Happy Wednesday!

Good Morning!

It has been a crazy couple of days.  I was out sick on Friday and took a personal day on Monday.  The kids were great for the subs!  I am so very proud of these guys!

We are working more with reader's workshop and fostering a love for reading.  In math we are starting division.  Please work with your child on their count bys!  EX 2 are 2, 4, 6, 8. 10, 12, etc.  This will help with their multiplication facts.  They need to know this information! Please continue to work with them on multiplication facts every school night for 20 minutes!  There are links under the resources pages to help the kids practice!!

Shhhhh don't tell the kids! I am not going to make them take the spelling test on Friday.  For the holidays I'm giving everyone an A for that test.  They have all been working so hard this quarter!  Everyone has improved their spelling grade!  I'm so proud of them!

Honors choir students are going to the holiday shop today.  The rest of my class will be going tomorrow.  If you would like for your child to have a chance to purchase items for their siblings and you please send money with them.  Everything in the shop is one dollar a piece. 

Holiday party is at 2:15 on Friday.  Jamie Keiter is in charge.  If you have any questions you can email her at mikjam1609@hughes.net

Shelly Frank you signed up to bring Plates and Napkins
Rachel Fogle you singed up to bring a Salty Snack
Jennille Wilt you signed up to bring a healthy snack
Jamie Wlaters you signed up to bring a Sweet snack
Julie Porter you signed up for a sweet snack
Michele Altendorf you signed up to bring juice box drinks

Party Volunteers are Jamie Keiter, Shelly Frank, Julie Porter, and
Wendy Rossman.

On Friday students will be bringing everything home from their locker.  The custodians will be disinfecting the lockers and will throw away anything that is not school property.  We are going to try and get a head start on this process today, but it must be done by Friday.

Over the break please continue to work with your child on their multiplication facts!!

Good Afternoon

Today we took our pretest in math over unit 6.  We are starting division, measuring angles, and multiplication.  Please continue to practice multiplication facts with your child.  Several of our 4th graders do not know their facts!!

In reading we are working on the prefixes anti (against or opposite) dis (opposite of) ex (out, from) non (not) under (below) and teh suffixes ful (filled with) less ( without) ment (act of, result of), and ness (quality or condition of being)

We are also out of dry erase markers.  If anyone has any laying around please consider donating them to our 4th grade class!! Thank you!!

Lattice Multiplication

The above link is also in the resources box.  A friend of mine teaches in Spring Hill and made this you tube video on how to do lattice multiplication.  You might find it very helpful! :0)

Wahoo!!! My computer is back

My computer had some issues so our tech department had it.  I forgot what it was like to teach with out technology!  It was an interesting past couple of days!

In math we have been working on partial products multiplication, lattice multiplication, and reading and writing large numbers. 

In reading this wee we have been talking about setting.  Next week we will be working with prefixes and suffixes.  We will be going over anti-, dis-, ex-, non-, under-, -ful, -less, -ment, -ness

I'm going to see if I can find some online resources to help work on these skills.  If you have any websites worthwhile please share!!!

Our Scentsy fundraiser is turned in and will hopefully be here soon.  Sarah did get an email saying that the Scentsy corporation had the largest snow storm in years at their packing plant.  Everything should still be here before Christmas.  As soon as I know our total about raised I will let you know!  Thank you to everyone who helped out!

Our Christmas party will be December 17th at 2ish.  I will be emailing everyone that signed up to bring/send items to remind them. 

Thank you so much for being such awesome parents!

THANK YOU

Thank you to Wendy Rossman and Jamie Keiter for working on our class library!! It is coming along nicely!

Thank you Shelly Frank for the stickers, pillows, and everything else you have sent our way!!

Thank you Jan Boese for helping out during Math and Reading!!

Thank you Rachel Smith for the digital cameras!!

Thank you all of my parents this year! I am truly blessed to have such a great group of parents.  You all go above and beyond the call of duty!

Thank you!!

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!!

Good evening,

No spelling this week!

Our fundraiser has kicked off!  Just a reminder that we do have to pay sales tax, but Sarah our consultant is making absolutely no money on this fundraiser!! She is donating her entire commission to 4th grade!! If you would like to opt out of the fundraiser you can just send your $20 for your child to attend EarthWorks.   Orders are due on Monday Nov 29th so that they can be delivered to you before Christmas!

Thanksgiving break starts Wednesday and goes through the weekend. 

Remember to be practicing those multiplication facts and reading for 20 minutes every day!  Multiplication has come to the 4th grade and it isn't going away!

Just another Marvelous Monday!

Good evening,

Today we started multiplication in math and started to work with time lines in reading. 

Our scentsy fundraiser kicks off on Thursday before and after the music program!  Please swing by my classroom before or after to get your fundraiser information and see what scentsy is all about! Scentsy orders are due no later than November 29th so that orders can be in before the Holidays! 


This weeks spelling list is

S

 Students need to practice
adding suffixes to words
ending in one vowel and one
consonant.
begin beginning
drop dropping
skip skipping
mail mailing
sun sunny
spell spelling
hop hopping

pelling List 13 for test on Fri., Nov. 19their
through
usually
family
really
course
idea(s)
cannot
shown
complete
strong
probably
class
piece
common
stop
am
talk
whether
fine

Check this out!! It looks like tons of fun!!!

Happy Veteran's Day!! Remember to thank a veteran!

Good morning,

Today in reading we continued to read the "Phantom Dog" from the Ottawa Herald.  Ask your child what has happened in the last 12 chapters!  We only have 6 chapters left!

In math we are taking our math test over unit 4.  This includes: multiplication, decimals, and measuring.

I writing we continued our state reports. 

Our classroom is in dire need of stickers! We are out of stickers for planners!

Spelling test tomorrow!

I need to find a fun catchy title!

Good Afternoon,

Today in reading we talked about conflict and resolution.  We read "The Bravest of Us All" to help with this concept. 
In math we talked about personal references for measurement in both the metric and standard measures.  Please also continue working with your child on the addition and subtraction of decimals.  They are getting better everyday, but still need practice. 

We continued work on our state reports today.  It was the last day to work in class on this project.  We will be giving our presentations the week of Thanksgiving Break. 

Please make sure and note the calendar at the bottom of this blog.  It has all events that are relevant to 4th grade.  :-)  The scentsy fundraiser information night is the same night as the 4th and 5th grade program.  We thought it would be easier for parents to just come to the school for one night instead of 2 separate nights.  If you have any questions or comments please let me know!

Monday, November 08, 2010

Good Afternoon,

Today we talked about measurement in centimeters in math. In reading we talked about cause and effect.  We are continuing our state reports. The students will give their reports the week of Thanksgiving break. 

We have several activities coming up.  On November the 18th is the 4th and 5th grade music program.  On this day we are also kicking off the scentsy fundraiser.  It is not mandatory to do this fundraiser, you may choose to pay $20 for your child's way to EarthWorks if you would prefer that.  :-)  Sarah Christopher our Scentsy consultant has agreed to be here before the program and after the program on the 18th of November to answer any and all questions about Scentsy.  So please at least stop by and see what it is all about.  Remember the holidays are coming up and these would make great gifts!

Good Morning,

Today is going to be rather eventful.  We have the communities in schools CD recording today in the art room.  The kids have been working extremely hard at memorizing the selected song.  We also have counselor today.

I am sending home the Book-It reading log for November.  In order to earn their book-it certificate your child must read 400 minutes a month. 

There have been some slight changes to our check in procedure for coming into Garfield.  All visitors coming in to Garfield through the main doors will need to sign in and get a visitors badge between the hours of 7:30 and 3:35.  If you are dropping your child off for school in the morning, please send them into the gym from the South East gym doors.  We want to ensure that Garfield continues to be a safe place for all of our students!

Tonight there is a Title 1 Parent meeting at 6:30 in the Library.  Pat Skiles and Kim North will be sharing what it means to be a Title 1 building and will answer any questions.

Tonight is also the PTA meeting. 

Tumblebooks are available to parents and students online!  Tumblebooks provide a variety of books read to children as well as quizzes and games. Please utilize this great resource for your kids! 

Tumblereadables have books for read alouds: www.tumblebooks.com/tumblereadable/auto_login.asp?U=garfieldelem&P=login

Tumblebooks:

http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/auto_login.asp?U=garfieldelem&P=books

Book orders are due on November 12^th.

November 18^th is the 4^th and 5^th grade music program.  We are asking parents to please come in at 5:30 to my room to learn about our Scentsy fundraiser opportunity for EarthWorks.  You can also stay after the program if this option works better for you.  We will be here for both.  J

Also Garfield PTA is now recycling CAPRI SUN drink pouches!

Monday November 1st

Good morning!

I hope you didn't keep your children out too late last night! (They do tell on you! Haha)  Sounds like all of the kids had a very exciting weekend.  They are very sluggish this morning but I hope it will pass by lunch time. 

In reading we worked some more with reading charts.  We talked about why charts are important and how they are a great way to convey information quickly.

In math we will be estimating with decimals.  Many of the students are still becoming flustered with decimals.  Please continue to work with them on this and help ease their uneasiness. The more they practice with decimals the more comfortable they will become. 

In social studies/writing this week we will be starting our state reports.  Each child will be assigned a state and will gather information and create a presentation for that state.  They will be given a rubric to follow.

Last week's spelling test will be given today.  I am also sending home this weeks list.  Take home task is do as always on Thursday.

Please remember that candy is to stay home.  My students are sweet enough with out it! :-) 

Book orders are due on November 12th.

pelling List 11 for test on Fri., Nov. 5’s’s’t do/not’s let/us’s it/is’ll he/will’ve they/have
there
their
other
its
every
until
almost
it
whole
because
among
special
person
hold
probably
matter
stand
box
start
that
Students will be tested
on contractions. Here are
some examples:
don
let
it
he
they
See if your child can find contractions

make up that contraction.

S

Thursday Oct. 28th

Tomorrow is our class party! We are wearing our pjs and hats (the hats are for red ribbon week).  We will be watching How to Train a Dragon at 10:15.  Our Fall party starts at 2:30.  Can't wait to see you guys there!

Today in reading we read Chp 7 of the Phantom Dog serial story from the Ottawa Herald.  It is getting very interesting!! Ask your child about it!

In math we are very frustrated with decimals. We are working on place values and how to compare decimals.  We are only going out to the hundredths place for now.  Eventually they will be expected to know out to the thousandths place.  Please help your child with this.  Even if you are only comparing money.  Let them know it is the same thing with regular decimals out to the hundredths place.  Please also continue to work on count bys/ multiples through the number 12. 

We will start our state reports on Monday. :-) 

Please don't forget that we are not dressing up for Halloween this year.

Tuesday, October 26th

Good Afternoon!

After looking at the spelling take home task I realized that the students do not need to turn anything in this week for that! Please make sure they are practicing which there means what.  Just continue to practice!

In math we started working with decimals.  Several of the students are very frustrated with this new concept.  We just started today with the place value chart and learning the different names.  We learned tenths, hundredths, and thousandths.  Tomorrow we will learn what decimals look like. 

In writing we finished up our autumn poems. These were based on the five little pumpkins poem.  If they did not finish it in class it was homework. 

In social studies we worked on reading map scales and why it is important to know how to read a map scale.  We will begin working on state reports here in the near future.

Tomorrow is "Team up against drugs" make sure you wear your team apparel for Red Ribbon week. 

I have almost all of the permission slips for PG movies.  I will make sure and post here what movie we will watch when it is PG and make an effort to inform parents who would like to know. 

Monday October 25th

Good afternoon,

It sure was a scorcher in our classroom!  They must have the heat on a timer and not know that it was 80 outside and didn't need to be 80 inside!

Today in reading we worked on the importance of reading charts.  In math we took the unit 4 pretest.  We will begin working with decimals.  In social studies we continued working with the southeast.  We will begin working on state reports this Wednesday.

I am proud to announce that our class has finally earned a class party!  I am sending home permission slips today for you to let them watch pg movies.  They really want to watch How to Train Your Dragon which is rated pg.  Please send permission slips in tomorrow.  They have been warned that if even 1 permission slip is not returned we will be watching a g rated movie of my choice.  :-)  We will be doing our class party this Friday from 10:15 until lunch at 12.  They may also wear pjs and bring either a stuffed animal or a pillow (whatever they bring it must fit into their locker.)  So Friday is going to look like this: Reading from 8 to 9:15. Music and PE from 9:20 until 10:10. Movie from 10:20 until 11:58.  Lunch is from 12 to 1.  We will do math from 1 until 2:30.  Halloween party is from 2:30 until 3:30!  Parents are always welcome to join us! If you have any questions or concerns please don't hesitate to let me know!

Spelling take home task went home today and is due on Thursday.  The test is this Friday (I'm not sure when I'll fit it into the schedule, but we'll make it work!)

This week is red ribbon week!  Today was wear your clothes backwards.  Tomorrow is dress like a friend day.  Wednesday is wear your favorite team. Thursday is wear sunglasses, and Friday is wear your favorite hat. 

Have a marvelous Monday!

Spelling List for Oct 29th

S

pelling List 10 for test on Fri., Oct. 29’t’s—theirs—there’s—they’re

there

first

its

right

around

between

always

don

better

it

English

perhaps

ready

complete

hundred

strong

voice

probably

area

horse

Students need to know

the difference between

these often confused

homophones.

Their

there

Fall Party

Good Morning Parents!

Several parents signed up for the fall party! We will start our party at 2:30 next Friday (Oct. 29th).

Jessica signed up to send napkins
Jennille signed up to send plates
Ivy signed up to send a salty snack
Rachel signed up to send a healthy snack
Wendy signed up to be at the party and bring a sweet snack
Shelly signed up to be at the party and bring a sweet snack
We could still use another salty snack and another healthy snack.
I just realized that I did not have a spot to sign up for drinks.  This might be something someone might want to send with their child.

As always any and all parents are welcome to come hang out with us the day of the party! Please remember that we are not dressing up for Halloween this year! :-)

Spelling List for Oct. 21st

Spelling List

9 for test on Thurs., Oct. 21’s young’t—we change

there

their

people

it

learn

toward

really

become

ready

special

hundred

fast

felt

kept

notice

can

Irregular verbs
the complete spelling in the past tense instead of adding an -ed suffix.
For example, we do not add
-ed to take, instead we write
took.
make made
ran run
write wrote
do did
bring brought
think thought
keep kept
eat ate

Let the Conference Week BEGIN!!

Good afternoon!

Conferences kick off today! If you haven't scheduled a conference time please do so! 229-8060!

In math today we worked on identifying whether a number sentence is true or false.  In reading we worked on problem/solution nonficiton text.

Don't forget that there is no school on Friday!

Book fair is this week during conferences.

Doughnuts for dad is this Thursday.

Cupcakes for Kids!

Support the Ottawa Communities in Schools Back Snack Program Purchase a cupcake from
proceeds will go to help students in need in the
Ottawa School District Keim Bakery and Cupcakes for Kids Sponsored by Keim Bakery and Ottawa Business and
Professional Women 304 S. Main
Ottawa Time: 6 am to 10 pm
Date: October 22nd & 23rd

Thursday, October 14th

No School Tomorrow or next Friday!

Conferences

I will be calling parents tomorrow during my work time to set up conferences with anyone who has not called in.  On Monday I will be sending reminders home about conferences.  Thank you to our PTA for the goody bags!! I personally look forward to these every year!

Cupcakes for Kids

Support the Ottawa Communities in Schools Back Snack Program.  Purchase a cupcake from Keim Bakery 304 S. Main and proceeds will go to help students in need in the Ottawa School District.
This is only for October 22^nd and 23^rd from 6am until 10pm.

Fundraiser pick up

Is today starting at 3:35.  Hopefully everyone is finished picking up their fundraiser items from the gym by 5:30pm. 

Reading Tribes

We had Reading Tribes today.  We read I Wanna Iguana and talked about Responsibility.  Responsibility is our character trait for the month of October.

School Book Fair

The school book fair is the week of conferences.  We are also doing Doughnuts for Dads on Thursday morning for our 3-5^th grade dads from 7:30am until 8:00 am. 

Wednesday Oct. 13th

Today was a fantastic day!
Some students need to finish their flip chart books for social studies. This is due tomorrow so that I can add them to the grade book.

We had a disabilities awareness day today. We had 2 people from the youth action center from Topeka. The kids really seemed to learn a lot from it.

In math we are continuing to learn about problem solving and number stories.

As always there was a scholastic magazine that went home today.

Reminder no school on Friday!!
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Tuesday October 12th

Good afternoon,

Fundraiser items will be in Thursday October 14th at 3:35.  Please make arrangements to pick up your items. 

No School this Friday or next.

Conferences: Please remember to call the office and set up your conference time! 785-229-8060

In math we worked on air distance and in reading we worked on what to do if the students need help while I am conferencing with other students.

Spelling List for Unit 8 Test on Thursday!

Spelling List

8 for test on Thurs., Oct.14

their

first

water

go

goes

great

until

form (ed)

enough

almost

earth

several

answer

usually

later

built

state

list

stood

hundred

ten

Students need to practice

compound words. Compound

words are made of two separate

words that when put together-

become a new word.

Examples: chairman homework
cardboard letterman Northwest

Monday, October 11th

Good Morning,

I hope everyone enjoyed their 10-10-10 day!  I certainly enjoyed mine!  Book orders should be in today. 

Conference schedules are up and ready to be filled.  Please call the office at 785-229-8060 between 8:30 and 4:00 to schedule a time.  If you have any concerns you would like to talk about please email me or send me a note. This way I can guide our conference to talk about what is on your mind.  I am limiting conferences to 15 minutes.  Please be mindful of your time and others.  If you feel that you need more than 15 minutes please chat with me about a good time to conference.

Reminder: NO SCHOOL ON THIS FRIDAY OR NEXT!

In reading we read about special types.  This includes bold face words and pronunciation guides. 
In math we will be continuing our world tour and hitting Africa.  During the world tour we talk about measurement and maps.

Today is also the Fire Safety Rap presented by the fire department.  Remember to rehearse your safety route and meeting destination for your family!

Spelling take home task is due on Thursday and the spelling test is on Thursday as well.

Sorry I did not post yesterday.

Yesterday the school was blocking blogger.com so I was not able to update the blog. 

Today we continued working on our commercials for our exports in social studies.  During Reading we mapped out our book nooks for reader's workshop, and in math we corrected math journals and caught ourselves up.  Please continue to work with your child on multiplication facts and converting from yards, feet, and inches to their counter part. So inches to feet, inches to yards, ect.

Just a reminder that we are not doing Halloween costumes this year.

 Here is what Mr. Green has to say about Halloween:
"Just a heads up to let you know that I am changing the Halloween party craziness to a fall party theme. There will be no costumes nor a parade. I am letting parents know in the newsletter that will hopefully go out today. If there are questions as to why, let them know that we are not wanting to increase the financial burden on families with the costumes as well as maintain our focus on meeting the educational needs of the kids. We will have a classroom celebration for the season at 2:45 on the 29th of Oct."

Spelling List for Test on Friday October 8

Spelling List 7 for test on Fri., Oct.8

there
their
because
should
always
important
sure
it’s
example
turned
half
remember
idea(s)
special
complete
oh
person
hot
anything
hold

Students need to practice
words that have more than
one meaning.  The Take Home
task will help them.

Examples: fire   store   miss   
letter   space

Happy Monday!

Good Afternoon,

I hope everyone's weekend was a blast!  Fall has come and I hope it sticks around for awhile. 

Spelling lists went home today, along with the take home task.  The take home task is due on Thursday.  The spelling test is Friday. 

I submitted book orders today.  They should be in soon!

In math we began working with multiplication.  Please continue to practice math facts with your child.  :-)

Grade cards will go home during conferences.  I will be setting up conference times here soon.  If you have a specific date and time that you would like please email it to me ASAP. 

Book It logs went home today.  The goal is for students to read 20 minutes a night Monday through Friday.  If this is accomplished they will have 400 minutes a month, which is the goal.  If students read 400 minutes in the month they will recieve a personal pan pizza coupon. 

I will be doing conferences on Monday, Tuesday, and if necessary Thursday the week of October of 18th.

Thursday Sept. 30

Good Afternoon!

Today has been fantastic.  I talked with OPET/Communities in Schools about the grant I filled out to receive headsets to work on digital storybooks.  Hopefully it went well.  I feel like it did. 

We did a math pretest today, along with a fire drill! (Yippee! Got to love the unexpected.  The students did great and went right back to work afterward!)

In reading we talked about taking care of books and the reason we need to.  We are almost to a point where reader's workshop will be off the floor and running! We also had pictures at this time, so the students did not have to have pictures after PE! Yeah! Thank you moms for making this happen.

In writing/social studies we made time lines of lives.

I'm extending book orders to Monday.  I will be gone tomorrow and don't want the sub to have to deal with that.  We found out today that my son, JD, has strep throat.  Yuck!!

Don't forget to bring in those box tops!!

Monday Sept. 27

In math we worked with creating bar graphs and in reading we worked with descriptive text.

Spelling take home task is due on Thursday and book orders are due on Friday.

Spelling List 6 for test on Fri., Oct. 1

there

their

each

its

again

next

sound

often

almost

however

city

early

nothing

certain

fire

special

ran

full

town

complete

Students need to

practice adding these

suffixes to words.

-s   -ed   -ly   -ful   -ing

-er   -est   -able

Friday Sept 23

Good Evening Parents!

I am having issues accessing the blog at school and have forgotten to post by the time I have gotten back home. 

This week has been fantastic! 

We finished our digital story book about Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.  Some students brought home a yellow permission slip.  This is the back side to one of the enrollment papers from the beginning of the year.  The parents who did not fill this out at the beginning of the year have received it. This will give us permission to post the digital story book on our web page.  Then parents can watch it at home and send the link to relatives for them to see.  Since all of the fourth graders in our class worked on this project we need permission from all of the parents.  Our digital story books have the students illuastrations and voices.  There are no photographs of the children that are used. 

Spelling List

Ok technical difficulties are over and now I can post.

We did MAP Math testing today.  We started Reader's Workshop today by sharing our favorite books. It was very enlightening to hear the students talk about their favorite books and tell why they were their favorite.

Box Tops contest started today and ends on Monday, Oct. 4th. 

Book Orders are due next Friday.

Reminder: Wednesday is an early release day and Friday students don't have school.


Spelling List 5 for test on Thurs., Sept. 23
there
their
first
its
because
always
together
form
animal
several
ground
front
American(s)
mean(s)
certain
fire
ready
green
yes
built
Students need to practice
spelling patterns for the /j/ sound
as in jar.
j     dge     ge
gi    gy
One way to practice
would be to do a scavenger
hunt through the newspaper, cut
the words out, then sort them.

Monday Sept 20th

Good evening!

I'll get the spelling list posted tomorrow morning. Spelling task is due on Thursday.

Today we worked with texting our answers to the teacher... With the clickers. The kids seemed to really enjoy it.

Box tops contest started today! Bring in those box tops! One of these years my class will win! We always come so close!

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Friday Sept. 17th

Happy Friday!

Today we had our spelling test, book buddies, and our second class meeting.  The only homework for tonight is to read 20 minutes. 

Don't forget book orders are due October 1st.  I am not sure when fundraiser items will be in.  I will keep you posted.

Today a letter went home about flu like symptoms.  There were several students out of the building with illness.  Please remember that your child needs to be fever free for 24 hours to return to school.  If your child is out due to illness please let the front office know.  If you would like for me to send home the work they are missing please make arrangements with myself or the office to have those materials delivered to you. 

I hope you have a fun and safe weekend!  The Ottawa Car Show is this weekend.  Maybe you will see JD, Adam, and I at Cruise Night!

Wed. Sept. 15th

Good Evening,

I'm sorry I am updating this so late.  Homework from tonight was to read for 20 minutes.  I provided a Scholastic News to read.  They do not have to bring that back. 

This morning during reading we pretended that the electricity was out and worked by flashlight.  The students seemed to really enjoy it.  Our digital story book for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing is almost complete! I'm so excited! We are done with recording voices for everyone but three students.  I just need to scan in their pictures and compile everything.  :-)

In math today we learned about the many ways we can name numbers. 

Early Release!!!

Don't forget that today students are dismissed at 2:55!!  We have meetings at 3:10 so please be prompt with pick up!! Thanks!!

Tuesday Sept. 14

Good Evening,

Our book orders came today and I passed out the items.  I am sending a new scholastic set of book orders home tonight.  They are not due until Friday, Oct. 1st.  They should be ready online as well.

The digital story books are coming along nicely! I hope to have them finished this week!

During math time we took the reading MAP assessment.

Take home task 4 is due on Thursday and as always read 20 minutes every night!

Monday Sept. 13th

Today we started working on our digital story book for Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  We partnered up and each partner is doing a chapter from the book.  Once finished we will have the entire story finished. I am hoping to post it to the blog when we are finished or parents to see.

Tonight the spelling task went home.  It is due on Thursday.  I am finally posting the list.  I'm sorry it didn't get put on last night.  Spelling City will be ready tonight as well. 

In math we started our world tour with Washington, D.C.  We learned the differnt uses for numbers.

Here is this weeks spelling list.

there


their

then

than

words

most

work(ed)

enough

country

true

United States

cold

American(s)

though

behind
rest

perhaps

certain

six

feel



Students need to be aware

of the different spellings for

the sound /s/ at the beginning

of snake.

ce ci cy s ss sc

Tomorrow September 13

Please don't forget PTA fundraiser packets are due in! If you would like to make a donation in leu of selling fundraiser items that is ok as well.

Spelling test will be tomorrow, since we didn't get time to take it on Friday. Later today I will post the spelling list for this week.

Enjoy this BEAUTIFUL Sunday afternoon! Go spend some time outside!

Friday

Good evening,

We did not get a chance to do the spelling test today. This gives your child all weekend to study some more and be ready!

We finished Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing today. Ask your child what happened to Dribble the turtle!

In math we used the clickers. It was not as successful as I would have liked but both the students and myself are still learning the software and hardware.

Clickers are like a voting tool. Students type in their answer to a question and it sends their answer to my computer. In theory it is great because it means less time grading and more time planning. However we are still working out user error and software error. I do think the kids really enjoyed playing with them. Hopefully in the near future we can get them up and going full time! Now if I could convince the school to buy me a class set that is just for my room so we could use them all the time!! ;) (unfortunately they are about $1,000 per class set)

Enjoy your weekend!
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Sept. 8

Good evening!

Tonight the take home task for unit 3 went home.  It is due Friday morning. 

I did get book orders submitted this morning.  They should be here in the next 2 weeks. 

I also sent home a Scholastic News magazine today.  Students do not need to bring that back, I was just providing it as something that could be read for their 20 minutes tonight. 

Book It kicks off on Oct. 1st.  I do ask my students to participate in this during the year.  Our goal is to read 400 minutes a month.  This is broke down to 20 minutes a day five days a week.  That would give students the weekend off and still be able to make book it. :-) 

MAP testing starts next week.  We use the results from this test to help us decide what students need help in the different areas of math and reading.

This Friday the Ottawa Library will present rewards for the summer reading program during morning announcements.

Math test is tomorrow.  I did not tell the students this.  I honestly had forgotten during the chaos of the day.  It is a review of the last 2 weeks.  They should do fine.  They will need to know what a polygon is, how to add and subtract, and what a ray, line segment, and line is.

In reading we continued with Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Today Fudge became a TV star! Ask your child how this happened!

Today

Fundraiser money and orders are due on Sept 13th.

In reading today we talked about context clues.  Ask your child what this is. (http://wserver.scc.losrios.edu/~langlit/reading/contextclues/intro1.htm has a great definition of context clues) We also read about the flying train committee in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.

In math we talked about concentric circles and not concentric circles. 

In science  we read about how animals are classified.  Many students did not finish this in class.  This is their only homework for tonight besides reading for 20 minutes. 

Have a marvelous Tuesday!

Spelling for Friday Sept. 10th

there


its

another

because

does

different

often

picture

sentence

example

really

idea

draw

among

able

dog

shown

mean

English



Students will focus on

consonant digraphs for their

skills test.



ch sh th wh ph

Happy labor day weekend!

Today the PTA fundraiser kicked off! I'm not sure when everything is due back. I'll post on Monday when it is due for sure.

I forgot to submit the book orders tonight so it will be Tuesday before I get a chance to submit those. So for those of you who forgot and still want to order there is time!

In math we have been singing a song to three blind mice, about mean, median, mode. Ask your child to sing it for you. They did great singing it to our book buddies today!

Don't forget that there is no school on Monday. See everyone on Tuesday!!
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Today 9/2

Reminder PTA is tonight at 7 in the library.
Spelling test is tomorrow.
Today in math the students learned how to use a compass to make circles and squares. Ask them about the squares!
In reading we listened to more of Fudge's antics! Ask your child what happened in Bloomingdales and Hamburger Heaven today in the chapter!
I have had a few fundraiser ideas emailed to me. Please send me your ideas and we will go from there! :)
Have a fantastic Thursday!
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Sept 1st

Happy September everyone!!

Don't forget book orders are due this Friday.

PTA has a meeting tomorrow night at 7.

Spelling test is this Friday.  Spelling homework is due tomorrow.  This includes the bottom section about sorting into the different categories.

This Friday is the kick off assembly for fundraising!

In math we have been learning about rays, lines, line segments, concave and convex polygons, and parallelograms.  Ask your child to explain what these are!

In reading we have been learning about the life of Peter Hatcher in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing.  The kids seem to really enjoy it.  Today we read about Fudge's birthday party.  Ask your child why Peter calls Fudge Fang now!  

I am going to be sending a survey home soon about fundraising and going to Earthworks.  This is a field trip that we have gone on for several years now.  The cost is $20 per student.  I personally do not feel comfortable asking a parent to pay $20 for a field trip no matter how educational and important it is.  I know that budgets are tight for several parents, myself included.  Any ideas for fundraisers to pay for EarthWorks would be greatly appreciated.  Please feel free to email me or leave comments so other parents can chime in!  http://www.lx.org/ is the website for EarthWorks.  There is tons of information there about the program.

Thank you for being such a great group of parents to work with!!!

Today

Don't forget we get out of school at 2:55! This will happen every Wednesday this year.

Aug. 31st :-)

Spelling task 2 isn't due until Thursday.  It can be turned in anytime before then. 

Book orders are due this Friday.  You can order those online! In fact I encourage it! (Check out the link under resources.)

Tonight there is a spelling fix it that students only need to find 2 more errors.  We already found 4 in class.  Don't forget to be practicing those multiplication facts!

Spelling list 2 for test on Fri.,Sept. 3

Spelling list 2 for test on Fri.,Sept. 3


there
which
its
people
use
through
also
even
something
few
example
several
point
front
yet
wind
behind
cannot
letter
among


You will need to know the different ways to spell the sound /k/ as in kite.


qu, ck, ca, k, co, cu, ch, cl, cr


Spelling City is also set up. http://www.spellingcity.com/bekahjwadkins/

Reminder

Parents,

Tomorrow there are several differnt things going on:  T-shirt orders are due (the orders were passed out at enrollment), Spelling Test, and Ice Cream Social at 6:30.

There was a spelling page that went home last night it is due tomorrow.   The only homework for tonight is to read for 20 minutes and practice their multiplication facts.  In resources there is a link to multiplication games that your child can use to practice their facts.

Multiplication Practice

http://www.multiplication.com/interactive_games.htm

This is a link to interactive games for practicing multiplication.  Most of them are free games to play.  If they have a grey square around them and say advertisement, it is not free to play.  There are only a few like this.  Have fun!  This link is also under resources.

Homework 8/24/10

Tonight’s homework is to read for 20 minutes and practice multiplication facts. Don’t forget on Wednesdays we dismiss at 2:55. I sent home “Click” from scholastic. All book orders are due by Sept. 3rd at the end of the day. This includes online orders. Don’t forget that students can bring a healthy snack to help them make it to our noon lunch.

Spelling

I know many parents are concerned with what might be considered an "easy" spelling list. At Garfield we use a spelling program called Rebecca Sitton. The idea behind the program is for students to become good spellers in their everyday writing, not just for the "Friday" test. The students who need a challenge will get this with the dictation sentences that I will be giving each child along with the regular spelling test.

Tonights homework is to read 20 minutes, study multiplication facts, and be ready for Friday's spelling test. We had a fantastic first day!

First Day of School

Parents,

Remember that tomorrow (Monday the 23rd) school is dismissed at noon.  If you have children in kindergarten or first grade than your 4th grader will be over with their younger siblings on the north side of the school going onto the play ground. 

We do have a spelling test this Friday.  Words will be going home tomorrow. If you go to http://www.spellingcity.com/bekahjwadkins/ you will be able to play spelling games to practice your words. 

I'm looking forward to a great week!

Welcome Class of 2010-2011

Hello everyone!

I'm looking forward to a great year! I will be posting the weeks spelling list every Sunday. Spelling tests will be on every Friday. If there is no school on Friday the test will be on Thursday.

As time goes on I will be updating links and wish lists.

Please make sure and keep an eye on the google calendar at the bottom of the page. All of the Garfield events that are relevant to 4th grade are posted there. I will also be posting when our class is planning on any trips. :-)

If you click at the top of the page, you can follow this blog and it will email you when a post has been made!

Spelling List 1 for test on Friday, August 27th

Spelling List 1 for test on Fri.,Aug. 27


really
would
grow
become
try
study
course
family
learned
draw
words
yet
then
than
there
ago
always
almost
less
write

You need to know which kind of there/their/they’re to use in a sentence.

there – a place

Look over there.

their – something belongs to them

They put on their coats.

they’re – they are

They’re having a good time.

How to look at your child's grade online

If you would like to keep track of your child's grade online follow these easy steps!


First you need to fill out the parents on line enrollment form. I have copies of this form.You can also access this form through the resources on the left.  It is titled Parent Enrollment Form for Grades.

Once you have filled out this form have your child bring it into school and I will turn it into the office.

Once the technology department receives your form you will get an email saying that you have successfully been registered.



Once you have filled out this form you can then check your child's grade. I will try to update daily. Grades will definitely be updated by end of school every Friday. There is a link under resources to get you to the correct website.

How to Order class bookorders online

Online Ordering Information


Web address: scholastic.com/bookclubs

Class Activation Code: GLR34



Dear Parent,

Now it's easier than ever to find the right books for your child — and help us earn FREE books for our classroom library at the same time!

With new online ordering from Scholastic Book Clubs, you can choose from a much wider selection of books than in the printed flyer. Plus, you can send your orders directly to me online and use your credit card.

Best of all, our class earns a FREE book every time a parent places their order online.

It's so simple! Here's how it works:


SIGN UP at www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs. On the parent page, click the "Don't have a User Name and Password?" link, then register for your own username and password. When prompted, enter the one-time Class Activation Code shown above. This code ensures that your order is sent to me.


SELECT the books you'd like to order from over 500 titles available online...and take advantage of online-only specials and discounts.


SEND your order to me online by the due date. Books will be delivered directly to our classroom, as always.


Of course, you can still order using the form from the printed flyer. But why not experience for yourself how convenient it is to order online?



Ordering online is fast, easy, and secure. Plus our whole class benefits thanks to the FREE books we'll earn with every parent online order.



Go to www.Scholastic.com/bookclubs now to get started.





Thank you,


Mrs. Wadkins