Announcements:
I had a great week with your students! It was one whole week with no outside distractions. I got to spend five whole days learning about and teaching your kids, which is what I love the most. We have really fallen into a routine together and the learning train is really picking up speed. Conferences are next week! If you didn't get a link to sign up, let me know. Book fair is also next week! We will go on Wednesday as a class, but it will also be open later in the week and during conference times. Reading: In the words of one of the kids this year, "It's hard to read and think at the same time." He was right, it is! But that's the next step in becoming a good reader beyond just saying words. That was our skill focus this week, and beginning next week we will start diving deeper and deeper into the minds of good readers to find out what's going on in there. Writing: We focused on describing things for this unit, and the kids planned out the narrative of a time they gave a special gift to someone. They shared their ideas and conferenced to try and generate more, and today they wrote it. Math: The numbers sure are getting big in math. We added numbers all the way up past the millions, and then learned how to take some shortcuts and estimate. Look out for their first math quiz in the Friday Folder, the class did a great job! Social Studies: What does our government do and how is it organized? That's been the focus so far, and we'll continue into next week. Announcements:
I think we are FINALLY finished with NWEA, AIMS, language center practice, and all the other beginning of the year stuff! I'm very excited for next week, which should be our very first regular week with no big interruptions or changes. Reading: By now, most 4th graders know how to say words that they see on a page. That doesn't mean they are doing real reading! Good readers also THINK about what they are reading, and that's what we are starting next week. I will begin the process of teaching them what goes on in a good reader's head while they read. Writing: This week we learned what makes a good story. Then we planned out a story of our own and wrote it! You will see it come home next Friday. Math: This week was basically just rounding week! The kids did a great job, because rounding big numbers to the ten thousands place is a hard task. We moved on to comparing numbers just today, and we will be getting ready for a test on Tuesday. In the Friday Folder there is a practice test that is optional, and should help you get an idea of what the test will look like. The kids can complete it and return it for a homework SHINE ticket. Science: We are not going to start our first real science unit until we finish teaching the first Social Studies unit. Social Studies: Still no social studies this week, but next week we start with learning about inquiry, which is asking questions and why it is important. Announcements:
We voted for student council on Thursday! Congratulations to Hank and Elise, our new class representatives. Also, a big thank you to everyone who gave a speech and participated. We had a pep assembly this morning to celebrate homecoming where the kids got to participate in games as a grade level. It was a great time and the kids enjoyed themselves. Reading: We are still working on reading routines and procedures, which will be very important once we start reading. All the reading instruction I do is in small groups where the kids can read directly with me using books that will challenge them. To do this, I need the rest of the class to be engaged in activities that will strengthen their language skills while not disrupting the classroom, and that takes a while to set up right! Writing: Our focus this week was writing a good paragraph with a good topic sentence and supporting details, paying extra attention to the punctuation marks at the end of a sentence. We wrote a summary of a story, video, or movie that we like. Where is all of the language/reading/writing work? Fourth graders have a tendency to lose things, and the more you give them the more they lose. I keep everything for my language, reading, and writing time in a packet that neatly organizes everything for them. I collect it at the end of the week and send it home in the Friday folder the following week. You should see our first practice packet come home next week. Math: Place value is still the focus around here, with a specific look at pulling numbers apart into more manageable chunks with expanded form. First time here and wondering where all the math homework is? The answer is in last week's newsletter right below this one. Science: Science and social studies have been axed to make way for NWEA. They will return as soon as everyone is done, the class and I miss them greatly when they are gone. Social Studies: We didn't do any social studies! We will be starting as soon as we can though, beginning with what social studies means and how people learn about it. Announcements:
The homecoming parade will be next week on Friday. I will be there marching with the kids, so please come and march with me! We will meet at Beebe Street Park after school and march together as grade levels back to the high school. Reading: This week the kids have been learning the rules and procedures of our reading time. They've been doing a great job building stamina and learning to be good learning teammates. Writing: Our focus this week was on coming up with good ideas and considering our audience, and making sure to capitalize the right letters in a sentence. Math: We started learning some larger place values this week, all the way up to a million! Why doesn't my student have math homework? I almost never give homework. I expect that during the math time each day, your student is working their hardest. If I've ever caught them slacking, you've probably seen an action plan! Because they work so hard here, I don't make them finish at home. I check each student's proficiency every day with an exit ticket, and if they need help, I provide it. They will work very hard in school, when they go home I want them to be kids and have friends and family time. Eventually, each exit ticket will come with an at home problem that is meant for your student to show you directly what we did in math today, but that's not ready yet. What is this math work, and why is it half finished and not graded? The math that comes home will not always be finished. I give the students a very short exit ticket every single day to see if they understood the day's lesson. If they did, but didn't finish their work, no sweat. They understood and can move on. If they did not understand, then I pulled them to my side table to work with them individually and they probably didn't have time to finish, but they did plenty of work with me. The worksheets are not graded because I take grades on my daily and weekly quizzes. The packets are practice, and I intentionally give them too much so that they don't rush, and instead focus on doing their best. Science: Social Studies will be taking focus over science for now, so we are simply working on the basic ideas of science and what those ideas mean. Social Studies: It's constitution day! Because of that, we are learning about the government and how it is organized. My home to school communication this year was pretty poor, and I wish it had been better. It was just one of a thousand casualties it took to make this year happen at all. That said, I worry that I haven't properly expressed how much I enjoyed having your children this year and this is my attempt to fix that. For the sake of easier writing, when I say this class, I mean both my homeroom and Mrs. Leach's.
This class was special, there's no other way to put it. Every teacher every year will tell parents how wonderful the class was, but in this case it really is true. Of the 14 years I have been teaching, this is the best class I have ever had. In a year where everything was on fire all of the time, your children were always smart, kind, hardworking, and respectful. I will never be able to repay the favor for a class this good on a year this hard. Kids don't raise themselves, so I also want to thank you for your immeasurable contribution to each of your wonderful children. Thank you. Announcments:
Don't forget that Thursday is a half day! Math: The kids have finished up division, and wow did they do a great job. That test is coming home today, and it's a great time to celebrate their hard work. They all did a great job, and it was because of all the effort they've been putting in. Division is hard, but they did it. We don't have very much time before spring break, so we're dealing with some little standards that don't need a big focus. This week has been all about patterns with shapes and numbers. We've got a quick quiz on Monday and then we'll be on to some graphing. Science: We're wrapping up our unit on plant structures by writing about photosynthesis and putting together short presentations about different plant parts. We'll be moving on to animal structures next week, starting by learning all about our guts! Announcements:
We have a math test coming up on Tuesday. There is a review on Schoology called "Division Review." We will be doing it in class on Monday, but I left it there in case you'd like to practice with your student this weekend. They should be pretty well ready to go! Keep turning in those reading minutes! Math: Wow! Division has finally come to an end. We ended the unit with word problems that make them deal with remainders, one of the most challenging things we'll have to do this year. The good news is that I was very impressed with their thinking skills. I believe that every single student is ready to show that they can divide proficiently on Tuesday. Science: We've started a new unit all about plant and animal structures. This week was all about plants and photosynthesis. They've been reading about the process and using some language skills to help learn about why it's important. Announcements:
Next month is Reading Month, and the school is starting with a spirit week about reading. Here are the themes: Monday - Green Eggs and Clothes - Wear something green. Tuesday: Wear a shirt you can read. Wednesday: Cat in the Hat - Wear a hat and stripes. Thursday - Fox in Socks - Wear crazy socks. Friday - Oh, The Places You'll Go - Come dressed as what you want to be when you grow up. Math: Having just finished up a huge unit about measurement, we're now learning about division. We're taking baby steps, and it might look a little strange at first. They won't be using the traditional long division algorithm because for many of them it's too early and they aren't ready. They'll be learning the area model of division, which is functionally the same as traditional long division but split up into something that they can more easily keep track of and understand. I will be offering to show them traditional long division after they master the area model. Science: Wow, what a week! We've been making salt dough and turning that into models of landforms. The kids have been having a blast, and mostly not making a mess. We spent a nice quiet Friday doing some speech writing. |
Old Newsletters
June 2023
Non-Discrimination Statement
In compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education amendments of 1972, Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, Title II of the Americans with Disability Act of 1990, and Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act of 1977, it is the policy of the Richmond Community School District that no person shall, on the basis of race, color, religion, military status, national origin or ancestry, sex (including sexual orientation), disability, age (except as authorized by law), height, weight, or marital status be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to, discrimination during any program, activity, service or employment. Inquiries related to any nondiscrimination policies should be directed to the Superintendent, 35276 Division Road, Richmond, MI 48062, (586) 727-3565. |