I wanted to start my note with a big positive. I was very pleased with the work and products from our animal reports. The children all did a very good job. I was worried that our work wouldn’t meet my expectations, being that it was our first project. The children should be proud of their work. I will be displaying their projects in the library showcases, soon.

We still need to settle down and focus. I actually had to raise my voice today to get some of us to listen. It is frustrating when you are going over an assignment and some of the children blurt out, is this homework, after I have just said it and I am going over it. They need to pay attention to me.

I did mention , maybe we need to forget about our Pok’emon cards and learn what we need to in fourth grade.

Spelling: We will be working on the pages from an old spelling book. I have photocopied the pages for them, for the week. 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 are ready to begin our first anthology test, this week.

We are going to finish our first novel this week. There’s an Owl in the Shower. We are on chapter 15. 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 going to work on some skills this week; subject/predicate, combining sentences with a conjunction, and parts of speech.

Math:
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 25 - 36 as of Friday 10/24/08. 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 have begun discussing 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 Mrs. DeCotis’ class will be holding a school-wide election on October 30th. I may need some volunteers to help at the polls. I will let you know soon

Projects: WE will begin discussions this week on creating our first “Talking Calendar” I will demonstrate the process in class and then assign the project for later in November.

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