Poll Answer

1/2 is the biggest fraction in a set with 1/3. 1/4 and 1/5. Excellent job, everyone who voted!

Monday Notes

As we practice, more and more kids are getting better at making the origami cranes. One student brought in a bag of cranes he made for the tsunami survivors!
If you would like to learn how to make the cranes, please stay after Tuesday and Thursday's dismissal. In the yard, there will be parents demonstrating how. We need as many adults as possible to help our students and our kindergarten buddies with this task.

Here are some events coming this week:

• We will be headed to the armory tomorrow. Please make sure your child wears sneakers.
• First Friday will be a bit different this time. Some of the fourth graders will work in Ms. Hanson's room (K-101) with their buddies, while some kindergartners will come up to our classroom to work with their buddies.  Some parents will stay downstairs with their child to assist. There will be a note going home on Tuesday with a tear off for parents who are interested in coming to help. Please return this as soon as you can so that I can let you know which room you will be needed in. 
• We have begun our Test Prep Unit in Reading and Writing Workshop in class. While the Saturday program focuses solely on test taking skills and test sophistication, we will work more on reading and writing efficiently as well as review strategies used in previous genres of study.

Have a sunny week!

Week 27

Last week, details about the upcoming ELA test (in four weeks!) were posted. This week, we turn our focus on the State Math test. It will be taken during May 11 and 12 (Wednesday and Thursday). The first day will have 45 multiple choice questions to be completed over 70 minutes. The second session will involve 8 short response and 4 extended responses. Short responses and extended responses require a child to solve a problem and write an explanation of his/ her processes.

We have begun to review past topics in math so that it is fresh in the students minds as they approach the assessments. Families can help at by:

• Reviewing multiplication and division facts for speed and accuracy. 
• Encouraging careful reading of directions and math story problems during homework.
• Talking about how a math problem is solved. Try to layout the steps taken by starting with "First, I read the problem and decided that it wanted me to do...."

Again, these are suggestions you might want to tuck in when the opportunity presents itself. 

Here are some upcoming events for next week:

• We will visit the Armory on Tuesday! Please make sure your child wears sneakers.
• First Friday will be a school wide event. As mentioned in a previous post, we will make origami cranes to help raise money for the survivors of the tsunami in Japan. We need as many parents as we can get who are able to make cranes. This is a challenging task for most kids, plus we have also been tasked with helping our kindergarten buddies make cranes. Please refer to the video tutorial that was posted earlier this week if you are coming to help. 

Thank you for your attention to these matters. Have a warm and sunny weekend!

Origami: Crane [tutorial]

Check out this video to get a head start on our First Friday project for April! We are participating in a school wide effort to raise money for the tsunami survivors of Japan. For each crane we make, $ 2 will be donated on our behalf  by the Bezos Family Foundation and Students Rebuild. We're also teaching our kindergarten buddies this fun craft. What a great way to help!

Monday Notes

Hard to believe but we are beginning our final marking period! Here's where we have to buckle down and make sure we are prepared to do well not just on the upcoming State Tests but also for the final grades in our report cards.
Here are some friendly reminders:

• Please return your child's report card if you have not already done so. 
• The class will have Physical Education on Wednesday with their buddy class.
• If anyone is interested in sharing a talent for First Friday on April 1st, please let me know via note.
• If anyone is still interested in joining the class  directory, please send your name and email address to Mrs. McGill, our class parent, or to me and I'll have her son pass it on. 

Have a great week!