The James Journal

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James' Journal

September 19, 2008

Dear Parent(s),

We had another great week of learning!

Math: My class finished Chapter 3 and began Chapter 4 on graphing. There will be a combined test next Friday over both chapters. The students are taking a survey of 4th graders (40 minimum) and creating a tally table and frequency chart to bring to class on Monday. We will be learning how to create graphs in Excel next week. Students will make their own graphs using the software in class on the laptops. Mrs. Alvarado's class took the Chapter 3 Test today and will begin Chapter 4 on Monday.

Our Social Studies Unit is underway! We are learning about how the first Americans (the Paleo-Indians) arrived in North America, and we will continue discussing the Native American tribes that followed. Look for a test over this material the week of the 29th.

Reminder: Independent Reading Project due Monday, Sept. 29th.

Have a super weekend!

Mrs. James

What's Up with the Weather?

The James Journal                                               Friday, Sept. 12th

Dear Parent(s),

As the fifth week of school comes to an end I am surprised at all we have done as a class and amazed at all the things that lie ahead.

Dates to remember:

Saturday is GM Habitat Day; Tuesday is Early Release Day.(dismissal at 12:20)

Science time is continuing to focus on weather. Your students have been given an assignment to be a weather reporter one day in class next week. A Weather Reporter Handout came home in the Thursday folder. You may want to remind them to fill the data in for the assigned date. For example, if your child was assigned Saturday, they are to write down the forecast for Sunday.

The Chapter 3 Weather Test will be Wednesday. A Study Guide came home in the Thursday folder and is due Wednesday. We need to teach them how to study in advance to move information from short to long-term memory. This will be especially important throughout the year in Science and Social Studies. We will begin a Social Studies Unit on Native Americans towards the end of next week.

The students took a Chapter 2 Math Test this week. These will be graded and sent home Monday. We pre-tested for the next Unit and will begin new math classes on Monday. Thank you for continuing to work with your child on the basic math facts to increase their speed. We will take a 2nd round of timed tests next week to see where we stand.

In grammar we are learning more conventions to make our writing better. We will continue studying capitalization and move to the proper uses of commas.

Spelling words will be given on Monday and tested on Friday.

We are continuing to read The Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. We read weather related stories to our book buddies in 1st and 2nd grade.

Our guidance counselor, Mrs. Miller, did a wonderful listening activity with the class; it was a load of fun. It also proved to be very telling. We need to work on listening better and talking less. As a result, you may see more frequent mark outs and study halls assigned as we strive to curb this disruptive behavior. On a positive note, each child received a check register with a $20 balance. They can increase their personal account by demonstrating personal responsibility and good behavior. A treasure chest will provide a means for spending those hard earned dollars. Donations towards the class treasure chest are greatly appreciated.

Thank you to Mr. Castro, our mystery reader.

A heartfelt thank you to Mrs. Dinnan and Mrs. Evans, along with the entire class, who helped me celebrate my birthday last week. I appreciate the kind gift and card!

Have a wonderful weekend!

A Look Ahead

James' Journal                                    Friday, Sept. 5th

Dear Parent(s),

We had a wonderful week of learning! A few reminders... Monday Sept. 29th the independent reading projects are due. We also have an early release day coming up on Wednesday, Sept. 16th. Tonight is movie night at Garrison Mill starting at 6:30 pm.

Here's a look at our week:

Reading- We are reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. This es a popular book and the students will be doing some fun activities to aid in comprehension next week.

Spelling- Monday is our Unit 2 Test over words given to the students last Tuesday. Next week our focus will be on suffixes, prefixes, and frequent spelling patterns for the "j" sound.

Grammar- We are studying verbs. Ask your students about the difference between action, linking and helping verbs. Next week we will continue adding to our Volume of Verbs book. We will be moving on to capitalization soon.

Math- We have been working in Chapter 2 on deciding when to estimate and when to find exact answers as we solve word problems. Also, the students are learning about solving equations when one variable is missing in the number sentence. They are actually doing algebra. We will be wrapping up with a test on Thursday. On Friday, we will pre-test for Unit 2 in math.

Science; We began our weather unit this week. Thanks to our fabulous Promethean board, we have been able to look at satellite photos of earth. Our focus has been on water and the water cycle. Ask your students about the water cycles they made and hung in the windows. Also, ask them about how much freshwater we have available to drink.

Writing- We had a wonderful lesson led by Carolyn Byrd, our area lead teacher on 'Ideas and Content' in our writing. Your students are very imaginative. We will continue writing in our Letter Home Journal. Please write your child back over the weekend.

Behavior- Please sign the behavior sheets found in the front of your child's agenda over the weekend.

Have a great weekend! Thank you to our copy parent and mystery reader.

Audra James

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