Week of March 30 - April 3, 2009

Friday 4/3/09

• Math 3: We took a math test today.
• Language Arts 3 and 4: We took spelling test #27, read some library books related to our new literature unit, and had a "show and tell" time to share about our spring breaks.
• Religion 3/4: Again, we used religion time to rehearse for the Easter program, which takes place TUESDAY APRIL 7 at 6:30 p.m. Please make plans to attend and invite family and friends, maybe even someone who has never heard the story of Jesus' death and resurrection before! Homework: All students should have brought their songbooks so that they can finish memorizing the songs for the program. Also, readers should be rehearsing their scripture and be comfortable enough to read expressively.
• Science 3/4: We put together our science journals, observed our beans, and decorated the covers of our journals, which we'll be using to observe the bean plants we're trying to grow. It's only been two days and some are already starting to show signs of sprouting!
• Art 3/4: To go along with our science unit we decorated water bottles that we plan to use at school to replace disposable water bottles! Please hand wash the bottles this weekend and bring them back to school on Monday so that we can put them to good use. The bottles are NOT diswasher safe, neither are the decorations.

Thursday 4/2/09

• Math 3: Today we reviewed our division facts and learned how to multiply single digit numbers by any multiple of 10, 100, or 1,000. Everyone finished 109 A in class. Homework: 109B.
• Language Arts 3: Third graders read a story about Johnny Appleseed and discussed other stories they've heard about the legendary man. They also took a comprehension quiz. Homework: Study for spelling test tomorrow.
• Language Arts 4: Fourth graders worked on identifying important events and their effects while reading an informative piece on the settlement of Jamestown. They also took a comprehension quiz. Homework: Study for spelling test tomorrow.
• Religion 3/4: We used our religion time to rehearse for the Easter program.
• Social Studies 3/4: We finished watching the video from yesterday and discussed how Indiana's growth might have been different (more or less) if the Indians hadn't been pushed out of the area by the pioneer settlers.
• PE 3/4: Flag tag, outside, with Mr. Bretscher! :)

Wednesday 4/1/09

• Miss Bertschi is incredibly sorry for any hurt feelings that resulted from her April Fool's joke...she is NOT engaged, nor is she dating anyone. :(
• Math 3: Today we wrote number sentences for division story problems. The goal is to be able to solve these problems without drawing pictures, and if you study your dividing facts then that won't be difficult to do. Please make it a priority to study multiplication and division facts every night. Homework: 108 A/B.
• Language Arts 3: We worked with our Ananse story from yesterday to identify the steps in a process. Homework: Spelling sentences.
• Language Arts 4: We used our story from yesterday to get more practice with identifying the main idea and supporting details. We organized our thoughts using a graphic organizer. Homework: Spelling sentences.
• Science 3/4: We examined lima beans today and began a slightly long-term experiment. We are comparing the growth of whole lima beans as opposed to halved lima beans. Every few days we'll check for changes and record observations in our Growth Journal.
• Social Studies 3/4: We watched a video on Pioneer Indiana to kick off our next study: The time period of 1800-1851 in which Indiana became a state and began to develop into a thriving place. We also read a Scholastic News about the future of robot technology, the new Yankee Stadium in New York, and a sunken ship that was recently discovered.

Tuesday 3/31/09

• Math 3: This morning we used stones to act out, then draw pictures of division story problems. We then used those pictures to write division number sentences. Finally, we reviewed the three ways (three different symbols) to write a division problem. Homework: 107 A/B.
• Language Arts 3: We began our new literature unit, on Storytelling! The first story was a legend from Africa about how the Anansi stories came to be. Anansi was called the spider man and represents any small, weak person who defeats a seemingly impossible opponent - kind of like David and Goliath! We will take a look at other Anansi stories this week too. Homework: Spelling words 3x.
• Language Arts 4: We began our new literature unit, which is on Colonial America. Our first piece was a historical one called "Early America" and it told how the various people came to America. Homework: Spelling words 3x.
• Religion 3/4: We used religion and most of social studies time rehearsing our easter program.
• Social Studies 3/4: We used our remaining social studies time to learn our music for he easter program. Homework: Songbooks have bookmarks on the songs that students need to memorize this week!
• PE 3/4: Volleyball with Mr. Bretscher!

Monday 3/30/09

• Math 3: We reviewed dividing by 1, 3, and 4. We also spent most of the lesson learning how to add money amounts in the thousands, ten thousands, and hundred thousands. Then we worked on writing those large numbers in words and practiced writing checks again. Homework: 106 A/B.
• Language Arts 3 and 4: We took spelling pre-test #27 and then spent the rest of our lesson reviewing adjectives and adverbs. This is something that we've already been working on and still get a little confused when trying to remember that adjectives desribe NOUNS and adverbs describe VERBS. Most students finished the packet in class today but those who didn't need to complete is for homework tonight. Also, everyone has ABC order.
• Religion 3/4: We used our religion time this afternoon to begin the blocking for our easter program, which takes place one week and one day from today - that's next Tuesday! Please plan now to attend and invite aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins...anyone who you want to share the story of Jesus Christ with!
• Science 3/4: We are beginning a new unit on botany and will also begin working on a project to help us celebrate Earth Day, which is April 22. We spent our classtime today brainstorming and discussing options for our project that we'd like to involve the whole school in, and we also made a list of ways we can help protect the earth and "go green" at home.
• Music 3/4: This afternoon we worked on the songs that we will be singing during the Easter program next Tuesday. See you there!!

Week of March 16-20, 2009

Friday 3/20/09

• Math 3: We took a test today, then worked on brain teasers or read silently until everyone finished. Homework: STUDY multiplication facts over break - I will not be reteaching multiples of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, or 10 - we have learned them and practiced them in class and now it is your responsibility as the student to study and remember them.
• Language Arts 3: We took spelling tests and also worked with sensory description in the story that we read yesterday. Students tried their hand at writing sentences using sensory description to appeal to a specific sense.
• Language Arts 4: We took spelling tests and wrote the final copies of our creative writing pieces on our new inventions.
• Religion 3/4: We did a lot of memory work today and our lesson was on Nicodemus. Homework: Everyone has memory work to study over spring break, please find a few minutes each day to work on this!
• Science 3/4: This afternoon we spent class time presenting our projects on the nervous system. We saw many models, posters, and videos about the brain, dream cycles, nerve cells, and Alzheimer's disease. It was a very informative afternoon and fun to see everyone's different projects.
• Art 3/4: For art we made "Happy Spring" cards to send with our pen pal letters since today was the first day of spring.
• Classroom Supplies request: I'm asking each student to bring in 2 packages (10-pack)of YELLOW #2 pencils and 2 pink erasers after spring break. We have completely depleted our classroom supply and I'd like to start the last quarter off right with everyone fully stocked and supplied. Thanks for your cooperation, and have a great spring break!!

Thursday 3/19/09

• Math 3: We reviewed our multiplication facts and worked primarily with perpendicular line segments. We've already been introduced to them before but we are a bit rusty and still trying to remember the difference between parallel and perpendicular. Keep practicing those multiplication facts at home, and if you're not, you need to start! Homework: 105B.
• Language Arts 3: We journaled about spring break and then finished reading the story "Sunflowers for Tina." It was a fun piece about how sunflowers can bring life and light into dark, dead places. Homework: Study for spelling test! Also, pen pal letters MUST be finished tomorrow since we're going to spring break.
• Language Arts 4: We journaled about spring break and then worked more on our creative writing assignments. We are writing pieces describing a new invention and telling all about its abilities. Homework: Study for spelling test! Also, pen pal letters MUST be finished tomorrow since we're going to spring break.
• Religion 3/4:
• Social Studies 3/4: We worked on map skills today with reading charts and graphs. I saw that many students were struggling with reading the directions and following them (i.e. not reading them at ALL and then asking me what to do), so I gave them a quick demonstration of the importance of following directions. All of them failed the "test" and they became angry with me because they thought I had tricked them, but had they followed the directions they could have saved themselves a huge headache. If you get a change to work on directions (listening skills, following instructions, etc) at home, give it a try - we all need work in this area.
• PE 3/4: Kickball outside with Mr. Bretscher!

Wednesday 3/18/09

• Math 3: We worked with fact families today and practiced writing both multiplication and division problems - keep reinforcing this skill at home! Homework: 105 A.
• Language Arts 3: We had a shorter class today because of our field trip to the fairgrounds. Third graders began reading the story "Sunflowers for Tina," the last story in our literature unit on City Wildlife. We will finish the story tomorrow. Homework: Spelling sentences.
• Language Arts 4: Fourth graders worked on a creative writing piece today. To wrap up our Technology unit we are writing about a new invention. Students should be demonstrating their ability to write strong paragraphs and use descriptive words in their writing. Homework: Spelling sentences.
• During the afternoon we went to the fairgrounds for the Ag Day event. We learned a lot about sheep, goats, cows, rabbits, and horses from 4-H students and snacked on popcorn and milk. It was a beautiful day to be out and about and the students enjoyed the fresh air. We returned to school around 2:15 and enjoyed a short recess time since we didn't get one at lunch. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon journaling about the fair and working on homework. Those who were all caught up got to start on their Scholastic News skill sheet from yesterday, which involves reading a bar graph as well as comparing and contrasting. Homework: Finish the skill sheet if you didn't do it in class today.

Tuesday 3/17/09

• Math 3: Our new knowledge of numbers larger than 1,000 helped us with today's lesson: writing numbers larger than 1,000 in expanded form. Since we already knew how to write numbers in expanded form, all we had to learn was how to add in the thousands place. Many finished 104A in class and everyone did a timed oral fact sheet. Homework: 104A/B and Oral Facts 104.
• Language Arts 3: We worked with facts and opinions again today and are still having trouble telling the difference between the two. If you get a chance to point out a fact or opinion at home in a conversation with your child, please do so to help reinforce this idea! We also did a review activity to keep us sharp on our contractions. Homework: Spelling words 3x.
• Language Arts 4: Today we read the last story in our Technology unit, "Harvey and Higgins, Incorporated." It was interesting to see how the characters came up with creative ways to solve their problems. We also continued working with topic sentences and the concept of a main idea within a paragraph. This is a key skill in writing and we will be reinforcing it the rest of this week as fourth graders will complete a creative writing project. Homework: Spelling words 3x.
• Religion 3/4: We talked more about the life of Christ and learned today about the time when his family accidentally left him behind at the temple. We also shared the "Temple" acrostics that we wrote for homework. Homework: See assignment book or cover of religion book for specific memory work pages.
• Social Studies 3/4: We read our Scholastic News today since we will be gone tomorrow afternoon on our "Ag Day" field trip to the fairgrounds. The cover story was on a female shark keeper and we learned some of the requirements of her job. We also had a debate about cursive handwriting and whether students should still be required to learn it. Of course all the students would love to never have to write cursive again, and they don't yet grasp the fact that neat, legible handwriting (cursive OR print) speaks volumes about the writer and shows how much he or she care about the audience.
• Science 3/4: We did not have a science lesson today but this is a reminder that the nervous system projects are due FRIDAY, March 20, 2009. No late projects will be accepted.
• PE 3/4: Flag tag, OUTSIDE!! ...with Mr. Bretscher, as always. :)

Monday 3/16/09

• Math 3: We learned how to write numbers larger than 1,000 using words - keep practicing the spelling for number words if you are still struggling. We also learned how to multiply numbers by 100 and 1,000. The rule is simple: add two zeros to the number if you multiply by 100 and add three zeros to the number is you multiply by 1,000. Homework: 103 A/B.
• Language Arts 3: We took our spelling pre-test for list #26 and then read "City Critters," another informative piece about city wildlife. Homework: Spelling words in ABC order.
• Language Arts 4: We took our spelling pre-test for list #26 and then read "George Stephenson," another piece about technology. Homework: Spelling words in ABC order.
• Science 3/4: We talked about optical illusions today and explored a fun website that had lots of optical illusions for us to try out. We also talked about our end of the chapter project to wrap up the nervous system unit, and information came home today about the project. In the packet you will find the student's project proposal, a rubric showing how I will be grading the projects, suggestions on how to carry out the project, a form for recording internet sources, and a page that addresses your topic specifically. Students working on the Dreams topic will find a sample dream diary, and students working on the Nerve Cell project will find introductory information on the structure of the nerve cell. Please don't worry, this is meant to be a simple project (but should still be taken seriously). A mini-poster board is available for each student to use if desired. This project is due on FRIDAY, which is the last day before Spring Break and also the last day of the 3rd Quarter. Because of the timing, I have no choice but to assign a zero to anyone who does not turn in a project on Friday.
• Music 3/4: We practiced recorders and worked on learning new notes to help us play "The Lamb."
• Religion 3/4: Homework: page 157 and memory work.

Week of March 9-13, 2009

Friday 3/13/09

• Math 3: Today we took a test.
• Language Arts 3: We took spelling tests and then worked on pen pal letters.
• Language Arts 4: We took spelling tests and then worked on our Horse timelines.
• Science 3/4: We played a game of Jeopardy to review our unit on the nervous system and then took the chapter test.
• Religion 3/4: We watched the first few chapters of the book of Matthew to go along with what we've been studying lately, regarding the birth of Jesus and John the Baptist. Homework: Try to use this weekend to catch up on memory work!
• Art 3/4: WELL....we were going to have art but instead Miss Bertschi's family surprised us with a visit from Ohio and brought Spider-Man cupcakes for everyone, for her birthday. If your child has a blue tongue, thank Mr. and Mrs. Bertschi. :) Have a great weekend!

Thursday 3/12/09

• Math 3: We used yesterday's strategies for finding a missing addend for a sum of 100 to learn how to make and count back change for $1.00 using the least amount of coins possible. It was kind of a tricky concept so if you get a chance, try to work on counting back change with your child at home. We learned that we count back the smallest coins first. For example if we spent $0.76, we would count back 4 pennies and then 2 dimes. Homework: Finish 102 A/B and do oral facts 102.
• Language Arts 3: This morning we reviewed capitalization of proper nouns as well as the difference between proper and common nouns. We read a fun poem called "Raccoon" and used it in our cursive practice as we re-wrote the poem.
• Language Arts 4: We used notes we had taken from previous stories in our Technology literature unit to create a timeline showing the use of the horse as technology advanced.
• Religion 3/4:
• Social Studies 3/4: Primary and secondary sources were the topic of today's discussion and we examined a census from the year 1800. We will look more at it next week because we ran out of time in class today.
• PE 3/4: Volleyball with Mr. Bretscher.

Wednesday 3/11/09

• Math 3: Third graders learned how to find a missing addend for a sum of 100. There are several strategies for solving this type of problem, ranging from rounding the number to the nearest ten, to drawing a picture of base ten blocks, to simply subtracting the number from one hundred. Some finished the sheets in class, others didn't. Homework: 101 A/B.
• Language Arts 3: Today's story was called "City Superheroes," which told us about raccoons, rats, and other city dwelling animals. Homework: Spelling sentences!
• Language Arts 4: Fourth graders worked with identifying and writing topic sentences and supporting details. They also read "The Messenger," about the development of communication. Homework: Spelling sentences, and finish the Topic Sentence worksheet.
• Science 3/4: We spent most of the afternoon working on the conclusion of our science unit on the nervous system. It was interesting to discover that the human brain is very different from animal brains, but also has some similarities. However, animals cannot think on the same level as humans. We did several brain teasers and activities that required us reason and use logic, which showed us how smart we really are! There is no way our dogs could have solved the puzzles we did today. Finally, we completed the chapter review in class together. On Friday we will play Nervous System Jeopardy, take the chapter test, and discuss the projects we will be working on next week...details to come.

Tuesday 3/10/09

• Math 3: Today we learned multiples of 4! It sounded scary at first but we were surprised to find that we only learned three new facts: 6x4, 8x4, and 9x4. All the rest we've already learned when we studied multiples of 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 11! Cool! We also worked with parallel lines/line segments and the properties of quadrilaterals. Some finished their worksheets in class, others did not. Homework: 100 A and B.
• Language Arts 3: We read "Make Way for Ducklings," a fun story about a family of Mallard ducks who take up residence in the city of Boston! After taking a quiz about the story we worked more on our pen pal letters. We are trying to use our knowledge of topic sentences to write more cohesive paragraphs in our letters. Homework: Spelling words 3x.
• Language Arts 4: Fourth graders worked on using colons and semi-colons in writing, and continued to work on pen pal letters. Homework: Spelling words 3x.
• Religion 3/4: Our lesson was on Jesus' birth and we sang Christmas carols! We also worked on memory work and some students still need to catch up. Today's lessson was pages 152-153, see planner for individual assignments.
• Social Studies 3/4: We worked with a primary source today and used a map of the Indiana Territory to help George Rogers Clark decide where to go to gather troops!
• PE 3/4: Volleyball with Mr. Bretscher!

Monday 3/9/09

• Math 3: Today we used our new knowledge of mixed numbers to measure line segments to the nearest quarter inch. Because this is such a complex concept (measuring, fractions, etc.) it took up most of the morning but some did manage to finish their A paper in class. Homework: Finish 99A/B and complete oral facts 99. A homework pass may be used on one PAGE if desired.
• Language Arts 3: After taking our spelling pre-test we discussed topic sentences and the qualities of a good paragraph. We wrote topic sentences given a list of examples or details, and then we came up with our own topic sentence relating to school. We wrote sentences like, "I play at recess." or "I learned a lot in science." After coming up with the topic sentence, they then needed to write a short paragraph going into detail about their topic sentence. So if the topic sentence was "I play at recess," the paragraph needs to give examples of how you play at recess. Homework: Spelling words in ABC order, and finish the "topic sentence" paragraph. **a paragraph should have 3-5 sentences.
• Language Arts 4: Fourth graders took their spelling pretest and then read an excerpt from the novel "Black Beauty." It was interesting to read a story from the perspective of the horse, not a human. We took a comprehension quiz on the story and then worked on pen pal letters, which we will be finishing up this week. Homework: Spelling words in ABC order.
• Religion 3/4:
• Science 3/4: We learned about the autonomic nervous system today through several experiments. It was cool to watch our partner's pupils change size depending on whether the lights were on or off, and we also recorded our resting heart rates and breathing rates. The autonomic nervous system controls these types of involuntary movements, which are different than movements that we must learn, such as walking or talking.
• Music 3/4: We continue to work on recorders and are trying to learn the notes necessary to play the song "The Lamb" from our songbooks. Students have been given a fingering sheet with the notes highlighted, and the song can be found on page 229 of our chapel songbooks if you wish to practice at home.