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!!

Early Out the Rest of the Week

School will be released 2 hours early the rest of the week.  It sounds like all of the kids got to where they needed to be on Monday after school.  Remember to have a plan in place.  It is also helpful to have a daily plan in place before the kids leave for school.  Having that plan in place with the kids before school is a much better alternative than daily calls to the office for what the child should do after school. 

There is homework in math tonight.  Most of our math so far has been review and the kids are doing a great job. 

Spelling words should being coming home today.  I have a list of 500 words 4th graders should be able to spell by the end of the year.  Most of them are easy words and I would be willing to bet that most kids already know how to spell a majority of them.  We are going to start the year's spelling with some of these words. 

The spelling routine can be somewhat confusing at first.  At the beginning of the week each student is asked to spell 20 words on their pretest.  I then check those 20 words and let them know how many they will be tested over at the end of the week. 

If the student misses.....

0 words - then they are only going to be asked to spell the challenge words on Friday.  If they get the challenge words correct their score for the week would be 25/25.  They will not be asked to spell the first 20 again.  This is their incentive to try hard the first time. 

If the student misses.....

1-5 words - then they will be tested over 1-20 on Friday. They may attempt the challenge words and they will be checked but they will not count toward their score.  Their best possible score would be 20/20. 

If the student misses.....

6 or more words - then they will be test over 1-10 on Friday. They may attempt the rest of the words and they will be checked but they will not count toward their score.  Their best possible score would be 10/10. 

Hot, Hot, Hot

Due to the excessive heat school will be letting out 2 hours early both today and Tuesday.  Please use this as an opportunity to make a plan for what students should do if schools is suddenly let out early.  Keep this plan updated or discuss it on a daily basis when weather looks like it could cause and early release.

I would also encourage all students to bring a water bottle with them to school.  I do ask that it is water and only water.  We have a nice new drinking fountain that has cold water so they may fill them up at school during an appropriate time if needed.

There is homework in math today.  I expect students to have homework completed when they get to school.  If they don't they may come into the room in the morning to finish it or ask for help.  I will then spot check the homework to check students understanding.  Students will need to have their homework completed to go out for morning recess. If something happens to their homework it can be printed off by following the Math Homelink link on the blog. 

Stay cool!!!!

Week 1 Is In The Books

The students have just finished their first week of 4th Grade!!!!  We had a great start to our school year minus the extreme heat that we lacked for a portion of the summer.  It sounds like the heat could be even worse next week.  The students are welcome to bring water bottles to school to try and stay cool.  We are scheduled to be in school full days next week but with the forecast the way it is there may be a chance of some early outs.  Keep tuned for those.  I will announce them on the blog and Twitter and the radio would also have them on. 

Today in Reading we worked on the Fluency portion of our Cafe Menu.  Fluency is a key building block to becoming a great reader.  We talked about several different strategies readers use to help them to become fluent readers.  We also started writing rough drafts for personal narratives.  Most kids are writing about something they did with their families over the summer.

In Math we reviewed some geometry terms.  I hate to say it but with the 4 day week and the 2 early outs the kids' first homework of the year will be due on Monday.  It will be a simple Math worksheet over the geometry terms that we reviewed. 

FFA students at the high school are once again selling Homecoming t-shirts.  Order forms are coming home with kids today. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their first week of school, kids and parents alike.  I know I did!  Have a great weekend!!!

Time for Full Days

I already missed a day of blogging on the second day.  It is a main goal of mine to write on it each day and I promise to try and do that.

I think we have covered most of the expectations for the classroom and school.  Most of these expectations were review for students as they have already gone to school here for a couple years.

Today we will be starting some reading and math activities.  Look for the Unit 1 Family Letter for Math tonight in your child's take home folder.

Your child should be bringing home a planner each night along with their take-home folder.  I do ask that each student gets their planner signed or initialed by someone at home each night.  This could be a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc.  My hope is that you will take a minute each night to talk to your child about what they did that day and if there is anything they need to do as homework to be returned to school.  I really appreciate your cooperation and participation with this.  

Day 1 is Completed

Day 1 is over, only 179 days left!!  Haha!  It was great to get all of the kids back to school today.  I can already tell that this is going to be a great group of kids to work with.  Below are a few photos from our day. 

Working on our About Me posters to share. 

4th graders starting off the year by walking on the track. 

Welcome Back

Welcome back to school!!!  I'm sure many of you feel the same way that I do when I think summer went by way too fast.  I had a great summer and even though it went by very quickly I am anxious to get the year started.  This year will be a learning year for me as well as I start my first year in 4th grade.  I look forward to meeting each student and getting to them as we have a great year together!

Summer Reading

Thanks to McDonald's you could earn some free ice cream just for reading a book!!  You can read any chapter book that you want and then write a summary telling what the book is about.  Remember your summary needs to include: characters, setting, main ideas, and anything else you think might be important.  

What Different Dogs Are Used For

Check out what Mollie, Emma, and Devon did during Genius Hour today. #geniushour is an idea that Mrs. Bertran shared with me that she found on Twitter. Students keep track of things they want to learn about or have questions about. Then every once in a while they are given the freedom to do whatever they want to learn about whatever they want. They may then produce whatever they want to show what they have learned. Some other topics were Pete Gray, who was a one handed baseball player. We just finished reading a book about a one handed boy who played baseball. Another topic was what stingrays eat, what sharks eat, black panthers eat, penguins, spiders, and more!!!

Track Day Tomorrow

Let's hope the weather is decent tomorrow like it was today.  Tomorrow will be the annual Sunset Heights Relays.  The whole school will be going up to the high school to compete in several different events.  Each student should get two events to compete in. 

Mr. Hisler puts a lot of time and effort into making this a great day for all students.  It is really fun and always a highlight of everyone's year. 

If you are interested in watching you do so.  The events will begin around 11 and conclude around 2:30.  We will also be eating lunch at the high school track.  If you do come please understand that lunch will only be available for students and school staff. 

Look for pictures and highlights tomorrow evening on the blog from the Sunset Heights Relays. 

Under 10!!

We now have less than 10 days left of Third Grade!!!  I can't believe how fast the year has gone.

We will be finishing our last reading story and spelling list this week.  Next week we will spend time working on the Unit 6 Benchmark reading test, a fun spelling test, and an end of the year writing where each student will write a letter to a 2nd grader letting them know what they need to know to be successful in 3rd grade. 

In math we are continuing our unit about weight, measurement, and capacity.  There will be math homework off and on up until the end of next week.  I also hope to finish our Measurement and Matter unit in Science before the end of the year.  The kids have really enjoyed the new science program and I think they have learned a lot from it. 

Make sure to check out the important dates section to see what other things are coming up here at the end of the year!

Movie Night

There will be a free movie playing tonight at the middle school sponsored by the PTO.  The movie is WRECK IT RALPH and will begin at 6:30.  Bring the whole family!

School supply order forms were sent home today.  They can be ordered online or the order form can be returned to school before June 4th.  Ordering the supplies this way is optional. 

Busy, Busy

It is near the end of the year and we are busy, busy here at Sunset.  The next few weeks will only become busier.  This will probably cut into my blogging but I will do my best to put important updates on here so make sure you check back often.

Tomorrow the kids will be taking a Spelling test.  They have both math and science homework tonight.  The science is actually more like math as it deals with averages.  Some students may have completed their math homework as they were given time to work on it in class so if they say that is the case it may be. 

It still feels like the end of the year is a little ways off but it will be here before we know it.  It certainly feels like summer outside. 

Second Try for the Mile

Tomorrow will be our classes day for the mile run.  Make sure your child dresses appropriately and has tennis shoes.  It is supposed to be very warm tomorrow.

There is no math homework this evening.  Your child should be bringing home spelling practice book pages and they may also read and practice math facts like always.  Next week will be the last week of our math fact competition.  The winner will get lunch with me from their choice of restaurant in town. 

As a trial for a possible restructuring of 3rd grade next year Mrs. Ferrell's class and my class will be switching things up this week.  Mrs. Ferrell will teach two sections of reading and spelling.  I will be teaching two sections of math.  We will each be teaching writing, vocabulary, and science to our own students.  This went really well today and the kids all did a great job. 

Let the countdown begin, we have 15 days of school left!!!!

Mile Run

Our class will be running the mile tomorrow.  To go along with the mile and all the measurement that we have been talking about we will be going out and marking off yard lines for the softball throw and 50 yard dash that will take place in PE next week. 

There is a sheet of math homework to be completed tonight.  Also, if you haven't signed your child's math test and sent it back to school with them please do so tomorrow. 

60s and Snow

For the first time I think we had students running around in shorts and t-shirts at recess while there were still a couple patches of snow on the playground. 

I am sending home your child's math test from Friday.  We checked them today and I have gone over them with almost every kid individually.  I am asking that you go over your child's test with them and sign it to confirm that and have them return it to school. 

Your child should also be bringing home spelling words to practice.  I will get their test checked and back to them tomorrow.  They should have brought home a practice book page that they can use to study.

WE WILL BE HAVING THE MILE RUN THURSDAY!!!!

Math Test Tomorrow

Tomorrow we will be having our Unit 9 Math Test.  We spent our math time today reviewing so there is not a sheet of math homework tonight.  That should give everyone time to practice their math facts.  Our checkered flag multiplication competition will be ending on May 24th.  The person with the most laps that day will get to choose one other person who has also completed at least one lap and a restaurant in town for me to order lunch from.  As of today our leader, Taylor, has 12 laps.  That means in the month of April she practiced her math facts for 375 minutes.  Way to go Taylor!!!