@mrskalross: Grade four students are becoming Place Value champs! #numbersupto10000 @NCKodiaks9/29/2017
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Math - This week, students continued to study and master numeration concepts in class. On Monday, students will write a test during class time on all the concepts we've learned to date. The study sheet pictured below was sent home today to help students prepare for Monday's test. Please also see the links posted on the side bar for additional Numbers practice (i.e. "Reading and representing whole numbers" e-book). Estimation Station - Our 4E and 4F classes are estimating! Each week we fill our Estimation Station with objects and practice estimating, checking and comparing how many items are inside. This week, our question was: "how many legs are in the jar? There were 198 legs in total, and our lucky winner was K.J. who estimated 197! (The winning estimate is the student who guesses closest to the actual number, without going over.) Congratulations K.J. on your win! Incredible! K.J. is now in charge of filling the jar next week. Your student may also need to take on the task in the future, so here are some suggestions for possible items to bring in from home: acorns, balls, beads, beans, bolts, bottle caps, buttons, cereal, clothespins, corks, cotton balls, crayons, dominoes, drinking straw halves, erasers, gumballs, jelly beans, marbles, marshmallows, packing peanuts, paper clips, pasta, pennies, pretzels, sugar cubes, washers etc. Have fun! Science - In Science class this week, students learned about wiggling worms, food chains (identifying producers, consumers, decomposers), and also began to explore and discuss the waste that humans create. We read Wendy Pfeiffer's book, "Wiggling Worms at Work", and students were intrigued with all the facts and information presented! They wrote a short comprehension quiz about worms, and students also created a visual journal entry for food chains (see photo above). On Monday, students will be heading outside for Science. We will take a closer look at examples of human waste and will collect and sort the items into appropriate disposal systems. 4E and 4F classes will also keep a few items they find to test and observe in an upcoming experiment. This experiment will have students exploring the biodegradability of different substances over a long period of time! Flex - In Flex, students continued to strengthen their silent reading skills. Students learned how to self assess their progress and set goals for future silent reading sessions. Next week, students will participate in several oral stories tasks during Flex time. Monthly Letter - Today, students wrote their first Monthly Letter. You will see the letter in your student's agenda. It is written in a small exercise book labelled: "Monthly Letter Journal." Please read today's letter and return the journal on Monday. You can read more about the Monthly Letter below and look forward to many letters to come! Miscellaneous - I was very pleased to see each and every one of 4F's Locker Agreement forms returned to school this week. I am thankful for students/parents taking the time to review and discuss the expectations for locks and lockers this year. I have attached the Locker Agreement form below for future perusal. And last but not least... two BIG thank you's go out to the Metelski and Whitwell families for sending in plastic forks, spoons and knives for our classroom. There are numerous days throughout the year when students forget these items for their snacks and lunches. These donations will really help us out! THANK YOU! Enjoy the last weekend of September! I can't even believe Thanksgiving is just around the corner. - Mrs. Ross
Food Chain Game:
www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/foodchaingame.htm Producers, Consumers and Decomposers Game: www.sheppardsoftware.com/content/animals/kidscorner/games/producersconsumersgame.htm Math - Students continued to develop their sense of numbers in class this week. They focused on comparing and ordering numbers to 10 000, by collaborating and participating in group activities/games and completing both oral and written tasks. Students accessed visuals (pictures/symbols/charts) and used manipulatives (base 10 blocks) to further explore and understand large numbers. They are learning to write whole numbers in standard, expanded and word form, and would benefit from repeated practice at home. This weekend, ask your student to write the following number in standard, expanded and word form: 5390. Next, have them explain the steps they took to do so!
Science - This week, 4E and 4F students really enjoyed going outside to observe plant and animal wastes. We walked to the community gardens, just across the road from the school, and students were able to see first-hand how nature recycles! Be sure to ask your student to identify the types of wastes they observed at the gardens. Students also explored the City of Calgary's "What Goes Where" website on their own assigned student laptop. They were able to search and identify the proper recycling or disposal option for various items. It is important for students to understand that not everything they consider to be garbage actually is and that our world will be an even greater place if everyone does their part! Next week, we will learn and discuss decomposition and the difference between biodegradable and non-biodegradable waste. *A reminder to check out The City of Calgary's link listed on the side bar, amongst others! Flex - In Flex this week, 4F students completed their agenda messages and also engaged in independent reading activities. I am most proud of my 4F students for sustaining their focus for 15 minutes each day (Monday-Thursday). That's a total of one hour of concentrated reading time this week! Incredible! Over the weekend, please encourage your student to continue to read 15 minutes per day... or more! Estimation Station - Our class is learning to estimate! Starting next week, we will fill our Estimation Station jar with objects and practice estimating, comparing and counting the items inside the jar. Stay tuned for more details! Miscellaneous - Mr. Brewer and I wanted to clarify some questions we've had about the students' subject duotangs. For each of the following academic subjects: Math, Science, Social Studies and Language Arts, students have been given separate duotangs (smaller scale binders) to store their notes. The duotangs are kept inside our classrooms for students to use daily, but are allowed to go home anytime for students to show/share/study their work at home. Along with agendas, duotangs are required to be at school on a daily basis. If your student is taking their duotangs home, please ensure they return them on the following school day. Have a wonderful long weekend! - Mrs. Ross
Last night, Mr. Brewer and myself were able to meet many of our 4E and 4F families. The "Meet the Teacher Presentation" PowerPoint (see file above) was presented to parents in each of our three sessions. If you have any questions, please ask!
Wow... what a week! The students really enjoyed all of the THINK PINK events and activities, and I was totally impressed with the enthusiasm and participation in the daily events. The dance and activities afternoon was a huge success, as students enjoyed some free time with their friends in and around the school. I loved seeing all the spirit in my classroom, especially on Wednesday, as most students were wearing PINK!
In Math, students learned about Place Value this week. They had a Numbers Pronunciation Quiz on Thursday, and most students are now correctly saying numbers and their place values. Fantastic! Students also completed an abacus activity, and worked independently on a few other activities involving digit values and writing/reading numbers up to 9 999. Some students require a bit more time to complete these independent activities, so they were sent home as homework over the weekend. Check and see if your student has a red duotang in their backpack! It is my expectation that all assigned activities are completed for Monday's Math class, as we will be discussing and taking up the answers. In Science, students had several small and large group discussions about waste. They worked in small groups to complete a scavenger hunt around the school, which had them using their Five Senses to identify various items. They then had to sort these items into their proper disposal systems (i.e. blue bin, green bin, black bin). Some students decided that some items could not be sorted into these three bins and came up with an additional disposal system: "donations". Great idea! We will continue our studies in the Waste and Our World unit next week. Today, my 4F homeroom families received an email entitled: "What's Up in 4F". Please let me know if you did not receive this email, or if you have any questions about the content. Meet the Teacher night is on Thursday, September 21 (5-7pm) at Nose Creek School. During this time, you can visit and tour the school to see where your student’s classes are and meet each of your student’s teachers. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about schedules, expectations, curriculum outcomes etc. Please note: this is not a parent/teacher interview, so teachers will not go into detail about your student’s specific progress/performance to date. Enjoy your weekend, Mrs. Ross We have spent our first week getting to know each other and setting classroom expectations. I have enjoyed meeting each one of my grade four students and am looking forward to our year ahead together.
Next week, we will begin our year in Math with a Number Concepts Unit (place value). Students will learn to represent and describe whole numbers to 10 000 (pictorially and symbolically), as well as compare and order numbers to 10 000. In Science, our first unit is entitled: Waste and our World. In this unit, students will learn about how much waste we produce and identify ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle. Next week, we are also looking forward to Think Pink Week at NCS! Please see the schedule of events on our grade team’s homepage. I hope everyone has a restful weekend. See you Monday! Mrs. Ross |
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