Homework

The night's homework can always be found online. You can click the link to the right that says "Homework," or the one below. I'd recommend book marking it.

Homework Page:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiViZRLZTZ-pdDgtZThiUm1sMWR3d1JkT0tjdDNzRUE&usp=drive_web#gid=0

If you scroll down, you will find links to all practice books. Through www.everydaymathonline.com you can access all study links. The expectation is still that the students remember to copy down their homework and bring the proper books home. This is for you, the parents & guardians, in an effort to make your life easier.

Over these last few days I have talked a lot with the students about being organized and responsible. Today your child came home with all of their math study links. All of these pages should be in the math section of their binder.

For the spelling homework I am going to try something new this year. I'm going to assign the whole week's worth of homework on Monday. The students can do a page a day, all of it Monday night, or schedule it around after-school activities. Whatever best fits your/their schedule. I did stress to the students not to put it all off to Thursday night.

Also, our specials for this year are:

Monday - Art

Tuesday - Music

Wednesday - Library

Thursday - Computers & Gym

Friday - None

Look forward to meeting everyone on Sept. 17 at our Open House and/or on Friday at our Back to School Picnic which was rescheduled for Sept 20th.

Welcome Back

          I’m looking forward to a great year with your child. We have a lot of exciting events planned for this school year. This year’s theme in my classroom is “What’s Your Standard?”

Every class is full of students with different abilities. Every class is also full of students holding themselves to different standards, something we choose. We are going to start off this year defining what our individual standards are, and making sure we never stray from them. This year we will define our standards for:

-      Organization

-      How we treat others

-      How we challenge ourselves to grow

Your support in developing healthy habits for success is key. The same standards at school should be expected at home a well. Working together we will help to make sure this is a successful year for all. Let’s make sure we are set up for success. I look forward to meeting all of you!

Math Test

Math Test Wednesday

 

We will have our Unit 7 math test on Wednesday. The test will focus mainly on fractions (ordering, adding, subtracting and comparing). Please use these resources while studying:

Everyday Math Online - www.everydaymathonline.com

Fractions Games - http://carroll-everydaymath.wikispaces.com/Unit+7

These are great ways to practice many of the skills on the test.

Family Letter - http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th-grade/view-family-letters/

Conferences & More

SS Test - March 14th

We will be having our next Social Studies test on March 14th. With each test it is proven more and more that you need to study for success on them. Please use the attached study guide to review and prepare.

Conferences

I will be meeting with everyone over this week. If you are not sure your time, please contact me.

Communication Arts

This week we willing having a spelling test on Friday (no weekly test). Next week we will have our Unit 4 test.

Writing

This year we are having a large focus on writing. We have been working hard to finish our stories. Feel free to look for your child's in the hallway as you wait for your conference.

Next Week

Math Test on Wednesday

We will have our Unit 6 Math Test on Wednesday. The test mostly consists of

division (with and without remainders)
angles (measuring and labeling: obtuse, acute, or reflex)
coordinate grids
rounding numbers to a specific place value
inserting parenthesis to make a sentence true

All of the games on my website for this Unit are pretty fun and perfect for the topics covered. Check them out: https://carroll-everydaymath.wikispaces.com/Unit+6

Here are some flashcards: http://quizlet.com/_4zex5


Please be advised: Tonight's dance is canceled.


Valentine's Day Party

Our party will be on Valentine's Day (2/14) at 2:30 pm. A big "thank you" to Mrs. Tobin for planning our Valentine's Day party. Thank you to everyone who is bringing in items for the class. Thank you for the continued understanding that there are children with peanut allergies in our classroom. If you (the parents) would like to attend, please fill out the permission slip in advance. If you need another, please contact me.


Science Mid-kit Test

We will be having our Science Mid-kit test on this upcoming Wednesday
 on Wednesday. Attached is a copy of the study guide.

Book Report

Yesterday I explained the details about our upcoming book report. I have been asking the students for a few weeks now to find an accelerated reader book and start reading it. Here is a list of all the accelerated reader books in our school library. The students should only pick a book if it is one this list:
http://www.abington.k12.pa.us/Overlook/AR%20Book%20Guide%20Nov%202012%20for%20website%20pdf.pdf

In short, the students will be writing a postcard from the point of view of the main character in the book to the student. So, if you're reading Harry Potter, you would be writing a postcard from Harry Potter to you (Example: Dear Mr. Carroll... From Harry Potter).

The students will also be taking an accelerated reader quiz that will count as 10 points towards their book report grade.

I have given the students two postcard templates, one on thick card stock and one regular piece. Use the regular piece for a rough draft and the thick card stock piece as your final draft.

Please contact me with any questions or concerns. I have attached all of the documents that the students went home with yesterday.

The book report is due Feb. 8th. I will accept book reports Monday, Feb 11th. After that the students will lose points for each day it is late.

Math Test Friday

Today test folders went home. Please sign the three tests (Math Unit 4, Comm. Arts Unit 2, & Weekly Unit 3 Week 1) and return them.

Overall the students did a fantastic job! If you have any concerns or questions, please contact me.

Math Test

Our Math Test in Friday. The Math Box Assessment went home today. (It might be mixed in with test folder items.) I marked this, but it does not count. Use this to help guide studying over the next two nights. There should also be a Review Sheet guide that went home today to outline other topics covered on the assessment.

Most students need extra practice with partial product. You can print worksheets here:
http://www.helpingwithmath.com/printables/worksheets/multiplication/4nbt5-multiplication01.htm

Here is a step by step guide to partial product:
http://ellerbruch.nmu.edu/classes/cs255f04/cs255students/jbowerman/P10/PartialProduct

Feel free to also watch the videos from my last email.

I've also attached so extra practice to guide studying. This is not an assignment.

- Mike

The New Year

Hello Everyone,

I'm ready to make sure that we have a great new year and a great rest of our school year. Coming up we have a lot of fun things to look forward to.

Math Test Friday

We are having our Unit 5 Math Test on Friday. Review sheets will be going home later this week. Please use the Unit 5 Family Letter to better understand the content that will be covered.

Family Letter: http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4th-grade/Study%20Link%204.11.pdf

Flashcards:http://quizlet.com/_ayrwi

The students should be familiar with lattice and partial product multiplication:

lattice: http://media.everydaymathonline.com/em/student/algorithms_in_everyday_mathematics/4/multiplication/lattice_multiplication/online_resources/3-Digit_times_1-Digit_Example_1/M3_C02_P070_F2.swf

partial product: http://media.everydaymathonline.com/em/student/algorithms_in_everyday_mathematics/4/multiplication/partial_products_multiplication/online_resources/2-Digit_times_2-Digit_Example_1/M4_C01_P018_F2.swf

More examples:
http://www.everydaymathonline.com/

Then click on free resources -> algorithms in Everyday Math -> 4 -> Multiplication


Science PSSA Test Friday

Our Science PSSA test is Friday. Attached is a study guide.


Book Report

More information next week.

Multiplication Trials

We will be taking a daily mixed practice multiplication test in class. If the students need to be able to complete the test in 3 minutes and with 100% accurate. If they don't, they will have a multiplication table to fill out for homework that night. We are doing division in our next math unit so multiplication needs to be a solid skill by then.

Reading Olympics
We are about to start getting more serious about Reading Olympics. Expect some papers home in the near future.

Book Report

During the new year I'll more information about our upcoming book report. I just wanted everyone to be aware of it so they can pick a book and start reading now. Your book should be on the Accelerated Reader list, which is located here:
http://www.abington.k12.pa.us/Overlook/AR%20Book%20Guide%20Nov%202012%20for%20website%20pdf.pdf

Holiday Concert & Party

Our holiday concert is tomorrow @ 9:30. The fourth grade strings will be performing. Strings members are asked to wear black slacks or skirt, black shoes, black socks, white shirt or blouse.

If you are planning on attending our holiday party, please make sure to fill out a registration form for yourself.

Gold Cards & Eco Columns

Gold Card Night

Gold Card Night is tomorrow. If the students are invited, they should have received a letter from me today. If there are questions or concerns about this, please contact me prior to Gold Card Night.

Because of the many safety initiatives brought on by recent events, all students need to be accompanied by a parent, guardian, or adult chaperone.

Eco Columns Adoption

A letter will be going home tomorrow about adopting our eco columns. You probably saw them during conferences. They are a self contained ecosystem that only needs to be watered every few days. They are built by the students and can lead to many different science discussions and ideas. Please contact me if you would like to have one. It is first come first serve.

We have a weekly test and a spelling test this week.

Unit 4 Math Test

Hello,

We have our Unit 4 Math Test tomorrow. The test is mostly about decimals: adding, subtraction, ordering, comparing, writing and understanding.

There are also questions about measuring in cm and then converting to other metric units.

(Here is a great measuring game: http://www.funbrain.com/measure/)

The test is not very vocabulary heavy, so I have been holding out on sending home math flash cards. Here they are: http://quizlet.com/17604014/everyday-math-unit-4-vocab-flash-cards/

Thanks!
- Mike

A Few Dates

Here are a few upcoming dates:

Gold Card Night - It has been rescheduled for 12/19.

Barnes and Nobles - This will be this Wednesday from 5 - 8. The school gets a percentage of all sales as well as the whole school has a great time seeing everyone.

Holiday Hollow - Our Holiday Hollow will be this Thursday @ 1.

Tests & Break

We have two tests this week. Throughout the whole week we will be doing our Unit 2 Assessment for Communication Arts. On Friday we will have our Math Unit 4 Assessment on decimals.

If you are looking for a way to study for Communication Arts, review all of the family letters for Unit 2 with the students at home.
http://www.abington.k12.pa.us/overlook/gradefour.shtml

To be prepared for our math test, you can review the family letter for Unit 4 (same link as above). Here are some math games that target some of our weaker areas.

The students can use some practice in ordering decimals. Here is a great game:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/teachers/ks2_activities/maths/decimals.shtml

Top-It is a great game that the students are very familiar with from class. They can play it with using decimals on www.everydaymathonline.com

Winter Break:

I have recently been trying to give the students time in class to finish their homework. The reason is because when I think back at meaningful moments when I was in fourth grade none of them involved homework. I remember inventing games with my friends, building toys, and playing sports. I know everyone's lives are busy, but I think it's important to be "bored."

I heard an interview with the founder of a new website DIY.org. If you start an account, the students then can earn badges for completing different activities. They can be anything from building a flute out of a carrot to making a pumpkin pie, or from building a mini motor to a stop motion animation. Most activities come with a video explanation on how to complete the task. After you have complete a specific number of activities for each topic, you receive a badge for that skill.

If anyone does end up using this, please tell me what you think. Here's an example: How to make a balloon racer: https://diy.org/nednewton/000j2y#30370

Also, found a great website for finding books for the all-starts:
http://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/4th-grade

After Conferences

It has been great to see everyone over conferences. The students have been working really hard in class, especially of recent, and I hope that shows in their grades and our conference. This is a great group of kids!

If you're looking for ways to help your students improve in certain areas, here are some online resources.

Communication Arts:

Reference the Home-Connection Letters - This is a great way to stay informed about the content for each week. We have our Unit 2 test next week. Please use these to review for the test.
http://www.abington.k12.pa.us/overlook/gradefour.shtml

Finding enjoyable books - This is mostly an issue for the "dudes." This website has a lot of fun books aimed at guys.
http://www.guysread.com/

Math:
My website - On my website I have many math games that align with what we are learning about for each unit. For this unit (Unit 4) I would recommend the ordering decimals game and the counting money one.
http://carroll-everydaymath.wikispaces.com/home

Everyday Math Online - The new online piece has games, references, and extra practice for every math lesson.
www.everydaymathonline.com

Science:
Learning Science - An area where a lot of students that struggled with science was with applying the science ideas we talked about in different scenarios. Learningscience.org is a fantastic website built by a former professor of mine that has many different interactive examples of science ideas.
www.learningscience.org

Ecosystems:http://www.learningscience.org/lifescience.htm

Electrical Circuits (Our upcoming unit): http://www.learningscience.org/psc2ctransferenergy.htm
P.S. - Launchball is a class favorite

Class Party
Tomorrow we are having a class party. The students voted on watching a movie (rated G) and eating some pizza. If anyone would like to send in a few dollars (no more than $5 please) to help spread around the cost of the pizza that would be great.

Holiday Hollow
Here is a great opportunity for the students to purchase different items for family members at school. There will be more information about this in homework folders tomorrow. Our date is 12/13 @ 1.

Barnes & Nobles Night
This upcoming Wednesday is Barnes and Nobles Night. It is always a lot of fun to see everyone at the store and find some great books together. 20% of all sales go to the school.

Also, I'm deactivating the blog email list. It seems that some parents were receiving the emails at midnight, many hours after I would send them. I'm going to keep the blog active, just send the emails from my account.

Everything and the Kitchen Sink

I look forward to seeing everyone at conferences next week. If the time I offered you didn't work, expect me to get in touch soon and we'll find a time that does work.

Ok, where to start... how about with tomorrow...

Bryn Mawr Film Institute
Our field trip to the Bryn Mawr Film Institute is tomorrow. We are all very excited for this unique opportunity. We will be back in time for lunch so there is no need for a brown bag lunch. We will also be there only school there so no need for wearing anything special (unless you are doing picture retakes).
http://www.brynmawrfilm.org/education/seehear.php

Picture Retakes
Tomorrow is the day for picture retakes.

Assessments
We will have a "weekly" assessment as well as a spelling test on Friday.

Holiday Hollow
Here is a great opportunity for the students to purchase different items for family members at school. There will be more information about this in homework folders tomorrow. Our date is 12/13 @ 1.

Test Folders
Test Folders will be going home tomorrow. I want you to be able to see them before conferences. Please try to have them back as soon as you can, or at least bring it to the conference.

Communications
There were a few glitches with communication this first semester. I think from now on I'm going to send mass emails for all communications and also post them here. It should make things easier because some SPAM folders are blocking the blog posts.

See ya next week :-)

Amjerican Ed. - Veteran's Day Assembly

On Monday, November 19th at 2:00 we will be having our Veteran's Day Assembly as part of our American Education Week Celebration.

All parents are invited to come and watch as our student learn from honoring some of the veterans in our community.

If the students could wear Red on Monday, that would be great.

Also: Math Test on Tuesday.