What's Happening in Room 34...

Things You Should Know...

• The 4th graders will be participating in a program called Springboard to Learning, an arts education and STEM-integration program through a generous grant from The Boeing Company. In this eight-session program, the students will create a prototype of a product that solves a real-world problem in their daily lives. The students will participate in a BuilderFair during the last session and you will be invited to see their creations.  The BuilderFair will take place on Wednesday, December 19th!  The program will start next week. A media release form will come home on Monday, so please review and return as soon as possible. 

• Looking for new ways to practice multiplication facts?  Click on the "FUN MATH SITES" above and scroll through to find multiplication games.

Dates to Remember... 
            Monday:  Dining to Donate at Chick-Fil-A   
            Friday:  1/2 Day
     
What's Going on in Our Classroom...

ALEKS Shout-Outs!

• Makenna completed 11 topics on ALEKS last week!
  Ollie & Kolton completed 10 topics on ALEKS last week!
• Isaac, Micah, and Stella completed 8 topics on ALEKS last week!

Keep up for hard work and determination!  I can't wait to see who our ALEKS topic leaders will be this week!

Reader's Workshop:

• We just finished our read-aloud, Tiger Rising.  The students LOVED the book and did a wonderful job connecting with and learning about the characters.  This week we are talking about Theme.  We are looking closely at the message the author wants his readers to gain from the story.
• The students will be introduced to an online reading resource called Readtheory.org on Friday.  This website adapts to your child's reading level while offering an assortment of online reading.  I will be sending home more information near the end of the week along with your child's login information so he/she will have access to the program at home.

Writer's Workshop:

• This week, the students will learn about the 4 types of sentences. They will play 4 Corners and do an activity with their writing partner as they practice identifying and creating exclamatory, interrogative, imperative and declarative sentences.

• After reading "The Best Part of Me", the students will brainstorm and write a paragraph about what they believe is their "best" part.  We will create a class book with everyone's writing.

Math:

• The students will be learning how to multiple up to 4 digits by 1 digit this week using the algorithm method (the method we learned).  

• During math stations, the students are working on ALEKS, playing a  review game on facts and multiples, and playing Multiplication War and Guess the Factor card games to work on mastering their facts.

• Many students will begin working with 11's this week as they master their multiplication facts.  If your child needs to be re-assessed on the 8's, 9's or 3's, 6's, 5's or 7's, they will retake the test on Wednesday.  

Social Studies:

• The students will be designing their maps of the Southwest region with their partners this week.