Just a friendly reminder that the students will be presenting their animal projects tomorrow from 1:00 - 2:00. If they decided to use google powerpoint and need to send me the power point or anything through google, my address is [email protected]
If you prefer to send it to my regular e-mail it is [email protected] Remember: the students DO NOT need to use google.docs or a power point. Some of the most creative animals can be handmade or drawn! Also, I promised the children that I wouldn't have them present until you arrive, so if you are running late ... no worries. Mrs. Howe
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Good Morning,
I cannot believe only 1 more week until the holiday vacation break! I have some great news for you all. 1. The students ROCKED the unit 3 math test on Thursday. The average score was a 95, and many of the students received a good score on both the challenge and open response portion of the test. We reviewed our answers on Friday and I told the kiddos to bring their tests home and show YOU their work. They should be able to show you where their mistakes were made and how they fixed them. The challenge and open response portion of the test are graded separately. Your child should be able to explain the grades on these portions of the test as well. I was VERY pleased to see the number of attempts at these difficult problems - Go Reading Red Sox! We will be starting our next unit in math on Monday. Prepare yourself for the "crazy" new ways to multiply! The students will be learning how to multiply in a variety of ways (partial products, lattice, and YES, of course, traditional). Although I teach the three approaches to multiplication, I tell the students to use the approach they are most comfortable with. You will be seeing some practice problems coming home in this unit. Multiplication of double to single digit numbers should be mastered by the end of unit 4. On Friday, I sent home the unit 4 family letter with the tests. Please keep these letters for reference, and always remember you can log onto the everyday math website with your child's ID and password. There are some great games on the EM website that will help them to practice their multiplication skill. We have completed our New Hampshire animal research projects. The finished product is hanging on our wall outside of Ms. Brown's office. In addition, the students created their animal powerpoint. If there is enough time, they will have an opportunity to present them on Thursday. They WILL be presenting their CREATE YOUR OWN ANIMAL project on Thursday from 1:00 - 2:00! I am looking forward to seeing these and you are all welcome to join us for the viewing! This week we will be finishing up our N.H. ski posters. Each student chose a ski mountain and is creating a poster based on the facts they found about that mountain. The more cotton balls we get in, the fluffier our mountains can be!! Through this project, we are learning about counties of New Hampshire, elevations, annual snowfall (weather and climate), acreage, and more... Ski season is upon us! This week we will be starting our science unit on "The Human Machine." We will begin by reading about animal senses from our new readers in science. This topic ties in directly to our adaptation project. The students will be excited to jump back into our science lab work! I am hoping you have all had a chance to see the Sign-Up genius for our holiday class party on Friday, December 22 from 1:00 - 2:00. The students chose Secret Santas and they all brought home a 3x5 card with "ideas" on it. Please don't feel like you need to search to find anything; these ideas are helpful for those of you who don't have time to "guess"! Please feel free to join us for the party. There will be a slide show for your viewing pleasure which includes some great pictures of our trip to the library last week! A big thank you to Mrs. Schoenfield for picking up the pizza for us and bringing it to the community center AND bringing all of the trash home! I couldn't have been happier witnessing so many students EXCITED to go to the library - this is a dream come true!! I am sure we will make the trip again before our 4th grade year is over. I could go on and on (mainly because your children bring me so much energy and joy) and tell you how proud you should be of them, but I must prepare for the Patriots game! I hope to see some of you on Thursday OR Friday OR both days! Looking forward to a festive fun-filled week with The Reading Red Sox!! Mrs. Howe Update!Don't forget to send your child in with warm clothes including snow pants, boots, gloves, hat, and coat, so they stay warm on our walk to the town library. We are having lunch at noon and looking at books after lunch before we return to school for 1:20. Even if it is snowing, we will still make the walk - it will certainly be beautiful on the rail trail!
There is NO spelling and grammar this week and next. We are right in the middle of MANY projects and our Language Arts/Reading program allows for a week of writing to take place without spelling and grammar. Therefore, we will be finishing our How-to writing pieces, working on our New Hampshire ski projects, finishing up our New Hampshire animal slideshows, and completing some holiday activities as well. It is a nice break for the students, especially because they are also completing a reading/writing assessment AND the unit 3 math assessment on Thursday. Also, please send in ANY cotton balls you can! We will be needing them this Thursday and Friday! Can't wait for tomorrow! Mrs. Howe Sunday, December 10thHappy Snowy Day!
I'm sure the kiddos were all excited about our recent snow storm! Winter is upon us - just in time for the holidays. With that in mind, PLEASE make sure your child has proper footwear and outdoor wear for our walk to the library. As long as there is no heavy precipitation, we will PLAN on taking our walk through the rail trail to the library on Wednesday for our picnic lunch in the community center and our visit with Mrs. Ballou. Last week I handed out applications to those students who didn't have a library card. If they bring these applications with them on Wednesday, they will get their OWN library card and be able to take out books on that day! How exciting! Just make sure to send in the application with your child! We are in the process of completing our New Hampshire animal slideshows that we have been designing, in addition to our research papers. I have had a chance to peek at some of the slideshows and they look awesome. Don't forget to remind your child about our Create Your Own Animal project that is due next Thursday, December 21st. We will be sharing our creations from 1:00 - 2:00 on Thursday. If you are interested in coming to the presentation, please send me an e-mail so I can get a count of parents who will be attending. If this time of year is too busy for you, don't worry. There will be plenty more opportunities for you to join us in the classroom to see your child shine! In 2018, we have government projects as well as New Hampshire projects that we share. Tomorrow we will discuss our Secret Santas for the holiday party which will be held on Friday, December 22 from 1:00 - 2:00. Once again, you are welcome to join us. You should be receiving information regarding signing up for party items some time this week. Our unit 3 math test will be this Thursday, December 14th. The students finished the second of three study guides which were sent home on Thursday. I have highlighted areas of concentration for each student. Tomorrow we will finish the third and last of the study guides in preparation for the test. Overall, I think the students have a good handle on fractions, decimals, and conversions from mm to cm and cm to m. Enjoy your week - I'm looking forward to mine! Mrs. Howe Happy Sunday,
I wanted to let you know that I spent last Thursday and Friday at a conference with our principal, Ms. Underwood, and fellow fourth grade teacher, Mrs. McNish. I might add that it was one of the best conferences I have ever attended, and the presenter, Rick Wormeli was both informative and entertaining. In great detail, he described his pedagogy based around standards based report cards. I have been a part of the New Boston Central School report card committee for two years and we have been working hard on designing and implementing a new standards based report card. Last month this was presented to the school board, and with continued work and forward progress, parents should see a new type of report card within the next year that provides much more information than ever before! I am looking to give the unit 3 math test NEXT Wednesday or Thursday, December 13th or 14th. This all depends on the progress we make this week. I will send out another newsflash on Wednesday or Thursday to verify this. As always, I want to make sure the students have had ample opportunities to practice the fraction skills being taught in this unit. Presently we are working on decimal forms. We continue to work on our New Hampshire animal projects and power points, and the students seem excited about creating their own animal to present on December 21 and 22. Our Christmas Party is scheduled for Friday, December 22nd at 1:00. I will talk with the students this week about what they would like to do for their party in terms of secret santa etc. and I will make sure to give you all plenty of time to plan. Once again, you are all welcome to come to the party! I will have a few Holiday Kahoot games for everyone! I have a theme basket set up in the classroom for donations. Our theme is "New Hampshire Made!" Thank you, Jane Byam, for setting up the sign-up genius and getting this fundraiser underway. If you did not receive the sign-up genius please let me know. It is likely we misspelled your e-mail. This week we will be analyzing realistic fiction stories and responding to our reading on realistic fiction. We are also going to be introduced to poetry, particularly the Haiku. The students should love reading these poems about animals. We are also going to be looking at the ski mountains of New Hampshire. Now that ski season is upon us, the students will get to discover and explore the many mountains in the great state of New Hampshire. P.S. Please make sure that you have signed up for the Pats Peak ski program! And last but not least! WE HAVE SURPASSED OUR NOVEMBER READING GOAL! Can you believe we have read over 1, 850,000 words in November? I am simply amazed at the amount of reading going on in our classroom! Please look for the permission slip to sign and return in order for your child to join us on our trip to the library and to have pizza. I will be checking with the town librarian to make sure we can go on Tuesday, December 12th. Happy December, Happy Holidays, and Go Patriots! Mrs. Howe At Home Project Due December 21 - 22nd!Hello Parents,
I wanted to let you know about our first at home project due in three weeks. Tomorrow I will be presenting the requirements and reviewing previous projects for the students to view. They have been asking about it and now is the time! If you have any questions about this creative project, please don't hesitate to give me a call! This has been a "class favorite" since I started teaching in 4th grade! Let their imaginations run wild. Former students have designed paper mache' animals, created glass-blown animals, and made power points that included their own drawings of their animal. Animal presentations will take place on Thursday, December 21 and if we need more time Friday, December 22. I will send out an informal invite as we get closer to the date! P.S. You may have to log onto your laptop to be able to open the file. You can also ask your son/daughter to show you their hard copy tomorrow night! (Please click here to extend this page) This is the copy of the assignment! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Name: ________________ Create an Animal! Science Standard: 4-LS1-1 Construct an argument that plants and animals have internal and external structures that function to support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. (from Unit 2 Week 4 readers, grade 4) Language Arts Standard (Speaking and Listening) SL.4.4 Report on a topic or text, tell a story, or recount an experience in an organized manner, using appropriate facts and relevant descriptive details to support main ideas or themes; speak clearly at an understandable pace. SL.4.5 Add audio recording and visual displays to presentations when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or themes.
PRESENTATIONS WILL TAKE PLACE ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21 AND FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22ND! ALL PARENTS ARE WELCOME TO JOIN US FOR THE PRESENTATIONS! Happy Sunday,
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving with your families and friends. This week we will continue working on our animal research projects (including power points). This project incorporates many standards in all the subject areas including math, language arts, science, and social studies, and the students really seem to enjoy working on it. We are well into unit 3 in math, and I will make sure to give you a week's notice before the unit 3 math test will take place. Be looking at your child's home links to see how he/she is doing! I am continuing to hold parent/teacher conferences this week and next week. As always, if you cannot make any scheduled times, just let me know and we can work out a time. Due to last week being shortened, we had no grammar or spelling packets, but we are picking up where we left off and you will see Unit 2 Week 4 come home this week. These packets are due in class each Friday. Remember, December 1st is the last day for coin collections for Puerto Rico. Also, if you wanted to chaperone for Pat's Peak, those notices were sent home many moons ago! I only received paperwork back from one student, so please check with me if you think you got missed. Now... Let's Go Patriots! Mrs. Howe Hello,
I just wanted to send you a quick reminder about our pep rally on Wednesday! All grade levels have been assigned a certain color to wear to the rally, and our color is purple. Mrs. Fragos and I have managed to find enough purple bandanas for everyone to wear, so each of the students will at least have one purple article of clothing to adorn themselves with at the rally! If you can find anything purple for your son/daughter to wear on Wednesday that would be AWESOME.... If not, we've got you covered! Happy Thanksgiving (again!), Mrs. Howe Happy Weekend! This weekend's post is coming to you a day early because there are so many important things to share! 1. Please make sure to sign up for your parent/teacher conference. If none of the times work for you, don't hesitate to e-mail or call me and we can find another time for you. 2. We are collecting coins for the Red Cross in support of Puerto Rico until December 1st. The students are welcome to bring in any donations to add to our coin jar! 3. Report cards were sent home yesterday. Please review these with your son/daughter and sign and return the envelope on Monday. 4. We will be holding our class geography bee in December. The winner from each class qualifies to participate in the school bee, and the winner of the school bee qualifies for the state geography bee. Information on where to study for this geography bee was sent home a few weeks ago. It is not mandatory that any student study for the test, but all members of the class participate. It is a lot of fun; it reminds me of the game Jeopardy, but the bee offers multiple choice answers. The STEMbassador visit yesterday was successful. The students created their own amusement ride using the materials presented to them and worked together designing and testing their rides. This culminating event ends our unit on force and motion. We will be spending the next few weeks working on our New Hampshire animal project and then we will move back into science. We continue to study fractions in math, and we have moved onto non-fiction narrative texts in reading. The students are learning about how the San Francisco Bay area was saved and what people can do to make a change. A lot of great discussion happens during our reading time, and a lot of response to reading through writing takes place as well! The students continue to amaze me with their reading habits and we are well on our way to surpassing our November goal in reading. It is so refreshing to have such a group of energetic, motivated readers in our class family. Thank you for supporting their love of reading at home as well. By the way, our rock jar is almost filled (for great behavior in the classroom), and as soon as it is you will be receiving a permission slip to allow your child to walk to the library in town (on the rail trail), enjoy a pizza party luncheon (or bring their own if they prefer), and spend some time in the library. The students sounded very excited about this plan! I know last year's class enjoyed it as well. That is all for this weekend. I hope you enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday break with your beautiful families! Mrs. Howe Happy Sunday!
I can't believe it, but grades for the first quarter reports closed last Monday and report cards will be coming home this Friday, November 17th. As promised, I will be creating a parent/teacher meeting appointment schedule (hopefully through this Bloomz website), for you all to sign-up for your conferences. Be looking for this schedule on your bloomz app. sometime mid-week. I prefer to hold conferences after report cards go home, but (as always) if you have any pressing questions or concerns please don't hesitate to call or e-mail me. Communication is key to success for our students! This week we are fortunate enough to receive a visit from the UNH engineering students who will help us to design a theme park ride! This was a "New Boston class" favorite activity last year and I am expecting the students to be very excited about this event once again! The UNH students will be working with the 4th graders this Friday, November 17th. I can't wait to see what our students will design. In math we have been exploring fractions and learning about equivalent fractions. As I have requested in the past, please continue to help your child master multiplication facts at home - they need to be fluent with their facts! Also, ask your child to show you the Unit 3 home link checklist. We are learning how to stay organized by keeping all of our home links in our binder (with this checklist) for EVERY math unit. At the end of the unit, these home links can be great resources to study for the test (in addition to our study guides!). In reading, we are continuing to discover the theme, or message, in stories. We have been progressing nicely with our responses to reading and learning to break down and analyze our answers - do they respond to the prompt? Are we using complete sentences? Do our answers make sense when we reread them out loud? Our science unit on force and energy will end this week (with our culminating event on Friday alongside the UNH students), and we have moved onto social studies. We are starting research on our New Hampshire animals. The final product will include a multi-paragraph expository essay and a powerpoint on each animal! The students are very excited to learn interesting facts on the animals of their choice. Thank you, again, for your continued support at home, Mrs. Howe |