Week of February 2-6, 2009

Friday 2/6/09

• Math 3: This morning we took a math test and spent the rest of class time working on critical thinking puzzles.
• Language Arts 3: In addition to spelling tests, third graders worked on a Venn diagram comparing and contrasting themselves with Amish children. They used yesterday's story, "Growing up Amish" to get information about Amish children.
• Language Arts 4: In addition to spelling tests fourth graders worked more with adverbs. They also looked for the various methods an author uses to tell us about a character's thoughts and feelings: dialogue, narrative, and action. We used "The Cage" to look for examples. Monday will be our literature circle discussion on that story.
• Religion 3/4: We went over our tests from yesterday and worked on some memory work. This is the beginning of the next unit in our religion books.
• Social Studies 3/4: Today we read a little about Abraham Lincoln and then made a Venn diagram comparing him with George Washington, who we discussed yesterday. We dissected the Preamble to the Constitution and figured out what all those big words mean, and then we watched the SHR clip again so we could practice learning the words. Here is a link to the video on YouTube if you'd like to watch at home: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TXJRZ4CFc
• Art 3/4: We used our art time today to create valentine holders for next week's Valentine's Day Party. We will be having a combined party with 5th and 6th graders, and a class list went home today so you know how many Valentine's to bring!
• Remember to read and gather sponsors for the Read-a-Thon! We still have one more week to READ READ READ!!

Thursday 2/5/09

• Math 3: Today we learned how to add money amounts as a decimal. Since we already know how to add with regrouping it was not a difficult lesson, with the exception of the decimal point and dollar sign. Some of us keep forgetting to include them! Everyone finished 82A in class. Homework: 82B and oral facts 82. Keep practicing those perfect squares as well.
• Language Arts 3: We read a really interesting story called "Growing up Amish" that told us a lot about life as an Amish person. Amish children have very different lives than we do!! Homework: Study for the spelling test tomorrow!
• Language Arts 4: Fourth graders read a new story called "The Cage" which is set during the time of the Nazi rule. In reading they prepared for their next literature circle discussion, which will take place on Monday.
• Religion 3/4: We took our first religion test today and spent the rest of classtime fixing pages in our religion books that needed completion or improvements.
• Social Studies 3/4: In an effort to better understand why we get President's Day off from school, we are studying a mini-unit on George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Today we discussed Washington and the role he played in the formation of our nation. We also watched a School House Rock clip about the Constitution, which will help us learn the Preamble. I'd like to see every student be able to recite the Preamble by President's Day!
• PE 3/4: Volleyball with Mr. Bretscher!

Wednesday 2/4/09

• Math 3: Today we applied our knowledge of perfect squares to find square roots! Everyone finished 81A in class today. Homework: 81B and keep studying perfect squares.
• Language Arts 3: After journal time we learned about prepositions, prepositional phrases, and the object of the preposition. Prepositions tell us about relationships between words in the sentence, and answer questions like where? and when? Homework: Spelling sentences.
• Language Arts 4: After journal time fourth graders held a literature circle discussion on the story "The Big Wave." We discussed an interesting aspect of the story and considered the idea that life and death are necessary to each other. Ask your student what he or she thought of that idea. Homework: Spelling sentences.
• Science 3/4: We took another look at levers today and learned how to find the fulcrum, the force, and the load. This is something we're working hard to understand and are still not there yet, but it will come! We learned about 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class levers, what makes them different from each other, and identified real like examples of each. A seesaw is a 1st class lever, a wheelbarrow is a 2nd class lever, and a spoon is a third class lever.
• Scholastic News 3/4: We read in our Scholastic News papers today about global warming and the plight of the polar bears near the Arctic Circle. We also learned a little about Chinese New Year and found out that 2009 is the Year of the Ox. Many of us were born in the year of the Tiger (1998) or the year of the Rabbit (1999). Miss Bertschi was also born in the year of the Tiger (1986) because the animals are repeated every 12 years!
• Spanish 3/4: We continued learning and reviewing emotions today and learned some new phrases using "tengo" which literally translates to mean "I have"...such as I have hunger, I have thirst, I have pain, etc. Next week we will have a quiz over estoy and tengo emotions before learning some new conversational phrases.
• **Don't forget to study for tomorrow's religion test!!**

Tuesday 2/3/09

• Math 3: Today we did some experiments with colored tiles to practice making reasonable predictions. We combined tallying, bar graphing, and predicting skills to do this activity and three students still need to finish their observations for tomorrow: Ryan, Daniel, and Alizza. Homework: 79B and finish Master 80.
• Language Arts 3: Third graders read a story called "Cows in the Parlor" about dairy farming. We learned some interesting facts, like cows don't have front teeth! Ryan was also able to offer us some insight on cows and that was pretty cool. Homework: Spelling words 3x each.
• Language Arts 4: Fourth graders began preparing for their literature circle on the next story in the survival unit, "The Big Wave." Tomorrow we will have a literature circle discussion and reflection in class. Homework: Spelling words 3x each, and prepare for literature circle. This includes reading the story all the way through TWO times.
• Religion 3/4: We discussed our red prayer books and worked on some memory work today. We also did some review of the Old Testament studies we've been covering lately in preparation for our very first religion test, which will take place on Thursday. Students should have written down page numbers to study in their religion books.
• Science 3/4: Today we learned more about motion by studying angular motion, rotational motion, and periodic motion. We built levers using rulers and pencils for the fulcrum, and we identified the pivot points for various tools like scissors and hammers. Ask your child to show you the pivot point on a pair of scissors tonight!
• PE 3/4: Volleyball with Mr. Bretscher!
• Don't forget to be reading 20 minutes a night and looking for sponsors to help us raise money for library books at school! Remember you will earn free books too so get out there and find some sponsors!!

Monday 2/2/09

• Math 3: We used part of our math time this morning to kick off the "Reach for the Stars" Read-a-Thon. Many of us read to preschool and kindergarten students and all of us were able to put down the first 20 minutes of our 300 minute goal. In math we talked about ways to make the same amount of money using different coins. For example, we found several different ways to make 25 cents. Homework: 79A and oral facts 79.
• Language Arts 3 and 4: We took spelling pretests today and journaled about our fun weekends. We watched two School House Rock videos on verbs and adverbs since we were studying adverbs today. We also talked about adjectives and how to make an adjective into an adverb. Homework: Spelling words in ABC order.
• Religion 3/4: We continued reading in Proverbs and we sang the psalms that we wrote last week. The red book assignment was discussed today and students have until tomorrow to complete them. Miss Bertschi was not in the room during this explanation so your student should know what is expected of them since Mrs. Hoffman answered all their questions today.
• Social Studies 3/4: We worked more in our map skills books today, finishing the section on Grids.
• Music: Yes, we're still playing those pesky recorders. Students should now be able to play five notes: G, A, B, C, and D. Students were given a sheet in class today with two songs on it and should be working on playing them smoothly and without squeaking. Remember, recorders are not toys and I am asking you to confiscate them if your child is not using it responsibly. Please send recorders back to school everyday - today THREE students were without their recorders, so they did not get to play today during the lesson.