It was a WONDERFUL first week of school! :)

 Hello, 4th grade parents!  We have had a spectacular first week of fourth grade!  

The kiddos have learned many new routines and have played some fun games to get to know one another.  We have eased into the transition of all the core classes, with the exception of Reading and Spelling.  We will begin that on Monday!  I have had so much fun getting to know your child.  We have had loads of fun this week, and had lots of laughter together too!  They love to learn, they love to laugh, and they love each other!  We are becoming a little classroom family.  :)   It is such a beautiful thing to witness.  Besides all of the fun we have had, I have highlighted just a few things below that we have learned this week:

RELIGION- This week, we began studying and learning from our Religion books!  We discussed the Creation Story, the Fall into Sin, and the Tower of Babel.  We learned how the days of Creation are connected, and how God’s intricate plan is awesome!  We discussed the vocabulary words about God:  He is omnipresent, omniscient, and omnipotent!  We discussed our blessings, and read Bible verses sharing the power of God.  We are using our Faith Alive Bibles daily.  Please send these back to school because we will use these every day in Religion class.  By the end of this school year, your kiddo will be a pro at looking at and finding Bible verses, with their favorites highlighted or underlined. 

Our first verse is our theme for the school year:  “Rooted in Christ.”

Next week’s MEMORY: 

8/25- The Old Testament

Books of Moses

Genesis 

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy

8/28-

Books of History

Joshua

Judges

Ruth

1 & 2 Samuel

1 & 2 Kings

1 & 2 Chronicles

Ezra

Nehemiah

Esther

LANGUAGE ARTS- We used our reading and writing skills when we created our time capsules, which we will put away and get back out in May to see our many changes.  We traced our hands and feet.  We also filled in sheets about our Favorite Things, wrote a letter to our future selves, took a mad minute, and created selfies.  We practiced a lot of cursive this week, and reviewed the letters l, h, k, t, a, d, c. The students were introduced to Judy Blume, the Author of the Month, this week, and they love her!  We read Freckle Juice and began Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. We also began writing about our summer vacations today!  Next week, we will have our first Literature unit (Because of Winn Dixie), and we will have our first spelling test next Friday.  Spelling words, and our challenge word will come home on Monday in the assignment books.  They will always be in this weekly note, and they are online for you to access on our blog.  I ask that your child take their reading book home at least once a week to review the story at home.  We will read it here several times, as well.  We will have a comprehension test over the selections on Fridays as well.  Next week, we will also begin English, where we will identify complete and incomplete sentences. Monday, the students will also receive information about book reports, when they are due, and what is expected.  They are reading Newbery Award winning books.  

SPELLING WORDS for the Week of August 28th:

Story: Because of Winn Dixie (Chapters 1-7)

blade, gray, past, afraid, magic, delay, amaze, drain, maybe, break,

sale, hang, stain, glass, raft, jail, crayon, fact, stale, steak, fraction, trait

Challenge Word: concoction

MATH- We took our first mad minutes and I assessed where each child was in this process.  Many of them already know their multiplication facts, and that is wonderful!  We completed some Problem Solvers, which takes real world math problems, and breaks them down, so that they can solve and experience them.  This is such good practice! We also finished our first unit in our new math books.  We talked about how we are math “superheroes” and what our math talents are.  We also reviewed simple fractions and how they are a big part of our world.  Next week, we will begin Unit 2 about Place Value.  

SCIENCE-Today we began reading about how our world is connected in our science books from the Missouri Department of Conservation.  We learned the difference between living and non-living things, and organisms and populations.  We went on a field investigation and looked within our schoolyard watershed to find all evidence of living and non-things outside.  We recorded these on our field clipboards.  We saw a moth, butterflies, bumblebees, grasshoppers, cattails, some spotted Swamp Milkweed, and a lot of different trees and weeds!  

ART-We made self-portraits with a “Who Am I?” riddle!  Check these out in the hallway!  

WRITERS' WORKSHOP-We began writing personal narratives about our summer vacations.  

COMPUTER LAB-4th graders learned how to make a document on Google Docs this week. We will begin friendly letters to me next week!  This year, my goal is that students will become proficient with Google Docs and their keyboarding skills.  We will begin publishing our own works!  

Next week, we will begin Spanish, P.E., and Music. 

As a reminder, HOMEWORK FOLDERS will come home this afternoon filled with graded work.  There was not much this week, but I wanted the kiddos to get into the habit of placing work there. If a paper just has a star on it, please know that it was looked at or discussed, but it was not for a letter grade in the grade book.  All papers with percentages on them are put in the gradebook.  Please empty these and return the folder on Monday.  Although we did not have very many assignments this week, anything with a letter grade B or below can be “redone” for half credit per answer, and turned back in on Mondays.  So far, everybody is doing very well and working very hard!

Personal News:  I have shared this with some of you, but I wanted to make sure you were aware, so you can please pray!  In the last 6 months, my dad was diagnosed with cancer directly tied to the Agent Orange he spread while in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War.  His doctors have tried quite a few different treatments, and his body is not responding well.  This week, we had to take him back to the hospital and he is currently in ICU.  As I learn how to take care of my beloved aging parents, (Mom has Parkinson's) my plan is to be here as much as I can, but please know that I may have to miss some school.  Serving you and your families, and teaching and taking care of your kiddos is my passion and love!  Thank you for praying for my family.  Please let me know how I can pray for yours. Much love!

Have a blessed weekend,

Kim