Money Practice

 Today in class, we reviewed identifying and counting money.  If your child would like to do more review or have extra practice, they can do so on IXL.com.  The topics I suggest:

Under Third Grade

• count coins and bills
• purchases - do you have enough money
• making change
• inequalities with money
• putting money amounts in order
• add and subtract money amount
• add money amounts - word problems

Under Fourth Grade

• compare money amounts
• add and subtract money
• making change
• price list with addition and subtraction

We will be having a test either December 21 or December 22 on Decimals, Money, and Measurement.  Please encourage your child to review these skills at home.

Enjoy your weekend.

First Quarter Honor Roll

I am very proud to announce that Emilee, Clare, Maddy, Samantha, Erika, Ryan, Shawn, Landon & Shawn made honor roll.  Fourth grade can be very challenging for students.  It is a great accomplishment when a student receives honor roll.  Congratulations to you all. 

All students did a great job this quarter.  The entire class set second quarter goals.  Goals will be shared during conferences.  I look forward to meeting with you then.

Week of November 7

Please remember this will be a short week. There is no school on Tuesday, November 8 and Friday, November 11. 

Due to the short week, we will not be doing any Reading Street lessons.  This week we will work on Determining Importance. This will help students to understand main idea and details. 

In Math, we will be starting Geometry.  We have a projected test date of Tuesday November 22. 

In Science,  there will be a test on Thursday.  Study Guides will be sent home on Monday.

Homework:
Reading - Packet due Thursday
Spelling - None
Math - SL 1.2
Science - Test Thursday

Enjoy your week and remember to vote on Tuesday November 8. 

Math Homework

During class today we worked on addition.  We used the traditional method when adding.  The directions for tonights homework have been crossed out and changed.  The new directions are to add using the traditional method.

5 Minute Review

In science, we started our 5 Minute Review.  Students take the first 5 minutes of class to jot down their thinking from the previous day's lesson. Their thinking can be in pictures or words. After they write on wipe off sheets, they walk around and silently read other's responses.   After the 5 minutes is up, or everyone is in their seat, I ask the students to share what stood out as a WOW!  The students told me they liked this activity because they were moving around, they saw their friend's thinking, and they were corrected if their thinking was a little off.  For instance, today someone wrote "We did a sweet potato experiment" while another wrote "We studied about plants."  This allowed me to see there were a few who understood and a few who didn't.  We cleared up the objective of yesterday's lesson. It was to learn about simple experiments, where sweet potatoes were one of the controlled variables.  Everyone responded with an "Ohhh, that's right."  I can't wait to see tomorrow's responses, my guess is they will be great!

Week of September 12, 2011

Welcome to week 2 of school. 

Monday we introduce Reading Street.  This week in Reading Street, we will be doing a Teacher Model of assessments.  This will get the students familiar with my expectations.  I will give students a spelling test this week that is not teacher modeled though. As part of this week, we will also be doing important reading assessments during our Skills Group.  This will allow us to give differentiation to your child when needed.  During Skills Group we will focus on a program called REWARDS.  This program should last the first quarter.

In Math, we will review addition and subtraction methods as well as place value.  Look for math homework every night.

In Science, the key will be observation.  We will be doing many observations this week.  Hopefully our scientist will enjoy the activities.

HOMEWORK

Welcome to Open House

Welcome to Mrs. Marcotte's Fourth Grade Class! 

Please feel free to walk around. Names will be on the desks come Tuesday.  If you have any questions, please ask.

Blog posts will be made at least once a week.  Please look for HW assignments on the blog and any updates needed for the class.  Also, I encourage parents to subscribe to the blog so that you can get update when they are made available. Please note that descriptions of each subject are tabbed above.  I will be posting the schedule within the next few days. 

If you need to contact me, please feel free to email, call or write a note.

Remember that school has a new start time.  Students can start coming into the building at 8:45.

I look forward to seeing everyone Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Open House

Another school year is fast approaching.  We will be having an Open House Thursday, September 1, 2011 from 4:30 - 6:30.  I am excited to meet each of you.  If you are not able to attend, I will see you Tuesday, September 6 on our first day of school.

Parents, if you are interested in getting updates regarding class assignments, what we learned, pictures, etc., be sure to subscribe to my blog.  If you would prefer an email, please send me an email  and I will be sure to include you in any distribution of information.  I look forward to working with you in achieving your child's excellence. 

Probability Websites

http://www.mathgoodies.com/lessons/vol6/intro_probability.html

http://jmathpage.com/JIMSProbabilitypage.html

http://www.ehow.com/list_6160218_probability-games-kids.html

http://www.studyisland.com/

YouTube also has several videos.  I am not sure of the quality of them, but it may be worth viewing if you need extra support at home.

Week of March 7, 2011

Question of the Week

Why do animals behave the way they do?

Other info:

Spelling List and Homework will be posted by Wednesday

The projected date for the fraction math test is Wednesday March 16, 2011


We are working on equivalent fractions in math this week. In class, we played games to help with our understanding of fractions.  The websites we used are linked below.

Cool Math 4 Kids

PBS Kids

Our Week in Review

During our weekly literacy assessment, students learned about Marian Anderson. Since they were reading about Marian Anderson, I shared with them her singing "My Country Tis of Thee" at Lincoln Memorial. 

Marian Anderson at Lincoln Memorial 1939

Another view of Marian Anderson at Lincoln Memorial

Math:
This week in math we worked on fractions. Please see Wednesday's post to review finding parts of a fraction.

Spelling:
This week in spelling we did contractions examples: don't, won't, it'll.

Reading:
This week in reading we read The Case of The Gasping Garbage. We also did comparing and contrasting using "T" charts and Venn Diagrams.

In small groups:

• the students that read What in the World Was That? used their Venn Diagram as a writing organizers to incorporate writing into comparing and contrasting.
• the students that read Mysterious Monsters got to watch the Chupacabra

Math Lesson 7.2

How can we solve for parts of a whole?

2/7 of 28

1. Create a division problem using the whole and the denominator (bottom number of the fraction).

• 28/7 = 4

2. Take the answer to that division problem and multiply it by the numerator (top number of the fraction).

• 4 X 2 = 8

So 2/7 of 28 = 8

If you still have questions you can either comment or wait until we review it tomorrow.

Enjoy your evening! 
:-) Mrs. Marcotte

Week of February 28

Homework Calendar


Spelling List


Please click the link to view.  Please let me know if this blog posting helps you.


I am also interested in your thinking about our Reading Street Question of the Week:

Why can't you always believe what you think you see?

Please share your thinking by clicking the comment button. Don't forget to give yourself credit by adding your first name.  If you are a fourth grade student at AE, you can add your class number too.


Enjoy your week!
Mrs. Marcotte

U3 review week

Student Blogger: Luke D.

We did Review week Unit 3: What are some patterns in nature?
Next week we start Reading Street Unit 4.

Math:In math we just finished Unit 6 on division.
Next week we will start fractions.

Long Division

Today in math the students were introduced to long division using coolmath4kids.com. Students are encouraged to practice solving division problems at home using this website.

Our Steps
Divide
Multiply
Subtract
Check
Bring Down
Repeat

February 4,2011

Spelling: This week in spelling we were doing compound words examples;campfire,understand,masterpiece,and afterthought.
Reading: This week in reading we were reading "Eye of The Storm"we also talked about how weather patterns effect our lives examples;ice,rain,snow,and tornadoes.
Writing: This week in writing we touched on Formal Letters.
Math: This week in math we were working on rotations and angles.

Math Facts

I know many students are struggling with their facts. Each child should have addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts mastered without the support of charts, manipulatives, or fingers. There are several websites that use online timed tests and flash cards. Here are a couple that you might want to try out.

http://www.mrmyers.org/Math_Mania/math.html
http://thegreatmartinicompany.com/
http://www.haelmedia.com/basic_fact_sheets/index.html


Also, did you know that your child has fact triangles? They should be practicing at least 5 minutes a night. I will be starting a fact log in February. Please study the facts that your child needs the most. Most students have already mastered addition and subtraction, but still need help in multiplication and division.

Unit 5 Study Guide

We will be having a test Thursday January 20, 2011. The Study Guide will be passed out Tuesday January 18, 2011.

Study Guide

Unit 3 Week 1 Spelling List

Please see the spelling list for this week. If your child is expected to complete the challenge words, they are to study all 26 words. Otherwise, students should study words 1 - 20.

">Spelling List