Wednesday

FYI:
Wednesday Folders
*Please look at the Testing Schedule attached in the Principal's Newsletter.  TRY your best not to schedule appointments during this time.

Math:
We continued learning about time and worked with elapsed time today.  If your child has the time, go on the website that I linked up yesterday and play the games!

Reading:
Today we worked on our editing skills with spelling and punctuation.  We used a smartboard activity to help us edit in a fun way!  We also spent lots of time in our Lit. groups today.
No HW

Science:
We continued learning about sound with pitch and tone.  We used the website below~
http://www.internet4classrooms.com/science_elem_sound.htm  We were making great music!
Students also did the activity below to help as well!

Writing:
We continued editing our poems.

Have a good night,

Tuesday

FYI:
Awards Ceremony on Friday at 12:30
Pot-Luck on Friday {please let me know if you are sending something in with your child!}
Spring Break is next week! I have something to share with the kids on Friday afternoon, so if you know your child will not be here on Friday, I would appreciate you letting me know before then!

Math:
Here is a great site to help with learning time: http://www.free-training-tutorial.com/telling-time-games.html#catormouse
Today we continued to work with telling time using words like "half past, quarter till, ten till, etc."  The students are starting to get the hang of it! This must have been something they have forgotten! :)
Students also took their conversions quiz today.  Most students did GREAT! I will try and have the quiz scores posted soon!
HW: some students have 2 sheets of work, some have 1 depending on how well they performed in class on the skill

Reading:
Today we continued with our grammar skills.  We reviewed pronouns and nouns and took a quiz.  Next we reviewed (or learned for some!) about adverbs and adjectives.  Students played a matching game on the smartboard and then we have a brain-teaser for adjectives.
HW: brain-teaser maze for adverbs
*No vocab this week {the words were: noun, pronoun, adverb, adjective}

*We were able to be the audience for 5th Grade's BETA club induction ceremony.  The kids really liked it! I can't wait to see them all in it next year!*

Writing:
Writing was also cut short because of the ceremony.  We worked on typing and publishing our 7 poems for our books!  Does any parent know {or have time to learn?} how to use the machine we have at school to bind books together? If so, I would love your help!! It would be on Thursday and Friday morning! Just email me and let me know!
No HW

Have a good night,

Monday

FYI:
*Awards will be this Friday at 12:30 in the Gym! Students should also have this written in their planners.
*Pot-Luck is on Friday! We had a slight hiccup today in receiving a yellow...but I know the kids are really working hard, so if we can get green PAWS the rest of the week it is still on! Please let me know if you are planning on sending something in if you haven't already! *There will not be a book log until after Spring Break!

Math:
Today we began with time.  I thought we would get into elapsed time, but we needed to work on telling time and different ways to tell time first.  We worked on sayings like, "a quarter till 3:00, half past 9:00, ten till 4:00, etc.". This was actually pretty difficult for most of the students.  We were showing the time on small clocks as well as telling the actual time.
HW: sheet on telling time and drawing the time
Mon-Fri Packets were given today and are due on Friday.

Reading:
This week our skills will revolve around different grammar skills.  Today we focused on pronouns and nouns.  A lot of the students forgot what a pronoun is, but once we got going, they were really getting the hang of it!  We played some fun and engaging activities from the website below:
http://www.mrsrenz.net/langartslinks.htm
We also had time to read and get a few new books for our Lit. groups.  I completely lost track of time and we didn't get our vocab words written down so I will give the kids extra practice tomorrow during class to help learn them.  The new laptop station was just too fun! :)
HW: none

Science:
We began the last part of our unit - Sound.  Students had different experiments to do with tuning forks and plastic rulers to help learn about vibration and pitch.
No HW

Writing:
We spent the time typing our poems to get ready to place into our books!
No HW

Friday

Sorry for no post yesterday - our internet went down!

If you were able to make it to the PE Program ~ the kids were awesome, weren't they?!

Today we spent a lot of time on geometry.  We practiced more with polygons and took a quiz.  Then we learned about area and perimeter.  We read a funny story and then tried to make different seating arrangements to go along with the book. It was fun! Also, we made pictures with area and perimeter.

Students also had another On-Demand to complete for Mrs. Sharp.  This one was an article.

We also had class meeting and Health today.

Have a great weekend,

Wednesday

FYI:
*Report Cards come home in the Wed. folders.  Please sign envelope and return to school, keep the report card
*Thanks to those of you who have already offered to bring in food next Friday!
*PE Program is tomorrow - PLEASE have your child here with jeans and a brightly colored solid shirt
*CATS Testing dates are still unknown...we should know from the district SOON whether the dates are being pushed back or not!

Math:
Today we made a conversions pop-up activity.  This is to help students memorize important conversions.  We are going to try and get finished with measurement by next week because we have another unit to cover by testing!
HW: practice for Gallon drawing quiz, work on Mon-Fri packet

Reading:
We worked more with our skill of finding key information.  Students answered each other's questions from the advertisements from yesterday.  Then we found more key information from a recipe.  Next, students made a recipe for themselves! They are turning out cute and we are making a book out of them.
HW: write a summary of Monday's Lit. book chapters in Reading Response Journal

Science:
Today we had centers to teach us different force, motion, and push/pull effects.  Each center had a fun experiment with observation questions.
No HW

Writing:
We worked on completing our draft of our 6-Room Poem
No HW

Tuesday

FYI:
Green PAWS in the Cafeteria!!!

I think we are going to MAKE OUR GOAL in the cafeteria!!!!!!!!!!!

We set a goal to get all green PAWS {which is VERY hard to do!!} and we are moving along on the right track!! It was said there was 'no way an intermediate class' could be quiet enough in the lunch room and we are setting them WRONG!

SO, our reward is to have a fun pot-luck lunch in the classroom on April 1.

IF you are able to help by bringing in something, we would appreciate it!!! Your choice!! Just email me if you think you'd be able to! We have 24 students plus a teacher in our room. :)

Megan.burton@fayette.kyschools.us

*please let me know when you send in your dish if you’ve used pineapples and/or bananas, or nuts as we have allergies in our room to those! Thanks!

*PE Program on THURSDAY at 1:30 and 6:30 - please let Ms. Timaji know if your child cannot make it to the night performance.  PLEASE have your child wear some type of jeans and a brightly colored shirt that day.
*Report Cards come home Wednesday

*Math and Reading were cut in half today due to Dollars and Sense Program. It was so neat! Ask your child about how he/she did on their budget!

Math:
Today we continued with learning about different measurements with word problems.
Students will need to know how to draw their Gallon Conversion chart by Thursday for a quiz.
HW: 1 word problem (#79 on worksheet), work on the Mon-Fri Packet

Reading:
We continued with our skill of locating key information in non-fiction passages with an advertisement.  Students then made their own advertisements and made up locating key info questions.
HW: finish 5 questions on own advertisement and practice vocab words

Science:
Today we worked with push/pull and weight in motion.  Students had several experiments they had to conduct with cars and different weights.  They had lots of observations to write about!
No HW

Writing:
We finished our draft of the 6-Room Poem and the kids made a rough draft of the actual poem in correct form.  We will be working on it again tomorrow!
No HW

Have a great night,

Monday

FYI:
*Our PE Performance is THIS Thursday!! Please try to have your kids here that day and night!! If your child is going to have to miss the night performance, please contact allison.timaji@fayette.kyschools.us to let her know so she can prepare! Thanks!!! We are SO excited!!  1:30 and 6:30 - kids need to be here by 6:10
*I think we are going to MAKE OUR GOAL in the cafeteria!!!!!!!!!!! We set a goal to get all green PAWS {which is VERY hard to do!!} and we are moving along on the right track!! Some people have said there was 'no way an intermediate class' could be quiet enough in the lunch room and we are setting them wrong! SO, our reward was to have a fun pot-luck lunch in the room on April 1.  IF you are able to help by bringing in something, we would appreciate it!!! Your choice!! Just email me if you think you'd be able to!
*Report Cards come home this Wednesday

Math:
We continued learning about measurement and worked with our rulers.  We also learned about measuring volume and made a Gallon man.  Lastly, we are working on seeing how long our smiles are!
HW: 4 questions on capacity (use class work to help)
**There will be an envelope coming home from now until CATS testing.  It will be weekly. Please read the letter to you inside and help your child on skills.  If your child returns it by or on Friday he/she will receive 100 points and a Hard Work Cafe pass. I will not be able to accept these late.  Students will not be receiving much 'regular' homework (like today, they only have 4 questions) so hopefully over the course of 4 nights they can get this completed.

Reading:
Our new skill for the week is finding key information in non-fiction texts.  We began with an informational article and found different key words and phrases.  We also worked on table of contents.  Next, students defined their vocab words for the week and we worked on our Lit. groups.
HW: finish defining vocab, read 2 chapters in Lit. Book

Science:
I've graded all the multiple choice on the science tests and need to get the ORQs finished.  The MC look great! 
Today we began a new unit on Straight-line Motion, Force, and Sound.  We worked with motion today.  Students had several experiments to do with a ramp and 3 different sizes and weights of balls.  Kids did a great job working hard and finding conclusions about each experiment.
No HW
**For an upcoming lesson I need a few items: plastic combs, ping-pong balls, balloons. If you are able to help, thank you!

Writing:
We began our draft organizer for our 6-Room poems.
No HW

Have a good night,

Wednesday

Whoops! Sorry about Tuesday! We had a loooong meeting and I forgot! :)

FYI:
Wednesday Folders coming home
Report Cards are NEXT Wednesday; however, grades are posted in I.C.
Wear Blue and Green tomorrow!!
Hats are OK only in my room
Students filled out NCAA brackets today instead of our walking time.  The kids are to keep these at home and highlight any games they get correct.  Once the tournament is over, they can bring it back and the person with the most wins wins a prize!!! :)

Math:
We began our new unit on Measurement today. We will be flying through this unit to get everything in before CATS testing!  We starting learning how to read a ruler and measured different things in the room.
HW: only do circled questions on HW
*math extra work is due tomorrow if your child received it on Monday

Reading:
Today we continued with cause and effect.  Students played a game using short passages to help learn the relationship.  We also practiced the vocab. words and worked on our cause and effect articles. Lastly students wrote in their reading response journals for summaries of yesterday's readings and read today.
HW: finish lit. book reading if needed, study for vocab. quiz

Science:
We studied for our test today and students did awesome! So, yes, the test will be given tomorrow on heat,light, and electricity.  Please help your child study with the study guide tonight!
HW: study for test

*4-H came today to prepare us for our Dollars and Sense program next week. Ask your child about it - it's always so neat!

Writing:
We began brainstorming our topics on our end-unit poem - a 6-Room poem.  They always turn out so neat. We will hopefully begin them tomorrow!
No HW

Have a good evening,

Monday

Great Weekend to be a CATS fan! :)

FYI:
No school for kids on Friday
Irish Dancing assembly on Thursday (10:00)
Thursday is WEAR Blue and Green for UK and St. Patty's Day (hats are OK in my room only)
The Report Card period has ended; however, I still have several grades to add to the grade book and will be doing so all week. Please be patient with me as there is never enough time in the day (or at planning) to get it all done!!

Math:
Today we worked on reviewing for the decimals test tomorrow.  Kids practiced with white board markers on their desks and in small groups with me.  I think kids are ready! Please help study with your child by making up similar problems found in their study guide for the test tomorrow.
HW: practice for test
**some students are getting EXTRA work...this is to be completed WITH the parent on skills students are struggling with during our small group Math Intervention time and will be given extra credit if turned in on time

Reading:
Today we began our new (reviewed) skill - cause and effect.  We read in partner fluency groups a story from Treasures and answered questions about cause and effect.  Students also had time to define their vocab. words for the week.  Lastly, students read or took AR tests on their Lit. books.  I met with Class Clown, Great, Good Thing, and Number the Stars.  The kids are comprehending the books well!
HW: finish defining words and/or finish reading chapter(s) in lit. book

Science:
Today we completed an ORQ on series and parallel circuits.  We also reviewed a lot of our skills on heat, light, and electricity.  I am hoping to test students on Thursday - I will keep you updated.
HW: none

Writing:
Today we went over rhyming patterns in poems and wrote our own. 
HW: Bring in a picture of something you want to write your 6-Room poem on tomorrow and Wednesday

Have a good night,

Friday

Here's what we did today...in pictures!

Have a good weekend!

Thursday

Broadcast Schedule (as of now):




Chorus Schedule for Channel 13!! Alyssa and Jack are featured!
March 13: 8pm
March 15: 10am, 2pm, & 6pm
March 17: 11:30am, 4pm, & 8pm
You’ll see our GSE chorus kids, as well as our very own Jack singing in a smaller elite solo group during the song Ezekiel and David.

Short- Only showing HW

Math: finish study guide and practice

Reading: finish editing tall tale

Science: No HW

Writing: No HW

Wednesday

*Wednesday Folders are coming home tonight!
FYI:
Jump Rope for Heart and Night Book Fair are tomorrow!
Comic Club has been changed to tomorrow afternoon, not today!
Math:
Today we worked more with decimals.  The kids are doing great! Today we took our knowledge of standard form, word form, expanded form, and fraction form to decimals! Students did a great job.  We also answered word problems and played a fun comparing/ordering game! http://www.mathsisfun.com/numbers/ordering-game.php?m=Dec-Tricky
You can also find this game under my "Fun Learning Games" site on the side.
HW: decimal forms sheet, please check and sign
*test will be next Tuesday

Reading:
Today we continued talking about theme of stories.  We also practiced our vocab words. Students wrote a summary of the Lit. chapters they read in their Reading Responses journals.  We also had time to work on our tall tales. They are turning out great!! Ask your child about it!
HW: read 1 or 2 chapters in Lit. Book, practice for vocab words

Science:
Today we began electricity.  Students learned about series circuits, open and closed circuits.  We were able to try and investigate how to get the bulb to light!

HW: read in the KCCT book pg. 50-53.  Complete the questions on pg. 53 on OWN sheet of paper, restate question in answer.  *Some students need to re-do their Light quiz.  If your child does he/she was given the paper today. They are asked to read a section in the KCCT book over light (you can find it in the table of contents) and then re-do the answers.  Please check.

Writing:
Today we continued with poetry and learned about Personification.  We are working on our own Personification poems! Ask your child to tell you about theirs!
No HW

Have a good night,

Tuesday!

FYI:
Doughnuts for Dads/Muffins for Moms is TOMORROW morning at the Book Fair in the Library!
Anyone willing to take Stella and Ned for Spring Break?
No school on March 18th for students

Math:
Today we continued with comparing and ordering decimals.  Students are getting better and remembering to use place value when comparing numbers. Today we worked with word problems, number lines, and patterns.
HW: pg. 9 in Workbook, please check and sign

Reading:
We continued with our skill of theme and hyperbole's with Tall Tales.  Students read Stormalong and answered comprehension questions and exaggeration questions about this Tall Tale.  Next, students are getting to make up their own Tall Tales! I think this should be easy for some! haha! Our main character is Ms. Sharp!!!! The kids are excited!  Lastly, students had chapter(s) to read in their Lit. Books.
HW: read one chapter of lit book; Hoot, Great Good Thing, and Hatchet need to read 2 more chapters; and students who did not finish Stormalong need to finish

Science:
Today we reviewed behavior of light.  We did different demonstrations to show reflecting, refracting, and absorbing light.  We also went over translucent, transparent, and opaque light.  Your child will be having a short quiz tomorrow over these terms.  They are all identified with examples in their Science Journals.
HW: practice terms for quiz

Writing:
No writing due to Health today.

Have a good night,

Monday

Good Afternoon!
FYI:
Book Fair is going on this week! Your child may visit before school or during our Library time
Good Luck to Jack and Alyssa at the Chorus Festival tomorrow!
March 18- No school for kids
We are running out of Expo markers! Students use these daily! If you are able to send in some we would greatly appreciate it!! :)

NED & STELLA need a home over Spring Break!!!! Is anyone willing to take care of them?! Please email me or send in a note if you think you will be able to! Thank you! :)

Math:
Today we worked on comparing and ordering decimals.  We did a fun activity using Expos on our desks! It took students a few practice times to realize 0.9 is the same as 0.90, but I think we have the hang of it! We practiced lots and it was quick and easy to see their answers on their desks!  We also worked independently on some Singapore exercises.
HW: pg. 12 in workbook, please check and sign

Reading:
Today we began our new skill on theme and point-of-view.  Students read the tall tale, Pecos Bill, in small fluency groups.  Then we discussed what a hyperbole is and found lots of them in our tall tale!  Next, students had plenty of time to define their vocab words for the week.  Students were also to read 1 chapter or 2 chapters (depending on lit book) in their lit book and write a summary over that chapter in their reading response journal.
HW: read in lit book, write summary

Science:
Today we learned more about light and how light moves.  Students did several experiments with a partner to answer certain questions about light. 
No HW

Writing:
We continued working on similes and wrote a poem with similes included.
HW: finish simile poem

Have a great night,

Friday

We had an eventful Friday!

We learned about more polygons this morning, learned about 3D shapes, and faces/edges/vertices.

We also got to practice for our PE Program today! It is on March 25.  The students have an important note they are bringing home today in regards to the performance.  This is a HUGE deal! I'm so happy my class behaved well enough all through the year for Ms. Timaji so that she would pick us!!

We also had Guidance today with Mrs. Moses. She spoke on physical and sexual abuse.  It was a hard topic, but the kids were very mature today during the lesson.

We also practiced subtraction with larger digits and worked on our SS Daniel Boone plays.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend,

Thursday

Math:
Today we continued working on adding and subtracting decimals. The kids are getting the hang of lining up the decimals and place values; however, we are having trouble with simple addition and subtraction skills - especially when regrouping with zeros.  PLEASE check your child's HW tonight!!
HW: 5 problems on add/sub decimals

Reading:
Today we finished up our plot, problem/solution practice and took a short quiz on it with a passage.  We also played a few vocab. games and took our vocab. quiz.  Lastly, students read 2 more chapters in their Lit. Books and I was able to meet with 2 of the groups to discuss the plot of the book.
HW: finish reading ch. 3 and 4 from Lit. Book if not

Science:
Students learned about reflecting, refracting, and absorbing light through a neat Smartboard activity.
They took notes in their science journals and wrote down new vocab.
No HW

Writing:
Students worked on adding similes to their poems.  They also performed a simile play.
No HW

Wednesday

Happy "Read Across America Day"!!

Dr. Seuss and Mrs. Burton's 4th Graders!

Our very own Brandon S. won the KBA reading award for 4th grade...so he got to PIE the principal in the face!! :) {picture blurry from the TV news!!}

Ashley, Brandon, and Alyssa's favorite children's books!

HW:
Math:
adding and subtracting decimals sheet

Reading:
practice vocab words, sentences for xtra credit, finish reading Ch. 2 in lit book and write a summary in reading response journal

Tuesday

FYI:
Music HW due on March 8th (student received it yesterday)
New Book Log is coming home tomorrow in the Wed. Folder
From 5th Grade:

Due to lack of response, we have decided to cancel the5^th grade pancake breakfast this Saturday (3/5).

*We are running out of expo markers! We use them daily with our small white-boards.  If you are able to send in a pack, we would really appreciate it!
* :( No one signed up to come read tomorrow!!!!!!!!!! We will enjoy reading to one another.

Math:
Today we continued learning about decimals.  We reviewed tenths and learned about hundredths.  Kids did a good job! We worked on writing them in word form, in fraction form, and decimal form, as well as showing a picture of them.
HW: finish 1-2, 5-6 in workbook if not in class, Decimals WS

Reading:
Today we worked with problem and solution on the story we read yesterday. Students also made up their own problem and solution stories with different pictures.  They were funny! We also got to start our new lit books.  Students read ch. 1.  Students also wrote a summary in their reading response journals and made a prediction for ch. 2.  I will begin meeting with Lit. groups tomorrow.
HW: write summary for ch. 1 in response journal and make prediction for ch. 2
**As I've told the kids, I expect these entries to have correct spelling, punctuation, and sentence structure! I think some of the kids are getting a little lazy on this!! yikes!

Science:
As a part of our new unit, we started a new topic on light today.  We did a few experiments to tell how light energy traveled, and 3 types of reflecting light.  Students then worked in pairs to read about the 3 main types of light and answered questions in their Science Journals.
HW: finish answering questions in science journal - need to restate question in answer

Writing:
We continued with poetry.  Students were given extra time to read through poetry books for kids I've pulled. Students found their favorite poem and copied it into their writer's notebook.  We did this to help us learn poetry form and stanzas.
HW: finish copying poem if needed

Have a good afternoon,