Happy (Rainy) Sunday!
     I have a few updates for all...

1.  Pictures went home last week.  If there is a problem with any of the orders, please follow the instructions in the packet and I will notify you of the retake date.

2.   Our Halloween Parade is scheduled for 1:00 on Tuesday, and our class party will follow the parade.  Our room mom, Mrs. Vaughn, had sent out a sign-up genius and we have everything we need.  Please let me know if you didn't receive the sign-up genius e-mail from Mrs. Vaughn.  Perhaps I had given her incorrect e-mail addresses.  You are all welcome to join us on Tuesday!

3. Don't forget about our pep rally held at the end of NOVEMBER!  Please visit my weebly site and look in the UPCOMING EVENTS page.

The unit 2 math test will be given on Thursday and Friday this week.  The students have been working on the study guide and will be bringing it home tomorrow night.  We will be correcting it together, and they know that any areas circled in green pen should be the areas for them to focus on.  Please ask them to show you their study guide tomorrow night!  

I am asking that you spend a few minutes each night asking your child to study their multiplication facts.  Fluency is key and will be especially needed in the upcoming math units (as well as upcoming YEARS of math study!).  

Well, ANOTHER goal has been reached in this classroom!  The students have surpassed the October reading goal and have read over one million five hundred thousand words in this month ALONE!  I owe them TWO cartwheels and a free recess! They love the idea, "If we work hard, we get to play hard!"  They continue to amaze me with their reading progress.

Speaking of reading, last week (and this week) was the first week of assigned letters.  Ask you child to tell you about this.  If you still have any further questions, please feel free to call me at 487-2211 ext. 356.  These letters are key to book discussion as well as finding new exciting stories to read.

In science, we have just completed yet another roller coaster experiment that ties into energy and motion!  The students simply LOVE these experiments, and I love watching the teamwork that is taking place in the classroom!  We will be spending approximately the next two weeks in this unit before moving into social studies.

 Thank you for your continued support at home.  I am so very proud of each and every one of your children.  They are all respectful and working hard together in 4th grade.

Enjoy your week,
Mrs. Howe



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Happy Sunday,
     What a gorgeous weekend yet again!  There is nothing quite like New England in the fall.  
          I wanted to make you aware of a few reminders...
1.  Pats Peak ski information went home last Friday.  If you are interested in chaperoning, please send back the information as soon as possible.  

2.  We will be participating in the Fire Safety Program on Wednesday, October 25 at 11:15.  

3.  Our Halloween Parade will take place on Tuesday, October 31 at 1:00.  We will have a class party following the parade at 1:30.  More information will be coming to you this week.

4.  I thought I would give you plenty of advance on this notice:  The students have not been informed yet, but on Tuesday, November 22 at 8:30 our school will be hosting an assembly pep rally style.  Each grade level is being asked to dress in team colors.  4th grade has been designated the color PURPLE!  I thought I would give you a heads up on this, because purple is not in everybody's wardrobe!

     This week the students will be wrapping up their friendly letters and showing us what they have learned about personal narratives by writing a story with no support or conferencing.  The finished pieces help me to drive my instruction in future lessons on writing.
        In science we are continuing our study on energy and motion.  Our third experiment (roller coaster creation) will be completed this week and the students will have an opportunity to design different roller coaster rides and see how each design impacts the speed of the coasters (marbles!).
         We are already well into the second half of unit 2 in math.  Converting hours to minutes and minutes to seconds has been a skill we have worked on this past week.  This week we will be working on multiplicative number stories, classifying triangles and quadrilaterals and finding lines of symmetry.  I am looking to give the unit 2 test towards the end of next week, possibly Thursday, November 2.  
           This week (and next) the students will be handing in their first reading response.  We have discussed the requirements for handing in a quality response and the students also have a rubric to use when creating their letters. It will be great to share the great books that students have been reading through letter sharing on the overhead.  The students always look forward to hearing what their friends have read!
             It is hard to believe, but the first quarter will be closing before we know it.  I wanted to let you know that during this time I hold parent/teacher conferences.  I will be sending you more information on signing up for conferences in the coming weeks.

Enjoy your week,
​Mrs. Howe

     Happy Sunday,
         What an absolutely beautiful fall weekend we are all lucky enough to enjoy!  It doesn't get any better than this.
       In math we are currently working on square, prime, and composite numbers.  In addition to moving forward in our unit, I continue to practice subtraction, addition and multiplication skills.  Every day I tell the students that it is important to become fluent with their math facts.  We are using strategies (songs, jingles), to help us to remember and the students love the song and dance movements!  They also love playing Kahoots - have your child explain this game to you! It was introduced to me last year and I try to include it every so often when there is a little time in the day. The students love it and learn from it as well.
           In reading, we will be analyzing persuasive text.  The students are working extremely hard (and making a lot of edits) on their responses to reading.  We are spending time working on developing topic sentences and using text evidence to form open response answers.  I have applauded the class many times for their perseverance in this area. It is not an easy task, and I explain to them that if they all got it right the first time than they wouldn't be learning!  
            In science we have started our unit on energy and motion.  We built rubber band race cars and had a "race to the sweet spot" on Friday.  The students LOVE experimenting, creating, and working together towards a finished product.  In fact, next  month (November 17th) we have student ambassadors coming from the University of New Hampshire to work with the 4th graders on engineering a roller coaster ride. They are going to love this event. I am looking forward to many more science experiments with this group of respectful students!
              Make sure to clean out the manila folders tomorrow night and send them back on Tuesday!

Enjoy your week, I know I will!
Mrs. Howe
      

Happy Sunday,
    The students worked extremely hard and did very well on the unit 1 math test! Please ask your child to show you his/her results Monday night.  You can find it included with all corrected work in the manila folderthat can be reviewed and kept at home. Included with the test is the challenge portion as well as the open response piece.  We will be reviewing all sections tomorrow in class.  The challenge and open response are scored separately, so you will notice three different scores.  
     We are continuing to work on (and complete) our personal narratives this week as well as creating friendly letters (and formatting them correctly). Both of these written assignments are taught in the first unit of our Wonders Program.  It is hard to believe we are in the fourth week of our first unit.  This week we will be focusing on non-fiction narrative texts.  The skill of creating a topic sentence and organizing information from two separate texts is a very complex skill to master, and we are spending a lot of time each week working on this.
     Our first science unit, energy and motion, will be introduced this week as well! 
     As always, don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. 
Mrs. Howe :)