Carnival!

What a great, hot, evening at the PTO Back to School Carnival. Thanks to our PTO for organizing this great way to welcome the year. Here are a few student pictures. The bouncy house was a big hit. I caught Dekhari in motion. When I saw Quentin pouring drinks, I was so proud, I gathered a few fourth graders and caught a quick shot of them.

Homework:

Math: p. 5, #1-7

Science: finish definitions from Chapter 1

Have a great night!

Odd Man Out... and more!

Today was a very busy day. We started the day with a presentation for the PTO fundraiser. Students should have brought home information in their take-home folders tonight. Also in their take-home folders should be a revised flyer for the Back to School Carnival.

Math: We worked on our third Math Minute today. We talked for a while about how to use the "odd man out" when trying to remember whether a number is even or odd. Ask your student about it. We also started the Problem of the Day. We used a good strategy for a Magic Square, but we do not have a solution (yet!).

Social Studies: We learned what an economist does today, as well as what the economy is. We started using a graphic organizer to take notes.

Science: We began a preview of the vocabulary used in Chapter 1. The students have a sheet that allows them to see the vocabulary used in a sentence and to try to come up with a definition for each. We will continue this tomorrow, comparing the student definitions to the book definitions.

Reading: After DEAR, we continued with our strategy workshop. What great questioners the students are! Our strategies focused on questioning and evaluating for the story, "The Pumpkin Runner."

I will have a guest teacher tomorrow afternoon so I can spend time testing students individually for reading fluency.

Happy Monday!

There is no assigned homework for this evening.

Reminders:
Irving Back to School Carnival is Thursday, August 28, from 5 - 7 PM. Students must be accompanied by a responsible adult to enter.
No school Monday, September 1 - Labor Day
Parent Night is scheduled for Thursday, September 4 at 6:30.

Here's what we did today:

Mathematics: We participated in our first Math Minute. We also discussed a problem of the day involving telephone numbers. We used our estimation skills to determine how many Duplos were in a container. Tomorrow, we will continue with estimation using Skittles.

Social Studies: We previewed our book. We inferred what we would learn this year (Regions of the United States). We then started brainstorming on why we study certain subjects.

Science: We previewed our book. We began reading about science process skills.

Reading: We participated in Strategy Workshop. We focused on Predicting, Inferring, Phonics, and Decoding. Mrs. Plato is reading a story called "The Pumpkin Runner" to us, and we are practicing strategies of good readers.

First Full Day

What a great full day! We had PE for the first time today. We had a FANTASTIC turnaround with homework. I have almost all parent letters signed and returned. Thanks!

We went through the planner a great deal today. We wrote down our class schedule in the back. We also wrote a list of what snacks would be OK to bring for snack time.

We read a book called First Day Jitters. Ask your student about the surprise ending.

We made butterflies for our bulletin board (pictured). I think they came out great! Ask your student for the steps.

There is no homework for the weekend, but the students should still have brought home their planners and Take Home folders, just to get in to the habit. There was a math challenge in their planners that they could finish for a possible prize on Monday.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Happy First Day of School!

We had a great, and short, first day today. We will continuegoing over classroom procedures tomorrow.

Tonight, students should have brought home a take home folder. In it, there is a parent letter from me. Students are asked to have parents sign the letter and return it tomorrow.

Tomorrow is our first full day of school. Students have PE tomorrow.

Have a great night!

Mrs. Plato's Summer

I cannot wait to hear about how you passed the time this summer (besides missing school, of course!). Below is a slide show about my summer. Enjoy!

Welcome to a great year!

Welcome to our class blog! I hope you find it helpful.

Just as fourth graders grow, so will this blog. Stay tuned!!