These students have made a terrific adjustment to fourth grade! We discuss our nightly homework again just before we pack up in the afternoons.They know it is their own responsibility to turn in homework completed and on time. Parents, I appreciate your phone calls after 2:55 instead of the morning to check on homework and missing assignments.Please call often if you suspect your child is not doing homework and remember to sign the nightly homework log! Students in our class are in the habit now of laying out 2 pencils, paper, and their homework log signed and ready for my check each morning.
During grammar time we have been practicing spelling words using spelling rules and phonetic sounds. We do have weekly tests but at the present they cover only words that fit the rules we have studied that week, so a spelling list is not given to be studied. We are also studying parts of speech and how to write correct sentences. During our writing lessons we are learning how to write an interesting beginning that "hooks" our readers.
Most of the students like our fluency time when we practice short passages for speed and correctness. Some of them sound like auctioneers! We also have lists of vocabulary words to learn in order to increase our vocabulary and to earn stickers to buy things.
Reading strategies we have been practicing are: Summarizing, Finding Main Idea, Determining Cause and Effect, Understanding the Author's Purpose, Fact and Opinion, and Drawing Conclusions. We read from our text, worksheets, paperback books, and AR books. Students should be doing some type of reading EVERY night.
During math time we are discussing place value; comparing; rounding numbers; order of operations; fractions; distribution of data using median, range, and mode; multiplying and dividing; and relationships.
Our science unit "Kids In The Creek" has been a success. We collected water samples and tested them and also identified macroinvertebrates living in the creek. We observed earthworms and salamanders. The "water cycle" and "keeping our water sources clean" are other topics.
Our new project is collecting, identifying, and researching uses of trees and leaves. This project has been on-going for almost a month. A detailed guide was sent home weeks ago. The due date is September 10, 2009. One good source is a web site by the Western North Carolina Nature Center that lists "Uses of" specific trees. Just type in "Trees of Western North Carolina" and click on the Nature Center link. An alphabetized list of trees will come up. Click on a tree and then scroll down to "Uses.."
In closing please let me know if you would be willing to speak to the class about any topic, work, or hobby that you are knowledgeable about. You might also list any available times you have to help listen to children read or do work after school hours.
In closing let me share with you how much I am enjoying your children! We are off to a good start. Please call or write me a note if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
C.Joyce Buckner
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