Field DayField Day: Rescheduled to Wednesday due to the rain in the forecast for Thursday! Fourth Grade will have lunch in the 11-12 window and will start Field Day at 12. If you'd like to come eat with your student or join us for field day, please let me know so that I can expect you (even if it's short notice). The cafeteria will have sack lunches for us that day, or you may send a lunch with your student. Attire: We will be getting wet during the day--plan outfits and shoes accordingly! IF your student is wanting a to participate in having their shirt signed, they will need to have either their Field Day shirt or I will need permission from you (email, call, or a note) stating that they can have their shirt signed. This is just to prevent any unwanted signings on shirts you may prefer that they not have sharpie on :) We will also pass out yearbooks on Wednesday to be signed and sent home. Field TripThe Jeff City Field trip is next Wednesday, May 17. Kids need to arrive between 7:00 and 7:15. The buses will leave at 7:30am and will return around 8:00pm. 7:30 - Depart Willard East (This time is set in stone! Other times are flexible due to travel etc.) 10:00-10:30 Arrive in Jeff City between 3:30-4:00 Leave Jeff City between Dinnertime: Stop in Lebanon for fast food (You will need to send money BEFORE the field trip or communicate with me that you'll be there with us to pay for your student.) Back in Willard between 7:00-8:00-ish We'll eat our lunch around the Capitol building in Jeff City. Since we we'll be outside, please send a SACK lunch (in a disposable bag). We'll have coolers and clothes baskets to put lunches in. Please make sure to send money for their dinner before 5-17. I would love to have their dinner money organized before we leave on that early bus ride! Notes for Summer:I love getting these students ready for 5th Grade! These last days are such a treasure to me. As we're journeying together, I'm aiming to do as much hands-on as possible!
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Upcoming DaysMAP TESTING IS OVER!!! We're so excited to move into the rest of the year with some amazing opportunities for hands on application in new ways for us! We're finishing the year! 15 more school days to learn and grow before 5th Grade! Just wanted to give you all an overview of where we're headed Reading: We started book clubs today to give students an opportunity to use all they know about Reading. They're loving it so far!! This week they chose their books, researched their authors, and began reading and discussing. DRA season is also here where we check in on students' reading progress. Look for their numbers in their progress reports at the end of the year! Writing: Next week we'll start shared research with a second grade class! Miss Schmidt and I had students choose a topic then paired a second and fourth grader. We're so excited to teach these second grade friends how to dig through resources to find the best things to share! Math: Geometry is next on the schedule which if fun since we get to do more hands on and creative projects. Science: We love force and motion! We've been able to do a lot of experiments, which they have been really enjoying. Check it out!Make sure to check out our shared folder with our pictures from over the year! We'll be going to see our Reading Buddies next Friday and will be needing cookies (or snack cakes of some kind) and juice boxes. If you would be able to send in either (enough for about 50 students) that would be awesome!! We had a parent come in and share their expertise this week! If any other parent would like to share, please let me know so we can get the details worked out! Upcoming EventsMay 5: Reading Buddies, Permission forms due for the Field Trip
May 11: Transition Day in the AM, Field day PM. Yearbooks will be distributed on Field Day. Students will also have the opportunity to sign shirts that day. If you'd like to have lunch with your student on Field Day, please let me know so I know to be expecting you! May 17: Field Trip to Jeff City. Leave from the school at 7:30 AM and return to school to be picked up at 8:00 PM. Please send their permission form, bus money, and money for their dinner anytime between now and field trip day! Here is a link to the field trip permission form for more information! MAPMotivation: Posters should be turned in as soon as possible! I'll be hanging them up before testing! Look back at last week's post for more information and email me with any questions. Letters: Letters of encouragement should be returned to me before April 19! Look back at the earlier post for more information. Donations: Lemon drops, #2 pencils, pine or cedar for the Scentsy Reminders about dates and habits: Get plenty of rest! Eat a breakfast that will stick with you! You're welcome to send a individual or class brain snack and/or water bottle. Most importantly: Give your student more than plenty of affirmation that they have value and purpose no matter their score. Encourage them to do their best in everything to show their best and brightest character!! UpcomingClassroom needs:
MAP TestingMAP testing is on it’s way! We’re in full swing of preparing our minds and mindsets for MAP testing! Students have been working hard all year to grow in their reading, writing and math thinking skills and strategies. I’m so proud of where we’ve traveled in our learning as fourth graders and I’m so excited to see what they’ve remembered on the state test. As with everything that I’ve taught the students this year, we can’t always choose what’s put in front of us but we can choose our attitude and effort! There are a couple of traditions that I have to help students with that mindset. Please read on to know how YOU can support YOUR student!! Testing dates for 4th Grade are scheduled for April 19, 21, 25, 26. Letters of Encouragement Paper and envelopes will be coming home for you to write a letter, card, or note of encouragement to your child that I will pass along to them on the first morning of testing. Sometimes all they need before settling into their seat to get started is one little reminder of the people that care most for them. I will also be writing a note to each student! If you would like to send a card, note, or letter to your child for that day, please send it to me in a sealed envelope. You may either send it with your child to return to me or you may mail it to me at school (Miss Kayla Bobeen, 518 E Kime St, Willard, MO 65781). Please have it back to me no later than April 18th for organizational purposes. Students should have come home with 2 pieces of Candyland style paper and 2 envelopes to pass onto you the parents. The goal of sending 2 is that every parent or other family member would have a chance to send a letter! “What Motivates You?” Poster Today we discussed what or who motivates us to do our best. Before testing occurs in our classroom, we’ll be hanging posters around the room that students can create to remind them of something or someone who motivates them! The goal is that when students are testing, they will have a little piece of their heart around the room to look up at when they’re needing encouragement to keep going! This is where you come in! I’ll send home a paper for your student to create a collage or paste a picture (or 2!) of the things that motivate them! The only guiding points (THIS IS DIFFERENT THAN THE LETTER I SENT TODAY) they need is that it must fit on the construction paper and it must any words they include cannot be academic related. Other than that, the poster may be as detailed or as simple as your student desires in order to feel motivated! Please have these returned to school no later than April 18th (sooner is better!) If a student does not have one sent back by then, I’ll have them draw/create a poster at school (after learning time). As these start coming back, they’ll be displayed around the room! Classroom Needs:
MAP Goals: Last week we set goals for academic standards, question strategies, or time management! Ask your student about their goal! I’m so proud of how reflective they were in identifying the best place for them to grow. Multiplication facts are a BIG DEAL in supporting what they know in 4th grade Math!! The best way you can support their reading is by having them read for 20 minutes or more at home and asking them deep thinking questions as often as you can. Ask them to look back when they’re answering. Read with your student!! Habits for the week of testing:
Please let me know if you have any questions! Field TripWednesday, May 17th, our Fourth Grade team will be traveling to Jefferson City, Missouri for our field trip!! The day will be filled with the following activities:
We are SO excited about this educational field trip!! We will be renting two coach buses and leaving Willard East promptly at 7:30 am and returning to school approximately at 8 pm. Please be here a few minutes early as it’s difficult to give an exact time of return. The cost of the trip is $10 per student to cover the cost of their seat on the bus. Lunch needs to be sent from home (or bought from the school cafeteria). On the way home we will be stopping at McDonald’s in Lebanon for dinner. Students will need to send in $5-10 for their dinner. Each class will have 7 seats available for parents at $10 each. These will be reserved on a first come-first serve basis. If you are a parent who would rather drive yourself, carpool, or the seats fill up before you are able to commit, you are more than welcome to follow the buses yourself! Students are able to bring books, snacks, and/or electronics (no more than 3) for entertainment on the bus ride. The school is not liable for their devices. Additionally, students will be expected to leave their devices on the bus during the day of the field trip. To take pictures, they may bring a digital or disposable camera--no phones or tablets will be able to come into the capitol building with us. Please complete and return the permission slip to your student’s teacher before Friday, May 5th. If you are paying with a check, please make it payable to Willard East (dinner money will need to be sent in cash). Please keep in mind that this is a fast paced trip and there is a huge amount of walking! Classroom PicturesJust a reminder to follow this link to the Google Folder that has our pictures from the year!
Academic UpdatesReading: We're wrapping up our deep dive into fiction reading. Students have been working hard to look at theme, analyze characters, and make inferences about the text. Our 3rd Quarter assessment will be the beginning of next week. So excited to see what they can do! (Some of our check-ins have been logged into Mastery Connect so take a look to see how your student is doing!) Writing: Tomorrow will be our Famous Missourian wrap-up with students' Biography Bottles. I'm excited to see how creative they've been and have loved seeing the few that have already come in! We'll be working on using figurative language to write poetry, and doing some deep dive with grammar coming up. Math: Friday's Topic 9 Adding and Subtracting Fractions test was the best test we've ever had as a class!! Students did a phenomenal job showing what they know! We'll be starting multiplication of fractions tomorrow. Science: We've just started exploring electricity and circuits! This unit has some fun opportunities for hands on with trying out parallel and series circuits and the parts of a circuit. Read Across America Week!This week is Read Across America week!! Willard East will have dress up spirit days each day this week and Family Reading Night on Thursday!
Important Dates
It's January in Missouri which always calls for surprises in the weather! Thank you for taking care of your kiddos and making sure they're bundled up and have enough rest to be ready to learn and grow everyday! In the ClassroomReading: We're continuing with nonfiction reading skills as we did before break, digging into texts as a researcher. Taking organized notes and piecing information together will be an important skill that we're working on. Writing: Informative writing is our focus for third quarter. Students started researching a famous scientist or inventor of their choosing this week. They got really excited about discovering what was important in their scientist's lives! Toward the end of this unit each student will be working on researching a Famous Missourian, crafting a biographical article (just like the one we're doing in class), and crafting a creative presentation on that person. I'm really excited about this and will get more information to you as it gets closer. Math: This unit focuses on problem solving skills with word problems and multi-step word problems that are real world. It is important for students have a foundation of using the multiplication, division, and addition operations. Please check in with them on their homework and graded work sent home. The test for this short unit will be this coming week. Science: For most students, this is their favorite time of the day! We're currently working on the Rock Cycle with houses a lot of opportunities for hands on activities. After we finish discussing each type of rock and how it forms, we will be creating a rock cycle using crayons. If you have old pieces of crayons that we can use to shave and layer to create rocks, we would be very grateful! Please send them in by Monday Jan 23rd. Extra Important Topics
Wrapping it up!We're wrapping second quarter assessments this week! Last week we worked through the Reading Assessment, so this week we're reviewing and looking back at some standards. We have also finished our Writing Assessment. Our students worked so hard on their opinion pieces, I've been very impressed with their writing overall! And Math is looking good as we move closer to the Division Test that will be on Friday. We've worked on Standard Algorithm (traditional long division) and a few others. I will send a "study guide" of the strategies we've worked through tomorrow and the practice test on Wednesday. As always, let me know if you have questions! This link should let you see the pictures that we've taken over the first semester of 4th Grade! Including the videos of our Reader's Theaters from a couple weeks ago with our Reading Buddies! Upcoming DatesTomorrow (12-13) is the Fourth Grade Music Program at 7:00 pm! Students are to report to their classroom at 6:45 (no earlier), leaving their coats and any other belongings with their families! A note was sent home today about costumes and outfits for tomorrow. Please send an email or DOJO message if you need more information. Next Wednesday (12-21) is a half day and is our Christmas party! We'll celebrate in the hour before lunch that day (10:30-11:30). If you'd like to be a part of the party either in sending supplies or showing up, please let me know! You are always welcom! (My mom will even be visiting our classroom!) School will resume January 5, 2017 after a wonderful Christmas Break! Classroom NeedsGerm-X is a huge need in our class right now as it's germ season and nose blowing has been at an all-time high for our year.
Kleenex are starting to dwindle to the ends of our supply. Black Expo markers have started to dry out or becoming hard to use. Anything you can send is more than appreciated!! Just a few updates from the classroom!
We finished our Multiplication unit last week! Our students did a phenomenal job at showing what they know about multiplication, growing everyday! We'll be headed into division next so let's get their minds ready by continuing to practice multiplication facts as that connects with fact families for division. Reading and Writing: We're continuing non-fiction reading comprehension strategies and opinion writing. They're growing so much! Just a reminder to keep them reading at home! Reading for 20 minutes a night can make a world of difference in their success in school and in life. Turning in a reading log each month can also earn them a free personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut! This week and next we'll be working on a few different holiday Reader's Theaters that we'll share with our Reading Buddies class next Friday. On this long weekend, they'll be bringing their script home to practice reading just in case they find a few extra minutes. This will also give you an opportunity to share what they're practicing with you! Their part does NOT have to me memorized! Already they are loving working with their groups! (I'll post pictures and videos of that day in our Class DOJO and here on the blog. Dates to remember:
AnnouncementsIt's Conference Week! Please refer to the Signup sheet as a reminder of your conference time! It is very important that we meet to discuss your student's progress into our Fourth Grade year together! Students have Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off from school (Nov 4, 7, & 8) for Fall Break. Please plan accordingly. Fall is in full swing! Leaves are falling and germs are everywhere. Make sure your student gets plenty of rest to decrease their likelihood of illness. We have much to learn and cover in Second Quarter! We're also going through Kleenex like crazy with runny noses from the seasons changing. If you're able, please send Kleenex, Germ-X, and/or Clorox wipes! Mastery Connect: You can check out your student's Progress Report on Mastery Connect. We've also already added a Math Assessment and a couple other daily work assignments that will show their progress or reteaching times. **NOTE: Please keep Halloween candy at home to be enjoyed - not sent for snack and preferably not at lunch either. Excess sugar isn't the brain's best food for learning. :) Classwork:Reading: Second Quarter is in full swing focusing on close reading Non-fiction text. We'll be finishing Text Features and studying Main Idea with supporting details this week and summarizing next week.
Writing: Fourth Graders LOVE writing their opinions! Last week we worked on a class piece that focused on why Miss Bobeen's Class should have a class pet. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun sharing what logical reasons mean and how to support our opinions with facts and examples! Math: Having finished the Topic 3 Assessment with multiplication, we're moving into multi-digit multiplication. I love working through different strategies and ways to solve and understand multiplication. Be looking out for a letter that discusses our new curriculum at Parent-Teacher Conferences! Social Studies: Studying the geography of our great state has kept us moving in Social Studies. This week we'll continue working on a project to show what we know about the Show Me state! What a week! We've been working hard at the beginning of Second Quarter! Tomorrow will be our Tiger Token celebration with bring a stuffed animal to school! It must be able to fit in their backpack (Note: This is NOT a PJ day as well--only stuffed animals!)
We kicked off our first week by finishing our class read aloud "Bunnicula" and reviewing some key ideas from last week. Next week we'll be moving on from reading fiction into reading informational texts! In Writing we have begun discussing Opinion pieces and will soon be drafting opinion essays. They have gotten so excited about sharing their opinions! Including logical reasons and factual evidence are usually the trickiest piece, but they are already wanting to research! Monday we will wrap up multiplying one digit by multi-digit. Tonight they should have come home with a vocabulary review. The test will ask them to use specific multiplication strategies to show their thinking. We've talked a lot in class about how we learn different strategies because thinking about things in different ways increases our understanding and makes us strong problem solvers. Tomorrow they will come home with the review guide (red and says assessment at the top) and their graded reteaching page (the evens will be blank just in case they need to practice). Important note: we teach the problem solving using word problems to give the math algorithm context. Some of the problems are multi-step! This week and next we will be focused on the Missouri Regions and their landforms. Social Studies is one of my favorite things to teach! We are currently working in groups to research and present on the different regions. ****CONFERENCES ARE COMING UP!!! Please make sure the you have signed up on the Google Doc or have called the Willard East office to claim your time! We will discuss progress reports and look at some of their work. **** Red Ribbon Week will be next week (10/24-10/28) Students are welcomed to dress up to show a spirit of committing to a life drug free. The theme is "I elect to be Drug Free!" Tiger Pride is also just around the corner! It's hard to believe that October is almost over, but here we are! November 4-8 will be Fall Break! Please plan accordingly! |
Miss Kayla BobeenI love learning and am always looking for a new adventure! My favorite adventures are in great books and with family and friends. LinksWish List
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