May 7, 2011
Dear Parents,
Where did the month of April go? I know in fourth grade we were so busy it felt like it flew by. We have a busy month of May as well. Here is what we are up to this last month.
Bible: We will begin our last unit on obedience this week. We will look into the Bible for stories of people that were obedient and people that were disobedient. Our memory verses for the next two weeks come from Psalms 119:9-11, "How can a young person keep his life pure? By living in keeping with your word. I trust in you with all my heart. Don’t let me wander away from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you."
Math: After completing our unit on fractions, we will begin our unit on decimals. We will learn the place values out the the thousandths and understand what decimals represent.
Language Arts: We started our last guided reading groups this past week. We are studying different biomes. Your child is encouraged to continue reading for twenty minutes a night. In writing, we will go through the writing process one last time focusing on a persuasive piece.
UOI: Our last unit of inquiry is ecosystems. This unit is a hands on science unit where we get to build our own terrariums and aquariums. Last week our class planted three different types of seeds in their terrarium. Each student is proposed a science experiment and will begin it this coming week. Ask your child about their experiment!
March 31, 2011
Dear Parents,
It was so nice seeing most of you today at Student Led Conferences. I look forward to seeing more of you tomorrow and in the near future. Your students have worked so hard this year and are enjoying sharing their websites with you. I hope you take time to celebrate their success this weekend. Here is what we are going to be doing in all our classes the next couple of weeks.
Bible: We are starting a new unit on Prayer this week. Our memory verse for this week is found in Philippians 4:6 "Don’t worry about anything. Instead, tell God about everything. Ask and pray, give thanks to him." We will talk about what prayer is and why people pray.
Language Arts: In writing we will start a short review unit of poetry. We will talk about traditional poetry and practice writing some poems. We will also continue our health and nutrition podcasts.
In reading, your child has set an AR goal. Please encourage them to continue to read books and take their comprehension tests. We are currently working on an independent book report. Their fourth quarter reading test is scheduled for later this week.
February 23, 2011
Dear Parents,
Our class is back into the full swing of things again! We dived into our new unit of inquiry, Health and Well Being, this week, learning about nutrients and the food pyramid. I heard many great conversations at lunch yesterday about the different types of nutrients your child was eating for lunch. I hope their curiosity continues throughout the unit! Here is an overview of our curriculum for this week and the beginning of next week.
Bible: We will be winding up our current unit on the Church with a summative assessment and project. We will finish up our lesson on being lights of the world this week and begin our project next week.
Language Arts: This week we focused on the comma rule for appositives, did a descriptive journal entry, continued to work through the writing process. Many of your students are in the final stage of their research paper on a famous invention. They've worked hard and done a fantastic job!
Last week we were able to visit with a great author, Linda Sue Park. She encouraged your child to continue writing and REWRITING. She told us one of her best books she wrote 36 drafts. Our upcoming UOI is on fine arts and we have an opportunity to do a short play. We will be starting rehearsals for this play in a couple of weeks. You will all be invited to the play at the end of March.
Math: Our math class has started to work on multiplication and division. We are up to three digits by two digits in multiplication (example 324x78). Your child is encouraged to continue memorizing their multiplication facts and are asked to study them 10 minutes a night until they have up to their 12's memorized.
UOI: We started our Health and Well Being Unit this past week and learned about the six main nutrients and the food pyramid this week. We will continue to look at food groups and will look at some food labels to see what's in our food.
February 6, 2011
Dear Parents,
Happy Lunar New Year! I hope all of you were able to visit family, relax, and get rejuvenated over the break. I know that I look forward to getting back into the classroom tomorrow. Here is what's on the agenda for this week.
Bible: We started our unit on the church, Fellowship of Believers, last week and will continue to learn about how the body of Christ is related to the church. Our memory verse for this week is found in 1 Corinthians 12:12 "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ."
UOI: We will complete our Electrified Unit Reflections and finish building circuits independently. Each student will have to complete a given task to build a particular circuit. Here are some pictures of students that started this task last week.
Language Arts: We will continue our literature circles. Each group is about to finish up a book or has completed a book about an inventor. All groups have different inventors and will share with the class their inventor at the end of these literature circles. Your child is currently working on a research paper of a famous inventor. We will be working on stage 3 this week.
Math: We are currently working on multiplication and division. We will continue to work with variables and functions later on in this unit.
December 6, 2010
Dear Parents,I hope many of you heard from your kids about our new UOI (Unit of Inquiry), Electrified. We started it last week and will continue to explore magnetism and electricity these next couple of weeks. I enjoy seeing the enthusiasm in your children when they are inquiring about new topics. Here is what's in store for this week:
Bible: We will continue our Christmas unit. There is no memory verse this week due to our focus on our play. Last week we read the story of Jesus' birth and this week we will watch a short movie, The Nativity.
Unit of Inquiry: Our Electrified Unit was started last week and your students are learning about the properties of magnets. We will learn three main objectives in this unit: the properties of magnets and the magnetic force fields around them, properties of electrical energy and electrical circuits, and the production of electrical current and how it changes into useful form. The students will also learn how to work like a scientist ( write a question, gather information and make observations, make a hypothesis, write a plan to test it and record what happens, and share the results). More specifically, this week we will test how we can measure the force of attraction and practice detecting the force of magnetism.
Math: Our data and analysis unit will be completed this week. We will learn about pie graphs and stem leaf plots. At the end of this week we will take time to review and analyze more graphs. Our test over data and graphs will be early next week.
Language Arts: Most of our guided reading groups will finish up this week. AR points for this quarter are due next Wednesday. Many of your children have completed their goal or are very close to finishing them. Thank you for encouraging your child to read at home!
This week in writing we will start our research papers on famous inventors. We will walk through the process step-by-step as it is the first research paper your child has written. They did a fantastic job doing the research process(Big 6) for their Ancient Civilization Keynotes, and I look forward to seeing them transfer those skills to this written report.
Dear Parents,
We are back for a full week of learning in fourth grade. I'm excited for our next Unit of Inquiry, Electrified, which will start this week. Watch for more information in your child's Monday folder. As the holiday break is getting closer, I would like to plan one more Christmas activity for our class. Any ideas are welcome. Here is what's on this week's agenda.
Thanks,
Anna Stephenson
Bible: We are beginning our Christmas unit this week. We will be incorporating reader's theater into Bible with a short Christmas play. Look for more details soon. This week's memory verse is Matthew 1:21, " She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
Unit of Inquiry: The students will finish presenting their Ancient Civilization Keynotes early this week and, we will kick off our Electrified unit! We will have a scientist come and visit us to remind us about safety and the importance of observation in science. I've posted a helpful link you can visit with your child. This site has games, links, specific vocabulary words, and much, much more from our unit.
Math: This week we will continue working with data and analysis. Your child will learn about other types of graphs and reasons we use different graphs to present different types of data.
Language Arts: Journal writing, grammar practice, reading short non-fiction passages and meeting in guided reading groups are many of the activities we will be doing in class. This week your child might be reading a chapter or two of his/her guided reading book at home for homework. Please include this in their daily 30 minutes of reading. Many of your children earned free time for meeting 1/2 of their AR goal this past week. Meeting their AR goal is an important part in becoming a better reader. Thanks for encouraging them to read at home!
Dear Parents,
With Christmas lights up, Christmas music playing, and packages ready to ship home, it's hard to believe Christmas is still a month away. Our class enjoyed a Christmas decorating party after school last week, creating many homemade crafts. Our room is definitely looking festive! This week is a short one due to ICEC conferences up in Seoul. There is no school on Thursday or Friday. Here is an overview of the next couple of days.
Sincerely,
Anna Stephenson
Bible: We are finishing up our Christian Growth Unit this week and will start our Christmas Unit next week. Due to the short week there is no new memory verse.
Unit of Inquiry: Your student has been working hard on his/her Keynote presentation. This is their first research project, and they have done a tremendous job!
Math: We started our data analysis unit last week. In groups your child has surveyed fourth grade, collected data, organized data on a poster, and shared their results in a short presentation. We are now collecting more data from another class to analyze it. They will also learn how to make a bar graph.
Language Arts: This week we will continue to go through the Big 6 steps and finish up with our Ancient Civilization Presentations.
Dear Parents,
I hope you had a great weekend. We have another busy week in 4th grade. Your students will be involved in their first independent research project, collecting and analyzing math data, and presentations. We also have an optional Christmas Party after school on Thursday. In the curriculum posted below, you will find a couple links. Double click on them to check them out.
Sincerely,
Anna Stephenson
Quarter 2 week 5
Bible: This week's memory verse is John 14:6, "Jesus answered, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.'" We will continue learning the books of the Bible using the Bigsby Bible Song and games. Organization and inspiration of the Bible will be our main focus this week.
Unit of Inquiry: The students finished their Ancient Korean Posters and will begin their individual research projects on a particular civilization. They will work on this project and will present via a Keynote presentation, an iMovie, or a podcast.
Math: Chapter four will be assessed and the students will begin their group projects on collecting data. They will continue to work on their multiplication facts and have the opportunity to answer challenge questions. Game 24 is also a new, challenging math game we played on Fun Friday. Ask your child about it.
Language Arts: This week, your students will be working with the Big 6 Research Model. They will be researching ancient civilizations. We will also be using databases to look up information and continue to use familiar, safe resources. The students will also have additional computer time to work on their presentations after they've researched their information.
November 7, 2010
Dear Parents,
I hope you had a great weekend. Last week was an awesome week. As a teacher, one of my favorite things is when I see a student learn a concept for the first time and he or she continues to build on the knowledge. I witnessed this several times in class this past week in an array of settings. Students didn't want to put down their guided reading books, they wanted to play with the number cruncher machine during Fun Friday, and were able to find, read, and organize information on a given topic. I love seeing them learn, explore, and grow!
Sincerely,
Ms. Stephenson
Quarter 2 week 4
Bible: This week we will finish up our unit on Sin and Salvation and begin our next unit, Christian Growth. Our memory verse for this week is John 8:32, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. " We will also start reviewing the books of the Bible starting with the New Testament.
Unit of Inquiry: The students will be working on one of their major summative assessments this next week. We have been studying Korea the last three weeks, and the students will be displaying their knowledge by creating individual posters of Ancient Korea. Depending on how long this project takes, we may start our final piece to the Ancient Civilization Unit. Your child will research another ancient civilization and make comparisons to Korea.
Math: This past week we've been studying expressions, equations, variable, and properties of addition. We will continue to review these concepts and look at the strategy, Acting It Out, for our problem solving this week. Language Arts: We will continue to meet in our small guided reading groups. Fourth grade is reading a variety of books on different cultures. This week in grammar we will be learning one more comma rule and will practice the ones we've already learned. We will also work on writing our paragraphs for our posters during writing class.
Quarter 2 week 3
It was brought to my attention that I posted the wrong Bible memory verse. This weeks is Ephesians 1:7, "We have been set free because of what Christ has done. Through his blood our sins have been forgiven. We have been set free because God's grace is rich."
Dear Parents,
It's hard to believe that this week kicks off November. Before we know it, Christmas will be here. In the next couple of weeks I hope to have an after school Christmas decorating party. We will pull out our Christmas tree, sip on some hot cocoa, and listen to Christmas music. I will post the exact date once I can get it cleared with our activity coordinator.
I hope all of you had a restful, relaxing weekend. This week is a busy one for your fourth grader. We are about to begin our first research project. Here is what's on this weeks agenda:
Bible: We will continue to learn about God's grace. We will also read the account of Jesus' crucifixion. Our Bible memory is the same as last weeks due to the short week. 1 John 1:9 "But God is faithful and fair. If we admit that we have sinned, he will forgive us our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure."
Unit of Inquiry: This week we will be focusing on religions in Korea. We will look at the three main ones: Christianity, Buddhism, and Confucianism. Your fourth grader will be researching Buddhism. We will then begin working on our Ancient Korea presentations.
Math: Students will be studying expressions, properties of addition, and pattern rules of addition. We will also continue to work on our multiplication tables to twelve. I've posted a website with math challenge questions under the website tab in this blog.
Language Arts: Guided reading groups will start this week. Your students will be reading books on topics that are connected to our unit of inquiry. Each of your children set an AR goal for quarter two. Ask them how they are doing.
Writing will take place while researching Buddhism. Each student will fill out a graphic organizer and write about their discoveries. They will also have to write a report on Ancient Korea. We've been working on collecting information the last few weeks, and now they will have the opportunity to connect it.
Dear Parents,
Thank you for coming to parent teacher conferences this past week. I enjoyed talking with you about your children and letting you know how well they are doing. I love having each one of your children in fourth grade. Please continue encouraging them to read at home!
This week will be a short one. We don't have school on Monday and Tuesday but will pick up classes again on Wednesday. Here's the agenda for the week.
Bible: Memory verse: 1 John 1:9 "But God is faithful and fair. If we admit that we have sinned, he will forgive us our sins. He will forgive every wrong thing we have done. He will make us pure." We will then be discussing salvation through grace and faith.
Unit of Inquiry: After going to Suwon Folk Village (pictures on home page), the students worked in groups to complete their housing sections of Ancient Korea. We will carry on researching and taking notes on money and religion. Once all their research of Korea is finished, they will create posters on Ancient Korea.
Math: Students will continue to work on the process of computation. We are currently working on subtracting numbers across zeros. We will finish up chapter three in math and start on chapter four early next week. We continue to work on our multiplication facts to twelve.
Language Arts: In writing we will continue to learn how to research. Our class is reading non-fiction excerpts on Ancient Korea which will prepare them for their independent research project on another civilization. We will also continue to practice English grammar focusing on comma rules. In reading, we will continue to read myths and folktales. We are focusing on the reading strategy of summarizing. We will also set our AR goals for next quarter.
Quarter 2 week 1
Bible: We are learning about sin and salvation. We had a short skit about Adam and Eve to kick off this unit. This week we are focusing on salvation.
Unit of Inquiry: Last week each student was issued a plane ticket to an ancient civilization. We flew around the world with captain Zickefoose and enjoyed first class service in our airplane. Each group did a small presentation on their ancient civilization. We've know moved on to studying Ancient Korea. We've looked at the flag and are studying the different aspects that make up different cultures. We are going to the Suwon Folk Village to see how Korean people used to live.Math: We are still working hard at our multiplication facts. Ask your child where he or she is at. We are also working on computation with addition and subtraction with regrouping. Make a ten, break apart, and rounding are a few strategies we've used to make mental math easier. There is also a challenge sheet for each lesson that your child can take home.
Language Arts: We are currently working on our folktales, fairy tales unit. The students are also reading non-fiction pieces during their UOI time. While reading our folktales we are working on the reading strategy, summarizing. In writing, we are finishing up our narrative and will soon be working on our first research project for our ancient civilization unit. Each student will pick a civilization to research. We will use the Big 6 Model for research.
I'm excited to use this blog as an effective tool to communicate with you. I plan on updating this blog weekly with pictures, videos, and information for YOU. Feel free to send me an email anytime at: stephensona@tcis.or.kr.
This is where I will post what we are working on in class for the week.
Thanks,
Anna Stephenson
