Week Eight

We end this week with the girls receiving their green progress reports on the back of the homework sheet. Please go over your daughter's report. All old homework from the past week should be emptied from the folder.

Please note the following events that are in store for us in the upcoming week:

*Students will not be in attendance on Tuesday due to Election Day.

*We will meet our Kindergarten Buddies when we see them for Buddies PE on Wednesday. We will also get to spend some time with them when we meet with Ms. Hanson's class on Friday afternoon.

* We will have First Friday once again. If you are interested in presenting to the class, please let me know.

* The Scholastic Book fair will begin next week. We will visit on Friday at 10:40 and again on next Wednesday (Nov. 10) at 2:10.

*The first marking period will end this week. Report cards will be distributed the next Monday.
Have a safe and happy Halloween!

The Math Poll Answer is...

The range in this set of numbers {9, 12, 6, 4, 28} is 24. Subtract the minimum from the maximum number in the set to get the range!

Useful Weblinks

There are some weblinks of note under the Useful Websites section. Please encourage your child to play with the multiplication game and to look at the two Native American sites when they have some free time.

Kindergarten Buddies

In addition to Class Meeting and Home Activities, we will begin the Buddies portion of the Caring School Community Program. Our class will be paired up with Ms. Hanson's kindergarten class and through the experience, we will explore good community behavior as we become mentors to the younger children.

Salt Dough Revisited

We have begun some of our work on our Iroquois Longhouses! The kids are enjoying learning about the different aspects of Iroquois culture.
Some students took home their salt dough because the dough has become runny or too loose to mold. To fix this, please just add some more flour until the dough can hold its own shape. This will help our budding artists greatly! Thanks!

Some Notes for Week 7

Test folders went home today with a spelling test and last week's Place Value quiz. Please review both and sign the spelling test if there are any corrections that need to be made.

* With the math test, please go over any questions that were incorrect. These questions will reappear in the upcoming math test we are having this Thursday. The numbers will be changed but the skills will be the same. We will have addition & subtraction problems; a bar graph will have to be drawn based on a chart of data, and students must recognize terms like median, mode, maximum, minimum and range. Please be on the look out for the review sheet coming home soon.

* Penny Harvest has begun! We are collecting pennies, but will also take other coins. We need some fun containers to help hold the coins and I proposed that we can use the Happy Meal containers that are part of McDonald's Halloween giveaway. Any child who brings one in will have two dollars contributed on his/her behalf to the Penny Harvest in exchange. Penny Harvest will last till Thanksgiving (so your child can still go trick or treating with the container and then turn it in for a good cause).
Thank you for your support.

Week 7

We end this week with progress reports for the boys were sent out this Friday. Please make sure you check the back of your boy's green homework sheet and sign it.

With the weather sporadically getting colder, please dress your child in layers.

Scholastic Book orders are due this Monday.

We will have our second unit Math test on Thursday. Topics on the test include graphs, addition, subtraction and place value.

Thank You!

Our trip to Prospect Park was an educational event. Our thanks go to Tori's mom and Ha eun's mom for chaperoning!

Poll Answer

The answer to last week's math question is 7. The median is the middle number after all the numbers in the set are arranged in order.

Penny Harvest

P.S. 154 will continue its participation in the Penny Harvest. We will collect pennies and donate them to a well deserving charity. Tis year, we will work with a buddy class and combine our collections. The classes with the most pennies collected will receive a pizza party.

Salt Dough and Shoe Boxes

Just a reminder that our longhouse project will get underway on Thursday! Please make sure your child has the shoe box (with the alterations on the roof), two paper bags and the salt dough in blue, red, green , yellow, white and brown.
Thank you for your help!

Our First Field Trips!

We had a great time at the Armory today. There was a little snafu with the bus and we had to walk home but we were able to enjoy the neighborhood. The children were great sports about it!

Tomorrow's trip is to Prospect Park. We will walk over to meet the Park Ranger at Wollman Rink and from there explore the trails, looking at the resources used by New York's Native American tribes.
The forecast for tomorrow is sunny but with a slight chill. Please make sure your child is dressed comfortably.

Monday Notes

Tuesday and Wednesday will be very active days for us! We have the Armory visit tomorrow and The Native American Nature Walk on Wednesday. Please make sure your child wears comfortable walking shoes. We also hope that the rain predicted for Tuesday will not last till Wednesday. If it rains lightly we will still proceed with our trips.

Test folders with our latest spelling test went home today. Please look through it and review any misspelled words with your child or commend your child for a job well done!

Our place value quiz will have 10 questions. Students will have to change numbers to expanded form to standard form and vice versa. They will also need to tell what is thousands more or less than a given number.

On a different math note, we are focusing on different strategies for adding and subtracting multi-digit numbers. We've done the column addition method, which is traditional and the partial sums method. The partial sums method invites the student to add each place value up then add the total of those parts up to get a whole sum. For example: 367+ 45 would be rewritten as 7+5=12, 60+40= 100 and 300+0= 300. Then 300+100+12 would total 412. The advantage to this method is that children would not need to carry any numbers. All students are told to pick the method that works best for them.

Week 6

We are going on trips next week!

On Tuesday, we will go to the Armory for an addition to our Physical Education program. We will take the bus over to the Prospect Park Armory. There, we will participate in a few group activities. Please make sure your child is dressed for gym.

We will also have a Place Value Quiz on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we'll take our walk to through Prospect Park and examine the natural resources used by the Lenape Indians. As of now, we have two chaperones and would greatly appreciate more helpers.

The Longhouse project that went home with your child today is due Thursday. Hopefully, the directions are clear but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to send a note. The goal is to build a model of an Iroquois longhouse after the children have done some basic research into how the Native Americans lived pre-colonial times.

Thanks again for your time and help. Have a great weekend!

Volunteers Needed!

We still need chaperones for the October 20th Nature Hike. If you are able, please let me know that you would join us :) Thanks!

Green HW sheets

Thank you to the parents who signed the green progress reports over the weekend. Please don't feel pressured to write in the parent's comment box. Most parents just say "Thanks" or add a compliment for their child. It is important that you sign it so that I know you child has shown this to you. Last week, the boys received their first; this Friday it's the girls' turn. Please make it a habit to sign the bottom of the HW sheet each week. If your child has missed a homework assignment, it would be noted there.

Homeside Activities

Your child has received an activity for the Homeside Activities portion of the Caring Classroom Community program. These activities are designed to include members of the home in the class community. The first one we have concerns homework. Your child is to interview you about homework after reading a poem about homework with you. This assignment has three questions and should be turned in on Friday. Thanks for your participation!

Poll Answer

The expanded form of 67,038 is 60,000 +7,000 +30 +8. This was the third choice on the poll. The second choice is mathematically correct but the 0 in the hundreds place was not necessary :)

Tuesday's Notes

Thank you for attending the curriculum conference! We know that the change in time made it difficult for some to attend this meeting so we hoped that it was informative for you. There was a packet given out during the meeting with information and strategies. If you did not get one or was unable to attend, we can send it home with your child at your request.

Test folders were sent home today with the spelling test corrected. Many children were able to complete the test flawlessly or do better this time. Congratulations!

There was a letter sent home today regarding a case of mumps in our school. We are making you aware of the situation and are asking families to check their children's immunization records for the MMR shot. If your child has been immunized, he/ she should be okay.

Thank you for your time and effort.

Upcoming Trips

Thank you for the quick response in returning the trip slips and money. We have almost everyone covered.
We have more chaperones than we can take on the Town Hall trip. We were alloted three spots for family members. Chaperones will be chosen randomly and money will be returned if we are unable to take you. Sorry if you are not chosen. We do not have any chaperones for the Prospect Park Trip on October 20th so if you'd like to come you are most welcome! Please let me know if you can volunteer for the October 20th nature hike.

Week 5

Here are some notable events for next week:
* Have a Great three day weekend! Schools are closed on Monday.

*The Fourth Grade Curriculum Conference will take place on Tuesday from 8-8:30 in the morning.

*Wednesday will be Picture Day! We are scheduled for 11:30 am.

*Please continue holding onto that shoe box. We will use it to build an Iroquois long house in the upcoming weeks. More details soon!

4th Grade Curriculum Meeting

We will have our Curriculum Meeting from 8:00 to 8:30 am in Room 303. During this meeting we will discuss the upcoming year and what to expect in terms of what your child will learn. Please join us.

Since the meeting will take place during our Extended Day Morning Session, children who have to report early that day are excused. If you child comes in during that time, they will be asked to report to the Art Room.

ELA Test Results

The 3rd ELA test Score Reports went home today. Please look for it in your child's book bag.

Third Grade Math tests

Each child has received their score report for last year's State math exam. Please check your child's Homework folder if you have not already been given it.

Tests, Grades, etc.

Just a few notes:

* Test folders have gone home today. Each child has the Math test from last Tuesday and today's spelling test in the folder. There is also the first 50 Facts Test in Multiplication. This test indicates your child's current memory of multiplication facts. Each child was given a minute to complete as many facts as possible, a score above 40 shows mastery of facts. The test will be repeated several times throughout the month. To help your child, please review a few facts a day, especially those in the six, seven and eight times table. Try the Multiplication Game link under the Useful Websites list.

* Please be aware that assignments must be turned in on time. Occasionally, if an assignment is excessively late (over 2 days),it may affect the overall grade.

* The answer to last week's math question is that a kite cannot be called a square.

* We will have another Social Studies project soon. Your child will need an average sized shoe box for this. More details will follow.

Correction to Week Four

Regarding the Writing unit for the upcoming month, it is actually Realistic Fiction instead of Personal Essay, which will take place later on in the year. Sorry for the mix up.
In Realistic Fiction, students will build on the narrative skills reviewed in the September unit and develop pieces that follow a more tradition story structure.

Week Four

So long September!
Here are some events to look out for this first full week of October:

* Behavior sheets will be completed for boys this Friday. These reports are on the back of the green sheets in the homework folders. Please continue to sign the homework sheets and check off assignments as they are done.

* We will begin new literacy units. In Reading, we will continue to read fiction with an eye towards Character Study. By examining a character's arc, we hope to create a deeper understanding of the themes in a book. The weekly reading log will reflect the shift in focus. In Writing, we will begin writing Personal Essays. The goal is to develop better paragraph writing and familiarity with the five paragraph essay structure. Children will also learn how to make thesis statements and use appropriate supporting evidence.

Have a sunny weekend! :)

1st First Friday

We had a lovely writing celebration this morning. It was great to see so many families come and support our writers. From the feedback we got on our compliments sheets, it seems like our narratives were enjoyed.
Thank you!