And September is Over

Wow this month flew! I wanted to take this time to update my readers on everything we've been doing!
Math: In math we have already progressed past Unit One: Naming and Constructing Geometric Figures and today we started Unit 2: Using Numbers and Organizing Data. Everyone did well on the test!
Social Studies: We reviewed the geography of New York state and have now moved on to...
Science: Today we had a lot of fun recognizing the properties of magnets and observing which items magnets stick to and do not stick to. Tomorrow we will continue this process and soon start working with electricity! Pictures will be posted soon! I sent home a parent letter today about electricity.
Reading: In reading we have learned and practiced strategies such as summarizing and predicting, written haikus and similes, and read two stories together.
Writing: Writing today was fun! I gave each student their very own special writer's notebook (and tomorrow we'll decorate them)! We discussed a strategy for when one doesn't know what to write about: think of someone who means a lot to you, write down small moments you've shared with this person, and then draw a thumbnail sketch of one of the moments. This should help you dive right into a wonderful, detailed writing piece!

Walking by Physical Education class today after I dropped the students off, I noticed the students and Mrs. Seldin working really hard to build THIS:

What TEAMWORK!

An Inspiring Message from our Class Scientist:

Below, Greyson explains why he can't stop thinking about and talking about science!

Everyday Math

Below, Hunter and Grace use compasses to create perfect circles to glue into their Everyday Math Journals. Great work class!

Curriculum Night!

Don't forget, Curriculum Night for 4th grade begins tonight (September 17th) at 6:15pm. At 6:30pm students will go to the music room and from 6:30pm-7:00pm guardians will meet with me to further discuss curriculum and our classroom environment. At 7:00pm guardians will be dismissed to pick up their children.

Class Rules

Today as a team we collaborated our talents and ideas to create our classroom rules posters. Below, a group decorates and writes examples of Rule #2: "Respect others and the school." Also shown below is the group that worked on Rule #1: "Make good choices for yourself." Rule #3 is to "Be safe."

View responses here

Did you hear?

Learning is...





...FUN!

Team-Building

Well now that I have time to sit down and reflect on the first week, I would say we would all agree that the main theme was "team-building." Below you can see pictures of the class playing "A Warm Wind Blows" and "Bull Ring." Even though Bull Ring was extremely challenging at first, in time this group was able to balance the tennis ball on the empty bottle without it falling faster than many other groups I've seen. Afterwords we discussed that in order to do this, we:
-used great communication
-used kind tones and words with each other
-brainstormed and tried many different ideas
-helped and watched out for each other
-used many different perspectives
-took turns talking

Great job class! I can tell we are going to be a great family this year.

Happy First Day!

Well today was fun! All 18 of our friends were present and ready to start the year. We participated in our first Morning Meeting, set up our Home/School folders, filled our desks with books and supplies, completed a Student Survey, went on a nature walk to the stream through Caroline's trail, and had our first assembly! Our teambuilding time today was a blast-- you guys really got yourselves out of those human knots! (And in the process, learned about what builds a great team). What an enthusiastic group we have. I'm excited to continue to get to know you!

[I am not able to post any student photos yet until I get the guardian permission results from the office, sorry!]

Students: Don't forget your homework, to bring in a souvenir that represents something fun you did this summer!