IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
This Friday, Oct. 29th is our student-led conferences. I will be sending home a paper with a time for your visit on Friday. Please contact me if there is any problem, or if you absolutely need to re-schedule. It is important that we meet to discuss your child's studies this Friday, as I am not able to hand out report cards until we have met. Also, remember this is a student-led conference so you will need to attend with your child.
October 28th is our book character day. This is a chance for all of our students to dress up as their favourite characters. Please refer to the handout that went home with the students for further details.
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK:
Math:
We will be having our chapter test this Wednesday!! The practice test will go home Tuesday night. Thursday will mark the beginning of our next chapter, where we will be working on multiplying and dividing larger numbers.
Writing:
We will be practicing our reading aloud skills in preparation for reading our 'published pieces' during the student-led conferences this Friday. We will also be learning about similes and how they can help us improve our writing.
Reading:
We will be writing our first quarter 'book recommendation' to our parents. Students will choose the book this quarter that they enjoyed reading the most and write a letter to mom and dad recommending this book. Our recommendations will be read to each parent during our student-led conference.
Science:
We will be checking our science fair folders to check that Step 1 has been completed properly, and that the students are on the right track. We will also share some of our ideas and discuss what we need to do to prepare for Steps 2 and 3.
Social Studies:
We will be introducing our new unit on American Immigration. We will be discussing the meaning of immigration and the motivations that lead people to travel to a new land. We will assess the classes prior knowledge on the subject and get excited for learning all about American immigration in the weeks ahead.
Spelling:
We are back with 15 Spelling words this week. We are focusing on words with the hard C sound made by: C, CK, and K. The words are: check, stuck, attack, nickel, bucket, jacket, ticket, pocket, rocket, lucky, hockey, picnic, attic, rustic, shriek.
Here's to a fun filled week. I look forward to seeing everyone this Friday. All the best,
Jordan Rose
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Discovery School Reminders
Here are a couple of reminders of important upcoming dates at Discovery School:
1. UN day Celebration this Friday / Early Dismissal
2. October 28th is book character day. Students are encouraged to come to school dressed as their favourite BOOK CHARACTER.
3. Student Led Conferences October 29th. I will be in contact with you soon to book a time that is convenient.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Activities for the Week of October 18-22
Greetings parents and students,
Well our first field trip of the year was a success! Last Friday we had a great morning learning and having fun at the Chiminike Children's Museum. Thanks again to all our volunteers, and to all the parents for making sure we all arrived on time with our snacks and clothing ready to go.
REMINDERS:
This Friday is our United Nations Day Celebration. 26 different countries will be represented at the celebration, and all family and friends are invited to join in the fun between 9:00-11:00 am. I look forward to seeing you there.
This week will mark the start of our Science Fair project process. Please lookout for an email or letter from me describing the nature and details of this project.
THIS WEEKS ACTIVITIES
Reading: We will be focusing on the reading skill of identifying and differentiating between fact and opinion this week. Our first activity will be during our guided reading periods with our class novel 'Stone Fox'. We will also work on reading independently and giving our opinion to other class mates of the books we're reading. Finally we will search through our collection of National Geographics for kids to find as many interesting nature facts to share with the class.
Writing: We are in the final stages of publishing our 'sensory series' pieces. The students have been working on revising and perfecting their pieces. Once we have our final published pieces we will work on reading them aloud to the class. Before we read aloud we will review all the essential points about speaking in front of people. (volume, clarity, pace, body language, expression)
Social Studies: As we have completed our first quarter science unit it is time to switch back to social studies during our Theme periods. This week we will incorporating our reading skill of identifying fact and fiction, and Friday's United Nations Day into a fun activity. Each student will be encouraged to choose a country from the 26 represented at UN Day that they do not know very much about. They will then give their opinion about the country from they're existing knowledge. For homework the students will then research online to find facts that they find interesting about the country, report these facts to the class, and see if the facts about the country change any of their original opinions.
Grammar: We will be working on everyone's favourite possessive pronoun: Their. And we will work on understanding the difference between Their, There, and They're.
Math: We will be continuing to work on multiplication and division. This week we will be introducing algebraic equations using multiplication and division. The students will work on solving equations and finding rules with mult and div problems. We are also continuing to practice our basic mult and div facts each day, with the goal of having our entire class join the 5 minute club. (a timed test of basic facts completed in under 5 mins) If your child struggles with multiplication and division facts I am happy to lend out flash cards for practice at home.
There will be no spelling words again this week due to UN day.
Please enjoy the photos below from our field trip, and remember to look out for a message about the Science Fair. Thank you,
Jordan Rose
Well our first field trip of the year was a success! Last Friday we had a great morning learning and having fun at the Chiminike Children's Museum. Thanks again to all our volunteers, and to all the parents for making sure we all arrived on time with our snacks and clothing ready to go.
REMINDERS:
This Friday is our United Nations Day Celebration. 26 different countries will be represented at the celebration, and all family and friends are invited to join in the fun between 9:00-11:00 am. I look forward to seeing you there.
This week will mark the start of our Science Fair project process. Please lookout for an email or letter from me describing the nature and details of this project.
THIS WEEKS ACTIVITIES
Reading: We will be focusing on the reading skill of identifying and differentiating between fact and opinion this week. Our first activity will be during our guided reading periods with our class novel 'Stone Fox'. We will also work on reading independently and giving our opinion to other class mates of the books we're reading. Finally we will search through our collection of National Geographics for kids to find as many interesting nature facts to share with the class.
Writing: We are in the final stages of publishing our 'sensory series' pieces. The students have been working on revising and perfecting their pieces. Once we have our final published pieces we will work on reading them aloud to the class. Before we read aloud we will review all the essential points about speaking in front of people. (volume, clarity, pace, body language, expression)
Social Studies: As we have completed our first quarter science unit it is time to switch back to social studies during our Theme periods. This week we will incorporating our reading skill of identifying fact and fiction, and Friday's United Nations Day into a fun activity. Each student will be encouraged to choose a country from the 26 represented at UN Day that they do not know very much about. They will then give their opinion about the country from they're existing knowledge. For homework the students will then research online to find facts that they find interesting about the country, report these facts to the class, and see if the facts about the country change any of their original opinions.
Grammar: We will be working on everyone's favourite possessive pronoun: Their. And we will work on understanding the difference between Their, There, and They're.
Math: We will be continuing to work on multiplication and division. This week we will be introducing algebraic equations using multiplication and division. The students will work on solving equations and finding rules with mult and div problems. We are also continuing to practice our basic mult and div facts each day, with the goal of having our entire class join the 5 minute club. (a timed test of basic facts completed in under 5 mins) If your child struggles with multiplication and division facts I am happy to lend out flash cards for practice at home.
There will be no spelling words again this week due to UN day.
Please enjoy the photos below from our field trip, and remember to look out for a message about the Science Fair. Thank you,
Jordan Rose
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Classroom Activities For The Week of Oct. 12th-15th
Hello fourth grade parents and students,
This is a short week in grade 4, as we begin on Tuesday and will be going on a field trip on Friday. This means we'll be very busy Tuesday through Thursday.
Before I detail our classroom activities here are IMPORTANT REMINDERS about our Field Trip:
For our field trip Friday all students will need to wear a Discovery School shirt so that we can easily identify our students at Chiminike. Also, our buses need to leave on time at 8:10. This means that all students need to be here by 7:50 at the latest. If any student shows up late they will need to stay behind and work in one of the other elementary classrooms for the day. Finally please remember that each student needs a snack to bring with them on the field trip...they will not be able to buy anything until they get back to school at 12:00, so having money will not be useful for purchasing a snack. Thanks!
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES:
Reading:
Having practiced using 'Context Clues' to understand confusing words in our guided reading novel 'Stone Fox', the students will now practice finding and deducing meaning from challenging words in their self selected reading books. This 'context clue' reading skill that we practice will also be a key part of the students' 'reading letters', all of which will be due Wednesday, due to the short week.
Writing
Students will continue revising and editing their best piece of work from the 'Sensory Series'. The students will be working on publishing a piece of their own work in order to share it with the class before the end of the week. Particular attention will also be paid to their Oral Language skills during the reading of their published work in our 'Author's Chair'.
Science:
I was mistaken last week when I wrote that we would be studying, planning and building dams. That is what we will be doing this week. Last week we looked at the affect that hills and mountains have on the flow of water. This week's learning experiences about Dams and the water cycle should tie together perfectly with our Field Trip where we will get to witness models about the flow of water in our world and see how dams work.
Spelling and Character Studies:
We will not be having any spelling or character studies lessons this week due to the short week and field trip.
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to join us this Friday. I'm looking forward to a fun-filled day of learning this Friday!! Here's to a great week,
Jordan Rose
This is a short week in grade 4, as we begin on Tuesday and will be going on a field trip on Friday. This means we'll be very busy Tuesday through Thursday.
Before I detail our classroom activities here are IMPORTANT REMINDERS about our Field Trip:
For our field trip Friday all students will need to wear a Discovery School shirt so that we can easily identify our students at Chiminike. Also, our buses need to leave on time at 8:10. This means that all students need to be here by 7:50 at the latest. If any student shows up late they will need to stay behind and work in one of the other elementary classrooms for the day. Finally please remember that each student needs a snack to bring with them on the field trip...they will not be able to buy anything until they get back to school at 12:00, so having money will not be useful for purchasing a snack. Thanks!
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES:
Reading:
Having practiced using 'Context Clues' to understand confusing words in our guided reading novel 'Stone Fox', the students will now practice finding and deducing meaning from challenging words in their self selected reading books. This 'context clue' reading skill that we practice will also be a key part of the students' 'reading letters', all of which will be due Wednesday, due to the short week.
Writing
Students will continue revising and editing their best piece of work from the 'Sensory Series'. The students will be working on publishing a piece of their own work in order to share it with the class before the end of the week. Particular attention will also be paid to their Oral Language skills during the reading of their published work in our 'Author's Chair'.
Science:
I was mistaken last week when I wrote that we would be studying, planning and building dams. That is what we will be doing this week. Last week we looked at the affect that hills and mountains have on the flow of water. This week's learning experiences about Dams and the water cycle should tie together perfectly with our Field Trip where we will get to witness models about the flow of water in our world and see how dams work.
Spelling and Character Studies:
We will not be having any spelling or character studies lessons this week due to the short week and field trip.
Thanks to everyone who volunteered to join us this Friday. I'm looking forward to a fun-filled day of learning this Friday!! Here's to a great week,
Jordan Rose
Monday, October 4, 2010
Grade 4 Class Activities For The Week of Oct. 5-9
Dear parents and students,
I hope everyone is well.
IMPORTANT NEWS: Friday October 15th grade 4 will be going on our first field trip of the year!! We will be attending the Children's Museum, Chiminike to gain some first hand knowledge about the water cycle and build on what we've been learning about land and water in our current Science unit. The cost of the trip will be 40 lempiras per student, and there will be a permission form with the specific information going home this week. If any parents wish to volunteer to come join us for this field trip please send me an email at: jrose@discovery.edu.hn
Also, we have noticed at Discovery School lately that a lot of our student have been showing up late for class. We understand that there are a lot of traffic situations that make it difficult to be on time some days, but we are asking all the parents to please do your best to make sure that your child arrives at school and is in class no later than 8 am each morning. Thank you!!
CLASS ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK:
Math- This week we will be beginning chapter 3 in our Math Textbook. Chapter 3 focuses on multiplication and division. This week will focus on finding patterns in our multiplication table that will help us remember our multiplication facts, and working on mental strategies that will help us solve multiplication problems in our heads. As I wrote last week, it never hurts to check to see if your child still remembers their basic facts from grade 3, because each student will need to quickly recall their times tables to succeed in this section of our Math program.
Reading- Our 'reading letters' are improving with each week! Each student needs to write a 'reading letter' once a week, and it is due either on Tuesday or Wednesday depending on their group number. The students need to use their time appropriately reading, thinking, writing, and revising in class time and at home in order to complete a quality letter each week. This week during independent reading time we will be reviewing the use of 'thinkstrips' during reading and how they can be used to help us write quality letters, and we will be focusing specifically on working on finding text-to-text connections between our books and books we've read in the past. We will also spend time reading our new class novel, "Stone Fox" during our guided reading periods. While reading we will be working on how to understand unfamiliar words using the reading skill: 'context clues'.
Writing- This week we will conclude our 5 part 'sensory series' of descriptive writing. Each student will then choose their favourite piece of writing from those 5 and we will begin working on 'publishing' this piece. Publishing for the students will mean taking a piece of work and making it the absolute best they can through revision and careful editing. In the end each student should have a piece of written work that they are proud of and can share.
Science- In Science this week we will be learning about where our drinking water comes from, and we will continue discussing the importance of water conservation. We will also be discussing the SCIENCE FAIR and about the process of preparing an excellent Science Experiment. Finally we will be looking at creating a model of a dam at the end of the week. I'm looking forward to a fun, messy, and educational learning experience for that one!
Spelling- This week's spelling words will focus on the OY, OI and OU/OW sounds.
Character Studies: We will be learning about the important character trait that is: Honesty.
Here's to a wonderful week in Grade 4. If you have any questions about our upcoming fieldtrip, or if you would like to volunteer to join us, please contact me this week. All the best,
Jordan Rose
I hope everyone is well.
IMPORTANT NEWS: Friday October 15th grade 4 will be going on our first field trip of the year!! We will be attending the Children's Museum, Chiminike to gain some first hand knowledge about the water cycle and build on what we've been learning about land and water in our current Science unit. The cost of the trip will be 40 lempiras per student, and there will be a permission form with the specific information going home this week. If any parents wish to volunteer to come join us for this field trip please send me an email at: jrose@discovery.edu.hn
Also, we have noticed at Discovery School lately that a lot of our student have been showing up late for class. We understand that there are a lot of traffic situations that make it difficult to be on time some days, but we are asking all the parents to please do your best to make sure that your child arrives at school and is in class no later than 8 am each morning. Thank you!!
CLASS ACTIVITIES THIS WEEK:
Math- This week we will be beginning chapter 3 in our Math Textbook. Chapter 3 focuses on multiplication and division. This week will focus on finding patterns in our multiplication table that will help us remember our multiplication facts, and working on mental strategies that will help us solve multiplication problems in our heads. As I wrote last week, it never hurts to check to see if your child still remembers their basic facts from grade 3, because each student will need to quickly recall their times tables to succeed in this section of our Math program.
Reading- Our 'reading letters' are improving with each week! Each student needs to write a 'reading letter' once a week, and it is due either on Tuesday or Wednesday depending on their group number. The students need to use their time appropriately reading, thinking, writing, and revising in class time and at home in order to complete a quality letter each week. This week during independent reading time we will be reviewing the use of 'thinkstrips' during reading and how they can be used to help us write quality letters, and we will be focusing specifically on working on finding text-to-text connections between our books and books we've read in the past. We will also spend time reading our new class novel, "Stone Fox" during our guided reading periods. While reading we will be working on how to understand unfamiliar words using the reading skill: 'context clues'.
Writing- This week we will conclude our 5 part 'sensory series' of descriptive writing. Each student will then choose their favourite piece of writing from those 5 and we will begin working on 'publishing' this piece. Publishing for the students will mean taking a piece of work and making it the absolute best they can through revision and careful editing. In the end each student should have a piece of written work that they are proud of and can share.
Science- In Science this week we will be learning about where our drinking water comes from, and we will continue discussing the importance of water conservation. We will also be discussing the SCIENCE FAIR and about the process of preparing an excellent Science Experiment. Finally we will be looking at creating a model of a dam at the end of the week. I'm looking forward to a fun, messy, and educational learning experience for that one!
Spelling- This week's spelling words will focus on the OY, OI and OU/OW sounds.
Character Studies: We will be learning about the important character trait that is: Honesty.
Here's to a wonderful week in Grade 4. If you have any questions about our upcoming fieldtrip, or if you would like to volunteer to join us, please contact me this week. All the best,
Jordan Rose
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