May the "fourth" be with you! Fun times in Fourth grade!

May the "fourth" be with you! Fun times in Fourth grade!
Mrs. Constantine's Class Rocks!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

News

Thanks to everyone who could get away for Open House, we had a great turn out and the kids enjoyed making you proud with their work!

Wow, on Friday I checked our writeboard and there were only a few posts, today, lots! Can't wait to share with the kids tomorrow!

Just a little bit about what is going on in class:

Reading-We are practicing making mental images as we read in order to help us understand what we're reading. Talk to your kids about your mental images, even if you are not great at making them! Continue to make sure your child is "sticking with a book" and reading on his/her just right level.

Writing-We have been working on collecting ideas for writing in our binders and adding detail to our writing pieces. Sticking to a topic will continue to be a focus. Next week we will begin collecting memories to put into a memory book. We will explore different ways to write about these memories. Please help the kids send in memories as often as possible starting next week. They will be glued into a book so if you do not want to part with original pictures, just print a copy and send that in. No bigger than about a 4x6.

Math-We have just begun our study of the concept of multiplication. The kids have compiled lists of things that come in groups and made multiplication riddles with them. this week we will begin working on our skip counting charts from 2-12 and study the patterns that we see in multiplication.

Content-We are finishing up our study of plants and beginning our study of maps and globes. Our end of the unit plant test will be this Friday, a study guide will come home tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who commented on our write board. If you have not read all of our responses the password is constantine, go check it out! And it's not too late to add to our board if you haven't yet!

Technology-We have been very busy in technology! The kids are using Spelling City to practice their spelling words, they have started their very own web pages, saved files, embeded html code, created slide shows, used online editing software to work with photos, built their "wild selves", and yes, doing the old fasioned keyboarding practice on Dance Mat Typing, and that's just the beginning! Blogging and E-Pals are coming up soon. If you have not seen all of this, have your child show you and remember to keep talking about online safety!

We have a new poll on the top right corner of this blog, go vote!! Explore the other links on the side of the blog, as well. There is a link to our "thank you" blog in order to show appreciation to the volunteers that work so hard helping us out through the year. Also see our class book shelf, sign up to "follow" this blog or get RSS feeds, etc.

*If you want your child's picture remade please send me an email. The date is September 29th.

* If you are purchasing pictures please send money in by this Friday.

*Scholastic book orders should be coming in soon!

*Check our calendar for other important dates.

Site of the month:

United Streaming(username-tanyaconstantine, password-united): http://www.unitedstreaming.com/ - A great site to learn more about just about anything that your child wants to study. You can go to our “content folder” for things that I have saved specifically for my third graders. Or, your child can search other topics. Just be careful that they stay with grade level videos if they search on their own. If you type in Magic School Bus in the search area, your child can watch ANY Magic School Bus video that he/she wants to.