Week of December 5th

Hi Everyone, 

     We have a very busy schedule for these last weeks before vacation. Please take a look at the Important Dates section to see when things are due and when tests will be given. We also have a Winter Festival coming up. Ms.  Johnson's class will have their activities on Thursday 12/22 beginning at 11:15. Please see Mrs. Pavlinek's webpage for the time and day of your Festival. 

     As part of our festival we will be ordering pizza for lunch. Please be on the look out for an order form to come home. 

     This week in math we will be taking our mid year scrimmage. This test will cover 4th grade standards. It will have questions that go with the content that we have covered and the content that is still to come. We will also learn how to use the area model to find equivalent fractions using division. Then we will learn how to plot fractions on a number line. I am including some links to games that students can play to practice.
Equivalent Fractions
http://www.mathplayground.com/Triplets/Triplets.html 
http://www.abcya.com/equivalent_fractions_bingo.htm
Number Lines
https://www.sheppardsoftware.com/mathgames/fractions/AnimalRescueFractionsNumberLineGame.htm

     This week in science we will learn how heat moves. Did you know that heat moves from warm objects to cooler objects? Did you know that heat moves in 3 ways; convection, conduction, and radiation. Students will read and annotate chapter 5 lesson 4 and answer the assigned questions. We will finish up our work on chapter 5 next week and take the test next Friday 12/16. The vocabulary for chapter 5 will also be due that day. The choices for chapter 5 will be due on 12/20. 

    This week in social studies we will learn about the first colonies in Florida and what life was like in La Florida under Spanish rule. In addition to reading the book students were also given a sheet to complete. This sheet is designed to help students be able to more easily know the important points to help with our discussion. We will take the test on chapter 3 on Monday 12/19. The vocabulary for chapter 3 will also be due that day. Below is a link to a virtual tour for a Mission San Louis. This is a  real Spanish mission that has been restored. Click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page for the virtual tour.
https://www.missionsanluis.org/index.cfm 

Have A Wonderful Week,
Aesha

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi Everyone, 

     I would like to send a thank you out to Parker's Dad for being our Military representative for last week's Veteran's Day Celebration. He returned home on Wednesday night and graciously came in on Thursday morning. Thank you for your service to all of our military members. 

 

     We will have our Colonial Kids Festival on Thursday. During the festival students will rotate through all of the 4th grade classrooms and participate in activities that kids during colonial times would have done both for fun and for chores. 

We will

*arts and crafts with palm fronds

*colonial games and toys

*jewelry with beads

*corn grinding

*weaving

*writing with quills and ink

We need at least 2 volunteers to help with the activity in our room to help with arts and crafts with palm fronds. So far we have one volunteer, thanks Mrs. Foisy.

     This week in math we will finish module 3 and take our test. The test will be on Friday. After thanksgiving we will begin learning about fractions. Math Choices are due the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, 11/29. 

     This week in science we will learn about sound energy. Students will learn how sound travels and why sound is considered to be kinetic energy. 

     Since next week is only two days, I will not send another update until the week of November 28th.  We are out of school on Wednesday 11/23 - Friday 11/25. School begins again on Monday 11/28.

  

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving break,
Aesha Johnson

Week of November 7th

Happy Monday Everyone,

     Welcome to a short a week. We will have our annual JBE Veteran's Day Flag Raising Ceremony on Thursday morning. After the ceremony we will have members of our military visit our classrooms.  Also in honor of Veteran's Day we will not have school on this Friday.

     A big CONGRATULATIONS goes out to all of our students that participated in this year's Starfish Strut. I would like to congratulate Vivian for placing second in the fourth grade girls division. I would also like to congratulate Marcus for winning first place in the fourth grade boys division. Marcus also won first place overall for the boys division.

     A big THANK YOU goes out to Jawara's dad for showing us how magnets work in an engine. We were able to apply what we have learned about magnetic attraction works.

     Another big THANK YOU goes out to Anaiya's mom, for coming in a doing another Wellness lesson with us. This time we learned about continuing to make healthy food choices during the holidays. To learn more visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-J1hmmy1OB4 or www.choosemyplate,gov 

     This week in math we will continue working on our division strategies. Students will begin learning how to interpret the remainder. Sometimes the answer to the equation won't be the same as the answer to the question. You can see an example of this below.

103 fourth graders are traveling to the zoo. The vans that they will take can hold 8 people including the driver. How many vans will they need?

In doing the math for this you would get an answer of 12 R 7, however 12 R 7 does not answer the question. The correct answer to the question is 13 vans are needed. 12 vans will have 8 people and the 13th van will hold 7 people.

     Students will take a quiz on division strategies on Thursday.  Students in addition to solving the problems students will also have to use a second strategy to check. Their second strategy can be another division strategy or a multiplication strategy of their choosing.

     In science this week we will learn about energy. The students will learn that there are two types of energy; kinetic (energy of motion) and potential (stored energy). All forms of energy; sound, mechanical, chemical, thermal, and electrical fall into one of those two categories.

     In social studies we will learn more about the election process. The final set of the vocabulary words for this unit are due on Thursday. Students also have a social studies sheet due this Thursday.

Have a great week,
Aesha Johnson

Week of October 31st

Happy Halloween Everyone,

     I would  like to thank everyone that helped with our Fall Festival. We had lots of fun. If you would like to see the pictures, please visit our Shutterfly page at https://4thgraderocksatjbe.shutterfly.com/.

    I would also like to thank Jennifer Guss for coming in to teach us about positive and negative space in art.  

    We will have another Early Release this Wednesday. Students will be dismissed at 1:30.

     In math this week we will begin working on our strategies for solving division problems. In fourth grade students will have problems with one-digit divisors and up to a four-digit dividend. Students will solve problems with and without remainders. Students will learn the following strategies:




According to our standard students will not be taught the long division algorithm. Students will not learn or be responsible for the algorithm until 6th grade. I recognize that some students know how to use the algorithm as a compromise students will be allowed to use the algorithm when working on math superstars questions.

     This week in science we will take a test on chapter 4 lessons 3 and 5 on Wednesday. The test will focus on measuring matter (mass and volume) and changes in matter. Matter choices will be due next Friday. Be on the look out for an email with the matter choice directions for anyone needing to finish up at home. Our next unit of study will be energy.

    In social studies we will continue our study of the election process. Students will learn about how candidates are chosen during the primary process. Students will also be working on an essay about what they would do if they were President. Students will be bringing their writing home to share it with you. Feel free to help them edit their work for content and grammatical mistakes. Their final drafts will be our next hallway display.

Have a GREAT week,
Aesha

Week of October 24th

Hi Everyone,

     We have a very busy week this week. 

     On Monday my homeroom had a wonderful wellness visit from Anaiya's mom. We learned about bike helmet safety. We also learned about relaxation and deep breathing to help us to unwind when we are stressed. Here is the link that we used https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF52txZvUsA.  

     Today in the computer lab we began learning how to use the Power Point program. Students learned how to add an internet link to a presentation. Adding an internet link is a requirement for the power point choice board activity for math and science.

     We will have an early release this Wednesday. On Thursday we will take a field trip to the public library. We will leave the school at 9:30 and be back in time to eat lunch in the cafeteria. 

     We will have our Fall Festival on this Friday afternoon. An email was sent out with needed supplies. We will start our festivities at 1:00. Thanks in advance for helping out.

     This week in math we will continue to practice our multiplication strategies. Students need to know how to use a variety of strategies in their math work. In class we have learned about:
                   the area model

partial products

standard algorithm

and the distributive property

28 x 36

(20 x 36) + (8 x 36)

at this point I distribute a little more because I do not know automatically know 20 x 36 or 8 x 36

(20 x 36) becomes  (20 x 30) and (20 x 6) both I know automatically 600 + 120 =720

(8 x 36) becomes (8 x 30) and (8 x 6) 240 + 48= 288

Then I add 720+288 and get 1008

You will find that your child is having more difficulty with 2 digit numbers x 2 digit numbers. Just give them some practice problems and let them solve them using our different strategies. The more they practice the better they will get with them. At the end of the week, we will begin working division strategies.

     In science we will continue learning about the law of conservation of matter. We will also begin learning about physical and chemical changes.

     In social studies we will continue to learn about the election process. We will not spend time discussing the candidates in this years' election. We will learn about the requirements for running for president. How the primary process works, our political parties and the electoral college. Students will need to visit http://election.scholastic.com/election-central/vocabulary/ in order to complete their vocabulary for this unit.

Have a GREAT week,
Aesha 

Week of October 17th

Happy Monday,
     We will be celebrating Red Ribbon Week this Week at JBE!

Monday, October 17th “Elect to Be Drug Free”

* Wear red, white and blue to school

* Election at lunch – cast ballot choosing to be drug free (PTA)

Tuesday, October 18th “We Are All On the Same Team”

* Wear your favorite team jersey to school

Wednesday, October 19th “Don’t Judge Me Day”

* Anti-bullying theme

* Wear wacky clothes/hair/etc to school

* Photo booth at lunch (PTA)

Thursday, October 20th “My Character Rocks”

* Character theme

* Dress up as your favorite character

     There is no school on Friday due to a Teacher's Planning Day. Because of this i-Ready and Math Superstars will be due on Thursday.

    This week in math we will be begin learning about multiplication strategies. Our benchmark states that students must be able to multiply a whole number of up to four digits by a one-digit whole number, and multiply two two-digit numbers, using strategies based on place value and the properties of operations. We will be learning the area model:

partial products

standard multiplication algorithm

     This week in science we will learn about the Law of Conservation of Mass. This scientific law states that the parts of an object will have the same total mass as the whole object. We will also learn how to calculate the volume of cubes and rectangular prisms (V=length x width x height= cubic units). We will also learn how to calculate volume using water displacement. 

     This week in social studies students need to complete their Everytown Press Dispatch newspaper that tells about their presidency. In order to complete this students need to go to  http://teacher.scholastic.com/scholasticnews/games_quizzes/electiongame/game.asp

If students have trouble printing their newspaper they can save it to their thumb drive bring it in and I will print it for them. Or they can save it to their home computer and email it to me and I will print it for them. 

     Students can also visit  www.scholastic.com/election for more information about the election presented in a kid friendly format. During our unit we will relay on the scholastic site for content information. Students will also take notes in their journals. This is where we will pull questions for the tests and quizzes that we take. 

Have a Wonderful Week,

Aesha
 

Week of 10/10

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

     I hope everyone made it safely through the Hurricane Matthew with minimal damage. I know that we still have a few people that still do not have electricity at their homes so we will try to make this week a light as possible. 

     We will visit the Book Fair on Thursday this week at 1:05. You are welcome to come in and shop with your child. 

     In math this week I am not requiring students to complete the 30 minute i-Ready homework assignment. Students will still have Math Superstars which will be due on Friday.  We will take the math test that was scheduled for last week on Thursday (homeroom) and Friday (Pavlinek) this week. Students math choices that were due last Friday will be due on Thursday this week.

     In science we will complete a lab that we started last where we are trying to answer the question, How does freezing water affect its mass and volume? Students will take the science test on chapter 4 lessons 1, 2, and 4 on this Thursday. 

     In social studies we will take the test on chapter 2 on Wednesday. The vocabulary for chapter 2 will be due on Friday.  

Week of October 3rd

Happy Monday Everyone,

     A special thank you to Mrs. Guss for coming in and teaching us about optical illusion art. It was a lot of fun!! 

     Our school schedule is pretty light this week. Our student council representatives will be campaigning for the offices of Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and President. We will watch speeches on the morning announcements and vote on Friday. Good Luck to both Vivian and Sophia!

     PTA Reflections forms are due on Wednesday. So if your child is planning to enter a project they must turn in their participation sheet. 

     In math this week we will continue learning how to use the area and perimeter formulas to solve problems. In third grade students learned how to use the formulas. In fourth grade we will expand on the formulas by applying them to real world situations. We will also use the formulas to solve problems with multiplicative comparison.     

For example: 

*A narrow rectangular banner is 5 inches wide. It is 6 times as long as it is wide.

*Kevin is making a rectangular mural using colored tiles. He buys enough tiles to cover an area of 112 square feet. Kevin wants the width of the mural to be 8 feet. If he uses all of the tiles, what is the length of the mural?

     Students will take a Standards Mastery test on the computer that will cover factors, multiples, prime numbers, composite numbers, and area and perimeter. This test will count as a test grade. Due to computer lab scheduling my homeroom will take the test on Friday (10/7) and my Mrs. Pavlinek's homeroom will take the test on Monday (10/10). If any student needs to make up the test or complete the test that will happen on Tuesday (10/11). 

     Student's first round of math choices is due this Friday. Students can bring their projects home to finish them up and to have peer conferences with you. Please check your email for a list of directions for each project. Students are required to complete 2 choices. 

     In science we will continue our study of matter. This week students will learn about about the properties of water in each of its states. We will take a test on lessons 1, 2, and 4 next Tuesday. 

     In social studies students will take the test on chapter 2 on Friday. The vocabulary for chapter 2 is also due on Friday. 

Week of 9/26

Happy Monday Everyone,

     This week we will have Chick-Fil-A spirit night on Monday. A portion of the profits will go to our school. It is an Early Release day on Wednesday. And we will have school pictures on Friday. These pictures will be used in the year book so bring your best smile. 

     In math this week we will finish up our work with factors, multiples, prime numbers and composite numbers. We will learn all about ancient Greek mathematician, Eratosthenes. Eratosthenes developed a way to separate prime numbers from composite numbers. His sieve can be used to find all of the prime numbers from 1-100! See the movie on the math websites page.
      We will also learn about area and perimeter. We will build upon what students learned in 3rd grade. In 4th grade students will have to apply the area and perimeter formulas to solve real world situations. Students will have to solve simple problems such as

and more complex problems such as

and

     In science we will begin our study of matter. Students will learn about how we use the properties of matter to identify an object.  The properties of matter include:

*mass

*volume

*attraction to magnets

*shape

*size

*texture

*color

     Students will also learn the difference between mass and weight. Mass is the amount of matter contained within an object. Weight is the force of gravity on an objects mass. An objects mass stays the same unless something happens to the object to change it. An objects weight will change depending on the amount of gravitational force on the object. 

     This week in social studies we will finish up chapter 2. The test on chapter 2 will be Friday October 7th. The vocabulary for chapter 2 will be due on that day.

   Have a GREAT Week,

   Aesha

Student Council Class Representative Election

I would like to thank all of the boys and girls that were brave enough to run for one of the two available classroom representative positions. They all gave great speeches and it was a tough choice. Thanks to:

                      Karthik


                     Vivian

 
             Parker 


         Shankar


         Sophia

    
             Tyler
 
And the winners are......