Fall Update
Here’s What’s Going On!
First and Very Important:
Study today/tonight for our economics test tomorrow! Lots of vocabulary terms to know and explain.
Next:
Halloween Party is October 31, from 2:20 – 3:20 pm.
Costumes can be brought to school in a bag. We will dismiss for recess that day at 2 pm so students may go out for recess and/or get their costumes on for the party. Parents are welcome to set up for the party at that time. Please, no weapons, clowns, or ultra scarey costumes should be worn at school. Thanks!
Curriculum Update:
Math: Unit 1 test is done. Data binders should have come home for parents to peruse. The goal behind these binders is to help your student self-monitor their growth through the year and feel proud of their accomplishments. We are on to Unit 2, which is multiplication. Watch for parent explanation sheets of methods to come home. Hopefully, we may get a few student explanations filmed for the blog too!
Reading: Q is the level your student is considered proficient at this time of year. Be sure your student is exercising their reading muscles nightly for at least 20-25 minutes!
Writing: We have turned in a published personal narrative and now we are on to our favorite! Writing realistic fiction! Students are off and running, developing characters and believable plots for their stories.
Science: After our econ test, we start our science unit off with the study of matter! We’ve got lots of great hands on experiments coming up!
Finally:
Just want our parents to know what a great group of kids we are! We have been getting “Outstanding” Awards from Mrs. Reagan and other teachers, and lots of compliments too! Everywhere we go, we want to show that we are “Gentle Giants” – leaders who make good choices without needing a lot of reminders.
Have a great few weeks!
A New Way to Study Vocabulary
We have been learning tons of new vocabulary in our economics unit in social studies. Words like “profit”, “scarcity”, “supply”, “demand”, “consumer”, “producer” and more can be hard to remember. Today we invited Mrs. Huizenga’s class to come and play Quizlet with us, a cool computer game we play in teams to learn the vocab. Here’s a snippet of what it’s like to play! We have a blast!
Quizlet from Lynn Quigley on Vimeo.
4th Grade Blogging Fever!!
Hi Friends and Family,
We have started to blog!! Check out our awesome blogs by scrolling down under “Class Blogs” (located under school calendar) and click on your favorite 4th grader’s blog. We are going to showcase our interests and learning this year on our blogs and share them with friends from around the world! Feel free to leave a comment or two! We LOVE to get feedback on what we are doing!
For more on blogging, watch the video below!
Another Walkathon Success!
Last Friday, Sept. 23, 2016 was another great day for the Georgetown Elementary School Walkathon! Our class walked a minimum of 4 laps per student and with 23 students, we walked more than a total of 92 laps!! And that’s just a minimum! Some kids did more than 4!
Thank you to all of our families who donated to our only fundraiser of the year. Money is still being counted and soon all prizes will be announced! We appreciate all of the extras that the PTC of Georgetown provides for us. 
Picture Day Sept. 22
Say “CHEESE”!!
Hi Parents!
It’s time to smile pretty!! School picture day is Thursday, September 22, 2016. Please send the picture packet back to school if you would like to purchase pictures. The packet was sent home with your child today (Friday, 9/16/2016).
Retakes will be on Thursday, October 27.
Thanks!
Student Blogs Coming Soon!!
Soon you will see a new feature attached to our classroom blog: individual student blogs! The purpose of this activity is to promote connective reading and writing, cooperative learning, and responsible digital citizenship. Our students are excited to have a platform in which to share their learning, talents, and abilities with other students.
Parent Permission & Guidelines
A letter was sent home yesterday explaining our new student blogs. In order for your student to participate, please read through the letter, as well as, the student rules for blogging. Be sure to discuss with your student why these rules are important. Please read both copies, sign them, and send them back in to school. We can’t wait to get started!!
Wow! What a great start to the school year!!
First, a big shout out of “THANKS” to our parents for sending in all the great school supplies! You really make a difference! Thanks for the support.
Next, what a FANTASTIC bunch of fourth graders I have! Thank you for sending me such neat kids. Already I can tell these guys are great thinkers filled with great ideas! It is going to be a fun year of learning and growing together.
Homework and Math
This week, we begin full throttle into our fourth grade curriculum. Your student should be bringing home a nightly folder that has daily mail in it. This year we are going to try something new for homework. On Monday, a sheet will come home for the week that’s entitled “Weekly Homework Sheet“. On this sheet, you will see each day of the week on a grid. Under each day will be 3 math problems. These will be problems that relate to the current day’s math lesson. It will be important for your student to practice what we’ve learned at home. Please have a daily conversation with your student to see if they understand the math for the day and check over their problems with them. Sometimes, hearing a concept explained to them by more than one person, can help them learn the skill at a deeper level. Thanks in advance, for helping me out with this. If your child is struggling with a concept, jot a note on the grid and we will tackle it in the classroom again one on one. Another resource you can use to help your child understand a concept are some of the videos I have posted by math operation under “Classroom Tutoring” at the bottom of the blog. These may be helpful in explaining a concept that is hard to get. You can also email me if you have questions or need further explanations.
Homework and Reading
On the Weekly Homework Sheet mentioned above, there is also a square on the grid to have your student write the title of the book they are reading at home and the number of minutes that they have read per night. This will count as their Reading Log. Fourth graders are expected to read at least 20-30 minutes per night in a chapter book at their guided reading level. Research has proven that children become better readers when reading at least 90 minutes per day. We are working on increasing our reading minutes here at school, as well as, reading nightly at home.
Homework and MobyMax
Finally, there will be one last square on the grid to check off for fluency math practice on MobyMax. Your 4th grader will be expected to be fluent in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. One great way to practice this is online with MobyMax. Your student will have a log in and password and should be practicing at least 5 minutes nightly.
So altogether, your student should really only have 30-40 minutes of homework a night. He or she should be keeping track of it him/herself as we are promoting responsibility and independence strongly in 4th grade. I hope this explanation helps to know what’s expected and let me know if you have any questions! Thanks!
-Mrs. Q
Welcome Back to a Great Year!!!
Open House!
Tuesday, August 30th from 6:30- 7:30! Can’t wait to meet all of my new students and their families! Stop in to see what’s in store for our year in school and get a sneak peek of your new room and the new hallway. Feel free to bring in any supplies you may have already gotten and “lighten your load” on the first day! It’s going to be a great year!!
Stop the “Summer Slide”!!
Have you ever heard the phrase ‘summer slide’? It refers to the loss of learning that can take place when skills are not practiced over the summer. We want everyone to keep their learning brains turned on by spending a 10-50 minutes every day practicing math facts and reading. To determine the appropriate minimum number of minutes/day for your child, multiple their grade level by 10. For example, a first grader would spend a minimum of 10 minutes — 5 minutes on math and 5 minutes on reading.
Our school has a login for all students on MOBYMAX – an excellent online tool for all content areas. If your child has forgotten their password/login, email me.
On Mobymax, I recommend the following:
- Grade K: Number Sense, Alphabet and Reading Trio
- Grade 1: Number Sense (review), Math Fact Fluency and Reading Trio
- Grade 2-5: Math Fact Fluency (keep those facts fresh) and any of the other applications on the site.
Also, if you would like to track reading minutes over the summer, this counts too. Simply log into this form once a week to tell me how many minutes per week or per month you are reading. Summer learning contest ends on August 20.
All students who participate in summer learning entered into a drawing
for an AMAZON GIFT CARD.
Finally, Mrs. Vandenberg, our librarian, would love to have post photos of you reading over the summer. If you have a photo of your reading during vacation, send her the photo at jvandenb@hpseagles.net
Hope your July is going well!
Back to School Shopping!
Hi Parents and Fourth Graders! Just wanted to make a mention that if you have not checked out the “School Supplies 2016/17” page at the top of our blog, you are going to want to, now that all the school supplies sales are beginning at our local stores! So just click on over there and you will see all of the things we will be needing for our new school year. Happy shopping and see you all soon in the last week of August for Open House!
Welcome Fourth Graders of 2016/17!!
Welcome new Fourth Graders!! I am so excited to be your 4th grade teacher! It’s going to be a great year in fourth grade! We do LOTS of fun and exciting stuff!
Keep your eye on this blog throughout the summer. In July, I will post a list of school supplies that you will want to get. We post this in July when most of the stores start putting their school supplies on sale, so you can get the good deals.
Two more reminders: 1) don’t forget to get on Mobymax and Study Island over the summer to practice all areas of our curriculum and 2) don’t forget to read!! Feel free to check out all of the sites listed at the bottom of this blog as well. I have lots of cool stuff to check out!!
AND I hope to see you up here in the library over the summer on Tuesdays from 10 – 12:00 noon!! I will be working in the library on Tuesday, July 19th! I look forward to meeting you!
Happy Summer!! Love, Mrs. Quigley
