Settling In

Wow, this week has really marked a turning point in our group. I finally feel like we've figured out our stride as a community of learners who are beginning to work together as a team. We still have many collaboration skills to work on, but I have been nothing short of impressed this week. Consequently, it was pj day on Friday!!!

First things first - planners. In the Back to School Night folder I shared that these will be completed daily, and students will be "checked out" prior to leaving. Planners are a tool for students to use to keep track of homework and take responsibility for their learning. I consider it my job to check them out and hold them accountable for getting accurate information home. I consider it their job and your job to read through the planner together at night, which typically takes 10 seconds or less. When you do read it, please sign the bottom. While I don't check for signatures in the morning, I do occasionally glance through while checking students out. I appreciate knowing that at-home accountability is in place. Thanks!

Next topic - homework. ALWAYS be spending time reading (average goal of 30 minutes or more per day) and running around. I am a firm believer in fresh air, being active every day, and putting down devices to interact with our friends. Other things to watch for...I generally send 1-2 math Home Links per week, and beginning this week you can expect to work on quick fact practice. If possible students should practice keyboarding for 15 minutes twice each week. If you don't have a computer at home please let me know as I'll send a photocopied keyboard home for practice. The bulk of our work IN class is out of a variety of journals, which means it's bound in a book and stays in our desks. While that is super convenient for me since I can look at all their work whenever I need to, I realize it's not as informative for my families. This is one of the reasons I love our blog; you can see what we are working on.

Writing Workshop - This week we dove headfirst into developing elements of our realistic fiction stories. The first collage shows our warm-up activity, when we practiced the art of storytelling using familiar fairy tales. We then spent the next few days developing our main character inside and out. What personality traits do they have, what do they love to do, what things drive them crazy, how do they feel about themselves and how do others see them, what do they wear, how do they treat others, etc. I've seen some fabulous characters sketches and can't wait to read the stories that will grow up around them. 

Social Studies...continuing to hone our map reading skills as we completed two more geography challenges. Learning about geography is so much fun and always makes me want to travel. 

Math...I have our Unit 1 assessments all graded and ready to return and...oops!...forgot to send them home on Friday. So sorry!!! They will come home Monday, I guess. If you haven't seen the Unit 2 Family Letter you better go backpack diving. Our next unit will focus on multiplication and geometry. Already we've identified the formula for finding the area of rectangles (area = length x width), investigated square numbers, and created arrays. 

And before you can say, "Boo!" it's October!

This week our reading adventures introduced us to a woman who lived many years ago by the name of Mary Anning. Mary was a fossil hunter who learned to find, excavate, and preserve from her father. Her life story is quite amazing, as she grew from being an uneducated woman who found notable fossils, to someone who devoted their life to studying animals both living and ancient (she cut dead fish open on her kitchen table to study them), to being considered an expert in her field and making groundbreaking discoveries. In these photos students are discussing Mary, her life, and what words would best describe her. Many students chose curious, studious, intelligent, hard working, etc.

Our focus in math this week shifted to geometry, and we spent a few days working with lines, line segments, rays...parallel, intersecting, and perpendicular...right triangles...and a whole slew of quadrilaterals. After a day of triangle construction with slipper straws and twist ties I pulled the geoboards out of the cupboard. Before getting down to business the students took a few minutes to design and explore this tool. A unanimous favorite!!!

Today's reading recommendation comes from a fellow teacher / blogger / literacy coach and friend from North Carolina. If you or your kiddos are on Instagram, the accounts she shares here have fabulous, engaging photos paired with a manageable amount of informational reading. HIGHLY engaging, current, and relevant reading. Click here for the link to her post from last spring where she writes about resources for keeping students reading over the summer...many are still applicable year round!

Coming this week:

• Spelling / Word Work: Our first word study (there won't be a spelling quiz on these this week, but watch for more information next week on how we break down words for meaning and spelling purposes)
• Math: Unit 1 math assessment on the plethora of topics we've covered (addition, subtraction, place value, geometry). Don't worry...we'll take Monday to review!!! Begin Unit 2 - Multiplication and Geometry
• Social Studies: wrap up our study of maps and complete our final geography challenges 
• Writing Workshop: Begin developing believable characters for our realistic fiction stories
• Reading: Begin introducing several literacy-based activities to be used during small group instruction, and read an information text called, "Fragile Frogs."

Red River Water Festival

Today was our very first field trip as 4th graders. Every student did great! We learned a ton about several water-related topics, so without further ado...here is what happened straight from the horse's mouth (we also learned what metaphors are this morning...)!!!

Prior to leaving...Mrs. Clarey needed to figure out how to use her new selfie stick (purchased specifically for field trips...). Wouldn't you love to be on a bus full of 64 excited fourth graders?

Station #1: Let the Cattail Out of the Bag

Written by --- Eric, Jake #2, Chuck, & Ava

At this station we learned about wetlands. Then we pulled animals out of a bag, and we figured out what they had to do with wetlands. Then she handed out things for us. We got in groups and then figured out what the things had to do with wetlands. And we wrote in our journals.

Station 2: The Life Box

Written by --- Katie, Petunia (aka: Zoe), Jaden, & Addie

The first thing we did was to decide if Boris (the plant), Petunia (aka: Zoe), and Fred (the rock) were alive or not. Then we learned about the 4 necessities of life. They are H2O, organic matter, air, and sunlight. We got to open a life box and study the things inside, and we got soybeans seeds. 

Station 3: One River, Many Voices

Written by --- Joey, David, Jake #1, & Ella

First a lady read us a poem about the Red River written by a girl who lived in Grand Forks. Then we learned about watersheds, floods, and droughts. Last we learned about using our natural resources. 

Station 4: Would You Drink This Water?

Written by --- Anya, Sofie, Jonathan, & Henry #1

We were at the station called Would you drink this water? We tried six different kinds of water. The first one was just tap water, the second was onion powder, then green food coloring, the fourth was mint flavoring, the fifth one was coffee creamer, and the sixth one was salt water. We learned about how important it is that we don't waste water.

Last stop...Mr. History himself!!!

Written by --- Jonah, Henry #2, & Fatima

12,000 years ago a glacier moved through the valley, which formed the river. Many years later a group of people that called themselves the Ojibwa move in somewhere in Minnesota. Then a group of men moved from France and married the women in Minnesota. They trapped beavers and sent them on riverboats, then onto ox carts to Saint Paul where they would be made into hats. The Dakota tribe came to our state and named it North Dakota. The railroad built a bridge over the Red River for the trains to go across, and the cities built up. 

And back in the classroom...the soybean seeds we received in The Life Box station have been "planted" using the 4 essential elements of life. Energy (sunlight), organic matter (present inside the seed), water (in the wet cotton ball), and air (entering the bags through a punched hole). Can't wait to watch what happens in those little bags!!!

We've been busy!!!

We have been busy beavers this week!!! Not only have we been continuing to work hard on our learning, but we also squeezed in 5 keyboarding lessons, a guidance lesson, and a lesson on school beliefs with Mr. Carlson. Whew! Each week our learning, of course, will continue to build and challenge us. To be successful on a daily basis we will not only need to focus on the topics of our lessons, but also on behaviors that will help us to focus, discuss, and internalize our learning goals. One topic that we will be emphasizing is self-monitoring. Am I paying attention and focusing in class? If not, what are some strategies that I can use to get my brain and/or my body back on track?

SNAPSHOTS OF THE WEEK...

Unit 1 in math seems to be kind of all over the place, but the underlying emphasis is on understanding numbers with multiple digits, the value of each digit, and then applying our understanding of those numbers in situations like rounding, estimating, adding, subtracting, and measuring, etc. In the picture below you see students working on adding large numbers. In this activity I had place 8 different problems around the classroom. Students were asked to circulate and choose at least 4 to answer. 

Over the past week we've been working our way way through a book called Porpoises in Peril. Below the students are searching for evidence to explain how the Science Squad discovered the identify of Drake Darkly...a villain who is illegally mining for opals on the ocean floor and disrupting the fish and porpoise populations. As students found evidence in the book they recorded it on their post-it notes.

Keyboarding class...a super duper critically important life skill that we need to learn NOW with proper technique. :)

MRS. CLAREY RECOMMENDS...

New to our class blog this year will be a weekly book feature...books we are reading in class, books I've read and would recommend to my students and their families, etc. Without further ado, here they are!!!

• Book #1: James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl --- One of my all time favorites and one I used to read aloud as a third grade teacher. Ronald Dahl has many fabulous books, such as The BFG, Matilda, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory... Here is his website http://www.roalddahl.com/home/kids
• Book #2...ANYTHING by Seymour Simon. Oh my word I can't tell you how fabulous he is, especially if you like animals. He also has a fabulous website for kids... http://www.seymoursimon.com
• Book #3: The Land of Stories. I read this over the summer and am now reading it to my son, who is a first grader. It was recommended to me by several of my students last year. GREAT read and totally fine to have younger siblings listen in if you read as a family. Best part...it's a series!!! 4 books as of now!!! http://thelandofstories.com

Getting your child to LOVE reading!

Photo credit: Hope King of Elementary Shenanigans 

Reading. One of my favorite topics!!! Why? Reading is the single greatest determining factor in your child's success in school...and in life. Reading is what opens doors to new opportunities, allows us to communicate, escape into another "world," and learn about the world around us. Reading is used in EVERY subject in school as well as in almost every activity in life (try driving around or eating at a restaurant without reading anything). I promise you that this year I will do everything in my power to support your child in not only learning reading strategies, but also to help them LOVE reading. 

So, what are my beliefs about reading?

• To get kids to love reading, you need to let them pick what they read!!!
• Kids need to build reading habits:
• Know how to find books and how/where to find ideas for picking books
• Choose books that are a good fits, both for interest and readability
• Build stamina for reading
• Read THROUGH the books we pick
• Repeat this process over and over in order to build qualities of being a reader that will last beyond 4th grade
• Reading needs to be modeled and supported at school and at home
• Reading needs to be enjoyable, without strings attached. No logging minutes or petty projects. (Do you know any adults who keep track of the number of minutes they read for pleasure?)

What I expect:

• This year I'm challenging my students to read 40 books. Why 40? Because I want them to build reading habits, read often, and read widely...I want them to catch the reading bug!!!
• I will encourage students to read a variety of genres (I have "challenge lines" on the Genre Graph in their Page Turners book). Why? Let me explain using one of my favorite foods. I love  pizza and could totally eat it all the time. Pizza, however, is not great as an exclusive meal choice. It needs to be supplemented with fruit, veggies, milk...you get the idea. As readers we do naturally gravitate to our favorites, but we still need to be able to read for other purposes. When my son was little it was my job to introduce new, unfamiliar foods, and now as a teacher it's my job to introduce new kinds of reading material. 
• Students need to be able to talk about what they are reading. Once we have built our reading stamina and reading habits we will begin writing about our reading in our Page Turners notebooks and discussing together at Book Club Meetings. These were the highlight of our year last year!!! 

Below is a picture of two anchor charts that we're currently using and referring to often as we build stamina for reading and our ability to stay tuned in to what we're reading.

First weeks of school...round 2!

Now that I have full permission for photos on the blog...here are a few more from our first few weeks! Here are a few more pics of the class helping me sticker all our books. I LOVED hearing over and over..."Ooooh! This looks good! Can I read this one, Mrs. Clarey?"

One of our on-going projects is our Interactive Reading & Language Notebook. Throughout the year we will add pages with information about the different skills and topics we learn that are related to reading and language. I love that these give students an opportunity to be creative while recording notes and information about our learning.

First attempt at a class selfie. :)

On Friday we took a few minutes to touch on the events of September 11 in memory and honor of those our country lost. We then read a story called The Man Who Walked Between the Towers. The book is based on a real event that occurred toward the end of the construction of the Twin Towers many years before, when a street performer from France walked on a tightrope between the towers. 

Back to School 2015!

Welcome to 4th grade and the 2015-2016 school year! What a great group of kids we have in our class!!! After spending our first few days getting to know one another, settling into new routines, and slowing diving into subjects one at at time, our class is finally in full swing. Here are a few peeks back...

Morning Meeting...

Working hard on cursive...

Helping their teacher place a genre label on every book in our classroom library (there were more bins than students...yes, I have a LOT of books)...

Playing Number Top-it...working on creating, reading, and comparing large numbers...

In the coming days of school you can expect to hear how we are...

• Developing ideas and storylines for realistic fiction stories in Writing Workshop.
• Analyzing stories for evidence to talk about characters, point of view, etc.
• Rounding.
• Map reading skills.

Over the next few weeks I will continue completing fall reading and math assessments so that we can begin small groups in October!

Spring Picture Things

Mr. History came for a visit last week and drew us this! While he drew he explained about Thomas Jefferson, the Louisiana Purchase, how Lewis and Clark and their team (pictured here) traveled and explored the area, and what happened to each of of these individuals. Did you know one of the men accidentally shot Meriweather Lewis in a very "uncomfortable" place? You'll have to ask your kiddo where that was... :)

On Friday we said goodbye to Miss Yaniero, our practicum student from NDSU. She will make a great teacher in a few years, and we will miss her!!!

You may remember that last fall and right after Christmas we had conversations surrounding our classroom "CARES" rules (how we take care of ourselves, each other, and our learning). After winter break the students worked in groups to brainstorm words for each letter to complete the thinking stem "We expect students in our class to be_____" They came up with GREAT, powerful words, and they have lived up to these expectations for sure!!!

The picture below is of one of the windows at the back of our classroom. We've covered it with a giant grid and are recording the titles of all the books we've read (on our own) this year. Apparently I should have made the boxes smaller to fit more boxes, because we have less than 20 boxes open and have more than a month left of school. Whoops! I am ASTOUNDED by the amount of reading these guys have done this year...amazing!!!

Fraction Models and "Shake, Rattle, and Roll!"

What an afternoon! We spent a good chunk of today's math lesson working on ways to add and subtract three fractions using strategies and models that are accurate, flexible (having the ability to utilize multiple strategies to solve the same problem), and efficient. Here are a few pictures of each group working diligently to show different strategies and check one another's accuracy. Below this is a picture of the models I gathered from their work as I tip toed between groups. 

After math we reflected back to our National Geographic Explorer article titled "Shake, Rattle, and Roll" from our morning reading and embarked on a challenge to use what we had read about earthquakes and how to protect ourselves. Each group was given a bag of marshmallows and a box of toothpicks as building tools, the only requirement being that the structure must be 20 or more centimeters tall. Our goal was for each group to construct 6 identical structures so that we could simulate earthquakes and text twice for duration, intensity, and soil structure. As you can see, we ran a little short on time, but here are a few shots of our groups!!!

Try as I might, I can't remember this last groups name. If your son or daughter is one of these kiddos will you ask them the team name and email it to me? I can add their name to the picture and update the post.

Have a great weekend!!!

Brownie Maps

A few pics of our very successful afternoon of map making! Thank you SO MUCH to all the families who provided ingredients and to Mrs. Kililea for joining us!!!

Pic #1 - getting started

Pic #2 - all done! Amazing how accurate these are if you study the details!!!