Newsletter: March 9-27

Literacy

Writing Workshop: Opinion Writing
In this unit, we will learning the art of persuasive writing. Students will brainstorm topics they have strong opinions about. They will learn to identify their targeted audience and purpose for writing. In their writing, they will learn to clearly state their opinions and support their opinions with reasons.

March Genre of the Month: Mystery
During the month of March, students have been reading their selected mysteries. Similar to our book clubs in January, students are to be recording their thinking using the "Notice & Note" sign posts. They can either record their thinking on Post-Its or right in their Reader's Notebook. If they are using Post-Its, they can just put the Post-Its in their Reader's Notebook when they are finished. No additional writing is required. All Reader's Notebooks are due no later than Tuesday, March 31.

Math

Unit 10: Perpendicular and Parallel Line Segments
In this short unit, students will learn to identify and draw perpendicular and parallel line segments.

Advanced Math

Unit 11: Graphs and Probability
Student will be learning to make and interpret line plots and double bar graphs, and compare two sets of data. We will be experimenting with probability and how to calculate all the possible outcomes of an event.

Science: Waves

We will begin our last science unit by working to define waves through observation and learning about how waves behave. We will also be investigating the shape of waves and how to measure them.

Upcoming Events...

March 10 VIP/Book Talk: Isla
March 11 IAR State Testing @ 1:15 (Math Unit 1)
March 12 IAR State Testing @ 1:15 (Math Unit 2)
March 12 3rd Grade performance
March 16 Green Day (wear green for St. Patrick's Day)
March 16 IAR State Testing @ 1:15 (Math Unit 3)
March 17 No School: Election Day
March 18 VIP/Book Talk: Dimitri
March 18 Math Club
March 18 IAR State Testing @ 1:15 (ELA Unit 1)
March 19 IAR State Testing @ 1:15 (ELA Unit 2)
March 20 Permission slips for Art Institute due
March 20 Pajama Day/Movie 
March 23-27 Spring Vacation
March 24 Happy Birthday, Dimitri!

Newsletter: February 20-March 6

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Fiction Unit of Study
Our final lessons of the Fiction Unit of Study will have us exploring the language and format of a play. Students will be identifying the tone and mood of a story, as well as conflict and tension. We will continue to practice our written responses to literature and making connections across texts.

Writing Workshop: Expository Nonfiction
In this unit, students have been learning research skills such as taking notes, categorizing information by subtopic, and conducting effective Internet searches. They have taken the information they gathered and written an expository text with features such as a table of contents, an engaging introduction and thoughtful conclusion, a glossary, a bibliography, and an author biography section. We are in the process of doing final edits and revisions this week and next. We will have a Writing Celebration to share our work with the other classes next Friday, February 28.

February Genre of the Month: Science Fiction or Fantasy
During the month of February, students have been reading their selected fantasy or science fiction book. Similar to our book clubs in January, students are to be recording their thinking using the "Notice & Note" sign posts. They can either record their thinking on Post-Its or right in their Reader's Notebook. If they are using Post-Its, they can just put the Post-Its in their Reader's Notebook when they are finished. No additional writing is required. All Reader's Notebooks are due no later than Friday, February 28.

Math

Unit 8: Adding and Subtracting Decimals
In this unit, students have been learning to add and subtract decimals. They are asked to continue to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. There is a test scheduled for Tuesday, February 25.

Unit 9: Angle Measurement
In this short unit, students will be learning to measure and draw angles to 180 degrees. There is a tentative test scheduled for Wednesday, March 4. 

Advanced Math

Unit 9: Multiplying and Dividing Decimals
Students will be learning to multiply and divide decimals. They will be applying these skills when converting metric measurements. There is a test scheduled for Wednesday, March 4.

Social Studies: Midwest/Illinois

We will conclude our study of the Midwest with a look at how agriculture in the Midwest has changed over the last 200 years, and how these changes and advancements in technology have impacted the economy of Illinois.

Upcoming Events...

February 17 No School: Presidents' Day
February 25 VIP/Book Talk: Leah
February 26 Math Club
March 2 Happy Birthday, Sara!
March 3 VIP/Book Talk: Sara
March 6 Report cards issued

Newsletter: January 27-February 18

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Fiction Unit of Study
Our next Schoolwide reading unit will focus on reading fiction. In this unit, students will learn to identify the characteristics of different types of fiction- traditional literature, myths, fairy tales, etc. The students will also be reviewing the elements of a fiction story. The beginning presents the setting, characters, and conflict or problem. The middle of the story includes the plot. The ending reveals the resolution to the conflict or problem. In addition to identifying story elements, students will infer the mood or theme of a story and analyze how characters change over time.

Writing Workshop: Expository Nonfiction
In this unit, students will be learning research skills, such as taking notes, categorizing information by subtopic, and conducting effective Internet searches. They will take the information they gather and write an expository text with features such as a table of contents, an engaging introduction and thoughtful conclusion, a glossary, a bibliography, and an author biography section.

January Genre of the Month: Realistic Fiction
During Reader's Choice time, students have been reading their selected novel with their book club. All book club books are realistic fiction and share a common theme of empathy. Each group's reading schedule can be found on KidBlog. Book clubs will be meeting every Tuesday to discuss that week's reading assignment. The final meeting dates are January 28 and February 4. All work should be posted to KidBlog by the start of school each Tuesday in preparation for these meetings. 

February Genre of the Month: Science Fiction or Fantasy
During the month of February, students will use their Reader's Choice time and home reading time to read their selected books. We will be selecting books in the LMC on Thursday, February 6. Reading responses in their Reader's Notebook are due no later than Friday, February 28.

Math

Unit 7: Decimals to the Hundredths
Students will be learning about decimals to the hundredths. They will be comparing and rounding numbers, and learning about the relationship between fractions and decimals. They are asked to continue to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes.

Advanced Math

Unit 6: Area
In this short unit, students will be learning to find the area of rectangles with fractional sides. Students will also be taught how to identify the base and height of a triangle in order to calculate its area. There will be a test on Unit 6 on Thursday, January 30.

Unit 8: Decimals to the Thousandths
Students will be learning about decimals to the thousandths place. They will be comparing and rounding numbers, and rewriting decimals as fractions.

Social Studies: Midwest

We begin our study of the Midwest this week. In this unit, the focus of our lessons and discussions will be on analyzing geographical, cultural, and environmental changes over time, and investigating and explaining historical events. We will begin with a look at industry throughout the Midwest and how changes in industry affect the people and economy of an area.

Upcoming Events...

January 27 Happy 1/2 Birthday, Alexander!
January 28 VIP/Book Talk: Alexander
February 4 Mr. Haefke presents on renewable energy projects
February 4 ICTM Math Contest #2 for Individuals
February 4 VIP/Book Talk: Jake
February 5 World Read Aloud Day/Skypes with authors Mariane Malone and Lisa Schmid
February 6 ICTM Math Contest #2 for Teams
February 7 Mr. Zohar presents on wind energy
February 7 Patton PTA Fun Fair from 6:30-8:30 PM
February 11 Mrs. Donahue presents Erin's Law @ 1:15
February 11 Energy Debates in the LMC!!!
February 11 VIP/Book Talk: Claudia
February 12 Valentine's Day party @ 2:30 PM
February 13 Happy Birthday, Claudia!
February 13-14 No School: Parent-Teacher Conferences
February 17 No School: Presidents' Day

Newsletter: January 8-21

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Content Area Reading
(See Science below)

Writing Workshop: Expository Nonfiction
In this unit, students will be learning research skills, such as taking notes, categorizing information by subtopic, and conducting effective Internet searches. They will take the information they gather and write an expository text with features such as a table of contents, an engaging introduction and thoughtful conclusion, a glossary, a bibliography, and an author biography section.

January Genre of the Month: Realistic Fiction
During Reader's Choice time, students have begun to read their selected novel with their book club. All book club books are realistic fiction and share a common theme of empathy. Each group's reading schedule can be found on KidBlog. Book clubs will be meeting every Tuesday to discuss that week's reading assignment. Meeting dates are January 14, 21, and 28, and February 4. All work should be posted to KidBlog by the start of school each Tuesday in preparation for these meetings. 

Math

Unit 6: Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Students will conclude their work with fractions with a focus on problem solving. Students are asked to continue to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. The Unit 6, Part 3 test will be on Friday, January 17.

Advanced Math

Unit 5: Algebra
In this next unit, students will learn about variables. They will learn to simplify algebraic expressions and to solve inequalities and equations. There will be a test on Unit 5 on Friday, January 17.

Science: Energy Transfers

We will be wrapping up our Energy Transfers unit in these next three weeks. Students are designing experiments to test theories about energy transfers and drawing conclusions from their data.  The final performance task will have students inventing machines using multiple energy transfers to complete a simple task, much like a Rube Goldberg invention.

As part of our science unit, we have been focusing our reading on content area reading. Through our mini-lessons we have been building our technical vocabulary and adding to our schema about energy. Students continue to read about different forms of energy in order to compare and contrast, understand big ideas about energy usage, and formulate opinions of their own. The science/reading unit will conclude in January with our renewable energy debates. With the help of Mrs. Melamed, we will be teaching the students how to form an opinion supported by fact, formulate questions, and brainstorm possible solutions for problems that exist with current renewable energy resources.

Upcoming Events...

January 8 Happy 1/2 Birthday, Drew!
January 9 Happy 1/2 Birthday, Max!
January 14 VIP/Book Talk: Drew
January 20 No School: MLK Jr. Day

Newsletter: December 2-20

Literacy

Whole Class Novel Study: Project Mulberry
All 4th graders will be participating in a cultural novel study during the month of December. Our class will be reading Project Mulberry. We will be learning about cultural differences, perspective, character development, and crafting realistic fiction. Students will be asked to blog throughout the unit to share ideas and to practice communicating responsibly and respectfully in this type of forum.

Writing Workshop: Fictional Narrative
In this introduction to fictional narrative, students are learning to use knowledge gained through research to make a fictional story more realistic.  On Thursday, December 5, I will be sending home the directions and student-generated rubric for a writing project that will accompany Project Mulberry. Students will be asked to research a topic and write their own short story in the style of realistic fiction incorporating facts about their topic. Class time will be given for part of this project, but students will be expected to complete some of the work at home. Both parts of the assignment can be accessed through Google Classroom. A planning sheet will come home to help the students set goals and manage their time. Some may choose to do the whole project before winter break, while others may choose to use the time over break to work on it.  Task #1: Research will be due by Friday, December 13 and Task #2: Short Stories will be due when we return from break on Tuesday, January 7. 

December Genre of the Month: Historical Fiction
In December, students will be expected to read and summarize at least one historical fiction book as part of our Forty Book Challenge. During the month of December, they are asked to use their Reader's Choice time and at-home reading time to read their selected book and complete a brief summary/reader's response in their Reader's Notebook. All entries should be completed in their Reader's Notebook and turned in to Mrs. Cioni no later than Friday, December 20. 

Math

Unit 6: Adding and Subtracting Fractions
Students will continue to work with adding and subtracting fractions, and renaming whole numbers when adding and subtracting fractions. They will also learn how to rename improper fractions and mixed numbers. Students are asked to continue to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes.

Advanced Math

Unit 5: Algebra
In this next unit, students will learn about variables. They will learn to simplify algebraic expressions and to solve inequalities and equations.

Science: Energy Transfers

Our next science unit will focus on exploring energy in action and stored energy. We will be learning about the many forms of energy that exist all around us and how energy transfers are used to make machines work. Our first test will be on Thursday, December 19.

Upcoming Events...

December 3 Reading MAP Testing at 9:10 AM
December 3 ICTM Math Contest #1 for Individuals
December 4 Happy Birthday, Oliver!
December 5 Happy Birthday, Anthony!
December 5 ICTM Math Contest #1 for Teams
December 10 Math MAP Testing at 9:10 AM
December 10 VIP/Book Talk: Oliver
December 17 VIP/Book Talk: Anthony
December 18 Math Club during lunch recess
December 19 Hour of Code
December 19 Math Day guest speakers
December 20 Reading Buddies
December 23-January 3 No School: Winter Break
January 6 Classes resume

Newsletter: November 13-29

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Nonfiction Unit of Study
We will wrap up these last few days before break with continued practice of summarizing big ideas, identifying cause and effect relationships, and using evidence from the text to support our thinking in written responses.

Writing Workshop: Personal Narrative
We are in the process of publishing our personal narratives with a series of mini-lessons on revising and editing our stories. We will be looking at examples of strong openings, sensory details, transitional phrases, and closing statements as we complete the various revision assignments. All work will be published before break and we will hold our next Writing Celebration on Friday, November 22. During the celebration, students have the opportunity to read and enjoy each other's work and provide peer feedback to one another.

November Genre of the Month: Biography
In November, students will be expected to read and summarize at least one biography as part of our Forty Book Challenge. During the month of November, they are asked to read their selected book and complete a brief summary/reader's response in their Reader's Notebook. All entries should be completed in their Reader's Notebook and turned in to Mrs. Cioni no later than Friday, November 22. 

Math

Unit 6: Adding and Subtracting Fractions
In this next unit, students will learn to add and subtract fractions, and to rename whole numbers when adding and subtracting fractions. They will also learn how to rename improper fractions and mixed numbers. Students are asked to continue to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. There will be a quiz on lessons 6.1 and 6.2 on Wednesday, November 20.

Advanced Math

Unit 4: Multiplying and Dividing Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Students will learn to multiply and divide proper fractions, improper fractions, and mixed numbers. They will be asked to apply these computational skills as they practice solving real world, multi-step problems. There will be a test on Unit 4 on Friday, November 22.

Social Studies: A Tour of the Northeast and Southeast

Over the last few weeks we have traveled throughout the Northeast and Southeast to learn how geography, climate, and resources help to shape the cultures of a region. No matter where we are or where we go, we've learned that people will adapt their way of life to their surroundings. They will use the land and its resources to create goods and provide services in order to make a living.  We will conclude this unit next week by looking at threats to the natural resources here in Illinois, and take action to protect those very resources we rely on to live.

Upcoming Events...

November 14 ICTM Team Contest practice during lunch recess
November 15 Report cards emailed home
November 15 Author visit: Laurie Wallmark
November 15 Class Reward: Pajama Day for 4-3!
November 19 VIP/Book Talk: Lauren
November 20 Math Club during lunch recess
November 25-29 No School: Fall Break/Thanksgiving

Newsletter: October 30-November 12

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Nonfiction Unit of Study
We will be finishing our Nonfiction Unit of Study next week. We have spent the past month learning about the different styles of nonfiction, author's purpose, text features, and the different text structures authors use to present information including description (main idea/supporting detail), chronological order, problem-solution, cause and effect, and compare and contrast. We continue to practice summarizing big ideas, and will finish our study by learning to use evidence from multiple texts to support our thinking in written responses. We will have an end of unit assessment on Thursday, November 7. We have been doing a lot of practice in class with these skills through mini lessons, small group, and independent reading tasks. Students may do additional practice of these skills at home on IXL if they choose. The skills have been "starred".

November Genre of the Month: Biography
In November, students will be expected to read and summarize at least one biography as part of our Forty Book Challenge. During the month of November, they are asked to read their selected book and complete a brief summary/reader's response in their Reader's Notebook. All entries should be completed in their Reader's Notebook and turned in to Mrs. Cioni no later than Friday, November 22. 

Math

Unit 3: Whole Number Multiplication and Division
In this unit, students will be learning to multiply by a 2-digit number. They will also be learning to divide by a 1-digit number. Students are asked to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. There will be a quiz on long division on Monday, November 4, and the Unit 3 test will be on Friday, November 8.

Advanced Math

Unit 3: Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Mixed Numbers
In this unit, students will be learning to make equivalent fractions, and how to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers. Students can access additional practice of these skills on Matholia. The skills will be available on a "Unit 3 Task List" as we learn them in class. There will be a test on Unit 3 on Tuesday, November 5.

Unit 4: Multiplying and Dividing Fractions and Mixed Numbers
Students will learn to multiply and divide proper fractions, improper fractions, and mixed numbers. They will be asked to apply these computational skills as they practice solving real world, multi-step problems.

Social Studies: A Tour of the Northeast and Southeast

This week, we conclude our tour of the Northeast by learning about life in a cotton mill, and how goods and services are produced using available resources. Next week, we will travel to the Southeast to learn how geography, climate, and resources help to shape the cultures of a region. There will be a map quiz on the 12 states in the Southeast on Tuesday, November 12.

Upcoming Events...

October 30 Math Club during lunch recess
October 31 Halloween parade and party
November 4 Happy Birthday, Matt!
November 5 VIP/Book Talk: Matt
November 11 Veterans Day Assembly
November 12 VIP/Book Talk: Anna
November 12 ICTM Individual Contest practice during lunch recess
November 14 ICTM Team Contest practice during lunch recess
November 15 Report cards emailed home
November 15 Author visit: Laurie Wallmark
November 19 VIP/Book Talk: Lauren
November 20 Math Club during lunch recess
November 25-29 No School: Fall Break/Thanksgiving

Newsletter: October 16-29

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Nonfiction Unit of Study
We continue to examine the different text structures authors use to present information. The five text structures we are focusing on are description (main idea/supporting detail), chronological order, problem-solution, cause and effect, and compare and contrast. We continue to practice summarizing big ideas, and will begin to work on using evidence from multiple texts to support our thinking in written responses.

October Book Clubs will come to end next week. We will have our final meeting on October 23 to discuss each book's ending, how characters changed throughout the story, and lessons we have learned from the choices characters made.

October Genre of the Month: Literary Nonfiction
This month, students will be expected to read and summarize at least one literary nonfiction book as part of our Forty Book Challenge. During the month of October, they are asked to read their selected book and complete a brief summary/reader's response in their Reader's Notebook. All entries should be completed in their Reader's Notebook and turned in to Mrs. Cioni no later than October 31. Be sure to take a moment and ask your child how this style of writing differs from September's Genre of the Month, reference nonfiction.

Writer's Workshop: Personal Narrative
We had a wonderful celebration of student writing last Friday. There was a lot of variety in story types the students chose to write- personal narrative, literary nonfiction, reference nonfiction, fantasy, and adventure, and we loved the creativity of each piece. The students had a chance to read each other's stories and provide feedback to each writer. They are hanging in the hall for you to enjoy next week at conferences.

This week we begin the personal narrative unit, writing stories about our own experiences. We will model our stories after two memoirs- Childtimes: A Three Generation Memoir and The Moon and I.

Math

Unit 3: Whole Number Multiplication and Division
In this unit, students will be learning to multiply by a 2-digit number. They will also be learning to divide by a 1-digit number. Students are asked to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. There will be a quiz on multiplication on Friday, October 18, and a tentative quiz on division on Wednesday, October 23.

Advanced Math

Unit 3: Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Mixed Numbers
In this unit, students will be learning to make equivalent fractions, and how to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers. Students can access additional practice of these skills on Matholia. The skills will be available on a "Unit 3 Task List" as we learn them in class.

Social Studies: A Tour of the Northeast

We begin our tour of the United States in the Northeast. This week we have been learning about the climate, geography, and landforms in this region. We have been discovering how people have adapted over time, and  how their culture, or way of life, developed based on the climate, landforms, and resources that surround them. Next week, we will be learning about life in a cotton mill, and how goods and services are produced using available resources. There will be a map quiz on the 11 states in the Northeast on Tuesday, October 22.

Upcoming Events...

October 18 Pumpkin Patch
October 21 Bus evacuation drill
October 22 Happy Birthday, Kalyna!
October 22 VIP/Book Talk: Kalyna
October 23 Friday Schedule
October 24-25 No School: Parent-Teacher Conferences
October 28 One Book, One School Skype with authors of Bob
October 29 VIP/Book Talk: Max
October 30 Math Club at lunch recess
October 31 Halloween parade and party

Newsletter: October 2-15

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Nonfiction Unit of Study
We continue to examine the different text structures authors use to present information. The five text structures we are focusing on are description (main idea/supporting detail), chronological order, problem-solution, cause and effect, and compare and contrast. Understanding these text structures helps readers sort through information and determine what is important.

October Genre of the Month: Literary Nonfiction
This month, students will be expected to read and summarize at least one literary nonfiction book as part of our Forty Book Challenge. During the month of October, they are asked to read their selected book and complete a brief summary/reader's response in their Reader's Notebook. All entries should be completed in their Reader's Notebook and turned in to Mrs. Cioni no later than October 31. Be sure to take a moment and ask your child how this style of writing differs from September's Genre of the Month, reference nonfiction.

Writer's Workshop: The Writing Process
We continue to work through our second unit, The Writing Process. In this unit, students have selected a piece of writing they wrote in our first unit, and are learning about the process of editing and revising their work for publication. All stories are expected to be published by October 10, and we will be have a writing celebration in class on October 11.

Word Study: Words Their Way
With the initial spelling placement inventory complete, we are ready to begin Word Study. Word Study practice will take place in class on a two-week rotating schedule. Students will spend two weeks practicing their words through various word sort and word meaning activities. There is no required weekly homework for Word Study, unless a student does not finish the day's activity in class. A copy of the words will be sent home in case you choose to do additional practice with the words at home. Each day of the week, I will be working with a different group assessing what they've learned and modeling new sorts. Each group will have their word study test on their assigned day with me. Tests will occur every other week, which will be indicated to you on the home copy of their word list. For the assessment, students will not only be asked to spell the word correctly, but will be expected to sort the words correctly by sound, spelling pattern, or word meaning depending on the sort. We will be modeling this routine in class this week, and expect to start groups next week.

Math

Unit 3: Whole Number Multiplication and Division
In this unit, students will be learning to multiply by a 2-digit number. They will also be learning to divide by a 1-digit number. Students are asked to practice their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes.

Advanced Math

Unit 2: Whole Number Multiplication and Division
In this unit, students will be learning to use rules and strategies to multiply and divide multi-digit numbers. Students will also learn to use order of operations to evaluate numeric expressions. Students should be practicing their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. There is a test scheduled on Unit 2 on Thursday, October 10.

Unit 3: Adding and Subtracting Fractions and Mixed Numbers
In this unit, students will be learning to make equivalent fractions, and how to add and subtract fractions and mixed numbers.

Science: Our Geosphere

Students have been busy learning about plate tectonics and what happens at convergent, divergent, and transform plate boundaries. We have learned how mountains form, as well as analyzed data to look for any patterns in volcanic and earthquake activity related to plate movement. We will finish the unit this week by exploring fossil formation. There will be a quiz on these concepts on Friday, October 4.

Our unit will culminate with our National Park project in the LMC. This project will have students researching national parks in the US, the processes that formed them, and the landforms that can be enjoyed there today. They will share what they learn by creating a broadcast (with green screen technology) from their national park. This project will conclude with a Mystery Skype with a park ranger from one of the national parks we study.

Social Studies: Diversity in the United States

Next week, we will begin our first social studies unit, exploring diversity in the United States. The remainder of the year we will be going on a tour of the US by region starting with the Northeast, moving onto the Southeast, then to the Midwest, and finishing the year with the Southwest and West. The focus of our lessons will be to learn about how climate, geography, and natural resources influence the way people live from the different life styles and recreation to the varying economy and jobs of a region. As we go on this tour of the US, we will be taking some time to explore our own way of life right here in Illinois.

Upcoming Events...

October 8 VIP/Book Talk: Ally
October 10 Happy Birthday, Ally!
October 14 No School: Columbus Day/SIP Day
October 15 Monday Schedule
October 15 VIP/Book Talk: No VIP scheduled
October 18 Pumpkin Patch

Newsletter: September 18-October 1

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Nonfiction Unit of Study
Next week will begin our Nonfiction Unit of Study by learning about different types of nonfiction- literary nonfiction, biography, and reference nonfiction. Students will go on a nonfiction scavenger hunt to see how well they can identify the types of nonfiction books. Students will browse through books, identify the topic, and make observations about how information is presented. As we move forward, we will be looking at a variety of nonfiction text features authors include and how these features help us, as readers, understand the text better.

By the end of September we will have completed the last of our benchmark and beginning of the year assessments- fluency checks, comprehension checks, spelling assessments, and MAP testing. This information will be used to form reading groups and word study groups for the first part of the year beginning in October.

Students will have their first spelling test on Tuesday, September 24. Each student has a unique list of up to 20 high frequency words that was created based on words the student misspelled on the high frequency word assessment. Their lists can be found in their assignment notebooks on this week's page. We will be working with high frequency words for 2 weeks until we are ready to begin our Words Their Way routine in early October. Weekly vocabulary words will also become part of word study throughout the year. Five new words will be introduced each week starting next week.

September Genre of the Month: Reference Nonfiction
Students have selected a reference nonfiction book from the library as part of our Forty Book Challenge. During the month of September, they are asked to read their selected book and complete a brief summary/reader's response in their Reader's Notebook. All entries should be completed in their Reader's Notebook and turned in to Mrs. Cioni no later than September 30.

Writer's Workshop: The Writing Process
As we wrap up "The Writing Community" unit this week, we will begin a two-week unit called "The Writing Process". In this unit, students will select a piece of writing they wrote in our first unit and learn about the process of editing and revising their work for publication.

Math

Unit 2: Estimation and Number Theory
In this unit, students will be learning about factors and multiples. They will learn to estimate products and quotients, and how to multiply multi-digit numbers using models. Students should be practicing their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes. There is a tentative test scheduled for Friday, September 27.

Advanced Math

Unit 2: Whole Number Multiplication and Division
In this unit, students will be learning to use rules and strategies to multiply and divide multi-digit numbers. Students will also learn to use order of operations to evaluate numeric expressions. Students should be practicing their basic facts every night for 5-10 minutes.

Science: Our Geosphere

This week, students have been learning about the processes of weathering, erosion, and deposition with river table investigations. There will be a quiz on the first four lessons of the unit on Thursday, September 19. In addition to the study guide that came home on Tuesday, students are encouraged to check out the homepage of the class website for our Twitter feed. The class Twitter feed has photos and videos of some of the investigations we did in class. Being able to explain what they learned through these investigations is a great way to review the concepts of abrasion, weathering, erosion, and deposition.

Next week we will learning about Earth's moving plates, the different types of plate boundaries, and earthquakes.

Upcoming Events...

September 24 VIP/Book Talk: Patricia

September 27 Happy Birthday, Patricia!
September 27 One Book, One School Assembly to reveal this year's book

September 30 School Picture Day

October 1 VIP/Book Talk: George

Weekly Reflection: September 6

Reporters: Lauren and Anthony
Photographer: Matt

We worked with rocks this week. We hit them with a granite grinder. 

The pumice (left) broke off more easily than the sandstone (right).

This week in class...

This week in science we learned about abrasion. Abrasion is when two rocks grind together. We did a lab and experimented with grinding two rocks together.

In reading, we read Tea with Milk and The Bicycle Man  and we learned how to write  about books we read in our Reader's Notebook.

Newsletter: September 4-17

Literacy

Reading Workshop: Getting to Know Ourselves as Readers
The Launch Unit of Schoolwide allows us to establish routines for our reading workshop this year. Mini lessons focus on helping to get to know ourselves as readers. Strategies and skills are modeled through read aloud and students are given a chance to practice those strategies and skills independently. I will be using the next three weeks to assess the students' reading levels through benchmarking. This information will be used to form reading groups for the first part of the year.

September Genre of the Month: Reference Nonfiction
On Thursday, students will have the opportunity to select a reference nonfiction book from the library as part of our Forty Book Challenge. During the month of September, they are asked to read their selected book and complete a brief summary/reader's response in their Reader's Notebook. All entries should be completed in their Reader's Notebook and turned in to Mrs. Cioni no later than September 30.

Writer's Workshop: The Writing Community
The first unit in Becoming a Writer focuses on developing a writing community within our classroom. During mini lessons, students are exposed to examples of good writing through read alouds and many are inspired to write stories in a similar way. As we read and discuss our read alouds, we have started lists of things to write about in our Ideas Notebook. Many students have already begun working on their first piece!

Math

Unit 1: Working with Whole Numbers
Students are learning about numbers to 100,000, comparing large numbers, and reviewing addition and subtraction of multi-digit numbers. There is a tentative test scheduled for Tuesday, September 10.

Unit 2: Estimation and Number Theory
In this unit, students will be learning about factors and multiples. They will learn to estimate products and quotients, and how to multiply multi-digit numbers using models.

Advanced Math

Unit 1: Whole Numbers
Students in Advanced Math have been learning about place value to the ten millions, rounding and estimating with large numbers, and comparing large numbers. There is a test scheduled for Friday, September 6.

Unit 2: Whole Number Multiplication and Division
In this unit, students will be learning to use rules and strategies to multiply and divide multi-digit numbers. Students will also learn to use order of operations to evaluate numeric expressions.

Science: Our Geosphere

Our science unit begins by exploring ways in which the Earth's landscape can change. This week, students are investigating how abrasion weathers rocks. Next week, they will be further developing their definitions of the terms abrasion, weathering, erosion, and deposition through experiments with glaciers in the classroom. In the final lesson of this cluster, students will continue to learn about these processes with river table investigations. There will be a quiz on the first four lessons of the unit on Thursday, September 19.

Upcoming Events...

September 2 No School: Labor Day

September 4 Final day to place orders through Scholastic

September 6 Back to School Bash 6:30 PM

September 10 VIP/Book Talk: Mrs. Cioni

September 11 Music for Youth Assembly

September 16 Happy Birthday, Patrick!

September 17 VIP/Book Talk: Patrick

Newsletter: August 22-30

Mrs. Cioni’s Class

4-3

Website: mrscionisclass.weebly.com

Email: ccioni@sd25.org

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to what will hopefully be another great year at Patton. This year will be filled with many exciting activities and projects centered around our geosphere, energy transfers, waves, the regions of the US, and our government and economy. Fourth graders will learn more about multiplication and division, and become reading detectives as we continue the journey of becoming lifelong readers. The next ten months will surely be an adventure. Please feel free to call me or email me if you have any questions. I look forward to meeting everyone at Curriculum Night on Wednesday, August 28.

Just a Few Notes...

As you have heard from the front office, there is a designated time to drop off school supplies and see the classroom on Wednesday, August 21 from 2:40-3:20 PM. For anyone not able to make it, bring your supplies with you on the first day. Pre-ordered kits have been delivered to the classroom and are waiting for those of you who ordered them. In addition to purchased school supplies, your child will need to bring back their HEADPHONES and RECORDER from 3rd grade. Both will be used again this year.

Students are allowed to bring water bottles into the classroom. I ask that they fill their bottles at home in the morning before they come to school. They will have the opportunity to refill them as needed throughout the day. WATER ONLY will be allowed in the classroom. Please do not send flavored water or sports drinks in the water bottles.

Students are encouraged to bring a healthy snack to school to have during morning snack to tide us over until lunchtime. The lunch hour begins at 12:10, with fourth graders eating third shift at 12:50. Please be reminded that school policy indicates only fresh fruits and vegetables in their own skin will be allowed in the classroom at snack time.

If you need to send money to school for hot lunch, PTA, or anything else, please send money in an envelope with your child's name, room number (4-3), and where the money should go.

In the newsletter I will list the names of those students who will be celebrating birthdays in the upcoming weeks. Those who have birthdays in the summer can celebrate their half birthdays during the school year. Please be reminded that birthday treats are not allowed at school. We will be sending out some suggestions of non-food ways to celebrate your child's birthday if you choose.

Parent Homework: Parent-Teacher communication is key to your child's success. I am asking that each parent take a few minutes to complete the "About My Child" form coming home in backpack mail on the first day. I am requesting that forms be returned to me by August 30. Your input is valuable to me as I get to know your child these first few weeks. Thank you.

Last but not least, students will have the opportunity to purchase books from the Scholastic book order forms. I will send home two order forms each month from which you may select books. If you choose to buy books, please include a check made out to Scholastic. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY CASH TO SCHOOL for book orders. There is also a link on my webpage under "For Parents" if you prefer to order online with a credit card.

Upcoming Events...

August 18 Happy Birthday, George! (to be celebrated August 23)

August 28 Curriculum Night 6:30-7:10 PM for Grades 3-5, 7:20-8:00 PM for Grades K-2

September 2 No school: Labor Day

The Final Six Days...

Monday, June 3

SIX to FIVE COUNTDOWN: Backboard Dodgeball

-Colonial Williamsburg in-house field trip (Part 1)

-Summer Keyboarding Challenge with Mrs. Corley

Tuesday, June 4

FIVE to FIVE COUNTDOWN: Class Picnic

-Colonial Williamsburg in-house field trip (Part 2)

Wednesday, June 5

FOUR to FIVE COUNTDOWN: Breakout from the Underground Railroad

-Cultural Arts Assembly: American Grove Evolution

-Happy Birthday, Cayla!

-Writing Celebration
-Personalized Learning Projects: 4-3's Got Talent Presentations Part 1

Thursday, June 6

THREE to FIVE COUNTDOWN: Board Games

-Bring a board game to share and play with classmates.

-SPIRIT DAY: Apply sunscreen/bug spray at home & dress for the weather

-Personalized Learning Projects: 4-3's Got Talent Presentations Part 2

-Happy Birthday, Adam! (June 19)

Friday, June 7

TWO to FIVE COUNTDOWN: Wet Head Game (Dress appropriately)

-Happy Birthday, Vanessa! (June 22)

-Last day of math instruction

-Reading Buddies Farewell

-Bring an empty bag and empty backpack to bring home school supplies and projects.

-Please make sure all books and textbooks have been returned to school.

Monday, June 10

(Last day of school/Full day of attendance)

ONE to FIVE COUNTDOWN: Minute-to-Win It Challenges

-Awards Assembly

-Yearbook signing

-Report cards emailed home

-Summer vacation begins at 3:35pm!  

Weekly Reflection: December 7

Reporters: Reese and Adam

Photographer: Henry

This a pull back car. We played with it to observe the energy transfers. Motion energy changed to elastic energy, which changed to motion energy and sound energy. 

This week in class:

For science we are learning about energy in action and stored energy, and energy transfers. The forms of energy that we learned about were: electrical, sound, heat, light, motion, elastic, chemical and gravitational energy. If we sorted them into categories then elastic, chemical and gravitational energy would be in stored energy, and electrical, motion, sound, light and heat would be energies in action. The definition of energy is things that are happening now, and the definition of stored energy is things that are not doing anything but waiting to be done/used.

Weekly Reflection: October 12

Reporters: Adam and Kennedy

This week in class...
In science we learned about how plates move and Pangaea. Plates can converge (“collide”), diverge (“separate”),  and transform (“scrape and slide”). We also learned about our geosphere, the crust, mantle, the outer core and the inner core. We learned about volcanoes and why/how they erupt.

Weekly Reflection: October 4

Reporters: Graham and Jaeden
Photographer: Vanessa

We learned if we practice and learn new things, we can make our brains stronger.  

Look how much we have learned so far this year!

This week in class...

We worked on models for the earth like convergent plates, divergent plates and transform plates. We got to pick what we wanted to make the plates with. We could make it with clay and we could put it on plates and all that stuff. We made movies and pic collages and shared what we learned with the class. All of the 60 second presentations were good. We are learning about the crust of the earth, the mantle, the outer core and the inner core. We learned about erosion, deposition, weathering and abrasion.

This week our school started reading “Wishtree” by Katherine Applegate for One Book, One School. It is about a Wishtree named Red, who has a best friend who is a crow (Bongo), and a family of opossums who live in a hollow, and a lonely girl next door who is in need of a friend. She hangs a special wish that will not soon be forgotten. The school is on chapter 10 and people are enjoying it. Our past “One book, One School” books have been “The Wild Robot” and “Nest for Celeste”. The entire school is reading “Wishtree”.

Weekly Reflection: September 28

Reporters: Cici and Grace
Photographer: Evan

River table with 3 holes testing how more water affects the shape of the river.

Can you see what I see? 4 bowling pins, a paper clip, 2 airplanes, a rocket ship, a golden sun, 2 skies of blue, a bird that sings cock-a-doodle-do! We finished this 300 piece puzzle today!! We've been working on it for 3 weeks. Good job, 4-3!

This week in class...

This week in science we did river tables. There were three groups. Control, slope, and amount of water. Control was the group with all the normal variables. It was the group where all the other groups compared theirs too. Slope was the group that had four history books under it. The amount of water was the group that had three holes in their cup. All three rivers made a delta.  

We also learned about non-fiction a text features. We all got to choose a reference non-fiction book. We had to find headings in our book. Then we did a scavenger hunt to locate other text features.

Weekly Reflection: September 21

Reporters: Cayla and Diego
Photographer: Lincoln

We got a class reward and we helped Steve 

breakout of Minecraft. Everyone enjoyed it!

In class this week...

This week we did a Minecraft Breakout. We learned to work together. We had a lot of fun doing a science lab with glaciers. It was awesome. This week most of us had a test of us reading with Mrs.Cioni. We started something called a Weekly Language Review.

Mrs. Corley came in and taught us how to use Chromebooks. Last week we did our first spelling test.

Weekly Reflection: September 14

Reporters: Kendall and Faith
Photographer: Andrew

 These people gave a speech to the class to get voted
for our Student Council rep. They all did a great job!

These are the people that are representing 4-3 in Student Council this year.

This week in class...

We got to do a little speech for Student Council full time rep. We thought it was exciting because we got to vote for 2 people that we'd want to be it. It probably took a lot of courage for them to get up in front of the whole class. We are going to be excited for the person that wins! We also got to vote for 5th graders to be our Student Council presidents and got to find out who won.