Week of 8/30/10-9/3/10

Highlights for the Week of 8/30/10 - 9/3/10 in Mrs. Bell's 4th Grade Classroom!

Spelling - Commonly Misspelled Words
Spelling procedures will be introduced to students on Monday. Watch for the "All About Spelling" sheet to come home. Our first spelling list will contain 20 commonly misspelled words. Student will take a pretest on Monday, and receive the list of words. Students will also be given a contract from which they will choose three homework activities to complete for the list of words. Homework will be due on Friday, 9/3. There will also be a final test for the lesson on 9/3.

Reading - The Pumpkin Runner

This week in reading the students will review and practice their reading strategies as they read the story The Pumpkin Runner by Marsha Diane Arnold. The reading strategies that we will focus on are: preview/infer, phonics/decoding, question, monitor/clarify, summarize, and evaluate.

English - The Sentence

Our first unit in English focuses on sentences. This week we will look at different types of sentences, specifically, the statement and the question. We will also take a look at how to write a friendly letter, and write one of our own!

Social Studies - We the People

Students became familiar with the Social Studies text by participating in an information scavenger hunt. We will be moving on to Chapter 2, which focuses on the structure and functions of the government of the United States.

Science

An introduction to scientific tools is on our schedule this week. Students will have a chance to use a variety of tools in the classroom, and to learn the purpose of each of the tools.

Math - Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Students in my class will be taking an "Inventory" test on Monday. The test will cover many of the concepts that we will be studying this year. The test will not entered in the gradebook, but will serve to give me an idea of where your child's strengths and weaknesses in math are. The first concept that we will study in math this year is place value. We will begin with a look at place value through the 100s and the millions. Comparing and ordering whole numbers will be the final topic of the week.

FYI...

Mark your calendar for 4th grade curriculum night on Tuesday, September 7th from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. I look forward to seeing you there!

All 4th and 5th grade students have the opportunity to sign up for Intramural games. This is a "free" after school program that allows your child to stay active. Permission slips will be sent out next week. Please return them to Mrs. Cushing by Friday, September 3rd.

Mrs. Karen Bell