September 2, 2008

We had a great first week of school! I want to thank all the parents who turned in the important paper work in such a timely manner.

For the first nine-weeks we are working on many important concepts. Our first unit of inquiry is Matter Matters:
Theme: How the World Works
Central Idea: The properties of matter help us know and understand our environment in order to make decisions.
An Inquiry Into: -What matter is
-Physical properties of matter
-How the properties of matter
help us make decisions.

In math, we are reviewing place value, moving into the millions period. It is important for the students to know how to correctly write numbers in word form, expanded form and in standard form. As we go deeper into our unit of inquiry, we will also be studying measurement.

In language arts, we have just completed our first novel, The Hundred Dresses. We focused on character actions/feelings. We will now begin reading non-fiction texts regarding matter before embarking on our next class novel. The students have also begun their Reading Logs. They should be reading a novel or non-fiction text of their own choice for this weekly assignment. So far, their work has looked stellar! I am excited to see such excellent writing skills so early in the year.

All the kids are curious about our first visit to LDC, and that will be September 22-October 3. During these weeks, Reading Log will be suspended.

I am looking forward to an exciting semester!





August 22, 2008

Welcome Back!

I am very happy to be starting a new school year at Mark Twain! This first week will be all about getting in to the swing of fourth grade. We will be starting our Matter Matters Unit of Inquiry within the first week of school, and I am looking forward to where their questions will lead us.