Week of January 16th

Hi Everyone,

     I hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend. Please remember that if students are interested in participating in this year’s Invention Convention, they must return the form requesting an information packet. The due date for requests are tomorrow, Wednesday 1/18.

     Students were given permission slips for the field trip to the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens. The field trip is on Friday January 27^th. If you would like to be a chaperone please send in your payment with your child’s. All chaperones must be cleared to by DCPS to be a volunteer.                                                                                                Go to http://dcps.duvalschools.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=7416 to apply.

     Students have also been given information about this year’s Literacy Week activities. Students should be working on their Amazon book summary for the door decorating project. Students were given their word for the Vocabulary Parade. Be creative!!

     In math this week, we will begin using a new computer program called Prodigy games. You can find it by going to www.prodigygame.com/play. Students logged in today in the computer lab and should have their user name and passwords in their trappers. This week for homework students may either complete 15 minutes of i-Ready or 15 minutes of Prodigy. The assignments on prodigy are aligned to our state MAFS standards. I will go on each week and make a new assignment. The assignments will come from both current material and previously taught material.

     In class we will be finishing up our unit on fractions. The students will take their test sometime next week. After fractions we will begin working on decimals.

     In science this week, we will complete our unit on force and motion. Students will take an open book test on Thursday. We will then begin our study of plants and animals. Our unit will start off with how plants reproduce. Did you know that plants have male and female parts? We will be dissecting flowers to see the parts on next Monday.

     In social studies this week, students need to read chapter 4 lesson 2 and complete vocabulary in their journals. In this lesson we will learn about how the British took over control of Florida from Spain. Last week we learned about Fort Mose, the first African American settlement in Florida. It is located between Jacksonville and St. Augustine. According to the website it is open to the public.                                                         Go to https://www.floridastateparks.org/park/Fort-Mose for more information. 

Week of January 9th

Happy New Year Everyone,

     I hope that everyone had a wonderful winter break!! I know I did! It was hard coming in last Thursday. The students must have had a great vacation too, because they have been attentive and eager to get back to work. 

     It is hard to believe but we are now at the midway point of the school year. Please check your child's pencil pouch to see if they are in need of a supply replenishment. Many students have come to class with out pencils or checking pens. Students need those two items everyday. Students may also need new glue sticks, scissors, and colored pencils. 

     Don't forget we will be going on our first out of the building field trip on Friday January 27th. We will be traveling by bus to the Jacksonville Zoo. We will be ordering our lunches from the zoo. Students should have brought home a lunch order form to you last week or the beginning of this week. We need to have these forms back no later than this Friday 1/13. We have to call the zoo and give a final count for lunch. Students have a choice of a hamburger, hot dog, or peanut butter and jelly uncrustable.  Each lunch also comes with chips, animal crackers and a drink. If students also have the option of not ordering a lunch. In that case students will need to bring a bag lunch with a drink on the day of the field trip. 

      You may also order a lunch. Just fill out that portion of the lunch order form. Also if you are planning to chaperone for the field trip, please make sure your DCPS volunteer status is up to date. 

     In math this week we will learn how to add and subtract fractions using a variety of strategies.

 subtraction with a tape diagram

subtraction with a number line

subtraction with decomposition

Students will also learn how to use a line plot. A line plot is a graph that shows frequency of data along a number line. It is best to use a line plot when comparing fewer than 25 numbers. It is a quick, simple way to organize data.

The line plot above shows data for the amount of snowfall for the month of December. Each time a number appears in the data you place an X above that number on the number line. In addition to constructing a line plot students will also be asked questions about the data. For example, How many total inches of snow fell during the month of December?

     In science this week, we will become physicists and learn about forces, motion, and speed. Did you know that the gravity is considered a non contact force. This means that the object that is affected by gravity doesn't need to be touching anything. Chapter 6 is a very short chapter, there are only two lessons. We will take an open book test next week. Students are also not being assigned vocabulary words or choices for chapter 6.

     In social studies this week we will begin working on chapter 4. In chapter 4 we will learn about how the English, French, and Spanish all fought over Florida. Did you know that today's South Carolina was part of Spanish Florida and the British wanted the land? The French wanted the land near Pensacola. Students need to read and be ready to discuss chapter 4 lesson 1 on this Friday.

     Have a GREAT week,

    Aesha

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