Quarter 4 Updates!

Quarter 4!

It’s hard to believe we are in our final quarter! I am sure you cannot believe you have an almost 5^th grader and I can’t believe I have 8 weeks left before they continue on in their journey. As I look to what lies ahead, I can honestly say we will make the most of it!

April 22^nd is Earth Day! Wear Green! Pack a Trashless Lunch! We will use less electricity by doing most of our day outside and save paper by not using anything copied.

Homework- No homework while on the extended hours. If students do not complete classwork in time or need additional practice, they may have tasks come home from time-to-time.

Impressive Work! Students created their ArcGIS Story Maps that they shared with you right before Spring Break. The following links includes a map that showcases each one. Enjoy! http://kempsodc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=ce337338ccb644aa8fa776ec94b9009c

Math and Science- We have moved into measurement! Students will continue to see how these two are connected as they apply measurements concepts to real-world situations including the experimental design process. Students wrapped up length with a mini-lab measuring their oysters and marsh grasses. They have already assessed on length and it is in their binder. Tomorrow they will assess on volume (US Customary system) and finish the lab we started today. We participated in a STEM activity as students designed their own bubble wands, determined parts of an experiment including linking the hypothesis and variables, and will use measurement skills to carry the experiment out tomorrow. Next we will work on mass and weight in both the US Customary and Metric Systems (https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-fourth-grade-math/cc-4th-measurement-topic/cc-4th-metric-US-customary/v/metric-weight).

Reading and Social Studies/Science- We are fine-tuning our research skills as we continue on our river adventures! Students chose a river by interest and are tasked with creating a National Geographic Photojournal Article that portrays the economic, environmental, and social systems at work within and around their river. We are focused on citing sources and taking paraphrased notes. From here, students will put it altogether in a well-constructed article. We have spent time working whole group and in pairs to analyze the structure and content of photjournal articles before we begin our own in a couple weeks. Students blew me away with their recollection of systems as they described the Nile River System as a jumping off point for our work. We have spent time this year looking at rivers locally. Through this unit students will look nationally and globally all while developing the concept of interdependence and relationships. Our mapping and geography objectives will come alive as they prove the enduring understanding: Location Matters to piggy-back off of last year’s: Where you live affects how you live.

Reading- Last week we used the Junior Great Book text, “Thunder, Elephant, and Dorobo” to focus on inferencing. Students shared their thoughts in writing by making a chart in Word and reviewing another’s via the note feature. They then shared their ideas verbally in a shared inquiry discussions. I have to say, their growth is evident as they carry on discussions and question one another in an advanced manner. Interest-based novel studies will begin soon and take us to the end of the year.

Writing- While we are taking many notes for research, we are also creating persuasive pieces on different topics. Students brainstormed topics where they have an invested interest. We spent time reviewing a structure to keep it organized. Students are currently peer revising and editing before they publish final copies. Look out for these coming home! When students identified their target audience, parents were on the top of the list! Their final writing assessment on “produces clear and coherent writing” will be a persuasive piece to get others to install floating wetlands (something we will design and construct one of soon).

SOLs- Please mark your calendars with our SOL dates. Math is May 28^th and May 29^th. Reading is June 1^st. Students need to make every effort to be here on testing days and avoid ant appointments. All year we discuss test taking strategies, doing your personal best, as well as reteaching and reviewing information. Students work in flex groups so they can focus on areas of need. From time-to-time we purposefully use a multiple choice format so that students are familiar. To help students prepare, please continue sustained reading at home. Our reading test is done in one sitting as 4^th graders and this is different from the two days spent on it last year. Sustained reading time in preparation for this will help students have the stamina needed to do their best throughout the entire test.

Odds and Ends-

·         Spring has sprung and our students are getting older. Please time a minute to evaluate the deodorant situation and needs of your child. We have warm days full of activities, like PE, and our students are very active. Our room has become pretty stinky after PE many days.

·         Please return pictures or picture money ASAP.

·         Please return report card envelopes ASAP.

·         BYOD- We encourage students to bring devices and have times during the day when we use them along with what we are doing. Students are always welcome to read an electronic book as their independent reading book of choice. However, if a device is not available, we will have school devices available for those students.

Upcoming Events-

4/25 Gifted Dance Recital @ Virginia Beach MS 12:00 PM & 3:00 PM

4/27 International Tattoo Music Performance (Whole School Assembly) @ Track 9:30 AM

5/18 Dave and Busters Spirit Night

5/22 Final Day of Extended Time AND Tides Family Spirit Night 6:00 PM

5/25 Memorial Day (School Closed)

5/30 Spring Carnival 11:00 AM

April 22^nd is Earth Day! Wear Green! Pack a Trashless Lunch! We will use less electricity by doing most of our day outside and save paper by not using anything copied.

Requests-

·         Do you sew? We are looking for some adults to sew “Eagle Bags” (reusable sandwich bags the kids designed last year). The sewing kits will come with materials to sew 10 of them.

·         We are in need of dry erase markers and tissues. If you can donate some we’d greatly appreciate it. I’ll write your name on them as they come in. If we end up with too many, I’ll send them back at the end of the year so you can use them for your supply list next year.

Thank you! Thank you for the birthday wishes and goodies that came my way. You all spoil me beyond belief and I am grateful for your kindness and support.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtfully committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead

Have a wonderful week! 

Mrs. Follin’s 4^th Grade ~ Week of January 20^th

Homework: Always posted on Edmodo

Language Arts- Main Idea: Watch the Brain Pop! On Main Idea. Once you have finished, take the quiz at the end. Either e-mail me your score at the end or print it and bring it in.

(You have an assessment on Friday.)

https://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/mainidea/

Math: TenMarks Reviews- Two assignments are loaded in and due by Friday.                  

Previous assignment to complete if you didn’t by Monday: Expressing Place Value Through the Thousandths.

Assignments for this week: Complete Place Value and Multi-Digit Decimals- This assignment is difficult. Please watch the video segments if you need help.

Science: Ocean Zones: Grade Level Task: Read the article attached to the homework assignment on Edmodo- on ocean zones. Highlight important information and add illustrations to enhance the reader’s experience. You have an assessment on this Friday.

http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/light_travel.html

Enrichment Task: Our 4^th grade version of the zones is a simplified version (it includes only three). However, scientists in the field look at this in a more detailed way and have more than three zones. What other zones exist? Sketch a picture of the ocean zones and add in the characteristics of that zone (animal life, water temperature).

What We’re Learning

Reading/Language Arts- We are wrapping our William and Mary Unit, Literary Reflections as well as novel studies this week. We are working on grade level skills (main idea) as well as using these skills to analyze text in a complex way (providing evidence to support generalizations of our macro-concept, change, that exist throughout the story). Students will be assessed on main idea Friday.

Math- Decimals! We need to read, write, compare and round them! For many students, decimals are something new and they have only used them when working with money. Ask your child simple questions to check for understanding. How do you read this number? (56.457) When we read decimals, the decimal point is always said as “and”, rather than “point”. Which is larger? 6.543 or 6.45; 9.452 or 9.45 Students will be assessed on reading, writing, and comparing decimals by Friday.

Science and Writing- Students are wrapping up their performance tasks this Wednesday! These include many science and writing objectives. Once assessed, they will be in their binders for you to review. Students will also be assessed this week on the ocean floor and ocean zones. This information was explained in our presentation at the aquarium last week. We will also spend time on it this week and during homework making sure we understand.

Conferences: If you’d like to schedule a conference at school or over the phone, please e-mail a request. If I didn’t get to meet with you first quarter, please expect a letter from me requesting a conference.

Creators and not just consumers! One of the challenges with technology integration is to have a balance between students consuming information at the click of a finger as well as using apps and web-programs to synthesize and apply information by creating something original. A HUGE thank you to our chaperones for the field trip who helped students stay focused and take notes and photos of their chosen topic. Students created ThingLinks to share their knowledge. Please view them at: https://www.thinglink.com/channel/611292136427487234 Also, if you see Mrs. Troxell, our Computer Teacher, thank her for her continued support and innovation. She got us all started and joined us on the trip and the remainder of the day to make sure all ran smoothly.

Clubs: Please check the calendar to make sure your child knows when his or her after-school clubs meet. It is exciting to have so many offered and so many students participating!  

  

Schedule:

PE 10:35-11:20

Novel Studies across 4^th grade 11:25-12:10- Tues. & Thurs. (Last week, we resume Feb. 9^th)

Lunch 12:15-12:45

Upcoming Events

January 22^nd- Assembly/Author Visit for Reading Month! 2pm-3pm

January 23^rd Admirals Game (tickets from school had to be pre-ordered) 7-9pm

Week of the 24^th-26^th- Possible Skype session with Tim Cole, VBCPS Chief Sustainability officer, and Rob Berz, RRMM Architect, on our new school! If you ever want to attend, let me know and I will send you details!

January 26^th and 27^th- Staff Days- No School for Students (No DARE or Music)

February 4^th 9:30-11:45am Symphony Field Trip to the Sandler

                            

Melissa A. Follin

Kemps Landing/Old Donation School

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Mrs. Follin’s 4^th Grade ~ Winter Break and week of January 5^th 

 

Homework: Always posted on Edmodo

Homework over break:

Reading: Novel Study Reading- Students have a schedule in their novel study bag. They need to make sure they have their work done by the assigned date. Many groups have reading to complete over winter break.   

Secret Garden reading over break: Chapters 19-24. They will have a couple questions to answer Monday morning to make sure they have their work completed. If anything comes up over break and your child is not able to do this, please send me an e-mail so I am aware.

 

Homework the week back from break: (Jan. 5-9)

Word Study: One night- Sort your word study words for a family member and explain your sort.

Read: Novel Study and Secret Garden Chapters 25-the end (All students will write a summary for a chapter- they will use their class number to tell them what chapter to summarize. -i.e. If their number is 5, they do the chapter 5 summary.)

Math: Hands-On-Equations- Students will choose a page they have completed and are proud of. They will explain it to you and have you sign the page.

Science: Paragraph review- make notes of what the author did to achieve the tone and flow. (Paragraph will be handed to them 1/5 and posted on Edmodo.)

 

What We’re Learning

Reading/Language Arts: We have been working in the William and Mary Language Arts Unit, Literacy Reflections. This unit develops skills while reading rich literature. All of the selections have deep meanings and we have spent some time discussing how there is a literal and figurative meaning in many cases. Organizers such as a literature web help them move towards the abstract. As we continue to move forward with these text selections, the hopes are that students will become self-directed learners and provide evidence to support opinions without prompting. Many do this on a regular basis, and take us into the text. We have focused on this fourth grade objective as well as author’s purpose and vocabulary. We will assess on author’s purpose the week back from break and begin our focus on main idea and theme. All of this will be done through the Secret Garden and other text selections. Here and there you will see some multiple choice questions so that students practice showing their knowledge in that type of format.

 

Math: We had a great time using Hands-On-Equations this week to target our equation objective in math. This tool definitely took us deeper into the concept and challenged our thinking. Students took the assessment on this objective so look for that to go in over break. All students have taken an assessment on division as well. The week back from break we will use a choice board to frame our work. There will be remediation and enrichment options so that students can look at their assessments and make careful choices as to what they need to focus on for the week. I will work with small groups of students who need to practice and re-assess as well as groups who want to go deeper into some areas. We use flex grouping like this to make sure we are meeting the needs of individual learners while also teaching students how to review their work and increase their own understanding. By this time in fourth grade, students should need minimal guidance looking at their assessments and then choosing the related tasks that will allow for growth. We spend a lot of time talking about how to make the right choice and have a growth mindset. 

***As an important side-note- It is an expectation that students know basic addition, subtraction and multiplication facts. Long division has been difficult for some, not because of the process, but the lack of memorized facts. The reality is that second grade objectives required the memorization of addition and subtraction and third grade required multiplication. These aren’t just going to go away, but are causing students many problems as we move on into harder math concepts. Upcoming fractions and decimals will also prove to be difficult. We recently met with fifth grade teachers and they couldn’t stress enough the importance of memorized facts. Please spend some time working with your child on these if they are not automatic. We want all students set up for success. (Repeated from last week)

 

Science: Students worked in Arc GIS to create a map plotting ouster data. This is another piece they can use on their summative performance task. When we return from break, students will finish up their research and data analysis so they can begin their task. A performance task is an open ended task that allows students to make choices defended by evidence. They will not only show their knowledge of the objectives, but their understanding since the task requires them to apply what they have learned. Summative means it is coming at the end and this one will count as science assessments for their report card.

 

Writing: We are continuing our work on expository writing. To move students forward we will re-visit using transitions to make details flow. We will also focus on leads (starting the story off strong) and conclusions (ending on a strong note as well). We have spent a lot of time using a resource by Michael Clay Thompson called Grammar Town. This has provided a foundation in parts of speech and now parts of sentence that will enhance student’s writing and help them move away from run-ons and fragments.

  

Parent Portal: It appears there is a still a glitch and you cannot see the assessment scores I put into Synergy. I’ll keep putting them in and hope for the best. In the meantime, review your child’s binder for the majority of the assessments.

 

Behavior Update: Thank you for discussing this with your child I have had many parents stop me to ask questions or just let me know they spoke to their child. Students were much better in DARE this week and Officer Jose was very appreciative. We will have some trouble keeping our voices down when we are working in groups- the noise level rises very quickly and many students are practically yelling over each other to be heard. We are working on self-monitoring so that they feel the noise rise and can bring it back down, rather than talk over each other. These are basic skills of conversation that will prove beneficial. 

 

Virginia Aquarium Field Trip Update- We are still working on the forms as the funding is coming from a number of places. We are grateful to a VBEF Grant for funding the program we will see there and also to the PTA for cutting back on the cost of the trip. As a heads-up the trip will have a maximum cost of $5 per student. Please send me an email or text if you’d like to join us. You will lead a group (that includes your student) around the museum as they takes notes on an area of choice.

 

Regular Schedule:

PE Daily 10:35-11:20

Novel Studies across 4^th grade 11:25-12:10- Mon., Tues. & Thurs.

Lunch Daily 12:15-12:45

DARE Tuesdays 12:50-1:50

Music Tuesdays 1:55-2:40pm

Art Fridays 8:45-9:30am

 

Upcoming Events

December 22 – January 2 Winter Break (School Closed)

January 15^th Field trip to the Virginia Aquarium.

 

Due:

DARE letters- now overdue

Community Service Forms- Please return ASAP

 

Thank you! A huge thank you all for your generosity this holiday season. I appreciate all of the beautiful and delicious gifts I have received and greatly value the support and kindness you all show me on a regular basis. I hope you have a wonder, rejuvenating and relaxing break.

 

I’ll see the kiddos bright and early Monday, January 5^th! I know they will come ready for a new exciting adventure! The couple of weeks back from break will include a field trip, work on the 3D printer, and wrap-ups of two novels they are reading. Exciting times to come!

 

If you ever want to come in and join us for an activity,

please send me an e-mail or text.

We’d love to have you!

 

 

Week of Dec. 15th Newsletter

Mrs. Follin’s 4^th Grade ~ Week of December 15^th

 

Homework: Always posted on Edmodo

Reading: Novel Study Reading- Students have a schedule in their novel study bag. They need to make sure they have their work done by the assigned date. Many groups have reading to complete over winter break as well.   

Secret Garden reading will continue with Chapters 15-18 next week as well as a literature web for these chapters. Students can read them and complete the web prior to Monday if they wish. They write the web in their literature journals and know how to make one of these on their own. Over break they will read chapters 19-24.

 

What We’re Learning

Reading/Language Arts: We are wrapping up our work with author’s purpose as well as visualization.  We did not assess on author’s purpose when intended so we will this coming week. Even though we have assessed providing evidence to support ideas when having a discussion or answering a question, we will still continue to put this skill into practice. It frames a lot of what we do!

Math: We are continuing to work on long division. Students are taking the assessment as they feel ready. All students will take the long division assessment before we leave for winter break. A great practice site iswww.kidsnumbers.com

Some students have begun Hands-On-Equations- This is a very visual way to learn algebra. We will all do a few lessons next week as a means to target the math objective related to equations. For those who did it last year, they are picking up where they left off. Any students who completed all of the levels will move into verbal problems. 

***An important side-note- It is an expectation that students know basic addition, subtraction and multiplication facts. Long division has been difficult for some, not because of the process, but the lack of memorized facts. The reality is that second grade objectives required the memorization of addition and subtraction and third grade required multiplication. These aren’t just going to go away, but are causing students many problems as we move on into harder math concepts. Upcoming fractions and decimals will also prove to be difficult. We recently met with fifth grade teachers and they couldn’t stress enough the importance of memorized facts. Please spend some time working with your child on these if they are not automatic. We want all students set up for success.

Science: Have you heard? Students are helping our watershed by determine a new location for oyster castles! They already want to know if they can actually build them once they have enough information! As I hold them off on the building until they have all of the information needed, they are uncovering our fourth grade objectives on a deep level through their work. Our field trip is set for January 15^th to the Virginia Aquarium! Forms will come home next week. Parents are welcome so please let me know if you’d like to attend. We’d like a minimum of 5 parents so that we can break students into interest groups for part of the trip. (If there is a maximum we will let you know. If you want to come and have a membership, please let me know. I am unsure of the fee for parents, but will let you know that information as soon as it is available.)

Writing: We are continuing our work on expository writing. Students have now had a strong focus on the organization (topic sentence, supporting details, and closing), as well as adding in transitions to help their work flow. We are continuing our work with grammar to focus on subject-verb agreement and sentence structure as to avoid fragments. Students will be assessed on this before break. We will also focus on writing for the intended audience and word choice. Our summative performance task for science will include both a science and writing rubric. The writing portion of the task will require students to bring all of these pieces together into one cohesive, two-paragraph essay.

Code!: We participated in the Hour of Code today! Students used code.org or Scratch (as well as some Khan Academy sites they knew on their own) to learn the ins and outs of code! Ask them what they thought! It was fun watching them make Elsa ice skate across the screen!

 

Clubs: Please check the calendar to make sure your child knows when his or her after-school clubs meet. It is exciting to have so many offered and so many students participating!  

Parent Portal: Please let me know if you did NOT receive a progress report for your child. We have experienced quite the glitch with some families getting them 12 times and some none at all. DOT sent out a message this afternoon to all teachers letting us know there was a glitch, they are aware, and they are trying to resolve the issue.

 

Regular Schedule:

PE Daily 10:35-11:20

Novel Studies across 4^th grade 11:25-12:10- Mon., Tues. & Thurs.

Lunch Daily 12:15-12:45

DARE Tuesdays 12:50-1:50

Music Tuesdays 1:55-2:40pm

Art Fridays 8:45-9:30am

Upcoming Events

December 13 Winter Wonderland 10:00 am – 2:00 pm

December 15 Science Lab with Habitat Cubes

December 16 Skype Session with Tim Cole, VBCPS Chief Sustainability Officer, to follow up and see the concrete breaks at the lab

December 19 Class Party 12:45pm -1:45pm Look for a Sign-Up Genius from Mrs. Pommerenk

December 22 – January 2 Winter Break (School Closed)

January 15^th Field trip to the Virginia Aquarium. Forms come home Thursday!

Due:

DARE letters- They came home last Tuesday and are due this Tuesday.

Community Service Forms- Came previously in Thursday folders and are due ASAP.

 

If you ever want to come in and join us for an activity, please send me an e-mail or text.

We’d love to have you!

Code!

#hourofcode We have Elsa iceskating, Angry Birds moving, and cats doing all kinds of things! 

Respectful math tasks! There's quite the variety going on!

Visualization!

Visualizing! Students select & analyze a section of Secret Garden or write their own piece. Word choice is important!