October

Happy Fall everyone!

By this time we are in a good routine at school. I have regular volunteers in the classroom and a student teacher. We have great help to help individual problems. I am very thankful for this! This will help our class run smoothly.

When your child took the computer test for Reading, they received a reading score and a lexile level. A lexile level determines the range of reading your child can read successfully. Our library is color coded using this range. Your child knows their lexile level and color. During the month of October, we will start book reports. The first book report is due Oct. 23rd. The book must be in their lexile level. I will talk to the students on what the expectation is for the book report. You can help by making sure they are reading a book and having it completed by Oct. 23rd.
Another interesting thing is you can go to the internet and type in lexile.com and put in any title of a book and it will give a lexile number for the book. So if your child would like to use a book from home to read for the book report, check the lexile level. Ask your child to show this to you at home, as I taught them this at school

Remember to order books on-line. Ordering is easy! Just go to my website and click on Book Orders and follow the directions! The books are delivered to Painted Sky and I will hand out the books when they come in. Also, I have a bowl of special treats on my desk. Students will each get one this month. It is for something very special they accomplished in class. It could be a great grade on something they have been struggling on or something extremely thoughtful. Ask your child how they received their "body part"!

Our music teacher is helping the students get ready for a musical. The 4th grade musical will be October 7th. There will be a performance at 2:00 and 7:00. The play is about a vacation in Arizona. Most of the kids have a part they have to memorize, so it would be great if you helped out with that! Our class needs to dress up as a tourist..sunglasses, hats, binoculars ect. Please do not go out and purchase anything.

This is the first grade where students can receive "honor roll" for their report card. It is a 3.5 grade average. If your child makes honor roll they will be able to attend a lunch provided by Mrs. Wichers. They will also get a certificate and a pencil.

The following are some things happening in our classroom:

In Reading, we finished the Number the Stars book. We will read about Yellowstone National Park and the Amazon Rain Forest. Your student will learn to write a persuasive paper during this time.
In Spelling, the tests continue every Friday. If your child passes the pretest on Monday, they are asked to write the challenge words. However after break, our spelling program will completely change. The students will be asked to write a dicatation paragraph. I will explain this to the students.
In English, we are learning about friendly letters and business letters. We are also learning about adjectives.
In Math, we are finishing simple multiplication. Everyday we take a timed multiplication test. Ask your child what number they are on. Students are expected to memorize 0-12 facts.
Next, we will move on to decimals. Your child will be able to compare fractions to decimals.
In Science, we have been learning about the scientific method. Your child has been doing science experiments in class. Ask your child to explain the pendulum experiment we will do on October 5th.

********Questions for students:

1. What is a hypothesis?
2. Is a decimal a whole number?
3. What is the bowl of body parts for on Mrs. Wilson's desk?

Dates to remember:

October 7th............................4th grade musical.
October 12-16.......................Fall Break
October 23............................First book report due.
October 23 ..........................Report cards go home today.