HAPPY THANKSGIVING

I want you to know how thankful I am for both of my classes.  I honestly love coming to work each day and seeing their sweet faces and hearing their stories.  These kids are fantastic and I was sad to have to leave them for a week.  I gave them all an extra hug on Friday, or at least triedJ.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving, take some time to relax and enjoy time with your family.  I know I will be doing the same.  I can't wait to get Nick home from college and to hang out as a family again for a few days. I’m sure he’ll be out and about with friends half the time,  but there is something about hearing him argue with his brother and seeing him half asleep on the couch with his phone in his hand and chips at his side, while the TV blares ESPN, that makes things feel right!

So far we have the following for our Angel:

1 pair of pajamas

One pair of pink tennis shoes

1 pair of Slipper socks

1 coat

Book - Dork Diaries- Tales from a Not-So Fabulous Life

Book - Dork Diaries- Tales from a Not-So Popular Party Girl

Here is the list again

Angel # 451---970

Age: 9 Gender: Female      All sizes are child sizes

Pants: 8 slim

Shirt: 8 to 10 slim

Shoe: 2

Coat: 10 C-child

Underwear: 10

Need: p.j's, house shoes, boots

Wish: books, magic trick kit, the little mermaid DVD

If you  let me know you picked something up, I can let everyone know. 
Thank you so much!

Fraction games websites 

http://www.abcya.com/equivalent_fractions_bingo.htm  equivalent fractions bingo.

http://www.abcya.com/fraction_fling.htm Fraction fling. 

http://www.factmonster.com/math/knowledgebox/player.html?movie=sfw42180

http://www.factmonster.com/math/knowledgebox/player.html?movie=sfw42374

http://www.factmonster.com/math/knowledgebox/player.html?movie=sfw50647

http://www.kidsnumbers.com/turkey-terminator-math-game.php

http://www.factmonster.com/math/knowledgebox/player.html?movie=sfw50629

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks2bitesize/maths/number/fractions_basic/play.shtml

http://www.visualfractions.com/

http://www.mrnussbaum.com/pizza_game/index.html

Anchor Charts for Earth and Space Science

Her

Earth and Space Science

This is one of my favorite videos about our new unit of study in Science.

31,536,000 seconds rolled into 40!

It's Division Time

Division is in full swing in room 307!  I am so proud of how the kids are doing.  As you know, multiplication is related to division so those students who have their multiplication facts down and REALLY doing amazing.

Here are some videos to help at home.

PARTIAL QUOTIENTS USING BIG 7 WITH CHART

PARTIAL QUOTIENTS - NO CHART

PARTIAL QUOTIENTS - BIG 7 NO CHART

Feeling a bit foggy on condensation?

We've been working hard on learning about the water cycle. Kids often have a hard time understanding that the water cycle is happening all around us. I love this video because it shows condensation in a relatable, real life example.

Bill Nye Condensation

Study Trip Tomorrow

Tomorrow is our Study Trip to the Storytelling Festival!

Remember to:

• Wear your new yellow class shirt.
• Bring a sack lunch, it does not need to be disposable.
• We are eating in the classroom at 10:30 ish.
• Buses leave at 11:15.
• You can have your snack when you get back at 2:00 ish. 

Red Ribbon Week

It's Red Ribbon week next week and you get to dress up again!!

Monday               Team Up Against Drugs. Wear a Team Shirt

Tuesday              Say “Peace Out” to bad habits. Wear a Tie Dye shirt or Peace shirt

Wednesday       Wear Red today.

Thursday             Buddies help each other make good choices.  Find a friend and dress like a TWIN.

Friday                 Sock it to Drugs. Wear CRAZY SOCKS.

Whoo Hoo!! Think Through Math and Sumdog!!

Hi Kids,


Show your family Think Through Math and let them see your avatar:)

Hi Parents,

I wanted to share a great math resource with you. It's called Think Through Math and students can work on concepts at home, online! The best part about the program is that I get progress reports on how well students are doing and which skills have been mastered. I've heard a lot of parents saying they wished there was something that their child could work on from home and here it is! 

All of the kids were able to log in today to get their initial placement.  The program is tailored just to your child and their needs; they work at their pace. They can also get live help from a teacher if they are stuck.  They love the fact they can  build their own avatar with the points they earn. They were having fun competing with their friends today.  What I love about it is, that no matter what the level of the student, they can compete or work together and no one knows who is where.   To log in they can search TTM in the search bar and find it that way, or they can go directly to the site which is http://lms.thinkthroughmath.com They all know their username and password, but in case they forget:

Username: 6 digit school id # (lunch number) and last name   example: 123456baril
Password: 8 digit birthday   example:  02012004

I will also be giving students their Sumdog.com logins this week or the first part of next. Several of the kids are familiar with Sumdog.  They will be able to keep their same login info from last year if they have one. This sight is more game like and they have been really wanting to use it this year.

Have FUN kids!  Practice those facts!!

Hi to both my classes!

I just need to tell you how proud I am of you guys.  You have really worked hard the past  few weeks and we got a lot done.  Just think how much you learned about multiplication and weathering and erosion and natural resources.  Some of you even taught me a thing or two.  You all rock and I am so glad I am your teacher.  YOU are the reason I go to Smith each day. Love you all!!

Congratulations to our newly elected class President,  Saxton D. and our Vice President Ella I.   I know they will do a great job leading us this semester.  Congratulations also to Kensie F. and Creed L. who were elected  as our STUCO reps.  It was such a tight race and I know everyone tried so hard and that's what is important! 

Here are a few videos on some of the topics we have been working on in class.  Make sure you practice, practice, practice and then practice some more.review, review, review, and then practice some more.  If you prefer the traditional way of multiplying, "the grown up way",  you can do that but you MUST understand the methods in the video and be mistake free when doing multiplication the grown up way. 

MULTIPLICATION
Partial Products using Window Pane or Box Method

MULTIPLICATION

 

Partial Products using Bow Tie or Criss Cross Method

 

 

MULTIPLICATION

 

Estimating Products

 

Field Day Fun

I just thought I would share some field day pics. It was a fun day and the kids were excited the weather held out.

STAAR Test and Fried Chicken

What is great after a two day STAAR test?  Fried Chicken of course!!

Happy Friday

Hi there!  Remember we have a Science CBA on Monday.    It will cover types of energy, circuits, electromagnets, conductors and insulators, and types of force.    I know you all will do just fine with a little studying and maybe a few fun activities:

Here are some activities for you

Circuits and conductors--- http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/circuits_conductors.shtml

Changing Circuits---  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/10_11/changing_circuits.shtml

Friction ---  http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/8_9/friction.shtml


Here is a snap circuit lesson from Madison H.  She even has a dimmer switch.  Go Madison!!

 Madison shares her thoughts on open and closed circuits.

 

And here is a little lesson about heat energy from Avery H.;)  She did it on an airplane believe it or not!  

Now that's using your noodle, Avery.

Who Says Minecraft isn't Educational??

Check this out!  Brett is applying what he learned in Science to his Minecraft game.  I love this Brett!!

Time to get back into the swing of things after all that turkey! It was so great to see everyone's cute or handsome faces today. Speaking of faces, I'd like to introduce you to the newest face in our classroom.



Baby Robo

This little sweetie is awaiting a name which will be chosen on Tuesday.   Some of the names on the list are Fluffy, Junior, Chubbs and Justin Jr. Technically, he is called a Roborovski hamster and they apparently are the smallest and fastest hamsters.  We need to be careful!!

Remember we have a Science CBA on Wednesday and a Math CBA on Friday.  You can find a few science videos here Water cycle ,  Tides , Air Masses and Fronts , Seasons , and  Day and Night. 

 You may want to play around with this activity: Earth, Sun and Moon
Read the directions at the top and it will guide you through.  

Here are some of the latest math videos.

Mixed Numbers and Improper Fractions

Equivalent Fractions Using Push and Lasso

Equivalent Fractions Using Lasso Method

Comparing Fractions with Like Denominators or Like Numerators

Mrs. Corder's Wreath Word Problem

There's a reason for the seasons!  In Science we have been studying the reason we have seasons.  Most kids thought it was because of how close we are to the sun at different times of the year.  Now they know this is not that case.  Here is a little video that explains the reason nicely.



I also thought this was really neat. It shows all 4 seasons in under a minute.

Fraction Time

  There are several apps that are available for fractions on iPad/iPod and for android devices.  Check with your parents about downloading these apps.

ANDROID APPS
Kids Math, Equivalent Fractions, Ideal Math*, Fractions, Real Math*.

ANDROID APPS

*One of these sends me an advertisement in my notification each day.  I think it is Ideal Math.  Still worth it.

iPad/iPod apps

App Names
Coop Fractions, Concentration, Fraction Kitchen Free, Equivalent Fractions, Fractions Basic, Pizza 1
Parents:  Students are not yet ready for coop fractions or Fraction Kitchen Free, but some kids may want to try them anyway.  That is okay by me.

KIDS you need to practice your multiplication facts.  Go here and have fun 

http://oswego.org/ocsd-web/games/mathmagician/mathsmulti.html

Web sources for math:

A wonderful online source for math is Dovewhisper.com  You will find the entire fourth grade math offerings at http://www.dovewhisper.com/4th_C_C.htm  Students can then click on fractions and choose a fraction activity.  I highly suggest they also work on multiplication facts by clicking on the multiplication box and then choosing activities from there.

The kids are excited for the Fire Safety Town study trip. They get to learn about emergency kits and safe rooms, and will get a chance to ride the bikes in Safety Town. If you are planning on coming, please meet us there at noon.

  I hope these videos are helpful for you to see how we are solving problems in class.


Please let me know if you have any questions.

Attention Science Geniouses:

Check out this interactive demo of the water cycle Interactive Water Cycle.  There is a T word we haven't learned.  See if you can find it- come tell me what it is and what it means and I'll give you a punch.:)

You can also take this water quiz to see how much your know about water.  There is a lot on the quiz that we do not cover in 4th grade, but go ahead and stretch that brain anyway....it won't hurt.

Safety Town Pictures

They look so bored!  This room was really cool though.  It is a bad weather simulation room.  They were watching an emergency weather update from channel 8 which was letting them know which way the fake storm was going.  Even the lights were flicking on and off.