Holiday Breakfast!

My first annual holiday breakfast was a huge success!  The kids, as well as the adults, enjoyed the variety of food and beverages we had to choose from.  We enjoyed pancakes, bacon, an egg casserole, cinnamon buns, banana bread, cinnamon coffee cake, fruit, and donuts!  It all was absolutely delicious!  No one wanted to eat lunch because we were so full!!! 

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to bring food or drinks in.  This party could not have happened without you!  Also thank you to Mr. DuBreuil for coming to help out at the party.  It was nice to have you there! 

Last but certainly not least...a huge thank you to my mother who came in and helped make pancakes!  Her help was greatly appreciated and I think the kids enjoyed meeting her.

Holiday Craft Fair

Wow!  I have some very crafty and creative kids in my room!  During activity period the 4th grade team had our kids rotate throughout each classroom to make crafts to give as Christmas gifts.  In Mrs. Vandell's room they made painted ornaments.  In Mrs. Lagos' room they made snowmen out of washers.  In Mrs. Beaudet's room they got to show off their sewing skills by making a wreath made out of felt pieces.  In our room we made snowmen ornaments and Christmas crackers.  Christmas crackers are actually a popular tradition in South Africa.  Check out some pictures of the craft fair from yesterday afternoon:

Team News: Week of December 16-20

This week:  We had a festive week learning about Christmas traditions from countries around the world.  We traveled to Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, and Holland.  While visiting each country we learned about their traditions and made a craft.  We also listened to some Christmas music in different languages.  Ask your child who La Befana is.  See if they can tell you something about each of the countries we visited.  In math, we took our Unit 2 assessment and our Unit 3 pretest on equivalent fractions.  In Social Studies, we completed our quilt project by putting it together and hanging it in the hall.  It looks amazing!

Next Week:  We resume school on January 2^nd and will ease our way back into the swing of things.  We will not have a literacy story.  We will begin learning about equivalent fractions.  In Social Studies we will begin our new chapter about NH in the 20^th century. 

Team News: Week of December 9-13

This week:  In Literacy, we read a nonfiction piece called “Words Add Up to Success.”  This is a true story about an inner city school teacher, Jaime Escalante, who motivated his students to do great things.  His story was turned into a movie, Stand and Deliver.  We focused on distinguishing between fact and opinion.  In math we continued to focus on division.  I am happy to say that everyone seems to be catching on!  In Social Studies, we learned about quilt codes and how they helped slaves along the Underground Railroad.  Each student was able to make a quilt square the will be part of a class paper quilt.  Look for pictures coming soon to our class blog!

Next Week:  We will not have a literacy story.  Instead we will be doing a mini-unit on Christmas around the World.  Students will be learning about different countries’ Christmas customs and traditions.  In math, we will be taking our Unit 2 test.  While this means we will be moving on to equivalent fractions after the break, we won’t be abandoning multiplication and division.  On Friday we will have our holiday breakfast and book exchange.  On Friday afternoon we will watch The Polar Express and have cookies and hot chocolate.

Important Dates Coming Up:

December 18:  Book order due…please make checks payable to Scholastic Book Club or myself

December 20:  Holiday Party

December 23-January 1:  Christmas Break

Don’t Forget:  to practice multiplication facts, read 20 minutes, and complete homework!  

Using Khan Academy for Math Help!

Another 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Beaudet, introduced me to this website and when I checked it out I knew I had to introduce it to all of you!  I want to encourage all of my students as well as parents to check out www.khanacademy.org for excellent math tutorial videos.  The videos will help students and parents to better understand math concepts.  There are some great video tutorials for multiplication and long division.  The website is very easy to navigate around...all you need to do is sign-up for free!  There is also a FREE Khan Academy App in the Itunes App Store.  Again, I encourage all of you to have your children spend some time looking at these videos.  I think it will be very beneficial!

Check out this sample video from the 4th grade division menu:

https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-fourth-grade-math/cc-4th-mult-div-topic/cc-4th-division/v/dividing-3-digit-by-1-digit-without-remainder

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note to wish all of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope all my students will take some time to reflect on the wonderful things they have to be thankful for.  I hope you all enjoy your day with families, eat lots of delicious food, enjoy the couple days off from school. 

I am thankful to have such a fantastic group of kids in my class!  You all make it so easy for me to get up and come to work each morning.  Thank you for being patient and cooperative when we have to do the boring, most simple, routine jobs.  These are important (even though they may not seem like it)!  Thanks to you all getting these jobs done, we can do the fun, interesting, and exciting projects that we've been able to do! 

I am also thankful for the parents and families of each and every one of my students!  You all do such a great job with your children!  The help you give your children with homework is evident when they come to school to learn and it's greatly appreciated!  Thank you all for being patient with me in my first year back in the classroom (it's been going so smoothly). 

Now that Term 1 has ended let's continue to move forward with a fantastic year!  Happy Thanksgiving to you all!  If any of you are crazy enough to go Black Friday shopping like me...maybe I'll see you out there!!

Octopus's Garden...with Ukuleles

In music class, with Mrs. Hazelton, the kids are learning how to play the ukulele.  They are learning to play "Octopus's Garden" by the Beatles.  They didn't know but I got them on video today.  I think they sound pretty good especially since they just learned it last week.  Here is the link for you to check out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB_ODPzuUuQ

Team News: Week of November 18-22

This week:  In Literacy, we read a humorous fiction story called “When I Went to the Library.”  We focused on making inferences about the story’s events and characters.  In math, we continued working on our multiplication facts and began working on division.  We are learning different methods to solve division problems.  In Social Studies, we finished up our chapter on the American Revolution and took a chapter test.  We also created a fakebook page for General John Stark.  

Next Week:  We are in school for a quick two days before a nice five day break to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families!  We will not have a regular literacy story.  Instead we will using Thanksgiving stories to practice some of our comprehension skills.  We will also be doing a variety of Thanksgiving activities.  In math, we will take our unit 2 assessment.  In Social Studies, we will begin learning about slavery and the Civil War.

Important Dates Coming Up:

November 25:  Book order due

November 26:  First term ends

November 27-29:  Thanksgiving break

December 2-4:  Parent/Teacher Conferences

December 6:  Report cards go home

Don’t Forget:  to practice multiplication facts, read 20 minutes, and complete homework!

Garden Helpers!

Today some of the kids had the opportunity to get outside and help out in our school garden.  We needed to help get the garden ready for winter.  The kids really enjoyed cutting back all the plants/bushes.  They worked really hard and did a great job.  I think they need to come do my yard work...lol!

Team News: Week of November 4-8

Another busy and eventful week for us!  Things were a little hectic because I was out on Monday and Tuesday for a workshop but the kids really helped out to make sure things went smoothly.

THIS WEEK:  In Literacy we read "Wild Horses," a story about wild mustangs being protected in the West.  In Math we continued to work on mastering our multiplication facts and did a lot more with multiplying multi-digit numbers.  The kids took a multiplication quiz on Study Island and did fantastic!  They also got to explore games on gregtangmath.com and multiplication.com.  In Social Studies, we continued talking about colonial jobs and finished our Colonial Trade Signs.  We also began to talk about the Revolutionary War.

NEXT WEEK:  In Literacy, we will read the story "Mystic Horse," and focus on sequencing events.  In Math, we will continue to work on mastering multiplication.  We begin working on some simple algebra as well as division.  In Social Studies, we will continue to learn about the Revolutionary War.  We will also have a Veteran's Day assembly on Friday to honor our Veterans.

REMINDERS:  The first term will end on November 26.  Report cards will go home on December 6.  I will be holding parent/teacher conferences on December 2, 3, and 4.  If you haven't already signed up for a time please contact me to do so.  Scholastic Book Order is due on November 25.  As always please make sure you check our class website regularly for updates:  missrocheford.blogspot.com

TIGER!!!!!!

Tiger from Plymouth State University came on Thursday afternoon and put on an entertaining show for the 2-4 grade.  The show was awesome and it gave students some useful tools to battle bullying. 

 

T = Take Action!

 

I = I Can Say No!

 

G = Get Help!

 

E = Exit When Necessary!

 

R = Respect! 

 



NH County Projects

The NH county projects are complete!  I'm so impressed with the work each student did.  They all went above and beyond my expectations!  Yesterday each student had the opportunity to share their project and take questions and comments from their classmates.  It was nice to see everyone so proud of their work!  Here are some of the students showing off their work.  There will be more pictures to come!

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween party was a huge success!  Everyone enjoyed dressing up in their costumes and watching the K-2 grade students parade through the school. We had a lot of yummy treats and watched a really fun Halloween video.  A HUGE thank you goes out to all the parents that contributed goodies to the party.  Check out all the amazing Halloween costumes:

Meeting Gronk!

Today in class we were talking about sports because everyone at school was buzzing about the Red Sox game tonight.  We got on the subject of the New England Patriots and the kids were talking about how awesome Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski are.  They were completely surprised when I told them that I had met Gronk.  They wanted me to post the picture of us on the blog so here it is:

 

 

The Red Sox are World Series Bound!

What a season the Red Sox have had!  I'm so excited that they are headed to the World Series!  I'm looking forward to seeing them battle it out against the St. Louis Cardinals!  To celebrate the Red Sox's success we will be having a "World Series" of our own in class.  Here are the details:

     It's always been my desire to get my students excited to read but sometimes it's a struggle.  Since most of them love sports, I'm using that to get them excited to pick up a good book!  For the next two weeks, in class, we will be having a "Reading World Series."
     Students are being divided randomly into two teams (Red Sox and Cardinals).  When they read each night they will fill out a reading ticket that I have sent home.  Students need to bring the reading ticket back on the following day.  Every 15 minutes of reading will earn their team a base hit! The team with the most runs on the last day will earn a special reward.
     The reading incentive will last 9 days (9 innings).  On Monday I'll be sending home a letter and their reading tickets for all 9 days. 
     Please encourage your children to read and take part in a our friendly competition!  Play Ball!!

 

 

Team News: Week of Oct. 14-18

We are officially done NECAP testing!  It was a long couple of weeks but we made it.  I don't know about the kids but I know I'll be happy to get back to a normal schedule!  We didn't do regular Math work this week because we were taking the Math NECAP but we did do a Literacy story.  We also continued on with learning about European explorers settling in New Hampshire.  Next week we will read about NH's first 4 towns.

Literacy:  We read a story called My Brother Martin.  This is a story about Martin Luther King Jr. written by his sister.  We focused on Author's Purpose. These two students were inspired after reading about MLK.

Check out the poem they wrote:

Martin Luther King Jr.

White and black,

young and old,

joined together after the speech!

Who is this hero that saved us all?

Martin Luther King!

He's the one, after all!

Writing:  We started writing personal narratives.  Ask your children what their story is about!

Reminders:  Picture Day is next Thursday, October 24.  Also if you want to place a scholastic book order they are due on October 25. 

Team News: Week of Oct. 7-11

Only a 4 day week but we sure were busy!!!  NECAP testing started this week and the kids worked really hard on the first two sessions of the test.  NECAP testing will continue next week with the one remaining reading session and three math sessions. 

Math:  We worked on making tessellations with multiplication problems.  Everyone seemed to really enjoy creating their artwork.  We continued with our multiplication unit focusing on prime and composite numbers and multiplying by powers of 10.

Social Studies:  We read about the Abenaki tribe and did a note taking activity.  Students took notes on general information about the Abenaki, their homes, women's work, and men's work. 

Next week:  We will start our first story in Unit 2 of our literacy anthology.  We will start reading about the first towns in NH in Social Studies.

Thank you to everyone that came to open house last night.  It was nice to meet so many of you!  I hope you enjoyed seeing your child's work. 

Team News: Week of Sept. 30-Oct. 4

Another busy week has flown by!  I can't believe how quickly the time is going!  I am enjoying each and every day I get to spend with my 4th graders!

Literacy:  This week we read Because of Winn-Dixie in our anthology.  It is only a very short piece of the book (1 chapter) so I have been reading the book at bus time each day so they can hear the whole story.  Our comprehension skill this week was sequencing so we talked a lot about finding the important events and putting them in order.  The students continue to do great with their work plans.

Math:  We began multiplication this week by starting off learning about factors and multiples.  The students seem to be catching on to multiplication pretty easily but it's super important for them to keep practicing facts at home. 

Social Studies:  We finished up our information paragraphs about the NH regions and began typing them.  We moved on to learning about the Native Americans in NH.  Ask your child to share some facts about the Abenaki tribe.

Writing:  We are finishing up our first picture writing books (NH regions).  These books will be on display at Open House.  I can't wait for you to see the work your children have done.  I think you'll be blown away!

Next Week:  We begin NECAP Testing on Tuesday.  We will be doing three sections of the reading test.  We will not have a literacy story because of the testing so we'll be focusing on some writing and other projects.  Please make sure your children get enough sleep on the nights of testing...we want them to be ready to do their best!

Reminders:  No school on Friday because of a Teacher's Workshop.

Fun with Multiplication Arrays!

This week we focused a lot on using arrays to help solve multiplication problems.  Students had a homework assignment to bring in items from home that could be used to create an array.  Today we put the arrays together and students had the opportunity to go around to each array and solve the multiplication problem.  Here some pictures from today's exploration:

These array projects will also be on display at our Open House on Wednesday night!

Team News: Week of Sept. 23-27

It has hard to believe that we've been in school for 1 month...the time is just flying by!  We had another busy week!

Literacy:  We read our 4th story in this unit, The Astronaut and the Onion.  They seemed to really enjoy this story!  Throughout reading the story we analyzed the main characters and did a lot of comparing and contrasting.  They worked with Mrs. D on learning new vocabulary that went with the story.  Everyone is getting used to having the responsibility of the Work Plan!

Math:  We reviewed some of the key skills that were missed on the unit 1 assessment last week.  I also let them retake the assessment on the computer this time.  Everyone did a lot better which I was happy to see!  From now on I think we will take all our math assessments on Study Island.  Your children seemed to respond to that better than a paper test.  We took our pretest for Unit 2 (multiplication & division) and got our fact triangles ready to be taken home.  Please have your child look over those every night!

Social Studies:  We continued working on our NH region picture writing books.  Everyone finished up their paintings and began writing their informational paragraphs about the regions.  These books will be finished very shortly and will be on display at the Open House.  Your children will be able to bring them home after that night.

Writing:  We focused a lot on descriptive writing to go along with our NH region paintings.  I am completely blown away by all the great writing I am seeing!  I can't wait for you to see it too!

Next week:  In literacy we will read Because of Winn-Dixie.  In math we will dive right into Unit 2, focusing first on factors and multiples.  In Social Studies we will move on to our next chapter, New Hampshire's First People.

Notices:  Book order forms for the month of October were sent home today.  They are due on October 25.  The PSS parent letter also went home today.  Please be sure to read the letter as it contains a lot of important information.  

New England Patriots Game - Sept. 22, 2013

On a personal note, I had the opportunity to attend the Patriots game on Sunday with my mom.  We saw them beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 23-3...it was a great game.  I told the kids on Friday that I was going and they were so excited for me.  I thought they might want to see some pictures from the game....

Team News: Week of Sept. 16-20

Hard working week for everyone but we made it!  Your children continue to amaze me!

Literacy:  We dove into our first nonfiction story, "Kid Reporters at Work."  The article was a little confusing and overwhelming but we managed to compare and contrast the two kid reporters as well take some notes on important information.  Everyone worked really hard on all their assessments and worked really well during centers so I could get the DIBELS completed!  All the kiddos seem to be getting used to being responsible for getting their work plan assignments completed.  I love hearing the assignment that each student is most proud of on Friday when we share our work plans.

Math:  We finished up Unit 1 in Math and took the assessment on Friday.  Next week we will quickly review any skills missed on the assessment and then begin Unit 2.  Unit 2 focuses on multiplication and division.  It will be a priority to learn and memorize those multiplication facts!

Social Studies:  We finished up taking notes on the 3 regions of NH.  We used these notes to begin our first picture writing project.  Students were able to create paintings of the Coastal Lowlands and the Eastern New England Uplands.  We have also begun the writing that will go along with these paintings.  I can't wait for you to see their paintings and their writing...I'm blown away! 

We also started our Friday club activities which take place from 1:40-3:00 every Friday afternoon.  These will run for the next few weeks.  Ask your child what he/she is doing! 

Reminders:  Book order is due 9/25 (Wednesday).  Remember you can order online (see previous post) or you can send the order into school.  Also, Friday is an Early Release Day...students are being dismissed at 12:55.

Team News: Week of Sept. 9-13

We survived our first 5 day school week!  It was another very busy week!  Even with the all the rain and the really hot day your children were very focused and ready to work!  Check out what we learned about this week:
Literacy:  We read a fiction story called The Adventures of Ali Baba Bernstein.  It was a humorous story about a boy named David who wanted to change his name because there were too many kids named David in his class.  Ask your child to tell you more about it.  With the story we focused a lot on character, plot, and setting.  We put our work plan into action and your children were able to work on that during centers.  I'm still working out the kinks with the work plan but it's coming along.
Picture writing:  We began to learn some techniques that can be used when we begin some of our picture writing projects.  Your children were introduced to the salt, scratch, and tissue cloud techniques.  They all were able to use the water color paints to practice these techniques.
Math:  We continued to work on unit 1 in math.  On Wednesday we used the computers to do the math DIBELS.  This is an assessment to help me determine strengths and weaknesses in math.  Everyone did well!  We focused a lot on place value, rounding, and What's my rule.  Our unit 1 test will probably be next Wednesday.
 Social Studies:  We began chapter 2 in our New Hampshire books.  We talked about our place in the world.  We identified our planet, continent, country, state, county, and city.  We created a Me on the Map book to show what we had learned.  We also talked about Physical and Human features of NH.  Ask your children about the activity we did in Social Studies on Thursday.  They all seemed to enjoy it!

Just a quick reminder...the book order is due on Sept. 25 if you want to place an order.  Also, Phys Ed is on Thursday...SNEAKERS need to be worn!