BRRR!!

Winter weather is here! Just a reminder that your student has to be wearing snowpants, boots, hats, and gloves beginning Monday! If they are not dressed for the winter weather, they will be asked to stand on the wall. I hope your Thanksgiving was a great one! We are already looking ahead to Deck the Halls. We'll be working on our projects this week!

AJ Hawk pays BDM a visit!!

We have been busy!! Pumpkin Craziness!

We are done with WKCE testing so next week we will resume our regular schedule.

I have attached a link I found through Barlow Planetarium. It's to an astronomy magazine and a link to the 'night sky' as it would look tonight. Your child might need some help using parts of it, but it's pretty cool and helps to find constellations that might be seen at night. Also, we are at the start of the Leonids Meteor Shower which is a great time to see shooting stars!!

http://www.astronomy.com/stardome.aspx

http://www.astronomy.com/

NFL Play 60

Ok, so tomorrow is the big day! AJ Hawk arrives at BDM around 9:30 AM to present us with our grant check and to talk to us about staying healthy! Great to see a Packer Player so soon after a big victory!

It's October Already!

We have quickly arrived at October. The students have just finished a geometry unit which focuses on geometric figures and area and perimeter of polygons. We are moving into addition and subtraction of whole numbers next. We have finished our first piece of writing (describing a special object) and are publishing it in the computer lab. We have begun to meet with reading groups, where children focus on the specific comprehension/decoding skills of the individuals in each group. We are looking forward to Heckrodt next week. It will be a lot of fun! Be looking for your conference notes this week.

Happy Fall!

Friday, September 17th

I can't believe it's the weekend already! Are you going to watch some football. Neenah plays Menasha, the Packers play the Bills, and Badgers play the Sun Devils. Hmmm - over the weekend be sure to get outside and run around. Play some football yourselves. When you're inside, spend some time reading. If you're having trouble finding books, be sure to run to the library!

This next week, we will begin our character ed program, starting off with responsibility. Your child can develop skills in this area by organizing when they do their homework, bringing you their agendas, making sure they have everything they need for school and extra curricular activities.

Be sure to go over those science flashcards!!

It's the middle of the week already! We have been busy learning about the order of operations in math. I know you all learned the old - Please excuse my dear Aunt Sally. Well, in fourth grade in Wisconsin we use: Packers ( ) , Must Defend X /, And Score + -. We have also been busy learning about the planets, their order, comparing the inner and outer planets, the asteroid belt that divides them, and the natural satellites in our solar system. Your child should have brought home some flashcards to study the vocabulary for this unit. I have encouraged the kids to spend time with them each night.

Many students began orchestra this week. They are so excited about their instruments.

Keep checking the blog for updates! Any questions! Give me a call.

Room 219

What a beautiful weekend! The weather was great and the football season started. This week we will continue our study of the Solar System. Your child will be bringing home flashcards this week. These cards contain vocabulary for our science unit. When we have our test, which will be sometime next week, these words will be on the test. Please go over the flashcards at home at least once every night. Continue to practice math facts at home too! Rocket math is cruising right along. We have taken some pictures of the kids so that we can finish up their synonym poems. They turned out great!

September 8th

Wow! We are off to a great start.

In math, we have been looking at properties of multiplication such as commutative property and identity property. We have gotten started with Rocket Math so that we can begin to practice our facts. We'll have our first real timing tomorrow!! Your child has had three nights of math homework. Be sure to check that agenda to see if it's been assigned and done!

In reading, we have really spent time learning to choose "Just Right" books for ourselves and working to read for an extended period of time. Your child hopefully develop stamina for more complex books as the year goes on!

In science, we have begun to study the planets. Ask your child if they can say the names of all the planets in order. - My very educated mother...

In writing, we have begun writing a descriptive piece about someone or something that is important to us. We are trying to craft a beginning and ending that tie the piece together.

In language, we have been looking at capitalization rules and editing our work to capitalize more carefully.

Hope to see you all Friday. If you haven't sent back the RSVP, please do so!

First Week Complete!

It's Friday, September 3rd. I can't believe our first week of school is over. We are off to a great start. The students are willing to volunteer and share ideas. They also seem to be kind and caring towards one another! What a great environment in which to learn! Today was picture day! We tried not to play too hard before it was our turn. We've started to read a book called Because of Winn Dixie by Kate Di'Camillo in class. We also listened to a book called Tuesday by David Weisner as we looked at how writer's organize their pieces. In math, we've learned about the Commutative Property of Multiplication and began our Solar System unit in Science. We sure have been busy.
Your child should only have reading homework to do over the weekend. I typically don't send anything home besides reading so that the kids can get out and play and spend time with their families.

Summer Reading Have you??

Have you done any summer reading? Take a look at this blog to give you a boost if you haven't done much. http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/summer-must-read-for-kids-any-book/. This blog talks about the importance of summer reading. If you are stuck for an idea and don't know which books to choose, talk to your librarian, check out the summer reading list I passed out on the last day of school or follow this link for some ideas. http://www.educationworld.com/summer_reading/4th_grade.shtml. There are certainly a number of other reading lists on the web. Of course, right now, lots of kids are reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series or The Lightning Thief series. There's still a month left! Dive into a good book before school starts again!

August 2nd, 2010

I can't wait to find out who is in my class this year!! We have to wait until registration to find out our class lists. I am actually getting excited to start school.

I am waiting to read the new book The Survivor Games series, Mocking Jay. I also can't wait to read the new book by Rick Riordan, The Red Pyramid . I did see the movie, The Lightning Thief this summer! It was pretty good, not as good as the book though, but are they ever??

Hope everyone had a great summer. Get out into the sun and enjoy this last month!

February

Can you believe the year is half over!! It's almost time for the Superbowl. Are you a Saints or Colts fan!

We're working hard on our information papers! We'll show you when we're done!