Scholastic Book Orders

Shop Online: scholastic.com/readingclub
One-Time Class Activation Code: LYKV2

Dear Families,

Encouraging reading is one of the most important things we can do to help your child succeed. It can be tough finding the right books to keep them interested, which is why I am so excited that our class will be participating in Scholastic Reading Club this school year.

With Scholastic Reading Club:

• Every book you buy earns FREE Books for our classroom library
• You can choose from handpicked, grade- and reading-level-specific books for your child
• You'll find the best values on a variety of formats, including eBooks

Each month, your child will bring home Reading Club flyers. Together you can choose from books hand-selected by teachers and experts, and then order online or by returning your order form and payment to me.

I'd also love some help growing our classroom Reading Club. If you'd like to help out, please let me know! I'm excited to get our class reading!

Thank you for your support,

•  VISIT scholastic.com/readingclub
•  ENTER the one-time Class Activation Code (top of this letter)
•  SHOP from a carefully curated selection of the best books, value packs, and Storia eBooks
•  SUBMIT your order and earn FREE Books for our classroom
•  All book orders will be shipped to our classroom so we can celebrate the joy of reading together!

First Few Days!

What a great few first days we have had! I have loved spending time with all of our students in my class! This is what we have been doing!

Math: we started a reviewing some of our facts. It is a good step to get our brains woken up from the summer break! As the rest of the week goes on, we will be spending time on points, line segments, lines, and rays as well as dipping our toes into angles, triangles, and quadrangles. 

Science: We are actually starting science tomorrow! Our first unit will be working with measurement!

Writing: This week, we have started to look at forming ideas for personal narratives. We have been able to share some fun story ideas with each other. At the end of the week, we will all begin to start our story boards. We sure have some creative story tellers in our class! :)

Reading: This week, we started reading Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. A fun website your student can check out is: http://www.scholastic.com/winndixie/ There are a lot of fun interactive activities on this website that your student may enjoy! This week we also are reviewing nouns, and starting our Daily 5!


I have had such a wonderful time already, and we sure are having a blast! We can't wait to see how the next few days go!


~Mrs. B

School Supplies!

We all know how important it is to have the tools for a successful school year, so here is your school supply list, just in case you misplaced yours. 



One-8 count pkg Broad Classic Color marker
Two-8 count pkgs Thin Classic Color markers
One-24 count crayons
One-12 count colored pencils
One-8 count thin, dry erase markers
Two highlighters
Two jumbo white glue sticks
One-4 oz Elmer's white glue
48-presharpened pencils
Two large pink erasers
Three spiral notebooks
Two packages loose leaf paper
Four durable folders
One-1 inch binder with clear cover
One school box or pouch
Two boxes of tissues
One box ziplock bags (Girls-quart/Boys-gallon)
One box wet wipes






-Mrs. B

Welcome to My Life :)

Hello :)


My name is Leah Nelsen (it changes to Becklund in a few days!) and I am so excited to be teaching 4th grade at Independence Elementary. This blog is going to be a place where we, as a class, can share all the amazing things we are doing and learning this year. I am so eager to meet each and every one of you. Throughout this year, we are going to be somewhat like a "family", and I can't wait for all of us to get to know each other. For my first post, I just want to share some important things about me that have shaped my life. Enjoy!

Family

My family is so important to me! I have a mom and a dad, their names are Todd and Pat, and two little sisters named Sarah and Hannah. Our family also has two beautiful puppies, Tillie and Bella.

We were pretty cool when we were younger! (Hannah, me, Sarah)

I am also getting married on Saturday, August 23rd to my fiance Scott. He works in Fargo for Olaf Anderson construction and also serves in the Minnesota Army National Guard. He can't wait to help us with classroom projects as the year goes on. 

This is Scott. :) He and I have a lot of fun together. We really like to play board games, go to the lake, and spend time with our family and friends.


Travel

I love to travel, and my favorite trip was my trip to Africa. In May and June of 2013, I spent time teaching students in Rwanda, Africa. I really enjoyed my time there, and think it would be really cool to travel back there someday. They were so curious about how school is like in America. They were so confused when I tried to explain what snow and a North Dakotan winter was like. 

Here I am with some of my students there.

Schooling

I went to college at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN. I graduated in December of 2013. While I was there, I was involved in music and different leadership groups on campus. Even though I am not a student anymore, I still love attending Concordia sporting events and eating a ton of free corn on the cob! 

Statue of Liberty - Cobber Style

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little about me. I am positive that as the year goes on, we will get to know each other well! I can't wait to meet all of you!

-Mrs. B :)