Week of 11/9

Hi Everyone,

     I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and did not get too wet from all of the rain.  We had several events this week. We will have our annual Veterans Day Flag Raising Ceremony. Immediately after the ceremony we will have a military person speak to our class about their job. There is no school on Wednesday in honor of Veteran's day. School will resume on Thursday. 

     Please keep sending in the $5 for the Colonial Kids Festival. We have one volunteer to help out during the festival. We are still in need of at least one more helper. If you are available please let me know. 

     In math this week students will continue learning about different strategies for solving multiplication problems (please see last weeks post for examples of each of the strategies that we will be learning about). Last week students learned about the area model and the distributive property. This week we will learn about using partial products and the standard algorithm.  Students will have a quiz on Friday where they will be expected to use all four strategies. Students will be allowed to use their journals to reference each strategy. 

     This week students will also have a timed quizzes for multiplication and division. During the second nine weeks students are going to begin tracking their progress on their timed quizzes. Students have been given a special sheet where they will record the grades that they earn on each quiz. Students will also set goals for maintaining or improving their scores. It is very important that students have mastery of the multiplication and division facts. All of the math that we will do for the rest of the year (multiplication/division, fractions, decimals, more measurement conversions) will require students to use multiplication and division.

     In science this week we will begin our study of energy. To finish our work on matter students will turn in their matter projects this Friday. I have encouraged students to bring home their projects to put the finishing touches on them before Friday. 

Week of November 2

Happy Monday Everyone,

     I hope that everyone enjoyed the 3 day weekend!! I would like to thank everyone that either sent in items or came to help out for last week's Fall Festival. It was a great time with lots of fun activities. A special thank you to Mrs. Brown (Ben), Mrs. Moorer (Summer) and Mrs. Pobst (Ryan) for organizing everything.
     
     Our schedule this week includes voting for Student Council Officers. Good Luck to Cecilia and Summer!! With two great candidates it will be hard to pick just one!! We will also have Early Release on Wednesday.

     Coming up on Thursday, November 19th we will have our first "field trip". For this field trip we will not have to leave the comfort of our school. Students will rotate through each 4th grade classroom to complete an activity that kids in colonial times would have done as part of their daily lives (palm weaving, colonial toys, spinning cotton, jewelry making, corn grinding, and quill and ink writing). To pay for supplies students will need to bring in $5.00. Please send in cash only in an envelope or baggie with your child's name written on the outside of the bag. We will also need at least 2 parents for each class to help facilitate the activities. If you are interested in helping out please let me know. The activities will run from 8:40-11:30.

     Our next unit for math is multiplication and division. Right now students are learning about factors, multiples, prime numbers, and composite numbers. From here we will move into multiplication strategies (see below).

Area Model

Distributive Property

Partial Products

Algorithm

Students will be required to learn and use each of the strategies above. The goal is for students to begin working towards proficiency with the algorithm. They will not be required to show mastery of the algorithm until 5th grade.  In 4th grade students will multiply 2-digit numbers by 2-digit numbers, 2-digit numbers by a 1-digit number, 3-digit by a 1-digit number and 4-digit by 1-digit.

     For this nine weeks timed quizzes will make the following changes. Multiplication quizzes will now be 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Division quizzes will now count for a grade, but students will be get 3 minutes. Please help your child by practicing their facts for a short time everyday.

     In science we will finish up our study of matter. Students will take a quiz on chapter 4 lessons 4 and 5 on this Friday. Next week we will continue our study of physical science by looking at energy.

Have a GREAT week,

Aesha

Week of 10/19

Happy Monday Everyone,

     I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to enjoy the cooler temperatures. 

     We have a very busy week. We had a great assembly today where we learned some interesting information about sea turtles. Did you know that for every 1,000 sea turtles only 1 survives? Each year we have about 60 sea turtle nests on our beaches here in Jacksonville. Sea turtles return to the same beach where they were born to lay their eggs.
     We will also have Early Release this Wednesday. Students will be dismissed at 1:30.

     This week in math students will complete our introductory unit on measurement. We will take a test on Wednesday. Today students also received a Measurement Conversions Reference Sheet. Students will be allowed to use this reference sheet whenever we have measurement tasks to complete (class work, quizzes, tests, etc). Students should be familiar with the info on sheet but they do not have to memorize the unit conversions. When we take the FSA in the spring students will be given the same sheet to use during testing. Students are bringing home a study guide to complete for tonight's homework. After the test on Wednesday, we will begin working on factors and multiples. This will be the lead in to our unit on multiplication and division. 

     Students will have been working on projects during math rotations. Students were given the choice of three projects (Blog Visits, Blog Topics, or Million Minute Reading Challenge). We have been working on these projects for about three weeks. Their completed projects are due this Friday and will be graded. The students should bring home their project on Tuesday to have a peer conference with someone at home. The students should share their project with someone at home. After sharing their work they should get feedback on the job that they did, whether it is complete, and comments about sentence structure and conventions (grammar, punctuation, capitalization). Please also keep in mind that neatness will factor into the final grade. Based on the feedback that they receive they should complete or edit their work. I sent an email with the project directions and rubrics. If you did not receive the email please let me know. I probably do not have the correct email address for you.

     This week in science we will take a test on chapter 4 lessons 1, 2, and 3. We are taking the test before the end of the chapter so that students will have two test grades in the grade book to help balance their grades. 

Have GREAT week,
Aesha
   

Week of 10/12

Hi Everyone,

     I would like to thank everyone that has signed up for our Remind groups. It will come in handy for quick reminders for field trips, changes in homework assignments, and last minute school announcements. If you are interested in joining the group for your child's class please see the email that was sent last week.
     We will have Donuts with Dads this week. Students with last names A-L are invited to come to the cafeteria on Thursday morning to share a special birthday treat with dad, granddad, uncle, or any other special guy. Students with last names M-Z are invited to come on Friday morning.
     We will also have Book Fair this week in the library. Students will visit the library during their regular library time. Mrs. Pavlinek's class will get to shop on Wednesday morning and Ms. Johnson's homeroom will shop on Thursday morning. Parents are also welcome to come and shop with their child's class.
     In math this week we will continue our study of measurement. We will finish our study of the metric system and begin learning about customary units of measure. For both systems students will learn about units for measuring length, capacity, mass (metric), and weight (customary). Students will discuss the differences between mass and weight. Students will also learn how to convert units. If you have 250 centimeters how many millimeters is that equal to? In fourth grade students will not have convert between systems (250 centimeters is equal to how many inches).

     In science this week we will continue our study of matter. Students will be learning about the Law of Conservation of Mass. This law states that the parts of an object will have the same total mass as the object. We will also learn how to measure matter. We will learn that we use a pan balance to find mass and scale to measure weight. Students will also learn how to measure and calculate the volume of liquids and solids.
     Choice Projects are due this Friday for both math and science. Students have been working on their projects for many weeks in class. If students need to finish them up they are welcomed to bring them home this week or come into the classroom before school to work.

Have a GREAT week.

Week of 9/28

Hi Everyone,
     Welcome to another week at JBE. Students that signed up for it will be receiving the flu mist at school on Tuesday. We will be taking our first science test on Thursday. 

     Please be aware that students will be counted as tardy beginning at 8:35. Students are let into the room at 8:25. We have morning announcements at 8:30 and we try to begin instruction at 8:40. When students arrive at school before 8:30 it allows them time to unpack, get their pencils sharpened and get ready for the day without having to rush. On Monday's students are also trying to get their agenda items copied down from the board. If there homework the night before that assignment is being checked off. 

     In math this week we will be working on decomposing numbers using the subtraction algorithm. The problems that students will be solving this week will require decomposing more than once (see the example below). Since there are many layers of regrouping in these problems I am encouraging students to use another strategy to check their work. 

     In science this week we will take our first chapter test. The test will be on Thursday 10/1. The test will cover all 5 lessons in chapter. Students will not be allowed to use their books or journals during the test. The test will have multiple choice, written response, fill in the blank, and vocabulary questions. This week students will also receive grades for the chapter vocabulary section and the science tools sections of their journals. 

Week of 9/21/15

Hi Everyone,

     I would like to thank everyone for coming to Open House last week. After a long day at work I know that the last thing anyone wants to do is come and sit and listen to a presentation. Mrs. Pavlinek and I are very appreciative that so many of you came.
     I would also like to thank everyone for the sweet and thoughtful birthday wishes. A special thank you to Mrs. Brown for picking up cupcakes for both classes to enjoy with lunch.
    This week at JBE students will have Early Release on Wednesday. We will have vision screening on Thursday. And PTA will have a family picnic on Saturday.
    This week in math students will learn how to represent addition and subtraction problems using tape diagrams. Students will also use the standard algorithm to solve addition and subtraction problems. 
    This week in science students will learn the difference between evidence and inference in science. Evidence includes any information that you have and observations that you make. Facts and information from experiments is evidence. Scientist use evidence to make inferences. 

Have a wonderful week!

Week of 9/14

Hi Everyone,
     I hope that you had a wonderful weekend, as always just a little bit to short. Our schedule this week includes picture day on Tuesday and Enrichment Labs on Wednesday. Fourth and Fifth graders get to choose their labs so hopefully your child will be very excited about their assigned lab. You are also invited to attend Open House on Thursday night at 6:00. Mrs. Pavlinek and I hope that you will be able to join us. We will meet in room 207 after a brief presentation by Mrs. Mattingly in the cafeteria.

     In math this week we will take our first quiz. The quiz will cover everything that we have learned so far this school year: naming and representing numbers (unit form, expanded form, word form, standard form), comparing numbers, ordering numbers, rounding numbers, and adding numbers using the standard algorithm. 
     Students will also have another timed quiz. Although students will take both multiplication and division quizzes, only the multiplication quiz will count for a grade. Division quizzes will not count for a grade until the second nine weeks. Students will bring home their first timed quizzes this week. If students get a 100 on their multiplication quiz, then they will not have to take any more multiplication quizzes for the rest of the month. Students will not have to take another division quiz if they answer all of questions correctly. 

     In science this week we will learn how to use a microscope. We will also learn how to use the scientific method to complete a lab entitled Does Soap Float? Students will also take a quiz on chapter 1 lesson 3.

Have a great week!!