Sunday, February 17, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Recycled Adjective Snowmen!
Boorish
Humble
Amiable
Petrified
Bedraggled
Rancorous
Sheepish
Timid
Morose
Sarcastic
Despicable
Flamboyant
Livid
Gaudy
Dazzling
Deceitful
Sickly
Boisterous
Taciturn
Lovesick
Glamorous
Ecstatic
Avaracious
Conceited
Discombobulated
Horrified
Incredulous
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Latest and Greatest from the Rascals!
Welcome back! The kiddos came back refreshed and charged from the break and ready to tackle the third quarter. Here’s an idea of what’s going on in the classroom as well as some updates:
Upcoming projects: The Recycled Snowman is such a fun project that incorporates science, social studies, and writing. The rubrics and directions were sent home on Monday. Both the snowman and creative story are due on January 23 but can always be turned in earlier.
The next book report is the cereal box report so save your next box! The kiddos should have already picked or will pick a book by Friday. Their book must be a chapter book in their lexile level. The directions and templates will be coming home tomorrow. The cereal boxes are due on January 30. The “commercial” presentations will be presented on January 31-February 1. Let me know if you need any supplies sent home to help create your child’s cereal box.
Winter MAP testing: We are in the process of taking our mid-year MAP tests. We took our Reading MAP test today and the kids did AMAZING! There was a ton of growth. Be sure to ask your child what their score and new lexile number are. Let them brag! They should have put these in their binders. I don’t send the print out home since it’s the mid but if you would like one just let me know and I’ll send it home with your child.
Volunteers: Thank you for all the help you have given our class this year. We wouldn’t be able to do all of the wonderful things without you. I sent the January and February calendars home before the break. Every other Tuesday will be open now starting with the 15th. If there’s a day that is open and you want to come in just send me an email and I’ll add you. We’d love to have you!
Junior Achievement: Our class is looking for someone who would be willing to teach 5 Junior Achievement lessons to our class in May. We’ll work around your schedule. The teachers are not allowed to teach the lessons so it has to be a parent, a relative, a volunteer who wants to hang out with us for a few hours, etc. The fourth grade lessons are about the economy and how businesses run in our country. You will get a case with the entire lesson scripted for you (but you can throw in your own flare!). If you’ve done it before or would like to give it a go please let me know!
Math: We are working on chapter 6. This chapter has been a big one. It has included long division, measuring angles, grid plots, and estimation. Long division is incredibly important. Extra practice at home on paper or logging on to the Everyday Math site for added practice can always help. Some kiddos have even been doing problems with 3 and 4 digit divisors! We follow the DMSBR method. Ask your kiddo was it means! Today we started using circular protractors to measure angles which was really fun. We’ll wrap up this chapter next week and test on the 17th or 18th.
Math facts are still being tested weekly. With big digit multiplication and long division it’s essential to know their basic facts. Every kiddo should be scoring in the 90s on multiplication and division. This grade is recorded under Math Fact Fluency on the report card. If you would like some practice tests sent home just let me know. With chapter 7 we’ll be heading into the land of fractions and decimals. We’ll be adding and subtracting and multiplying both. We’ll also be working with mixed numbers.
Reading: We’re continuing with fiction and non-fiction stories in Story Works and some of the skills we’re focusing on are conflict and resolution, text connections, author’s craft, inferencing, identifying theme, analyzing characters and poetry etc. We’ll begin our next literature study on the book, Holes by Louis Sachar. It is such a great story that usually gets the kids hooked and it does a fabulous job at teaching foreshadowing and flashbacks. Please make sure your kiddo is reading 30 minutes every night and filling out their reading calendar.
Language Arts: We continue to work with the Greek/Latin root words. Each week they get a new word list and they need to study the definitions. We do activities in the class during the week to understand each one as well. They test on the roots every Friday. This Friday they have the root –port (to carry). Please make sure your child is studying these EVERY week along with their spelling words. This will help them with their reading and writing a great deal. We’re on unit 15 for spelling so they are responsible for 75 words on their tests. We’ll be writing personal narratives next week. This month’s persuasive essay is on about Manners and if it’s good to have them or not.
Social Studies: We’ll begin chapter 6 this week. We’ll learn how Arizona was originally part of Arizona, the Gadsden Purchase, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, mountain men, and the Mexican War. This is the chapter where they see how Arizona came to be. Next chapter we’ll learn about Arizona as a territory and how it was acquired by the United States. This will lead to Arizona becoming a state. Arizona’s 101st birthday is on February 14th. We’ll be celebrating it on the 13th so it doesn’t conflict with Valentine’s day.
Science: We’ve started our unit on Magnets and Electricity! This unit is “electrifying” and an important part of our fourth grade curriculum and AIMS. We start with magnets and then move into electricity where the kiddos will be building their own circuits that will operate a motor and multiple light bulbs. We’ll also be building an electromagnet. Some of the other concepts we’ll cover are magnetic fields, repel and attraction, induced magnetism, insulators and conductors, series and parallel circuits, static electricity, etc.
To kick off our unit we had a very special visit from TEP today. Payton’s dad, Jeremy Young, taught us about electrical safety, insulators and conductors, electrical paths, etc. It was awesome! In late February we’ll move on to weather so if you have any weather connections let me know!
Milers: Milers is going every Tuesday and Thursday. Guest walkers/runners are always a big help. Come any day and be sure to put Ronnie on your paper so our class gets credit. You can bring little ones with you……..even if they’re in a stroller!
Be sure to check the website and blog for updates. The kiddos still blog so stop by and see their comments. They’ll make you smile. I was just rereading what they were writing to each on the November 7 Election post and it made me chuckle all over again and it showed me how much they really understood about the topic. They’re amazing!
I think that’s it! Hopefully you found this helpful. Thanks again for your continued support and for sharing your kiddos with me. This group holds a special place in my heart!
Upcoming Dates:
January 11: Report Cards come home
January 14: MAP Math test
January 17: MAP Language test
January 18: Student Store and Sports Day
January 21: MLK-No School
January 23: Recycled Snowmen due
January 30: Cereal Book Reports due
January 31-February 1: Commercials presented
February 2- Sweetheart’s Dance (tickets on sale now)
February 13: Arizona’s b-day celebration (a day early)
February 14: Valentine’s Day
February 21-24: Rodeo Break
Upcoming projects: The Recycled Snowman is such a fun project that incorporates science, social studies, and writing. The rubrics and directions were sent home on Monday. Both the snowman and creative story are due on January 23 but can always be turned in earlier.
The next book report is the cereal box report so save your next box! The kiddos should have already picked or will pick a book by Friday. Their book must be a chapter book in their lexile level. The directions and templates will be coming home tomorrow. The cereal boxes are due on January 30. The “commercial” presentations will be presented on January 31-February 1. Let me know if you need any supplies sent home to help create your child’s cereal box.
Winter MAP testing: We are in the process of taking our mid-year MAP tests. We took our Reading MAP test today and the kids did AMAZING! There was a ton of growth. Be sure to ask your child what their score and new lexile number are. Let them brag! They should have put these in their binders. I don’t send the print out home since it’s the mid but if you would like one just let me know and I’ll send it home with your child.
Volunteers: Thank you for all the help you have given our class this year. We wouldn’t be able to do all of the wonderful things without you. I sent the January and February calendars home before the break. Every other Tuesday will be open now starting with the 15th. If there’s a day that is open and you want to come in just send me an email and I’ll add you. We’d love to have you!
Junior Achievement: Our class is looking for someone who would be willing to teach 5 Junior Achievement lessons to our class in May. We’ll work around your schedule. The teachers are not allowed to teach the lessons so it has to be a parent, a relative, a volunteer who wants to hang out with us for a few hours, etc. The fourth grade lessons are about the economy and how businesses run in our country. You will get a case with the entire lesson scripted for you (but you can throw in your own flare!). If you’ve done it before or would like to give it a go please let me know!
Math: We are working on chapter 6. This chapter has been a big one. It has included long division, measuring angles, grid plots, and estimation. Long division is incredibly important. Extra practice at home on paper or logging on to the Everyday Math site for added practice can always help. Some kiddos have even been doing problems with 3 and 4 digit divisors! We follow the DMSBR method. Ask your kiddo was it means! Today we started using circular protractors to measure angles which was really fun. We’ll wrap up this chapter next week and test on the 17th or 18th.
Math facts are still being tested weekly. With big digit multiplication and long division it’s essential to know their basic facts. Every kiddo should be scoring in the 90s on multiplication and division. This grade is recorded under Math Fact Fluency on the report card. If you would like some practice tests sent home just let me know. With chapter 7 we’ll be heading into the land of fractions and decimals. We’ll be adding and subtracting and multiplying both. We’ll also be working with mixed numbers.
Reading: We’re continuing with fiction and non-fiction stories in Story Works and some of the skills we’re focusing on are conflict and resolution, text connections, author’s craft, inferencing, identifying theme, analyzing characters and poetry etc. We’ll begin our next literature study on the book, Holes by Louis Sachar. It is such a great story that usually gets the kids hooked and it does a fabulous job at teaching foreshadowing and flashbacks. Please make sure your kiddo is reading 30 minutes every night and filling out their reading calendar.
Language Arts: We continue to work with the Greek/Latin root words. Each week they get a new word list and they need to study the definitions. We do activities in the class during the week to understand each one as well. They test on the roots every Friday. This Friday they have the root –port (to carry). Please make sure your child is studying these EVERY week along with their spelling words. This will help them with their reading and writing a great deal. We’re on unit 15 for spelling so they are responsible for 75 words on their tests. We’ll be writing personal narratives next week. This month’s persuasive essay is on about Manners and if it’s good to have them or not.
Social Studies: We’ll begin chapter 6 this week. We’ll learn how Arizona was originally part of Arizona, the Gadsden Purchase, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, mountain men, and the Mexican War. This is the chapter where they see how Arizona came to be. Next chapter we’ll learn about Arizona as a territory and how it was acquired by the United States. This will lead to Arizona becoming a state. Arizona’s 101st birthday is on February 14th. We’ll be celebrating it on the 13th so it doesn’t conflict with Valentine’s day.
Science: We’ve started our unit on Magnets and Electricity! This unit is “electrifying” and an important part of our fourth grade curriculum and AIMS. We start with magnets and then move into electricity where the kiddos will be building their own circuits that will operate a motor and multiple light bulbs. We’ll also be building an electromagnet. Some of the other concepts we’ll cover are magnetic fields, repel and attraction, induced magnetism, insulators and conductors, series and parallel circuits, static electricity, etc.
To kick off our unit we had a very special visit from TEP today. Payton’s dad, Jeremy Young, taught us about electrical safety, insulators and conductors, electrical paths, etc. It was awesome! In late February we’ll move on to weather so if you have any weather connections let me know!
Milers: Milers is going every Tuesday and Thursday. Guest walkers/runners are always a big help. Come any day and be sure to put Ronnie on your paper so our class gets credit. You can bring little ones with you……..even if they’re in a stroller!
Be sure to check the website and blog for updates. The kiddos still blog so stop by and see their comments. They’ll make you smile. I was just rereading what they were writing to each on the November 7 Election post and it made me chuckle all over again and it showed me how much they really understood about the topic. They’re amazing!
I think that’s it! Hopefully you found this helpful. Thanks again for your continued support and for sharing your kiddos with me. This group holds a special place in my heart!
Upcoming Dates:
January 11: Report Cards come home
January 14: MAP Math test
January 17: MAP Language test
January 18: Student Store and Sports Day
January 21: MLK-No School
January 23: Recycled Snowmen due
January 30: Cereal Book Reports due
January 31-February 1: Commercials presented
February 2- Sweetheart’s Dance (tickets on sale now)
February 13: Arizona’s b-day celebration (a day early)
February 14: Valentine’s Day
February 21-24: Rodeo Break
TEP
Today, TEP is coming to our class. TEP stands for Tucson Eletric Power. Scince we are learning about Magnets and electricity, they are coming to teach us a little more!
Claire
Claire
Monday, January 7, 2013
Magnents and electricity
today we started magnents and electricity and it was soooooo much fun. I learned that magnents will only stick to iron and steel.
paige mccrindle :)
paige mccrindle :)
Friday, December 21, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
October's News
Hi Parents!
This is a long newsletter but there have been some great things happening in room 19! We have a new Rascal to add to our group. Jorge joined us on Monday and we’re so happy to have him as part of our class!
Tomorrow is the Harvest party and we’ll start at 1:30 if you want to swing by and help with the centers. Kids and adults are all allowed to wear their costumes!
Here’s a breakdown of what we’ve been up to and where we’re headed:
Math: We are finishing up chapter 4 which has been on decimals. We’ve added and subtracted decimals, identified place value of decimals, converted decimals, wrote decimals as fractions and models, and dealt with money and decimals. We’ll test this Thursday and then move on to chapter 5 starting Monday. Chapter 5 is HUGE! This is when we’ll start multiplying double and triple digit problems. The kiddos MUST know their multiplication facts in order to be successful. We’ve been practicing them all year to get ready for this chapter. Let me know if you want me to send home any extra sheets for practice.
Reading: We’ve been working on a novel unit on the book, Sing Down the Moon. This story follows a Navajo Girl and her tribe through the time of the Long Walk. It is an amazing story that goes hand in hand with our Social Studies unit. We’ve focused on our comprehension, point of view, author’s purpose, vocab, character analysis, etc. We’ll be finishing up the book this week and taking our test. To culminate the book we’ll be making Navajo Tacos! We’ve also continued to work with Story Works on fiction and non-fiction stories, problem and solution, text connections, mood, etc. The latest book report went home last week. The criteria and materials were with it. Please make sure your kiddo is reading their book. This is due on November 19.
Language Arts/Writing: We’ve had two weeks of Greek/Latin root words and the kiddos are really getting it! Each week they get a new word list and they need to study the definitions. We do activities in the class during the week to understand each one as well. They test on the roots every Friday. This Friday they are doing a review of the roots –ped and –manu. This will help them with their reading and writing a great deal. We’re continuing with parts of speech, homophones/graphs, 4 types of sentences, correctly using commas, etc. We’ll be starting our second persuasive essay next week. This topic will discuss if it’s worth it to spend money on things like designer brands. We also started my FAVORITE writing assignment of the year! The kiddos are writing a creative story, focusing on word choice, conventions, and point of view, about the day the Scarecrows got loose. So far they are so creative and so funny. When they’re finished with their final drafts they will build their own scarecrows that look like themselves.
Social Studies: We are finishing up our study of the modern Native American tribes in Arizona. We’ll test on Friday and then move into Spanish Exploration of Arizona in the 1500s. This chapter will cover the beginning stages of the development of our state. It gets really interesting and there’s so much to see right here in Tucson since this was a hub for the Spanish explorers and missionaries.
Starting tomorrow the kiddos will be researching the two presidential candidates and picking a candidate that they support and writing the reasons why. We’re working on Arizona government and how it is tied into the national government as well as the importance of being an informed voter. They are allowed to say they don’t care for a certain candidate or love him but they have to be able to give reasons why. I don’t tell the kids who I do or don’t support because we talk about how votes are private. I just guide them to understand the process and to be informed. It still doesn’t stop them from trying to pry it out of me! I’ve been told by some kids that I just look like a republican and another kiddo said he knows I’m a democrat because ALL teachers are democrats. It’s been quite fun listening to them reason and justify what Mrs. Ronnie is or is not. On Tuesday, our class will be voting on our next President because after putting in the work to be an informed voter they deserve the right to cast a vote! I’m sure you’ll get an earful of who won our class election on Tuesday.
Science: We finished up our unit on famous scientists and their contributions to science. The kiddos came up with some fabulous presentations on these people. We’re working on the water cycle right now. Ask your kiddo to sing you the Water Cycle song, they’ll never forget it! From here we’ll go right into our study of caves to get ready for Kartchner. We’ll learn about the role water and carbonic acid plays in the development of cave systems. It’s a really fun unit! We’ll start Natural Disasters after Thanksgiving.
Please remember to sign the planners every night and sign the reading calendars that are due on Thursday. The volunteer calendar went home two weeks ago. It is done through December. If you want to come in just check the calendar online and let me know. We love volunteers and welcome you any day!
Papa John’s pizza night was a huge success! I had so much fun delivering pizzas to you all. I loved being welcomed into the homes to see the kiddos’ rooms, Lego collections, honor roll collections, etc. We lost the pizza party by one order but we’re winners my book so we’ll celebrate with Navajo Tacos next week.
Milers is going every Tuesday and Thursday. Our class is tied with another class for first place in fourth grade. The kiddos have been working hard. Guest walkers/runners are always a big help. Come any day and be sure to put Ronnie on your paper so our class gets credit. Thank you to all of the guest runners we’ve had this year. Mrs. Moshkriz has been out there every time so hats off to her!
This time of year is getting hectic so below are a few of important dates you might want to put on your calendar:
St. Jude’s envelopes are due-October 31
Reading Calendars are due-November 1
Mustache Day-November 9
Veterans Day(no school)-November 12
Spelling Bee-November 15 @ 9:15
Kartchner-November 16 @ 7:15
Book Reports are due-November 19
Friendship Stew preparation-November 19
Friendship Stew eating/party (parents are encouraged to enjoy with us) -November 19
Gingerbread Houses-December 18
Pajama Day-December 20
Winter Break Starts-December 21
Do you feel all caught up now!? Be sure to check the website and blog for the most current info. As well as see the latest posts by the kiddos. Thanks for your continued support with our class. We have a special group this year. As always contact me with any questions you might have.
Mrs. Ronnie
This is a long newsletter but there have been some great things happening in room 19! We have a new Rascal to add to our group. Jorge joined us on Monday and we’re so happy to have him as part of our class!
Tomorrow is the Harvest party and we’ll start at 1:30 if you want to swing by and help with the centers. Kids and adults are all allowed to wear their costumes!
Here’s a breakdown of what we’ve been up to and where we’re headed:
Math: We are finishing up chapter 4 which has been on decimals. We’ve added and subtracted decimals, identified place value of decimals, converted decimals, wrote decimals as fractions and models, and dealt with money and decimals. We’ll test this Thursday and then move on to chapter 5 starting Monday. Chapter 5 is HUGE! This is when we’ll start multiplying double and triple digit problems. The kiddos MUST know their multiplication facts in order to be successful. We’ve been practicing them all year to get ready for this chapter. Let me know if you want me to send home any extra sheets for practice.
Reading: We’ve been working on a novel unit on the book, Sing Down the Moon. This story follows a Navajo Girl and her tribe through the time of the Long Walk. It is an amazing story that goes hand in hand with our Social Studies unit. We’ve focused on our comprehension, point of view, author’s purpose, vocab, character analysis, etc. We’ll be finishing up the book this week and taking our test. To culminate the book we’ll be making Navajo Tacos! We’ve also continued to work with Story Works on fiction and non-fiction stories, problem and solution, text connections, mood, etc. The latest book report went home last week. The criteria and materials were with it. Please make sure your kiddo is reading their book. This is due on November 19.
Hats off to our class for the most AMAZING biography book reports I’ve ever seen! I hope you had a chance to see the blog so you had an idea of what they put together. Unbelievable! This class is so outgoing and theatrical, if you couldn’t already tell at the Cruisin’ AZ performance. I’m biased but I think our class nailed that performance. They make my job so fun!
Language Arts/Writing: We’ve had two weeks of Greek/Latin root words and the kiddos are really getting it! Each week they get a new word list and they need to study the definitions. We do activities in the class during the week to understand each one as well. They test on the roots every Friday. This Friday they are doing a review of the roots –ped and –manu. This will help them with their reading and writing a great deal. We’re continuing with parts of speech, homophones/graphs, 4 types of sentences, correctly using commas, etc. We’ll be starting our second persuasive essay next week. This topic will discuss if it’s worth it to spend money on things like designer brands. We also started my FAVORITE writing assignment of the year! The kiddos are writing a creative story, focusing on word choice, conventions, and point of view, about the day the Scarecrows got loose. So far they are so creative and so funny. When they’re finished with their final drafts they will build their own scarecrows that look like themselves.
Social Studies: We are finishing up our study of the modern Native American tribes in Arizona. We’ll test on Friday and then move into Spanish Exploration of Arizona in the 1500s. This chapter will cover the beginning stages of the development of our state. It gets really interesting and there’s so much to see right here in Tucson since this was a hub for the Spanish explorers and missionaries.
Starting tomorrow the kiddos will be researching the two presidential candidates and picking a candidate that they support and writing the reasons why. We’re working on Arizona government and how it is tied into the national government as well as the importance of being an informed voter. They are allowed to say they don’t care for a certain candidate or love him but they have to be able to give reasons why. I don’t tell the kids who I do or don’t support because we talk about how votes are private. I just guide them to understand the process and to be informed. It still doesn’t stop them from trying to pry it out of me! I’ve been told by some kids that I just look like a republican and another kiddo said he knows I’m a democrat because ALL teachers are democrats. It’s been quite fun listening to them reason and justify what Mrs. Ronnie is or is not. On Tuesday, our class will be voting on our next President because after putting in the work to be an informed voter they deserve the right to cast a vote! I’m sure you’ll get an earful of who won our class election on Tuesday.
Science: We finished up our unit on famous scientists and their contributions to science. The kiddos came up with some fabulous presentations on these people. We’re working on the water cycle right now. Ask your kiddo to sing you the Water Cycle song, they’ll never forget it! From here we’ll go right into our study of caves to get ready for Kartchner. We’ll learn about the role water and carbonic acid plays in the development of cave systems. It’s a really fun unit! We’ll start Natural Disasters after Thanksgiving.
Please remember to sign the planners every night and sign the reading calendars that are due on Thursday. The volunteer calendar went home two weeks ago. It is done through December. If you want to come in just check the calendar online and let me know. We love volunteers and welcome you any day!
Papa John’s pizza night was a huge success! I had so much fun delivering pizzas to you all. I loved being welcomed into the homes to see the kiddos’ rooms, Lego collections, honor roll collections, etc. We lost the pizza party by one order but we’re winners my book so we’ll celebrate with Navajo Tacos next week.
Milers is going every Tuesday and Thursday. Our class is tied with another class for first place in fourth grade. The kiddos have been working hard. Guest walkers/runners are always a big help. Come any day and be sure to put Ronnie on your paper so our class gets credit. Thank you to all of the guest runners we’ve had this year. Mrs. Moshkriz has been out there every time so hats off to her!
This time of year is getting hectic so below are a few of important dates you might want to put on your calendar:
St. Jude’s envelopes are due-October 31
Reading Calendars are due-November 1
Mustache Day-November 9
Veterans Day(no school)-November 12
Spelling Bee-November 15 @ 9:15
Kartchner-November 16 @ 7:15
Book Reports are due-November 19
Friendship Stew preparation-November 19
Friendship Stew eating/party (parents are encouraged to enjoy with us) -November 19
Gingerbread Houses-December 18
Pajama Day-December 20
Winter Break Starts-December 21
Do you feel all caught up now!? Be sure to check the website and blog for the most current info. As well as see the latest posts by the kiddos. Thanks for your continued support with our class. We have a special group this year. As always contact me with any questions you might have.
Mrs. Ronnie
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