Last School Week of 2010!

Hello all!!!

I cannot believe that it is almost January. This year has gone by very fast. The fourth graders have amazed me with their awesome behavior and hard work! This week, we will be doing some fun activities as well as finishing up our unit 5 in math. The fourth graders are going to learn all about the formation of crystals in science as well.

HOMEWORK: Homework is a little different this week-
In math last week we read How Much is a Million? by David Schwartz. In this book we learn that it would take us around 23 days just to count to one million, and that is without taking breaks. So to show just how big one million is, we are making one million. Each class is creating/ drawing/ making 38, 461.5 objects on 9 and 1/2 sheets of paper. The students will have some time to work on this in class, but it is their only homework for the week. We calculated that around 4,000 small drawn objects could fit on one piece of paper, so each student needs to make small shapes all over the front of 9.5 pieces of paper to represent their part of 1,000,000. We will be putting these all together so that we can see just how much is a million.

Upcoming Dates/ Events:

December 17 from 2:30-3:30- Fourth grade Holiday Party
December 20- January 4- Winter Break- students come back to school on Wednesday, January 5, 2011


I hope everyone has a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Miss Grant

Weekly Update for December 6-10, 2010

Hello 4th graders and Family,

I want to start by saying thank you for helping me celebrate my "half" birthday! That was a wonderful, fun surprise.

This week we are finishing up Interim Exams, practicing for our show on Wednesday, as well as finishing up Unit 5 in math. Because our schedule is so full this week, I am only assigning two homework assignments this week.

In math this week we are continuing to work with estimation and rounding of large numbers as well as comparing data. We are also getting close to my goal of having everyone to the top of the Mountain of Math Facts. The students are working very hard in my classroom!

In Science we are going to learn how to identify different substances by looking at their properties. Today we are going to investigate with water. The students are enjoying this unit.

In social studies, we are going to begin contacting State Chambers of Commerce for information on specific states. We hope to get information sent to us from each state in our current unit. We are then going to use this information to create brochures about each state.

Don't for get this Wednesday is the 4th grade music program "Melton, the Warm-Hearted Snowman". The program begins at 6:30.


Homework this week:
Mon: 12/6- Study Link 5.8
Tues.:12/7- No homework- we are taking the math interim exam this day
Wed. 12/8- No homework- 4th grade music program at 6:30 p.m.
Thurs.: 12/9- Study Link 5.9
Fri. 12/10- Have a GREAT relaxing weekend

Important Dates to Remember:

December 8- 4th grade performance/ Art Show at 6:30
December 20-January 4- Winter Break no school

Have a great week!

Miss Grant

Weekly Update Novenber 29- December 3

Hello 4th Grade Families,

I hope everyone had a nice, enjoyable, and relaxing Thanksgiving Break! This week in 4th grade, our schedule is going to be a little different. Starting tomorrow, November 30, we will begin taking the 2nd Interim exams. We will be completing these assessments in our homeroom classes, and then we will switch classrooms later in the day. This will ensure that each teacher has roughly the same amount of teaching time with each group.  We will be taking the assessments on the following days: Tues. 11/30, Wed. 12/1, Thurs. 12/2, and Tues. 12/7. We will be taking the assessments after specials in the morning at around 10:15 a.m. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email or to call.

In math this week, we are continuing to work on different methods of multiplication. We will also be working with big numbers and powers of 10. Here are a few links that describe the different methods that we use to teach multiplication:
     http://nychold.com/em-arith.html
     http://www.mathatube.com/everydaymath-motheds.html


In science this week, we are going to begin doing experiments that will teach us the difference between physical and chemical properties. This unit helps us understand that properties are a great way to identify substances.

In social studies we are continuing to learn about the Northeast Region of the United States.

Homework this week:

Mon: 11/29- Study Link 5.4
Tues. 11/30- Study Link 5.5
Wed. 12/1- Study Link 5.6
Thurs. 12/2- Study Link 5.7


Upcoming Events/ Dates to Remember-
December 20 - January 4: Winter Break
January 7, 2011: Science Fair

Have a great week!

Miss Grant

 

Weekly Update November 15-19

Hello 4th Grade Families!

This week, we are finishing up our decimals unit in math. After we take our Unit 4 Post Assessment, we will begin Unit 5:Big Numbers, Estimation, and Computation. Knowing multiplication facts is key to this unit, so please work on reciting multiples of numbers each night (for example, 3, 6, 9, 12, and so on).

In Science, our new unit should be arriving any day. When the new unit arrives, we will begin learning about physical and chemical properties. We will also be discussing the science fair. We are going to be having a school wide science fair on January 7, 2011. I will be sending more information about the science fair soon.

In social studies, we are beginning our new unit. Our new unit is the Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest Regions. In this unit we will be learning all about these different regions in the United States.

Homework this week:

Monday: 11/15- S.L. 4.10
Tuesday: 11/16- S.L. 4.11& 5.1
Wednesday: 11/17- S.L. 5.2
Thursday: 11/18- S.L. 5.3

Upcoming Dates to remember:
Wednesday, November 17- Chipotle Fundraiser
Friday, November 19- Picture Retakes
November 24-26- Thanksgiving Break

I hope everyone has a great week!

Miss Grant

Weekly Update November 8 - 12

Hello 4th Grade Families!

Thanks to all who donated all of the books on my wish list from the Book Fair. The books that we received are great additions to our math, science, and social studies library.

DON' FORGET THAT THERE IS NO SCHOOL ON THURSDAY!!!

I have also received many addresses for Veterans. We are going to be writing letters to the Veterans that I received addresses for this Wednesday. If you know of another Veteran that you would like us to write to, it is not to late. Just email me their names and addresses and we will add them to our list.

This week in math we are continuing to work with decimals. This week we will be learning about decimals in money, the thousandths place, as well as measuring in the metric system.

This week in science we are continuing to work on science stations. The stations that your child gets to rotate through are: Magnets, Observation stations, Rocks and Minerals, and Make a clock work using water for electricity. The students are enjoying these stations.

This week in social studies we are going to learn about the history of Veterans Day and write letters to Veterans telling them thank you for serving our country.

Homework this week:

Monday- 11/8- Study Link 4.5
Tuesday- 11/9- Study Link 4.6- Rough Drafts for Mr. Rabinowitz are due
Wednesday- 11/10- Study Link 4.7
Thursday- 11/11- No School- Study Link 4.8
Friday-11/12-Have a GREAT weekend!

Important Upcoming Dates/ Events:

11/11- Veterans Day- No School
11/17- Chipotle Fundraiser See below for more information.

Weekly Update for November 1-5, 2010

Hello wonderful fourth grade families! I hope everyone had a great long weekend. Thanks to all the people that helped, donated items, volunteered, or had a great fourth grader in our Halloween Party. It was GREAT! The haunted house was a blast!

Today we had a great guest speaker that came into our classroom and talked with us about tomorrow's election. In social studies this week, your children will be participating in Kids Voting. They will, along with many students across the nation, be going through an online voting process to see what it is like to vote. So far the discussions on voting in the classroom have been wonderful. The fourth graders are very eager to learn more about the government and how it functions.

Next week in social studies, we are going to learn about Veterans' Day. Veterans' Day is a day to remember, thank and celebrate those individuals that have served in the military (U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard) in times of war or peace. If you know of a veteran that needs to be recognized for their service, please send me their names and addresses, and we will write thank you notes to these dedicated individuals.

In science we had a great time listening to all of the ecosystem projects brought in by the fourth graders. We are now done with our ecosystem unit, so we are currently waiting on our next science unit to arrive. Until our next unit's arrival, we will be going through different science stations where we can learn, observe, and experiment with many hands-on science activities. As a class, we are going to begin taking care of dinosaur plants. These plants are interesting, long living, and fun to watch change. Feel free to come in next week and see our dinosaur plants.

In math this week, we are getting into Unit 4: Decimals and Their Uses. Our objectives of this week are to identify values of digits in decimals, read and write decimals through thousandths, model decimals through hundredths with base-10 blocks, name fractional parts of the ONE represented by base-10 blocks, rename fractions with 10 and 100 in the denominator as decimals, explain why decimals are useful, to guide estimation of sums and differences of decimals, express values of digits in decimals, and add and subtract decimals to the hundredths place. A quick activity that can help your child with these goals is to have your child estimate the total money being spent each time you go shopping. You can even make this into a competition- whoever gets the closest estimation to the real total wins.

Homework:

Monday 11/1- Study Link 3.12 & 4.1, sign and return unit 3 assessment, and look over ballot before the election tomorrow
Tuesday 11/2- Study Link 4.2
Wednesday 11/3- Study Link 4.3
Thursday 11/4- Study Link 4.4
Friday 11/5- Have a GREAT weekend!

Upcoming Dates/ Events:

11/5- Thanksgiving Lunch and Literacy Day- 4th Grade Literacy Day starts at 12:00 in your child's homeroom and the lunch is afterward- come learn about how literacy is taught in each of our classrooms and then eat a yummy lunch with your child at 1:00/ 1:05.
11/11- Veterans Day- No School

I hope everyone has a nice relaxing week!

Miss Grant

4th GRADE HALLOWEN PARTY!!!!!

WESTERLY CREEK 4TH GRADE HALLOWEEN PARTY

Please sign-up to bring something or volunteer for the 4th Grade Halloween Party.  As in previous years, the party will be held in both classrooms and the kids will rotate between activities (including a Haunted House!) and snacks. 

If you have any questions, please contact Katie Dell (catherinebdell@yahoo.com) or Keli Krantz (Keli.Krantz@janus.com).  And - we really need some creative folks that love spooky, scary haunted houses (or in our case . . . haunted room between the classrooms) to help plan the Haunted House for the party.  

Thanks everyone! 

Click the link below to view the message:

http://www.slyreply.com/event/eventdetails.aspx?eid=aj69DNqWmNk%3d

Weekly Update for October 18-22

Hello my AWESOME 4th graders and families!

This week in math we are going to focus on solving more number stories, learning how to insert parentheses into number sentences to make them true, and we are going to learn a little algebra while we learn how to complete open number sentences. Some of this may be new to some students, so if your child is struggling with any if these things we are going to continue to learn about and practice it throughout the year.

In social studies this week we are continuing to learn about privacy. The key questions that we will be answering this week are: why do people have different ways to keep things private? How can you decide if you want to have privacy? and How can you decide if there is too much privacy?

In science this week we are going to learn about the interactions within a tree as well as changes that ecosystems go through. Please remind your children that they have a science project to complete by October 26th. If your child gets finished with their project earlier, please tell them to bring them in earlier than the due date.

Homework this week:
10/18- Study Link 3.9
10/19- S.L. 3.10
10/20- S.L. 3.11
10/21 &10/22- Work on your ecosystem projects
Challenge papers are due on Friday.

Important Upcoming Dates/ Events:
Parent/ Teacher Conferences- 10/15-10/26- I will be sending reminders home to remind you of the time your conference is scheduled.
10/25- College Spirit Day
10/27- 4th Grade Halloween Party and Parade
10/28- Fall Break Students come back on 11/1
11/2- CSC Meeting
11/2- Kids Vote/ Election Day
11/10- PTA Meeting
11/17- Chipotle Fundraiser for Westerly Creek

Have a wonderful, fabulous week!

Miss Grant

Weekly Update October 11-15

Hello Everyone!

REMINDER!!!!! Tomorrow Monday October 11th is PICTURE DAY!!!
If you have not already signed up for a parent/ teacher conference please do so as soon as possible by signing up outside of the classrooms or sending Mr. Rabinowitz or myself an email.

This week in Math: We are beginning to focus on word problems and how to solve word problems. We are learning how to proficiently write answers to constructive response questions like word problems. We will be using a graphic organizer to organize our thoughts called KWCL. Please ask your child to explain this.

This week in science we are continuing our ecosystem unit. Your child will be bringing home an instruction sheet for our ecosystems project.

This week in Social Studies: We will be learning about privacy. We will be learning about our rights and how citizens can participate in a civic life. Soon we will also begin talking about voting. The 4th graders will be participating in Kids Vote this year on Election Day. I will give more information about this soon.

Homework this week:
Science: To further our learnings about ecosystems, all 4th graders are going to do research on a specific ecosystem and create a visual to present to the class to teach us of their learnings.

10/11- Study Link 3.5
10/12- Study Link 3.6
10/13- Study Link 3.7
10/14- Study Link 3.8
Weekly Challenge Problems are due on Friday along with S.L. 3.8.

Upcoming Events:

October 13                  Learn more about Cub Scouts on Wednesday at 6:30 in the               Westerly  Creek  cafeteria  for more info call Davis Fox at 720-266-2135

October 16                  Fall Outdoor Planting

October 25 & 26         Parent/ Teacher Conferences 

October 27                  Halloween Party & Parade beginning at 2:30

October 28-29             No School-Fall

*The SUN Education Committee has put together a Stapleton School Survey. It mainly pertains to Stapleton 3, but they'd love for the entire community to have a voice. If you would like to take the survey, here is the link:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/StapletonSchoolSurvey2010

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! :-)

Ms. Grant

Weekly Update October 4-8

Hello 4th Grade Families,

The fourth graders are continuing to work hard and grow mathematically. We are making progress on our Mountain of Math Facts and working very hard on meeting the current math standards. This week we are beginning Unit 3. In this unit, we will begin understanding algebra, division, and multiplication. Your children will be taught many different ways to multiply and divide. I will send home a page from the student reference book explaining the methods that we are learning in class. If you know of another way to teach your child feel free to work on this at home as well. I have began to work with Ms. Embry to find resources for our Gifted and Talented students in math. At this time, we are not going to be doing pull outs in math. We are utilizing our time by giving the students extension activities within the classroom. This allows them to go further with their learning and not miss any instruction.

In social studies, we are learning how different groups have contributed to the United States. Last week we learned to learn cooperatively through the use of the jigsaw method. We will continue to use that this week. In this activity, each student reads a section, they then talk about the section with others who have also read the same section, and then finally the students break out into groups and teach other what they have learned.

In science, this week we are learning about the following ecosystems: Oak Forest, Tropical Rain Forest, and the Salt Marsh. We will be comparing the ecosystems and looking at how things living and nonliving interact within the ecosystems.

It is almost conference time! Parent/Teacher conferences are scheduled for the evenings of October 25th and October 26th from 4:05- 8:00p.m. If these dates do not work for you, we are also available from 4:00-5:00 starting next Wednesday, October 13th. Please sign up for a conference ASAP. There are two ways to sign up. 1.) Sign up on the conference sign up sheet outside of our classrooms. 2.) email us the time that you can meet. Conferences are first come first serve, so please sign up early.

There are many important events that are coming up quick, so put the dates on your calendar!
*Tomorrow, Tuesday October 5- Noodles & Company Fundraising Night- 4-9 pm 25% of all sales go to the school! Come eat and help the school out!
*October 11- Picture Day (Do not wear green for pictures! Pictures are taken on a green screen!)
*October 25 & 26- Parent Teacher Conferences
*October 27- Halloween Parade & Party
*October 28-29- Fall Break

Hey Parents, I need your help!
Soon our science unit will be ending. When this time comes, we are going to give the fish tanks that our fish are in back to the science department. However, the fish will stay in our classroom. I would like a large fish tank for the classroom. Does anyone know of someone who would like to get rid of a fish tank or of a business that would be willing to donate one to our classroom? If you know of any resources or people that I could contact to help me with this please let me know.  

Homework for this week: Assignments are due the following day.
10/4- S.L. 3.1
10/5- S.L. 3.2
10/6- S.L. 3.3
10/7- S.L. 3.4
10/8- CHALLENGE PROBLEMS ARE DUE WITH 3.4

Thank you all for the great parental support! Have a GREAT week!

Miss Grant

Room 151 Update September 27- October 1

Hello everyone!

Class is going great, and we are staying very busy! Thank you to the parents that donated Band-aids to the class! Your donations are greatly appreciated!

This week in math, we will be finishing up our Using Numbers and Organizing Data unit. On Thursday, we will begin Unit 3: Multiplication and Division; Number Sentences and Algebra. Last week we began Mountain of Math Facts. Every other day we take four minute timed tests to practice our basic math facts. The Students are enjoying this, and many are progressing each day. Last week, I began sending home challenge problems. I will be sending home weekly challenge problems from now on. The challenge problems will be due on Friday of each week. If your child has trouble with the challenge problems, please make a note on the paper and I will help them at school.

In science this week, we are continuing to observe and learn about different ecosystems. We are looking at an inside ecosystem, our fish tanks, and an outside ecosystem, the garden. The students are enjoying watching the different ecosystems change. This week we will be focusing on the food chain and how living and nonliving things interact within an ecosystem.

In social studies this week, we are learning about lines of latitude and lines of longitude, as well as different types of maps.

Homework for the week: Assignments are due the following day.

Challenge problems- Level tough Puzzles 1, 2, 11, and 12- Due Friday
Monday, 9/27- S.L. 2.7
Tuesday, 9/28- S.L. 2.8
Wednesday, 9/29- S.L. 2.9
Thursday, 9/30- S.L. 2.10 & S.L. 3.1

**Volunteers Needed!!! Ms. Bluemel in the library is looking for a volunteer to come in and check in books. If you are interested let her or I know.

**PICTURE DAY is almost here. Pictures will be taken on October 11. We will be sending home more information soon.

I am very proud of the fourth graders and how hard they are working! Lets all encourage them to keep up the good work!

Have a GREAT week everyone!

Fourth Grade Happenings in Miss Grants Room September 21-24

It was great to see so many fourth grade parents at the Fourth Grade Direct Giving Party. I had a wonderful time talking with you all. Thank you all so much for what you give to Westerly Creek as well as our classrooms.

Recently many fourth graders have not been feeling 100%. Please remind your student to wash his/ her hands frequently, sneeze/ cough into their elbow instead of on their hands, and to wash their hands after they blow their noses or go to the restroom. I would like to keep everyone as healthy as possible, so lets all stay hydrated, well fed, and well rested. Please remind students that they are allowed to bring two snacks a day to school, one for the morning and one for the afternoon.

Students were very excited last week to finally receive our fish and other specimens for our ecosystems. We now have 32 guppies and many snails to go into our ecosystems. For the next few weeks in science, we will be studying these ecosystems and learning all about living and nonliving things that interact to create an ecosystem.

In Social Studies, this week we will be learning about the five themes of geography: location, place, movement, regions, and human-environmental interactions.

In math this week, we are continuing to learn about data. We are going to learn how to organize data in in different ways; finding landmarks in a set of data, creating graphs and charts using data, and solving problems using given data. Also in math this week, some students will be bringing home additional homework. This additional homework will either be challenge problems or more practice on a task if a student has yet to reach proficiency on a goal. We are also beginning to work on our basic math facts. I would like all students to have all facts memorized by December. If you have any extra time, please practice these. In class, we are going to have a Mountain of Math Facts. Every other day we will be practicing facts by doing timed assessments as well as using flash cards. Each child will start with addition, after reaching proficiency in addition a student will move on to subtraction and so on. When all students have met my goal, we will be having a math celebration.

Homework for this week: The following Study Links are to be done on the day given and returned the following day to school.

     *Tuesday 9/21: Study Link 2.4
     *Wednesday 9/22: Study Link 2.5
     *Thursday 9/23: Study Link 2.6

Help!!! The fourth graders seem to  use an abundance of band-aids, and we are now out. If it is possible, please send a box of band-aids to school with your child. This would be a huge help!

Thank you for your continued support in and out of school!

Ms. Grant

     

Welcome 4th Grade Families

Three and a half weeks have already went by. The fourth graders are doing a great job in my classroom. The students enjoyed making their own classroom laws, class pledge, and flags the first week of school. I am happy to say that almost all students are successfully following the laws that they helped create every day.


Starting today, I will be updating this blog every week. On the posts, I will let you know what we are learning during that week, which Study Links are due for the week, and any important information that you need to know.

Throughout the past three weeks, we successfully completed Unit 1: Naming and Constructing Geometric Figures in math, and we are beginning Unit 2: Using Numbers and Organizing Data. This week, I will begin small group instruction based on the Unit 2 pre-assessments that students completed last week.


In social studies, we have been learning about the different social scientists: historian, political scientist, economist, and geographer. The students are beginning to use their knowledge of the social scientists to learn about different regions of our country.


In science, we are patiently waiting for our ecosystem specimens to arrive. Until the rest of our unit arrives, we are learning about the scientific process as well as looking at the life of a tree. Ask your child to tell you about his/her tree.


Study Links due this week:
     Tuesday 9/14: S.L 2.1 due
     Wednesday 9/15: S.L 2.2 due
    Thursday 9/16: S.L 2.3 due
    Friday-Monday: I will be sending home an optional math project about organizing data.

*Your children have also learned a few new math games: High-Number Toss, Addition and Subtraction Top-It, Fishing for Digits, Subtraction Target Practice, and Name that Number. These games can be played with a deck of cards, a die, and a calculator. These are great games to play as a family or with siblings.

Important Dates:

     Thursday, September 16- 2nd and 4th Grade Direct Giving Party
     Friday, September 17- No School Assessment Day
     Monday, September 20- No School Teacher Work Day


Message from the Librarian, Ms. Meghan: What a great start to the year! Students are so excited to be checking out books, and they are doing so at every opportunity. This also means there is a large number of books coming back to the Library, and they need to be put back on the shelves (books are due Monday Mornings). If there are any parents who would be willing to come into the library to help shelve and organize books I would love the help. Please feel free to swing by the library to say hi, there will also be a sign up sheet outside on the bulletin board .


Thank you, Ms. Meghan Bluemel


Have a GREAT week!

Miss Grant