We wrapped up the week with a lot of "science fun!" 

Yesterday, everyone demonstrated knowledge of the different phases of the moon with Oreos. They were able to describe why the different phases occur. And then they got to enjoy a little snack :)

Today, students got hands on experience learning about craters on the moons surface. All the students seemed to enjoy the demonstration, and learned visually and through hands on experience what is happening in space. 

We will continue to explore space in science, work with multi-digit multiplication problems in math and wrap up our historical fiction unit in writing and reading next week. 

Busy Week in Room 405

It has been a very busy week! Yesterday the students participated in the hour of code. Students learned how to code different computer programs. It was something new for the both of us, and everyone seemed to really enjoy it! They are also working very hard during reading and writing, we are currently on the Historical Fiction Unit. They are all in a book club and have discussions about what is happening in their books. During writing, they are creating a historical fiction piece of their own.

*Please remember that we will be having our Winter Celebration on December, 22nd! Looking forward to a fun filled afternoon.

December 8th

We had a very good day!!!!
 Students have been working hard!!  We are working on Historical Fiction in reading and writing.
We celebrated our BINGO win with technology.

Tomorrow we will be working on AN HOUR of CODE!!!
We will learn to program and get certified as a coder!

Check it out at https://code.org/learn
Homework:
Math: MJ p. 117 and SL 5.5
Math test on Unit 5 next Friday

Solar System Fun!

We have been working hard learning about the planets in the solar system. The students created an actual scale of the solar system (1 step = 36,000,000 miles), as well as had objects that represented the accurate size of the planets. They were amazed to see how far Neptune is away from the sun.

December 2

Wow!!!  It has been a long time since we posted!!!

We have been very busy.  Mrs. Wiske has taken over all the subjects and has done a great job!! She has found great resources for reading, writing, and science.

We have begun the Solar System and have discussed a way to remember the order of the planets.
My Very Educated Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas.
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, (Pluto). We discussed that Pluto was re-assigned as a dwarf planet...but it is in our list.

We have begun a new unit in Writing and in Reading.  We are looking at historical fiction.

In math we are in different classrooms based on our needs.  We will test unit 5 in our own rooms after everyone finishes the lessons.

Reading and Writing Units Come to an End!

There was a lot to celebrate today! We wrapped up Unit 2 in reading and writing. We had a mini celebration, followed by the students sharing their nonfiction research group projects. Every group created a visual and taught the class about a severe weather topic. Each group worked on researching for a number of weeks. We all learned a lot :)

In writing, the students finished writing their persuasive essays. There were many debates on the best breed of dog, as well as the best vacation spot. Aydan persuaded all of us to go to Florida! We will be joining her to get out of this snow!

Friday, November 20th

WOW!!!  Next week is Thanksgiving!!!  We have had a pretty good week so  far!!!

We will have Wednesday-Sunday off to re- boot our energy!!!

On Tuesday the ENTIRE SCHOOL has earned a PJ/ Comfy Clothes Day!!!! We have earned so many feathers it is time to celebrate!!!!!

November 10-11

We learned about the Native American culture.  We created paper moccasins and played the moccasin game.  Students learned how the Native Americans played different games than we play in present day.  They used items they had around their wigwams and what they found in nature.

Our trip to the Capitol!!!

We had great weather for our trip!!!

November 2

WHAT.....it is November already????

We are so excited to go on our field trip THURSDAY, November 5th.  Please remember to send in a lunch with your child that day.  Many of you opted to bring your own.

We will leave EP at 9:15 and won't return until 2:30.

CONFERENCE REMINDER SLIPS WENT HOME ON MONDAY....please look at sign-up genius if you forgot or email me .

Math Test on Unit 3 tomorrow.

Masquerade Parade!!!

We had a great turn out for our parade.  Students were very creative in their costume choices.  We were able to see lots a fun, creative ideas from others in our school too.

                                         Our Fourth Grade Team:
                 Mrs. Bohlman, Ms. Fredrick, Mrs. Marek, Mrs. Wiske, Mrs. Toth

October 22

FALL FESTIVAL tonight at 4:30!!!!

We have worked hard at finding and measuring air distances.  We used measuring tapes to measure distances from Washington, DC to places like Moscow, Stockholm, and Mexico City.

We have worked on our non-fiction work in reading and in writing. We have written some really good persuasive writing pieces already!

Homework: MJ p. 65 and SL 3.7

OCTOBER BOOK REVIEWS DUE at the END OF THE MONTH!!!!!

October 19th

We had a very productive day!  We worked hard in reading looking at how we can make connections to our non-fiction books.  We also began working on our opinion writing today.

In Science we played a fun game on the weather.  We had to roll dice to see where to head to next!

In Math we looked at multiplication patterns and continued to build our factor finding skills.

Homework: MATH: MJ p.60 and SL 3.4

October 13th

WOW!  We learned a lot today!!!   We shared our stories, sent our parachutes off to fly, completed a google classroom activity, and took a math test!

We are flying through our curriculum!!

Parachute drops in action!!

SHROM'S TOOK OFF FLYING!!!!

October 9th

We had a very busy day again.  We are publishing our narrative essays, reading about interpretations, and we began a weather unit!!!

We will be testing our Unit 2 review in math on Tuesday!!!  We will begin our multiplication and division unit on Wednesday!!!!

MJ p. 51 and SL 2.9

October 8th

We were very busy...we began our final drafts of our narrative papers.  In reading we have looked at making interpretations  from what we read.  In Math we will be testing unit 2 on Tuesday.  We looked at 2 methods to solve addition problems: Partial sums and Column addition.  We also looked at the traditional way mom and dad will solve problems.

Homework:
MJ p. 44 and SL 2.7 (double sided)

October 7

Wow what a week!!!
I have been pulled into two meetings this week.  So we had two subs.  Today both Mrs. Wiske and I were gone.  We were able to check in with the class, but we will catch up tomorrow.

All students need to be reading at home.  We keep a daily reading log that you will start seeing at home.
Also- each month we will have a book review due.  I will be sending home an idea sheet and a general book review form students can choose if they like.

October 2, 2015

Thank you so much for coming to OPEN HOUSE!!!!   It was so wonderful to see all of you here.  The students were very excited to share their room with you...it is where they spend most of their time.

We are sending home the animal track they made at the BIG HILL.  The students created some very cool one!!

Today we worked on our rough drafts of our Narrative stories.  Students are struggling to get their ideas on paper, but when conferencing they have great ideas.

In math we did a raisin activity with the data. We found the maximum, minimum, range, and mode of a set of raisins. Then we ate our data!!!

Homework:
Math Journal: p. 39 and SL 2.5

Early release on Monday, October 5th.

October 1, 2015

We went to the BIG HILL ....

We collected bugs, hiked, and created animal tracks.

OPEN HOUSE TONIGHT!!! 5-6!!!

Homework: Math Journal p. 37 and SL 2.4

Wednesday, September 30

Wow...we had a pretty good day!
Since I was at a conference/training yesterday  I got caught up with what was completed on Tuesday.
We worked on understanding characters debates and reading with purpose.  (Students are doing very well with this)

In math we looked at place value into the billions.  Stud ts seemed to struggle with naming the value of a number.  For example: 978,345= the Value  of the 3 is 300.

Tomorrow is Open House:  5-6pm  Students will share what they have been working on and where they spend their days.

TOMORROW IS THE BOG HILL:  Please send your child dressed to be outside in a hilly woody area for 2 hours.  
We will eat at 10:55 am since we will miss our lunch due to the big hill. 

HOMEWORK:
Math: Math Journal p. 35 and SL 2.3

Monday, September 28

We had a pretty good day!
We have begun our new math unit and have started our classroom swap.  Each student has taken a pre-test and all the fourth grade teachers have met and placed students in groups according to needs.  The three groups will be slightly different in the approach to the learning targets.  The three teachers will teach the same targets but at different levels so that student needs can be better met.

We are almost done with our PBIS lessons about citizenship, rules, government, and cooperation.  We will move into Science next week.

PLEASE note: I have sent out a link to the conference sign up for November 9th.  I have also added it to this blog.

Homework:
MJ p. 29 and SL 2.1

Wednesday, September 23rd

We STAR tested today!!!   We had everyone here and we were able to adjust our afternoon to fit it in.
We are done with testing for the district!!!!

We had a class meeting about respect.  It seems many are confused about respect other adults in our building.  I feel all respect me when I am teaching...but are easily distracted with things they have in their space.  We will be cleaning out all toys and extra pieces to make sure we can focus on lessons.

Homework:
MATH TEST Unit 1 on Friday
Math Journal p. 26 and SL 1.8

September 22

We had an interesting day. Many students were focused and working hard.  However, some had many issues with staying on topic which disrupted others.
We will be working on our behaviors and how to be respectful to one another when we are speaking.  We need to work on our listening skills.

Homework: MJ p. 20 and SL 1.7

We will test on STAR on Thursday instead of Friday. We will test Unit 1 in Math on Friday!!!!

September 17th

We were busy!!!
In writing we worked on creating a wants, what gets in the way, and needs chart for a Fictional piece of writing we are working on.

In reading we finished the F and P testing to find everyone's levels, and worked on Stamina!!!

In math we worked on POLYGONS- what is a polygon?? Ask your child what makes a polygon?

Homework:
MJ p. 13 and SL 1.5

Wednesday, September 16

We had a pretty good day!
We worked on parallelograms, developing Characters, reading intensely, and bullying.
We have gotten pretty comfortable in our classroom and will continue to work on our transitions.

Homework:
Math Journal p. 9 and Study Link 1.4 (We will test Unit 1 on Friday, September 25th.)

Tuesday, September 15

We had a very good morning!!!!  We STAR testing in Reading.  The class was awesome!!!!!!!

Our afternoon was a little rougher....we are struggling to get our narrative writing started.  Students are saying they have writers block and just can't get their brain moving.....we will work on that.

HOMEWORK:
Math: MJ p. 8  and SL 1.3

Pictures of Lego Activity

September 14th

We had a more challenging day today.  Most students were very good with staying focused, but others were disruptive.  We will work on it.

We covered a lot of material today:
Reading: How to read intensely
Math: Math Journal p. 5 and Study Link 1.2
English Language Arts/Writing: Realistic Fiction Writing
Spelling: Words we should know
Social Science: PBIS: -Lego activity

BOOK ORDERS DUE TOMORROW:  You may order online at Scholastic.com, our class code is GYBZN. Please let me know if the date is not working.

September 10

Wow...can you believe we had another great day?  We are working on a few little behavior issues with some, but MOST are right on track.

As a fourth grade we have decided to keep our own class for the first unit.  Many were confused by terms so we decided we need more time with them in our rooms.

We will take an On Demand assessment tomorrow in writing.
Book Orders are due on the 15th.

September 9th

We had another great day.  We worked on math problems using interactive sites on the chromebooks.  We are still sorting out technology issues, but most students have been able to log in and get right to work on typing agent and checking out our blog.

Tomorrow we will take a math pre-test and complete an on-demand narrative writing piece.
We will have book exchange but the library computers are not ready for check out just yet. :(

HOMEWORK:
Reading: read for 15 minutes
Math: practice math facts and number families.

September 8th

We had a very productive day...even though it was shortened.  We worked on a couple math games, did a read aloud, worked on writing ideas, attended the PBIS Kick Off assembly.

We have a great class and I am really enjoying them.  We will continue to focus on fact practice and skill building in math.  We are being our new units in writing and reading on Monday.  Friday we will begin our math.

Please talk to your child if they have any questions or concerns about having Friday off.  We only reminded students how well all the groups worked together to make sure we were safe.  I know there were a few a little nervous about being here.  

September 3rd

We have begun our writing unit with an launching one that will get us back into the swing of things.
We also switched classrooms for math.  We will be evaluating the students and finding the best fit for each one in math.  Each child might get to work with each fourth grade teacher at some point throughout the year.

Please help your child choose good fit books and read each night.  They should work on math practice too.

September 1st and 2nd!!!

WOW!!!!!   It's so hot!!!!  But....we are getting a lot done!  We are testing our skills in math and we have begun working on our stamina in reading!!!  In Social Studies we looked at the PBIS rules we have for being safe, responsible, and respectful.
I am so happy with this class.  I know we will have a wonderful year!!!!!

I will be using this blog to have inform you of homework and dates of importance.
Please let me know if you ever have any concerns or questions.  I am easily reached via email...or phone.
(But please keep in mind I do not check email until breaks, and sometimes I might not be able to read an email until after school)

Home work:
Read for 10-15 minutes
Math minutes- do something mathematical for 10  minutes

School is almost starting!!!!!

Yippy!!!! School will begin in 6 days!!!!!! I am super excited for our new school year! I was very glad to see all of you at Back Pack night.  If you weren't able to make it, I look forward to seeing you on Tuesday.  Don't forget your shoes for PE because we have it in the afternoon on the first day.

BACK PACK NIGHT

Tomorrow is backpack night!!!!  I will be here from 4:30-6:15 if you want to come and meet me, Mrs. Wiske, and drop off your belongings.

A New Year- A New Beginning- As a Fourth Grader!!!!

Wow- I can't believe school will be starting soon!!! I am so excited to have you in my class.  Some of you are returning to me and some are new!

We will have a great year.  We are starting a new reading curriculum and I am very excited about how it will work in our classroom. We will do math a little different this year too, so that is another change.

A student teacher from Cardinal Stritch University will be with us from our first day until January some time.  Her name is Alicia Bridge (but she is getting married in August and will have a new last name!) She is very excited to be in our class and work with each one of you.

Enjoy the rest of summer!!

New Site

New site for our new class.  I look forward to working with all of you this coming year!!!