This week just seemed to fly by. I give the kids a lot of credit, with the ever changing temperatures and sometimes people in our classroom they have done a really nice job to keep on task with their learning. We are pretending summer is not near! :)
Upcoming this week:
Math- This week we have been discussing tally tables and different types of graphs. We have focused on line plots, pictographs, and bar graphs; both in creating our own as well as interpreting the data.
5/20-If your child has any library books, they need to be returned on Monday!
5/23- Science test over Earth Materials unit.
Math- This week we have been discussing tally tables and different types of graphs. We have focused on line plots, pictographs, and bar graphs; both in creating our own as well as interpreting the data.
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| Line Plot |
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| Pictograph |
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| Bar Graph |
Reading-
This
week will read the last story in our basal Turtle Knows your Name by Ashley Bryan. This is a folk tale
from the West Indies, a young boy (Upsilimana Tumpalerado) is frustrated
because no one can remember his long name. Later when challenges to guess his
grandmother’s long name (Mapaseedo Jackalindy Eye Pie Tackarindy), the boy
turns to turtle who gives him some help. Next week we will take our unit test over the last four stories.
Science-
We have finished up our science unit on Earth Materials. Today they will be bringing home an orange study guide. Our test will be on Thursday. Between now and then we will be learning about volcanoes.
We started our week taking a look at different rocks, which may contain the mineral calcite. Calcite bubbles in acid. We used vinegar. So we ran an experiment first to see their reaction in vinegar and second to evaporate the vinegar and see what was left.
Lab books will be coming home on Monday. We had a lot to distribute today and they were still left in a pile. SORRY!
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| Above are our evaporation tray results. The evaporation tray with a V is just vinegar (clear), the evaporation tray across from it is the calcite (filled with a lot of crystals). We then took a look at the evaporation trays from our rocks. 1- basalt, 2- limestone, 3- marble, and 4-sandstone. From our results you can see both marble and sandstone contain the mineral calcite. |
Our science test over this unit will be on Thursday, May 23rd. Here is the study guide we filled out today.
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| The test will be worded a little differently and will contain multiple choice, short answer, and matching. |
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| This page seems to give the kid the most problems on the test. I will try to take a picture of the rocks and post them also to help you study. The class created an acronym to help us try and remember the minerals in order from the softest to the hardest. (GCFQ or Green Crazy Frogs Quack) or gypsum, calcite, fluorite, and quartz. :) |
Writing- We have been very creative this week in writing and the kids are eating it up!
Monday- "I am" We watched a short video from Will.i.am (below). We talked a long time about how we would describe our selves and our goals for the future. I did not ask the kids about what they want to be, but versus WHO they want to be. After our discussion they created a simile page to compare themselves to something else.
Wednesday through Friday- We have spent the last few days talking about how sometimes the authors purpose is to entertain. We made a list of Superheros (Mrs. Clark made that list), and Villains (Mr. Murphy, Mr. Fontenot, and myself made this list- what is wrong with this picture?!?!??!) After that we talked about what a Superhero story might need, we created a chart, then the students were set of to create a story board. We are still working on either turning our creative thoughts into a story or into a comic. The students are LOVING this.
Next week we will turn them into superheros and see how others describe them.
Next week I am also sending home a packet of summer activities. On the front is a research study about how student loose on average 2.6 months of ON GRADE LEVEL equivalency. The front has some other ideas how to beat the heat and keep their brains engaged. This packet contains activities in math, reading, writing, and science. ENJOY!
Thank you so much for thinking of me during teacher appreciation. I could not do my job without you and your wonderful children. I love my job and am so thankful I enjoy my job as much as I do! To show your child a small token of my appreciation, last week I gave them each a highlighter with a quick bucketfiller about how they are the highlight of my day. I even received some very sweet notes back with them using the highlighters and giving me bucketfillers. I love how far our skills in giving compliments have come! :)
Last but not least, Iowa Assessments will be mailed home SOON! You will be receiving the narrative profile which tells you where your child scored, how they ranked nationally, and if they are proficient or not in a given area. Please remember this is one test, which can cause a lot of anxiety amongst your child. There is one in particular who got off on the bubble sheets and did not get a score I know they are capable of. :( So congratulate your child on all their hard work this year and use what your know about your child, their report card, their progress sheets, and any other information I can give you as a guide. They will have a goal in 4th grade to improve their scores. This is pretty neat to see. I will go over next week with the kids how to read their report. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Upcoming May/June Events
May 20th Chorus
6:30-3rd and 7:30-4th
Happy Birthday Emily!
May 21st Band
Assembly for 4th grade at 1:00 PM
May 21st 2nd
grade from Starry visit to FMI 9:30-10:30
May 22nd 3rd
grade music pizza party
May 22nd 2nd
grade from Emerson visit to FMI
9:30-10:30
May 22nd 4th
grade field trip Wick, Don, Col
May 23rd 4th
grade visit to VMS Time TBA
May 24th 4th
grade field trip Fa, Ca, Wilk
May 26th MHS
Grad at 6PM
May 27th No School- Memorial Day
Happy Birthday Allie!
May 28th FMI
Night Out (2nd grade visit)
Mary 29th 3rd
grade track & field day
May 30 4th
grade track & field day
May 31st 4th
grade chorus pizza party?
June 4th Last
day of school (1:30 Dismissal)
*We will fit a walk to Dairy Queen in at some point. I will email you when I figure out when it best fits in our plans. I am thinking maybe on Friday, May 31st or Monday, June 3rd.
Have a great week!
