Circuits

In Science we have been studying energy and how energy travels through circuits.  I am sure the kids have been talking about this at home because they have been very excited about it here at school. 

We have learned the difference between a series circuit and a parallel circuit.  We have also been able to relate this to a real life experience as we talked about the different types of Christmas lights.  The kids have worked in groups to spend time building both types of circuits. 

It is great to see how excited and enthusiastic the students get about Science.  They love the hands on approach and they also love the opportunity to be presented with a problem and then to try and solve it in their own way.  Check out the Twitter feed for some pictures of what has happened in Science.

Picture Retakes

If a student missed picture day or needs their picture taken for another reason the retake day has been scheduled for October 11.  If a student needs an order form they need to ask in the office or ask me and I will get them one. 

Officially Fall

Happy Birthday to Mollie today!!!!!!

It is now officially fall and it actually feels like it too.  We complained about the hot start of the year but the weather was just following the seasons as it was still summer according to the calendar.  We are also looking at having our first full week of school.  It's about time!!!

This week in Reading we are working on Author's Purpose, Compound Sentences, and the Long E spelling pattern.  On Monday students should have brought home a spelling sort that will help them learn the different spelling patterns that make up the long E.  This is to be completed at home, but it doesn't need to be returned to school. 

This week in math we will be working on collecting, organizing, and analyzing data.  We have been and will continue to work on our facts as well.  We will be spending time working on three of the four major operations.  We will work on addition, subtraction, and multiplication.  Any practice that students can do at home with any of these will help them tremendously. 

Survey

MAP Testing is Finished

This morning we took the MAP test for Language.  Everyone was given a chance to finish which means that each student in our class has finished all three portions of the MAP test.  Thank you to the students for their patience and hardwork as we took the MAP test on iPads for the first time. 

Since we had MAP testing we did not have Math class today.  Therefore, there is no math homework.  Students need to make sure they are studying their spelling words at home.  The test will be Friday.

This afternoon we took our first Science test today about energy and circuits.  I think everyone did a fantastic job and I can't wait to check over them. 

Crazy Week

We will have a short, packed, crazy week at Sunset!  Hopefully all the families enjoyed the 3 day weekend.  If nothing else I'm sure the kids enjoyed an extra day off school. 

In reading this week we are reading a story titled Grandfather's Journey.  The skill that we will focus on will be sequence.  The grammar skill is looking at sentence subjects and predicates.  The spelling pattern this week is long E and long O words.  Students all took a pretest this morning.  They should be bringing home a practice book page this evening to work on at home. 

We will be taking a little break from math to fit in some reading things.  We will have limited time because of the short week, MAP testing, and the Fall Walk.

Language Arts MAP testing will take place tomorrow morning.  Each student takes the test from the comfort of their own desk on an iPad. 

The Fall Walk will be Friday morning and this year we will be having a pep assembly and sack lunches at hospital hill.  School will then be dismissed at 1:12 for Homecoming. 

Let's all do our part to make this a great week!!!

Author's Purpose by Mollie Summers

Author’s purpose

                Author’s purpose can be to Persuade, to inform, to Entertain, or to express his/her feelings. Persuade means to tell you to do something. Inform tells you how to make something. Entertain means the author wants you to enjoy the book. Lastly, express his/her feelings and ideas are just telling you what the author is thinking.

                Persuade can be telling you to do something like do this in particular thing like getting a dog. For example, you can play with tug-a-war with a dog, and you can play ball with a dog.

                Inform is telling someone how to do something. For example how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you need to pieces of bread, peanut butter, jelly and a butter knife. First thing you do is put the peanut butter and jelly on the bread, put the pieces of bread together and eat it.

                Entertain is just the author wanting you to enjoy the book. Like making up stuff that is funny. Like the book Miss Nelson Is Missing is about a teacher, who has a class that misbehaves a lot, but then one day she didn’t come and a teacher named Miss Viola Swamp. Days went by without a trace of Miss. Nelson. Then one day she came back.

                To express his/her feelings is just the author telling you what he/she is thinking. Like is they are sad, or happy any mood they are in.

Jackets???

I don't think we will need jackets quite yet but it feels good to have some relief from the heat.  70s might feel cool after what we have been through.

This week in reading we have been focusing on Author's Purpose.  Each author has a reason for writing what they did.  Some different reasons an author might write something could be:  to inform, to teach a lesson (moral), to persuade, to entertain, or to express their ideas and feelings.  As we read books, magazines, newspapers, etc. it is important for us to understand what the author's purpose is so we have a better understanding of what we are reading. 

We have also started MAP testing this week.  On Tuesday we took the first ever MAP test on iPads. The test we took was Reading. Our class did a great job.  Almost everyone finished in the time given.  Those who didn't will have an opportunity to finish later.  Today we will be taking the Math portion of the MAP test.  Next week we will take the Language portion of the MAP test.

Speaking of iPads, I had the chance yesterday to be updated on the status of our student's getting iPads as I am part of the technology committee. Each student will be getting an iPad to use sometime soon.  I don't know exactly when, but it will be sometime in the next couple months.  There are still many things that have to be ironed out and decided before this can take place.  Our district is working very hard to make this happen as soon as possible.  I am very excited for the things to come!!

The Heat Wins Again

Due to the forecasted heat this afternoon and a few hot afternoons in a row school will be dismissed 2 hours early today.  Some might say it isn't any hotter today than it was yesterday or Wednesday but with consecutive warms days the building really heats up and never gets a chance to cool down. 

We will be working on our Spelling Test this morning and our weekly reading assessment that is over Sequencing and Summarizing this week.  I will also be returning math tests for students to look over but they will have to leave them at school.  Students should share their math results with their parents. 

Sorry, Sorry, Sorry

I had the best intentions of writing on the blog each and every day to share things that have been happening at Sunset.  With short days last week and our meetings in the afternoons to our much busier full days this week it has been pushed aside.  I am sorry for that and promise to add to the blog more regularly once things are more settled down which should be soon.

Today in Math we took our first unit test.  The students will all have an opportunity to correct the problems they got wrong before I grade it for the final time.  Since this is my first year teaching fourth grade and am not yet completely familiar with the grading process I will be keeping the tests just in case I need them when report card time comes.  Parents will need ask their kids how they did tomorrow after I have them graded.  Kids will need to tell their parents how they did. 

We are in full swing with our regular reading curriculum after spending last week learning the routines that will be used during reading.  To go along with reading we will have our first official spelling test tomorrow.  There isn't always a lot of time to study spelling words at school so make sure they are being studied at home. 

Parents - If you have any questions or concerns about how things are going so far please contact me.

Have a great day!!