Post #20

Who's got Spirit?

Spirit Week was a blast for the girls. Our class went all out. We had hippies, grunge, poodle skirts, Rosie (I mean Ruby) the Riveter, Michael Jackson, '80's leg warmers, Fourth of July, Presidents Day, Peanut Butter and Jelly, and MORE. Be sure to check out all of the photos.

We finished our novel study, All of a Kind Family.  The novel ended with romance and a big change for the family. The girls will work on a few hashtag summaries next week. Everyone has a book (student choice, any genre) that she should finish by 2/13/19. Like all book projects, we will complete the project in class and this project will be a student choice. This week's Three Word Thursday showed lots of clever thinking and savvy writing. The girls are proud of their writing, and this week I heard so many girls claim that their creative writing and 3WT was their best ever. Music to my ears. Here's our 3WT (What tale could you weave?): 

We chatted about creativity and the importance of being able to take a simple task like writing spelling or Wordly Wise sentences and kicking it up. Thinking outside the box. So the girls started on an assignment- called "Animal Add-on." They take an animal image that has a white background and enhance it with doodles. Then the sentence expansion begins. Look for these next week.

The girls are almost finished with their San Francisco earthquake documentaries. Many groups thought they were finished but soon realized that a little more editing is necessary. I hope to post these next week.

Fractions and Mary Poppins? Of course they go together. Each week the girls will complete a Musical Moment using a tune from the play. A mini math project will follow. This week's tune was "Let's go Fly a Kite." Equivalent fractions was the project focus. Here's an example:

Problem solving was student created this week. Vivian and Blair made a challenging EdPuzzle as a follow-up to their Personalized Learning which was researching High School Music.  

It's a new semester which means a new World Language. Spanish has begun but you can see the girls' finished Chinese Projects.

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

 "Parent How To" videos. Click here and let me know if there is a tutorial you would like to see on our page.
Class Chapel is Monday, February 4th @ 8:15 in the Lower School Assembly Room (Chinese and Vietnamese New Year)

"Growing up Healthy" Begins for the girls on February 11th. All details are here.

* Carpool Helpers- Vivian

*Special Week Girl- Ruby (Week of 2/4)

Class Leadership Week of 1/28

Ambassadors- Kaylee and Isabella

Photographer-Ginny

Closers- Lauren and Angelina

Girls-Your blog question is.......When is our class chapel? Post your answer here.

Post #19

I need to begin this post with a huge thank-you for your support of our Shepherd's Way Outreach project. Your food contributions provided a hearty breakfast for many (roughly 170).  I am so grateful for our chaperones: Mrs. Blackwood, Mrs. Lovette, Mrs. Morris, and Mrs. Telfian who guided our girls and helped them serve. You would have been proud of your daughters. They greeted the shelter guests with a cheerful attitude and made all feel welcome and valued. We all came away with an appreciation for our many blessings. In fact, he girls want to go back. I'm not sure that we can do that, but we talked about incorporating math lessons in the coming weeks that include details, recipes, etc. about Shepherd's Way. 

Today brings a close to the first semester of fourth grade. The girls spent time reflecting on their progress, successes, and challenges during the first semester. They wrote goals for the third quarter. Many expressed a need for increased focus and a true commitment to mastering math facts. Math homework has been consistent all year. Each week the girls are required to complete 8 review problems and practice their facts each day. The "heavy lifting" is completed during school so there really isn't a need for additional practice at home.That said- the girls need to have automaticity when it comes to fact recall. Of course there is always math enrichment for those seeking a challenge. We worked with adding and subtracting with mixed numbers this week. One student commented, "It's pretty easy to reduce fractions when you know your math facts." Yupp. 

The girls learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. They worked through a web quest and learned more about this peaceful leader. Discussions were rich with many questions left unanswered. We are working with a Reader's Theater about the life of MLK Jr. History4Fourthies is coming alive. After researching the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, they are creating documentaries using a new tool, Adobe Spark. It's exciting to see their creativity in action.

Writing was huge this week. We started with a "Wow!" math/writing activity. The girls are always excited to stretch themselves when it comes to writing. They are thinking outside the box and spending more time planning and editing their work. Reading their writing aloud is a favorite activity for this group of Fourthies. Presentation and speaking skills are impressive. 

On to next week..... SPIRIT WEEK! Dress-up days are Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Fun times ahead! Wednesday- Holidays, Thursday-Decades, Friday- Gold/White 

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

 "Parent How To" videos. Click here and let me know if there is a tutorial you would like to see on our page.

"Growing up Healthy" Begins for the girls on February 11th. All details are here.

* Carpool Helpers- No one from room M02

*Special Week Girl- Kaylee

Class Leadership Week of 1/21

Ambassadors- Lucy and Angelina

Photographer-Blair

Closers- Vivian and Ginny

Girls-Your blog question is.......When is it the right time to do the right thing? Post your answer here.

Snow Day Storm Gia!

Good Morning Girls-

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Enjoy your day and let's keep "The Lamps of Learning Burning." 

What to do:
1) Have fun, stay safe, and always be kind.

2) Review homework plan.

3) Complete the math scavenger hunt:

Post #18

One thing is for sure- this group of Fourthies have strong opinions and have no problem expressing themselves. They proved this during the week's writing lab- which was a persuasive essay. The girls learned about the elements of a persuasive essay and began with powerful thesis statements. Look for the finished product in a few weeks. We involved Mary Poppins in some writing and grammar practice this week. Ask your daughter to show you her writing portfolio in her Drive and take a peek at her creative writing in her language arts journal.

We are moving through the 1900's in History4Fourthies. The girls read about the Wright Brothers and journaled about the first flight. They are reading, researching, and note-taking about the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Working with a partner, they will create a documentary about this devastating natural disaster. 

We wrapped up Unit Three in math (assessments will be in next week's work folder) and started Unit Four. The fourth unit expands on fraction concepts. The girls have begun adding and subtracting with unlike denominators. Pretty impressive for fourth grade. We started the unit with an EdPuzzle that reinforced the importance of a growth mindset. 

What if it snows and we miss school on Monday? The girls wrote notes to their snow buddies and made a prediction about the snow amount they will see in their back yards. I encourage them to measure to the nearest half inch. The girls should check the homework link. They received Wordly Wise flashcards for list 9 and next week's fact check. They know to check the blog Monday for a math scavenger hunt around my house. We will keep "The lamp of learning burning."

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

 "Parent How To" videos. Click here and let me know if there is a tutorial you would like to see on our page.

"Growing up Healthy" Begins for the girls on February 11th. All details are here.

Fourth Grade Outreach Project in January- Information here. Additional Info here.

Girls may wear jeans on Wednesday (we will not be wearing field trip attire). The girls should wear  a light weight shirt with a sweatshirt or fleece top. Coats will stay at school.

* Carpool Helpers- Ginny and Chloe

*Special Week Girl- Kaylee

Class Leadership Week of 1/14

Ambassadors- Lucy and Angelina

Photographer-Blair

Closers- Vivian and Ginny

Girls-Your blog question is.......What may you wear to Shepherd's Way? Post your answer here.

Post #17

We really packed in the learning in our two day week. Next week we will be back in the typical Fourthie routine: Wordly Wise, Spelling, Fact Contract, 3WT, and homework. The next two months are POWER LEARNING times! 

We began our short week with an inspirational speaker, Rev. Sigmund Collins, who is the founder of Shepherd’s Way Relief Center. The girls are excited to visit the center on January 16th. Thanks to those families that have already signed up for food contributions.

Fractions were reviewed and the girls will be ready for their unit test on Wednesday. They problem solved with Boogie wipes and The Greatest Showman.

We worked with sentence writing using a challenging "Refrigerator Magnetic Poetry" activity. The girls are becoming quite skilled at explaining word functions and changing Wordly Wise words into different parts of speech using appropriate suffixes. They spent time reflecting on 2018 and wrote resolutions for 2019.

Our field trip to see Mary Poppins Returns was a huge hit! Before the movie, Mrs. Ivens and Mrs. Wyatt had a big reveal for the girls.

From Mrs. Irving:
Author Russell Ginns is coming to St. Catherine's School on Monday, January 28th. He is visiting to celebrate both the paperback release of Samantha Spinner and the Super-Secret Plans and the upcoming March release of the next book in the series, Samantha Spinner and the Spectacular Specs. bbgb, our local bookshop, is offering the opportunity to purchase autographed copies of Russell's books.

Order online to pay with a credit card at  http://bbgbbooks.com/book-buzz/. We are receiving a 15% discount on the books. When ordering online, use coupon code cat15.  Please place your order by Friday, January 18th. Note: the new Samantha Spinner book (Samantha Spinner at the Spectacular Specs) releases on March 12th, so Russell will sign customized book plates during his visit and these books will be delivered to your child's classroom on release day. You may call bbgb with any questions at 804.353.5675.  

Nuts and Bolts:

Information needing a parent response is highlighted.

 "Parent How To" videos. Click here and let me know if there is a tutorial you would like to see on our page.
"Growing up Healthy" parents meeting is 1/10 @ 8:15 in the LSAR.

"Growing up Healthy" Begins for the girls on February 11th. All details are here.

Fourth Grade Outreach Project in January- Information here.

* Carpool Helpers- Lydia and Lucy

*Special Week Girl- Lura

Class Leadership Week of 1/7

Ambassadors- Lydia and Jacey

Photographer-Vivols

Closers- Ellie and Lucy

Girls-Your blog question is.......Where are we going for our January Outreach project? Post your answer here.