Almost October!

I can’t believe that by Wednesday, we will be in October. Can you believe it has gone so fast? I personally have enjoyed every day since school has started, and am excited to see how far we have grown already! Here is what to look forward to this week!

A Peek At the Week

Math – Math this week is going to be quite different! On Monday we will be reviewing for our Unit 2 test that take place over two days. On Thursday and Friday, we will be working on multiplication strategies for fact fluency. I am really excited to work with many strategies. It is so cool how there are so many ways to find one answer. I am ready to challenge our class to discover the many ways we can solve problems.

Social Studies – This week we will be focusing on the Southwestern States. I am excited for us to really zoom in on the 4 states we will be covering. We will have the opportunity to tie in some of our summarizing skills as we go on this journey to the southwestern part of the country. We will be having a states quiz on Friday where we will need to know the state name, capitol, and abbreviation.

Writing ­– This week in writing, we will continue to work on our personal narratives. We will also be focusing on adjectives and how important they are in our own writing.

Comprehension – This week we will start to work on the summarizing strategy. It is important that we are able to take information we have read and summarize it in our own words. We will have a lot of practice on this for the next few weeks.

Word Study – This week we will be dealing with looking for base words. We will also enter our next round of spelling. I am really encouraged by the progression the students are making in their spelling. I can’t wait to see how this week goes.

Terrific Tidbits

·         When you are using spelling city, make sure you go to www.spellingcity.com/MrsBecklund/ Practicing those words at home really does make a big difference!

·         I have noticed that it might be helpful to have a site to help aid in keyboarding/typing practice. Since we do not have a time scheduled for a keyboarding class, I think this website could provide some great practice. http://www.freetypinggame.net/play.asp

·         I am excited for this upcoming week of social studies. We only have 4 states this week, so I am excited to see how in depth we will go. Here are some fun videos about the states we will focus on.

·         Texas:

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTiG5FC12zo

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcrK0U7RDIk

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bA1ZIyeY91E

·         Oklahoma:

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV076_CshiM

o    I love musicals… I couldn’t resist! (It is actually the state song of Oklahoma!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKA69VO2QcY

·         New Mexico:

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOUJaZRNVMk

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThtxnDXiF-c

·         Arizona:

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI7YlgM8pEU

o    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7xedmvJTzk

Need to Knows

·         Make sure to bring your books for library this week!

·         We will have our second counselor lesson on Friday.

·         Homework Room: Remember, homework room takes place every morning from 7:30-8:00.  

Keep checking the blog throughout the week for more information. J

-Mrs. B

Math Help: Partial-Sums Addition and Column-Addition

Below are some tips that might be helpful when your student brings home their work on Tuesday. We are focusing on two different types of addition. They are:  Partial-Sums and Column-Addition.

I have written out an example, and I have also attached a link to a video that will help explain the process as well. It was difficult to format the example for Column-Addition, so I attached a photo. The steps are colored in coordination with the actual work in the photo. If you have questions, let me know! I know this is a very different method, than many of us, including myself, grew up with. We are in this journey together! I have found these methods fantastic for teaching addition, and really help students make sense of addition. Enjoy!


Partial-Sums

The partial-sums method is used to find sums mentally or with paper and pencil. Here is the partial-sums method for adding 2-digit or 3-digit numbers:

Steps:
1.) Add the 100s
2.) Add the 10s
3.) Add the 1s
4.) Then add the sums you just found (the partial sums).


Example:

                                                                          46
                                                                        +37 
Add the 10s:                    40+30 ----------->       70
Add the 1s:                        6+  7 ----------->     +13
Add the partial sums       70+13 ----------->       83

                                                                                   233
                                                                                 +158
Add the 100s:                  200+100 -------->                300
Add the 10s:                      30+  50 -------->                  80
Add the 1s:                         3 +   8 --------->                +11
Add the partial sums:  300 + 80 + 11 ----->                391



video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vac6SUg9uSU


Column-Addition 

The column-addition method can be used to find sums with paper and pencil, but it is not a good method for finding sums mentally.

Here is the column-addition method for adding 2-digit or 3-digit numbers.

1.) Draw lines to separate the 1s, 10s, and 100s places.
2.) Add the numbers in each column. Write each sum in its column.
3.) If there are 2 digits in the 1s place, trade 10 ones for 1 ten.
4.) If there are 2 digits in the 10s places, trade 10 tens for 1 hundred.

Example:

Add 248+187 using the column-addition method.

Add the numbers in each column

Two digits in the ones place.

Trade 15 ones for 1 ten and 5 ones.

Move the 1 ten to the tens column.

Two digits in the tens place.

Trade 13 tens for 1 hundred and 3 tens

Move the 1 hundred to the hundreds column

248 + 187 = 435 

video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B9oM-phD3g




I hope this information helped. If you every have more questions about our Everyday Math while you are at home, this is a really helpful site to view!This link will take you to the unit we are currently working on.
 http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th-grade/em-at-home/unit_2/

Week 5 Update :)

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! I am sorry this post was not up until late Sunday night. When I began to upload it from home, something went wrong, and my home’s internet connection was not working. Alas, here is the post. :)

A Peek At the Week

·         Math – In math this week, we will continue to work with understanding and using whole numbers with an emphasis on using them to organize data. Today, Monday, we will work with finding the median of a set of data, as well as how to use and read line plots. On Tuesday, we will focus first on the partial-sums algorithm used to solve multi-digit addition problems. Then, we will start to learn about the column method. This area of math is a bit different than the way they use to teach math. I am currently trying to find a great resource that might aid you if your student has questions about it. On Wednesday, we will be reviewing the trade-first and counting-up methods of subtracting, and then will move to the partial-difference method. Just like the day before, I am hoping to find a resource for this as well. On Thursday, we will work with displaying data with bar graphs. Friday, we will spend our day in rotations to review what we learned during the week so we can apply it!

·         Social Studies – This week we will be focusing on the Southeastern States. Throughout the week we will have many opportunities to learn about the states, and what makes them unique! On Friday, we will have a quiz over all of the states as well as the capitals.

·         Writing ­– This week in writing, we will continue to work on our personal narratives.

·         Grammar – In grammar this week we will continue to review and practice the different types of verbs and nouns.

·         Comprehension – This week we will really be putting out questioning strategy to work. Last week, your student had a lot of guided practice with this, and this week we will have the same opportunity with some independent practice as well.

·         Word Study – This week we are learning about hyphenated compound words. We will also start our second week of spelling with the spellingcity website.  I was very encouraged by the enthusiasm for spellingcity that all of the 4^th graders had. It is really nice to be able to have everyone working on their specific areas of spelling, and I can tell that we will be able to see amazing growth as this year progresses!

Terrific Tidbits

·         Feel free to continue watching the videos links I provided last week for social studies. We really have enjoyed singing songs about the states, and I can’t wait to upload a video of us all jamming out to the “Tour the States” song. We sure do have a blast with it!

·         When you are using spelling city, make sure you go to www.spellingcity.com/MrsBecklund/ Practicing those words at home really does make a big difference!

·         Periodically throughout the week we will be watching some cool videos about the southeastern states. Each time we watch one, I will add it to the blog.

Your kiddos might talk about it, and it is true…. the staff at Independence Elementary participated in the Ice Bucket Challenge this past Friday. If your student really wants you to watch the video, you can check it out here:

·         http://youtu.be/_7cpK7tSPXw It was pretty chilly, but I sure had fun!

Need to Knows

·         Make sure to bring your books for library this week!

·         I will be gone for a district training on Thursday with the other 4^th grade teachers.

·         Homework Room: You may have read about this on the newsletter, but I want to repost it here in case you missed it.

o   Independence Elementary will be starting an early morning homework room for students to get help with homework from one of our certified teachers. (I am actually the teacher for homework room on Fridays!) Homework room is open to any student, 1^st-5^th grade and will be held from 7:30 AM-8:00 AM in room 402. It will be a first come first service basis unless a classroom teacher recommends a student for homework room. IF that is the case, that student is guaranteed a spot for that morning. We will be limiting the capacity of the homework room to 25 students. If a student would like to eat breakfast at the school but would like to go to the homework room, they will need to get their breakfast first and then check in at the homework room. Whether the students need help to complete an assignment or a quiet place to add to their reading minutes, we hope that the Independence homework room will benefit our students. The homework room will start on Monday, September 22.

·         Independence Community Thank You & Open House is taking place this Tuesday, September 23^rd from 5:30-7:00 PM with a short program starting at 6:30PM. If you are able to make it, feel free to stop by our home in room 214. I’ll be there.

·         Make sure you don’t forget to turn in fundraising  packets. I am excited to see how our school did!

·         This week, we will be sending out our first book order. If you have questions about it let me know!

Keep checking the blog throughout the week for more information. J

-Mrs. B

Fantastic Fourth!

I can’t believe we are already on to week 4! I can’t wait to see what this week brings!

Peek at the Upcoming Week

·         Math – This week in math, we will be starting Unit 2! Unit 2 deals a lot with understanding numbers. This week we will really focus on the names for numbers, place value, and organizing and displaying data. This week, we will also be starting to do some small group work during our scheduled math time.

·         Social Studies – This week we will be focusing on learning about the North East region of the United States. Throughout the week we will really hit these states hard, learning about their geography, resources, and so much more!

·         Writing – This week in writing, we will finish up drafting and editing our first stories, and will move on to working on our second personal narrative. We have some REALLY great narratives, and I can’t wait to read even more!

·         Grammar- We will finish up noun work this week, and then will move onto some verb review! We will also be focusing on understanding the meanings of the prefixes pre-, fore-, post- and after-.

·         Spelling – I will be sending home information on a new type of spelling that we will do in our classroom. Be looking for this on Monday or Tuesday!

Terrific Tidbits

·         Math Resources/Online Activities:

o   This website is great for activities all across 4^th grade! I really recommend it!

§  http://www.abcya.com/fourth_grade_computers.htm

o   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuE46_-7L5c

o   http://www.funbrain.com/tens/

o   http://www.abcya.com/place_value_hockey.htm

·         Social Studies Resources/Online Activities:

o   http://www.purposegames.com/game/northeastern-states-quiz

o   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RGPrna5jG8

Need to Knows

·         The fundraising packets are DUE this Friday, September 19^th. I am looking forward to see how well our school has done!

·         We have library checkout on Tuesday, so make sure your student is bringing his or her books back.

·         On Wednesday, we will be having our first counselor lesson. I am thrilled that we will have two lessons with our school counselor each month throughout the year. I am excited to see how our first session goes!

Keep checking back throughout the week for updated information! Also, remember to email me with any questions that may come up!

Have a fabulous week!

-Mrs. B :)

Super September!

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! I know that I sure enjoyed the wonderful weather, and hope that we can squeeze out a few more days of summer warmth! I can’t wait for our next week of school to begin!

Peek at the Upcoming Week

Math: This week we will be finishing up our geography unit. The first few days will have a lot of hands on activities. On Monday, we will work with circle constructions and on Tuesday we will focus on hexagon and triangle constructions. Wednesday, we will start the review for our unit 1 math test. The way we will run testing in our room will run in a slightly different manner. We will start off our test on Thursday with a written assessment. (This is like the typical math test.) It will be compromised of a part A and a part B. We, as a school, take a grade on part A. Part B is information that will be revisited later on, so we do not expect our students to have mastered this material yet. On Friday, we will have the other part of the assessment which is called open response. This is more like an open ended problem that your student will complete.  

Science: This week in science, we will continue our measurement unit, but we will be moving on to weight measurement. There will be a lot of hands on activities this week. We will also have a vocabulary quiz at the end of the week as well.

Writing:  In writing this week, we will continue to work on our personal narratives. Last week we did a great job with storyboarding, and this week we will move onto drafting.

ELA: In ELA, there will be a lot going on! We will start to work on the questioning strategy, and will continue to work on discussing character traits. We will spend part of the week reviewing nouns, and the other part of the week will be spent reviewing nouns. We will spend some of our time in grammar focusing on the prefixes in,- un-, dis-, and mis-.

Social Studies: I am so excited for social studies this week! We are going to start learning about the 50 states. In 4^th grade, this was my favorite, and I can’t wait to share my love and passion for social studies!

Terrific Tidbits

  This song will hopefully be stuck in your student’s head this week. Here is the link so you can learn too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWGc6AZQlAE

·         Math Resources:

o   https://www.everydaymathonline.com/student_login.html

o   https://xtramath.org/

Need to Knows

·         I will be gone Thursday morning for a teacher training. I will only be gone for half a day. We received some great new materials this year in 4^th grade, and my training will allow me to teach my fellow 4^th grade teachers how we can use it to its full ability!

·         There was a sheet that came home last week with your student for school intramurals. If your student wants to participate, make sure you turn those in soon!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to send me an email. I will try and get back to you before the school day ends.

Have a fabulous week!

-Leah Becklund

Ready for Week Two!

It is crazy to think that we already are starting week 2 of 4^th grade. It was such a fun first week of school last week, and I can’t wait to see where week two takes us!

Now that school has started, I want to let you know a little more about what will be posted on this blog during the week. This is what I hope to see happen with this blog:

1.    Peek at the upcoming week (What we will be working on, school wide events, etc) I think it is important for you to know what is happening, and this post will usually be up by Sunday night (I hope)!

2.    Pictures of our progress and play We are going to be doing some really exciting things in our classroom this year, and I want you to be able to get the insider’s look. When we have fun school events, productive work time, and cool projects I would like you to get a glance at them. I will try and post pictures often, and will try to do my best.

3.    Terrific Tidbits I will post some great resources for you to work on with your student at home if you have some extra time, or if you have a student saying, “I’m bored!” Feel free to look at these resources if you would like!

4.    Need to Knows I will post items that are very beneficial for you to know. This includes: items to look for in your child’s folder, permission slips, school handouts

I hope to update the blog a few times a week in order to keep our communication levels in check. I will also send a class newsletter home every Monday as well. This newsletter will have some of the information from the blog, along with other information.

As for this week…..

Peek at the Upcoming Week

·         Math – This week in math, we will continue to work on geometry review, staring with parallelograms on Tuesday! As the week goes on, study links will be sent home. These study links are great practice for your students. If they are having trouble completing the study links, do not worry about a homework grade. These links help me see where I may need to reteach certain concepts. We do look over these as a class the following morning and work through the areas we had issues with.

·         Science – We will continue our measurement unit. There are a lot of fun hands on activities in science this week, and I can’t wait to start them!

·         Writing – This week in writing, we will start storyboarding for our personal narratives. I have had the chance to look over a lot of the ideas your students have generated, and I can tell our class will have some stellar story writers!

·         Reading – This week we will finish reading Because of Winn Dixie. We have been working on our visualization skills with this book, as well as monitoring our comprehension. As the week goes on, we will have time to work on our projects for the book. I sent a sheet home with your student on Friday detailing what types of projects they can choose from. This weekend, I wanted them to brainstorm what project they may want to complete. I have a feeling that we will have some super projects!

Need to Knows

•  Throughout the week your student will be coming home with different labels in his or her planner. These labels have log-in information for different websites we will use throughout the year.
• Please make sure you are signing your student’s planner each night. I want to make sure they are sharing information with you, and your signature will allow me to see if they checked in with you.

Keep checking back throughout the week for updated information! Also, remember to email me with any questions that may come up!

Have a fabulous first week of September!

-Mrs. Becklund J