Post #9

YIKES! Today is the last day of the first quarter. Hard to believe! These Fourthies are on their way. I enjoyed our fall conferences and getting some one/one time with each of you. The conference notes are in your daughters' work folders. The first quarter report card will include content grades and the social/personal and study habits check list. A narrative report will be written for the second quarter since we will not be conferencing until the spring. 

Our first Innovation Day was a huge success. The girls have been reading about people with disabilities and completing math activities to learn about the struggles and successes of disabled individuals. On Thursday, they engaged in several simulated activities so they could experience a learning, visual, and physical disability. They met athletes involved with Sportable and came away with the knowledge that disabilities don't have to limit us. The girls modeled empathy and embraced inclusivity. I was so very proud of them.

The girls shared acronyms for long division and most remembered the steps they learned last year. We spent a good deal of time talking about what happens in long division and why those steps are part of the algorithm. Later, I showed a shortcut for long division. The girls are encouraged to use the method that works best for them. We took a look at math gone bad, and the girls giggled and journaled about "Bad Math." Their performance on the last two fact contracts has been strong. Let's keep this attention to detail going. Fact fluency is a must from here on. The pace and complexity in math is increasing and no one wants to stumble because of sluggish or incorrect fact recall.

Our writing/grammar focus this week has been understanding compound sentences, finding compound sentences in text, and forming compound sentences in writing. We followed up with a fun art activity that involved following visual directions. Take a look:

Fall themed Storybirds were completed.The girls imagined their story published and included a note about the author. Enjoy!

Author:	About the author:	Storybird link:
Isabella	This author is weird, and crazy. This author is obsessed with softball, and will always love softball.	https://storybird.com/books/the-young-and-lonely-chipmunk/?token=kxbtwgprbg
Kensie	She is a great writer, and she swims all year.	https://storybird.com/books/9gvk8ghcp2/?token=k8d75q7zmu
Ruby	This Fourthie loves rabbits and is a professional scubbage ninja.	https://storybird.com/books/4xrbhvy99z/?token=fh7rbpbqbt
Kaylee	This author loves crafting, singing and daydreaming. [PS she is a bad singer]	https://storybird.com/books/i-wish-this-day-could-come-again/?token=6ywh4p6bhxp-00000
Vivian	This Fourthie is a great writer, but also loves robotics and plays lacrosse goalie and defense. She also plays basketball, tennis and her favorite color is purple and favorite animal is a panda.	https://storybird.com/books/the-fall-of-bunnies/?token=r389vjyaw8
Lydia	This author has a mom, dad, two brothers, and a sister. She also has a dog.	https://storybird.com/books/the-fall-spirited-woman/?token=rkv7zcw4tq
Lucy	This Fourthie is the class manger in room M02. She was a cheerleader and she going to be one again.	https://storybird.com/books/kghpaxdewh/?token=qs8y7zrz8j
Ellie	This Fourthie is an amazing soccer player who loves puppies. She also does robotics!!	https://storybird.com/books/the-night-i-never-got-to-bed/?token=f29mhg8tg2
Blair	This Fourthie is kind and nice. She loves animals, and especially hedgehogs. This girl likes to use her imagination. Her hobbies are swimming, basketball, and art.	https://storybird.com/books/the-stroll-though-the-park/?token=9qzzhn7xcc
Ginny	This Fourthie is cool, creative, and awesome. She loves to paint, swim, and play basketball.	https://storybird.com/books/boo-loves-fall/?token=7gce7pt2aa
Lauren	Lauren Loves gymnastics. She also LOVES all animals. Yes and she means all animals.When she is older she wants to be a marine biologist, zoologist , or a vet. She also loves being an M02 Fourthie.	https://storybird.com/books/fall-changes/?token=ts6cfh4h4u
Angelina	This author loves ZEBRAS and PUPPIES AND GYMNASTICS!	https://storybird.com/books/uj859vdzzv/?token=bv83nn6868
Allie	This Fourthie has compassion. She is good at making new friends.	https://storybird.com/books/j7bd45erby/?token=jf75g9b2zv
Jacey	Jacey is a very determined person and a great author.	https://storybird.com/books/fall-holidays-by-jacey-turner/?token=dwgvak3bgx
Lura	This is a young Mrs. McCallum lover, a horse lover and she used to live in New York City.	https://storybird.com/books/the-fox-the-horse-and-the-bunny/?token=83we499qwj
Sissi	This Fourthie is an awesome writer. She loves to write stories. She has a puppy named Anna who she adores.	https://storybird.com/books/5tzbwb72wd/edit/
Chloe	This Fourthie loves to dance and run.	https://storybird.com/books/hp58h6m3bg/?token=wannxfwjz9

Wordly Wise Dress Up Day!!! It's this Wednesday! HALLOWEEN!! Read the details here!! Remember to choose a word from lists 1-5. This is going to be a FUN dress-up day!

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

 "Parent How To" videos. This week's feature- Enrichment!

* Homework- Posted for family planning

* Carpool Helpers- No Fourthies from M02

*Special Week Girl- Ellie

Class Leadership Week of 10/29

Ambassadors- Sissi and Kensie

Photographer-Ruby

Closers-Blair and Vivian

Girls-Your blog question is.......What day of the week is WW Dress Up Day? Post your answer here.

Post #8

What's the difference between a poet and a scientist? That was the question before our writing lab began. The girls explored imagery and how to use imagery to make their writing come alive. They embraced the role of a poet for this task. They are writing fall themed picture books using Storybird. Look for the finished product in next week's post.

We had a heart to heart talk about the "Pick 8" homework assignment and the importance of attention to detail and the value of checking math equations. The girls were given an opportunity to find their errors and make corrections on last week's contract. These Fourthies are becoming pretty skilled at multiplying 2 digit numbers by 2 digit numbers. We began by examining exactly what multiplication is. The girls explained and wrote about multiplication. Next, the partial product method was introduced and then the standard algorithm. We began with partial products because it's important to understand what's behind the standard algorithm and why it works. I love that technology enables me to create problem solving with personal relevance. Here's what I'm talking about:

We explored the Columbia shuttle disaster in History4Fourthies and talked about the importance of attention to details, learning from mistakes, and the resilience of Americans. A math activity was part of History4Fourthies this week. I hope your daughter was able to tell you how many months and days she's been alive. Using this site, the girls read large numbers and practiced rounding.

I enjoyed meeting with you and chatting about your daughters. A few more conferences are scheduled for next week. I'll send conference notes home in work packets next Friday.

Wordly Wise Dress Up Day!!! It's coming!! Read the details here!! Remember to choose a word from lists 1-5. this is going to be a FUN dress-up day!

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

* Innovation Day on Thursday (late opening 10:00) Come dressed in work out clothes.

* Homework- Posted for family planning

* Carpool Helpers- Blair and Ellie

*Special Week Girl- Lauren 

Class Leadership Week of 10/22

Ambassadors- Angelina and Jacey

Photographer-Ginny

Closers-Kaylee and Sissi

Girls-Your blog question is.......What time does school begin on Thursday? Post your answer here.

Post #7

It's the end of the day on Wednesday and I had to start this post. A little while ago I watched the girls work on their writing labs. Several were lying on the floor with blankets over their heads, just typing away. A few girls were at the back table giggling, reading each others' writing. A couple of girls were finished and enjoying a community snack- just apples. No one was wearing shoes. And suddenly, I realized why I love teaching at St. Catherine's in room M02- we have hygge (pronounced hoo-ga)! Hygge is a Danish word. There is no English translation but it means coziness, charm, happiness, security, familiarity, comfort, reassurance, kinship, and simpleness. That's us!

We had a discussion, somewhat of a debate, about the benefits of using bar models when problem solving. The girls were assigned some challenging word problems. I told them I would answer their questions when they came to me with a bar model. Turns out- once they made a bar model they were able to solve the equations independently. The girls practiced adding and subtracting large digit numbers. They shared their strategies for subtracting when trading with multiple zeros. I encouraged the girls to use the method(s) that works for them. We also worked with estimating to determine if an answer was in the ballpark. A Greg Tang Halloween math enrichment activity was given to the girls. This is an opportunity to earn "Math Chicks." Math Chicks are all the rage with Fourthies. This activity is a great way to strengthen math skills and have a little fun.

Thursday was cut short by Michael so we weren't able to discuss much in regards to "The International Day of the Girl." The girls will read about influential women next week. Please encourage your daughter to visit Newsela when she has free time. Newsela is a great way become an informed citizen and improve comprehension skills. 

They explored space exploration (colonization on Mars) in History4Fourthies and read about a St. Catherine's alum who has aspirations of immigrating to Mars. The girls used their personal stationary to write persuasive notes, begging for a one way trip to Mars.

The girls are finishing up with their Halloween writing lab. We continue to work with sentence structure and the word 'so' is now forbidden in all creative writing activities. Analogies were introduced this week. The girls solved analogies using bridge sentences. More analogies in the coming weeks.

Wordly Wise Dress Up Day!!! It's coming!! Read the details here!! (I know I used a lot of explanation marks. I couldn't control myself!)

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

* Homework- Posted for family planning

* Carpool Helpers- Vivian

*Special Week Girl- Lydia 

Class Leadership Week of 10/15

Ambassadors- Blair and Isabella

Photographer-Ellie

Closers-Lydia and Lucy

Girls-Your blog question is.......What word is forbidden in your creative writing? Post your answer here. 

Post #6

Grit- I'm not talking about loose particles of sand or dirt but rather a growth mindset that involves determination and perseverance. I saw that over and over this week. The girls completed their unit one math test but were not satisfied until they found the solution to the bonus "Inspector Gadget (IG)." Not all solved the IG , but everyone cheered for the girls who did. In fourth grade, we have the girls correct and analyze their math errors. There were many aha moments while correcting. Math tests are in their work folders. It's October, so naturally much of our math will be autumn and Halloween themed. The girls are working on a factor tree project- bring on the candy corn and pumpkins!  We moved on to Unit 2 which is heavy in problem solving. Ask your daughter to show you her Unit Two resource slideshow in her Google Drive. The EdPuzzles created for this unit include the message of strength and determination.  Here's how we began:

We are still chugging through the 21st century in History4Fourthies. We read and discussed the events of September 11, 2001. Lots of questions for sure. I love the way these Fourthies question historical events and how insightful they are. We will move on to the start of the 20th century in just a few days.

We've been working with parts of speech, specifically choosing specific adjectives and verbs to spice up writing. This week's writing lab is a narrative about an unfortunate turn of events. The girls learned how to work with images and text boxes in Pages and are on their way to writing an action packed narrative.

The girls are reading many articles in Newsela. They are finding articles of interest as well as reading assigned articles that explain the difference between real and fake news. 

We had a great time celebrating the first 25 class compliments with some Mexican treats. The girls invited our Spanish teacher, Señora Scozzaro to join in the fun. 

Be sure to check out our class pictures. Kensie was the photographer this week and she kept busy- Blessing of the Animals, Sissi Special Week, etc..

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

 "Parent How To" videos. This week's feature- accessing That Quiz.

* Science Atom Project due: Friday, Oct. 12th (projects guidelines are in the student binders)

* Homework- Posted for family planning

* Carpool Helpers- No girls from M02

*Special Week Girl- Lydia (Week of 10/15)

Class Leadership Week of 10/8

Ambassadors- Blair and Isabella

Photographer- Ellie

Closers- Lydia and Lucy

Girls-Your blog question is.......When is your science project due? Post your answer here.