Sunday, May 22, 2011

Wow!  I can't believe that school is almost over!  We have a busy 3 weeks ahead of us.  Monday the 23rd is the last day to sign up for talent show tryouts!  Tryouts begin on Tuesday at recess, students must sign up on Monday in order to tryout for the talent show. 

Students will be working on their book buddy books this week. 

Homework for language arts is to pick a two stanza (or more poem) to memorize to recite on Thursday, May 26th, rename and explain why they picked the new title for the poem.  Everyone must be ready to present on Thursday in order to receive a 3 or better for the assignment.  Anyone not ready to present when called on will receive an incomplete (1) for the graded assignment.

Students are working in teams to complete quiz bowl study guides to prepare for the grade level wide quiz bowl on Thursday, June 9th.  Each homeroom will have quiz bowl teams competing against other teams in their homeroom in order to select one team to represent each homeroom to compete against other classes on Thursday, June 9th.  Teachers have selected each team in their homerooms.

Students should be practicing/studying spelling lists that were sent home a few weeks ago. We will begin spelling bees in the classroom over the next 2 weeks in order to come up with 5 winners to send to represent each homeroom in the grade level wide spelling bee on Wednesday, June 8th.

Happy Monday!

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Grant Writing

The fourth grade team is searching for grants to supplement our curriculum.  If anyone knows of any grants that we could apply for or has grant writing experience and is willing to help us out, please let us know.  I am searching the Internet for available grants and am willing to submit as many as possible but don't have any grant writing experience. 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Pam

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Happy Monday!

I can't believe it's May already! We are working hard to get finish up the curriculum for the remainder of the year while fitting in test prep lessons. In language arts we are working on literature circles and poetry. Students are working in groups and facilitating their own discussions during literature circles. The level of challenged is dependent upon each student. Students who are working hard on their reading, "jobs", and participating in the discussions beyond answering yes or no will use higher level thinking skills during this unit. These higher level thinking skills are what will challenge your child and make them think outside the box. Students must take ownership of their own learning in order to get the most out of literature circles.

Homework is due on Thursday. Students are reminded that proper headings need to be on all papers (in the right hand corner on the top of the first page) First and Last Name and Number with date on 2nd line. I will not be giving credit to papers without the proper headings. Any papers without names or proper headings will be placed in my recycle bin. Students are welcome to check the recycle bin (it is emptied on Thursday) if they think that they have handed in something that they did not get credit for on their weekly report.

Students are working on economy this quarter in social studies. They each received a checkbook and are debiting and crediting money based upon behavior, work habits, and supply needs. I am paying students a weekly paycheck of $50. This $50 will include turning in homework and conduct sheets on time, and classroom conduct. Students are able to earn more money for positive behavior throughout the day. The goal is for children to earn lots of money. We will hold a checkbook sale on the last day of school where students will be able to buy items with the money from their checkbooks.

Please check the dates in the upcoming date section of the blog for important upcoming dates! The rest of the year is a busy one. We will hold Spelling Bee & Quiz Bowl events in the classrooms which will determine who will participate in the finals. A spelling list is going home in Monday Folder's today for students to begin studying!

Have a great week!

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