Plays of Week #13

Reminders for the Upcoming Week

Tuesday 11/11= Library Check-out and Field Trip to the Symphony

Thursday 11/13 = Tentative Math Test

Wear Green and Yellow for our visit from students from Parkview (our feeder school)

Friday 11/14 = Spelling Test

Reading = We are finishing up our unit 3 this week and beginning Unit 4 within our Reading: Analyzing Test Structure with fiction and Narrative Nonfiction.    We will explore text structure: character, setting, plot, and conflict.

Writing = This week we are wrapping up looking at our Mentor Writing piece.  I was impressed how well Team Meyer worked with ideas, organization, voice, and sentence fluency this past week.  We will begin this week with Word Choice and Conventions.  Then we will move to incorporating all the 6 Traits of Quality Writing in our own pieces.

Math = Within chapter 4 a large focus is on the Distributive Property of Multiplication.  There is a picture below of what we have been using to show our thinking.  This week we are working with the problem solving investigation and Multiplying Across Zeros.  Our plan is to Test over Chapter 4 Thursday (watch the assignment sheet for updates.).  We may move it to Friday if more review is needed.  Please continue to practice multiplication facts.

Spelling = New lists will be sent home on Monday and we plan on testing on Friday.

Content = Science/Ecology - On Monday, we will wrap up our Nature Unleashed unit.  In the spring we will take a field trip when we revisit these topics and travel to the Springfield Nature Center.  Later in the week, we will begin our Social Studies unit which focuses on Missouri Government.

Highlights of the Week

We are so happy to finally Officially Introduce our Newest Members of Team Meyer!  We are very lucky to have these three join us since the beginning of the year! :)

Working with graphic organizers for Organization of Ideas this week in Writing

Cursive Practice is in full swing for Team Meyer

The Distributive Property has been a huge focus this week in Math

Be sure to look over the newsletter that was sent home on Friday!  Donations begin on Monday so please send those pennies in!  Also, be sure to check out the bottom where Mr. Holt will have to do some fun activities when we raise the money.

Pictures were sent home on Friday!  Team Meyer looked great!

Adding some vocabulary after we finished reading Animal Senses.

We are impressed with our team members who finished Diary of a Wimpy Kid!

Plays of Week #12

Reminders for the Upcoming Week

Monday 11/3 = No School

Tuesday 11/4 = Library Check-out

Reading = Questioning within our reading is very important to make sense of what we are reading.  This week we are wrapping up the book Animal Senses by Pamela Hickman during whole group lessons.  We love how the book discusses  animals senses because it goes right along with our science.  The senses we are focusing on this week are smell, taste, and touch.

Writing = Comparing writing to a pizza!  We will continue to break down this analogy ans look at a mentor writing piece.  We will think about organization: having a strong beginning, middle, and end, voice: using emotion, sensory details, and figurative language, sentence fluency: using punctuation and thinking about sentence flow, and word choice.

Math = This week we are working with the final lessons of Chapter 4 and will most likely be testing around mid week next week.  We will be multiplying with regrouping, multiplying by a multi-digit number, multiplying across zeros, and problem solving.  As always be sure to practice multiplication facts at home to build confidence with any and all facts.

Spelling = New lists will be sent home on Tuesday (no school Monday) and we plan on testing on Friday.

Content = Science/Ecology - This past week in our Nature Unleashed program we received a visit from a Master Naturalist named Mr. Herman.  We learned so much about the specialized structures consumers have.  Please check out the pictures below to see the skulls Mr. Herman brought along with him.  This week we will be looking at how herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores interact in the ecosystems we have been studying (forests, ponds, and prairies).   

Highlights of the Week

We had several festive activities this week! 

 Thank you Mr. Holt!

 4th Grade received a visitor to learn about the specialized structures of teeth of consumers.  Mr. Herman (a naturalist) from the Missouri Conservation Department shared his knowledge with us and even brought his skull collection with us! The students learned so much!

Have you ever thought to compare quality writing to a Pizza?  Why not? :)

We are very proud of all the hard work this past quarter during Math Workshop

Plays of Week #11

Reminders for the upcoming Week...

Mon. 27th = Conferences 

Tues. 28th = Conferences and Library Check-out

Wed. 29th = Conferences

Thurs. 30th = Conferences, Spelling Test, Panther Pride Assembly, and Big Event

Fri. 31st = No School

Next Mon. 3rd =  No School

Reading = Pictured below we worked with our Times for Kids articles to think about Wonderings within Expository texts.  I think this was one of Team Meyer's favorite activity in Reading so far.  They even got to pick out their own article to cut out and try our independently.  This week we are going to continue to explore the book Animal Senses by Pamela Hickman during our whole group lessons.

  

Writing = We worked with a little festive poetry during writing this past week that you will see in the hallway when you visit Portland.  Team Meyer enjoyed visualizing the pumpkin with their 5 senses and even being able to draw it.  This week we are sharing our published free choice writing piece.  Also, beginning Personal Narratives we will be thinking about times in our lives to write about.

Math = This week we will continue with Chapter 4 by modeling multiplication with multi-digit times single digits.  We will add in the element of regrouping with multiplication and visualizing the Distributive Property.  Please continue to remind Team Meyer to be practicing their multiplication facts at home to prepare for the next chapters.  It will help tremendously to build confidence.

Spelling = New lists will be sent home tomorrow and we are planning to test on Thursday (no school on Friday).

Content= Science/Ecology - We will continue to take part in the Nature Unleashed program through the Missouri Conservation Department.  This week we are planning to host a guest Naturalist to talk about skulls of consumers in the ecosystems we have been working with.

Highlights of the Week

Aliyah received a Positive Panther Referral this week

Thank you to the Firefighters who came to talk to Portland!  

Please make sure you send in you Smoke Detector surveys.

Ms. Dutton taught her first lesson to Team Meyer!  She did a wonderful job and we are lucky to have her! :)  The students were about to use the Virtual Manipulative website and form groups as base ten blocks themselves. 

Team Meyer filled out their own report cards for 1st Quarter.  You will receive them at conferences this week.  They were very reflective and I am excited to share them with you all.

 Our first visit Springfield's Little Theater to see "The Phantom Tollbooth Jr." based on the novel by Norton Juster.

 We worked with our Times for Kids articles as a whole group and got to pick some of our own.  

Our focus was on Wonderings within expository texts. 

Plays of Week #10

Reminders for the upcoming Week...

Tuesday 21st = Fire Prevention Day and Field Trip to the Phantom Tollbooth Play

Friday 24th = Spelling Test

Reading = This week we are continuing our unit in Questioning.  During this unit we will continue to explore expository texts and use schema to articulate what we know about a topic before we read.  This week we will be using the book Animal Senses by Pamela Hickman during our whole group lessons.

  

Writing = Team Meyer finished editing our pieces on Friday (see pictures below).  This week we will publish our pieces and share them with each other.  I am very excited to see what our first trip through the writing process has brought and look forward to watching each writer grow this year!  Later in the week we will be looking to our next writing unit which will be Personal Narratives.  

Math = Last week we took our Chapter 3 Test and it will be coming home tomorrow.  It was a great way to start 2nd Quarter on a positive note!  On Friday, we began Chapter 4 which worked with multiplies of 10, 100, and 1, 00 with basic facts.  Please continue to remind Team Meyer to be practicing their multiplication facts at home to prepare for the next chapters.  It will help tremendously to build confidence.  This week we will be rounding to estimate products and using visual models to multiply.

Spelling = New lists will be sent home tomorrow and we are planning to test on Friday.

Content= Science/Ecology - We will continue to take part in the Nature Unleashed program through the Missouri Conservation Department.  This week we will look deeper into food chains.

Highlights of the Week

Thank you Scott Family for the Book Donation

Writing: We are working on Editing and using resources to do so (Dictionaries)

Thinking about Camouflage in our School Yard 

Non-Fiction Scavenger Hunt

What Text Features did you find?

Plays of Week #9

Reminders for the upcoming Week...

Monday 13th = No School
Tuesday 14th = Picture Day and Library Check-Out

Wednesday 15th = Chapter 3 Math Test
Thursday 16th = Book Order due
Friday 17th = Future Friday, Portland Wear Ordering forms are due, and Spelling Test

Reading = (Unit 3: Questioning) During this unit we will continue to explore expository texts and use schema to articulate what we know about a topic before we read.  This week we will be using the book Slinky Scaly Slithery Snakes by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent to help us during our whole group lessons.  Team Meyer knows I am not a fan of snakes so I am going to need to face my fear and learn more about it with them.

  

Writing = We will be Revising, Editing, working in partnerships, and wrapping up our pieces for publishing them.  Team Meyer will begin the week with thinking about how to "hook" their audience in with leads.  Then we will begin to Edit making our pieces "look" better.  This will include examining our writing pieces for capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.  

Math = On Tuesday, we will be reviewing Chapter 3 on Multiplication and Division.  The test is tentatively Wednesday.  This chapter we thought about the properties of Multiplication (pictured below), how multiplication and division are related, repeated addition (multiplication), repeated subtraction (division), factors, multiplies, and problem solving with word problems.  Late in the week, we will begin Chapter 4: Multiply with One-Digit Numbers.  Please remind Team Meyer to be practicing their multiplication facts at home.

Spelling = New lists will be sent home tomorrow and we are planning to test on Friday.  There are pictures below of Team Meyer enjoying sorting their words.

Content= Science/Ecology - We will continue to take part in the Nature Unleashed program through the Missouri Conservation Department.  This week we will look at specialized structures and camouflage that help organisms stay safe in their ecosystems.  Later in the week we will look to food chains.

Highlights of the Week

Ethan received a Positive Panther Referral

We are revising in Writing: thinking about our word choice.  What did you revise in your writing piece?

 34th Annual Ozark Literacy Festival on Thursday 

Enjoying one of Portland's snacks this week!  Team Meyer has never seen anything like it, but it was actually delicious!  Good thing Mrs. Meyer bravely tried it first! :)

 Artwork for the week...can't wait to see these painted!

An Anchor Chart we used for reminders of the Multiplication Properties this Chapter.

Thinking about what "Self-Regulating" means with Mr. G.

Week #2 of Word Study went great!

Mrs. Castillo taught us a game to practice our Multiples in Math Workshop.  Team Meyer loved playing it!

Thursday = Ozark Literature Festival

Tomorrow we have our first field trip!  We will be heading to the Missouri State campus for the 34th Annual Ozark Literature Festival.  Please have your child wear their Portland T-shirt or a Red shirt.  

Below are some links about the festival we are attending and the authors that we will be getting the opportunity to meet.  You may send money with your child to buy a book, however, there is also a book signing event that is open to the public tomorrow evening you can attend as well.

All About the Literature Festival

The 34th Annual Children's Literature Festival of the Ozarks
Missouri State University Campus
Thursday, October 9, 2014

 Author Presentations: 9:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m. - Registration required 

Free Autograph Party: 6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - No registration necessary

Authors Team Meyer gets to meet 

during the day...

Mary Amato

Mary Casanova

Antony John

Obert Skye

Plays of Week #8

Reminders for the upcoming Week...

Tuesday = Library Check-Out

Thursday = Ozark Literacy Festival at Missouri State 
                                                   (1st Field Trip) Lunch at 10:40 am 
Friday = Spelling Test
                   End of 1st Quarter

Reading = The articles we worked with last week went very well and we are adding to the list of Text Features we can recognize in our Expository Texts: Maps, Map Key, Cations, Photographs, Diagram, Index, Glossary, and Comparison Charts.  We will continue to work with articles as well as with a piece on Italian Americans.  We are hoping to enjoy a Non-Fiction Scavenger hunt by the end of the week.

  

Writing = Team Meyer has been working hard with the Writing Process this past week.  We have chosen a draft from our pre-writing and have begun to revise.  This week we are going to focus more on revising and editing by adding sensory details and thinking about ways to make our pieces better.  We will even get advice from our Writing Partners.

Math = Chapter 3: Multiplication and Division is moving along.  On Friday, we reviewed lessons 3.1-3.4 and the assessment page went home with Team Meyer.  This week we will be focusing on the Properties of Multiplication: Commutative, Identity, Zero, and Associative.  

Spelling = Last week with our Words their Way  program went very well!  New lists will be sent home tomorrow and we are planning to test on Friday.  If our field trip changes plans it will be in Team Meyer's planners.

Content= Science - In 4th Grade we are lucky enough to be a part of the Missouri Conservation Department's Nature Unleashed program.  Working with this unit the students are able to use excellent materials from the MCD and even take a field trip through them (coming later this year).  Take a look at the pictures below about the observations we made this past week within our outdoor classroom.  This week we will continue to work with the Ecosystems: Pond, Prairie, and Forest.

Highlights of the Week

Math Workshop

 Science: Nature Unleashed

Working with Non-Fiction Text in Reading

Working hard in Art Class

We welcomed Ms. Dutton to our classroom every Tuesday and Thursday (from Missouri State University)

Thinking about the Writing Process