Happy Holidays!

I want to wish your families a very happy holiday! I can't believe we only have three days left before our winter vacation. We have been very busy learning in 4T over the past two weeks.

In science, we finished up learning about the water cycle. We did an experiment to see just how quickly water can evaporate.  We learned that puddles don't magically disappear, the water changes into water vapor.   We also began learning about different types of weather tools. On Thursday, the students made their own anemometers. Unfortunately, we weren't able to test them outside because of the rain, but our fan did the trick! Kids tested out different ways of putting the anemometer together to see which would work best!  If you have the following items in your recycle bins, we can use them for our weather tools!

• Small water or soda bottles
• Large soda bottles
• Small plastic food containers with lids- plastic sour cream containers, tubs of butter, tubs of salsa. 

In reading, we are focusing on finding the main idea and details of non-fiction texts. After finding the main idea and details we practiced writing summaries of what we read.  We have read several articles on natural disasters around the world.  When we return from our break we will begin researching natural disasters!

In math, we are continuing to learn about fractions! We have spent the past week learning about equivalent fractions and strategies for comparing fractions. We've spent time discussing how to use pictures and words to show our thinking in math. We will learn about decimals after break.

In writing, we are finishing up writing essays. When we return from the break we will change our personal essays to persuasive essays.

We also took some time to paint reindeer and make cards for our reading buddies in Kindergarten!

We are in need of sanitizing wipes, hand sanitizer, and soft tissues. Any donations would be so greatly appreciated! 


Have a wonderful holiday!
-Kellie

Week #14

I can't believe we are already done with our first week of December! We had a week full of learning in 4T!

In science we began our weather unit. We are working with our friends in Ms. Hildreth's class to research and learn all about the water cycle. The students did a great job taking notes and illustrating diagrams of how the water cycle works. 

In math we began our unit on fractions. We discussed when we use fractions in our everyday lives! Many students shared stories of using fractions while cooking. We then used fraction circles to investigate equivalent fractions. 

In reading, we learned about different types of text structures readers encounter while reading non-fiction. We also discussed strategies for tackling difficult parts of non-fiction reading. Sometimes books or articles have too many facts or misleading headings and we have to ask ourselves, "What is most important?"

In writing, students brainstormed people, places, and ideas that are important to them and then wrote a thesis that can be supported with stories and evidence from their own life.  We will continue to develop our essays over the next few weeks.

 I asked the students if they could give a gift for Christmas to anyone in the world, who would it be and why? Here are a few of their responses from kidblog. It was amazing to see how kind and caring your children are!

We had a mystery skype with a class is Missouri. 4T continues to do an excellent job during our Skypes!

Tomorrow begins week #15! Only 13 more days until our holiday break! 

-Ms. Tingle

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful class this year! Here is a peek into the past week and a half in 4T!

• We finished our 2nd math unit! We will be starting unit three on Monday. Unit three will be all about fractions.
• We began our non-fiction reading unit. We discussed the importance of committing and caring about our reading.  We also discovered that readers can read a text multiple times for different reasons. It's just like when you watch a movie more than once. You almost always learn and pick up on different things the second or third time. 
• The kids finished presenting their colonial life projects. You can view their projects on Seesaw! We will begin learning about weather on Monday. 
• We began our second writing unit which focuses on writing essays. Students will write an essay on a topic that is important to them.
• The kids were introduced to StoryBird and Animoto. StoryBird allows students to write picture books with great illustrations! Animoto allows students to make videos and presentations. We will use it for projects throughout the year. You can ask you child to show you both of these sites at home! 

Physical Education Sneakers
As the ground begins to turn muddy, snowy, and wet it's important that the kids have clean sneakers for physical education. It is encouraged that students bring their sneakers in their backpack on physical education days rather than wear them to school.  Students are welcome to leave an extra pair of sneakers in the classroom throughout the winter. 

Healthy Winter Donations

4T will be forever thankful for donations of the following items to help get us through the winter! 

• Soft Tissues
• Antibacterial Hand Sanitizer
• Disinfecting Wipes

  

The book fair is coming! Our class will be previewing the book fair on November 30th at 8:50.
We will be buying on December 1st at 1:20. Parents are welcome to come on December 1st to purchase books with your child.

As we quickly approach December, I want to wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. I can't believe our holiday break will be here before we know it!
-Kellie

Week #11!

Hi Everyone!
Here's a quick peek into the learning we did this past week in 4T!

•  On Tuesday, we traveled to the Portland Symphony.  When we returned to school, we decided we needed to get outside and move around after a long day on the bus. Ms. Hildreth's class challenged us to a kickball game! 4T worked together as a team and we had a blast! 4T won, but who's counting? :)
• We finished our first reading unit, Analyzing Characters, on Friday! We finished the unit by thinking about the importance of titles and the different perspectives of characters in a story. We will start our nonfiction unit this week!
• In writing, we also wrapped up our first unit. On Monday we had a story share. Students read and gave compliments to their peers.  The students should be so proud of their writing, I know I am!
• The class is continuing to work on their colonial life projects. They are doing a great job demonstrating their knowledge of how life has changed since colonial days. 

Early Release- Wednesday 11/18
Thanksgiving Break begins 11/25

Do you have unused games at home that are collecting dust? Our class is looking for game donations for indoor recess!  :)

I hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Updates!

It was so nice to see so many of you on Thursday for parent teacher conferences! I look forward to meeting with the rest of you over the next two weeks!

On Tuesday, we will be heading to the Portland Symphony.  It is encouraged that students dress up for the show.  Students will also need to have a bag lunch.

There is no school on Wednesday 11/11.

Here's a peek into last week:

• We learned how to use Shadow Puppet to demonstrate our knowledge of how life has changed since colonial times
• We worked on editing, revising, and publishing our realistic fiction stories.
• We learned about jobs that people had in colonial times as well as children's lifestyles.
• We played multiple bingo, factor flip, and factor captor to learn the difference between factors and multiples. 
• We finished our read aloud, Tiger Rising, and the ending shocked us!
• We wrote letters of advice to characters in our books. 

Questions to ask your child about their week:

• What three topics did you choose for your colonial life project?
• How are you going to present your colonial life project?
• How are your words sorted this week?
• What happened to the tiger in Tiger Rising?
• How do you know if a number is prime?

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Updates!

Happy Halloween! It was so nice to see many of you at our Halloween celebration! Thank you to everyone who contributed wonderful treats and of course to our mystery reader, who had the kids speechless when she arrived in a witch costume! I know the kids had a great time!

• On Thursday, a letter went home regarding the new video/audio policy. Please sign and return the form as soon as possible.  
• We will be traveling to the Portland Symphony on November 10th. Permission slips went home last week. There is no cost associated with this trip. 
• Parent teacher conferences will be held this week. Please return the parent survey at your earliest convenience. This will allow me to make sure all of your questions and concerns are addressed when we meet. 
• Thursday, November 5th- Half day for students
• This Friday, November 6th- No school for students

A look into our week:

• We had Mystery Skype with a class from Alabama. We even guessed their town using clues.  The kids quickly searched the internet for maps of Alabama to figure out they were from Jacksonville!
• We used Seesaw, an online portfolio, to complete book reviews.  Students can access Seesaw at home by using their google username and password.
• We discussed how characters are just like people in our own lives. They have more than one side and can act out of character in different situations. Many students shared that they act much different with their siblings than they do in school.  We also had our first book debate and discussed how readers can have different opinions of the books they read. 
• In writing we studied published authors to learn how they hook the reader and end their stories. Students also learned that authors make sure readers know exactly where and when the story takes place. 
• We continued to learn about colonial life in social studies. We had great discussions about how different our schools are today. From materials to punishments, almost everyone decided they would rather go to school today!
• We started unit two of math. We have been discussing how important it is to for students to know their multiplication facts! Please encourage your child to practice their facts each night at home. 

Questions to ask about our week:

• What was your job during Mystery Skype?
• Where did people get their clothes in colonial times?
• How were schools different in colonial times?
• Can you show me your seesaw book review?
• Do you think Rob & Sistine should let the tiger go? Why or why not?
• What book did you read to your reading buddy?
• Can we play multiplication war together?

I look forward to meeting with you over the next few weeks!

-Ms. Tingle

Updates

 I heard today, "I can't believe another Friday has come and gone."  I could not agree more. The weeks seem to just fly by.

• The highlight of our week was traveling to Old York today! We had a blast learning about colonial life. The students quickly realized that life was much different back then. Surprisingly, some students said they would love to live in colonial times without their iPads, TVs, and other electronics!
• This was our first week of recycling and 4T set a record for being so fast and efficient! The kids worked together to gather the recycling from each class of the school.
• We finished our first unit in math and took our first test of 4th Grade! We will begin unit 2 on Monday. 
• We continued to write our realistic fiction stories. We learned how important it is to include dialogue in our stories as well as leads that hook the reader. 
• In reading, we continued to analyze characters. We discussed how a character's thoughts and actions can reveal important details about who they are.
• We had a Mystery Skype with a class in New Jersey! We are having so much fun learning our geography by skyping with classes throughout the U.S.

Questions to ask your child about their week:

• How are colonial homes different than our homes?
• What did you bake at Old York?
• What was your job during Mystery Skype?
• Can you show me your realistic fiction story on Google Docs?
• How would you describe Rob in Tiger Rising?
• Would you like to live in colonial times? why or why not?
• What is a goal you have for reading this year?

And of course, here are several photos from our amazing trip into the past!

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I am happy to be back in 2015! Have a great weekend! :)