Week of September 25, 2015

Happy fall! 

Math:  This week students worked on strategies for ordering and comparing large numbers.  They also worked with partners to determine a rule for a pattern of given numbers and extend the pattern.  They played a card game to reinforce this skill with their classmates.  To further enhance their math skills, students have been using Frontrow and Sumdog on our Chromebooks,    Next week, our class will be reviewing how to add and subtract large numbers with and without regrouping.  We will complete our first chapter in our math book and take an assessment toward the end of next week,  All students completed their NWEA math testing this week.  These test scores will be used to monitor their growth over the course of the school year. 

Questions to ask your child:  What are some strategies you can use to find a rule for pattern?  Can you read this number 43,678?  Can you write 25,693 in expanded form, word form and standard form?  What is the value of the underlined digit in this number 65,453?

Reading:  We have been working on reading strategies to help us comprehend, remember, the stories we read.  One strategy we practiced this week was creating a mental image "mental movie" in your mind as you read.  Students practiced this skill with several short stories and compared their results with their reading partners.  We have been working hard to build our reading stamina and are now reading independently for 30 minutes!  Thank you to all the families that ordered books for your child from Scholastic.  We earned over 2,500 bonus points from the order.  Not only do your children get to read some fantastic books they selected, but our class will be getting over 20 books for our classroom library for all of us to enjoy!  I appreciate your support and motivation to help our fourth grade readers soar!  The letters of encouragement you wrote your children brought a tear to my eye.  It is apparent how much you all love and support your children.  Thanks for encouraging them to read, read, read for our 40 Book Challenge!!!!!!

Questions to ask your child:  What book did you read this week?   How do you select books that are a "good fit" for you?  What kinds of books have you selected for your reading bin?  What has happened in the book Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing?   What is your opinion of Fudge? 

Social Studies:  This week we continued our study of chapter 1.  We have been learning what social scientists study.  Students will be looking for artifacts this weekend for a social studies project.  They are to bring in their collected items on Monday in a baggy.  We will be doing a culminating activity with these artifacts on Tuesday. 

Questions to ask your child:  What are the four types of social scientists you have learned about?  What is an artifact?  Can I see the artifacts you collected for your homework assignment?  Can you tell me what type of social scientist might use each of your artifacts to study a group of people?

IMPORTANT DATES AND REMINDERS
9/29 Tuesday - artifacts due for social studies project
10/1 Thursday - spelling packet due and spelling assessment
10/2 Friday - picture day and popcorn day - $0.25 per order
10/9 MOVE-A-THON (fundraiser to support literacy at Westwoods)

STUDENTS NEED TO BRING IN AN OLD T-SHIRT OR BUTTON DOWN SHIRT TO LEAVE AT SCHOOL FOR ART

Our class is in need of a parent to be our PTO representative.  If you are interested in this position, please email me at deplauntsh@tcaps.net.

Mrs. DePlaunty's 4th Grade

Math:  We began our first chapter in math this week.  We are working on reading and writing numbers to 100,000 in standard, word and expanded form.  This week we also reviewed even and odd numbers and how to use the number in the ones place value position to determine if a large number is even or odd.  Next week we will continue our study of large numbers.  We will compare and order numbers to 100,000 and add and subtract numbers using standard algorithm.   

Questions you can ask your child:  

What numbers are even and odd and how can you determine if a large number is even or odd?

Using all the numbers 8, 6, 4, 3 and 1, make the largest number you can make, make an odd number, make an even number, make the smallest number possible.

Reading:  We worked hard this week to build good reading habits.  We set reading goals for ourselves this week, set up our Readers' Notebooks, began our 40 Book Reading Challenge, and took our reading NWEA test.  The students are now reading for stamina as a class and are able to read 23 minutes without losing focus as an entire group!  We are finding some great books and are sharing our findings and opinions about the books we read with others.  

Scholastic Book orders are due Thursday, Sept. 24th.

Questions you can ask your child:  

What books are you currently reading?

Have you completed reading any books and what were they?

What was a reading goal you set for yourself and what were some ideas you have for reaching your goal by the end of fourth grade?

Social Studies/Team Building:  We spent a day learning how our textbook is arranged.  For Constitution Day, students created an accordion booklet and learned about what the Constitution is and what it does for our government and all American citizens.  Last week, students performed and experiment called Saving Fred.  They worked as partners and discussed the scientific process.  The children had to develop a plan and and test it out to help rescue poor Fred.  It was a lot of fun!

Questions you can ask your child:

Why was the Constitution written?

Do you think the United States of American needs a Constitution?  Explain why or why not?

How did you and your partner rescue Fred?  What was your plan?  What worked best and what did not work?

Writing: We are working on writing and collecting short paragraphs about personal small moments that have happened to us in our own lives.  We created a heart map with some emotional and meaningful moments from our own lives to help plan for our writing.  Next week, students will revisit the structure of a paragraph and complete a special writing activity about themselves.  

Spelling Words (Homophones):  allowed, aloud, hair, hare, route, root, bear, bare, paws, pause, board, bored, fur, fir, hoarse, horse, course, coarse, chews, choose

Spelling packet is due Thursday, Sept. 24th.

Spelling assessment is Thursday, Sept. 24th.

Important Dates/Reminders:

9/22 Tuesday - NWEA Math Assessment 9:30 a.m - 11:00 a.m.

9/24 Thursday - Spelling packet due

9/24 Thursday - Spelling Assessment 

9/25 Popcorn Friday 

Have a great weekend!  

Mrs. DePlaunty

Welcome to our blog!

Dear Fourth Grade Families,

We are happy you have found our classroom blog.  The blog will be updated every Friday.  Pictures will be added when I receive your child's photo permission slip for our classroom blog.  Have a great week.

This week's important dates:

Tuesday, September 15th, NWEA reading testing 9:30 -11:00 a.m. and clothing order is due
Thursday, September 17th, Spelling packet is due and weekly spelling assessment
Monday - Friday, September 14th - 18th, students should be reading 25 minutes each evening and recording their reading time on their September reading calendar

Mrs. DePlaunty