Humphreys Headlines

September 20, 2013 Reading Math

Our class has really been focusing on setting up our reading format for the school year. We have had minilessons on how our read-to-self times works. We discussed what students look like during read-to-self and what the teacher will be doing (meeting with students). We started talking about sharing our thinking. The students read independently and recorded some of their thinking on sticky notes. Then we gathered together and shared our thinking with partners. We will be meeting a lot in partners and discussed the role of how to communicate with each other. We called this buzzing with each other. Students will be working on learning HOW to talk about books by themselves, with partners, with the teacher, and with the class. Throughout the year, our class will be focusing on the different genres of books. Our first focus is Realistic Fiction. We will begin by discussing the characteristics that make a book a realistic fiction book. We are also beginning by reading a realistic fiction book that might be familiar to all of you called Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. This week, we ended our first math unit. This unit we learned a lot about geometry with a lot of vocabulary words such as concentric circles, congruent and tangent circles, inscribed hexagons, and many, many more! We also learned how to use a compass to make circles and copy lines. We also took our first (of many to come) addition, subtraction and multiplication timings. The goal for facts is to complete the page of 50 problems in 2 minutes and 30 seconds or three seconds per problem. On the progress report, your child is graded as Secure, Developing or Beginning on their math facts. To score a secure, your child needs to be able to answer 45-50 problems in the time frame. To score a developing, your child will need to answer 35-44 problems in the time frame. Anything under 35 problems will score a beginning on the progress report. Looking for a math fact practice at home? Have your child complete the unfinished problems on the timings that are sent home! If youd like some practice sheets you can find them online or look for online games. I have some math fact links on our classroom blog. At the beginning of a new unit, I will send home a Family Letter explaining what the students will be learning in the unit. Included in this letter are the answers to the Studylinks. This way, you can go over the answers to the problems with your child and discuss any mistakes before it is handed in. This allows you to do right there teachi ng with your child!

In science, we have started our States of Matter unit. We began by learning the different properties of matter including color, shape, size, state of matter, hardness and mass. We learned the definition of mass, which is the amount of matter (stuff) within a substance or object. We learned that the tool to measure mass is the balance which is measured in milligrams and grams. In groups, we built our own balances using a ruler, paper cups, and other materials. We used gram cubes to measure the mass of different objects. We also learned the definition of matter, which is anything that has mass and takes up space. (volume) We also learned that on the moon there is a difference between weight as compared to here on Earth, but not in mass! Weve had a very hands-on start to our fourth grade science year!

States of Matter

After our class has science on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the class travels to Mrs. Wallas room for Social Studies. In class they are using a newspaper, Social Studies Weekly to teach the social studies standards. We are using a newspaper, Social Studies Weekly, to teach our social studies standards. The kids are enjoying these newspapers and starting the year learning about geography.

Social Studies

Miscellaneous Notes
Please know that if you have any questions or concerns, please get in touch with me at school (863-6362) or by email (khumphreys@rockfordschools.org). Have a great weekend! Important date: September 24 is a late start morning. Students will begin class at 10:40 am. Book orders were due yesterday. Thank you for ordering online! It makes it so much easier for me to submit our classroom order! Please visit our classroom blog at http://misshumphreys.blogspot.com. We would love to have you visit and post a comment! If you submit your email in the Follow by Email section, the blog updates will be emailed to you. Our class did switch library days. Library will now be on Wednesdays from 11:15-11:45. Thanks!