Homework and Updates for January 30, 2019

Happy Wednesday!

Just an fyi, I will be at another school doing observations tomorrow.  Many of the students didn't seem happy about this (I guess that's a good thing), but they know my expectations are the same.  

Homework

Tonight's homework wouldn't have made since if I sent it via Remind, which only gives me 120 characters.  

All homework for me is due Friday.  

ELA- study for spelling test for Friday.

Cobb County Writing Contest- this is OPTIONAL, however, for the first time this year, I have agreed to give an extra credit point to students who turn in a completed entry (I do not offer extra credit otherwise).  Entries include a parent portion as well.  The guidelines were sent home today.  This is due Friday, Feb. 1. (An email will come home shortly with the same information)

Math-study multiplication facts.  Having the students do flash cards will help build fluency.  In order to simplify fractions, the students must know their multiplication facts.

Reading- main idea worksheet

Science-study for science test tomorrow.

High Touch, High Tech information was sent home today.  There is also additional information coming via email.  

Black History Month Poetry Cafe

Our annual Black History Month Poetry Cafe will focus on African-American poets.  We will discuss different poets, such as Maya Angelou, during our reading time as poetry is one of our fourth grade standards.  Students will receive more information about the cafe on Friday.  

Class Updates for Week of January 28, 2019

January 28, 2019 Curriculum and Classroom Announcements

Reading/Social Studies- we are continuing to analyze and summarize the American Revolution and the formation of the Constitution.  Students will continue to work on developing strategies to find locate information within a historical text.  I am also pulling students individually to do cold read running records to continue working on comprehension and fluency.  We will move back to reading groups and book clubs next week.

ELA- Students have brainstormed topics to write about for their informational, historical essays.  They will choose one topic to write about this week and begin the brainstorming process.  We will work together through each of the steps.

Math- Fractions are continuing to become our friends. We will review simplifying fractions in the beginning of the week and move on to comparing them as the week progresses.  We will take a look at adding them on Friday.

Students received their spelling words on Friday, January 25.  They are in their agendas.

Also, for support, please do not forget about the video sections under the math tab.  I provide resources for the students to review that should help them at home along with their notes.

All quizzes and reading comprehension pages have been sent home.  Please ask your student to see them.

High Touch, High Tech will be on Thursday during our class time.

Students should be using their schedule that I sent home on Friday to help pace themselves when doing assignments.  We went over this extensively and they all said this will help them with work at night.  Parents, I am preparing your students as much as possible through notes given in class, practice, and activities.  I ask questions often in class to check for comprehension and ask students if they understand.

Homework for this week:  Math is pasted into their math journals so they have no choice but to take their journals home and study. :0)  They have the resources in their journals to complete their homework.

Parents, I need a favor.  I need your help in building confidence in all children, which means they can't be compared to one another.  When we compare children to other children, it can create a culture of performance anxiety and stress (and undo stress on us as parents...trust me, been there, done that).  Please know that I treat all children as individuals.  Each child in my class needs something different than the next in the same way siblings do.  Because of this, I differentiate instruction.  Not all children are on the same reading level.  Not all children completely understand math concepts at the same time.  Much like us, students learn at different paces and that is okay.  There are a number of variables that go into how a child learns, so comparing isn't a good way to measure the success of a student or the class in general.

One piece of advice I can offer you is to discuss with your child whether or not they participate in class and how often.  Even if your child feels like they don't know the answer, I still encourage them to participate.  We are a safe zone classroom, meaning, students are not ridiculed for not knowing the answer. Those who participate let me know that they are paying attention and whether or not they understand the information.  I walk around on a regular basis to see if children comprehend, but I also work with students individually and in small groups.

If a child needs support, they know that they can come back to the classroom to receive support during lunch (I technically do not have a duty free lunch which is something I don't mind if a child needs my help).  Many students have come back multiple times while others I haven't seen at all.  It is their choice, but my door is open.

Thank you for continuing to support your children at home.

Thank you,
Mrs. Bruner

Assessment Update

Happy Tuesday!

I wanted to send out an update on upcoming assessments, with one in particular update being spelling assessments.  I am trying to have my friends copy words correctly and spell common 4th grade words correctly as well. This is to support your children in reading comprehension and writing.  If the students do not know what the word looks like spelled correctly, they also have troubles reading it.   

The first set of spelling words for the next couple of weeks will be from the 4th grade list that has been glued in the back of the students' ELA journal and social studies vocabulary.  The list will be broken down into 10 words per week. The words for this week are in their agendas as well.

Also, here are the dates of upcoming assessments:

Jan. 25- Fractions quiz (equivalent and comparing fractions)

Jan. 25- Sentence structure quiz

Feb. 8th- Soc. St. Test

Spelling test every Friday.  

Thank you,

Mrs. Bruner

Week of January 21, 2019

Greetings!

We have quite a few school and classroom announcements:

Parents! The 4th grade concert is Thursday, Feb. 7th at 6:30 pm at Life Church in Smryna.  This will be a fabulous demonstration of your child's hard work this year on their recorder!

Here are the details:

What: 4th grade Concert 

When: Thursday, Feb. 7th 6:30 pm *Students report by 6:15 pm

Where: Life Church (4100 King Springs Rd., Smyrna)

Students should wear nice dress clothes and bring their recorder!

*If you would like to volunteer your time to help set up, please follow the link below. Each volunteer will receive 2 reserved seats at the concert!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0C45A5AB2AA4FE3-ptaperformance3

Musically yours,

Julie Bosworth

Music Specialist

King Springs Elementary 2-5 Campus

Curriculum updates:

Reading- In reading, we are really working on finding the main idea of a text (specifically historical text this nine weeks), explaining what a text says using specific details from the text, making inferences, effectively engaging in discussions with diverse partners about fourth grade texts, determining the meaning of content words or phrases in informational text, and summarizing informational and persuasive texts.  

Writing- The students will begin writing historical texts this week.  They will choose a topic around the American Revolution to write about.  

Math-  We have started studying simplifying fractions.  The students need to understand how to find the greatest common factor.  Please continue to have your child study their multiplication facts.  If they know their facts fluently, they are more likely to find the greatest common factor 

Social Studies- We are continuing to discuss the Constitutional Convention, the key leaders of the Convention, the branches of government, and democracy.  We are combining our reading and social studies times on most of the days sense we are discussing historical texts.  Our writing will come into play as well.

Study Support:

If your student struggles with reading comprehension (ex: finding the main ideas from text), there are a couple of suggestions that can help.  

1.  Have your student read a variety of texts/literature.  My friends love the Dork Diaries, Captain Underpants, and many other fictional books.  I don't mind that at all (at least they are reading), but studies have shown that students grow more in reading and understanding texts when they mix it up a bit.  Reading nonfiction is just as important as reading fiction.  I am going to begin having the students check out books that interests them in both fiction and nonfiction.  We go to the media center once a week, so they are given at least one guaranteed opportunity to grab some books.

2.  Ask your students questions after they read.  I provided you with reading strategies/questions during our conferences in October, however, if you have misplaced them, please let me know and I will send them home with your child.  The reading questions help the student draw information from their texts, which builds comprehension.

3.  Read to your child.  I know, they probably don't want you to, but it does help.  

4.  Pick a time when you all read books as a family.  For my kiddos who have trouble focusing, this will help support them.  

I will be sending home more reading comprehension passages for homework as well as increase the practicing in class.  As you know, reading comprehension and fluency helps with all subjects.

Thank you,

Mrs. Bruner

Week of January 14 Classroom Updates

Reading- This week we are looking at how a person's perspective influences their opinion. 

Writing- We have finished up our opinion writing and will be moving into informational writing. 

Math- We are continuing to work on equivalent fractions.  Please have your student use their strategies of fraction bars, multiplying, and

Social Studies- We are continuing our discussion and study of the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution.   

Science- Parents, students have a quiz on identifying the phases of the moon on Tuesday January 15, 2019. Students have a study sheet in their science journal to study. Have a wonderful day.

There may be some other updates later this week.  I will send out a REMIND if I happen to update the blog.  

Please note my previous post about upcoming assignments/assessments.  

Happy New Year! Important Announcements for Second Semester and January 7

Wow!  How did we get to 2019 so fast?

There are a few reminders and changes that I wanted to make everyone aware of again, just in case any of you missed it from last semester.

Social Studies
The students will no longer have open note tests.  The test were open note in the beginning of the school year because we were getting used to the new curriculum.  However, now that I am providing the students with specific notes (that they copy directly from me) and I am making the tests myself, they will be responsible for studying their notes ahead of time (which they technically still needed to do even with open note).

Math
We are studying fractions this nine weeks.  I will be honest and let you know that fractions can be a bit challenging for students, but of course I am going to make sure students are given plenty of opportunities to practice and different ways to learn.  When I send home important links or say "hey, math video posted", please have your students view them to help them understand at home.  Videos will be and have been posted under the Math tab blog.  I have already added one about fractions that you are more than welcome to have your child view.

Writing
We will use the first week back to school reviewing and completing our opinion writing unit.  The students will have an on demand writing prompt on Thursday, January 10.  The students will be given the prompt that day (I cannot give it out ahead of time).  From here, the students will learn how to bring history to life through informational writing.

Reading- In our new unit, students will explore perspectives in the American Revolution.  Students study reasons why the 13 American colonies decided to declare independence, how colonists’ opinions differed on this decision, and how the perspectives of free and enslaved blacks were both similar and different from the perspective of the white colonists. After a study of these various perspectives, students construct an opinion piece proclaiming reasons to be a Loyalist or a Patriot. In Topic 1, students build background knowledge on the war itself through close readings of several informational texts.

Assessments
Jan. 15- Multiplication, Division, and Area Test
Jan. 18- Social Studies quiz
Jan. 25- Fractions quiz (equivalent and comparing fractions)
Jan. 25- Sentence structure quiz
Feb. 8th- Soc. St. Test

Reminders will continue to come home about assessments as well.

Homework
Homework is sent home to help students practice and study the concepts learned in school.  The homework I send home is standards based and help students prepare for upcoming tests along with the Milestones.  I do see a correlation between students who do not complete homework and/or study and grades.

Class Dojo
Thank you for continuing to be supportive in regards to classroom behavior.  As we head into the second half of school, we are well into the groove of things.  I will continue to use Class Dojo to provide you with information on how your child is doing in class.

Agendas
If students come home without my initials, it is because they did not copy homework down from the board correctly and had to go back to their desk to finish.  I give students ample time to write down their work.  I am teaching the students how to be responsible and to listen. 

I think that is it for now.  I wanted to make sure I captured everything in one post.

As always, please let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,
Evonna Bruner