unit 1 assessment. The assessment covered many challenging concepts, and the girls should be very proud of their hard work. A few girls are still in the process of completing their corrections, and then I will be averaging the two scores to get a final grade. I anticipate the girls will be bringing home their tests on Tuesday.

We finished Lab #1, and the Mystery Fourthie papers are displayed out in the hall. In preparation for our next Writing Lab, we discussed how to make our writing more colorful by using descriptive words. We looked at many examples of "Showing" versus "Telling" sentences and replaced boring words with more "exact" words. Then the girls read a sample paragraph and used a rubric to "grade" the paper. The beginning activity for Writing Lab #2 involved exploring a fun website, where we expanded a sentence to make it more detailed. Next, the girls will be choosing a picture to write about using descriptive language.

In History, we read about the Executive Branch and the girls impressed me with their thoughtful questions. We ran out of time and had to add some of our questions to the "Wonder Wall" to be answered next week!

We continued our class read aloud Fish in a Tree, and we are really enjoying this book! The girls practiced finding Imagery in the text individually, compared their answers in small groups, and then shared their ideas with the whole class. We will continue to learn about additional reading comprehension skills such as Text-Text, Text-World, and Text-Self connections next week.

Reminders and General Information

                                Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

*Atom project is due Friday, October 12th (The girls have a copy of the guidelines in their binders and another copy was sent home).

*Blessing of the Animals 10/1 @ 8:15 on The Green

* Lower School Garden Day is Friday, October 5th from 2:45-4:00

* Homework- Posted for family planning.

Special Week: Mary Michael

* Carpool Helpers- Paige (or another friend/Fourthie) will represent our class.

**We have decided to cancel our Parent Technology Night since attendance was going to be sparse. We want to keep everyone in the loop regarding our instructional technology practices in fourth grade. So be on the look out for weekly "How To" videos. 

Class Leadership Week of 10/1

Ambassadors/Flag Raisers- Abigail and Holt

Girls: Your blog question is...What day/time is the Lower School Garden Day? Post your answer here.

Week #4 Update!

What an eventful start to the week! Who would have thought we would be spending 3 hours in the MPR after school on Monday because of severe weather? The girls did very well under the circumstances, and it ended up being quite the bonding experience for all of us. Thank you for the notes of appreciation. It really meant a lot to me!

In math this week, we continued to talk about factors, multiples, prime and composite numbers. We played a fun dice game to review Order of Operations, and we learned about Divisibility Rules. These are helpful tricks we can use to find all of the factors of larger numbers. The Unit 1 assessment will be Thursday, September 27th.  I handed out general information sheets today to those girls who asked for more help with certain concepts. I recommend the girls flip back through their notes in their composition notebooks as well. I mentioned to the girls if they would like to work on extra practice problems, they can use their workbooks (or textbooks) and/or visit the following websites: Matholia, Learnzillion, and Math Antics. You will find links to these websites on the right hand side of my blog, and the girls have their login information in their binders. They don't need to login to Math Antics. We will continue to review for the test on Monday-Wednesday of next week. In addition, I introduced a Geometry project where the girls will be designing their own city. They will decide on a name for their construction company and city, and they will create a theme as well. The girls can't wait to get started!

In Language Arts, the girls worked on their "Mystery Fourthie" writing lab. We discussed how to "banish boring words" and to make sure to start each sentence in a unique way. We also talked about "hooking the reader" by using interesting words and phrases at the beginning of each piece of writing. They finally finished their Buncees for their summer reading book Because of Winn Dixie. Whew! You can find your daughters' Buncee in her Google Drive or click on the link below.

Ava Jane	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/04f92d8358614a1cb7176c680f43d457
Abigail	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/ccc691419d0c4c4288baf4b355bf848b
harper	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/19f2412f161d439ea86531777ab755e9
chloe	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/38bdbf3c8c484493a1d7ac59f094ddef
HOLT	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/dd61653f5e314eb5b821668dd027f718
Ryann	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/090f3e7428604d1aa87d1c9e1bb90874
Mary Michael Spiller	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/cb1f8a74f4c240bd91ac7902d24978c2
Maeve	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/e116795cd9444bd9a816aa86cfdacee8
serpell	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/3fc63b45e119400ab8ac976e8104969d
Elizabeth Thurmond	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/79801d24746a4a1d86ab8a17ab621f94
sophia	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/7b276881f02348edb54e992be6eaadf8
Ruthie	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/0941e5b1c40a424b9012c1d561a46933
Mary Mitchell	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/d9f7e55a15294b74832e76f246ea8f6f
Annabelle Mayer	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/5d6ceb000024412eb9f129f3bd97cf37
Sirena	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/e48ea32d9db34346811ed2ecebd8fc07
Julianna	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/8fa202735fbe4a269c9473da66d99c04
Paige	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/c84839fb3cd342259123b1547b489636
Grace	https://app.edu.buncee.com/buncee/61df5adfd0be425089a088d8e2d126c6

Also, the girls made great progress on their sketches for their paper dresses, and a few are ready to start painting. On Thursday, we began a novel study for a really great book called Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. The girls made predictions about what they thought the book was going to be about based on the interesting title. It turns out it's a story about a 5th grader named Ally who faces some pretty difficult challenges in life. That is all the girls know about the book so far. We practiced visualizing what was going on in the story by creating "Mind Movies". We discussed how authors use descriptive words to create pictures in our minds and this helps us to better understand what we are reading.

In History, we continued to explore the History4Fourthies website and the girls watched a BrainPop video on democracy. The vocabulary in the quiz proved to be quite challenging, so the quiz won't end up in the grade book.

To round out the week, we had a great Cluster Chapel this morning where the girls sang songs together and made new friends as they walked around The Green. We thought this would be a much better way to start the day rather than go back down to the MPR!

 Reminders and General Information

                                Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

*I sent home your daughter's papers today in a plastic folder. Please keep the papers at home and send back the folder on Monday.

*Mrs. Adkins would like to remind the girls that the Atom project is due Friday, October 12th (The girls have a copy of the guidelines in their binders and another copy was sent home).

*Conference sign-ups will go out on Monday- thanks for your patience!

*Blessing of the Animals 10/1 @ 8:15 on The Green

* Lower School Garden Day is Friday, October 5th from 2:45-4:00

* Homework- Posted for family planning.

Special Week: We don't have a Special Week girl next week.

* Carpool Helpers- Elizabeth Thurmond will represent our class.

**We have decided to cancel our Parent Technology Night since attendance was going to be sparse. We want to keep everyone in the loop regarding our instructional technology practices in fourth grade. So be on the look out for weekly "How To" videos. 

Class Leadership Week of 9/24

Ambassadors/Flag Raisers- Julianna and Chloe

Girls: Your blog question is...Name one math website you can visit to practice for the upcoming test? Post your answer here.

Week #3 Update

Congratulations Fourthies!

It's official! We had our "Hat Ceremony" on Monday, and the girls were so excited to receive their yellow hats. We discussed the responsibilities and privileges that come with being a Fourthie, and I'm confident these girls will be wonderful leaders of the Lower School.

We finished our class read aloud of the book The Hundred Dresses. The girls wrote a summary and then recorded a video in Flipgrid. Flipgrid is an engaging way to learn together and share ideas. The girls can access and view all of the videos through Google Classroom. If the girls forget the password, it can be found on the link to the assignment. Next week, the girls will be designing a life-size dress, and they will embed a virtue quote within the dress. We will be hanging the dresses in the hall for all of the girls in the Lower School to enjoy.

We started our first Writing Lab, which is titled "Mystery Fourthie". Writing labs are more formal writing assignments, which take place over several days, where the girls revise and edit their work. We will be covering the writing genres: Expository, Narrative, Descriptive, and Persuasive. The girls are completing their assignments in Google Docs,  so I can respond to their writing in real time. I will be highlighting words and making suggestions as they are typing.

In math, we have been learning about factors, multiples, prime, and composite numbers. We also discussed prime factorization, and the girls really enjoyed making "factor trees". I was amazed with how quickly they mastered this concept. On Friday, we explored "order of operations", and we will spend most of next week reviewing for the Unit 1 math assessment. Depending on how the review is going, I will tentatively plan on giving the test on Wednesday, September 26th. It is possible the girls will have extra math review homework this week. If I assign extra homework on a particular night, I will give the girls the option to cut back on the amount of time they devote to practicing their math facts. In addition to reviewing for the upcoming test, we will be exploring Geometry concepts as well. Please note: I pushed back the Facts Check quiz for subtraction. It will be on Monday, September 17th.

In History, the girls have been exploring the History of St. Catherine's through songs, videos, and text found on the History4Fourthies website. The girls will be introduced to Newsela this week, where they will practice reading non-fiction articles and answering questions related to these articles.

Please note the information below which contains a link where you can sign up to attend the Parents Technology Night. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the great technology we will use throughout the year in fourth grade. I haven't yet firmed up my conference schedule. I hope to put that together in the next few days, and I will send out another e-mail with a link to a Sign-Up Genius.

Reminders and General Information:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

* Parents Technology Night: (10/4) Sign-up- click here

*Picture Day is Tuesday, September 18th

* Homework- Posted for family planning.
Click here for a digital copy of information about Clubs

Special Week: Sirena

* Carpool Helpers- Ava Jane will represent our class next week.

Class Leadership Week of 9/17

Ambassadors/Flag Raisers- Ryann and Grace

Girls: Your blog question is...What is the tentative date of the upcoming Unit 1 math assessment? Post your answer here.

Week 2 Update

Thank you to everyone who attended Parent's Night on Thursday evening. I am really looking forward to working with you this year! If you were unable to attend (or would like a copy of my presentation) click here.

Here are some curriculum updates and other important information:

Math- We reviewed the basic concepts for place value and completed an exit ticket, which you will find in your daughter's white binder. The first Math Facts Contract was handed out and we explored our first Edpuzzle, which included a movie trailer for "Because of Winn Dixie". Edpuzzles are interactive videos with embedded math questions. See an example below.


The girls also took their first facts quiz using a website called That Quiz. Next week's Facts Contract will be handed out on Monday and Friday's quiz will focus on subtraction facts.

Language Arts- The girls are really enjoying our class read aloud of "The Hundred Dresses". This group loves being read to and is always asking for extra Independent Reading time. The girls learned about the literary elements: character, plot, setting, conflict, and theme, and they started their first Buncee presentation for their summer reading book Because of Winn Dixie. Many of the girls can't wait to use Buncee for their Personal Learning Projects. Click here to see the Google Doc the girls created when they were asked to brainstorm ideas for Personalized Learning. 

On Thursday, the girls took a practice Spelling test on Spelling City. They did a great job navigating this website. On Friday, they went on the Quia website to practice taking their first Wordly Wise test. The girls really impressed me with their knowledge of these words. On Monday, we will go over the next set of words, and theywill get out their flash cards and highlight any words they are not already familiar with. This will help them focus their energy on studying the more difficult words first. If you have a chance, take a look at the words and see how you can incorporate them into your daily conversations with your daughter.

History- We practiced getting on the History4Fourthies website. They watched a video about our nation's capital and wrote five facts they learned in their History composition notebooks.

Reminders and General Information:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

* Parents Technology Night: (10/4) Sign-up- click here

* Homework- Posted for family planning.

Special Week: Mrs. Coughlan

* Carpool Helpers- Mary Michael will represent our class next week.

Class Leadership Week of 9/10

Ambassadors/Flag Raisers- Annabelle and Mary

Girls: Your blog question is...When should you finish reading your fiction book and taking the notes? Post your answer here.