April 7 Library Visit
April 11 No School
April 17 Student-Led Conferences
April 18 No School
April 22 Scholastic Book Orders Due
Homework Due Thursday, April 10th - More details posted on the Homework Page
1. Read for at least 30 minutes per day.
2. Complete your Reading Response Letter to Laura
3. 3rd Graders complete pages 55, 56 & 57 in Math Practice Book
4th Graders complete pages 54, 55 & 56 in Math Practice Book
Upcoming Out and Abouts
This week, we will not have an Out & About in order to have more time to prepare for student-led conferences. Next week, there is no school on Thursday (our O&A day). On April 24th we will help with some work in the garden and on May 1st we will do some cooking at the UCC inspired by our Oregon Trail research. Parents are welcome to join us in the garden or the kitchen, and I will post a VolunteerSpot sign-up next week!
Volunteer Opportunities - Sign up on our VolunteerSpot page: http://vols.pt/drMimF
We are in need of Library Chaperones for April 28th. We are also in need of breakfast donations for April 25th. Thanks for your support!
Words Words Words!
The students' job is to look for these words in their reading or listen for them in conversation. If they find one of our words, they should record the sentence or bring the book with them to Morning Meeting. Try using these words at home and see if your Plover notices!
1. Announcement
2. Distant
3. Admit
4. Progress
5. Decision
6. Council
Math Notes
Last week in Third Grade math, we moved into a study of fractions. We are not done with multiplication just yet - we will continue to revisit it over the next two months and third graders will have weekly opportunities to practice multiplication facts with Rocket Math. This unit on fractions will concentrate on reading, writing and comparing simple fractions. Students will represent fractions on a number line as well as with other visual models. Our first activity last week involved dividing pizzas between different numbers of kids; for example, how can 3 students share 2 pizzas?
Last week in Fourth Grade Math we completed a variety of assignments reinforcing our knowledge of fractions. Specifically, we finish our Math Congress presentations about dividing sandwiches for a field trip. Puffin and Plover mathematicians also focused their study on fractions along a number line; as well as comparing and sorting fractions.
Weekly Review
Last week, we hosted a mobile museum presentation from the Washington County Museum. Students were able to see and touch many Oregon Trail artifacts, in addition to playing several games. We also watched part of a PBS documentary and learned how the Oregon Trail was different than the journey of Lewis & Clark. Students are reading a variety of informational texts, as well as historical fiction set in the time period of Westward Expansion. I am reading Voices From The Oregon Trail by Kay Winters to the class, which tells about the journey of one wagon train from many different perspectives. Soon, students will begin to use all this information to create their own character and tell a story about their journey on the Oregon Trail.
Many students completed and turned in applications for classroom jobs last week. This is a new take on classroom jobs for me and I'm excited by the students' enthusiasm! Thank you for helping students fill out their forms and get references. Every student who turned in a completed application received a "job offer" today for one of their top 4 choices and they had an opportunity to accept or decline the offer. Students will receive "pay checks" every week and their imaginary earnings will go into a savings account until the end of the year. We will have a class auction or garage sale during the last week of school and students will be able to use their earnings to purchase prizes. Classroom jobs will begin tomorrow, but there are still several opening available for students who have not turned in applications. You can view and print the job application here.
Communication
Please contact me with any questions or concerns. Parents and students can e-mail me at [email protected]. You can also leave a voice message on the class phone, come into the classroom before or after school, or call me before 8PM at home.