Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Two Weeks Left...

Good morning!  I am glad all students made it here safe and sound.  I know it is always a tough call when the weather gets like this, so I am glad everyone used caution while driving here this morning.

Another busy week ahead for us, so here it is:

In Math, we will review for our test that is on Tuesday.  For this test, the biggest obstacle is the 2 digit multiplication.  When the students get it- they get it!  Until then, practice makes perfect!  Keep them practicing at home.  A method that we have used is the "turtlehead" method.  You may youtube the video if your child seems to be struggling at home.  On Wednesday, we begin our division patterns.  We will continue with exploring dividing, and end the week dividing by one digit numbers.  

We make our switch for the next two weeks to Social Studies.  We only have four weeks (January 10) until the end of our quarter, so hopefully the students buckle down, and perform well on their assignments and tests.  The unit we start with this week discusses Native American tribes that inhabited early Missouri.  

In Spelling, students have a new list going home today.  On Tuesday, students will review compound words, and their meanings.  We will also study suffixes, irregular verbs, and consonant blends.  We will prepare for a test Wednesday next week. 

 In Reading, we begin reading the book The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  This is a classic Christmas tale that I remember reading when I was younger.  The story starts off with a family full of misbehaving children, who decide to join the Christmas Pageant.  The story develops as the children begin to change before the community's eyes.  At the beginning, the story has some harsh vocab to describe the crazy Herdman family.  It is all to show the strong change they make throughout the story.  With this story, students will be focusing on theme.  Each day, students will chose a different response to think about the reading for the day.  They will respond from a list of 20 choices in their Reader's Notebook each day.  

In English Language Arts, we will finish our Christmas research papers.  Some are turning out really well!  For fourth graders, I am amazed at what they can accomplish with technology.  I have learned a few things!  We will then move onto figurative language, such as similes, metaphors, and alliterations.  We will use the story Polar Express to exhibit the use of figurative language to make a powerful picture in a reader's head.  Students will then begin a short poetry writing unit with the subject of winter.  Hopefully these turn out fabulous!  

Have a great week!