Week of 9/30/13 - 10/4/13

Highlights for the Week of 9/30/13 
in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Spelling -  Short and Long "u"

The final test for this lesson will be on Friday, 10/4. Cursive and workbook pages and/or contract work will also be collected that day.

Reading - Text Organization
This week in reading our story is "Finding the Titanic" by Robert D. Ballard. The reading strategy that we will focus on is text organization. Many non-fiction authors organize their selections in time order. They also use features such as headings, pictures, captions and charts to help the reader better understand the information. Students will be studying these elements of text organization while reading a variety of non-fiction passages. On Friday they will "show what they know" by taking a QUIZ in which they will identify types of text organization and recognize the vocabulary learned in an authentic nonfiction passage.

English - What is a Sentence?
I have been quite impressed with our class's singing abilities as we sing along with Mr. Morton and his lesson about subjects and predicates! Ask your child to sing a few notes for you!  We will finish this chapter with a look at run on sentences. Look for the chapter 1 test to be scheduled the week of 10/7.

Social Studies - Land & Water in the Northeast
This week, we will take a look at the resources of the Northeast. Students will learn the process by which cranberries are grown, how maple syrup is harvested, and why the climate of the Finger Lakes region in New York makes it a perfect location to grow grapes.  We will also study the minerals that are a huge resource in this region.


Science - How are Animals Classified?

Be sure to check out the pictures of students working with their worms at the end of the blog. Students will finished their study of worm behavior on 9/27.  They will take an open book QUIZ on the Scientific Method on Monday, 9/30.  The WORM RACE is scheduled for Monday, 10/7.  Look for an information sheet about how to build the worm track to come home on 9/27.  Meanwhile, we will be moving on to the classification of animals with a look at vertebrates and invertebrates.



Math - Mrs. Bell's Math Class
We will finish Unit 2 on Monday with a look at solving multi-step word problems. The Unit 2 TEST is scheduled for Wednesday, 10/2. The next unit that we will cover in math is Understanding Multiplication & Division.

FYI...

Our class will be taking our field trip to Brookfield Zoo on Thursday, 10/3. Students MUST bring a completely disposable lunch that day.  Please see that your child dresses for the weather (rain or shine), wears comfortable walking shoes, and brings a watch with a second hand.

WORM, WORMS, WORMS...

Another great week...Happy Weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 9/23/13 - 9/27/13

Highlights for the Week of 9/23/13
in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Spelling - Short & Long "i" and "o"
The final TEST for this lesson will be on Friday, 9/27. Cursive and workbook pages OR contract work will also be collected that day.

Reading - Author's Viewpoint
This week we will be focusing on the reading skill of determining author's viewpoint. Author's viewpoint refers to the author's opinion of what is important, or the attitude toward the topic. The author might give his/her opinion directly, or the reader might have to infer the information by finding clues or other information that the author provides. We will work on this skill by looking at some fun poetry by Shel Silverstein that expresses his point of view towards topics such as the dentist and school.  We will also continue our study of how to skim and scan using this week's Time for Kids magazine.

English - What is a Sentence?
On Monday students will be completing their "Snapshot Sentences" project that is a review of the four types of sentences.  Please be sure to send a 4 X 6 photo to school that day. Subjects and predicates is the next topic in our English unit, and that means that Mr. Morton will be coming to town! Ask your child to sing one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock songs for you this week. We will be focusing on complete subjects and predicates, and simple subjects, and simple predicates.


Social Studies - Land & Water in the Northeast

We will begin our study of the Northeast by taking a look at the land and water of the region. We will also look at the mountain ranges and coastline. Students will be taking a map QUIZ on Thursday, 9/26.

Science - The Scientific Method
Be sure to check out the pictures of students working with their straw models at the end of the blog. We will begin the worm unit this week. On Wednesday, your child will bring his/her worm to school in the habitat that he/she has made.  We will discuss how to make the habitat on Monday.  We will be observing the worms all week.  Look for the track information for worm races to come home on Thursday.

Math - Mrs. Bell's Math Class
Students will take a QUIZ on lessons 1-4 of unit 2 on Monday.  Topics covered on the quiz will include 
Addition Properties/Subtraction Rules, Patterns in addition and subtraction, Mental Math using compensation and compatible numbers, and Estimating using Rounding and Front-end Estimation. Topics for the rest of the week include Addition and Subtraction, Subtraction across zeros,  and a Problem-Solving technique called "Draw a Diagram".

FYI...

Picture Day is on Thursday, 9/26. The final magazine turn in day is 9/24

Below are some pictures of the "junior architects" constructing and testing their straw models...

Happy Weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 9/16/13 - 9/20/13

Highlights for the Week of 9/16/13

in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Spelling - Long and Short "a" and "e"

The final test for spelling this week will be on Friday, 9/20.This is the first week that we will be using the spelling words from our reading series. Students who score a 90% or above on Monday's pretest will have the opportunity to do challenge work via the contracts that we used for our first two lessons. Workbook pages and contract work will also be collected on 9/20.

Reading - Identifying the Elements of Story Structure / Summarizing

We will continue to study story structure this week. Students will explore characters and setting in depth. There will be a QUIZ on Akiak on Tuesday, 9/17. The quiz will cover the vocabulary words from the story, and on the skill of identifying story structure. The Akiak diary project will be collected on Wednesday, 9/18.  We will finish the week with by practicing our "skimming and scanning" skills using the Time for Kids magazine.  We will also begin working on the Daily 5 task of  "Read to Someone".

English - What is a Sentence? 

This week's focus in English will be on the four types of sentences: Statements, Questions, Commands and Exclamations. Students will independently complete a review of lessons 2-3 on Thursday.  We will do a small project related to the four types of sentences on the week of 9/23.  The project is called "Snapshot Sentences", and will require that a 4x6 photo be sent from home. The photo will be taped to the project, so please do not send a photo that is valuable.

Social Studies - Strength of Our Freedom

We will finish chapter 2 with a look at the responsibilities and rights of citizens in the U.S.  The chapter review is scheduled for Tuesday, and students will take the chapter TEST on Wednesday, 9/18.  Look for a study guide that was sent home with your child on 9/12.

Science - The Scientific Method

Our focus this week will be on Scientific Method.  Students will use the method while exploring the age old question of "Which floats better...a pumpkin, or an orange?". We will also begin working in groups to construct houses out of straws, paper clips and tape to be used in another investigation at the end of the week.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

We will be starting Unit 2, which covers the topic of addition and subtraction of whole numbers. The pretest for the unit is scheduled for Monday.  The first few topics in this unit include Properties of Addition & Subtraction Rules, Patterns in Addition, and Using Mental Math to Add & Subtract.

FYI...

The turn in dates for the district Magazine Drive are September 17, 19 and 24.

I am looking forward to seeing parents at Curriculum Night on Tuesday, 9/17 from 6:30-7:30.

Another wonderful week!  Happy weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Highlights for the Week of 9/12/11 - 9/16/11 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Spelling - Long & Short "a" & "e"
The final test for spelling this week will be on Friday, 9/16. This is the first week that we will be using the spelling words from our reading series. Students who score a 90% or above on Monday's pretest will have the opportunity to do challenge work via the contracts that we used for our first two lessons. Workbook pages and contract work will also be collected on 9/16.

Reading - Identifying the Elements of Story Structure
This week we will focus on story structure. We will use a story map to look at how a problem and its solution affect the story's plot and characters. When your child is reading at home, you can practice and review story structure by asking them to identify characters, setting, and plot (which includes the problem, sequenced events, and the solution.)

English - What is a Sentence?Subjects and predicates is the next topic in our English unit, and that means that Mr. Morton will be coming to town! Ask your child to sing one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock songs for you this week. We will be focusing on complete subjects and predicates, and simple subjects.

Social Studies - Strength of Our Freedom
We will finish chapter 2 with a look at the responsibilities and rights of citizens in the U.S. Students will continue to practice their skimming and scanning skills. We will review the chapter on Thursday. The chapter 2 TEST is tentatively scheduled for Friday, 9/16. Look for a study guide to come with your child early in the week.

Science - The Scientific Method
We're off to the races...worm races, that is! We will be studying the steps of the Scientific Method while learning about worms and how they are affected by their environment. Students should bring their worms to school in their habitats on Tuesday, 9/14. They will receive the project description sheets for their race tracks on that day as well.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

The chapter 1 TEST is scheduled for Monday, 9/12. We will then move on to chapter 2, which covers the topic of addition and subtraction of whole numbers. The first three concepts we will study are inverse operations, rounding numbers through the millions, and mental math strategies for estimation.

FYI...

The magazine drive will begin with the kickoff celebration on Monday, 9/12. An information packet will be sent home with your child that day.

Happy Weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Highlights for the Week of 9/12/11 - 9/16/11 in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Spelling - Long & Short "a" & "e"
The final test for spelling this week will be on Friday, 9/16. This is the first week that we will be using the spelling words from our reading series. Students who score a 90% or above on Monday's pretest will have the opportunity to do challenge work via the contracts that we used for our first two lessons. Workbook pages and contract work will also be collected on 9/16.

Reading - Identifying the Elements of Story Structure
This week we will focus on story structure. We will use a story map to look at how a problem and its solution affect the story's plot and characters. When your child is reading at home, you can practice and review story structure by asking them to identify characters, setting, and plot (which includes the problem, sequenced events, and the solution.)

English - What is a Sentence?Subjects and predicates is the next topic in our English unit, and that means that Mr. Morton will be coming to town! Ask your child to sing one of my favorite Schoolhouse Rock songs for you this week. We will be focusing on complete subjects and predicates, and simple subjects.

Social Studies - Strength of Our Freedom
We will finish chapter 2 with a look at the responsibilities and rights of citizens in the U.S. Students will continue to practice their skimming and scanning skills. We will review the chapter on Thursday. The chapter 2 TEST is tentatively scheduled for Friday, 9/16. Look for a study guide to come with your child early in the week.

Science - The Scientific Method
We're off to the races...worm races, that is! We will be studying the steps of the Scientific Method while learning about worms and how they are affected by their environment. Students should bring their worms to school in their habitats on Tuesday, 9/14. They will receive the project description sheets for their race tracks on that day as well.

Mrs. Bell's Math Class

The chapter 1 TEST is scheduled for Monday, 9/12. We will then move on to chapter 2, which covers the topic of addition and subtraction of whole numbers. The first three concepts we will study are inverse operations, rounding numbers through the millions, and mental math strategies for estimation.

FYI...

The magazine drive will begin with the kickoff celebration on Monday, 9/12. An information packet will be sent home with your child that day.

Happy Weekend!

Mrs. Karen Bell

Week of 9/9/13 - 9/13/13

Highlights for the Week of 9/9/2013 

in Mrs. Bell's Classroom!

Spelling - Words Often Misspelled #2 
This week's list will consist of a second list of words that are often misspelled by fourth grade students. Students will be taking a pretest consisting of 20 words on Monday. Homework will be collected on Friday, and the final test for the week (20 words) will be given on Friday.

Reading -Identifying the Elements of Story Structure / Summarizing

This week we will focus on the elements of story structure while reading a story called Akiak, by Robert Blake. Akiak is about a famous Iditarod race that takes place in the Alaskan wilderness. We will use a story map to examine how a problem and its solution affect the story's plot and characters. Students will also work on sharpening their summarizing skills while writing a "diary" from the point of view of the story's hero, Akiak the dog. We will  be working with the following vocabulary words: blizzard, checkpoint, courageous, experienced, musher, and rugged. Your child may review these words with an e-game at

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr06/gr4/gr4_th1_sel1.html. Click on the e-game tab to play the game. We will also be working on building stamina for the "Read to Self" portion of the Daily 5.

English - Autobiographical Paragraph / Writing a Friendly Letter

Students will complete their first English assignment, which is to write an autobiographical paragraph. Then, we will review how to write a friendly letter. Students will learn about the different components that make up a friendly letter, and we will write one together. Then, they will write their own friendly letter to be shared with parents on Curriculum Night. 

Social Studies - "We the People / Strength of Our Freedom"

Students will finish their study of the U.S. government with a peek at the branches of government, and the Constitution.  We will then move on to the study of citizens' rights in the U.S.

Science - "Getting Ready for Science"

We will continue our focus on tools used for science, and safety in the lab. An open note QUIZ on these topics is tentatively scheduled for Friday, 9/13.

Math - Mrs. Bell's Math Class

Students will be taking a QUIZ on lessons 1-4 of unit 1 on Tuesday, 9/10. Topics on the quiz will include place value through billions, writing multi-digit numbers (standard form, word form & expanded form), and comparing & ordering numbers. We will be finishing Unit 1 with a look at using place value to round numbers, and a problem solving strategy called the "Four Step Plan".  The unit 1 TEST is scheduled for Friday, 9/13. 

FYI...

The magazine drive will begin with the kickoff celebration on Tuesday, 9/10. An information packet will be sent home with your child that day.

Please be sure to mark your calendar for Curriculum Night, which is scheduled for Tuesday, September 17th from 6:30 to 7:30. You will have an opportunity to visit our classroom, and to meet your child's math teacher.

If your child is interested in joining the band, please plan on attending the meeting for beginning students on September 16th at 7:00. The meeting will be held at Prairieview in the Multi-Purpose room.

On October 3rd we will be taking a field trip to Brookfield Zoo.  On the day of the trip, students will have to bring a completely disposable lunch, dress for the weather, wear comfortable walking shoes, and bring a watch with a second hand.

Enjoy your weekend!
Mrs. Karen Bell