Ms. Burton’s Fourth Grade Class 2008-2009

Important Dates:

MCAS Math Tuesday May 13th and Thursday May 15th

Please make sure that your child gets to school on time.

Wed May 21st, Museum of Science in Boston Trip
We will be leaving at 7:30 am. I will be needing a few chaperones that have an updated district CORI check. Please let me know by Monday May 12th if you are interested. I will then include your name in a lottery drawing. Thanks

May 21st Memorial Day Ceremony around the flagpole @ 2:15

June Fun Day at the beach-Date to follow

Language Arts: We are continuing writng and publishing myths and legends. The children finished Cricket in Time Square and read The Legend of Sleep Hollow.

Math: This week we practiced multiplication and division with decimals, and we continued working with fractions, decimals and percents.

Social Studies: The students continued to learn about the native americans of the southeast. They read stories about the southeast and charted the facts that they learned.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: On Thursday we went on a wonderful trip to see the Cape Cod Symphony Orchestra for Young People. What was your favorite part of the concert? What did you learn about the instruments in the orchestra and thier seating?

Important Dates:

May 8th: 4th grade will attend the Cape Symphony for Young People-more information to follow.

Math MCAS Dates: Tuesday May 13 and Thursday May 15
Please make sure that your child comes to school on time on these days.

Field Trip to Boston Museum of Science: May 21st 7:30 am departure, returning for regular dismissal. I will be needing a few chaperones that have been district CORI checked. I will find out in a few days how many I can bring on the bus. In the past I have selected the chaperones by lottery.

May 22nd Memorial Day Ceremony around the flagpole @ 2:15 p.m.

June 6th: PTO Ice Cream Social

Language Arts: We are back into our regular routine. The children have been writing myths and legends using a template and the writing process. The children finished reading Castle in the Attic and started reading On My Honor written by Marion Dane Bauer.

Math: This week the children reviewed geometric solids and learned how to find the volume of a solid. They also have been reviewing for the MCAS by doing review work and practice with multiple choice, short answer, and open response problems.

Science: The children got the opportunity to share their motion projects. They did a fantastic job memorizing the laws of motion and demonstrating the laws.

Social Studies: The children have been learning about the southeast. They read a book that had poetry about special places in the southeast and then the students wrote their own poetry about a special place or thing. The students also did research on coal mining.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: In the story On My Honor one of the characters tries to get the other character to do something that can be dangerous. How do you feel about that? Has something like that ever happened to you? What would you do if you were put in that situation?

Important Dates:

April 16 & 17, half days for conferences

School Spring Vacation April 21-25

Math MCAS in May

Language Arts: The children have been busy taking the MCAS Long Comp, Session 1, 2, and 3 Multiple Choice and Open Response. Each child seemed to be working to the best of their ability, giving 100% during the testing sessions. I am so proud of my students.

Math: We have completed Unit 7 and have been reviewing for the assessment which will be this Friday. Next week we will begining Unit 8, Perimeter and Area.

Science: The children continued to study motion by working on a science lab report about Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion. Using Smartboard technology the children tested the stopping distances of vehicles with different masses and varying road surfaces. The children made hypothesis and recorded their data on a science lab report form. Next week the children will use excel to graph their findings. This work will be shared with parents during conferences.

Social Studies: The children did not have social studies this week due to MCAS scheduling conflicts. We will be back to our regular schedule next week.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: Ms. Burton is very proud of how hard you have worked on the Language Arts MCAS and your regular classwork. What accomplishments are you the most proud of ?

Important Dates:

3/21 No School-Good Friday, Happy Easter!

3/25(Tues) MCAS Long Comp

4/4(Fri) MCAS Make-ups

Third Marking Period Report cards go home!

Spring Conferences, half days: Wed 4/16 & Thurs 4/17

April Vacation: 4/21-4/25

MCAS: Please avoid having your children absent or late on the MCAS days. The following will also be helpful each day of testing: a good nights sleep, healthy breakfast, healthy snack for school, and a water bottle. I will lighten the homework load.

Conferences: Thank you to all parents. I have 100% of my responses. I have scheduled 20 minutes for each family, please try to be prompt. I have scheduled conferences back to back.

Lang Arts: We have been continuing our MCAS practice and discussions. Including the children publishing their long comp from our simulation day. After doing a whole class conferencing session, the children are going back and doing some revising.
We also started reading Castle In the Attic. The children are also working in book groups reading together Cricket in Time Square.
The children have also continued their poetry writing. Each child will come home with a typed copy of their poetry.

Math: This week we continued our work with fractions and had a lot of fun working on probability. The children complete “Quick Math” problems for me each morning and have shown they have mastered long division with a double digit divisor and multi digit multiplication!!

Science: The children have learned about Newton’s Laws 1 & 2 and have done experiments so they can gain further understanding of the concepts in each law. We will be doing a lab report using Smartboard technology to show how friction, speed and mass affect the stopping rate of vehicles.

Social Studies: The children continued their study of the southwest by exploring web sites. They also wrote a 3-2-1 reflection about what they learned about the southwest.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: On Tuesday we will be writing our MCAS Long Composition. In order to do your best content writing, and proofreading, make a list of the strategies that you will remember to use while writing your composition.

Important Dates:

Film Festival 3/14 3:30-5:00

3/20 All School Meeting

3/21 No School Good Friday

3/25 (Tues) MCAS Long Comp

3/28 (Fri) Lang Arts MCAS-Session 1

4/1 (Tues) Lang Arts MCAS-Session 2

4/3 (Thurs) Lang Arts MCAS-Session 3

4/4 (Fri) MCAS Make-ups

Third Marking Period Reportcards go home 4/11

Spring Conferences: Wed 4/16 & Thurs 4/17

April Vacation: 4/21-4/25

MCAS: During these days please make sure your child comes to school on time. The following is also helpful: a good nights sleep, healthy breakfast, healthy snack to bring to school, and a water bottle. I will lighten the homework load.

Conferences: Please see the attached suggested time. Please write back if the time does not work for you. Your child can come to the conference! I’m looking forward to discussing your child’s progress.

Language Arts: We have been writing poetry and are currently writing picture stories which we will also write a poem about. They have been very busy using the classroom Alphasmarts and computers to get their poetry published.
The children have also continued to practice for the MCAS testing.

Math: The children have been busy learning about fractions. They have used pattern blocks to add and subtract fractions and have learned about finding equivalent fractions.

Science: During class the children have been learning about Newton’s First Law of Motion. They are learning about force and inertia.

Social Studies: The children have been visiting centers about the southwest native americans.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: This week while we were in computer class we registered for Nettreker and learned how we can use it at school and at home. Have you tried to use it at home yet, and what do you like about it?

Important Dates;

March 14: Film Festival 3:30-5:30

MCAS: Long Comp 3/25
Lang Arts 3/28,4/1,4/3

Lanuage Arts: The students have been working in book groups reading Stone Fox and The Cricket in Time Square. They have also been busy writing poetry that was inspired from the book Love That Dog.

Math: The students have started Unit 7 on fractions and probability. You should of noticed a note in your child’s agenda book that stated the score of the midterm. We took class time to review the test so each student could see their achievements and understand any errors.

Science: The children have started the unit on Motion and are learning new vocabulary and concepts. We have also started to share our Rocks and Minerals power points while visiting the computer lab on Tuesday mornings.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: During science class we have been learning about motion, what is inertia? Give an example of inertia.

Congratulations to many students for making the “Reader’s Notebook Hall of Fame”. Click on Reader’s Notebook to find out who these hard working students are!!

Smartboard Training: On Thursday afternoon Ms. Burton went to a training workshop to learn more about using the Smartboard in the classroom.

Language Arts: Len Cabral the story teller came to our school on Monday. He has an amazing talent and has taught the children the value in telling their own stories.

We are now reading Love That Dog together, and the students are reading Stone Fox in small groups. The children have been writing poetry based on the experience of the main character in Love That Dog.

In order to prepare the students for the Language and Math MCAS we have been working on practice tests. Look for these scored papers when they come home.

Math: This week we reviewed for the district mid-term assessment and took the assessment. I will be sending home your student’s scores in a few days.

Science: We started learning about our new unit on motion. The children also took some time this week to do research about tornadoes and made connections to the motion unit. This unit will have an at home project component. The students will receive the directions and the rubric in the next few weeks.
The children have finished their Rocks and Minerals power points and will be presenting them in computer class next week.

Social Studies: The children are continuing their studies on the southwest. This week they spent time learning about the lifestyle of the native americans from this region.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: You read Stone Fox in small groups this week, describe some of the metacognition ( connections, visualization, questioning, predictions, etc.) that occurred to you or your group members while you read.

Important Dates:

Friday 2/8 Lock-down drill, the children have been practicing from all areas of the building.

2/14 Valentine’s Day: Giving out Valentine cards is optional, but if they do for one they must do it for all!

2/18-2/22 Winter Vacation

Language Arts: The children have been completing weekly multiple choice and open response questions to practice for the MCAS. The children work on their own reading the selections and answering the questions. As a group we discuss the selection and types of questions, and then we rubric score the open response. Look for these papers when they come home.

We have started to read Mississippi Bridge by Mildred D. Taylor. This story takes place in the 1930′s when segregation existed. The children are forming strong opinions about how people were treated differently.

The children are continuing to focus on long composition writing. We studied anchor papers and are about ready to rubric score their own writing from our MCAS Practice Day.

Math: This week we learned how to use a full circle and half circle protractor to measure angles. We are also continuing to practice multi digit multiplication and division.

Science: The children are continuing to learn about volcanos through the use of the Smartboard. In computer lab, each child is making their own power point presentation about the earth based on the information they are learning in class.

Social Studies: Ms. Ames is teaching the children about the southwest. The topics for this week are about the land and economy. While reading about the southwest they are doing vocabulary work and are identifying supporting details.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: During math class, the full circle protractor was introduced by comparing it to the clock face. How is the full circle protractor like a clock? Yes, they are both circles, but I would like you to tell me more.

Important Dates:

Due to the snow day report cards will go home on Monday, Feb 4th.

Beginning Band Concert: Feb 13th

February Vacation: Feb 18-22

Language Arts: Our focus this week was the practice MCAS Long Composition.

The topic: Think about the best time you have ever had. Maybe you played all day with friends outside, went on a special trip, participated in a game, or spent some time at camp.
Write a story about this best time. What were you doing? Who was with you? Where were you? Why was this the best time ever? Give enough details in th story to show the reader what happened.

The children were very serious about their responsibilities and worked all morning and into the afternoon. Some of the ideas the children wrote about were: a trip to California, Bahamas, first baseball game, Florida, Bush Gardens, Disney, WWE Super Show, getting a puppy, Maine, Mistic Aquarium, getting a kitten, making a snow chair, the day Dad came home, playing in the snow, a day on a farm with my dog, having a water gun fight with friends.
Next, we will be looking at state anchor papers for this topic and will be rubric scoring the children’s work together. The children will be able to identify their strengths and areas in which they can improve.

Math: The children had the opportunity to earn a free homework pass by teaching a parent the Partial Quotient Division Method. We have also been practicing the traditional method of division.

Science: The children are learning about volcanos and watched a short movie about Mount Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii. They will continue learning by understanding the rock cycle.

Social Studies: During this short week the children started to learn about the southwest by doing map work.

REFLECTION QUESTION OF THE WEEK: After doing such a great job working on the Practice MCAS Long Composition, how do you feel about the experience? What do you think your rubric score is (6-1)? Name your strengths and one area in which you can improve.