Homework from last night: Students needed to show their parents my (Ms. Bennon’s) class blog. They needed to show their parents how to create a comment on the blog. The parents needed to comment on the blog one time. This would show me that everybody knows about the blog, knows that I will be communicating through the blog weekly, and that parents know how to communicate by using the blog as well.

Yesterday I talked with the students 3 at a time about their homework. I watched them write the assignment down, showed them how to spell everything, and went over it with them step by step to make sure they understood my directions. Nobody had any questions.

Then, to my astonishment, not one student did the assignment.

When I asked the students why they didn’t do the work, most students said that they forgot.

Parents, I need your help!!!!

Students write their homework on the homework slips EVERY DAY, and we (teachers) check the slips EVERY DAY to make sure the homework was written correctly, so that you (parents) can help your children get the work done. You need to check over homework slips EVERY DAY to help ensure that your children get their homework done.

I appreciate you’re your help and everything you do to support your children’s education.

Thursday, August 25th is a half day.

Friday, August 26th is the fourth grade opening.

Warmly,

Ms. Bennon

BEFORE READING

1) Figure out why I am reading:

         Am I reading for fun?
         Am I reading to learn about a subject (like science)?
         Am I reading to answer questions?

2) Look at what I am going to read:

        Check out the pictures
        Read the title
        Read the words that are in bold
(This will help my mind get a preview of what I am going to be reading)

3) If I am reading to answer questions:

            –Read the questions before reading the story.
            –Figure out what the questions mean.
                   A “who” question means my answer will be a name.
                   A “when” question means I will have a time or date answer.
                   A “where” question means I will have a place or location answer.
                   A “why” question means I will have to explain the reason for something.
            –If it helps me to highlight or underline words in the question to help me understand the question, then I will do so.

4) For multiple choice questions, read ALL the answer options.

WHILE READING and ANSWERING QUESTIONS

Now, I can start reading!

1) While I read, highlight or underline answers that I remember I will need.

2) Next read the first question (and ALL options if multiple choice), go back to the story and find the answer.
           –If it isn’t highlighted already, then do it before I answer the question. This is the proof, the evidence, that I have the right answer. ALWAYS have proof that I have the right answer.

3) If I need to write a complete sentence answer, use part of the question in my answer to make sure I am answering the right question.
             –Example Question: What is the best way to make Ms. Bennon dinner?

             –Example Answer: The best way to make Ms. Bennon dinner is to cook homemade tacos with a lot of hot sauce.

            –The bold/italic part is the part of the question that is used in the answer. This almost guarantees that I will have the right answer.

4) When I have a difficult question that I can’t easily answer- SKIP IT!!!
           –Come back to it at the end

5) Use smart guessing to answer tough multiple choice problems.
             –Example Question:
                    What is Ms. Bennon’s favorite food?
                           a) dog
                           b) cat food
                           c) rice
                           d) tacos
Smart guessing means get rid of the choices that CAN’T be the right answer.

    -Ms. Bennon would never eat a dog, so that can’t be the right answer.
    -Ms. Bennon would never eat cat food, so that can’t be the right answer.
    -Now I am down to two possible choices: tacos, or rice.

     I have seen Ms. Bennon use tons of hot sauce in the classroom, so my smart guess is d) tacos, since rice is bland and without spicy flavor, and people often put hot sauce on tacos.

AFTER I AM DONE

1) Double check my work. Everyone makes mistakes, so find mine and fix them!

2) Never leave a question unanswered. A smart guess is way better than not trying at all.

3) Raise my hand and ask the teachers any questions or concerns that I have.

–Ms. Bennon (Hope this helps!!!)

WRITING:

We have been focusing a lot on writing paragraphs. Students have mastered writing (and finding) topic sentences and are currently working on creating the detail sentences that support the topic sentences. This is a challenge for everyone, but we are definitely making progress.

We are also working on mastering summaries. Dr. Dolittle is our literature book for this quarter, and we are summarizing many of the chapters in a journal.  At the beginning of the year, I modeled summary writing while the students copied my work. After a week we were then able to pause after reading a few pages, discuss the important details, and create a summarizing sentence together. The next step towards writing summaries independently was pausing after a few pages and students discussing the details in a group and then writing their summaries. I am proud to say that students are now writing their chapter summaries independently, without help. You can expect a lot of this “slow weaning” in 4th grade, since it is a big year for learning independence.

For bellwork, the students are still working on their creative writing by writing stories based on prompts. Students are given a chance to read their writing out loud to the class about once a week. Almost every student has volunteered to read a story, and the class is starting to LOVE creative writing. Many are choosing to write in their journals instead of reading silently when their other work is completed.

SCIENCE:

We are starting a new science unit this week. The topic is WATER. Students will be learning about the water cycle with new vocabulary, surface tension, 3 water states, its role in changing the earth’s surface, pollution, and its importance as a natural resource. Vocabulary that you can start talking about with your children is: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, transpiration, surface runoff, subsurface runoff, groundwater, collection, reservoirs, water treatment facility, surface tension, solid, liquid, gas, erosion, weathering, deposition, and natural resource.

We will be doing a lot of hand-on experiments in the next 2 weeks for the unit, and I could use a few donations. I am going to need the following items:

1 box of sugar cubes

1 container of saran wrap

1 box of large ziplocks

3 sewing needles

3 margarine tubs with lids

1 small container of dishwashing soap

If  you have acquired an item to donate, you can make a comment to this blog saying what you got so others don’t donate the same item.

LANGUAGE:

We have been working on nouns, subjects and predicates, suffixes, synonyms, cause and effect, alphabetizing, figures of speech, and so much more. Language is always a hodge-podge subject that cuts across many different subject areas.

READING:

Students have learned the 4^th grade reading process.  I will post the entire process after I post this blog. We use this process in all subjects for the entirety of the year. It will become second nature for the students, and will help them immensely. Parents last year found it helpful to print it out and keep a copy of it at home to refer to for homework.

Note:Reading logs are due every Friday. Children need to read out loud for an hour every week at home. The children are responsible for bringing home the reading logs; they can get a new one at any time without teacher assistance.

Warmly,

Ms. Bennon