Sunday, September 17, 2017

Weekly Thoughts from Ms. Scarborough

Hi Everyone,

Happy Fourth Grade!  I enjoyed meeting many of you a few nights ago for Curriculum Night.  I welcome you, your family, your child to room 317!  Our community is already on the right path of working together and kindness.  Here's an example for you: When I pick up the kids from the yard they are all huddled together with smiles and laughter and hugging and sharing their lives.  How beautiful is that! 

Part of celebrating our "Beloved Community" is sharing family traditions and heritage.  This brings a closeness and agape for all.  Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, begins Wednesday evening, September 20 and ends Friday evening, September 22.  I am looking for a few parents to share about this holiday with the class on Wednesday, September 20.  Email me no later than Tuesday if you are available.

Reading Homework
In addition to reading books on their reading level, students can read one level above or below (reading range). Every child should bring home a book within their specific reading range as part of their homework.
Your child can read books from home, the local library or on a Kindle as long as it is in your child's reading range.  To check a reading level go to Scholastic Book Wizard: https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bookwizard (Choose Guided Reading in the drop down menu next to the Go button).
A reading log is sent home along with the "just right book".  This log records your child’s reading life and is filled out at school and at home as part of the nightly homework.  Please share in filling out the log and take notice of what was read during classroom time. This log is a “home to school connection” allowing you to see how many pages was read of which book your child has chosen to read in class.  In a few weeks an inquiry of how many books read, what was read (genre) and authors, will no doubt reveal your child’s “reading life”.  Knowing who we are as a student is a theme we explore all year long.
Please also read with your child and discuss what was read. Start with asking your child what they know so far from the text and then move to forming theories and using the text to support how they came about this thinking.  During this month and part of next I will assess your child's reading level and then send a beginning reading level home to you with a request for a signature. The children can use last year’s reading level for now. 

Vocabulary Homework

The kids take home a weekly vocabulary list on Mondays.  Have your child practice the meanings of the words nightly. Try using the words in dialogue or in their writer's notebook.  They are quizzed each Friday in written form.  Kids who know a lot of words do better in school! 

Multiplication Tables

Please support your child at home to “automatize” multiplication and division facts. This automatic fluency of basic facts allows students to deepen their conceptual understanding of multiplication and division concepts and develop strategies during class lessons. Go to ixl.com or multiplication.com to practice facts.

Our chickens are flying the coop! Every Friday we take 5 minute “Chicken” fact challenge quizzes. We start this week with the 3 and 4 times tables and progress through the 11 and 12 times tables before moving on to division facts. The chickens pass to the next level on the clothesline if they score 100% or miss 1 fact. When the chicken graduates they fly across to the other side of the room for the division facts then fraction and decimal contests.

Thursday Blog Homework

Thursday night homework is always a blog response at the 317 Blog: steach4fun.blogspot.com. Blog homework is another way our class can be heard, share their opinions and add on to others thinking. Encourage your child to reply to other comments. If you ever have technical difficulties posting the blog response, just have your child write their comment on paper and I will post it for them.


Please don’t hesitate to email me.


Love,

Ms. Scarborough

2 comments:

  1. 1. Where do you like to write? I like to write in my room laying in my bed with pillows. This is comfortable.
    2. What tools do I use to write with and capture my thinking? I use pencils, pens and sometimes a dictionary.
    3. What is my writing territory?(favorite things to write about) I like to write about vacations, things I did on the weekends, superheros.
    4. Do I like to write fiction or non-fiction? I like to write about fiction.
    5. What is your favorite piece of writing? My favorite book is Amulet and I also like Geronimo Stilton books and Dogman.
    6. What is your favorite piece of writing that I wrote? My favorite piece of writing is a non-fiction story about going to the movies to see the Lego movie with my friend Mosiah.
    7. Who is a mentor to me in my writing that I wrote? My favorite author is Dave Pilkey and he makes the books Captain Underpants and Dog Man. He is magnificent and creative.
    8. Who helps me with my writing? The people who help me with my writing are my mom, dad, after counselors and my babysitters.
    9. What books inspire me an give examples for good writing? The books that inspire me are Amulet and Flat Stanley. I also like Harry Potter. The characters in these books go on a lot of adventures and travel. This reminds me of myself.
    10. What resources do I use while writing? I use a dictionary to learn new words.
    11. Do I write a lot about one topic or many different topics in my writer’s notebook? I write about three different topics like adventures, fiction and non-fiction.
    Malachi Mitchell

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