Tuesday

Short Post! Only showing HW:
Reading:
Finish POV texts and pages if not in class

Math:
workbook pages 141 and 143 (not 142)
There is a help sheet in the workbook we did in class

**We are in need of balloons for a vocab. game if you have any at home to spare!

Monday!

FYI:


Picture day is TOMORROW! :) This time around I won't be pregnant! :)
Book Logs will come home on Wednesday of this week.

*Most grades are up to date in I.C. You may check it! I've had several kids missing assignments and have written this in their planners. They will receive zeros after 2 reminders.

Science:

Today students learned about weather instruments and centers with vocab, a laptop predicting weather game, and they made an instrument with Miss Rickard!
No HW


Reading:

Today students worked on their new vocab. packet. Students have different words but all will be testing next Thursday on their words. We also worked on different POV to compare/contrast. Lastly, students read in their lit. groups. I was able to meet with 2 groups today who did awesome!

No HW


Math:

Today we worked on adding and subtracting fractions with like denominators. Kids did a great job!


Writing:

We worked on transitional words with Miss Rickard. Students also had time for DEAR/AR. We need to beat JLA!!!

No HW


Have a good night,

Friday

FYI:
*I forgot to remind the kids about their Book Logs! Kudos to those who remembered! They have a freebie pass and can turn it in on Monday to still get their Pizza coupon!
*Picture Day is TUESDAY!
*I'm still collecting $$ for Valentine boxes!

Review Friday~
We had a pretty good day today!

We began the day writing a friendly letter to our favorite specials teacher! I'll deliver those this afternoon! Some of the letters are super sweet! :) We also had time to work on catch-up stuff from science this week.

Next, we had our math centers. I was SO impressed with everyones behavior! Each child got a good tally mark at each station! Yay! We focused on: factors/multiples, multiplication, division, subtraction math tiles.  We used games, laptops, and the white boards.

We also had 4H today. Students wrote opinion pieces with him and shared.

Students had SS today. We worked on naming the states of USA. We will be having a Bee on this Friday!! :) {just our homeroom}  Students also began their web quest on landforms of the different regions but we did not finish.

After recess and specials, we enjoyed time with our 2nd grade writing buddies.  We wrote acrostic poems on Martin Luther King Jr. They were SO good!! :)

Lastly, the students earned their 100 degree from Miss Rickard's weather unit this week so they enjoyed Popsicles while playing BOGGLE.

Hope you have a wonderful weekend with your family!

Thursday

Short Post!

Science:
No HW

Reading:
Complete a 3-4 sentence summary about the setting of your Lit. Book so far in your Reading Response Journal.

Math:
No HW - we enjoyed our pizza's and then watched the Spelling Bee. YAY for Jack, Lily, and Katelyn

Writing:
No HW

Wednesday

FYI:
*Wed. folders coming home
*Valentine List coming home today
*If you are able to send in $$ to purchase your child a valentine box to decorate, please do! $2.99
***Good Luck to Jack, Lily, and Katelyn tomorrow for our first GSE Spelling Bee! We are excited to watch you 3 shine!! ***

Science:
Today Miss Rickard taught her second weather unit lesson. Students worked on their weather vocab and practiced writing a meteorologist script with their words.
No HW

Reading:
Today after we did our read-aloud, students practiced their vocab. words through Spelling Battleship. It was super fun and the kids did great. This would be an easy way to practice spelling words at home! Ask your child about it! The test is TOMORROW. Kids will need to know how to spell the words and write them correctly in a sentence. Students also worked on comparing/contrasting POV with different informational texts. They created their own POV on the story on posters.
HW: read ch. 2 of their Lit. Book, practice for vocab. test

Math:
Today we made fraction pizzas! The kids did a great job!! :) We also practiced more with sets of fractions.
No HW - we will eat our pizzas tomorrow!

Writing:
Today we focused on there/they're/their. We played several games/activities to practice this skill and will work on this tomorrow as well.  Students then worked in their writer's notebooks for a special writing we are doing!
No HW

Have a good night,

Tuesday - 100th Day of School!

FYI:
*Comic Creators THIS Wednesday
*STLP meets THIS Thursday
*Picture Money DUE TOMORROW
*Class Pic on Jan. 31

I received a good note from Dr. Smith yesterday about my classroom. Yay! It's hard when all 4 teachers are absent at once, so I appreciate the kids being so good! Sorry about the planner - I heard they didn't write in it! :)

Science:
During science today Miss Rickard began her weather unit with the kids.  They learned to read and understand weather by looking at the weather page in the paper and one online. Most students did well with this. We will go over this concept again tomorrow!
No HW

Reading:
Today we worked on comparing/contrasting informational texts as well as comparing POV.  Students had 3 activities to complete. Two websites and an editorial.  Students were graded on the websites that correlated with their MAP score. I'll give you the 2 sites below if you'd like for your kids to practice at home and receive extra credit.  We will continue to go over this concept this week. Students also received their new Lit. Books today.
HW: complete article paragraphs if not in class
Websites: {can be found going to "Fun Learning Games" tab, then MAP Reading}
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/rsr/build1/RR_e_4_13.htm
http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/trophies/test_tutor/grade3/skill4/coyote.html

Math:
We began the class going over a few of the math test questions from yesterday. I hated not being here when the kids took their test, but I do not want to keep pushing it back for fear we will not get everything taught before the big May test! :)
Next, we began our Fractions unit.  Today we worked with fraction manipulatives and compared sets of fractions as well as identified similar fraction pairs.
HW: finish Understanding Fractions worksheet (front page only!) and finish pizza paper!
**This is SO last minute, but the kids were AWESOME today in Math class. So, we are going to make mini fraction pizzas tomorrow...to EAT! :) Shhh! It's a surprise! If you're able to send in anything that would be great! I will be going to the grocery to get: pepperoni's, small pizza crusts, cheese, pizza sauce. If you want to send any of that in, just email me and let me know!

Writing:
We celebrated the 100th Day of school by writing a short little story about what we'd be like when we are 100 years old! We also got to illustrate our writing - very funny! :)
We also played 100 or Bust, a math game with the 100 days of school theme. 
HW: finish 100 yr old paper if not in class!

Have a good night,

Friday!

We've had a GREAT Friday!! But, no time to sit and type the blog! :)
So...please refer to your child's planner!! :)

*I will not be here Monday. The 4th grade teachers have a PD all day. :( I will miss your kids!

Thursday

Chik-Fil-A night is tonight! Come out!! :) 5-8pm
MAP slips - if you did not receive one yesterday, you will soon! It means your child still needs to finish their test!

Science:
Today we reviewed over the information  for our Sun-Earth systems test tomorrow. Students have *'ed the pages they need to study from.  We also played a Jeopardy game that had similar questions from the test.  Students did a pretty good job.
HW: practice for the test tomorrow

Reading:
Yay! We finally had it! We have moved our vocab. test back to next Thursday since I only saw this class once this week! We worked on the vocab. packet together today.  We found similar words and meanings from our vocab. list.  Students then watched a Tumblebooks story and read a story from their Treasures book to compare and contrast themes and characters.  Some students finished.
HW: finish paragraph conparisons from class

Math:
Today we worked in small groups once again on different concepts from the unit and prepare for the test on Monday. Please help your child study!
HW: practice for test Monday

Writing:
Today we continued with centers on cursive and plurals.  Students also conferenced with me to finish up their opinion pieces.
HW: complete opinion pieces

Have a good night,

Wednesday

FYI:
Wed. folders are coming home! **Special note about Valentine's Day party!
**Math Test has been MOVED to Monday. We need more time! :)
Awards Program - Friday @ 12:30

**Special Note from our new UK student teacher, Miss Rickard:

Good Afternoon!

     I wanted tell you know a little about myself, as I will be in Mrs. Burton's class until early May!
I'm from Louisville, but I love living in Lexington as I attend UK. I'm a big Wildcat fan, and it's a great time to be one too!:) My previous placement was in a 1st grade class for 5 weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and I learned a lot, however I am excited for the chance to work with fourth graders and learn from Mrs. Burton. I feel very blessed to spend my last semester of college in an excellent fourth grade classroom.
     I have enjoyed getting to know your children over the past week! It has been a busy few days full of learning names, faces, and the "in and outs" of Garden Springs. I feel right at home now, and I'm looking forward to all I will learn and experience over the next 16 weeks!:)
     I look forward to meeting you as the semester goes on. Have a great afternoon!

*We did not have Science or Reading today due to Science MAP and our Conservation Lesson.

In Math today we completed the study guide and worked in smaller groups to work on concepts students are having a hard time with.

In Writing today, students played a few grammar games and then completed their opinion pieces.

Have a good night,

Tuesday!

Good Afternoon!
Hope you enjoyed your 3 day weekend!

FYI:
Class Pics are Jan. 31
GSE Spelling Bee is Jan. 26
MAP testing - tomorrow
Awards Program - Friday at 12:30
Valentine Party - Feb. 14 at 1:30

Science:
Eek! The weather is not working well for us! We've been trying to get outside to do shadows for a while! So instead, we made our own shadows with me holding a flashlight and the kids standing in certain spots! :) We also made a diagram to show the time of day and where your shadow would be!
HW: complete the questions that we will use as a study guide for the test on Friday (we'll go over the answers tomorrow)

Reading:
We did not switch for reading due to Mrs. Maldonado's class having the MAP test.  Instead, our class rotated between 4 groups. We worked on math and reading. I was super impressed at how well everyone worked! Students practiced grammar on the MAP review page, students worked on computation skills in a game with me, students worked on divison with remainders in a small group with Miss Rickard, and students had DEAR as a station we well.
No HW

Math:
Miss Rickard taught the students a lesson on word problems involving stem and leaf plots, averages, and probability.  We will be having our Ch. 5 test on THURSDAY. Students will get their review guide and we will complete this tomorrow.
HW: complete the UK booklet with word problems for Miss Rickard

Writing:
Miss Rickard taught our mini-lesson on the correct uses of your and you're! A very needed lesson for our writing! The kids did a great job!! Now let's see if transfer over to their writing! We are ALMOST done with the opinion pieces.  Most students have completed their piece and a few still needed conferencing or re-writing.  Students who were finished had the option to work on the MAP review site for grammar practice or have DEAR time with their new library books.
No HW

Hope you have a great night and stay dry! :)

Friday

*Some of you will be receiving this letter stapled in your child's planner. Please understand my level of expectations for your child.  I realize this has been a hard year for your child to have 2 different teachers in the course of 4 months, but I expect your child to be completing work that is challenging to him/her and will not accept 'half-way' done work or a disrespectful attitude. To be quite honest, I do not remember some of these kids being so whiny before I left!!!! We are in the 4th grade friends!
Dear Parent,

I am very concerned with the lack of effort your child has shown in class. I cannot speak to what your child has done in the months I was not here, but currently I am hearing a lot of “I can’t do this”, “I don’t want to do this”, etc. Would you be able to meet with me for a conference over this or possibly work with your child at home? I strive to have a classroom where students are pushed to exceed their ability while challenging them.
Thank you,
Mrs. Burton – 381-3388, megan.burton@fayette.kyschools.us

Because of the delay, everything was a bit shortened!

Kids had a great first lesson with Miss Rickard. Most students showed her great respect.  She taught the kids in a fun way about Martin Luther King Jr.

We also participated in a Spelling Bee! Three winners from our class - Lily, Jack, and Katelyn - will compete on the 26th with other kids from the 4th and 5th grades. If they move on, they will get to compete with other elementary school kids!

We also started our new SS unit on US regions.  We had a map of the USA and made a pop-up sheet with the regions.

Lastly, we enjoyed some more MLK Jr. writing with our 2nd grade writing buddies as well as enjoyed some hot chocolate with a story and rewarded ourselves for passing Bootcamp {which I think we will continue!}.

Have a good 3 day weekend!

Thursday

FYI:
*I need all brown report card envelopes returned! Thanks for sending those in today!
*We are having a class Spelling Bee tomorrow! :) The winner from our room will go against other GSE winners on the 26th!
*Awards Program will be in the gym NEXT Friday at 12:30.
Science:
Today we continued working on our earth-sun systems unit.  We worked on the orbits and axis.
No HW

Reading:
Today we worked on our new vocab.  The words are hard for the kids but I think they are enjoying the challenge.  We also took a quick assessment on compare/contrast with literary texts.  Lastly, kids worked on their Lit. books. We will get new groups on Thursday!
No HW

Math:
We worked more on expressing probability as a fraction as well as using our outcome words.
No HW
*The math test will be THURSDAY.

Writing:
Miss Rickard and I conferenced with students on their opinion pieces.  Students are working on spelling, some last minute idea development, and paragraphs.  We hope to get these finished and turned in on Tuesday or Wednesday.
No HW

Wednesday

*Wednesday Folders -
Report Cards are in the folders. Please look and sign.

Our Student Teacher began today - Miss Rickard. We are excited to have her!

Science:
Today we worked on moon phases.  The kids did great and some of them even memorized the order after their activity!!
No HW

Reading:
We finally had reading class today!  We continued to work on comparing and contrasting literary texts.  We did an activity with hula hoops and post-it notes after reading a short passage. It was fun and the kids did a great job!  Students also received their NEW vocabulary.  This is a new way for us this year and I think it will REALLY help them with the vocab they will see on future MAP tests and the state test.  We will now be having the vocab/spelling tests every 2 weeks.  Lastly, the students had time to read in their Lit. groups.
HW: complete vocab 1A #'s 5-10 ONLY

Math:
Students did a great job reviewing probability.  We also went ahead and expressed outcomes as a fraction and students did great!
HW: workbook pg. 114, please sign
*Test is next Thursday over Ch. 5

Writing:
We had a mini-lesson over run-on sentences again today.  Students did better today than the first day.  We used our expo markers and wrote LONG sentences on our desks while neighbors broke up the run-ons.  We also worked on our opinion pieces.
No HW

Have a great night,

Tuesday

FYI:
Our student teacher from UK begins tomorrow! Please remind your kids to show her respect!
Behavior Boot camp Winners: the top BOY and GIRL were....Jorge and Elvira!! WOO HOO!! They will get their prize tomorrow!

*Check out this cool new site I found for math! I'll add it in the math section of website games. It has all the sub-subjects in math! http://pbskids.org/cyberchase/find-it/


Science:
We continued with our seasons unit. No HW

Reading:
We did not switch - we had MAP Math testing. Students have a 3x5 card for you to sign. The mean score for 4th grade Math is 208.6.

Math:
Students did a great job with stem and leaf tables today! So we moved on to outcomes. We used a few smartboard activities, did some partner work, and a few whole class activities. 
HW: pg. 113 in WB, please sign

Writing:
We are still working on our opinion pieces.  I'm trying to get the kids to work on their paragraphs and indention.  HW: complete draft with 4 paragraphs - an intro, and 3 ideas on your opinion if not completed in class

Have a good night,

Thursday

FYI:
*Thanks for sending in boards today! Hope I didn't cause too much of a problem.  I just wanted time to look over them and get their numbers on the boards before the morning! If you were not able to send in the board, make sure we have it tomorrow! The judging will take place between 8-10 am.

*Book Logs have all been sent home. They have the old Lexiles listed. Once MAP is finished, I will send home the new scores. Everyone has now seen and signed the cards from the test on Tuesday. We will take the Math MAP this coming Tuesday. Not sure when make-ups are.

*Behavior Bootcamp is almost to a close! We will celebrate on Monday because I want stickys on Friday, too! Here's hoping every child makes it! :)

Science:
We continued with our Science Court and discussed the earth's axis and tilt. NO HW

Reading:
We continued with comparing and contrasting literary stories. Students did a great job with this today! We also had time to work on finishing up our Lit. books.
No HW

Math:
Today we continued to review division.  I pulled small groups while Mrs. Powell helped, too.
No HW.  We will continue on with Ch. 5 on Monday, but will be revisiting Mult. and Division throughout the rest of the year!

Writing:
Today students chose a style of writing and drafted their opinion piece about recess.
No HW

Have a good night,

Wednesday

FYI:
Wednesday Folders come home today!
Science Fair boards due THURSDAY! Fair is Friday!
**Place a star next to your signature in the planner if you're reading this! :)

Science:
Today we began our new unit on Earth-Sun systems.  We went over all our new vocab and got into our Science Court groups.  We didn't quite finish Trial 1 yet! We will finish tomorrow.
No HW

Reading:
We continued working on comparing and contrasting different themes in stories.  We compared different fairy tales with modern tales and classic tales.  Students also had lots of time to work in their Lit. Groups.  I am hoping to begin new books with their new Lexile scores once MAP is completed.
HW: Compare/Contrast sheet (directions are at the bottom of the page instead of the top - FYI!)

Math:
Today we reviewed multiplication as well as began reviewing division.  A lot of students are having major problems with both of these. Maybe because they learned it in Nov. and forgot?! We will get back to Ch. 5 on Monday, but I will begin pulling small groups from 7:30-8:00 each morning with math kids next week to help with this.
HW: 2 division problems in their planners - please check and sign

Writing:
We watched a YouTube video on an opinion about Recess as well as read a few more research articles. The students then began forming their own opinion and brainstormed what type of writing piece they'd like to use to write their opinion piece.
No HW

Have a good night,

Tuesday

Woo Hoo! Behavior Bootcamp has gone wonderfully today! :) We were much better behaved, used manners nicely, and were helpful to our classmates. Love it! I've been collecting lots of 'post-its' today - that's a good thing! Ask your child how many he/she gave to me!

**Science Fair - FRIDAY. Boards need to be here THURSDAY.

**Book Logs for Homeroom come home TODAY. I do NOT have new Lexile scores on them as we just took the MAP test today and not everyone has finished!

Science: Today we played Energy Transformations Jeopardy to review those concepts.  The students did a great job! NO HW

Reading: We did not switch today due to the MAP test.  Students will be bringing home their index cards to show you their score. Please sign and return tomorrow.

Math: Today we continued reviewing double digit multiplication.  Students then made a math quilt.  Some have this for HW.

Writing: We began our next writing piece - an opinion piece.  We read several opinionated articles about having recess or not, and then students will begin drafting their pieces tomorrow.  No HW

*If you have any old washcloths you aren't using, we'd love to have them as erasers for our white boards to keep at school! Thanks!

Have a good night,

I'm back!

Good Afternoon!! I'm back! :)

Seeing the smiling faces this morning was just what I needed!! Sounds like you all had a wonderful break. I appreciate all the support I've received while on maternity leave as well as how you treated Mrs. Brady. However, I'm ready to get back in here and work with the kids! :)

Today we did a little Behavior Boot Camp, which will continue all week. Hopefully we can all 'graduate' from it and receive a treat on Friday!

Science:
Today we went over all the expectations as well as reviewed fast and slow changes.
No HW

Reading:
Today we started on comparing/contrasting themes and worked with 2 stories in the Treasures book. We also compared ourselves to the main characters of the Lit. books.
No HW - no vocab. this week

Math:
Yowza! We will be taking a break from Chapter 5 to review multiplication and division.  A LOT of the kids didn't remember how to do this...and I'm a little scared!! So, we will be working hard on it tomorrow and possibly Wednesday.
HW: one problem that is written in their planners

Writing:
Today we wrote a letter to ourselves describing the goals we are going to have to finish off 2012 school year.  I was impressed with a lot of the student goals. They will be hanging in the hallway for you to see!

**** Science Fair is FRIDAY. Poster Board is due THURSDAY.****

Hope tomorrow is even better than today! :) I'm running home to see Harper!