Goodbye September and Hello October!

I finally found something that challenged everyone! Spelling Sudoku! It was fun and challenging but also a great way to practice their spelling words. This class likes to finish what they start and they have been determined to finish this. They don't give up easily!

After all that "brain-stretching" with the Spelling Sudoku, we needed a brain break. We have to take a little advantage of the nice weather while it is here....and sometimes, kids just have to be kids! I love these pictures!

Birthdays are important in 4th grade! We had one this week! The birthday girl loved celebrating but was a little shy for the camera.

Happy Birthday!!

It's always fun to be asked to help pass out the birthday treats...

But the best part is EATING the treats!

Sometimes, the teacher needs a break! We've been practicing and practicing multiple-digit multiplication (I'm sure you've noticed). This was a great time to let some "experts" do the teaching.

This week in science, we continued with the Physics of Sound kit. We focused on vibrations and that brought us to "pitch". While exploring many different activities, they discovered that the slower the vibration, the lower the pitch. It was very interesting (and maybe a little noisy!)

Thought you might like to hear some scientists actually discussing their discoveries about "pitch".




We finished our first full month of school and we have gently moved from reviewing skills to working on fourth grade curriculum. I think the kids are doing great. As always, be sure to let me know if you have any concerns!

Testing, Popcorn and Science!

We started the week off with the Open House/Ice Cream Social. Thanks to everyone who came. I hope I was able to answer all your questions about our routines and why we do the things we do! If you weren't able to make it, please be sure to continue to let me know when you have questions.


We have a new cursive handwriting program called "Handwriting Without Tears". I'm really enjoying teaching it and your kids are taking it very seriously. You could probably "hear a pin drop" in our room when they are practicing. I'm very excited to see how their cursive writing progresses throughout the year.Hallett also started NWEA/MAP (Measure of Academic Progress) this week. We completed the reading test and will take the math portion this week followed by science. In addition to this test, we took our first Reading test in the classroom. This test will be scored but is mainly used as a "baseline" measurement for me. I thought you'd like to see your kiddos in "test-taking" mode. That concentration is very impressive, wouldn't you say!
I'm sure you heard the BIG news this week....the class earned a POPCORN PARTY! I have a jar that gets filled with scoops of popcorn. When the jar is filled, it's "Party Time". The scoops of popcorn are earned with excellent work time habits, great manners in the classroom and if they earn a "compliment" from another adult in the school. I think we will be filling the jar a lot this year! Coincidentally, they earned their "Squirt". Every time we have SSR (Sustained Silent Reading), the class has a chance to add a letter to our reward word. They earn the letter if the whole class is working on their reading skills and being on-task. This time, the word was "SQUIRT". We had popcorn and Squirt at the same time. I decided to throw in a movie. We watched "Deep Sea Dive". It's part of the National Geographic Really Wild Animals series. It's fun to listen to the class laugh out loud!
I have to compliment all of you! I was so impressed with how grateful your students were for the popcorn, Squirt and movie. There were "thank yous" galore and sincere ones at that! It warmed my heart.

Of course, we couldn't have had another great week without Science. We continued our Physics of Science unit. This week we started to work with vibrations, pitch and volume. We explored with tuning forks, water, ping pong balls, a door fiddle and a tone generator. Mrs. Overman was the door fiddle and tone generator expert this week. Ask your kids to explain the tone generator and beans activity. They LOVED this one!

Hope everyone rested up this weekend. There's another busy week ahead! Don't forget pictures are on Friday, Oct. 2nd. Also, we do collect Box Tops so feel free to start sending those in. There is always a competition attached to that! Looks like the weather is going to cool off quite a bit, so bring a sweater or a jacket!