Ms. Giles’ Fabulous Fourth Grade

????????????????????? I had quite a few kids NOT RETURN homework today but still had a parent signature?!?!? I am confused!! PLEASE help me in teaching your child responsibility at school! If your child does not complete the homework don’t sign!!

HW:

Quest students have a packet from Writing today that is DUE tomorrow.

Read 20 minutes, study Vocab. words

If students did not finish their “Editing” sheet, it is also due.

MUSIC HW due tomorrow

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend at home with family and friends!

Our class was ready to work again today! We were all on the ball but somehow we are still not finishing everything I have planned! yikes!!

Writing Workshop:
Today we worked more with dialogue and quotations.  Students worked on writing dialogue from different characters. 
We also wrote in our Writer’s Notebooks about being a TV character. The entries some students chose to share were SOO wonderful and creative! I am very excited about our writing groups and know we are going to do wonderfully!

HW: Students need to finish their dialogue sheet from this morning.

LA/Reading:
Today we worked more with our editing skills and grammar. We did both exercises in class together so they should be in the student’s red folder for you to take a peek. We also received our Vocab words for the week.  Since this is a short week the vocab words test will be given on Monday.  Students began recopying the words on their own paper to keep at home to study.

HW: finish copying the words onto paper and cut out words/place in a ziploc baggie and bring back to school

Math:
Today we began place value to the millions place.  This was a very good review for some who have forgotten place value! We worked together on each period, then played a place value game. 
I will begin testing students on their multiplication facts this week and next week.  I would love for all students to have their facts memorized from 3rd grade! In 4th grade we do not have time to re-learn the facts!

Science:
Today we learned to classify another way… vertebrates and invertebrates.  We did an activity in our science journal with different pictures of organisms.  We will finish tomorrow! We also took an Entrance Slip on living, nonliving, and onceliving. The students did well!

PE HOMEWORK: Letter needs to be signed by YOU! Due tomorrow!!

Yea! We made it through the first week of school! I don’t know if your kids were tired, but I am so looking forward to a weekend filled with sleep!!

We finished off the short week with another great day.

Writing:
Today we did another mini lesson on quotations and puncuation.  I read the students a book and we inferenced and gathered information as to why we need quotation marks. Then students made some up on their own and then worked on a few examples from the story I read. We shared our answers on the board.

Reading/LA:
Our reading today was cut into due to a Bus Safety Video we watched for FCPS. Students were reminded how to walk to and ride the bus safely.

Students had Library today so they should have a chapter book to begin reading with.

Math:
Today we took the MST.  It is the assessment given to us by the district to see where the students are in math knowledge.  I am hoping to get them scored over the weekend… whew it was looong!!

Science:
Today we went on a Science Walkabout around the school. We carried our science journals and listed items we saw.  We classified them into living, non-living, and once-living. Then students chose one to illustrate and hang on our science wall.  Students also took their first Exit Slip for 4th grade.  Most students did well. The highest score possible was a 15. Ask your child how he/she did! If you are unfamiliar with the word Exit Slip refer to the GSE handbook, ask your child, or email me!

*Class Pet! Thanks Zarin and Ziad for bringing in Captain Jack, our new turtle! We are excited!

Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the sun!!

Good Afternoon!

We have had a wonderful day today!! The students have been well behaved and engaged all day long! Give your child a pat on the back and some extra time outside!

Here is the run-down of today! (PS– We did begin writing in our planners today. They are $5 if you have not purchased one yet!)

Writing:
We began the day with a grammar and puncuation exercise.  You could hear crickets chirping at first…but once we began talking about each sentence one by one the kids dusted off their brains and helped find mistakes and gave reasonings behind each answer! We also wrote in our Writer’s Notebook (WN) to the prompt: “If I were a goldfish…”. We breifly discussed point of view with this. The students were VERY creative with their stories and many students chose to share out loud.
HW: Some students may need to complete their decorating of the notebook.

LA/Reading:
Today the students took a Reading Assessment for 4th grade.  Students were given this assessment so that I may place them in an appropriate reading level and I know where I need to begin teaching with each student! We will be reading our first novel as a whole class and then breaking off into Literature Circles once I have a better idea of each reader’s level. 
Students were also given their READING LOG today. This is not due until Aug. 29th.  For each month, there will be 2 reading logs for 2 weeks long. This will need to be turned in on time with everything filled out. The students are allowed to only read Chapter books. 
HW- EVERYDAY students will have 20 minutes of reading CHAPTER BOOKS ONLY

Vocabulary will be given weekly starting on Monday.

Math:
Today in math we made a poster titled, “All About Numbers”.  We listed all the numbers in our lives that we could think of! Afterwards we had a contest… Congrats to Maggie with 50+ numbers on her page!
We then reviewed Multiplication facts with a large bounce ball game.  PLEASE make sure you are reviewing x facts with your child at home… If you need a Xfact Chart I can get you one, just let me know!

Science:
Since today is Day 2, we usually will have Health with Mrs. Yeary instead of science. However, today she only spoke about Health for 30 minutes. For the last thirty minutes we used our science journals to begin discussing characteristics of living, non-living, and once-living organisms.

***Please send your child with a jacket… our room is VERY cold!!***

**Please send in the PTA “Go Green” Info before next Wednesday for your child’s Wednesday Folder!**

Thanks for another great day at support at home as well as at school!

Hi everyone! Welcome to our new class! I am assuming you attended Open House last night or you would not know to look here :)  Thank you for coming! It was so nice meeting everyone!

On this BLOG you will find the daily learning targets, activities about how we met each target, any homework, and upcoming events!  I will also be giving you the Vocab Words starting on Monday.  You can look here in case your child forgets to bring home his/her list!

I am very excited about tomorrow and get our new school year off to a great start! As I am sure you are very aware; the first few days at school are VERY busy for the teachers as well as the students and parents! Beginning Monday we will be using the Planner and Math Journal so please purchase one of each if you haven’t already done so! (planner-$5, math journal-$2.50) 

Behavior begins tomorrow and I like to get things off on the right foot. If there is even a small problem I will most likely be calling you so we can “nip it in the bud” early so we will have a great year together!

So please, try and begin checking this by Monday so you can dialogue even more with your child about his/her school day!

Thanks!!
Ms. Megan Giles

http://www.gardensprings.fcps.net/library/Reading%20lists/readinglists.htm

1.                          riot

2.                          cremated

3.                          suppress

4.                          sporadically

5.                          dread

6.                          chaos

7.                          idly

 Know definition and use in sentence correctly.

Complete Belling The Cat Fable Packet

*We did not get to do our experiment today due to cake from Ms. Borders…

We will hopefully do it tomorrow. PRAY for no rain for fun day!!!

FUN DAY is Wednesday! Please make sure your child is wearing tennis shoes, has sunscreen, may bring a hat, and brings a towel.

Vocab: Today we defined all the words.  HW is to write each word in a sentence

Math: We will present our power points tomorrow.  If you would like a copy just bring in a CD and I will burn the presentation for you!

Reading: I read another chapter out of Bridge to Terabithia.  Students then did a compare/contrast sheet on the Burkes, the Aarons, and YOU!

The play was AMAZING! Congrats to our students who performed! We could definitely see your HARD work!

**PLEASE SEND YOUR CHILD WITH A WIRE HANGER for an activity tomorrow!

Bridge to Terabithia

1.                          pandemonium

2.                          alcove

3.                          exiled

4.                          sarcasm

5.                          despised

6.                          repulsive

7.                          proverbial

Students have definitions.  Test will include definition and correct use in a sentence, plus spelling.