The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

We are excited to be starting our class novel, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis! For this novel the kids will be reading and participating in book clubs during class. They are welcome to re-read and work on assignments at home if they are absent or do not get finished in class.  For each 3 or 4 chapters they will have a job that they will be responsible for sharing with their group and we will have a quiz after every 3 or 4 chapters. They will also be responsible for knowing the vocabulary words that will be past out today. And lastly, the kids will be writing a journal about the book that will be turned in when we finish the novel. And, "mum's the word", but as soon as the Witch entices Edmund with her Turkish Delight we will get to try some in class as well! Shhh, don't tell yet!!

New Year

Happy New Year All!! It is so good to be back! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and enjoyed our surprise snow days! I was so thankful that Peggy Benton was able to sub the week I was out. The kids did not skip a beat.

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

Reading-We Finished Island of the Blue Dolphins and we are back into our big Reading book. This week we are reading a biography called Marven of the Great North Woods by Kathryn Lasky. We will begin The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe soon! Tomorrow, I will be explaining to the kids how to do a book report for a biography and a non-fiction book. They will need to do two reports in each genre and approve the books with me if they are not on our list. I will also give them the sheets that go along with each genre, they are different than the regular book report sheets. There are extras on our website if needed. We have also started a global read aloud book called Pax by Sara Pennypacker if you would like to read along with us. Our partner classroom that we are reading the book with, is in another state. We will find out next Tuesday were they are when we do a Mystery Skype with them! They are also our pen pals so we are excited to get to know them better. Make sure your child keeps you posted on all of the things we will be doing with our global read aloud partners.

English-Our test on verbs will be this Thursday. We will have a class tournament on Wednesday to practice what we have learned before our test on Thursday. Adjectives are next!

Math-We have taken individual timed quizzes on each multiplication table. This is the last week that I will announce a timed test on ALL tables, I told the kids I will give one at any time, and speed as well as accuracy will count like it always has, however, accuracy will count even more. ;) The numbers have already gotten bigger in multiplication and will begin to get bigger in division.

Social Studies-Our next Social Studies weekly will focus on early explorers in Alabama!

*Check our calendar here.

Telling Time

A few parents have asked me for websites to practice telling time. Here are some good links that I have found. Something for the kids to do over our Thanksgiving break. ;)

Telling Time

Time to the Hour
Move hands, clock shows digital time
Time to 5, 10, 15, 30 Minutes
Choose Correct time to 5, 10, 15, 30
STUDY JAM Elapsed Time
Practice Elapsed Time
Elapsed time (you need paper)
Show Elapsed time on a clock
How much time has passed?
Elapsed time quiz
Time Practice Sheet Generator
Blank Calendars
Calendar Game
Calendar Game2

Time to the Hour
Time to the Half Hour
Time to the 5 Minutes
Time to the 15 Minutes
Time to the Minute
Time Mixed Review
Time Words
Elapsed Time
AM and PM

Happy Halloween!!

Don't forget to bring $12 if your child would like to get a signed copy of the book from our author tomorrow.

Just wanted to thank everyone for giving our 4th graders such a wonderful party! You guys are brave!! Especially with the spaghetti race, they loved it!! Even some treats for the teacher! Thank you so much! Be safe tonight!

Just wanted to thank everyone for giving our 4th graders such a wonderful party! You guys are brave!! Especially with the spaghetti race, they loved it!! Even some treats for the teacher! You all are the best. Thank you so much! Be safe tonight!

Spelling Bee

That’s R-I-G-H-T!!! Your child is now old enough to participate in the Southminster School-Wide Spelling Bee! :)

We will have three classroom spelling bees for our home room on the following dates: this Friday (10/20), Friday (11/3), and Thursday (11/9). Three winners will be awarded points at each of these bees. Upon completion of all three classroom bees, we will total our winning students’ points and send the top scorers on to our school-wide bee to compete with all of the top 4th and 5th graders from our school.

This usually excites about half the class and leaves the other half trembling in their boots. So...no matter who you are, here’s how we roll when it comes to Southminster Spelling Bees. We realize that this is not everybody’s strong suit, but we do expect everybody to participate. For now, there is nothing you need to do to prepare. Just take deep breaths and do your best. 

I will talk to the kids about this tomorrow and they will do great!

Happy Monday to all!

Mrs. C.

October Scholastic Book Orders due October 9th

Order Due Date -  10/09/17

Dear Families,

I want your child to be a successful reader—and for that, I need your help.

When children choose their own books to read for pleasure, they enjoy reading more and spend more time doing it. The more your child reads, the better they will do in school and in life.

Don't forget to check the recommended list here or on the Scholastic web site to see books I have added to our outside reading approved list!

Plus you will be helping our class when you order: Scholastic matches each order you place with FREE BOOKS for our classroom to share!

You can place your orders online at scholastic.com/bookclubs using our class activation code: 

A hard copy will be coming home today as well. Thank you for helping your child become a successful reader.

Multiplication

As we get into bigger multiplication and division problems, it will be very important for your child's success, that he/she is fluent with the basic multiplication facts from 0-12. I will begin sending home a sheet at the beginning of each week, letting your child know what facts we will be tested on at the end of the week. We will begin next week with the 5's and 10's times tables and will take a timed test at the end of the week. We have lots of links on our class web site where the kids can practice facts or they can just make and use good old fashioned flashcards to practice each table. I am attaching the sheet I will send home at the beginning of next week if your child wants to get a jump start on practicing.