Multiplication Smarty Pants

I also try to create some kind of chart or club to recognize students that master their multiplication facts, but this year I decided I wanted to do something different.  I decided to have Mrs. Upton's Smarty Pants hanging in the hallway for EVERYONE to see!  When students get all 100 multiplication problems correct in 5 minutes they will get to sign the jeans.

The inaugural jean signers were Jake & Jack.  Jack took 2 multiplication tests before becoming a master and Jake took 3.  I was proud of these 2 boys!

Three other students were able to sign the jeans following their multiplication test today.  I can't wait for all 23 student's signatures to be on the blue jeans for the whole school to see.

Another Busy Day

Today students received their Imagine It workbooks.  We use these workbooks to help us practice our spelling skills and to work on our grammar skills.  

Molly and Annalaura are working on a suffix skill together as elbow buddies.

Ask your child what an elbow buddy is and how they sound when they talk to their elbow buddy.

We have been working toward completing our guess who self-portraits.  Today students glued in their bio poems and added several other interesting tid-bits to the inner side panels.  I think they are just about ready to make their hallway debut!

A challenging math project for those who need a little more...

And finally, we had a furry visitor in our classroom today.

Meet Cody the Guinea Pig.  We brought Cody in to roll around in his ball for a little while.  He didn't really move very much.  I think he was afraid of all of us.

Lots Of Classwork

 We have been super busy in the classroom this week.  On both Monday and Tuesday the only breaks we have taken were PE and recess.  We have worked our little fingers to the bone!

Each student received their Alabama History book this week.  We have begun talking about government to prepare for our upcoming trip to our state capital.  We looked at pictures of our state capital and the Alabama State House.  Ask your child if they remember the 3 branches of government we briefly discussed today.  If they remember all 3 of them then they deserve ice cream after dinner!

 In math today we took a VERY long assessment.  It was 50 HARD questions.  The new math curriculum we have adopted is very different from what we are used to.  It uses a very different vocabulary so the transition has been pretty difficult for the children.  

I will begin sending math homework home once I am comfortable with their knowledge of the material.  Right now I feel math homework would add unnecessary stress to your home due to the confusing terminology.  Bare with me and hopefully it will begin coming home next week.

We began our Physics of Sound unit in science!  Yesterday we discussed properties of sound and today we used our knowledge of sound properties to help us identify the sounds of various objects in our "Bag-O-Stuff."

BE PROACTIVE!  We used the book Bringing The Rain To Kapiti Plain to learn about being proactive.  Ki-Pat took control of the drought on the plains instead of placing blame on others.  Ki-Pat was able to use the resources that came to him to bring rain to the plain.  Along with learning how to be proactive, we also used this book to learn how to be VORACIOUS READERS, and also a little about rhyming.  

Ask your child what it means to be a voracious reader.  You may also want to ask them if they are a voracious reader.

Getting Things Started

Each student received 2 Oops passes today.  An Oops pass is used when students get to school and realize, "Oops!  I forgot my homework!"  They can turn this Oops pass in instead of their homework and then turn their completed homework in the next day and receive no penalty.  An Oops pass is not a homework pass.  An Oops pass only means students get an extra day to get their homework to me.  

We began moving our clips on Monday.  Many students moved up, up, up, and 7 ended their day off the chart!  The second day of moving clips was not so great.  I just know tomorrow will be better though!

Multiplication Tests

Yesterday students began taking their multiplication skill & drill practice tests.  Students were given 100 multiplication problems through 144 and were given 10 minutes to complete all of the problems correctly.  A few of the students finished within the time limit, but I do not think any of the students got all of the problems correct.  Everyone will be graphing their results on each test in their SOAR Binders.  Check the graph for progress!

Our class goal is to get all of the problems right within 5 minutes!   I know each student can do it but they definitely need to study!

Tagxedo

I used Tagxedo to create this cool piece of word art about our first week of school.  Tagxedo is super easy and fun to use.  Check it out!

iPick Good Shoes?

Following P.E. today the students met me and these 4 lovely pairs of shoes at the carpet.

We began discussing how each pair of shoes has a PURPOSE.  I would not need to wear my heels to do yardwork, nor would I need to show up at a wedding in my running shoes.

We also talked about how cleats and ballet shoes were not on the table.  I do not own a pair of either of those shoes because I am not INTERESTED in those activities.

Finally I put on Mr. Upton's shoes and we talked about how they were way too big for me.  They had a hard time COMPREHENDING the fact that I would show up to play on their Sheff Cup team in those shoes.  They told me I would not be successful.  I then asked about wearing some shoes that were too small and again, they said I would not be successful at playing soccer.

All of the shoe stories related to picking GOOD FIT books.  We learned the acronym iPick to help us choose good fit books for us. 

I = I choose the book.

P = What is my purpose in reading?

Just like every shoes has a purpose, so does every book.

I = Am I interested in the book?

Just like we do not have shoes for activities we are not interested in, we shouldn't choose books we aren't interested in just because our friends chose to read it.

C = Can I comprehend what I read?

Just like shoes that are too big make us feel unsuccessful, books that are too big can make us feel unsuccessful at reading.  It is important to choose books that FIT US so that we feel SUCCESSFUL!

K = Do I know most of the words?

If we do not know the words we will not be able to comprehend what we read.

Learning The Scientific Method

We began learning about the scientific method today.  We began by learning about the different parts of the scientific method, and then we conducted an experiment to use the various components we learned about.

We began with 3 cups.  I showed the students that both cups A & B were "empty."  The cup without a label held our water.

I poured water into both cups and then had a student volunteer to come forward.  I poured both cups over his head, but no water poured out of cup A.  Where did the water go??

After the students shared their hypotheses and illustrated what they observed they found out that a diaper was taped onto the bottom of cup A.  The diaper has a super absorbent polymer in it that soaks up liquid.  The cup was then passed around the classroom for the kids the examine.

Self-Portraits & Autobiographical Poems

Yesterday we began working on a guess who self-portrait to hang in the hallway.

The inside of this self-portrait will host an autobiography poem.  Today we generated several lists of ideas to help us write our poems.



Setting Goals

Today we spent a large amount of our time discussing goals and setting a couple for ourselves.  We began by meeting and having a classroom discussion about goals. 

This is what we came up with:

We then took a few minutes to set an academic and personal goal for ourselves.  After we set our goals we came up with an action plan for achieving our goals!

Finally, we put our academic goal on a t-shirt to hang in the hallway so that everyone will know what we're working toward.

Our T-Riffic Goals!

Today we also got our new Go Math! books.  Each student received 2 books that they are allowed to write in.  They seemed pretty excited about that :).  We also took a pre-assessment for chapter one.

We are continuing to work on Read To Self.

Today we put our book bags together so that we will be prepared during read to self time.

We also had a chance to get in a few minutes of Read To Self time.

Day Two - Another GREAT Day!

This morning we went to the computer lab to take a STAR Reading test.  The STAR Reading test provided each student with an average reading level.  I met with each student during Daily Three time today and discussed their reading level with them.  The two of us devised a plan for selecting appropriate books for them to read.  We will do a more detailed lesson on choosing appropriate books later in the week.  Ask your child what their reading level is and ask what baskets they are allowed to choose books from!

Following counseling we came back to the classroom and discussed respect.  We plan to have respect for each other, our classroom, ourselves, and our belongings this year.  We had a great conversation and came up with some great ideas.

Later in the morning we had a chance to get in a small math lesson.  We began by working on daily data using a Venn Diagram.  We set-up our math notebooks and began writing down our observations about the data we created.

We also had a chance to use numbers to answer questions about ourselves.

We began our first class read aloud, The City of Ember.  We also read aloud a picture book called Three Cheers for Tacky.  The kids loved the book and learned how to tune into interesting vocabulary as we read.  We finished up reading with our Read To Self time.  We are working on building our stamina back up from summer break so we only read independently for 10 minutes.  Ask your child if they remember what it means to build stamina!

We had another a great day!

Our First Day of School

We had a GREAT first day.  We were so incredibly busy that I forgot to take any pictures.  I ALWAYS take a class picture on the first day and totally forgot until the bus bell had rang yesterday.  Mrs. Jones popped in and snapped this picture for our Facebook page, so I snagged a copy of it so that we would at least have one picture of our first day together.

We began our morning learning a few procedures for our classroom.  Each student received a handbook and we talked through a few of the procedures like morning routine, entering the classroom, bathroom, etc...

After reviewing a few procedures we took some time to talk about the kind of teacher we want.  This is the list the students came up with.

We read two books yesterday.  The first one we read was Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus.  The kids thought it was funny and we learned how to check for comprehension while we read.  The second book we read was Chrysanthemum.  Again, the students loved the book.  We used this book to work on accuracy when reading by cross-checking when we are unsure of a word.

After we learned our two reading strategies we began discussing Daily Three Time.  We launched Read To Self so that students could begin working on independent reading.  We created this iChart to help us understand Read To Self.

We will add our last way to read a book tomorrow.

We spent most of the day getting to know one another and learning about our classroom.  I know we are going to have a great year together!

Welcome Back!

I got to meet 24 precious fourth graders at orientation tonight!  I enjoyed spending time with them and sharing a little about what to expect this year.

Here's a peek inside our classrom.

This will eventually be our mail station once I find a replacement for my mailbox system.  I'm hoping to find and purchase a replacement this weekend!

This is our 7-Habits board, birthday board, special area times, cubbies, and small group table.

Literary genre posters and picture books

C.A.F.E. Board and additional cubbie space

Daily Three

I LOVE my new chevron curtains!

Class Dictionary and Bathroom Sticks on the left and Lunch Menu and Where Are You? on the right

Our classroom library!

I am hoping for a 4S line every time we are on the move!

The treat I gave my students, "I'm so LUCKY to have you in my class!"

I am looking forward to a GREAT year!