Grammaropolis

Here is a link for Grammaropolis. There is also a link on our Word Study page.

Technical Difficults, Study Hall, & Mrs. Nanda

Technology is wonderful...when it works. My computer was having a bad day, and I was not able to print off spelling and vocabulary homework while the kids were in school. However, both are now printed. We will be one day behind on vocabulary this week, and I told the students to choose their own way to practice their spelling tonight.

We will not have Study Hall tomorrow after school. I have a staff meeting. We typically have staff meetings on Wednesdays, but Mrs. Martin will be gone on Wednesdays helping to care for her sister, Mrs. Nanda, while she continues to recover. As soon as we have our staff meetings rescheduled, I will send out an announcement about Study Hall.

The kids did get an update about Mrs. Nanda from Mrs. Martin today. Kimberlee is continuing to make growth with her speech and physical therapies. She was able to leave the hospital for a couple hours on Christmas to open presents with her family. Music classes will be taught by Kathy Yost this semester.

Happy (almost) November!

Thank you to all the wonderful parents who participated in parent-teacher conferences. It was nice to sit down and talk with you. Our next scheduled parent-teacher conferences will be in the spring, but I am always available to chat before then.

Tomorrow (October 31) will be the day of our Halloween party. The elementary costume parade will begin at 2:45. We will begin changing into costumes around 2:30. Our class party will be after the parade. We will have snacks, an art project, and some games. If you are planning on coming to the costume parade and would like to stay and help with games, please join us. Until 2:30, students will be expected to participate in a regular school day. We still have content to cover before we can have fun.

Below is a copy of November's homework calendar and spelling practice for 2nd quarter. Instead of 5pts for spelling practice, students must complete three assignments in a row, just like tic tac toe. The tic tac toe may be three in a row vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. Since students will not be turning in their tic tac toe board, please remind students to number their assignments with the box number.

October Homework Calendar

It's October already! The first months of school have flown by. We have completed our first field trip, survived our first round of MAPs tests, and (almost) finished our first research project. I think that's a pretty good start to the year.

Please take a moment to look at your child's homework calendar. Just like last month, there is a copy online as well as a paper copy for you at home and a copy for students in their homework folder.

Unlike last month, vocabulary will be checked on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. This allow everyone to receive additional feedback throughout the week as we progress through our word study. On Tuesdays, we will be checking "pg 1" which identifies the prefixes/suffixes for the week as well as their meanings. Usually the practice on this page asks the students to use the prefix/suffix to create words. "Pg 2" or "More Practice with (insert prefix/suffix here)" will be checked and collected on Wednesday. This page asks students to use words in context and create original sentences. We will still have our vocabulary quiz on Thursday. We have two more weeks of studying prefixes before we transition into studying suffixes. The practice pages will be similar.

You will also notice that on October 12, students will have Drops in the Bucket #1 for homework. We have completed the first part of our language Drops and will start math review this month. The format is similar, but we will go through the first page together in class.

Please, please, please make sure your child is reading at home. By the end of the month, students must have read one nonfiction book and take an AR test on it. This should not be the only book they read. If they find a nonfiction topic they really like, challenge them to find a fiction book that includes that topic. (Check out Magic Tree House books by Mary Pope Osborn for examples.) Or embrace nonfiction this month, and encourage your child to read multiple books on the same subject. Have conversations about how different writers present similar information.

Below are several links to book lists and articles for parents on student reading. Enjoy!
Favorite Books for Fourth Graders
Scholastic: Choosing Books for Your Child
Books for Third and Fourth Grade Students
Grand County Library District
            *Our local librarians are fantastic! Stop by and see what books they have to offer.

Spelling Words: August 29 - September 1

Week 1


Spelling :

1. admit
2. bath
3. middle
4. brush
5. catch
6. sadness
7. thankful
8. standing
9. absent
10. thick

Prefix of the Week:
The prefix mis- means "wrong" 

1st Week Reflections & 2nd Week Word Study

The first week of school was a success! We spent time getting reacquainted with classmates from last year and welcoming new members into our classroom. We reviewed school-wide behavior expectations and established classroom norms. Students were introduced to all content areas including math, reading, writing, science, and social studies. Our first math unit focuses on place value up of large numbers. We have begun our mythology study by learning about the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus. We will be moving into nonfiction after Labor Day, but each month, we will read and study a new story from Greek mythology. Students are exploring ideas and voice in their writing journals and will be starting their word study this coming week. Science takes place in Mrs. Janssen's room where students learned about her fish as an introduction to life science. The first quarter of social studies will focus on United States geography, so students are practicing locating different points of interest on a map of our country.

Starting Monday, we will be following our regular schedule. I have made a few changes to the previously posted schedule and have posted the new schedule below.

Word study in fourth grade includes spelling and vocabulary practice. Each week, students will be given a list of ten spelling words from a collection of words every fourth grader should know. Students will also receive several choices they may complete for their spelling practice. All spelling practice is due on Thursday before our spelling quiz. Click here to view the spelling assignment sheet for this quarter. Students will be expected to complete a vocabulary sheet focusing on our prefix/suffix of the week. These assignments will be introduced on Monday along with the prefix or suffix for the week. For their vocabulary assessment, students will be given five words to use correctly in sentences.