Today we discovered why backbones are so important. Try making a giraffe without a backbone. Thank goodness we had coffee stirrers to act as our backbones.
Friday, January 29, 2016
Weekly News January 29th
Benson/Cave News
News from the 4th Grade
January 29, 2016
Math News
We took the topic 8 on Wednesday. Those grades came home Thursday. For the most part, everyone did a great job! I can tell everyone knows how to multiply double digit numbers, we just sometimes make mistakes adding or forget a zero. We are now diving into Division!! We began Topic 9 and we will be testing on it next Thursday, February 4th.
Don’t forget that you can access your child’s text book at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com Their username is their school number id and the password is richland2.
Zearn username: student number Zearn password: benson
Aleks username: (ask your child) Aleks password: aleksmat
Science News
We have enjoyed talking about classifications of animals--specifically the vertebrate groups. We even tried to make some giraffes today with playdoh and quickly found that without a backbone, our giraffe was merely a blob. Once we added a backbone (coffee stirrer) our giraffes were able to stand with their heads held high. (Pictures to come over the weekend.) We will continue with animals next week with an open notebook quiz on vertebrates most likely Tuesday.
If your child wants to do the extra credit for Science which I emailed about earlier in the week, make sure they have gotten the forms from me and it will be due no later than February 25th.
Language Arts News
In ELA we finished reading “The Battling for Independence” and took a test on Thursday.While reading this booklet, students learned how to identify key details in a passage. Hopefully the information that they learned from this booklet will help with social studies. Next week we will read “Snowflake Bentley,” a biography in Treasures. We will work on generating questions from the story to draw conclusions. There will be quiz on this story selection on Wednesday.
Next week students will get a new reading log on Wednesday. Students will be given their reading level and be expected to use a book on their reading level for the reading log summary. Please encourage your student to write good descriptive complete sentences!
Social Studies News
In social studies students we have completed our unit on the American Revolution. Students were given a study guide on Friday. Class time was used on Friday to complete the study guide. A test on the American Revolution will be given on Tuesday. Social Studies notebooks will also be collected and checked on Tuesday. Then we will begin examining the first form of government for the new United States.
Fourth Grade News
We are collecting items to donate to a local pet shelter for our combined 3rd - 5th grade 100th Day Service Project. Any items or donations can be brought to school next week.
PLEASE, PLEASE! We need your child to have headphones or earbuds in class everyday. We use them every day. They also need them every time we go to the computer lab. Please make sure your child brings them to school everyday.
Ending Thoughts
You may email us anytime there is a concern. Click on our name below for a direct link to our email.
Thanks for sharing your children with us each day!
Thursday, January 28, 2016
100th Day Service Project
Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades are collecting items to donate to a local pet shelter for our 100th day service project. If you can, please send in any items or monetary donations that can be turned into the shelter. We appreciate any support in helping us reach our 100th day service project goal.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Pictures of our Activities
We have been busy with various activities since Winter Break. A group of students are helping out a Kindergarten class as their Math Buddies about once a week. We are sorting and classifying animals in science.
Math Buddies
Friday, January 22, 2016
Weekly News January 22nd
Benson/Cave News
News from the 4th Grade
January 22, 2016
Math News
We took a cumulative test on Tuesday that covered concepts taught so far this year. We will be using this to do some small group work during our RTI time over the next few weeks. This was not a graded test, just a check-to-see-where-we-are test.
We began topic 8 on Wednesday. We are moving pretty fast with this topic, covering 2 lessons a day. This is double digit multiplication. A sheet was given out to each student showing 4 different ways to multiply multi-digit numbers. Students can use this as a guide to find the method they are most comfortable with knowing. It is encouraged, however, that they really try to understand the area model and expanded algorithm because these two methods show the “why” of multiplication. We will be taking a test on Topic 8 on Wednesday of next week.
ALEKS is a grade given every week. Each week, each student needs to master at least 5 topics. When there are short weeks, I combine 2 weeks together and they should have 10 topics. I have been looking at what was done the last 2 weeks and there are still a few who have not gotten their 10 topics mastered. Students can and are encouraged to work on ALEKS at home if they feel they are not getting enough time in class. However, every other week, the RTI block of 30 minutes is dedicated for most students to ALEKS. That means that every other week, they have 150 minutes in class to work on their topics. There is no excuse in someone not to master their topics during these weeks. During the other weeks when we use RTI for Language Arts, they still have 15 minutes or so every day in math to work on ALEKS. This should be plenty of time to get 5 topics a week. Please double check with your child and see how they are doing. I record ALEKS grades every Monday for the previous week.
Don’t forget that you can access your child’s text book at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com Their username is their school number id and the password is richland2.
Don’t forget that you can access your child’s text book at www.pearsonsuccessnet.com Their username is their school number id and the password is richland2.
Zearn username: student number Zearn password: benson
Aleks username: (ask your child) Aleks password: aleksmat
Science News
This week we spent a lot of time researching the 5 different groups of vertebrates. We discussed what an organism is and what groups organisms are divided into. We even divided our class up into groups.
We have started our science notebook for organisms and it is already full of information. We will have a notebook check next week to make sure we are keeping up with our work.
Language Arts News In ELA we will read “Battling for Independence.” Student will have copy of this booklet in their reading notebook. This reading selection also supports the topics being covered in social studies. Please check your student’s agenda book for the day of the test which will probably be close to the end of the week. We continue to write daily in class by keeping an online writing journal. Whether it is a journal writing or essay, students are expected to have a topic and conclusion as a part of the writing. Please encourage your student to write good descriptive complete sentences!
Social Studies News
In social studies students are learning about the major battles of the American Revolution. We will use interactive maps to examine the battles and identify the turning point of the American Revolution and see how the war ended.
Fourth Grade News
Class Picture Day is Thursday, January 28th.
Spirit Day is Friday, January 29th. Remember to wear your BHE colors!
PLEASE, PLEASE! We need your child to have headphones or earbuds in class everyday. We use them every day. They also need them every time we go to the computer lab. Please make sure your child brings them to school everyday.
Ending Thoughts
You may email us anytime there is a concern. Click on our name below for a direct link to our email.
Thanks for sharing your children with us each day!
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Wacky Tacky Day is Friday
The entire school has earned a Wacky Tacky Day for "Pawsome" Behavior! We will have this day this Friday. We would love to see who can be the wackiest and the tackiest!
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