We are great in week 8!

Hello 4^th graders and family members! I hope you all had a fabulous break. I know that I sure enjoyed the long weekend. My husband, Scott, and I decided to travel all the way Hayward, Wisconsin (a 5.5/6 long trip) for some time at the family cabin. It was nice to build some campfires, do some hiking, and spend time in the fabulous Wisconsin fall forests. As much fun as I had, I really did miss being at school, and made sure to fit in quite a bit of school work. I am so excited for this next week, finally a full 5 days, and for the fun that it will bring. I apologize for not posting last week and for not sending home a newsletter. Since it was a short week, and a crazy busy one, I decided to wait until this week to send anything. Below you’ll find out usual positing. If you end up having any questions at all, please feel free to email me at lnelsen@west-fargo.k12.nd.us . Thanks again for reading, and make sure to check in on the blog/your email throughout the week.

Peak at the Week

Math: This week in math, we will be finishing Unit 3. On Monday we will focus on determining if number sentences are true or false. For example, 75>100   (75 is more than 100). Well, I know that 100 is actually larger than 75, so this number sentence is false. Tuesday we will shift gears and work on using parentheses in math.  This is very important in correctly writing and solving math problems. Here is an example: 15 – 7 X 2 = 16   I know that the first step was 15-7=8  and that the second step was 8 x 2 = 16. Knowing this, I would place my parentheses around the 15 and the 7 so my equation would look like this: (15-7)X2=16. On Wednesday we will work on open sentences. When you see this, it may look a little like early algebra. When we are solving open sentences, we are looking for the unknown. An example of this would be: 12 + x = 55. To find the unknown I am going to take 55 – 12 to find an answer of 43. I am excited to work on this! On Thursday and Friday we will be reviewing and practicing for our Unit 3 math test, which will take place next Monday, October 27^th.

Social Studies: This week we will be working through the Midwest States. Throughout the week we will be completing a Nonfiction Matrix based on the Midwest States. On Friday we will be taking our Midwest States quiz. This week the quiz will include the state name, abbreviation, and capital. Since we are focusing on the Midwest, the quiz will also have the Great Lakes. As a big heads up, the following week we will take a quiz on all 50 states. Make sure you are practicing your state names and capitals!

Writing: This week we will continue to work on our personal narratives. For our mini-lessons we will be focusing on building the paragraph. We want to work on creating strong paragraphs in our writing, so this week we will focus on finding weak paragraphs, determining why they are week, and then fixing them so they are stronger.

Reading: This week we will continue to work on the summarizing strategy. On Friday we will be taking another STAR quiz. I love being able to use these to check in and see where our strengths are as well as our weaknesses so I can continue to work on shaping my lessons to hit our needs. There will also be a spelling test on Friday, so make sure you study your words during the week. 

Word Study: This week in Word Study we will be focusing on long and short a pattern words. I have really enjoyed seeing how  Word Study has improved our word usage in writing and speaking.

Terrific Tidbits

·         Math

o   During conferences, I heard from a few parents that there was a link they really liked that I had shared earlier this year. This is really helpful information for a parent who wants to help their kiddo on studylinks in the Everyday Math curriculum.  Here it is again: http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th-grade/em-at-home/unit_3/

o   www.xtramath.com is a great place to practice facts!

·         Social Studies

o   Our favorite song J https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_E2CNZIlVIg

o   This is a great game to practice the state names with. http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/unitedstates.html

o   This game is great to practice the name of the capitals: http://www.coolmath-games.com/0-geography-venture-capital/

·         Spelling

o   http://www.spellingcity.com/MrsBecklund/

Need to Knows 

• When you came to conferences you may have noticed the wall near my desk. I want our classroom to feel like home away from home, so your student can bring in a photo of themselves or their family to place on our wall. I really think this will enhance the community that we have already began creating in our classroom
• Homework Room will continue this week from 7:30-8:00 a.m. every day of the week. This time is great if you need to read a few more minutes, or if you want some extra time to finish up your homework. There is a certified teacher there every morning to answer your questions!
• This week we will start a new way of tracking reading. On Monday, I will be sending home a reading log. Each time you read 20 minutes, you will check off the box and include a parent signature. It is SO important to be reading every single night. I will be collecting these every other week. If we want to see improvements in fluency, comprehension, and reading levels, this is one of the biggest things we can do!

Enjoy your week, and I will keep you posted on any changes!

~ Mrs. B J