Room 204 Update October 20, 2013 Spring Street School Mrs.

Liportos class

General Information This week it is our class turn to be the morning greeters at the front door. Two students (in addition to our classroom Greeter Leaders) are needed each morning to help greet students, staff and visitors as they arrive to school in the morning. We picked from those students that wanted to volunteer and here are our greeters for the week:

Monday 10/21- Olivia and Dimitri Tuesday 10/22- Emily and Anika Wednesday 10/23- Dante and Ryan Thursday 10/24- April and Kathie Friday 10/25- Grace and Sarah

have a Grandfriend that I am sure other grandfriends will be happy to adopt them for the luncheon. Please send in the Grandfriend Luncheon forms by Tuesday, October 22nd so the cafeteria staff can order the yummy meals! Even if a student is NOT bringing in a grandfriend but are planning on buying the lunch that day they should still bring in a slip with either money or a lunch ticket. The only students that do not need to return a form are those students not bringing in a grandfriend AND bringing their own lunch. This is always a wonderful event for everyone! IMPORTANT DATES *Halloween Party- Thursday, October 31st, 1:45-3:00PM * Parent Conferences No school, Tuesday November 5 *Fourth Grade Chorus Concert- Thursday, November 7, 7:00PM SSS Gym * Veterans Day Monday, Nov. 11 No School *Thanksgiving Break- Wednesday, Nov. 27Friday, Nov. 29 *MCAS Long Composition Tuesday, Mar. 18 *MCAS English Language Arts Wednesday, Mar. 26- Thursday, Mar. 27 *MCAS Math Tuesday, May 13Wednesday, May 14 Homework Part of the nightly homework could be working on math facts. You will be seeing

The students that volunteered will need to be at school by 8:25am to be ready to start greeting at 8:30. Letters about this went home with the selected students for this week on Friday. If you student can not make it, please let me know.! The students are getting very close to earning their Homework Bingo. I have a suspicion that they are going to asking for an Electronics Day when they earn their reward. Stay tuned for the big accouncement when they get that last piece! I am happy to see that so many students are going to be bringing in a Grandfriend for our luncheon. This is a special time to celebrate those people that hold a special place in our hearts. I have told the students that even if they dont

more fact tests coming home. The students are assessed on each trimester report card for their multiplication and division facts through 12x12. I have told the students that when they take a multiplication or division test, we are looking for improvement over time, even if its knowing only a few extra facts each test. Language Arts This week we will continue to look at questioning while we read. It was interesting to look at the students questioning homework from last week (the one about solar power and the noisy neighbors) to see the type of questions that they developed. There has been a definite improvement in the quality and quantity of questioning that is taking place. We will also be continuing to implement our spelling instruction using the Words Their Way program. This week each student will be working in the classroom on another list based on his/her developmental spelling level, developing a skill or pattern that they are lacking. The majority of the work will continue to be completed in school so it should not make much of an impact on homework. In class, they will be sorting a group of approximately 20 words into various categories based on the rule/skill. They will also be looking through their independent reading books to find examples of words that fit their rule. Another activity they will be doing is a tactile one where the students will be using play-doh, stamps, letter beads, etc., to make their words. They will work with these words for two weeks. The second week they will have another spelling packet go home. At the end of the two-week period, I will check in with the students

with an assessment based on the skill they have learned. This will help me to see if they have internalized the rule and not just memorized the words for the test, especially the last two words on the test, which were not on their list but follow the pattern that they were practicing. Writing The students are going to focusing on revising their settings from their baseline writing at the beginning of the year. I am looking forward to seeing more development of the details and language as well as sentence variety. Math We will be completing unit 3 this week. On Monday we will continue with open sentences/algebra, on Tuesday well review the concepts, Wednesday will have us completing the oral/slate assessment and open response, and on Thursday we will complete the assessment. The next unit we will be working on involves decimals. In the past I have noticed that this is a concept with which some students have difficulty. At home, it can be helpful to point out where decimals are used in your every day lives and have students practice converting them into fractions (Students, the secret number this week is 1, a number that is neither prime nor composite). Tuesday morning Math Club this week will be focusing on unit 3 review and beginning to look at decimals. Please have your student there for 8:00am if he/she would like to participate. EVERYDAY MATH FAMILY LETTERS online address:
http://everydaymath.uchicago.edu/parents/4 th-grade/view-family-letters/

If you cannot access them, please let me know. Social Studies We have finally reached our first destination! This week we begin our visit to the East Region by watching and taking notes on a video and learning more about the economy of the region. We will soon be studying the regions states, capitals, and Postal Codes for a quiz later this term. Check out the class resources if you want to download a set of flashcards. The minimum expectation is for students to be able to identify and locate the states. Sheppardsoftware (also on class blog) is a great way to match up states with their locations before moving on to their capitals. Science The Rocks and Minerals assessment will be on Monday. The study guide should have come home with your student last Tuesday and you can also find a copy on the classroom blog. Please let me know if you or your student has any questions. Later this week we will begin to look at the rock cycle and how each of the three categories of rocks (igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic) are formed. Here is an online video that can help explain this concept: http://www.schooltube.com/video/503ca20 5aae459f47494/The-Rock-Cycle. Happy Birthday!!! Ryan Vroman 10/31

*Specials*
MUSIC: Tuesday 10:45-11:25 AM ART: Wednesday, 11:25-12:05 PM Health: Thursday 9:15-9:55 AM CHORUS: Friday 10:45-11:25 AM PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Friday 2L25-3:05 PM MEDIA: Every Other Wednesday, 2:45-3:00 PM

As always, your questions/comments are welcome. Please send me an email or a note to school. Kristen Liporto