Angelville Newsletter, October 26, 2009

Bon Dia
Week 8, October 26, 2009

Raves:
I want to thank all of the parents who came to Parent/Teacher Conferences. Conferences are a great way to connect with each other and talk about some of the different observations we might see concerning your children. This is a great class, and I am excited for some of the cool things we will be doing in the future months. Again thank you!

Reminders:
I will be out of town on Thursday, October 29 and Friday, October 30th. I know that my students will be a big help and an attentive group to the guest teacher.
Students may wear costumes on Friday, October 30th
I will supply the guest teacher with a Halloween movie and my room moms will bring in treats for a little party at 2pm in the room.
Family Fun night and Bingo Friday.
Continue to check your child’s planner and make sure they are completing all of their work if the assignment is circled in the planner. Thank you!

Academics:
In religion we talked about the Gospel for mass on Tuesday. The students are finishing up their final drafts of their Samaritan stories and will begin to type them out in the Lab on Wednesday and Thursday.
In Math we continue to work on multiplication. Mentally multiplying/ represented multiplication, 2-digit by 1-digit and 2-digit by 2-digits... State standards 4.1D, 4.1G, 4.1C, Math multiplication quiz on Friday over factors, multiples of 1 and 2 digit numbers.
(Ex. 43x9 = (9x40 + 9x3)
=360 + 27
= 387
Reading we continue to complete Chapters 22-25 in Maniac Magee. This week we will go over 24-25 and a quiz on Thursday.
In Spelling we are studying long o words and looking at the different kinds of nouns. We will have a noun quiz on Friday.
In Science we are talking about ways in which we can shrink our Carbon Footprint with a series of activities sent to me through Seattle City Lights. Maureen will be bringing us microscopes so that we can see bugs and such on the big screen.
Social Studies we will read of TFK – Time for Kids.

Have a happy and Safe Halloween!

Color Wheel Art and Halloween Poems

Enjoy this great art and creative poems! Each student had the opportunity to create their own poem using a variety of poem styles, like Limericks - which are the AABBA style, first 2 lines and last line rhyme, or a Haiku - 3 lines and 17 syllables, or a Couplet - a pair of lines that rhyme.

October is here,

Leaves are falling.

Halloween is near

Kids are calling.

By, Keith

Light verse poem

Pumpkins

Orange, Yellow, Gold

Some are big, some are round

Turn them into Jack-O-Lanterns

Carve them!

By, Annie

Cinquian poem

Witches, mummies, vampire bats.

Even Lincolns' with top hats.

Be a Soldier, grab a gun

Halloween is so much fun.

Be a witch, zombie, cat or dog,

just go awalkin through the fog!

By, Aiden

Couplet proem

Angelville News, Week 7

Bon Dia

October 19, 2009

Reminders:

* There will be no school Wednesday, October 21-23.

* Parent/Teacher conferences Wednesday, October 21, and Thursday, October 22.

Academics:

In religion this week we will talk about the Gospel for mass on Tuesday. We will also try and finish up our Good Samaritan Stories we are writing.

I math we continue to work with double digit multiplication and function tables.

In reading we will begin the Maniac Magee chapters 22-25. Since this week is short we will cover chapters 22 and 23.

In LA we will finish up our "What is happening here......" stories and set some reading goals for the year. Last week the students wrote Halloween poems and made pumpkins using the warm and cool colors of the color wheel. You will have the opportunity to see these when you come in for conferences. I will post a few on the blog.

In science we will work for the next few weeks on activities about shrinking our carbon footprint, given to us by Seattle City Lights.

There will be no homework packets or spelling this week.

I'm sure the students will enjoy the long weekend:-)

Trash Tracker Field Trip

We were lucky to experience a beautiful day in the city of Seattle as we made our way on public transportation to the Downtown Seattle Public Library to see the Trash Tracker Exhibit put together by MIT students. They tracked trash from pick up to final resting place. They were able to track this trash by placing bar chips on different items like a sock, or computer, or can. The tracking codes were picked up by cell towers and recorded along their route. A simple sock could travel days and miles within the city before finally being disposed of. Here are some of our pics from that day.

4th Grade Writers Workshop

We have been working on various writings here in the 4th grade. Last week we heard a story called, All the Places to Love. As I read the story I asked the students to be thinking of a place they love. I would like to share some with you.

My favorite place to love is my home.

by, 4th grader

When ever it is a sunny day my family and

I take a hike to Discovery Park and go

through lots of trails and meet lots of people.

When we get to the beach we eat our lunches.

After that we play. Then we walk to the locks.

We walk farther and we are at 7-11. We all

get Slurpee's or donuts for dessert. Then we

head back home. By the time we get home we

are all done with our Slurpee's. So then we all take

a nap. That's why I love my home.

My favorite place to love is my Grandparents house

by, 4th grade student

My favorite place to love is my grandparents house.

They live in Edmond's. They have a hot tub, a fish

pond, and a bow and arrow range. They also have a

laundry shoot which is really fun to slide down. It is

also awesome to take hikes in the woods which is just

behind their back fence. In the winter they get a lot of snow

so it rocks for sledding. I Love their house.

Angelville News Week 6

Bon Dia
Week 6
October 12, 2009

Reminders:
Make sure your child is in full uniform for masses on Tuesdays
Full week school this week
Conference slips for conference times will be going out this week
Please check and sign your child’s planner each and every night

Academics:
In Religion this week we will complete our Good Samaritan Stories in the computer lab and illustrate them.
In math we continue to work with double digit multiplication and rocket math practice.
In reading we will begin Maniac Magee chapters 18-21. I will post the work on the blog. On Friday the work for these chapters will need to be turned in and there will be a quiz.
In Spelling we will be studying words with the long i sound. Tomorrow there will be a mini quiz in English on simple and compound subjects and predicates. Included in that quiz will be direct objects, and run-on sentences. We will review those today in English. Tomorrow we will begin to look at the different types of nouns.

In writing we have been working on sending letters to our favorite authors. I will submit these letters to Washington's Secretary of State. We are participating in Letters about Literature. It is a writing contest for readers grades 4-12. There are prizes for top winners. Top letters will go on to the National Level to be judged. We will hear back on the letters in December. We will be doing a great amount of writing in 4th grade this year.
In Social Studies we will look at weather of Washington State and land formations. We will also continue to work on lessons in our Bridges to Understanding curriculum. The shorter weeks have impaired some of this work.

If you need to contact me you can e-mail me at mizschmutz@gmail.com or call school and I will call you back.

Have a great week!

Multiplication Practice

It is essential that your child is practicing their multiplication tables at least 3 times a week at home. We are in our multiplication unit and I am hoping that within the next month we will be working our way into fractions and decimals. Students who know their multiplication facts and who are comfortable multiplying 2-digits by 2-digit numbers will move on. I do not want to hold any students back, nor do I want to move any students on, who are not ready.