Monday, November 28, 2016

Inquiry Math Lesson

Today, students worked in partners to try and figure out a problem for me.  We are going to be doing lots of inquiry type learning while I introduce division to the students.  They loved it and can't wait to share their thinking tomorrow in math congress!!    

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Thankful

   This time of year reminds all of us how much we have to be thankful for.   The past couple weeks, we have spent quite a bit of time discussing what it means to be thankful.  We have also learned about manners, specifically, table manners. This was all a build up to our amazing Thanksgiving Feast.  Thank you so much to all the families that donated.  

   I just wanted you all to know how thankful I am for each and every one of your kids.  I love them and love spending each day with them!!  Thanks for letting me share each day with them.  
 

Comfy Day Celebration

I am always impressed when students vote on a celebration and I personally get excited to see what they will choose.  For this celebration, students voted on a comfy pajama day.  Students brought in blankets, pillows, stuffed animals and more!  They LOVED being comfy and reading in the forts they built.   

Friday, November 18, 2016

11/18/16 "Newsletter"

Important Dates
  • November 21st- Thanksgiving Feast in our Class (thanks for all the donations!)
  • November 22nd- Comfy Day!  
  • November 23-25th- Thanksgiving Break
  • December 15th- 4th Grade Music Program (6:30-7:30)
  • December 20th- Winter Party
  • December 21-January 3rd- Winter Break
  • January 4th- School resumes
  • January 16th- NO SCHOOL Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • January 20th- School Spelling Bee
  • January 30th- Beulah Ralph's 90th Birthday
  • February 6th- NO SCHOOL (teacher work day)
Reading
   Students are still on the edge of their seats each day for our read aloud, Jack's Run.  This week, we worked on understanding theme within a book.  This is a tough concept for kiddos to understand.  We talked about how theme is really THE MEssage the author wants you to take away from the book.  We have also talked about problems and solutions in a text.  This was a great conversation since last week we talked about cause and effect.  They noticed lots of similarities and differences between these two concepts.    
   Next week we are going to be doing some fun Thanksgiving readings and activities.  The week we get back from break, we will be talking about answering short response questions and beginning our study of words.  We will begin by talking about parts of speech.  Be sure to ask your child about words they are learning! 

Writing/Social Studies
   For the next few weeks, we are going to combine writing and social studies times.  When we return from Thanksgiving break, we are going to begin our study of the regions of Missouri.  In writing, we are beginning our study of informational writing.  We thought this would be a perfect time to combine writing and social studies.  Students will be writing about a specific region of Missouri.  They will study the region, take notes on the region, and teach the region to others.  Our final goal is for students to know how to research, write an informational piece, learn all the regions in Missouri and to teach others about what they have learned.  

Math
   We are now finished with our unit of study on multiplication.  Multiplying by a one digit number seemed super easy for this class.  Multiplying by a two digit number turned out to be a little more difficult.  We will continue to work on this as a class for those that need it.  I was impressed with everyone's hard work and effort.  For our short week next week, we are going to do some fun Thanksgiving multi-step word problems.
   After break, we are going to begin an investigative unit on division.  Students will be given situations and they will have to solve problems using any skill they can.  The objective will be to understand place value better and to introduce division.  I am super excited to get this started and let them dive into this unit.  

Monday, November 14, 2016

Special Morning

What a fun day at BEU this morning! We had a special assembly honoring all our veterans and grandparents! Mini-Mizzou came to celebrate with us! Thank you to all the grandparents and special friends who attended our special day. We loved making crafts with you, interviewing you and reading our stories. We also appreciate our books we got from the book fair! 

Please feel free to come back to visit!