Many of us are well into solid routines and work habit patterns. I am still waiting for a few of my friends, to focus on their own learning and socialize at recess. I can definitely see the impact on their work and attitude when they don’t pay attention and use their given time wisely.

Spelling: We will be working on the pages in our workbook. They will also have 5 sentences to write on lined paper, using the spelling words. The sentences are also due on Friday. (The sentences need to be done in cursive.)

Reading: We will begin our final story from the anthology, later this week, “By the Shores of the Silver Lake”. It is an excerpt from the Laura Ingals Wilder series. Unfortunately, with all the time we spent on COlumbus, we didn’t start this final story in our anthology.

We are well into our first novel. There’s an Owl in the Shower. We are on chapter 11. I love this story, I hope the children are enjoying it as much as I am. I have frequently reminded them to make the story come alive as they read it. If they don’t understand something that is happening in the story, then they need to ask themselves questions. (for clarification) Answering questions completely will still be my major focus this year.

The steps to answer a question are:
1. Restate the question
2. Answer the question
3. Support you answer with evidence from the story

This skill is of great importance in my classroom.

Written Language: We are waiting for a few stragglers to bring in their address so, I can mail their letters. I sent 12 letters out on Saturday. This is one of my favorite writing pieces for the year. I love when the children receive a note back from their relative at school.

We will also begin another writing piece this week on Columbus. As you may have realized, I am trying to have the children compose/create a piece of writing each week, that ties into our studies for the week. The more they write, the better writers they will become.

Math: This week we will be working on area and perimeter. This ties in perfectly with our multiplication arrays that we have been creating and having discussions about.
I will be continuing with our mini unit on Geometry. I made an error last week, but it was a teachable moment. I jumped the gun and want to the end of the geometry unit and discussed area and perimeter. SO, I will be going back to the beginning of the unit now, where I can teach the basic concepts and shapes of geometry. All is good, no worries.

All our math concepts, will not be taught in isolation. Everything in math builds on the previous day or concept. That is why it is still imperative to stay focused and participate.

DCR UPDATE: This is an independent math packet that reviews all the concepts and skills we will be using throughout the year. The children should be pacing themselves, 3-5 pages per week. I give them a weekly check on the board and they should be on pages 22 - 31 as of Friday 10/17/08. There are 3 packets, one for each term. They need to try to finish one packet each term. They do not need to go ahead. It is not a race.

Application of facts and terminology is key to success in math.

Science: We have started our unit on “Land and Water”. Each week we will be conducting hands on experiments and observing what is happening with our cliff, inside our stream table. We will also be learning new vocabulary and adding that to our discussions. I have the children draw and label what they have done for each lesson. On the other side of their drawing, I also have the children write a detailed observation as to what happened during the lesson. I have instructed them to use the newly acquired vocabulary and the old vocab , from past lessons in their writing. This makes it easier to write about what they see and I can judge whether or not the have grasped the new concepts and vocab.


Social Studies: We will have a map quiz on the Northeast Wednesday or Thursday of this week. (The children pick the day when they are ready). I am so excited to begin the Northeast, where we can also get into some discussions on government. This is a fantastic time in our country’s government, especially with the Presidential Elections coming up in November. I am so excited to begin discussing the government this week. It will prepare us for the all school election. My class, and maybe other 4th grade classes will be holding a school-wide election close to Election Day. I may need some volunteers to help at the polls. I will let you know soon

Projects: Just a reminder that the “Animal Project” and the final copy of their written report is due October 15th. Tomorrow!


I will be contacting the room mother’s to discuss plans for a harvest breakfast or celebrating for the end of October.